The Dabistan Or School Of Manners

THfc

DABISTAJN,

MANNERS,

TiiANaLATET) THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN,

AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

DAVID SHEA,

OF '!!' fR,' TVJ W'PV!U5FAT IIS THI HONUllABll 1' WF

AND

ANTHONY TROYER,

J1IEMI][,TI OV 1SER,0AL AS1A11C 'jOCIlVflhS OF ^r VI \MT\I\ ,-, \ % IRILAM),O1 C VI i II IT

ftblTEB, WITH X 1'r.Fl^l "V* ^ \ :\:1,T BSl- \ THE ATI EH

VOLUAIK 111.

iOiS TIIL OiilENFU r i H IM, VTloM ' U\ T I)

THE DABISTAN,

SCHOOL OF MANNERS.

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE SADIKIAHS.

These sectaries are followers of Mimylnmi The
people of hhm, " the irue faith/' quality Mway-

* In the before quoted Memoir of H. T Colebrooke (As. Res., vol. VII
p. 342), we read, as taken from the account of Niirukah of Sinister, what
follows* vt The Sadiht'yahs are a tribe of the faithful in Hindustan,
" pious men, and disciples of Sayyad Cabiru 'ddm, \vho derived his
14 descent fiom Ismail, son of imam Jafer. This tribe is denominated
44 Sadikiyahs, by reason of the ' sincere' (sadik) call of that Sayyad
4 'Although that appellation have, according to received notions, a
u seeming relation to Abii bcki, whose partisans give him this title; yet
" it is probable that the sect assumed that appellation for the sake of
" concealment However no advantage ever accrues to them from it:
" on the contraiy, the arrogant inhabitants of Hind, who are fftndms*
u being retainers of the son of the impious Hind (meaning Hmda, th<>
" mother of Maviyeh), have discovered their attachment to the sect ol
4k Shiahs, and have revived against them the calumnies which, five hundred
a years before, they broached against the Ism&ilahs They maliciously
\, in. 1

2

lima as " the Liar." 1 These sectaries call them-
selves 'cikoRalundnwk , as they gave to Musaylinia the
tide ofRihM) ^ commiserator ; v ' they assert, that the
words : Bwmlla hirrelnno mrrehim, " in the name of
" the bountiful and merciful God," relate to him,
that is a God is the merciful Musaylima Muham-
rned liuli, the man so named, contracted friendship
v> iih die author of tins work in the year of the He-
jira 1055 (A. D 1645) at the holy sepulchre. 2 After

' w charge them with impiety Such is indeed their ancient practice.
* * " * * * In short, nearly thirty thousand persons of this
" sect are settled in provinces of Hindustan, such as Multan, Lah6te,
'* Delhi, and Gujrat. Most of them subsist by commerce; they pay the
1 fifth part of their gains to the descendants of Say y ad Cabtr, who are
" their priests: and both preceptor and pupil, priest and layman, all are
" zealous Shiahs. ***"

It will be evident that the author of the Dabistan speaks of a sect
\vhich bears the same name, but which owns another founder and another
Koran, although possessing some tenets common to other sects.

1 Musaylima once professed the creed of Muhammed, before whom he
appeared as one of the deputies sent by the tribe Henaifa, when they
offered their submission to the prophet. But in A. D., 631 Musaylima
declared himself a prophet in the country of Yaraama, and gained a
great number of followers, he dared even offer himself in a letter to Mu-
hammed, as a partner of his prophetic mission, but received a refusal,
with this address: " From Muhammed, the Apostle of God, to Mosaj-
" lima, the Liar."

2 J^*ws , Mashhad, signifies propei ly any place where a martyr has
been boned, and is particularly applied to the burying places of Imams,
such as that of Kerbela, near Kufa, before mentioned But the town of
Tiib, in Khorassan, has almost exchanged its proper name for that of
Mashhad, 4l sepulchre," because the Imam Risa, son of Mussa al Kha-
dem, was buried near that place. Is it that which is meant above? Al-

some friendly intercourse, he said: " To a true be-
" t liever, it is necessary to acknowledge Musaylima as
4 * the bringer of the true intelligence and a prophet ;
4i 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-
46 saylima was in the divine mission a partner of the
66 dignity of the prophetic asylum, Muhammed, in
" the same manner as Harun was with Moses "
He further maintained : "Two prophets are required
Cl as being witnesses, and evidence wants two per-
( * 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 ; ' as his going to dry trees, and praying so,

though the authoi says (Vol. II. p. 364), that he was in 1053 (1643) in
Lahore, win cli 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 Kirtpur, in the mountainous part of the Panjab (ibtd , p. 416), and m
Kabul, \\hich is on the road from Lahore to Tus

1 The moon acts a conspicuous part in the prestigious exhibitions ot
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), m the town of Nekhshab, in Khorassan, an impostor,
called Hakem ben Has ham, whose surname was Sastndah inah, " moon-
" maker." Having but one eye, he used to hide his deformity under <\
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-

lhat tlicy all became green ; as having, when a new-
born child, given testimony of his prophetic gift, so
that a class of noble persons professed their faith in
his divine mission. That man besides said, that the
Koran isMuhainmed's miracle, by which he bound
the tongue of emulation to all the eloquent men of
Arabia; and in like manner the Almighty God sent to
Musaylima a book, which they call the first FMk,
" separator ;" this also became a binder of tongues
to the eloquent ; and no man, except Muhammed
and Musaylima, is capable of understanding these two
books, the reading of which affords salvation in this
and in the other world ; but to expound them is a
great crime. The Almighty God bestowed upon
Musaylima the favor of another necessary and vener-
able book,entitled " the second Fariik," to the com-
mands of which it is indispensable to conform our
actions. What Muhammed had revealed is all
truth, and Musayliraa, too, chose his way in that
direction ; if some precepts of the latter and his
celestial book are contrary to the statements of Mu-
hammed, it is because Musaylima survived Muham-
med ' ('upon whom be peace !), and cancelled some

ticular mode of suicide will be adverted to in a note at the end of chap-
ter VIII.

1 Muhammed died on the 8th June, A. D 632; Musaylima did not
long survive him. He was killed, with ten thousand of his soldiers, under
the reign of Abu-bekr, m A. D. 632, in a battle against Khaled, the son
of Valid, who was sent with an army against him. Although the party

of them by the command of God, as in like manner,
during Muhammed's life, some of his precepts havo
been obliterated. The man quoted from the hea-
venly book of Musayhma the following words :
" Adopt the belief (0 men !) that our God is the God
c< of the world, and know, that he is the Creator of
" the universe and of its inhabitants; that he is
^ above the creatures, none of whom Is like him;
lt say not, that he has no body ; for it may be that
4 ' he has a body, although not one like a body of his
4C creatures: hand, eye, and ear of God are men-
" tioned in the Furkan 1 which came from Muham-
" med ; and what is stated in the first Fanik, which
44 is the book of Musaylima, is all truth; but the
" hand, the eye, and the ear of God are not like the
" hand and foot, and eye and ear of the creatures.
4 c Thus faith is required for an intercourse with God,
44 and contemplation of the Creator ; yet, whatever
*' was found existing can be seen, but the vision of
cc the eye, and the want of it, ought not to be taken
< k in a confined sense, as faith is to be entertained
' ' that God shows himself to his servants in whatever
" manner he wills." The man further proceeded
to say: "Avoid discussions about antiquity, tra-

of the new prophet appeared then crushed, yet we see by the account of
theDabistan, that its doctrine maintained itself as late as the seventeenth
century of our era.

1 Fuikan, separating, discriminating, is another name for the Koran;
and signifies any sacicd book discriminating the right from \\rong.

*< ditiou, and duration, and the evanescence or de-

" struction of the world, because the world is the

ct creation of God, and as to the last judgment and

' 6 resurrection after death, attach your faith to them,

" and he confident that you shall be raised to life,

" and in that fix your thoughts, that it will be with

41 the same or another body, in this or in another

" house, to heaven or to hell, to beatitude and re-

" pose, to recompense or punishment ; attach your

ic faith to this, and avoid diving too deep into it,

4< whether it will be in this or in another habitation ;

" believe in the angels of God, but say not that they

1 have wings and feathers, or that, although this

4t form be not essential to them, they nevertheless

4i show themselves in this form, and know that good

:i and bad, fine and ugly, are existing ; but do not

44 say, that this is good and that bad ; for that which

" you call bad may bs good, and inversely: but

" whatever is commanded, that do. 1 ' The man

proceeded to say : < In the time of Muhammed no

" Kiblah was fixed: men turned their faces some-

" times towards Jerusalem, sometimes towards the

" Kabah of Mecca, and sometimes towards any

" other place After Muhammed, his companions

" established by force that Kabah should be the

' ' Kiblah After Muhammed it was ordered by Mu-

"' sayliina, that turning the face towards the greal

" altar, or any determined object, is impiety, and a

44 sign of infidohl)', because as no figure of whatever
u likeness from among living beings ought So be
" made a Kiblah, why should It be permitted io
" make a Kiblah of a house ^ Further, at the time
4C of prayer, one may turn his lace to whatever side
" he chooses, provided it be with this intention:
' ' I address myself to thee, who hath neither side nor
" figure/' At the three daily prayers which Musay-
lima has prescribed, the worshipper turns his face to
no particular side: so if he turned himself at midday-
prayer to the east, before sunset he prays towards
the west ; never towards a fixed place, nor to a fixed
house, because this is infidelity. These sectaries
do not call the Kabah 4< the house of God," as the
Almighty God has no house, otherwise he would
have a body. They do not use the prayers of the
Sunnites, as prayer with them is that which God
has prescribed, and not that which the prophet
likes. When they feel a desire to worship God,
they read the divine words, and then reassume their
work ; but in their prayer,, they never pronounce
the name of the prophet ; because it is contrary to
sound doctrine to mix the veneration of a creature
with the service of God, and in the prayer nothing
comes upon their tongue but the word of God, not
even the sayings of the prophet. Moreover, this
sect prays three times a day ; for, of the five pray-
ers ordered by Muhmmed, Musaylima, by God's com-

8

mand dispensed with the evening and morning
prayer to Sahdh, [ his wife, who was a prophetess,
and sent to the people as the reward of an excel-
lent genius : this was one of the suitable favors of
the Lord to Musayliina, who himself was a pro-
phet, and his mate, also a prophetess.

As to what is said, that God commanded Iblis to
adore Adam, and that, because he disobeyed, Iblis
was expelled from the celestial court 2 this tale is
impious ; because God does not command prostra-
tion before another object, nor induce any body to
undue worship, as he did not create Iblis for the
purpose of throwing men into error. In the second

1 Thomas Erpemus, the translator of Elmactn, calls her Thesjjazis
(Hist. Saracemca, p. 19) ; her true name was Stjah, the daughter of Haret,
of the tribe of the Tamitmtes, or Taalabites, according to Elmacin (Aoco
citato). She declared herself a prophetes^ and gained ascendancy in the
country of Bahrein, along the south-western shores of the Peisian gulf,
and in almost, the whole tract between Mecca and Bassora She offered
herself as> wife to the new prophet, in Yamaraa, who married her, but she
soon abandoned him (See Abulfeda, vol. I. pp. 208, 209 )

2 We find in the Koran, chap II v. 28, the following passage: "When
thy Lord said unto the angels : I am going to place a substitute on earth,
they said: Wilt thou place there one that will do evil therein, and shed
blood ' but \\e celebrate thy praise, and sanctify thee God answered:
Verily, I know that which ye know not. 29. And he taught Adam the
names of all things, and then proposed them to the angels, and said :
Declare unto me the names of these things, if ye say truth 30. They
answered: Praise be unto thee; we have no knowledge but what thou
teaihest us, for thou art knowing and wise. 31. God said- 0,Adam ! tell
them their names. God said : Did I not tell you that I know the secrets
of heaven and earth ; and know that what ye discover, and that which ye

9

Fiinik, ii is staled dial Iblis docs ool exist ; the
Almighty Godi>avc man free choice, and die faculty
of acting well or ill : wherefore he takes account of
his good and bad conduct.

This sect also maintains that, for marriage, neither
witnesses nor ceremonies are required; acquiescence
and agreement of two persons in a retired place are
sufficient. Further, although in the time of Muham-
med ( the blessing and peace of God be upon him ! )
it was permitted to ask in marriage the daughter of
relations,, such as that of a paternal or maternal
uncle, yet, after Muhammed, it was prohibited ; like-
wise, connexion between consanguineous individu-
als, which was wont of old> became forbidden in
Muhammed's time. By Musaylima came the corn-
conceal? -32 And when he said unto the angels: Worship Adam; they
all worshipped him, except Ibhs, who refused, s and was puffed up with
pride, and became of the number of unbelievers In Chapter VII. v. 11.
God said unto him: What hindered thee from worshipping Adam, since
I commanded thce? He answered: I am more excellent than he; thou
hast created me of fire, and hast created him of clay. 12. God said :
Get thee down therefore from paradise: for it is not fit that thou behave
thyself pi oudly therein; get thee hence; thou shalt be one of the con-
temptible. 13. He answered: Give me respite until the day of resurrec-
tion V 14. God said : Verily, thou shall be one of those who are respited.
15. The devil said : Because thou hast degraded me, I will wait for
men in thy strait way. 16. Then I will come upon them from before
and from behind, and from their right hand and from their left, and thou
shalt not und the greater part of them thankful. 17. God said unto him:
Get thee hence, despised, and driven far away ; verily, whoever of them
.shall follow thee, T will surely fill hell \vith you all, etc , etc.

(Sale's Translation }

10

mand of God to lake io wife the daughter of one,
between whom and the suitor not the least relation-
ship is known. To contract marriage with more
than one woman is not legal, but if any one wishes
more, he may take another on the condition of tem-
porary cohabitation.

To purify before prayer with sand or dust, when
water cannot be had, is not right.

When one possesses a slave, male or female., who
is an unbeliever, this slave, adopting the true faith,
becomes free without requiring the leave of his
master.

Whatever animal feeds upon filth which pollutes,
this to eat is not allowable. Domestic fowls are
not to be eaten, because they are winged pigs.

Musaylima forbade to keep the fast of Ramezan,
but instead of this he prescribed the fast at night,,
in such a manner that, from sunset to sunrise, no-
thing may be eat nor drunk ; and also abstinence
from sexual intercourse.

Moreover, he abolished circumcision, for avoiding
resemblance with the Jews. He prohibited all
intoxicating liquors, such as those produced from
the palm-tree, opium., nuts, and thelike.

