Ghul

“ But the Infidels had captured Sa’adan, as he were a drunken man for loss of blood; and they bound him fast and set him by Gharib who, seeing the Ghul a prisoner, said, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! O Sa’adan, what case is this?” “O my lord,” replied Sa’adan, “it is Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) who ordaineth joy and annoy and there is no help but this and that betide.” And Gharib rejoined, “Thou speakest sooth, O Sa’adan!” ”

“ When the Ghul heard this, he laughed a loud laugh, as it were the pealing thunder, and said, “O my lord, by the life of thy head, if the Persians and Medes united against me, I would make them quaff the cup of annihilation.” Quoth Gharib, “’Tis as thou sayest; [FN#345] but tarry thou here in fort till I return to thee;” and quoth the Ghul, “I hear and I obey.” Then Sahim departed with his comrades of the Banu Kahtan for the dwelling places of their tribe, and Gharib set out with Princess Fakhr Taj and her company, intending for the cities of Sabur, King of the Persians. ”

“ Ar. ghūl, P. ghōl. A goblin, ἔμπουσα, or man-devouring demon, especially haunting wildernesses.
c. 70.—"In the deserts of Affricke yee shall meet oftentimes with fairies, [3] appearing in the shape of men and women; but they vanish soone away, like fantasticall illusions."—Pliny, by Ph. Holland, vii. 2. c. 940.—"The Arabs relate many strange stories about the Ghūl and their transformations.... The Arabs allege that the two feet of the Ghūl are ass's feet.... These Ghūl appeared to travellers in the night, and at hours when one meets with no one on the road ”

“ Goul, or ghul, in Arabic, signifies any terrifying object, which deprives people of the use of their senses. Hence it became the appellative of that species of monster which was supposed to haunt forests, cemeteries, and other lonely places; ”

“ Who is for fighting, who is for jousting? Let no sluggard come forth to me nor weakling.” And he called out to his sons, saying, “Woe to you! Bring me fuel and fire, for I am an-hungered.” So they cried upon their slaves who brought firewood and kindled a fire in the heart of the plain. Then there came out to him a man of the Kafirs, an Amalekite of the unbelieving Amalekites, bearing on his shoulder a mace like the mast of a ship, and drove at Sa’adan the Ghul, saying, “Woe to thee, O Sa’adan!” ”

“ Therewith ten thousand horse drove at Sa’adan who met them with a stout heart; and Jamrkan, seeing this, bore down upon the Miscreants with his Moslems, crying out, “God is Most Great!” Before they could reach the Ghul, the enemy had slain his steed and taken him prisoner; but they ceased not to charge the Infidels, till the day grew dark for dust and eyes were blinded, and the sharp sword clanged while firm stood the valiant cavalier and destruction overtook the faint-heart in his fear ”

“ His father’s name was Hindi who peopled Hind and named it, and he left this son after him, whom he called Sa’adan the Ghul. Now the same was, O my son, even in his sire’s lifetime, a cruel tyrant and a rebellious devil and had no other food than flesh of the sons of Adam. His father when about to die forbade him from this, but he would not be forbidden and he redoubled in his forwardness, till Hindi banished him and drove him forth the Land of Hind, after battles and sore travail. ”

“ Quoth he, “Verily, a beardless youth, forty cubits high, hath taken them prisoner.” Quoth Sa’adan, “May the sun pour no blessing on you!” and, going down from his hold, tore up a huge tree, with which he went in quest of Gharib and his folk; and he was on foot, for that no horse might carry him, because of the bigness of his body. His son followed him and the twain went on till they came up with Gharib and his company, when the Ghul fell upon them, without word said, and slew five men with his club. ”

“ Then said she:—I have heard, O auspicious King, that Sidi Nu'uman continued his story saying:—But when I beheld Aminah my bride enter the cemetery, I stood without and close to the wall over which I peered so that I could espy her well but she could not discover me. Then what did I behold but Aminah sitting with a Ghul!262 Thy Highness wotteth well that Ghuls be of the race of devils; to wit, they are unclean spirits which inhabit ruins and which terrify solitary wayfarers and at times seizing them feed upon their flesh ”

