# Lalla Rookh/The Light of the Haram

​The singular placidity with which Fadladeen had listened, during the latter part of this obnoxious story, surprised the Princess and Feramorz exceedingly; and even inclined towards him the hearts of these unsuspicious young persons, who little knew the source of a complacency so marvellous. The truth was, he had been organizing, for the last few days, a most notable plan of persecution against the Poet, in consequence of some passages that had fallen from him on the second evening of recital,—which appeared to this worthy Chamberlain to contain language and principles, for which nothing short of the summary criticism of the Chabuk would be advisable. It was his intention, therefore, immediately on their arrival at Cashmere, to give information to the King of Bucharia of the very dangerous sentiments of his minstrel; and if, unfortunately that monarch did not act with suitable vigour on the occasion, (that is, if he did not ​give the Chabuk to Feramorz, and a place to Fadladeen), there would be an end, he feared, of all legitimate government in Bucharia. He could not help, however, auguring better both for himself and the cause of potentates in general; and it was the pleasure arising from these mingled anticipations that diffused such unusual satisfaction through his features, and made his eyes shine out, like poppies of the desert, over the wide and lifeless wilderness of that countenance.
Having decided upon the Poet's chastisement in this manner, he thought it but humanity to spare him the minor tortures of criticism. Accordingly, when they assembled next evening in the pavilion, and Lalla Rookh expected to see all the beauties of her bard melt away, one by one, in the acidity of criticism, like pearls in the cup of the Egyptian Queen,—he agreeably disappointed her by merely saying, with an ironical smile, that the merits of such a poem deserved to be tried at a much higher tribunal; and then suddenly passing off into a panegyric upon all Mussulman sovereigns, more particularly his august and Im​perial master, Aurungzebe,—the wisest and best of the descendants of Timur,—who, among other great things he had done for mankind, had given to him, Fadladeen, the very profitable posts of Betel-carrier and Taster of Sherbets to the Emperor, Chief Holder of the Girdle of beautiful Forms, and Grand Nazir, or Chamberlain of the Haram.
They were now not far from that Forbidden River, beyond which no pure Hindoo can pass; and were reposing for a time in the rich valley of Hussun Abdaul, which had always been a favourite resting-place of the Emperors in their annual migrations to Cashmere. Here often had the Light of the Faith, Jehanguire, wandered with his beloved and beautiful Nourmahal; and here would Lalla Rookh have been ​happy to remain for ever, giving up the throne of Bucharia and the world, for Feramorz and love in this sweet lonely valley. The time was now fast approaching when she must see him no longer,—or see him with eyes whose every look belonged to another; and there was a melancholy preciousness in these last moments, which made her heart cling to them as it would to life. During the latter part of the journey, indeed, she had sunk into a deep sadness, from which nothing but the presence of the young minstrel could awake her. Like those lamps in tombs, which only light up when the air is admitted, it was only at his approach that her eyes became smiling and animated. But here, in this dear valley, every moment was an age of pleasure; she saw him all day and was, therefore, all day happy,―resembling, she often thought, that people of Zinge, who attribute the unfading cheerfulness they enjoy to one genial star that rises nightly over their heads.
The whole party, indeed, seemed in their liveliest ​mood during the few days they passed in this delightful solitude. The young attendants of the Princess, who were here allowed a freer range than they could safely be indulged with in a less sequestered place, ran wild among the gardens and bounded through the meadows, lightly as young roes over the aromatic plains of Tibet. While Fadladeen, beside the spiritual comfort he derived from a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Saint from whom the valley is named, had opportunities of gratifying, in a small way, his taste for victims, by putting to death some hundreds of those unfortunate little lizards, which all pious Mussulmans make it a point to kill;—taking for granted, that the manner in which the creature hangs its head is meant as a mimicry of the attitude in which the Faithful say their prayers!
* ↑ "The application of whips or rods."—Dubois.
* ↑ Kempfer mentions such an officer among the attendants of the King of Persia, and calls him "formæ corporis estimator." His business was, at stated periods, to measure the ladies of the Haram by a sort of regulation-girdle, whose limits it was not thought graceful to exceed. If any of them outgrew this standard of shape, they were reduced by abstinence till they came within proper bounds.