Muhammed Kuli used to read much in the second
Fariik, the book of Musaylima, which, having col-
lected., he recited, and said : this doctrine came to
me from m\ father and im ancestors, who enjoyed

II

the noble society of Musayhma. lie said and en-
joined that, after the birth of a son, the first observ-
ance is not to approach one's wife ; die woman and
man ought lo turn their mind to God, and if one
cannot effect it, he ought at least not to see his wife
but once a day. According to the second Fanik, it
is allowable to have intercourse with another wo-
man, inasmuch as it is another sort of contract.
Muhammed Kuli said : " I saw Musaylima repeal-
ic edly in dreams, in which he disclosed what was
" unknown to me, and said: When by orders of
tc Abu-bekr, Musaylima underwent the death of a
tc martyr, and other Khalifs were movers of this
" event, therefore the Almighty God made them
44 suffer the curse of mankind ; in the same manner
" as he threw the Jews, on account of the murder
ct of Jesus, into error and perdition.

' ' The murderers of Musaylima are liars and vil-
44 lains, and so are the murderers of Said Al Sha-
4 < haiHamzah." 1

1 Ham/ah was an uncle of Muhammed, and one of the first abettors of
the prophet, he \vas killed bv a servant of the Hubcslu race, called Yah-
shi, in the battle of Bedr fought by Muhammed against the Korei&h, in
the thud year of the Hejira (A. D t>24) ; the same Vahbhi killed Miu>a>-
hma with the same spear with which he had pierced Hamza (Abul-
/to, >ol I. pp 93,213).

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE UEL1GION OF THE VA HAD! A H AND 1MANA ,
IN FOIR SECTIONS

SECTION! Of the appearance of the Individual Yahcd, and an account

of his person

SECTION II Upon some of the tenets of Yahed
SECTION III Upon some of the sayings of Vahed
SECTION IV Upon certain customs, forms of speech, and traditions* ot

this sect

SECTION I. Of the appearance of the individual
Vahed, and an account of his person.

Vahed Mahmiid was born in Masjuan, a village
in the country of Gilan. ! He was learned, active,
abstinent, austere, and eloquent; he appeared in the
year of the Hejira 600 (A. D. 1205-4). 3 It is said

1 A country between the Caspian and Euxme seas.

2 Herbelot mentions (under the article Giogathai Khan, p. 363) a Mo,h-
mud, surnamed Tardbi, from his native place Tarab, near Bokhara, as an
impostor, who by tricks and false miracles gained so many followers as to
be able to seize upon the town of Bokhara, and to make war upon the
Moghuls, in the year of the Hejira 630 (A. D 1232). This date makes
him a contemporary with the Mahmiid of our text, in which, however,
nothing more is to be found for enabling us to identify the one with the
other. Such was the terror which the name of Mahmud Tarabi inspired,
that the Tartars, being led against his camp, were seized by a panic, and
look to flight, in which many thousands of them were slaughtered by the

13

thai when Muhammad's body had attained a greater

perfection, from it Mahmtid arose:

44 We shall icsuscitate thee in a place Mahrmid 6 praiseworthy.' "

The meaning of it is this : When in an elemental
matter, the energy conjoins in such a manner that
by it an exuberance results in the composition of the
mineral form ; then it may happen that it assumes
such a superior aptness as to invest itsell with a
vegetable guise ; \vhen its faculty and fitness gains a
further increase, then the animal vest adapts itself to
a suitable shape, and becomes worthy, that the
elemental matter, fitted for the dignity of a human
constitution, converges to such an excellence as to
manifest itself in the perfection of mankind. In this
manner, the parts of the human body from the
appearance of Adam were progressing in purity,
until they attained the dignity of a Muhammed, who
is the top of the ladder. In this time, as the per-
fection and purity advanced , Mahmud appeared. On
that account it was said :

u From Muhammed is the flight to Mahmud

"As in the former there is less, and in the latter more (perfection)."

pursuing soldiers of Mahmiid, whilst he himself had been tilled in his
camp, by a landom shot of an arrow from the Tartarian army. But his
death remained concealed, and his friends spread the rumor of his volun-
tary but temporary disappearance, His brothers, Muhammed and All,
were put at the head of the party, which was soon after overthrown by
the Moghuls.

14

And the words which the lord of the prophetic
asylum, Muhammed, addressed to All :

' I and Ah proceed from one light , thy flesh is my flesh, and thy body
** is my body."

have this meaning : that the purity and energy of the
bodily parts were collected in the prophets and the
saints ; and from them the bodies of Muhammed
and Ali were kneaded, in such a manner that the
chosen parts ofMuhammed's and All's bodies being
conjoined and mixed together, the person of Mali-
mud was formed.

SECTION II. AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR TENETS.
The author of this book heard from a person who
was one of the safd, " pure" Durvishes, from the
Burvish Bakai Vahed, from the Durvish Ismail,
and irom Mizza Taki, from Shaikh Latef ilia, and
Shaikh Shahab, who belonged to the Imana, what
follows : Any single person is a being which longs
after earth ; but other elements also exist with an
abhorrence of earth. These sectaries consider the
sun as the spirit of fire, and call it the Kabah of
worship, the fire- temple of obedience to the holy
being. Hakim Khakani says :

l< Kabah of the traveller of heaven,

" zemzem, l sacred well of fire to the world."

1 Zemzem is the name ot a famous \vell at Mecca. According to the

15

They hol<l the heaven to be air, and the moon to
he the spirit of water. They agree upon transmi-
gration in die following manner : when a man dies
and is buried, the component parts of his body
manifest themselves in the shape of minerals or
vegetables, until the latter become the food of ani-
mals, or serve as aliment to mankind. These secta-
ries subjoin: in the food may reside intelligence and
action ; for the dispersed ingredients of a body are
in the food; intelligence and action collect all in

Muhammedans, it was formed from the source which. God made appear
in favor of Ismail and Hagar, his mother, whom Abraham drove from his
house, and obliged to retire to Arabia When afterwards the patriarch
came to visit his banished son Ismail, and built the square temple, called
Kabah, he bestowed upon him the possession of it and the surrounding-
country, since called Mecca. This place became an object of contest be-
tween Ismail's posterity and the Arabian tribe of Jorhamides. The latter,
after having possessed themselves of it, were attacked by the former, but
before yielding it, they threw the sacred black stone, with the two gazelles
of massive gold which an Arabian king had presented to the temple, into
the well, and then completely filled it up. So it remained until the time
of an ancestor of Muharnmed, called Abdal mothleh; he was admonished
by an heavenly voice to clear the well, the situation of which uas at
the same time indicated to him. This was near the idols Assat and
Neilah, which were first to be removed, in spite of their adorers, the
Koraishites. The latter, having ceded the well, claimed to share the
treasuie which Abdal mothleb had found in it. The new contest was to-
be decided by Ebn Said, a famous prophet, who lived on the confines of
Syria. Upon the way to him, through a desert, when both parties were
dying of thirst, a fountain which sprung up beneath the foot of Abdal
raothleb's camel brought about a reconciliation between them ; the well
was cleared; the treasure found was couseciatcd to the temple, \ihich in
after times gained so much celebrity. iMerbelot after Khondevmr.)

1C

one place, where * they experience no dispersion,
although the conformation of the body may be dis-
joined ; whether in the producing of a mineral, a
vegetable, an animal, or a man.* 1 They do not
agree upon the existence of a rational unsubstan-
tial soul. They know of no heaven without the
elements, and believe the necessary original prin-
ciple to be a point of earth. Instead of Bismilla
hirrehma mrrehim, " in the name of the bountiful
and merciful God," they write ct Istedin ba ne fseg
"' %llaz% la illah /wi, u I assist myself of thy essence
which alone is God ;" and instead of Uysa kamil-
hh shay a, c< nothing is like it;" they say Ana merkeb
almabm, " I am the vehicle of him who explains the
" truth/'

SECTION 111. UPON SOME OF THE SAYINGS OF VA'HED.
The Mwdn, c balance," is a book which Vahed
composed with many others ; it is distinguished by
the word naskh and " treatise ;" and each naskh and

1 In ih& translation of this obscure passage between the two asterisks
(edit of Calcutta, p 375, 1. 17, 18) I followed the manuscript of Oude,
which reads a little differently:

JUJ U

treatise has a particular name. In the Mizan, which
is reputed among the naskhs, it is stated, that the
materials of the world existed from the very begin-
ning, which signifies from the first appearance of
afrdd, " rudimental units (monades?)/' which are
primordial, that is to say, the root of the before-said
state, until the lime when these rudimental units,
tempered together, became vegetables ; thence rose
animals, which are called dabtah ul ares, " the rep-
" tiles of the world/' Thus it existed until man was
formed. The first mentioned state might have
extended to sixteen thousand years ; so that eight
thousand years of the said number may be the period
of Arabia, which is the superior, and eight thousand
years the period of Ajem (Persia), which is the infe-
rior period. In the sequel, when the said world,
which is the era of the first mentioned rudimental
units, had been so constituted as to admit the form-
ation of man; then the duration of life, comprising
the period of man, was to be also sixteen thousand
years ; of which eight thousand years should revolve
for eight perfect prophets of Arabia, and other eight
thousand years for eight perfect teachers of Ajem.
Further, when the cycle of the two formations shall
be completed, then the turn of the fundamental units
is to reappear. After twice the said eight thousand,
that is, sixteen thousand years, according to simple
computation, when a perfect cycle of mankind and

18

the world, in sixty-four thousand years, l on condi-
tions exterior and interior, manifest and hidden,
shall have been completed, then an entire period
shall have received the seal.

SECTION IV. ON CERTAIN CUSTOMS, FORMS OF SPEECH,
AND TRADITIONS OF THIS SECT. Mahmud has treatises
and rules conformable to the law of the prophet ;
but he interpreted the Koran according to his own
creed. Of his established customs are the following :
One living in solitude is called vahed, lt recluse." 2

1 The period of rudimental units, vegetables, and

reptiles . , 16,000 yeats.

The period of mankind . 16,000

Both periods 32,000

Multiplied by . .... 2

Total . . . 64,000 years.

2 It is not clear whether above is meant a hermit, or a monk of a
distinct order Monachism is not sanctioned by the strict rule of Islam,
but it appears to be the natural spontaneous growth of Asia. In the
first year of the Hejira (A. D. 622) forty-five citizens of Mecca asso-
ciated ^ith forty-five inhabitants of Medina in a sort of confraternity, and
pledged themselves to community of property, and to a regular daily
performance of religious practices in a spirit of penitence and mortifica-
tion : they >\ ere called Sufis, of ^hom hereafter. Abu bekr and All formed
and presided over similar congregations. The latter conferred the presi-
dency of it, under the mysterious name tfKhilafet, upon Hassan Bas'ri
( mentioned m vol. II p. 389, note 1). Some of their successors deviated
from the rules of this first establishment, and, m the course of time, a
multitude of monastic orders >\ere founded, each headed by a chief called

19

Praises are due to ilie man devoted to this state,
whose whole life is spent in holiness, poverty, and
retirement ; who feels no inclination lor connexion ;
takes little, and no more than necessary, food ; such
a man will rise to perfection, and become a ' c vahed,"
attaining the divine dignity which leads to that of a
" teacher." If the pious person feels himself in-
clined to connexion with a woman, let him enjoy
her once in his whole life ; if he cannot otherwise,
once in one year; if he requires more, once in forty
days ; if this be not enough, once in a month ; if still
more, once in a week.

A vahed is reported to have given the following
information: When one descends from the state of
a man to the state of an irrational animal, or from
that to a vegetable, or from a vegetable becomes a
mineral; in this manner, by reaction of impressions
and dispositions, he receives in each state a mark
(ma/is), which he bears from formation to forma-
tion:

" Fear the intelligence of the believer, because he sees by the light
" of God."

JHr or Shaikh. One of the most celebrated orders was that founded m
the year of the Hejira 37 (A D 657) by Uweis Kami, a native of Karn,
in Yemen. The most distinguished m the Ottoman empire are thirty-
two in number, founded between the years of the Hejira 449 and 1164
(A. D. 776 and 1750). Three of them descend from the congregation ol
Abu bekr, and the rest from that of All fSee Tableau general de I' Em-
pire othoman, tome IV me , l re partie, par d'Ohsson, p, 617 et seq.)

20

Mahs ' in the dictionary is interpreted ' a coin-
" puter," but in the idiom of this tribe it signifies
(as just said) that every individual, in his disposition
and action, bears a vestige of the disposition of a
former state. It is a part of their persuasion, that,
when an individual enters for the first time in a
society, the name of whatever in the three kingdoms
of nature he first brings upon his tongue, is sup-
posed to be the ihsa, or " mark," that in a former
state he had been the very thing the name of which
had fallen from his tongue.

These sectaries hold, that pilgrims exercise the
profession of cheats, wearing a garment marked
with stripes, which they call the vest of Kerbala ;
and that they practise but hypocrisy and deceit.
When, according to their low disposition, they
descend to the state of brutes, they become animals,
which the Hindus call Galhari, ' 4 squirrel ; " and when
transformed into vegetables, they become striped
pumpkins, or weak jujube-trees ; when they undergo
die transformation into minerals, they are onyxes.
In this sense this sect interprets the maks, or
"mark." Lawyers and governors, who wash
hands and mouth, friends of white garments, be-

1 (jssr* mahs and Ls-J ihsa, are demed from the same root,
xaa* has, u making an impression," ihsa is interpreted in Rich-
ardson's Diet., new edit., " numbering, computing."

21

conic geese, which at every moment plunge their head
into water ; in the state of vegetables, they assume
the form of sticks for rubbing teeth, of reading-
sticks, and of mats to cover the place of prayer ;
and in the state of minerals, they figure as hard
stones, stones of sepulchres, and magnets. The
glow-worms are torch-bearers, who, descending by
degrees, came to take this shape. A dog, having
been in his former state a Turk of the tribe Kazcl-
bash, ' and his crooked sword having become his
tail, betrays his Turkish origin by coming forth at
the call khach: which in Turkish means " forth."
These sectaries further say, that the iron by which
a prophet or a saint has been killed, is that which
acquires excellence.

" Saints, when they desire the voyage to the eternal kingdom,
** Desire from the edge of thy blade the tafc&r, 2 ' magnifying
" * exclamation,' of death."

They also hold, that the Imam Hossain from state
to state descended from Moses, and that Yezid (his
murderer) descended from Pharaoh. Moses, in
his time, drowned Pharaoh in the waters of the
Nile, and obtained the victory over him ; but in the
latter state Moses, having become Hossain, and Pha-

1 This Turkish word signifies <4 ted head," and is applied by the Turks
to the Persians, who, since the time of Ismail Sofi, the founder of the
present dynasty of Persia, wear a red tuiban with twelve folds around u,
in honor of the twelve Imams.

2 This consists in exclaiming " God is greatest '

22

raoh, Yczid, ihe Litter did not give to Hossain the
water of the Feral, 4 ' Euphrates," but with the water
of the sharp steel, deprived his body of life.

These men further assert that, whatever soils of
minerals, vegetables, and animals are black, were
formerly black-faced men, and whatever are white,
were men with a white skin.

