Zakat

“ The last named is called "zakát," the expenditure of which is not permissible to the payer himself. The "zakát," has to be paid into a fund under the supervision of a committee, who make use of it for eight different purposes as laid down in the Qur-án in this wise:—
"Alms are only for the poor and the needy, and the officials (appointed over) them, and those whose hearts are made to incline to truth and the ransoming of captives, and those in debt and in the way of Allah: an ordinance from Allah, and Allah is Knowing, Wise". ”

“ Honey, fruit, grain, &c., although less than five camel [221] loads, [228] must according to Imám Abu Hanífa pay one-tenth; but the Sáhibain and Imám Sháfa'í say that if there is less than the five camel loads no Zakát is required. The Prophet said: "If produced on land naturally watered one-tenth is due, if on land artificially irrigated one-twentieth." As he said nothing about the quantity, the Hanífites adduce the fact of the omission as a proof on their side.
The Zakát should be given to the classes of person mentioned in the following verse. ”

“ At the time when Herod [1] was king in Judaea [2] , there lived, in a small city in the hill-country, a priest named Zachary, whose wife was called Elizabeth. They were both just before God, and walked blamelessly [3] in all the commandments of the Lord. They had no children [4] ; this was a cause of great affliction to them. They often prayed that God would give them a son; but their prayer seemed to remain unanswered, as they were both now advanced [5] in years.
It so happened that Zachary went to Jerusalem, when his turn came to perform the priestly office [6] . ”

“ And Herod said unto him, “If thou dost not bring thy son unto me I myself will slay thee”; but Zacharias was not afraid of him. And Herod told his soldiers to slay Zacharias, and they slew him between the sanctuary and the altar; and God hid his body and his blood became like unto stone. And when the priests and the people were coming to prayer according to their wont, one of the priests arrived and went into the sanctuary, and he found the blood and he heard a voice which cried out in the altar, saying, “Zacharias the son of Berachiah hath been slain” ”

“ Whilst Zac was speaking thus, his eyes fired with animation, and his face beaming with excitement, the princesses thought they had never seen him look so handsome. But when his words showed them that their efforts to wean his heart from their younger sister had been unsuccessful, rage gradually took possession of their souls.
"You despise our love!" they both cried out at once. "You, a mere peasant boy, who was only taken into the palace out of charity, you dare to say that you despise our beauty and ourselves, and take up with that little lump of deformity, Belinda! ”

“ The evilness of thy days shall bring down the Zeedians on thee as the suns of springtide bring the avalanche down. They shall do unto Zaccarath as the avalanche doth unto the hamlets of the valley." When the queens chattered or tittered among themselves, he merely raised his voice and still spake on: "Woe to these walls and the carven things upon them. The hunter shall know the camping-places of the nomads by the marks of the camp-fires on the plain, but he shall not know the place of Zaccarath."
A few of the recumbent warriors turned their heads to glance at the prophet when he ceased. ”

“ He's a bit of a fool at doing most things is Zack, but he's got a gift for jollifications. I couldn't point to where it is myself. Zack's just to come and moon about and drop a word into an ear there and take a woman's arm here and the thing's done. You might call it a knack he has.
THOMAS. He mellers things. That's where it is. It's like this, Mrs. Munning. You can eat cheese without supping ale to it, but you don't get satisfaction. And Paul can run a wedding without Zack being there, but it's not hearty—not what I'd call a jollification. It's stiff and hard. ”

“ Zadig, warned by experience, kept silence; but notwithstanding, it was proved—or at least, they said so—that Zadig had been looking out of the window when the man went by, and for this crime he was sentenced by the judges to pay five hundred ounces of gold.
'Good gracious!' he murmured to himself as, according to the custom of Babylon, he thanked the court for its indulgence. 'What is one to do? It is dangerous to stand at your own window, or to be in a wood which the king's horse and the queen's dog have passed through. ”

