This is often the case in a Mohammedan country, the meaning being that the figure and face should be shrouded and veiled.

But in presence of Rex and Dido there is no sign of the light look or laugh; on the contrary, there is rather the respectful gesture of, 'The road is free to thee.' The vivid imagination of the Persian pictures the group as personifying the Imperial arms, the Lady with the Royal guard, the Lion of Iran.
Before the warriors of the Mehdi made the term 'dervish' better known, it was commonly understood to signify a beggar.

But though the derivation is 'before the door,' yet this does not mean begging from door to door.

The dervish originally was a disciple who freed himself from all family ties, and set forth without purse or scrip to tell of a new faith among a friendly people, and to tarry here or there as a welcome guest.

In due course he developed into a regular soldier of the Church, and as schisms arose and the fires of religious animosities were kindled, various orders of fighting fanatics, calling themselves dervishes, sprang into existence.