These sectaries all venerate the sun, and profess
that he is the Kiblah , and the door of the Kahah
facing the sun refers to this meaning, that the sun is
the true Kiblah; they have a prayer which they chant
with their face turned towards the sun.

They maintain that, when the period of Ajem
takes place, men will direct their road to God, and
they venerate these men, and hold human nature to
be divine. Their salutation is: Alia, alia. When the
period of Ajem is completed,, men will remain, and
they think that the men whom we venerate were
superior in rank to those who now exist; on which
account the latter continue to form idols similar to
men, and worship them. The worship of idols will
prevail, until the period of Ajem returns, and this
will be its mode of continuance.

Mahmiid called himself a Vdhed, and declared
himself to be the Mahdy promised, whose appear-
ance was predicted by the prophet; he said, that the
religion of Muhammed is cancelled, and that now
the true faith is that of Mcthnnul . as was said :

u The time is come, the accomplishment of sayings is Mahmi'ui
" Whatever reproach the Arab threw upon Ajem, it is over "

His disciples are dispersed in the four quarters oi
the world, and in the whole country of Iran a great
number of them resides, but they dare not make
themselves known, because the King, now the in-
habitant of heaven, Shah Abas, son of Shah
Khodabendah Safavi, put many of them to death.
The belief of the Mahmiidian is, that Shah Abas,
when he had met Tarab and Kamal, who were per-
fect Vahadis, and taken information from them,
wanted to publish them as his own, and on that
account killed them both. They subjoin that, al-
though he had great pretensions, yet he never
attained perfection ; because, on account of the
world and ostentation, he had destroyed the perfect.
The author of this work heard from an Amin:
' ' Shah Abas was a perfect Amin, and killed whom-
tc ever he did not find well founded in this creed.
14 Thus, he admitted me to his society, and desired
1 ' me to remain in Is fahan ; when I did not consent
' 4 to it, he granted me the expenses of my journey to
" India." It is said, that in these times Shah Abas
came on foot to visit the place of Hossem's martyr-
dom, that is, Kerhdla, where he said to Tarab: 4< I
" feel pain from my foot journey/' Tarab an-
swered: " This is owing to the inconsistency of
" thy natural intellect; for if the Imam for whose

24

" sake thoii hast performed the journey joined God,
" why seekest thou the nether place of his rnartyr-
" dom; and if he has not joined God, what hast thou
" to hope from him? Find thou a living Imam."
The Shah asked : " Who is the living Imam?" The
baint answered : '' L" The king replied : " Well,
' I shall fire a ball from a gun upon thee; if it
" lakes no effect, I will follow thee." Tarab gave
this answer : " Your Imam, Riza, died by the grain
" of a grape; how shall I resist the ball of a gun?"
At last the Shah fired upon and killed him. As
Karaal openly professed the creed of Tarab, the
king associated him with the latter. '

It is reported, that one of the Imanas came to
liossein Khan, of Sham, and having converted him

1 Shah Abbas L has been already mentioned in <i note (vol II. p 146),
where, according to sir John Malcolm's History of Peisia, the duration oi
his reign is stated to have been forty-three years; his age seventy; and
the date of his death A. I) 1628; somewhat differently from Herbelot,
who makes his reign foity-five, his age sixty-three, and the date of his
de.ith A D 1629 Abbas I , called the Great, on account of his mag-
nificent buildings, and his skilful interior policy, was veiy much dt-
tached to the religion of Ah, which was always, until oui days, domi-
nant in Persia ; his taking possession of Baghdad, JXudjef, Kerbelah,
Kalinin, and Samerah, wheie the remains of Ah and his descendants are
buued, was more agreeable to the Persians thtin the whole of his othei
conquests; dressed with the mantle of the saints ot Arbeh, that is of
Soft and Haidar, ancestors of the present Persian lungs, Abbas was almost
adored by his subjects This renders the recital above, respecting his
religious zeal, very probable It will be remembered that this Shah sent
su Geoige Shirley as his ambassador to England; and that king Jamca I.
dispatched sir Diodmoie Cotton on an embassy to Pei&ia, in

25

lo his creed, lie heard the following speech from
him: "One day, when during die JVl'aherani they
C4 read the history of the martyrdom of Hossein, and
" he too (Hossein Khan) was weeping, Shah Abas
" said: * You, why do you cry, as if it were the
" ' Shdmlus (that is to say, the natives of Sham) who
" 'did the action?' The answer was : ' We do not
< . < cry on account of Hossein : but because from our
u ' number also fine youths were killed.' "

'* With the same eyes with 'which you look on us,
' With the same eyes is it. that we look on you."

The Duniahs, a particular sect, so called in the
language of the Imanahs, think slightly of Hossein.
On account of their meanness, they made no pro-
gress in the religion of Mahmiid Ami, one of the
Muselmans of Shiraz, told the author of this book in
Lahore : ' ' I once reviled Mahmiid ; at night I saw
1 * him in a dream ; he approached me with a light-
" ning-flashing lace, and said: ' Hast thou perused
4< ' my works?' 1 answered, * I have.' He sub-
<l joined : ' Why dost thou speak abusively of me?
44 ' If thou perseverest in this manner, I will chas-
tc * tise thee.' "

It is reported by the Vahadis, that Khajah Hafiz of
Shiraz professed also this creed. As Mahmiid
dwelt a long time upon the border of the river Rii-
dares, the Khajah said :

<( zephir 1 when thou passest over the border of Rudareh

26

" Irapnnt luses upon thr ground of that nvci, and peifume the an
" with musk "

A person called Fakher eddin, who was one of
ihis sect, gave the information that, according to
the report of the Duniah, Mahmud threw himself into
aqua fortis ; ' but this rumor is false, and proceeded
from rancor. A great number of learned and pious
persons, who were contemporaries of the founder
of this sect, or lived soon after him, followed and
professed his doctrine.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE RoSHENIAN : IN THREE SECTIONS.

SECT I Of the appearance of Miyan Bayezid, and some of hi*

sayings

SECT II Some account of his proceedings
SECT III Account of his sons

SECTION I. Of the appearance of the lord Miyan
Bayezid.

1 This was the manner of death chosen by Mokanna, in the year of the
Hejira 563 (A D. 776) This upstart prophet (see note 1, p. 3), being
pent up m a mountain-castle by the forces of the khalif Mohadi, without
hope of escape, poisoned the garrison and his family, and then plunged
into a vessel full of aqua fortis, which consumed every part of his body
except his hair; he hoped that, ftom his disappearance, he should be

27

In the Halnamch, a true work from Bayezid's pen,
it is stated that the lord Miydn Bdyezid Ansdri was
the son of Shaikh Abdullah, who descended in the
seven (li generation from Shaikh Sirdj-eddin Amdn,
and that, in the latter time of the dominion of the
Afghans, he was born in the town of Jalendher in
the Panjab. 1 A year after this event, the blessed
lord Zahir-eddin Bdber Pddshdh, having obtained a
victory over the Afghans, conquered Hind. In the
history of the Moghiils it is recorded that, in- the
year of the Hejira 932 (A. D. 1525) 2 the blessed lord

supposed to have been taken up to heaven One of his concubines, who
by concealment had escaped destruction, and had seen every thing, re-
vealed what had taken place ; but many of his followers continued to
believe in his divinity and future reappearance.

I shall here icmark, that destroying human bodies by means of aqua
fortis is an ancient practice, mentioned in the Desatlr (Engl. transl , p
29), and accounts for the fact of so many funeral urns being found in
Asia without ashes in them

1 Ans'ar signifies " protectors, defenders," and is a word particularly
applied to the citizens of Madina who assisted Muharnmed when he \vas
obliged to fly fiom Mecca Herbelot mentions as one of the most illus-
trious who bore this surname Abul Abbas Ahmed ben -ibdallah, without
the date of his birth or death, a Spaniard who wrote a Commentary upon
the Modllakat, or poems suspended in the temple of Mecca ; another
who wrote upon physiognomy; and a third who composed a treatise upon
coffee The last was, according to Silvestre de Sacy (see Chrestom ar.>
1. 1 p. 441), originally from Madina, a native of Jejireh, and wrote hi the
yeai of the Hejira 966 or 996 (A. D. 1558 or 1587). The family and native
place of the above-mentioned Ansan, were in the Panjab, although iut>
ancestors might have come from Arabia.

2 This was m 1526. See vol. II p 249 )

28

Baber Padshah defeated Ibrahim Khan Afghan. In
the before-said Halnameh is to be found that the
mother of Miyan Bayezid was called Banin, and that
the father of Banin and the grandfather of Abd nllals
were brothers, and had their residence in the town
of Jalendher . Miyan Bayezid was born in this place .
The father of Abdullah asked Banin, the daughter
of Muhammed Amm, in marriage for his son Abd
ullah. The father of Bayezid Abd ullah resided at
Kanigaram, which is situated in Kohistan (the hilly
country) of the Afghans. 1 When the conquests of
the Moghuls began to extend, Banin also came with
Bayezid to Kanigaram. Abd ullah had no liking
for Banin, on which account he repudiated her;
and Miyan Bayezid experienced many sufferings
from the enmity of another wife of Abd ullah, and
from the son of the wife of Yakub, besides the care-
lessness of his father.

It was the custom of Miyan Bayezid that, when-
ever he went to tend his own field, he took care also
of the fields of others, and guarded them. From
his infancy he felt a disposition towards the first
cause, so as to investigate " the heavens and the
" earth are here; but where is God?" When
Khajah Ismail was blessed in a dream by a revela-
tion, he devoted himself to austere practices of

a The dbttict ot Kanigaiam is on the bouierb of kanddhar

29

piety, and ninny persons who partook in his exer-
cises, derived benefit from them . Bayezid wished to
become his disciple ; but Abd ullah forbade it, say-
ing : " It is a disgrace to me that thou shouldst be
" the disciple of the meanest of our relations; go
4 ' to the sons of Shaikh Bahd-eddin Zakarid. ' ' 1 Baye-
zid replied : " The character of a Shaikh is no inhe-
" ritance." Finally, Bayezid was called by a myste-
rious influence to sanctity, and passed through the
gradations of sh&xiftt, " external law;" hakiket, " re-
" ality;"mdn/ei, " true knowl edge ;"ku/rbet, kC prox-
" imity ;" vdsalet, " union;" and seMnat, "dwelling
" in God." Many men joined him, at which the
envious were vexed, and he invited to him the
crowd which had not attained the same degree.
With Bayezid lineage obtained no respect, but only
knowledge and virtue were valued, as

" Paradise belongs to the servants of God, let them
" Be halshis, i negroes,' and hell is for the depraved,
** Let them be sa'tds of Koresh extraction "

He saw God manifest :

" Peradventure you may see your God made manifest.'*

1 This Shaikh was born A. D. 1169, in Kot-Karor, a town in Multan
After having travelled, and acquired celebrity as a saint, he returned to
Multan, where he made a great number of disciples. His posterity
preserved the fame of their ancestor to the times of Bayazid. (See Mt-
moire sur la Rehgion muselmane dans tlnde, par M. G-arcin de Tassy>
p 98.)

50
And QIC order was given to Bayezid to say :

" I have seen thee by thee; I have heard thee from thee."

God said to him further :

" The disgrace of this world is lighter than the disgrace
" Of thy future world ; haste towards what is good ; be sloxv
*' Towards what is bad "

And the Lord God announced to him :

" I have established as duties the exterior and the interior worship:
" the exterior worship as a duty for acquiring knowledge, and the
" interior worship as a perpetual duty."

Bayezid was perplexed : " If i offer prayers I am
" an idolator, and if 1 neglect them i am an infidel ;
" for it is said :

" * The offering of prayers is idolatry, and the neglect ot them
" infidelity."

Then the command arrived: "' Perform the pray-
"' ers of the prophet ;" he asked : " What prayers
" are these?" The Almighty God said: tc The
' ' praise of the Divinity." Afterwards he chose this
prayer, as it is said :

*' The worship of those who aie attached to the unuy of God is, before
" men, like the worship of worshippers , but before God, it participates
" in the object of worship itself."

Bayezid devoted himself so much more to secret
practices of piety, about which the prophet has said:

" The best remembrance of God is secret remembrance, and the best
" food is that which is sufficient."

And again :

" Remember your God morning arid evening; and be not one of the
" negligent "

51

His friends saw in a night dream, and he himself
heard the voice, that Bayezid should be called Miydn
Roshen, and he obtained eternal life, according to
the words of God :

<4 Say not of him who is slain m the way of the Lord, that he is dead,
" but that he is alive; but you cannot distinguish the deaf, the dumb,
44 and the blind; nor can they reply to you; for they are deaf in hearing
" the truth, dumb in speaking the truth, and blind in seeing the truth "

He made himself free of the crowd of such de-
scription; and frequently divine inspiration came
upon him. Now, according to the prophetic saying :

" Inspiration is a light which descends into the heart, and displays the
" real nature of the things according as they are "

And Jabril also descended to him ; we read in the
Koran :

" I send down angels and the spirit, at my pleasure, on whomsoever
" I please among my servants."

God Almighty elected him also for an apostle, and
conferred upon him the gift of prophecy:

" I have sent none before thee, excepting those persons who have
" received revelation."

The lord Miyan Roshen, that is, Bayezid, was ex-
tremely righteous in his conduct, as it is said :

" When God intends the good of one of his creatures, he gives him an
" admonisher in his spirit, and a restramer in his heart; so that, of his
" own accord, he admonishes and restrains himself."

Miyan Roshen, that is, Bayezid, said to the
learned : " What says the confession of the faith?"
The reply was : ft We bear testimony that there is

52

" no god but God;" that is: we testify thai there is
no god worthy to be worshipped but God Almighty,
Miyan Bayezid said : " If one is not acquainted with
"' Lord Almighty, and says : c I am acquainted with
" * him/ he is a liar ; as it is said :

** He who sees not God, knows not God."

Moulana Zakaria said to Miyan Bayazid : " Thou
" sayest that thou art acquainted with the heart,
" and thou proclaimest thyself the master of open-
' ' ing the hearts ; give me information of my heart,
" and if this proves to be true, I shall then place my
" confidence in thee." Mfyan Rdshen Bayaz d re-
plied: " I am the master of opening the hearts ; but
" there is no heart in thee ; if thou hadst possessed
" a heart, I should have given thee information
" about it. " Then Moulana Zikeria declared (to
those about him) : " Kill me first ; if a heart comes
" forth from my body, then put Bayazid to death,
' ' and if none appear, then let him be safe." Miyan
Bayazid said : ' ' The heart which thou mentionest
" will come forth if a calf, a kid, or a dog be killed ;
" but that lump of flesh is not the heart. The
" Arabian prophet says r

" The heart of the faithful is more elevated than the ninth or empy-
*' rean heaven ; and more spacious than the extent of the ninth heaven (the
44 throne of Godj."

