65 Preface طَلعُها كَأَنَّهُ رُءوسُ الشَّياطينِAli Quli QaraiIts spathes are as if they were devils’ heads.1 ‘The devil’s head’ is either a purely imaginative metaphor, or a simile that likens the spathes of the Zaqqūm tree to that of an Arabian plant by this name, or to certain rocks to be found around the city of Makkah which were called ‘the devils’ heads’ because of their hideous appearance.