done, the
ligatures of the winding-sheet were untied, and another prayer, called
the _talkhi_, was pronounced. The twelve Imams, in rotation, were then
invoked; and the talkhi being again read, the grave was covered in.
After this, the _Fatheh_ (the first chapter of the Koran) was repeated
by all present, and the grave having been sprinkled over with water, the
whole assembly dispersed, to meet again at the house of the deceased. A
priest remained at the head of the grave, praying.

I was now called upon to act a part. I had become the principal
personage in the tragedy, and an involuntary thought stole into my mind.

'Ah,' said I, 'the vow which I made upon first seeing the city must now
be performed, whether I will or no. I must spend boldly, or I shall be
esteemed an unnatural son'; therefore, when I returned to the house, I
blindly ordered every thing to be done in a handsome manner.

Two rooms were prepared, one for the men, the other for the women.
According to the received custom, I, as chief mourner, gave an
entertainment to all those who had attended the funeral; and here my
sheep and my pilau were not forgotten. I also hired three mollahs, two
of whom were appointed to read the Koran in the men's apartment, and the
other remained near the tomb, for the same purpose, inhabiting a small
tent, which was pitched for its use. The length of the mourning, which
lasts, according to the means of the family, three, five, seven days, or
even a month, I fixed at five days, during which each of the relations
gave an entertainment. At the end of that period, some of the elders,
both men and women, went round to the mourners, and sewed up their rent
garments, and on that day I was again invited to give an entertainment,
when separate sheets of the Koran were distributed throughout the whole
assembly, and read by each individual, until the whole of the sacred
volume had been completely gone through.

After this my mother, with several of her relations and female friends,
I proceeded in a body to my father's tomb, taking with them sweetmeats
and baked bread for the purpose, which they distributed to the poor,
having partaken thereof themselves. They then returned, weeping and
bewailing.

Two or three days having elapsed, my mother's friends led her to the
bath, where they took off her mourning, put her on a clean dress, and
dyed her feet and hands with the khenah.

This completed the whole of the ceremonies: and, much t