4 ' And again :

" Hearts bear witness of hearts."

Moulana Zakaria said to him: ''Thou lakest thy-
<c self for a master of opening the tombs; let us go
ic together to a burying ground, thai the dead may
" c converse with thee." Miyan Bayezfd replied : "If
" thou didst listen to the voice of the dead, I should
4 6 not call thee an infidel . " The author of this work
observed to Miyan, who was attached to the Roshi-
nian persuasion : " If, instead of these words, the
" lord Miyan had said: When I hear your voice,
4 ' it is the voice of the dead, and proceeds from the
" tomb of the corporeal members, it would have
" been better." Being pleased with this observa-
tion, the Miyan wrote down upon the margin of the
Halnameh., that this also is the speech of the lord
Miyan. The Mobed says :

" Between our friends we saw and we gave

" To the searchers of the road a mark without a mark "

Then the learned said to Miyan Bayezfd: " By
" what word or deed of thine shall men believe in
" thee?" Miyan Roshen. Bayazid replied: " Let
" there be one of your number, the best and ablest,
ct who applies to science and practises devotion; let
" him. join me, and according to my direction per-
" form exercises of worship and piety; if he find a
if superior advantage, then believe in me."

A person named Malik Mirza said : " Bayezfd, be-
*' ware of arrogant speech, and call not men deles t-
44 able; whoever likes, may follow thy path, but if

v, in. 3

" ho does not like it, let him remain away from ii."
Miyan Rdshen Bayezid answered: " I will propose
44 a simile : if in a house which should have but one
" door, a great number of persons had fallen asleep,
" and in that house fire had broken out ; if by acci-
" dent one person should be awake, ought he to
" awake the others, or not?" His adversaries said :
" Bayezid, since God Almighty has charged thee
" with his orders, declare, ' Jabriyil descended to
" * me, and I am the Mahdi ;' but call not the people
" infidels and detestable."

Miyan Roshen Bayazid did not think it right to
eat of the flesh of an animal killed by a person whom
he did not know, and who did not adhere to the
rule of the unity of God. Bayezid knew that:

" A. worldly wise man, before man, is living, but before God, dead;
k( his form is like the form of a man, but his qualities like the qualities
" of beasts; whilst a man, knowing God, is living before God; his form is
" like the form of a man, and his qualities are like the qualities of the
" merciful God."

Bayezid said to his father Abd ullah : " The Ara-
" bian prophet has declared :

" Sheriat, i the law, ' is like night ; Tan'kat, i religious rule, ' is
" like the stars; HaUket, 4 the truth,' is like the moon; and Jtfdnfet,
" ' the true knowledge,' like the sun; and nothing is superior to the sun."

Miyan Bayezid Roshen said: " The matter of the
" law rests upon the five fundamental principles of
" the Muselu^ns. l

1 These are: 1 the profession of the faith, 2. the stated prayers; 3

55

Pronouncing the words of the iaith, and joining
to the words the belief in their truth ; these are
the actions of the law. The tasbih, " rosary;" the
lahlil, " praise of Cod;' 9 the being constantly em-
ployed in the verbal commemoration of the attributes
of God ; the guarding of the heart from temptation:
this is the business of tarikat, " religious rule."

To keep the fast of the month Ramazan, and to
abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual inter-
course; this is the business of sheridt, <l the law."
Fasting beyond the demands of duty ; not filling the
belly, but training it to a scanty diet; and re-
straining the body from what is bad : this is the
business of tarikat,

The Zacat, " stated alms," and the giving of the
tithe, is the business of sheridt; but the distribution
of food and raiment to the fakirs and performers of
fasts, and the taking by the hand the distressed, is
the business of tarikat.

To perform the circuit around the house of the
friend of God, 1 and to be free from wickedness, and
crime, and warring, is the business of the sheridt;
but to perform the circuit of the house of the friend
of God, to wit the heart, 2 to combat bodily propen-

religious fasting; 4. Haj, " the pilgrimage;" 5. Zacat, " the stated
" alms."

1 Abraham, the supposed builder of the Kabah.

2 We find in the fifth sermon of Sadi: * He who travels to the Kabah
on foot makes the circuit of the K&bah; but he who makes the pilgrimage

56

sides, and to worship the angels, is the business of
tarikat.

To meditate constantly on the Almighty God , to
place confidence in the instructions received, to dis-
card from the heart the exterior veil, and to fix the
view on the perfection of the celestial object of our
affection : this is the business of hakikat, '* truth."

To view the nature of God with the eye of the
heart, and to see him face to face in every mansion
and on every side, with the light of the intellect, and
to cause no injury to the creatures of the All-Just :
this is the business ofm&nfat, " true knowledge."

To know the All-Just, and to perceive and com-
prehend the sound of the tasbih, 4i rosary :" this is
the business of kurbet, " proximity to God."

To choose self-abnegation, to perform everything
in the essence of the All-Nourisher, to practise
renunciation of all superfluities, and to carry in one's
self the proof of the true sense of the divine union :
this is vds'alel, " union with God."

To annihilate one's self before Deity absolute, and
m God to be eternal and absolute ; to become one
with the unity, and to beware of evil : this is the
business oftouhid, ** coalescence with God." 1

To become an inmate and resident, to assume the

of the Kabah, in his heart, is encircled by the Kabah. ( Transact, of
L^t.Soc of Bombay, vol. I p. 151.)

1 We see here the fundamental ideas of that mysticism which was
formed into a particular system by the Sufis, of whom hereafter.

attributes of God absolute, to divorce from one's own
attributes: this is the business of sacunat, " in-dwell-
" ing in God," and there is no superior station
beyond sacunat.

The terms kurbat, vds alet, vahed, and sacunat are
peculiar to the style of the lord Miyan Roshen Baye-
zid, who places them higher than sheridt, ttrikat, and
mdrifat.

At that time it was the custom, when friends had
been separated and met again, on meeting, their
first inquiries were about the health, wealth, and
children of each other. But the friends of Miyan
Roshen Bayezid first inquired about each other's
faith, religious thoughts, zeal, love, and knowledge
of the All-Just, and afterwards about their health
and welfare. When they made inquiry about any
other person, it was in the following manner :
" How is he with respect to religion and faith?
" does he keep the affection of the friends of God?"
and in these things they rejoiced. The words of
the prophet are :

" Verily, God does not regard your forms nor your wealth,
" But he regards your hearts and your actions."

Miyan Bayezid, in his early years, used to con-
form to the five fundamental principles of the Mu-
selman faith, such as the confession of faith, to say
prayers five times a-day, and to keep the fasts ; but
as he was not possessor of a sufficient estate, it was

58

not necessary for him to give the staled alms. He
was desirous to perform the pilgrimage, but he was
then too young for it, so it was postponed until he
attained the truth of his religion. The words of God

c/

Almighty are :

" Verily, 1 am near to mankind, nearer than their own necks; there is
" no separation between me and mankind; and I am one with mankind;
u but mankind know it not: nor can a man attain the knowledge of me,
" unless by the means of the assiduous perusal of the sacred volume, and
" not by much travel of the feet, but he may attain the knowledge of
4 ' me by ardent meditation, and, by obedience, a man becomes perfect."

Thus far from the Hal-nameh of Miyan Bayazid.

SECTION II. : AN ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY OF THE LORD
MIYAN KOSHEN BAY'\ZID.

Bayazid felt himself a prophet, and invited man-
kind to religious austerity ; he caused them to say
prayers, but indicated them no determined quarter
to which they ought to turn, as the sacred text says :

'* Wherever you turn, you turn towards God/'

He said, religious bathing in water is not neces-
sary; for, as soon, : as the wind blows upon us, the
body is purified ; inasmuch as the four elements are
equally pure. He said, whoever knows not himself
and God, is not a man ; and if he be hurtful, he may

r>9

be accounted to have the nature of a wolf, tiger, ser-
pent;, or scorpion. The Arabian prophet has said:

" Kill a harmful creature before it causes harm."

If such a person is well-behaved, and says pray-
ers, he has the disposition of an ox, or sheep, and
to kill him is lawful. On that account he ordered
his self-conceited adversaries to be killed, as they
were to be regarded as brute beasts ; thus it is stated
in the Koran :

" They are like brute beasts, nay worse."

He said: whoever does not know himself, and has
no notion of eternal life, and everlasting existence,
is dead, and the property of a dead man, whose heirs
are also as the dead, reverts to the living. On that
account he ordered also the killing of the ignorant.
When he found a Hindu knowing himself, he valued
him higher than a Muselman . He and his sons prac-
tised for some time highway robbery. Of the wealth
which he took from the Muselmans and others, he
deposited the fifth part in a store-house, and when
it was wanted, he distributed it among the most
deserving people. He and his sons kept themselves
all remote from adultery, lewdness, and unbecoming
actions, as well as from despoiling the Unitarians of
their property, and refrained from using violence
towards those who saw but one God.

He composed a great number of works in the

40

Arabic, Persian, Hindi, and Afghani, 1 languages.
The Mak&tid al Mtimenin, " the desire of the right
* ' believers, " is in Arabic. They say, that the All-just
God conversed with him without the intervention of
Jabril 2 He composed also a book entitled Khdir-
al-bidn, " the good news, or the gospel," and this in
four languages : the first in Arabic, the second in
Persian, the third in Hindi, and the fourth in Pashtti,
that is, the Afghani language : the same purport is
conveyed in the four languages. The address is from
the All-just All-mighty God to the lord Bayezid,
and this they believe a work of divine inspiration.
He is also the author of the Hdlndmeh, in which he
has given an account of himself.

The most astonishing circumstance therein is,
that he was an illiterate man, and yet expounded
the Koran, and uttered speeches full of truth, so that
learned men were astonished at them.

It is said that Bayezid received the divine com-
mand for the destruction of those who know no
God. Three times the all-just God had given him
the order, and he put not his hand to the sword ;

1 Bayezid Ansari is said to have been the first author who wrote in the
Pashtu, or Afghan language.

B ^ ft *s hy mistake, it appears, that we find
in Doctor Leyden's translation: " The All-just addressed him through
" Miyann Jabiayil:' and the note referring to this passage is not
applicable to it

u

but when il was repeated, unable to resist, lie girt
himself for the war against the infidels.

Bayezid was contemporary with the lord Mirza
Muhammed Hakim, the son of the lord Humayiin
Padshah. The author of this book has heard from
Mirza shah Muhammed, surnamed Ghazni Khan,
the following account : " It was in the year of the
" Hejira 949 (A. D. 1542-5), that Miyan Roshen
" gained strength and established his sect. My fa-
4 ' ther, ShdhBaighMn Arghiin, surnamed Khan-Dou-
"ran, said, he saw Miyan Bayezid before his rising
tc in rebellion, when he was brought to the court of
" Mirza Muhammed Hakim, and the learned were
" confounded in the dispute with him, wherefore
" they let him take his departure on equitable
" terms." 1 In the beginning of the year of the

1 Bayezid, after having obtained the adherence of several tribes of the
Afghans, established himself in Hashtanagar, " eight townships," in the
middle of Pokhtanga, or Afghanistan, perhaps the country of the ancient
Aspagam, mentioned by Pliny, and took his residence at Kaleder, in the
district of Omazei, where he founded a city. From thence, under the
title of P^r roshdn, " master of light," he issued proclamations to in-
crease the number of his followers. Having become formidable to the
government of the Moghuls, flfahsan khan ghazi, a chief of great merit,
by a sudden irruption into Hashtanagar, seized the person of Bayezid,
and carried him to Kabul, where, although at first subject to insult, he
owed his release to the intercession of some influential persons, favorably
disposed towards him. He then retired to the mountains of Totee, and
further to those of Tirah, perhaps the district of the ancient Thwm>
mentioned by Arrian. Such \\as soon the ne^ increase of his forces, that
he daicd proclaim his project to o\erthro\> the power of the emperoa

42

liejira 994 (A. D. 1585-6) ihe inlelligcnce of ilse

death of the lord Mirza Muhainmed Hakim reached
from Kabul, the ear of the Lord, dwelling in the
ninth heaven. The sepulchre of Bayezid is at Bha-
takpur, in the hilly country of the Afghans.

SECTION III. : UPON THE TRANSACTIONS OF TOE SONS OF

THE LORD Ml Y AN BAYEZI I).

Omar Shaikh Kamal eddin, Nur eddin and Jelal
eddin were the sons of Bayezid, 2 and he had a daugh-
ter, Kamal Khatiin. After the lord Miyan Jelal
eddin succeeded to his father's dignity, and acquired
a very great power ; he never deviated from the pre-
cepts of the lord Miyan ; he was just, and an adherer
to rule, and girt with energy and activity. In the
year of the Hejira 989 (A. D. 1581-2), when the
standards of majesty of the lord (now an inhabitant
of the ninth heaven), that is, of Acbar Padshah, re-

Akbar. He descended into the plains of Ningarhar, sacked and burnt
the country, but was overtaken by Mahsan Khan, and his army routed ;
he himself escaped wiih great difficulty, and died soon after, from the
fatigues of his flight: he was buried at Hashtanagar. (See on theRoshe-
mah sect and its founder, Asiat. Res , vol. XL p. 387 et seq , by J. Ley-
den, M.D.)

1 According to Akhun Den\azch (of whom hereafter) Bayazid had five
sons, Khair eddin is placed between the last mentioned above.

15

turned from Kabul to the firm seal of government
(Delhi), lie (Jelal-eddin) came to his presence, but
after some days he took to (light. In the year of
theHejira 1000 (A. D. 1591-2), Jdfer Baig Kazvini
Bakhshi, who was honored with the title of As'fa-
khani, was deputed for the destruction of Jelal eddiu
Roshni, whom the blessed Jeldl eddin MuhammedAkbar
called Jeldfah, and in the same year the emperor's
chieftains, having taken prisoners the whole family
of Jelal eddin by the agency of a person called Vahdit
Ali, brought them to the foot of the throne, the seat
of the deputy of God. In the year of the Hejira
1007 (A. D. 1598-9), during the reign of the lord,
now inhabiting heaven, Jelal eddin Acbar Padshah,
Miyan Jelai eddin took Ghizni, and cruelly ravaged
this province, but could not maintain himself in that
position. Meanwhile, at the coming up of the Hazd-
rah 1 and the Afghans upon Miyan, a great conflict

1 Jeldl-eddin, although supported by many, was strongly opposed by
some of the Afghan tribes; other mixed tribes never adopted the Roshe-
niah creed. Among the last were the Ha'za'rahs, distinct from the
Afghans and Moghuls , their original seat is supposed to have been be-
tween Herat and Balkh f but they possessed themselves of a consider-
able part between Ghazni and Kandahar, in one direction, and between
HHaidan and Halhh, in the other. We find m the before quoted Memoir
of H. T. Colebrooke (As. Res., vol. VII. p 343) : " The Hizarahs of Ka-
" bul are an innumerable tribe, \vho reside in Kabul, Ghazni, and Khan-
" dahar. Many of them are Shiahs, and adherents of the holy family.
*' At present, among the chiefs of the Shidhs is Mirza Shadnidn, with
" whom the faithful are \veil pleased, and of whose incuisions the Khd-
' rejis of Kabul and fthuzni bitterly complain."

look place, in which Miyan Jeial eddin was wound-
ed by the hand of Shddndn Hazarah, and fled to the
mountains of Rabath, where Merad Baikh and some
of the followers of Shenf Khan Atcah attacked him
and made an end of his affairs.