“ Then they made ready tents and camels and noble steeds and were about to march when, behold, up came Jamrkan and Sa’adan the Ghul, with seventy thousand horse, as they were lions fierce-faced, all steel-encased. When Jaland saw the Moslems trooping on he rejoiced and said, “By the virtue of the Sun, and her resplendent light, I will not leave alive one of my foes; no, not one to carry the news, and I will lay waste the land of Al-Irak, that I may take my wreak for my son, the havoc-making champion bold ”

“ Then Khairullah stepped forward and interceded for his friend Aziza; as his request was not granted he was annoyed, and positively refused to undertake the night watch. So he, too, was dismissed, and was allowed to take with him the other Afghan, Bas Ghul, who suffered from periodical fits of insanity, and was moreover a rogue. ”

“ Below the Ghulâms again is another section known as Tilâms or Talâms, who are the descendants of children kidnapped by the Ghulâms. These ostracised Ghulâms and Tilâms are the only members who have been as yet allowed by the tribe to enlist in the Police. Ghulâms will eat food prepared by Barwârs, but the latter will not touch a dish prepared by the former. Male Ghulâms and Tilâms both get their equal share of plunder from the thieving gangs they join. A dowry is given with the Ghulâm bride, but not with the bridegroom. ”

“ O thou whose like I have not seen among the Jann!" Quoth the Head, "We are a folk who may not change their favours and we are hight Ghuls: mortals summon us to their presence, but we cannot present ourselves before them without leave. As for me, I have gotten leave of the Shaykh Abu al-Tawaif to appear before thee and I desire of thy favour that thou sing me a song, so I may go to thy palace and question its Haunters203 concerning the plight of thy lord after thee and return to thee ”

“ Quoth the other, "O my uncle, puissance and omnipotence are to Allah!" and quoth the Shaykh, "Go, O my son, and may the Almighty forward the works of thee." So the Prince farewelled him and travelled for the space of two days, when suddenly the ferals and the Ghuls opposed his passage and he gave them somewhat of provaunt which they ate, and after they pointed out to him the right path. Then he entered upon a Wady wherein flights of locusts barred the passage, so he scattered for them somewhat of fine flour which they picked up till they had eaten their sufficiency. ”

“ Janshah and his men dwell with the apes for some time, making successful war upon the Ghuls who are their enemies. In the mountains Janshah finds a tablet written by Solomon which informs him that there are only two passes leading from the country of the apes; one to the east "swarming with Ghuls and wild beasts, Marids and Ifrits" (this reminds us of the approach to the Islands of Wak-wak, in the Story of Hasan of Bassorah) , and leading to the shore of the Circumambient Ocean ”

“ As we start, the great white blazing sun is climbing the blue above Mount Nebo, and the faint streak of the Dead Sea, with the haze that hangs always over it, can be seen down the valley. Our soldier gallops in front to scare off the Bedouins and we wind our way lazily in and out through the wheat fields. Leaving these we enter a desert on the edge of which stands Gilgal, where the Israelites first encamped after crossing the Jordan, and then go on through thorny scrub among gullies and hills until we approach the long fringes of thicket which border the river. ”

“ In their journey over the sea of sand, our four adventurers formed part of a company of sixteen men and women, along with six or seven children.
All were the property of one man, the huge and dusky sheik who had won Sailor Bill and the three middies at “desert draughts.”
It soon became known to his white captives that his name was Golah, a name which Terence suggested might be an African abbreviation of the ancient name of Goliah.
Golah was certainly a great man, not in bone and flesh alone, but in intellect as well. ”

“ The poor sons of Israel, losing all presence of mind, and not being courageous, in any case, hid themselves in empty brandy-casks, in ovens, and even crawled under the skirts of their Jewesses; but the kazáks routed them out, wherever they were.
"Most illustrious lords!" shrieked one Jew, tall and thin as a stick, thrusting his sorry visage, distorted with terror, from among a group of his comrades, "most illustrious lords! suffer us to say a word, only one word. ”

