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(235) similar to this of Vathek. Vol. I. p. 268. Vol. II. p. 228.

This was both the supreme council and court of justice, at which the caliphs of the race of the Abassides assisted in person, to redress the injuries of every appellant. D'Herbelot, p. 298.

Vazir, vezir, or as we express it, vizir, literally signifies a porter; and, by metaphor, the minister who bears the principal burthen of the state, generally called the sublime Porte.

Valid, the son of Abdalmalek, was the first who erected a minaret, or turret; and this he placed on the grand mosque at Damascus; for the meuzin, or crier, to announce from it, the hour of prayer. This practice has constantly been kept to this day. D'Herbelot, p. 576.