* ↑ The Attock.
* ↑ The star Soheil, or Canopus.
* ↑ Nourmahal signifies Light of the Haram. She was afterwards called Nourjehan, or the Light of the World.
* ↑ V. note, p. 227.
* ↑ "The rose of Kashmire for its brilliancy and delicacy of odour has long been proverbial in the East."—Forster.
* ↑ "Tied round her waist the zone of bells, that sounded with ravishing melody."—Song of Jayadeva.
* ↑ "The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are set with arbours and large-leaved aspen-trees, slender and tall."—Bernier.
* ↑ "The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by the Mahometans on this hill, forms one side of a grand portal to the Lake."—Forster.
* ↑ "The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of their remaining in bloom."—v. Pietro de la Valle.
* ↑ "Gul sad berk, the Rose of a hundred leaves. I believe a particular species."—Ouseley.
* ↑ Bernier.
* ↑ A place mentioned in the Toozek Jehangeery, or Memoirs of Jehanguire, where there is an account of the beds of saffron flowers about Cashmere.
* ↑ "It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chaunt from the gallery of the nearest minaret, which on that occasion is illuminated, and the women assembled at the house respond at intervals with a ziraleet or joyous chorus."—Russel.
* ↑ At the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld an infinite number of tents pitched, with such a crowd of men, women, boys and girls, with music, dances," &c. &c.—Herbert.
* ↑ "An old commentator of the Chou-King says, the ancients having remarked that a current of water made some of the stones near its banks send forth a sound, they detached some of them, and being charmed with the delightful sound they emitted, constructed King or musical instruments of them,"—Grosier.
* ↑ Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.
* ↑ In the wars of the Dives with the Peris, whenever the former took the latter prisoners, "they shut them up in iron cages, and hung them on the highest trees. Here they were visited by their companions, who brought them the choicest odours."—Richardson.
* ↑ In the Malay language the same word signifies women and flowers.
* ↑ The capital of Shadukiam. V. note, p. 160.
* ↑ See the representation of the Eastern Cupid, pinioned closely round with wreaths of flowers, in Picart's Cérémonies Religieuses.
* ↑ "Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of goldfinch, which sings so melodiously that it is called the Celestial Bird. Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beautiful colours, but when it flies they lose all their splendour."—Grosier.
* ↑ "As these birds on the Bosphorus are never known to rest, they are called by the French 'les ames damnées.'"—Dalloway.
* ↑ "You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale, yet he wishes not, in his constant heart, for more than the sweet breath of his beloved rose."—Jami.
* ↑ "He is said to have found the great Mantra, spell or talisman, through which he ruled over the elements and spirits of all denominations."—Wilford.
* ↑ "The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by the Arabs El Herrez, from the supposed charm they contain."—Jackson.
* ↑ "A demon, supposed to haunt woods, &c., in a human shape."—Richardson.
* ↑ The name of Jehanguire before his accession to the throne.
* ↑ "Hemasagara, or the Sea of Gold, with flowers of the brightest gold colour."—Sir W. Jones.
* ↑ "This tree (the Nagacesara) is one of the most delightful on earth, and the delicious odour of its blossoms justly gives them a place in the quiver of Camadeva or the God of Love."—Id.
* ↑ "The Malayans style the tube-rose (Polianthes tuberosa) Sandal Malam, or the Mistress of the Night."—Pennant.
* ↑ The people of the Batta country in Sumatra (of which Zamara is one of the ancient names), "when not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers, among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country, mostly prevails,"—Marsden.
* ↑ "The largest and richest sort (of the Jambu or rose-apple) is called Amrita or immortal, and the mythologists of Tibet apply the same word to a celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit."—Sir W. Jones.
* ↑ Sweet Basil, called Rayhan in Persia, and generally found in churchyards.
* ↑ "In the Great Desert are found many stalks of lavender and rosemary."—Asiat. Res.
* ↑ "The almond-tree, with white flowers, blossoms on the bare branches."—Hasselquist.
