o

.some friendly intercourse, lie said: " To a true be-
6 c liever, it is necessary to acknowledge Mosaylima as
•*' the bringer of the true intelligence and a prophet;
" and if one does not so, his faith is not the true."
For a confirmation of this assertion, he adduced as
evidence some verses of the Koran, and said: c< Mu-
" .saylima was in the divine mission a partner of the
" dignity of the prophetic asylum, Muhammed, in
"' the same manner as Harun was with Moses."
He further maintained: "Two prophets are required
c< as being witnesses, and evidence wants two per-
'c sons, and if there be more, so much the better."
He then highly extolled his virtues and miracles,
such as his calling the moon until she came down
and before the eyes of his companions sat down on
his lap;4 as his going to dry trees, and praying so,

though the author says (Vol. IT. p. 364), that he was in 1053 (1643) in
Lahore, which is about 1200 miles distant from Tus, his visiting, the same
year, both towns, is far from impossible. In the same year, we find him
in Kirtpilr, in the mountainous part of the Panjab (ibid., p. 416), and in
Kabul, which is on the road from Lahore to Tus.

1 The moon acts a conspicuous part in the prestigious exhibitions of
magicians. There appeared during the reign of Muhammed Mahadi, the
third khalif of the Abbasides, from the year of the Hejira 158 to 169
(A. D. 774-785), in the town of Nekhshab, in Khorassan, an impostor,
called Hakem ben Has ham, whose surname was Sazindah mah, " moon-
*' maker." Having but one eye, he used to hide his deformity under a
silver veil, or mask, whence he was called al Mokanna, " covered by a
" veil." So concealed, he pretended nobody could bear the effulgence of
his face, like that of God himself. At the head of a numerous party, he
was not without difficulty reduced by the ruling Khalif. Hakem's par-