After him, Miydn Ahdad, the son of Omar Shaikh,
the son of Bdyezid, who is known among the illus-
trious persons by the name of Ahddd, sat on the
throne of authority. He was just, and an adherer
to rule ; he kept himself thoroughly firm in the pre-
cepts of his august predecessor ; he never intended
to amass wealth, but gave every one the due reward
of his labor ; the fifth part of the wealth which was
collected from the wars against the infidels he depo-
sited in the public storehouse, and it served to re-
ward the meritorious warriors. In the year of the
Ilejira 1035 (A. D. 1625-6), under the reign of the
lord, now an inhabitant of heaven, Nur-eddin Jehdn-
gir Padshah, he was reduced to great straits by Ahsan
Vila, surnamed Zafer Khan, the son of Khdjah Abu j l
Hassan Tabrizi, and by the chieftains of the Padshah,
and besieged in the fort Navdgher, where, hit by a
musket shot during an attack on the fortress, he
reached the term of his life. It is said that, before
the day of his death, which these sectaries call c ' the
" day of union/' Miyan Ahdad opened the book
Khdir al Bidn, and, having read in it, said to his
friends : u To-morrow is my day of union :" and it

45

happened as he had said. The aulhor of this book
saw a pious person from Cabul, who told him :
" On the day of Alidad's death I rejoiced, and spoke
u of him in bad terms ; at night I saw in a dream
44 my master, who forbade me to do so, and said the
" sacred text : " declare that God is one,' applies to
<c Ahdad." And his disciples name him Ahdad,
" the one."

It is reported that after the 4C union" of Ahdad,
the Afghans, having taken up Abd ul Khader, the son
of Ahdad, betook themselves to the mountains ; and
the Padshah's army, who had not expected to obtain
possession of the fort, entered it. The daughter of
Ahdad, who had not found an opportunity of escap-
ing, was wandering about the fortress; one of the
soldiers attempted to seize her ; the maiden, having
thrown her veil over her eyes, precipitated herself
from the wall of the fort, and met her death : every
one was astonished at the deed.

After Miyan Ahdad, his son, Abd-ul Kader, sat
upon the throne of religious supremacy. Having
found a favorable opportunity, he attacked Zafer
Khan, who fled with the greatest precipitation ; all
his baggage, with the women of his secret apart-
ments, fell into the hands of the Afghans; but the
wife of Zafer khan, named Buzerg Khdnam, alone was
preserved from violence by the efforts of the chief-
tains, such as Navab Said Khan, the son of Ahmed

46

Baig Khan Tarkhan. The author of this work him-
self heard Peri Sultan, a person from nature pos-
sessed of vigor and worth, who has now received
the title of Zu-l Fakdr khan, say : " When, by order
" of Said Khan, I went to invite Abd-ui Khader to
t4 submit, I brought with me a great variety of vic-
" tuals and liquors, that he might be seduced by
' ' their effect. One day, an aged Afghan, after hav-
" ing tasted some sweetmeats, rose on his legs and
<c said : ' Abd-ul Khader, from the time of thy
" ' honored ancestors to this day, never the foot of
" * a Moghiil reached this place; he who is now
" ' come in tends to deceive thee, with garments red
" ' and yellow, and with victuals pleasing and sweet,
*' ' which are coveted by those who are slaves of
" l their belly, but which are abhorrent to the
6 ' ' rule of durvishes : the best measure therefore
" 6 is to put him to death, as an example to terrify
" * others from coming hither.' But Abd-ul Kha-
4t der and his mother, Bibi Aldi, the daughter of Mi-
" yan Jelaleddin, would not agree to it. On the
64 day when Abd-ul Khader visited the camp of Sdid
" Khan, his horse was frightened at the noise of the
' ' kettle-drums and horns, and dashed from amid the
4t crowd to one side; an Afghan observed : ' The
" l horse executes what the lord Miyan Roshen has
" * ordered, but you do not ; be sure you shall suf-
4 ' fer from the after-sickness of this debauch/

47

ci Abd-ui Khader asked: c What lias Miyan or-
" ' dered?' The Afghan replied: ' To keep at a
' ' ' distance, and to beware of the Moghuls." ' When
Abd-ul Khader presented himself at the court of the
lord Alul Mazaf&r Shahdb-eddm Muhammed, Sdheb-4-
Kerdnsdni Amir al Mwnenin shah Jehan Padshah, ghdzy,
cc the victorious," he was elevated to a high rank.
In the year of the Hejira 1045 (A. D. 1655-4) he
reached his last day, and was buried at Paishaver.

Mirza, the son of Ntir-eddin, lived in the reign of
the lord Amir al Mtimenin Shah Jehdn, and was killed
in the battle of Doulet-abad. Kerimdad, the son of
Jelal eddin, was delivered up by the tribe of the Jela-
lian toMuhammed Yakub Kashmiri, the Vakil, " agent,"
ofSdU Khan Terkhdn, and he was put to death in the
year of the Hejira 1048 (A. D. 1658-9). Alheddd
Khdn, the son of Jelal-eddin, having been honored
with the title of Ra&hid Khan, was appointed to a
command of four thousand in the Dekan, and ended
the term of this life in the year of the Hejira 1058
(A. D. 1648-9).

4 We find in the Asiatic Researches (vol. XI from p. 363 to 418), a
translation of this chapter, with a Memoir on the Rosheniah sect by the
late Doctor John Leyden, whose early death in Java will ever be regretted
as a great loss to Oriental literature. In his researches relative to the
language and literature of the Afghans, he met with a work m the Afghan
or Pashtu languge, entitled Mahhan Afhganj, a miscellaneous com-
pilation on the ritual and moral practice of Islam, composed by Akhun
(Mulla) Derwezeh, a character celebrated in Afghanistan chiefly for his

CHAPTER X.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE ILAHI AH ." IN FOUR SECTIONS.

SECTION I On the appearance of the Khalifet of God, and some of

the miracles, called BurJian.
SECTION II On the dispute of the professors of different religions

and creeds in the service of the lord, the Khalifet of God, and

the Burahm of the Khalifet of God
SECTION III On the virtues of the stars
SECTION IV On the ordinances of conduct

sanctity, and belonging to the tribe of Tajek. This word in general
signifies " peasant, or cultivator of ground ;" but is in particular applied
to those who are not Arabs, and by the Moghuls to the natives of Iran,
\vho are neither of Arab nor Moghul extraction, probably of a mixed
origin. They extend from the mountains of Chetar, in Kashgar, as far
as ~Balkh and Kandahar,* and live either under their own chiefs, or sub-
ject and tributary to the Afghans, Turkmans, or Usbek Tartars, among
whom they reside. The Tajiks always showed themselves adverse to the
Roshemahs, and Akhun Derwezeh in the said work contradicts and blames
the tenets and opinions of Bayazid, whom he calls the " master of dark-
" ness." In the extract given by Leyden, of Derwezeh's account, we see
that the doctrine of the Rosheniahs coincided in several points with that
of the Ismatlahs: Bayazid, in like manner as the latter, established eight
degrees of perfection, through which his sectaries were to pass, and which
led to an entire dereliction of all positive religion, and an unrestrained
licentiousness in manners and piactices. The account given by the
author of the Dabistan is far from provoking so severe a blame. As to
the history of Bayazid's life and that of his sons highway robbery,
devastation, and bloodshed are evidently practised by them, in the recital
of both authors. The Memoir of the learned Leyden abounds with curious
and important information respecting the Afghan tribes, to which the
present events in Western India can but Jend a higher interest. Some
reputed followers of Bayazid are still to be found both in Paishavir and
Kabul, most numerous among the wild tribes of the Yusefzei

SECTION I. ON THE APPEARANCE OF THE KHALIFET OF

THE ALL- JUST.

An account of the lord Khalifet, " Vicar/' of God.
The author of this book heard from Khdjah Mamud,
the son of Khdjah MahnM, the son of Klidjah Mmhed
al hakj who was a pious master of worldly concerns,
what follows: fc< My honored lather said he had
" heard from his noble ancestors, that the lord of
" the faith and of the world will appear ; but he
" knew not whether that lord's time was already
4i come, or will come ; meanwhile he saw him one
" night in a dream; when he rose from sleep, he
" went to the country where that august personage
ct was born, that is on Sunday of the month Rajeb
iC (the seventh Arabian month), in the year of the
" Hejira 949 (A. D. 1545), the lord JeW eddinAkbar,
" the august son of Hamdyun Padshah and of the
' ' praise-worthy Bdnu Begatn was born. " The writer
of this work heard also in the year of the Hejira 1055
(A. D. 1645-4), in Lahore, from Mirzd Shall Muham-
med, surnamed Khaznin Khdn, the son of shah Eaigh
Khan, with the surname of Khan Douran, a native of
Arghiin, who is said to have asked from the Navab
Aziz Koka, surnamed Khan Adzem, what observation
he had to make upon the rumor current relative to
the Lord, the inhabitant of the ninth heaven, as to
v. HI. 4

his being like the Messiah? He answered : " What
" die mother said, is the truth," 1

SECTION II. ON THE DISPUTE OF THE PEOPLE OF

DIFFERENT RELIGIONS.

In the service of the khalifah were two learned
persons, the one a Sonnite, and the other a Shiah,
who both sought admittance at court. The empe-
ror called them, and by their desire in his presence
they endeavored to establish the truth of their re-
spective religions. The Shiah said : " It is evident
46 that the Sonnites are without faith, because they
" do not acknowledge the prophet's purity, and say
" that David caused Uria to be killed." The Son-
nite replied : " This fact is equally mentioned in the
" Koran and in the Tourit, ' Pentateuch/ explicitly
" and circumstantially." A Jew was present, and
affirmed : " It is certainly in the Pentateuch." Upon
which the Shiah rejoined: " The Pentateuch is al-
" tcred." The Jew retorted: " We may as well,
44 and with a better right, say that your book is
44 altered, whilst there is no reason to be urged that
44 the Pentateuch is corrupted." The Shiah had

1 The author does not mention any particular miracle, which we had
reason to expect from the precedio g title of this section.

51

no answer to give, and the author of this book saw
in the treatises of several of the modern learned, that
they have appropriated this answer to themselves.
The Shiah again said : " The godly All was a very
" learned and most excellent man, and never pol-
" luted his lips with wine, nor pork, nor any thing
64 dressed by the infidels." To which the Sonnitc
replied : " As with you the hand of an inlidel is im-
' 4 pure, and the Eoresh all drank wine and eat pork,
4i the prophet, who associated with them, eat the
" same food in the house of his paternal uncles, and
^ so did the lord, the godly Ali." The Shiah had
no suitabie reply to make to this observation ; he
continued however : " In the Malul and Nahel, it is
" stated that the pure Fatima 1 declared, The palm-
" grove of Fedak* is my inheritance, as the lord of

1 According to Muhamnied's sayings, no more than four women obtained
perfection, to wit: Asia, the wife of Pharaoh; 4fary, the daughter of
Imran (the blessed Virgin); Khadtjd, the prophet's wife, and Fatima,
his daughter.

2 Fedak, according to Abulfeda (1. 133 273), is a castle near the town
of JSTto&ar; this is a place fertile in palm-trees in the Arabian province
of Ifejaz, four days' journey distant from Mecca. It was given to Mu-
hammed by the faithful, under the name of alms. After the prophet's
death, Fatima claimed it as a patrimony ; but Abubekr refused it to
her, setting forth the above mentioned saying of the prophet. Abulfedfl,
whom I follow, gives it as follows:

LsJwO aUf .VU vjjijy"^ *l^^TpLlx* .j-sr 3

The words ^.y 2 are not in the quotation of the Dabistan, edit, of
Calcutta, nor m the manuscript of Oude. Thus was Fedak taken from

44 the prophetic asylum committed it to me as a
" tamlik (hereditary property) during his life-time.
"But the prophet has said :

" ' We, the company of prophets, do not leave to our heirs what has
' ' ' been bestowed on us as a gift or as alms.'

4C On the strength of which Sadik(Abu bekr)
" rejected her claim. But e^en were this tradition
ic irrefragable, how could he reject the claim of a
" tamlik, if that tradition, by which the rejection of
' ' such an inheritance ne^er takes place, be acknow-
" ledged to he right?" The Sonnite opposed to
this: " The splendid lady had no witnesses that
" the law could accept; as the evidence of hus-
" band, or son, or grandson, is not admissible."
The Shiah insisted : " Sadik was wrong. And the
66 burning of the court 1 in sequel of the mortal

the race of AH and fell into the hands of Mervan, in whose family it
remained until Omar declared it again to belong to alms, and assigned
the usufruct of it to the Ahdes. But Mamun, the seventh khalif of the
Abbasides, who reigned from Hejira 198 to 218 (A. D. 813-833), gave it
formally over to Muhammed, son of Yahia, son of Hassan, son of Zaid,
son of AH, son of Hassan, son of Ah, son of Abu Taleb. (Al>ulfeda,
II p. 167)

1 Muhammed had scarcely expired, when a vehement contest about the
succession to his dignity arose between the Mohajinn, " the emigrants
" from Mecca with the prophet/ 1 and the Ansar, " the protectors (see
note, p. 27) : both claimed the right of nomination. Abubekr was pro-
claimed by both. To crush the resistance of All, who was the legitimate
competitor, Omar, sent by Abu-bekr, burnt the gate, and was about to
set on fire the house of All scarcely restrained from the act by the
reproach of Fatima, Muhammed's daughter and All's wife, who from

55

" malady of the prophet ; and the repentance which
" was the consequence of It? and the like, what
" dost thou say about it? Moreover, Omar's im-
" peding the writing of a last will in the mortal
" malady of the prophet, as the Imam hmAUBok-
" hdri 1 has related upon the authority ofAbd-ulla,
" the son of Abas, that in his mortal malady the
" house of the prophet was full of his companions.
" He said:

" Make haste, let me put down a writing for your sake, m order that,
" after me, you may be safe against error and deceit."

