The Nāṣirī Generations 276.7

276.7

Trustworthy persons have related that the most common and violent manner in which the pestilence affected the people of the fort of Ok of Sistan was this, that their mouths would begin to ache, and their teeth to become loose, and, on the third day, they used to resign their lives to their Creator. The state of the people of the fortress continued in this way until, suddenly, a woman among the inhabitants thereof became attacked with the aching of the mouth, and, on the second day, her teeth became loose. She had a little daughter, and, on the third night, she called her unto her, seated her by her, and said: “My dear! to-night I will anoint thy hands and feet with hinna with mine own hands, for to-morrow is the third day, and the hour of thy mother’s decease.” With this view she applied hinna to the hands and feet of her little daughter. It is usual with women that, when they apply hinna to the hands and feet of any one, they apply the fingers to the tongue in order that the fingers may be moistened with the saliva of their mouths, and then they apply the hinna to the part to be dyed. Having applied the hinna to her little daughter’s hands and feet, she resigned her heart to death, and went to sleep. In the morning, the woman’s teeth had become firmly fixed at the roots, and the aching of the mouth had entirely passed away. When the third day came and passed, the neighbours and acquaintances found her recovered, and, on the fourth day, she had become quite well again.