form of a turban, of which he sometimes let the end dangle down between his blessed shoulders. He wore the turban either over a white cap, or without it; and at times contented himself with the white cap only. Occasionally he also wore a black turban, e.g., as some say, on the day of the conquest of Mecca. The biographers indeed do not state the exact length of his turban-cloth, but a number of Hanifa Imams affirm that, for every day, it was seven ells, and for Fridays and feast-days, twelve ells long. When he anointed his blessed head, he covered it with a towel, lest any of the unguent should soil his other clothes.

Uns Ibn Malik narrates that that prince often only wore a shirt and a cloth over it. The shirt-sleeves reached to his wrists or to the top of his fingers, and were rather wide. The shirts were either with or without buttons.

That prince's mantle was four ells long, or, according to another account, two ells; or two ells and a handbreadth; or, according to later traditionists, six ells, with a width of three ells and a handbreadth. On certain occasions, such as feasts, or at the reception of ambassadors, he wore most costly robes; and once a grandee presented him with a cloak for which he had paid 30 camels. Once a silk robe, bordered with bells, was sent him for a present; but when that prince came to prayers in it, Gabriel intimated to him that it was unlawful, whereupon that prince quickly took it off, and cast it aside with disdain.

He wore a seal on the little finger of his right hand; but it is also recorded that he wore it on the little finger of his left hand. Either is lawful; but according to the Hanifa Imams, it is better to wear it on the left; and according to the Shafi Imams it is more correct to wear it on the right hand. He wore the seal with its flat part inside the hand; and sometimes went out with a thread tied to it, to help him in remembering some important matter. After the Prophet, that seal was taken possession of by Abu Bekr; and after him by Omar; and after him by Othman; from whose hand, after being worn for six years, it dropped into a well whence it could never be recovered. It is said, that this circumstance turned away people's hearts from Othman, and opened the door of sedition.

That prince also wore sandals, made of tanned ox-hide and provided with two leather straps; but sometimes he walked barefoot. The author of the Rawzat ul Ahbab states in his work that he possessed an exact copy on paper of his apostolic Excellency's sandals, with the places of his five toes severally marked. The renowned Khoja Abu Nasr, that cream of traditionists, that model of men of research, and proof of law, piety, and religion, had written upon it, in his own noble handwriting, that it represented the exact size of the sandals of the Apostle of God, according to an uninterrupted chain of traditional testimony, and that the following are amongst the tried blessings of the copy of those exalted sandals: 'If any one always carries it with him, he will become loved, and appreciated amongst men, and will certainly visit the Prophet, or see him in a dream, which is of the same virtue as if he had seen him actually; and if a soldier wears that copy, he will never be routed; and if a caravan wears it, it will never be plundered; and if a merchant wears it, he will meet with fortune and success; and whosoever wears it, he will never be drowned; and whosoever puts himself under the protection of one who wears it, he will surely be accepted and remain exempt from trouble and distress, and only find pleasure.' ¹

(2.) His Habits as regards Eating and Drinking.

The Prophet observed no ceremony in eating, but partook of any good food that had been prepared; and sometimes he would get up and fetch himself what was to be eaten or drunk. Before eating he said, 'In the name of God,' and requested his friends to do the same; and if they happened to forget it, before a meal, they were to say at its conclusion, 'In the name of God, for the first and for the last.' He ate with the three fingers of his right hand. He always took what lay just before him, except when there were fresh and dried dates, or a certain soup, in which case he would take from any part of the dish that which he liked. Sometimes he made use of his four fingers in eating. But he never ate with only two fingers, saying that Satan was eating thus.