* ↑ An herb on Mount Libanus, which is said to communicate a yellow golden hue to the teeth of the goats and other animals that graze upon it.
* ↑ The myrrh country.
* ↑ "This idea (of deities living in shells) was not unknown to the Greeks, who represent the young Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in shells on the shores of the Red Sea."—Wilford.
* ↑ "A fabulous fountain, where instruments are said to be constantly playing."—Richardson.
* ↑ "The Pompadour pigeon is the species, which, by carrying the fruit of the cinnamon to different places, is a great disseminator of this valuable tree."—V. Brown's Illustr. Tab. 19.
* ↑ "They have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim, and the Soobhi Sadig, the false and the real day-break."—Waring.
* ↑ "The waters of Cachemir are the more renowned from its being supposed that the Cachemirians are indebted for their beauty to them."—Ali Yezdi.
* ↑ "From him I received the following little Gazzel or Love Song, the notes of which he committed to paper from the voice of one of those singing girls of Cashmere, who wander from that delightful valley over the various parts of India."—Persian Miscellanies.
* ↑ "The roses of the Jinan Nile, or Garden of the Nile (attached to the Emperor of Morocco's palace) are unequalled, and mattresses are made of their leaves for the men of rank to recline upon."—Jackson.
* ↑ "On the side of a mountain near Paphos there is a cavern which produces the most beautiful rock crystal. On account of its brilliancy it has been called the Paphian diamond."—Mariti.
* ↑ "These is a part of Candahar, called Peria, or Fairy Land."—Thevenot. In some of those countries to the north of India vegetable gold is supposed to be produced.
* ↑ "These are the butterflies which are called in the Chinese language Flying Leaves. Some of them have such shining colours, and are so variegated, that they may be called flying flowers; and indeed they are always produced in the finest flower-gardens."—Dunn.
* ↑ "The Arabian women wear black masks with little clasps, prettily ordered."—Carreri. Niebuhr mentions their showing but one eye in conversation.
* ↑ "The golden grapes of Casbin."—Description of Persia.
* ↑ The fruits exported from Caubul are apples, pears, pomegranates," etc.—Elphinstone.
* ↑ "We sat down under a tree, listened to the birds, and talked with the son of our Mehmaundar about our country and Caubul, of which he gave an enchanting account: that city and its 100,000 gardens, etc."—Id.
* ↑ "The mangusteen, the most delicate fruit in the world; the pride of the Malay islands."—Marsden.
* ↑ "A delicious kind of apricot, called by the Persians tokm-ek-shems, signifying sun's seed."—Descript. of Persia.
* ↑ "Sweetmeats in a crystal cup, consisting of rose-leaves in conserve, with lemon or Visna cherry, orange flowers, etc."—Russell.
* ↑ "Antelopes cropping the fresh berries of Erac."—The Moallakat, Poem of Tarafa.
* ↑ "Mauri-ga-Sima, an island near Formosa, supposed to have been sunk in the sea for the crimes of its inhabitants. The vessels which the fishermen and divers bring up from it are sold at an immense price in China and Japan."—v. Kempfer.
* ↑ Persian Tales.
* ↑ The white wine of Kishma.
* ↑ "The King of Zeilan is said to have the very finest ruby that was ever seen. Kublai-Khan sent and offered the value of a city for it, but the King answered he would not give it for the treasure of the world."—Marco Polo.
* ↑ The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen floating down the Ganges on the Nymphæa Nelumbo. v. Pennant.
* ↑ Teflis is celebrated for its natural warm baths. v. Ebn Haukel.
* ↑ "The Indian Syrinda or guitar."—Symes.
* ↑ "Delightful are the flowers of the Amra trees on the mountain-tops, while the murmuring bees pursue their voluptuous toil."—Song of Jayadeva.
* ↑ "The Nisan or drops of spring rain, which they believe to produce pearls if they fall into shells."—Richardson.
* ↑ For an account of the share which wine had in the fall of the angels, v. Mariti.
* ↑ The Angel of Music. v. note, p. 267.
* ↑ The Hudhud, or Lapwing, is supposed to have the power of discovering water under ground.