" But Omar said : ' The prophet is overcome by
" ' the malady, and his intellect is obstructed; the
" * heavenly book, and the proofs of the text of the
" ' Koran are sufficient for us.' On which ac-
" count accumulated contradictions and conflict-
' c ing discussions rose to such a height that the pro-
" phet said: ' Leave me/ The Sonnite resumed :
" The prophet himself declared :

that moment till her death never spoke to any of the enemies of her hus-
band The prophet, according to authentic traditions, said: * Whoever
" gives offence to Fatimah gives offence to me; and whoever offends me,
" offends God."

1 Muhammed, son of Ismail al Jisfi, called Bochdri, from his native
town in Mazinderan 3 lived from the year of the Hejira 194 to 2b6 (A. D
809-869) He is chiefly celebrated by a work composed, as he says him-
self, at the prophet's tomb at Madina, from six hundred thousand tradi-
tions, and called Masnad es sahth, the sincere (just ) Masnad. " Mas-
" nad" signifies a collection of traditions, each of which is accompanied
with the name of the traditionist by whom it was handed down.

54

I am a man like you, but I speak from inspiration,"

u In eating, dress, repose, affliction, health, sick-
" ness, wounds, in life and death, his condition was
4 < that of mankind : thus, some teeth of the vener-
" able were knocked out, L and in his last malady
" he was exceedingly suffering, so that in thevio-
" lence of his pain he might have said things which
" were not consonant with a sound mind. On that
4< account Omar forbade his writing." The Shiah
remarked : ' c When the prophet had left the garment
' of mortality, Omar drew his sword, and threat-
6fc ened to kill whosoever would say that the prophet
" died, because he was still living ; such a declara-
" tion, how can it be reconciled with his impeding
" the writing of the last will in the manner before
' ' said ?" The Sonnite avowed : ' < Mankind is sub-
" ject to error." The Shiah pressed further : " Af-
4i ter the contention, when Osman was appointed
" khalif, his relations of the family of Omiyah
" practised oppression under his authority, arid he
14 brought back Hakim, the son of As , 2 the son of

1 This happened in the battle of Ohod (so is called a mountain half an
horn's* distance from Madina, on the route of Mecca). Muhammed fought
Nith seven hundred men against more than three thousand Koreish from
Mecca, in the third year of the Hejira (A. D. 624) Otba, the son of Vac-
wsi, and brother of Sad, \vho fought on the prophet's side, hit him with
A stone, so as to knock out four incisors of his inferior jaw.

2 The edition of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have eironeously .
44 Hakim, the son of Met van," instead of As,', which I substituted for

" Orniyah, to Medina, from whence die prophet had
" banished him, so thai he was called ' the banished
" ' of the prophet/ although Sadik (Abubekr) and
" Fariik (Omar) had not called him. Further, Os-
4i man expelled Abazer from Medina; he also gave
" his daughter in marriage to Mervan, the son of
" Hakim, with the fifth part of the spoils of Afrika,
4i which amounted to forty thousand gold dinars. 1
4 c Besides, he granted security to Abd-nllah, the son
" of Serj ; * although the lord of the prophetic asy-
4 ' luin had ordered his blood to be shed ; and he
" conferred on him the administration of Egypt;
" he consigned also to Abd-ullah, the son of Aa-
" mar, the government of Basra, where he indulged
" himself in all sorts of shameful actions. Among
" the Umras of his army were Mdaviah, the son of
" Abi Safian, the collector of Shdm (Syria), and SdU,
" the son of Alaas ', the collector of Kiifa. After-
" wards, Abd-ullah, the son of Earner; and Valid, the

Mervan, according to Abulfeda, I. p. 271. Elmacin (Hist. Sarac , p 38)
reads " Hakim, son of Abul-As "

1 Abulfeda (I. p. 271) says 500,000 gold coins. Elmacin (loco cit., p.
"39) states five talents of Africa, said to be worth 504,000 gold pieces.

2 Abulfeda (I. p. 261) mentions AMalla, son of SAd, son of Abu Sarh,
Amerite, a foster-brother of Osman (iUA., p. 1S4) Elmacin (loco tit ,
p. 39) calls him Ab&alla, son of Set id, son of Abu Jerh, who had been
a water of revelations, and who, because he had apostatised from Islam-
ism, would have been put to death by the prophet, after the taking of
Mecca, in the eighth year of the Hejira (A. D. 629), if Osmao had not inter-
ceded for him.

" son of Akba Abd-ullah, the son of Sad, the son of
" Abi Serj ; all these trod the road of perverseness
" and unrighteousness." The Sonnite had no con-
venient reply to make. The Shiah continued:
" The prophet sent three friends to fight to a place
" called Tabuk; 1 they disagreed: after which the
" prophet declared : * Whoever causes discord in
" ' the army or service, the curse of God be upon
" ' him/" The Sonnite here fell in : " At the time
" of the prophets moving, it was not advisable to
" undertake the expedition designed; there was no
" disunion about the war among them ; but only a
** discussion about the fitting out of the troops and
" the arrangements ; whence a delay in this affair
" arose, on account of settling the proper order of
" march and other proceedings." The Shiah went
on : " What the Sonnites attribute to God and the

1 This relates to an expedition which Muhamrned undertook, in the
ninth year of theHejira (A. D. 630), towards Tabuk, a place situated
about half-way between Madina and Damascus, beyond the limits of
Aiabia, it was in the midst of the summer heats, at a time of great
drought and scarcity; besides the fruits were then just ripe, and the
people had much rather have remained to gather them. But the first
cause of discontent was the exaction of a tribute for cpvering the expense
of the expedition, Abubekr, Omar, Osman, Ali, Talha, Abder rahmen,
contributed largely to it; others declined their pecuniary and personal
aid; three of the ans'ars, friends above alluded to (see p.27j, were per-
mitted to remain. Ah staid at Madina as lieutenant of the prophet, who
moved with an army of thirty thousand men to the frontiers of Syria,
which were defended by an equal force of Greeks. He encamped during
twenty days near Tabuk, and then thought it necessary to retreat.

57

" prophet, cannot be ascribed to the lowest man,"
The Sonnile asked : 4< What is that?" The Shiah
answered : " One of these things, stated in the book
44 of your traditions, is that the lord prophet, having
44 exhibited before Aaisha dance and disport, asked
%c her: ' Art thou satisfied?' Such a thing cannot
44 in truth be said of any body without disgrace,
44 Besides, there are acts unbecoming of the pro-
" phet's companions, such as Omar's preventing
46 Muhammed's last will, and the like, avowed by
4 4 themselves in their book ; and yet they hold these
44 men in high esteem !" Here the Sonnite observed :
44 What thou first settest forth about the prophet's
44 exhibition of disport, is nothing shameful ; as to
44 what thou sayest about bad customs, they belong
44 only to thy own vicious opinion. Deniest thou
4fi that the prophet has said :

" * I am sent to settle the customs and manners.

44 If a fact has not existed or has not happened,
44 why should il have been recorded?" The Shiah
called out : 44 It has been invented and formed into
44 a lie." The Sonnite objected : "Thus, according
44 to thy opinion, the master of truth, Bokhari and
44 the like, are tellers of lies, and thus they have
44 transmitted lies ! Why then,, on their authority
" believest thou that Omar has prevented the mak-
44 ing of the last will, and other such things, which,

58

t according to thee throw blame upon the compa-
" nions of the prophet? Therefore, in whatever of
" all these things according to thy opinion is unbe-
" coming, thou shoulst believe that the master oi
" truth, Bokhari, and those like him, have told lies,
" so wouldst thou cease to cast reproach upon the
' ' companions and friends of the prophet ; but if they
" spoke truth, then reckon also to be true, what
" they have attributed as praise-worthy to the pro-
*' phet, and true what they have stated of the virtues
64 of the said companions. Further, as to thy sepa-
" rating the prophet from mankind, it belongs, as it
" has been revealed by the divine text, to the creed
4 ' of unbelievers to say, that the prophet should not
6 4 eat nor drink." Now the Shiah grew warm, and
said: " Is it not enough to attach to the lord pro-
4 4 phet the blame of having listened to music and
fic assisted at dancing ; and now thou pretendest to
" prove the purity of the two Shaikhs (Abubekr and
** Omar) and of Osman!" The Sonnite took up
the controversy : " I said before that listening to
" music is reasonably not blamable, and even laud-
" able, when a lawgiver also listens to it, and 1
" observed, concerning customs and manners, that
" thou esteemest bad what thou hast badly under-
<* stood. As thou refusest to approve dancing,
44 what sayest thou about the interdiction of a wo-
" man from her spouse at the desire of the pro-

59

4 ' phel ? ' if tliou holdesl the example of customary
"acts reprehensible, there is nothing to be said
" about such an occurrence. And likewise, if the
" two Shaikhs had not been pure, the lord prophet
" would not have exalted their heads by matrimo-
4 * nial alliance ; and the daughter of the lord Ali and
66 the lord prophet would never have been in the
<' house of the great Fdruk (Omar), and of the pos-
" sessor of two lights (Osman). To open the road
(i of contention is not laudable ; and if not so ac-
" cording to thy opinion, explain this to me : since
" the lord, the lion of God (Ali) was informed of all
" the secrets of the hearts, why did he wage war
" upon Maaviah, who was a Muselman? and why
<f was he the death of so many men, since causing
* ' death is by no means righ t? 2 It is likewise known

1 If I am not mistaken, allusion is here made to Zeinah (Zenobia), the
\\ife of Zaid. Muhammed, having gone one day to the house of the latter,
who was not at home, found Zeinah in a dress which permitted him to
ternark her beauties, with which he was so smitten, that he could not re-
frain from an exclamation betraying his sensation Zeinah did not fail to
apprise her husband Zeid then thought he could not do less than to
place his wife by a divorce at the disposition of his master and benefactor,
whose slave he had once been, and by whom he was not only affran-
chised, but adopted as a son On that very account, Muhammed was
prevented by law from marrying Zemah; but he procured to himself an
authorization from heaven, in a verse of the Koran (chap. XXXIII. v. 36),
and after the term of Zeinah's divorce, took to wife the object of his
desires, at the latter end of the fifth year of the llejiia (A. D. 626).

2 During the contest between Ali and Moaviah, the armies of both
rhiefb were m the year of the llejua 37 (A. D. 657) encamped opposite

60

" and admitted by you as true that, when one day a
" Muselman was selling garlic and onions upon the
1 ' passage of the prophet, that venerable personage
44 told him : * If thou wouldst sit down in a corner,
" * retiring out of my way, it would be well."
" The man made an excuse, and the prophet passed
" on. Shortly after came All, who said to the man :
" * The prophet dislikes the smell of onions and
" * garlic, therefore move out of his way/ The man
" answered : ' Ali, the prophet told me to rise,
" ' and I did not move/ Ali said : ' At the pro-
" ' phet's order thou didst not rise?' He drew
" immediately his sword, and cut off the man's
" head. Such an action is reprobated by the law,
' * as the lord of the prophetic asylum forbade killing
" even the hostile unbelievers, saying :

" * Do not exceed in shedding blood, even if thou be a conqueror.'

" And by historical accounts it is known that he
" has blamed Ibrahim for having driven an unbe-
" liever from his board. Nushirvan, t who was not
' ' crowned with the diadem of the right faith, is cele-

to each other in a plain on the banks of the Euphrates, called by the
Greeks Barbelissos or Barabnssos, and by the Arabs Safin, and in ninety
engagements, which took place between them in a hundred and ten
days, on the side of Moaviah fell forty-five thousand, and on that of Ali
twenty-five thousand men. In the night which preceded the decisive day
of Safin, Ah is said to have killed with his own hand four hundred ene-
mies. (Abulfeda, vol. I. pp 305-313 )
1 See vol. 1. pp 103-104, notel.

61

4 brated, because he sal upon the throne of justice,
fc4 and one of his most approved actions was, that
44 he withheld his hand from an old woman's house,
" which was an hinderance in the vicinity of his
" palace, and preferred to waste his own fields;
44 and the lord of the prophetic asylum, because
4 ' he appeared upon the field of testimony in the time
44 of this king, exalted his fame and glory by these
44 words :

" I was born in the time of the just king. i

1 4 How can it be right to believe that the prophet,
' 4 the last of the age, should be pleased with the
4 ' destruction of a Muselman; he who would not
44 disturb the people who, engaged in their trade
44 and occupation, obstructed his passage? he who
44 said:

" * He who kills willingly a believer shall have hell for eternal
" ' punishment;'

44 He cannot have acted by that rule; he who de-
44 clares :

1 Muhammed, according to his traditions, was born in the twentieth
year of Nushirvan's reign, which, as this king began to reign A. D. 531,
would be in 551. This does not agree with the date of the prophet's
death in 632, at the age of sixty-three years, about which the best histo-
rians are unanimous. For the same reason, the date of his birth, as
stated by Silvestre de Sacy, on the 20th April, 571, cannot be true.
According to Weisi, Muhammed was born in the thirty-eighth year of
Nushirvan's reign, on the 1st of April, 569, which was a Monday, and it
was on a Monday he was born and died (see Gemaldesaal Mosl., Herr-
sher per JJand, Seite 22, note)

62

" ' God will not give to>a soul more trouble than it can bear;'

iQ Such an action is not thai of a virtuous man ; this
however is related (of All) by your learned men,
" and likewise joking and buffooning, which indi-
" cates a want of dignity, degraded him." The
Shiah said : " Nevertheless, he was certainly the
6 c most excellent of all the companions of the pro-
16 phet." The Sonnite asked: " In knowledge or
" in practice?" The Shiah replied: " In both

* c knowledge and practice," The Sonnite resumed :
" This we do not hold for certain; in what respect
tc was he superior in practice to the chief of the be-
4 lievers, Omar?" The Shiah answered : ' 4 Ali used
6t to pray the whole night." The Sonnite rejoined :
" According to your own account, the lord Ali
" wanted a woman every night; and his custom,
6 ' (called matAh) l was to engage one for a short time ;
" and so many did he occupy, that he seemed an
c< unceasing bridegroom ; 2 how could a person so
(i employed pray the whole night? unless in your
6< religion you call praying what we call by another
4 'name." The Shiah interrupted him saying:
" You are liars from the very beginning. Abu Ha-

* 4 nifa, your great Imam, was a native of Kabul, and
46 attached himself particularly to the service of

'* ut membrurn ejus nunquam
siccum esset."