“ Zac, and to tell you the latest news."
"To see me!" exclaimed the astonished boy. "Well, you must be the best mouse that ever was born to come and take pity upon a poor prisoner like me. And since you can talk so well, perhaps you will kindly inform me what news it is you have to tell."
"King Fridolin is very, very angry with you, Mr. Zac," replied the mouse. ”

“ This occurred about the end of the first year of Zac's residence in the palace, and was really the beginning to him of another existence. For King Fridolin was so pleased with the alteration in the youth, that he thought he should like to see more of him. Having no son of his own, why should not the future husband of one of his daughters be as a son to him? Thus the result of his great idea might turn out altogether fortunate, and he should have conferred a benefit upon himself as well as Belinda after all. ”

“ Thus, having arrived at the Scythian monasteries, he asked to be brought before the ancient monk Akenthia, to whom he frankly told the mission of his journey. The grey-bearded, morosely frowning old monk Akenthia, accepted Zakhar without comment. And Zakhar stayed, not just a year, but three. He emerged from the monasteries a new man, his love for his people increased to even greater proportions, his words flowing cogently, calmly, intelligently and to the point, self-assured in their knowledge, crystal-clear pearls of wisdom; but against deceit, untruth, biting sharp as a razor. ”

“ Whosoever does not leave a son to be heir, God will heap wrath upon him. (Scripture is quoted in proof of this, compare Numb. xxvii. 8 with Zeph. i. 15.) (Bava Bathra, fol. 116, col. 1.)
"There are two ways before me, one leading into Paradise, the other into Hell." When Yochanan, the son of Zachai, was sick unto death, his disciples came to visit him; and when he saw them he wept, upon which his disciples exclaimed, "Light of Israel! Pillar of the right! Mighty Hammer! why weepest thou?" ”

“ Zadig directed his course along the frontiers of Assyria, still musing on the unhappy Astarte, and reflecting on the severity of fortune which seemed determined to make him the sport of her cruelty and the object of her persecution.
“What,” said he to himself, “four hundred ounces of gold for having seen a spaniel! condemned to lose my head for four bad verses in praise of the king! ready to be strangled because the queen had shoes of the color of my bonnet! reduced to slavery for having succored a woman who was beat! ”

“ And they that are far off, shall come and shall build in the temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me to you. But this shall come to pass, if hearing you will hear the voice of the Lord your God.
Zacharias Chapter 7
The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from sin.
7:1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu. ”

“ Now, however, you know the secret of Zac's gentle manners and general good behaviour, which, whenever you observe in a boy, you may be perfectly sure that he is either the son of a king, or of somebody else. The continuous and cruel hatred of Nuisancenika has carried her to such a pitch, that she has come here to-day to gratify her vengeance, and feast her murderous old eyes upon the death of this poor boy, and the sufferings of your youngest daughter. ”

“ These words apparently soothed Zakhar. He sat down again and turning to the boyar, said, “We have heard your convictions, Boyarin. Please do not repeat them here before us again, but keep them exclusively to yourself. Let us now tell you what we think of your king. Harken to our impression but do not be offended by it! You will understand yourself why we cannot consider him as a sovereign father and protector!”
“A father knows his own child, its needs and desires, but your king does not know us nor wants to know us. A chief or ruler guards his charges from enemies and from all harm. ”

“ Zac did not know how to answer.
"I do love you," at length he said, "as the Princess Belinda's sister, and therefore one who will some day be my sister too!"
"Ah!" sighed Concaterina, "but I want more than that, you dear boy. Belinda, indeed! you are much too good for her, poor ill-favoured, child! How happy we could be together, Zac. You don't think me ugly, do you?" ”

“ Then how very unpleasant it would be to feel the adders, creeping all over you with their cold, slimy touch, and then stinging you to death at their leisure afterwards. Or how painful and distressing to feel the wasps and flies biting and stinging you, cheerfully buzzing about to look out for a tender place. Oh, it would be a horrible death to die! I should strongly advise you to marry Concaterina and escape such a fate!"
"What!" exclaimed Zac, "do you come here pretending to be a friend of mine, and advise me to be false to Belinda and break my plighted word? ”