“ But the terrible invasion of Hulagu Khan, that swept great and small, faithful and infidel, before it, broke both Christianity and Islam for a time, striking at the heart of154 both, Bagdad, which was reduced to ruins among scenes of the most terrible inhumanity ever witnessed.44
Hulagu, himself pagan, acknowledging no power, superhuman nor human, but himself, was followed by successors who first embraced Buddhism and later Islam, most noteworthy of whom was Ghazan Khan (A.D. 1295) , who destroyed thousands of Christians all over Tartary, Persia, and Mesopotamia. ”

“ We have a proof, therefore, of her cult being firmly established at an early period of Babylonian history. Her rôle is that of a 'life-giver,' in the widest sense of the word. She is called the 'great physician,' who both preserves the body in health and who removes sickness and disease by the 'touch of her hand.' Gula is the one who leads the dead to a new life. She shares this power, however, with her husband Ninib. Her power can be exerted for evil as well as for good. She is appealed to, to strike the enemy with blindness ”

“ It may be that in the earlier period, when more optimistic views of Aralû were current, Gula, who is called the one 'who restores the dead to life,' may have had a place in the pantheon of the lower world; not that the Babylonians at any time believed in the return of the dead, but because the living could be saved from the clutches of death. Ninib and Gula, as gods of spring, furnished the spectacle of such a miracle in the return of vegetation. ”

“ A plan of the hill has been made by Major Kitchener, and drawn for me by Mr. Armstrong (Fig. 16) .
On descending from the ruins for the last time down the mountain side, we were treated to a display of the gorgeous colouring characteristic of the eastern side of The Ghôr, when lit up by the slanting rays of the western sun. The evening had been cloudy, and some rain had fallen. Suddenly the sun burst forth through a gap in the clouds, and lighted up the cliffs along the northern side of the valley with tints of surpassing richness and brilliancy. ”

“ To complete this sketch of Arabian mythology, an account must be added of several creatures generally believed to be of inferior orders of the Jinn.
One of these is the Ghool, which is commonly regarded as a kind of Sheytán, or evil Jinnee, that eats men; and is also described by some as a Jinnee or an enchanter who assumes various forms. The Ghools are said to appear in the forms of various animals, and of human beings, and in many monstrous shapes; to haunt burial-grounds and other sequestered spots; to feed upon dead human bodies ”

“ We can hardly read a chapter in any of the prophets, but we find this thing prophesied of, i.e., the captivity of Israel, the spoiling and robbing of them, both Israel and Judah, by these great kingdoms of the earth, which Ezekiel has called Gog in our text. It must and will be acknowledged, by every man conversant with his Bible, that the times of their captivity have, in every case, been prophesied of by the prophets of God. And, in general, the cases of captivity, which would end in the dispensation in which the prophet lived who prophesied these things, are given to us in plain language ”

“ SAMUEL. Gjalout (Goliath) was king of the Philistines. He was of the race of the ancient giants, the Adites and the Themudites, who were from fifty to a hundred cubits in height.
The children of Israel were grievously oppressed by him, and they besought God to send them a prophet who would reinstruct them in the law of Moses, and in the true religion. For thirty years they besought God, but no prophet was given to them. In the meanwhile, the Philistines oppressed them more and more, and whenever the Israelites rose against them, they defeated the Israelites with great slaughter. ”

“ God's judgments upon Gog. God's people were punished for their sins: but shall be favoured with everlasting kindness.
39:1. And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.
39:2. And I will turn thee round, and I will lead thee out, and will make thee go up from the northern parts: and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel. ”

“ Even if the name Gog be formed by Ezekiel in the freest manner from Magog, and however remote the peoples led by Gog from the ends of the earth to make war upon Israel, when restored and living in the deepest peace, may be; yet Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Pharaz, Cush, and Phut are not utopian nations, but the names of historical tribes of whose existence there is no doubt, although their settlements lie outside the known civilised world. ”