65

ct Imam Jafr Sadik; at last he left him, and pro-
" fessed openly the religion of his fathers, who were
" Magi. A sign of the Magian creed was, that he
" thought it right to eat three times a-day,and to lay
" aside all ehoice of diet, as well as not to reckon
" the unbelievers impure, saying that impurity
" resides in the interior, if any where, and the
" like.' 7

The Sonnite remarked: "Thou thy self agrees t that
ci AbuHanifawas a follower of the Imam Jafr, there-
" fore he most likely practised what was conform-
" able to the religion of the Imam Jafr. We do
" not admit that your people are attached to the
c ' religion of the Imam ; we rather believe that they
c * are Magi ; for when your ancestors were conquered
" and subjected, they, by necessity, joined the Is-
" lamian, but mixed the right faith with the creed of
" the Magi : as it appears from the worship called
" nourozj which is a custom of the Magi; according
" to whom they likewise perform divine worship
" three times a day. They think it right to turn
" the head in praying to the left, which is turning
" off from the Kiblah (of Mecca) ; they assert that
44 the five prayers every day are improper, as they
" are not able to perform them exactly; they main-
4 * tain, however, as requisite those at midday, before
44 sunset, and in the evening on going to sleep. In
" the same manner, they took the matdh, or tern-

64

" porary matrimonial unions, from the Mazhda-
"kian." 1

All the Shiahs have founded their creed upon
two rules : the first is the Bedas (Vedas) ; these
were promulgated with the view to surround us
with power and magnificence, or with the modes of
happiness, which brilliant prospects have not been
realized; it was said that the lord of divine ma-
jesty dictated the Veda. The second rule is godli-
ness ; by which men are freed from all the propensi-
ties of nature. The Shiahs are of this persuasion;
and when they are asked about the manner of it,
they say : By means of godliness we experience the
non-reality of exterior things.

The Veda treats of theology, and of what may
appear contrary to divinity; it explains the will 2
which on the part of the perverse may be mani-
fested contrary to the will of the (supreme) judge.
The Veda moreover treats of practice: when an
action tends towards one thing, and when, after
or before its accomplishment, it turns towards some-
thing else.

* See vol. I. p. 377.

2 ztot, I tra'det, " will " (upon this word see an explanation hereafter) ;

it is one of the Barnes of the first minister, or of the universal intelli-
gence in the mystic language of the Druzes (see Chrestom. Ar., tome II.
p. 243) This sect belongs to the Ismailahs, who appear to have bor-
rowed much from the Indian philosophy.

65

The unbelievers, who are in opposition to the
prophet assert, that he has adopted the morals of
Amral Kais 1 and mixed them with the Koran, that
likewise he has frequently made use therein of the
ideas of other poets, and even frequently gave place
in it to the usages of paganism, with which he
had been pleased. There are other controversies
current. It will be best to attend to the following
observation: What avail the doubts of the Shiahs?
They attack in their speeches the Vicars of the
prophet; when the first party (the Sonnites) repress
the answer to it upon their tongues, let the other
party too refrain from dispute.

The arguments being carried to this point, the
khalif of God dismissed the parties.

One day a Nazarene came to pay his submissive
respects to the khalif of God, and challenged any of

1 Arnrdl Kais, son of Hajr, king of the Arabs of the tiibe of Eendah,
according to Herbelot, of Asad, Mas, according to Sale, one of the great-
est poets before Muhammedisra, and one of the seven, whose compositions
were suspended upon silken stuff in golden letters in the temple of
Mecca, and therefore called moallakat, " suspended " His poems,
translated by Sir W. Jones (vol. X. of his Works), are amatory, and have
nothing of religion which Muhammed could borrow. Amralkais was one
of the adversaries of the prophet, and wrote satires and invectives against
him, which were answered by Labiti, another of the seven poets, but
who ranged himself on the side of Muhammed. The Arabian prophet
certainly took many tenets and customs from former times and religions:
thus he confirmed the holiness of the temple of Mecca and its environs,
which were held in veneration long before him ; thus he adopted from
Judaism several laws relating to marriages, divorces, etc , etc

66

learned among the Muselmans to dispute with him.
The proposal being accepted, the Nazarene began :
" Do yon believe in. Aisa (Jesus)? " The Muselman
answered: " Certainly; we acknowledge him as a
" prophet of God; our prophet bore testimony to
" the divine mission of Jesus." The Nazarene con-
tinued: " This prophet (the Messiah) has announced
" that after him many will appear who will pretend
44 to a prophetic office; yet ' believe not in them,
" ' nor follow them, for they are liars ; but remain
fc< ' you sieadfast and firm in my faith, until I come
tc * again.' There is no mention of your prophet in
" the Gospel." The Muselman replied : " Mention
" of him was in the Pentateuch 1 and in the Gos-

1 As the Arabians descend from Ismail, the brother of Isaak, they
take to themselves the blessing which God, in Genesis (XVII. 20), pro-
nounced upon him and his posterity; and in the twelve princes who,
according to the same verse, were to issue from him, they see their twelve
Imams, All and the rest (see vol II. p. 367) They believe also that the
prophet, who, as God announced to Moses in the Pentateuch (Deutero-
nomy, XVIII. 18 \ would rise from the Ismaihtes, was Muhammed. Ac-
cording to Abul Firaj (Specimen Hist. Arab , 14. 17), the Muhammedans
find m a passage of the Pentateuch (Deuter., XXXIII. 2) indicated the
descent of the law to Moses upon mount Sinai ; that of the Gospel to
Jesus upon mount Sair; and that of the Koran to Muhammed upon
mount Pharan, near Mecca. Further, in Psalm L. v 2 they imagine
that in the words: " Manifestavit Deus e Sione coronam laudatam, acti-
" Ian mahmudan" ty actilan, tl crown," is to be understood " king-
" dom," and by mahmudan, u praised," the very name of Muhammed.
But this passage is translated in our Bible: " Out of Sion hath God
" appeared in perfect beauty " They find also passages applicable to
their prophet in Isaiah XXII. 6 7. 9: XLII. 1. 7. 16. 17., and the whole

67

44 pel, 1 but your principal men obliterated it." The
Nazarene asked: 4i Do you possess that Gospel
" which is correct?" TheMuselman avowed : " We
" do not." Then the Nazarene resumed: " Hence
44 your falsehood is evident ; you deny the Gospel ;
" for if you did not, you would preserve it, as we,
" who are Christians, preserve the Pentateuch,
44 which is the book of Moses ; but you keep neither
" the Pentateuch nor the Gospel, and if there had
" been mentioned in the Gospel any thing of your
" prophet, we would without doubt, according to
44 the words of Jesus, adhere to it, because, in con-

1. 6 etc. ; moieover in Habacuc, III 3 etc. Besides, the
town of Medina, being inhabited by a tribe of conquered Jew?, \\ho were
expecting a promised Messiah, Muhammed presented himself as one for
all nations , and the credulous easily confounded him who was expected
by the Jews \\ith the upstart Arabian piophet.

1 The Moslims have a Gospel in Arabic, attributed to Saint Barnabas,
in which, it is said, they have inserted the very name of then prophet
Muhammed, Ahmed, Mahmud, as being the translation of the Greek
word TtspixKiTos, periclytos, " famous, illustrious." which they have
substituted for wapax^To;, paracUtos, " comforter, called upon, advo-
"catus," which is found m St John's Gospel, XIV 26, XV 26, XVI. 7.,
and by which is designated Jesus, or the Holy Ghost (see Sale's* Koran,
Prel Disc , p 98). The interpretation of ihe word penclytos might
also have found place in the Arabian translation of the Bible, made by
Werka, the cousin of Muhammed's fir&t wife. Whatever it be, we read in
chap. LXI v 6. of the Koran : ' And when Jesus, the son of Mary, said .
" ' children of Israel, verily I am the apostle of God, sent unto you,
" ' confirming the law which was delivered before me, and bringing
" * good tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, and whose name
' k * shall be Ahmed ' "

68

t4 formity with our faith, our desire is to obey the
4i precepts of Jesus. But now, whence can we
" know that your prophet is true?" The Musel-
44 man said: Ct From his miracles, one of which is
" the dividing of the moon." 1 The Nazarene ob-
served upon this : " If the dividing of the moon has
44 taken place, the inhabitants of the world must
" have seen it, and the recorders of extraordinary
44 things in all countries, and the historians of all
" nations would have written it down with the pen
44 of truth. Now none, except Muselmans, give any
4 c information of it. " There was an Hindu present ,
the Nazarene asked him: " In the Kali yug, which
4 ' is the fourth of your ages, has the moon been once
44 divided?" And he addressed the same question
to the Persians and Turks there present; all said :

1 This miracle has perhaps no other foundation but the atmospheric
phenomena of a double moon which was seen m Mecca, four or five years
before theHejira. Some ascribed it to Muhammed on the infidels demand-
ing a sign of him; the moon then appeared cloven in two; one part
vanishing and the other remaining : H was affirmed that the mount Kara
was seen interposing between the two sections. To this the believers
refer chapter LIV of the Koran, entitled the moon, which begins by these
words : * The hour approacheth, and the moon hath been split asunder.',
The most intelligent expounders understand in the first word the hour
of judgment; others think, that in the rest the preter tense isused, in the
prophetic style, for the future; and that the passage should be thus
rendered: " The moon shall be split asunder:" for this, they say, is to
happen at the resurrection. (See Sale's Koran, vol. II. p. 405). In the
subsequent section, " upon the interpretation of the prophet's miracle,"
this subject is paiticularly treated.

69

" We have not seen any thing like it in our histori-
" cal accounts/' The Muselman remained con-
founded.

Another day, a Jew presented himself; the lord
khalif of God placed the Nazarene in opposition to
him for a religious discussion The Jew began :
" In the Pentateuch, there is no mention made of
44 Jesus." The Nazarene replied: "How not?
4 ' Does not David say : ' My hands and my feet fall
" ' off, and all my bones are counted/ This is a
" prediction of the sufferings and of the crucifixion
" of Jesus." The Jew remarked upon this : " What-
44 ever David may have said of himself, and the All-
44 Just have announced by his tongue, should all this
" be taken for a prediction of Jesus?" The Naza-
rene pursued : " But the conception of a virgin was
" predicted, and this virgin was Mary." The Jew
objected : " Amongst us, the virginity of Mary is not
" proved, as, according to your belief, before the
44 birth of Jesus, she was married to Joseph the
4 * carpenter , and Jesus is said to be the son of Joseph
46 the carpenter." The Nazarene admitted : " This
" is true; but," he added: " Joseph had never
" touched Mary/' The Jew opposed: " How is
" that proved ?" And this was the question which
the Jew repeated at every thing which the Nazarene
brought forward, so that the latter was reduced to
silence.

70

A learned philosopher came into the hall, where
Hindus also were present, and three other learned
men; a Musehnan, a Nazarene, and a Jew: these
were summoned, and ranged in opposition to the
learned philosopher. The latter opened the dis-
cussion in ihis manner : " The divine mission of
' ' your prophets has not been proved, for several rea-
*' sons : the first is, thai whatever the prophet says
ct ought to be conformable to reason ; the second is,
'- that he ought to be free from crime, and not hurt-
" ful to other beings. But Moses, according to the
44 opinion of the Jews, was brought up by Pharaoh,
" 4 and yet he caused him by a stratagem to be
" drowned in the waters of the Nile, and listened
" not lo his repentance. What they say of the
" water of the Nile having opened a passage to
" Moses, is an error. Nor did he attend to the
" repentance of Kanin (Korah), 1 but, from cove-
46 tousness of gold, he caused him to be swal-
4< lowed up by the earth. Jesus permitted the kill-

1 According to Richardson's Diet, edit, of F. Johnson: " Karun is
1 supposed to be the same person called Korah (Numbers, chap. XVII
ik whom the Muhammedan describe as the cousin of Moses. He is fre-
' quently alluded to by the poets and moralists, not only as being ex-
14 tremely handsome, but as possessed of immense wealth, acquired by his
" skill in chemistry, arid the discovery of the philosopher's stone; whilst
" his avarice is icpresented as so remarkable, that his name is prover-
" bially applied to all misers They add, that it was on account of his
41 lefusal to pay Moses a tithe of his possessions ioi the public use, that
" the cdith opened .uui swallowed him up."

71

" ing and ill using of animals. And Muhaimned
" himself attacked the forces and caravans of the
" Koreish; he shed blood, nay, with his own hand
" put to death animated beings. He besides ex-
" ceeded all bounds in sexual connexions, and in
' ' taking the wives of other men ; so that, on account
" of his gazing, a wife was separated from her hus-
" band, i and the like are notorious of him. With
tc these perverse qualities, how then shall we recog-
u nise a prophet?" All concurred in declaring :
" By miracles." The philosopher asked: " What
tc are the miracles of your prophets?" The Jew
answered: " Thou must have heard of Moses's
" wand, which became a serpent." The doctor
immediately took up his girdle, breathed upon it,
and it became a great serpent, which hissed and
turned towards the Jew ; but the philosopher
stretched out his hand, and took it back, saying :
" Lo, the miracle of Moses ! " whilst the Jew, from
fear, had scarcely any life left in his body, and
could not recover his breath again. Now the Chris-
tian said : " The Messiah was born without a fa-
" ther.' 1 The doctor replied: " You yourselves
" say that Joseph, the carpenter, had taken Mary
" to wife ; how can it be made out that Jesus was
4 ' not the son of Joseph ?" The Nazarene was re-

1 See p 59. note 1, i dative to Zaid and Zeinah.

72

duced to silence. The Mahomedan took up the
word, and said : tc Our prophet brought forth the
u Koran, divided the moon, and ascended to hea-
" ven." The philosopher observed upon this : " It
" is stated in your sacred book:

kt * And they say : We will by no means believe on thee, until thou
44 * cause a spring of water to gush forth foi us out of the earth, or thou
" * have a garden of palm trees and vines, and thou cause rivers to spring
** * forth from the midst of this palm plantation , or that thou throw down
" ' upon the earth the heaven torn in pieces, 01 that thou bring down
'* ' God Almighty and the angels to vouch for thee; or thou have a house
" * of gold; or thou ascend by a ladder to heaven: neither will we
" ' believe thy ascending, until thou cause a book to descend unto us
" ' which we may read. The answer is m this way : Say, Muhammed,
" ' pure is God the nourisher, I am but a man-prophet.' 1

" From this an equitable judge can conclude, he
44 who could not cause a spring of running water
c ' to come forth, how could he have shown the rnira-
" cles which are related of him? when he had not
" the power of tearing the heaven in pieces, in what
" manner could he divide the moon? when he was
" unable to show the angels, how could he see Ja-
44 brill with his own eyes? and his companions too
" did not behold him in the shape of an Arab; when
4i he was unable, in the presence of unbelievers, to
64 go to heaven with his body, how did he perform

1 Koran, chap XVII. v 92-95 The Dabistan gives the Arabic text
and the Peisian translation, which last I have followed. It agrees, except
in a few words, with the English version of Sale, and the French of
M. Kdsimirskv

73

" the bodily ascension (ascribed to him in the Ko-
^ ran)? As he brought thence no writing, in what
" way came the Koran down from heaven?"

A follower of Zerdusht, who stood in a corner,
now interrupted the philosopher, saying: " Main-
" tain all this, but do not deny miracles m general,
44 for our prophet too ascended to heaven." The
doctor replied : c< You admit the existence of Yez-
" dan and Ahriman, in order that Yezdan may not
4 ' be said to be the author of evil ; but you also assert,
li that Ahriman sprung forth from the evil thought
' * of the all-just Lord ; therefore he sprung from
" God, and evil originates from God, the All- Just :
" you are therefore wrong in the fundamental prin-
u ciple, the very root of your religion, and wrong
" must be every branch which you derive from it."