“ But Zack felt easier when he had completed it—easier still when he had actually dropped it into the post-office along with his other letter to Mr. Valentine Blyth.
The next duty that claimed him was the first great duty of civilized humanity—the filling of an empty purse. Most young gentlemen in his station of life would have found the process of pawning a watch in the streets of London, and in broad daylight, rather an embarrassing one. But Zack was born impervious to a sense of respectability. ”

“ Old Zack Strong was not one of those men who can distinguish between boyish high spirits and what he would have termed "downright pesky cussedness." In this latter quality, indeed, he believed both his grandsons—Ned, and his dead second son's offspring, Herc,—to be plentifully endowed. Not naturally bad-hearted, however, the old man had assumed the care of the cousins on the death of their parents, but even with his act of adoption there came the thought to his frugal mind: "They'll be a great help 'round the farm." ”

“ Zack Foster, Effendi, dined in lonely grandeur at a table apart, with a Nubian servant of his own. Zack dined diligently. Said slunk outside along the darkened avenue and peeped over the mud wall to see what his master was about. Then he scurried back and reported to other Arabs beyond the gates, "He breaks no bread with the unbeliever. He eats alone. May Allah burn my eyes if I speak not truth." ”

“ Queen Astarte and the famous minister Zadig were extremely fond of them.”
Zadig, transported, said, “What, knowest thou nothing of the queen’s fate?”
“No, my lord,” replied the fisherman; “but I know that neither the queen nor Zadig has paid me for my cream cheeses; that I have lost my wife, and am now reduced to despair.”
“I flatter myself,” said Zadig, “that thou wilt not lose all thy money. I have heard of this Zadig; he is an honest man; and if he returns to Babylon, as he expects, he will give thee more than he owes thee. Believe me, go to Babylon. ”

“ As for Saccard he began to realise his dream; he received great financiers, Monsieur Toutin-Laroche and Monsieur de Lauwerens; and great politicians also, Baron Gouraud and Deputy Haffner; his brother the minister had even condescended to come two or three times to consolidate his position by his presence. And yet like his wife he experienced nervous anxiety, a disquietude which lent a strange sound of broken window panes to his laughter. He became so ungovernable, so scared, that his acquaintances remarked, "That devil of a Saccard! he makes too much money, it will end by driving him mad!" ”

“ Valentine Blyth’s idea of teaching his pupil to be steady, by teaching him to draw!—this furious young gentleman was no other than Mr. Zachary Thorpe, Junior, of Baregrove Square.
“Damn you all, you cowardly counter-jumping scoundrels!” roared Zack, his eyes aflame with valor, generosity, and gin-and-water. “What do you mean by setting on one man in that way? Hit out, sir—hit out right and left! I saw you insulted; and I’m coming to help you!”
With these words Zack tucked up his cuffs, and jumped into the crowd about him. ”

“ These dogs never barked, and Zack distrusted their intentions; he was scared of dogs that didn't bark and niggers that didn't brag. It gave Zack a crick in the neck trying to watch all the dogs at once. Eagerly he looked around for a brickbat. Bricks don't grow in the desert, and Zack hated to fool away his time throwing loose sand. He couldn't run from those limber-legged gallinippers, so he slapped about him with his wide brimmed hat, and yelled, and yelled, and yelled.
A black speck straightened up from in front of a ragged tent. ”

“ The king flew into a violent passion, threw both his boots with an unerring aim at the head of Lord Pompous, and vowed that the world must certainly be coming to an end. When the courtiers had all agreed to this as a novel but most reasonable remark, he called them a parcel of fools for thinking such a thing at all probable, and ordered Zac to be immediately arrested. When told of what he was accused, the poor boy was almost beside himself with grief. He was sorry enough for the trouble he was in, and for that which might fall upon Belinda in consequence ”