A learned Brahman here took up the discussion :
"Thou deniest the prophetic missions; but our
" Avatars rest upon these missions.' 7 The doctor
said : ' ' You at first acknowledge one God, and then
4 u you say that, having descended from his solitude,
" he assumed a great body; but God is not clothed
" with a body, wilich belongs to contingency and
" tangible matter. In like manner, you attribute
c< wives to your gods. Vishnu, who according to
4 * some represents the second person of the divine
" triad, according to others, is acknowledged as the
" supreme God, is said to have descended from his

74

ct station, and become incarnate at different times,
tc in the forms of a fish, a boar, a tortoise, and of
" man. When he was in the state of Rama, his
<l wife was ravished from him. He was ignorant,
iv and acquired some knowledge by becoming the
" disciple of one among the sages of India, until he
* ' was freed from his body ; in the form of Krishna
" he was addicted to lust and deceit, of which you
" yourselves tell many stories. You state, that in
" this incarnation there was little of the wisdom of
" a supreme God, and much of the corporeal mat-
6fi ter of Krishna : thus you compel mankind, who,
" capable of justice, are superior to all sorts of ani-
" mals, to worship a boar or a tortoise ! And you
" adore the form of the male organ as Mahadeva,
"whom many acknowledge to be God, and the
<fi female organ as his wife ! You seem not to know
c that the irrational cannot be the creator of the
" rational; that the one, uncompounded, is incom-
" patible with division, and that plurality of the
4 * self-existent one is absurd. Finally, by the wor-
" ship of a mean object, no perfection can accrue to
" the noble." By these proofs and arguments he
established his theses, and the Brahman remained
confounded.

Afterwards the philosopher addressed the assem-
bly : " Know for certain that the perfect prophet and
<* learned apostle, the possessor of tame, Akbar, that

" is, the lord of wisdom, directs us to acknowledge
'' that ihe self-existent being is the wisest teacher,
" and ordains the creatures with absolute power,
" so that the intelligent among them may be able to
ct understand his precepts ; and as reason renders
" it evident that the world has a Creator, all-mighty
" and all-wise, who has diffused upon the field of
* c events among the servants, subject to vicissitudes,
u numerous and various benefits which are worthy
' ' of praise and thanksgiving ; therefore, according
' to the lights of our reason, let us investigate the
" mysteries of his creation, and, according to our
'< knowledge, pour out the praises of his benefits;
u and as, by the knowledge of the primordial omni-
lt potence, we shall have found the direction to the
^ right way, we shall, in proportion to our grati-
" tude, be led to the reward of yon exuberant bea-
4 * titude ; if, by denying the unity and disowning
4< the benefits of God we sink into guilt, shall we
' ' not be deserving of punishment ? Such being the
' ' case, why should we pay obedience to any person
4k who belongs to mankind as ourselves, and who is
" subject to anger and lust, and avarice and passion,
" and love of rank and power, even more than our-
u selves? If this mortal exhorts us to knowledge
i4 and gratitude, we may by the concurrence of our
" own reason obtain this advantage ; but if he urges
4k his precepts by what is opposite to reason, then

76

' 4 his speech is a proof of deceit ; for reason demon-
'< strates that the world has a wise creator, and that
' * he, being wise, prescribes to the creatures a wor-
' ship which to their reason does not evince itself
c; as an evil; and whatever is proved bad, is not
<4 ordered by him. Now the law contains particu-
* ' lars which reason accounts as false or bad : such
'* are conversations with God; the descent of in-
' ' corporeal heavenly beings in human forms or in
1 ' the shape of a tortoise ; the reascension to heaven
" in an elemental body ; the pilgrimage to particu-
1 ' lar edifices for performance of worship ; the cir-
44 cuit (round the Kaba), the entrance in it, the
44 fatigue, the throwing of stones; 1 the acquitting
" one's self of the pilgrimage to Mecca; the kissing
lt of the black stone. If it be said that, without a
"- visible medium, it is impossible to worship the
44 all-mighty Creator, and that a place for the sake
4V of connexion is to be fixed, it may be answered,
1 ' that one who offers praises and thanks to God, has
* no need of a medium and of a place; and if a fixed

1 The principal ceremonies performed by the pilgrims of Mecca have been
touched upon in vol. II. p. 409, note 3 ; the throwing of stones takes place
m the valley of Mina, where the devotees throw seven stones at three
marks or pillars, in imitation of Abraham, who, meeting the devil in that
place, and being disturbed by him in his devotions and tempted to dis-
obedience, \\hen he was going to sacrifice his son, was commanded by
God to drive him away by throwing stones at him; though others pretend
this rite to be as old as Adam, who also put the devil to flight in the
same place, and by the same means. (Sale's Koran, Prel. Disc., p. 160.)

n

tk place were to be admitted, the forms of the stars
fc * above would be preferable. If it be objected, thai
*' this cannot be free from the detestable suspicion
k< of paganism, whilst, certainly, a place among
" others having been fixed, which place, by distinc-
Lt tion from them all, presents itself to them as
tC particular, a predilection for it appeared proper.
c ; In like manner, after a computation of dimensions,
t geometricians and mathematicians determine a
' place which, with respect to the objects and
c " points of a space, bears the same relation as the
4ta centre to a circle; then, without doubt, every
" portion of the circumference will have its particu-
tk lar relative situation with respect to the point of
' the centre; certainly, in consequence of this ar
* ' rangement, all places so determined become refer-
u able to this particular place, and among the other
44 places, shall be worthy of predilection." To this
may be answered: " This opinion agrees not with
44 the ideas of many distinguished persons; for a
" great number confers upon the site of another
4 ' place the attribute of being the middle, and distin-
" guish it as such ; which is evident from the books
u of the institutes of Brahma and of others, and by
44 the necessity of pronouncing benedictions there.
" This also cannot be free from the suspicion of
4 * paganism : because one may suppose that God,
" the All-Just, is represented in the house, or is a

78

*' body, on winch account people tall il ' the house
*' ' of God." If it be so, or if the Ivabah be situ-
' c ated in the midst of a country, other prophets may
" have chosen another place, such as the holy house
4 < (of Jerusalem), and the like; but this is but by
4C error; thus it happened that, at first, the lord
' - Muhammed did not offer his prayers at the Kabah.
" Since therefore the detestable suspicion of pagan-
44 ism rests upon all the worship of stone, earth, and
4 * bodies, then water, fire, and the planets, are objects
' 4 more proper to be honored ; and if a centre be
'* desired, let it be the sun in the midst of the seven
" heavens. In like manner objectionable is the
" sacrifice of animals, and the interdiction of what
' ' may be proper for the food of men, and the admit-
" ting thereof by one prophet to be lawful what is
" forbidden by another. Thus, if it be not right to
44 eat pork, why was it permitted by Jesus? if it
' ' was interdicted on account of pollution in conse-
" quence of the animal's feeding upon unclean and
" nasty things, so the cock is objectionable for the
" same reasons. Similar to these are most other
6 ' commands, and contrary to the precepts of reason.
" ' But the greatest injury comprehended in a pro-
* ' phetic mission is the obligation to submit to one
Ci like ourselves of the human species, who is sub-
" ject to the incidental distempers and imperfec-
44 tions of mankind ; and who nevertheless controls

79

*' others with severity, in eating, drinking, and in
44 all their other possessions, and drives them about
44 like brutes, In every direction which he pleases ;
4 ' who declares every follower's wife he desires, legal
44 for himself and forbidden to the husband; who
4t takes to himself nine wives, ' whilst he allows no
4fc more than four to his followers ; and even of these
a wives he takes whichever he pleases for himself; ' 2
" and who grants impunity for shedding blood to
' * whomsoever he chooses. On account of what ex*
* 4 cellency , oil account of what science, is it necessary
44 to follow that man's command ; and what proof is
4 4 there to establish the legitimacy of his pretensions?
4 * If he be a prophet by his simple word, his word,
44 because it is only a word, has no claim of superi-
44 ority over ihe words of others. Nor is it pos-
" sible to know which of the sayings be correctly
" his own, on account of the multiplicity of contra-
44 dictions in the professions of faith. If he be a

1 Herbelot says that, according to the Muhammedans, their prophet
had twenty-one \nves, six of whom he repudiated, and five died before*
him; therefore ten remained.

2 Chapter XXXIII v. 47 has the following passage: " prophet, we
" have allowed thee thy wives unto \\hom thou hast given their dower,
" and also the slaves which thy right hand possesseth, of the booty which
44 God hath granted thee, and the daughters of thy aunts, both on thy
" father's side, who have fled with thee fiom Mecca, and any other be-
" lieving woman, if she give herself unto the prophet, m case the pro-
" phet desireth to take her to wife This is a peculiar privilege granted
44 unto thee above the rest of the true believers."

80

^ prophet on the strength of miracles, then the
' * deference to it is very dependent ; because a mira-
" cle is not firmly established, and rests only upon
44 tradition or a demon's romances: as the house of
" tradition, from old age, falls in ruins, it deserves
41 no confidence. Besides, by the regulation of di-
" vine providence, occult sciences are numerous;
" and the properties of bodies without end or imm-
" her. Why should it not happen that such a phe-
" nomenon, which thou thinkest to be a miracle, be
" nothing else but one of the properties of several
<c bodies, or a strange effect of the occult art? As
" with thee, the dividing of the moon, of which
" thou hast heard, is a miracle, why shouldst thou
1 ' not admit, as proved, the moon of Eashgar ? *
" And if thou namest Moses, ' the speaker of God,'
44 why shouldst thou not so much the more give this
" title to Sameri, 2 who caused a calf to speak?

44 But if it be said that every intellect has not the
" power of comprehending the sublime precepts,

1 This reminds of Hakera, the moon-maker (See p. 3, note 1.)

2 The name of a magician said to have been contemporary with Moses.
He is mentioned m the Koran, chap XX. v. 87. Sale observes (vol II.
pp. 145. 146. N. 9.) that he was not, as the Muhammedans believe, one of
the Samaritans, who were not then formed into a people, nor bore that
name till many ages after. Selden is of opinion, that this person was no
other than Aaron himself, called al Sameri, from the Hebrew word sha-
mar, " to keep ;" because he was. the keeper, or guardian, of the children
of Israel during the absence of his brother, Moses, on the mount.

81

fc ' but that the bounty of the all-mighty God created
4 ' degrees of reason and a particular order of spirits,
" so that he blessed a few of the number with supe-
" rior sagacity ; and that the merciful light of lights,
" by diffusion and guidance, exalted the prophets
4C even above these intellects. If it be so, then a
" prophet is of little service to men ; for he gives
** instruction which they do not understand, or
" which their reason does not approve. Then the
* * prophet will propagate his doctrine by the sword ;
" he says to the inferiors: * My words are above
" * your understanding, and your study will not
" * comprehend them.' To the intelligent he says :
61 ' My faith is above the mode of reason.' Thus,
" his religion suits neither the ignorant nor the
" wise. Another evil attending submission to an
" incomprehensible doctrine is that, whatever the intel-
" lect possesses and offers by its ingenuity, turns
" to no instruction and advantage of mankind, whilst
" the prophet himself has said:

" ' God imposes upon a man no more than he can bear.'

u And whatever the understanding does not com-
" prise within the extent of reason, the truth of this
' ' remains hidden ; and to assent thereto is silliness ;
" because the doctrine of other wise men may be of
" a higher value than the tradition or the book of
" that prophet. Besides, if the maxim were incul-

v. in. 6

82

" cated that prophets must be right, any body who
" chose could set up the pretension of being one;
t as silly men will always be found to follow him,
" saying : ' His reason is superior to ours, which is
44 not equal to such things.' Hence have arisen
46 among the Muselmans and other nations so many
66 creeds and doctrines, as well as practices without
" number.

" Another defect is that, when the religion of one
44 prophet has been adopted, and when his rule has
4 c been followed in the knowledge and worship of
44 God, after a certain time another prophet arises,
" who prescribes another religion to the people.
4C Hence they become perplexed, and know not
" whether the former prophet was a liar, or whe-
" ther they ought to conclude that in each period
" mankind is to alter the law according to circum-
44 stances. But the knowledge of truth admits no
u contradiction; yet there exists a great number of
il contradictions in the four sacred books: ' hence
" it appears that, in the first times, the true God has
" not made himself known, and that the first creed
44 with respect to him had been wrong ; thus, in
44 the second book, something else is said, and in
44 like manner in the third and in the fourth.

44 In the sequel it became evident to wise men,
' * that emancipation is to be obtained only by the

1 The Pentateuch, the Psalter, the Gospel, and the Koran.

83

4 ' knowledge of truth conformably with the precepts
" of the perfect prophet, the perfect lord of fame,
*' Akbar, ' the Wise ;' the practices enjoined by him
6 ' are : renouncing and abandoning the world ;
" refraining from lust, sensuality, enter iainment,
" slaughter of what possesses life ; and from appro-
" priating to one's self the riches of other men;
" abstaining from woinen, deceit, false accusation,
" oppression, ij^mid^p-n, foolishness, and giving
' ' (to others) titles. The endeavors for

4 ' the recompense of the other world, and the forms
' ' of the true religion may be comprised in ten vir-
" tues, namely : 1. liberality and beneficence; 2. for-
^ bearance from bad actions and repulsion of anger
" with mildness; 5. abstinence from worldly de-
" sires ; 4. care of freedom from the bonds of the
" worldly existence and violence, as well as accu-
4 * mulating precious stores for the future real and
<f perpetual world; 5. piety, wisdom, and devo-
" tion, with frequent meditations on the conse-
u quences of actions ; 6. strength of dexterous pru-
" dence in the desire of sublime actions; 7. soft
<c voice, gentle words, and pleasing speeches for
4 4 every body ; 8. good society with brothers, so that
c< their will may have the precedence to our own ;
Ci 9. a perfect alienation from the creatures, and a
" perfect attachment to the supreme Being; 10.
" purification of the soul by the yearning after God

84

" the all-just, and the union with the merciful Lord,
u in such a manner thai, as long as the soul dwells
4C in the body, it may think itself one with him and
^ long to join him, until the hour of separation
" from the body arrives . The best men are those
<c who content themselves with the least food, and
" who sequestrate themselves from this perishable
world, and abstain Irom the enjoyments of eating,
" drinking, dress, and marriage, vilest of the

" people are those who think it indulge the

4 ' desire oi generation, the passion for wine, and ban-
ci quetting with eagerness, as if it were something
" divine. As the mode which the perfect prophet
* * and apostle, Akbar the Wise, has prescribed to his
'* followers, is difficult, certainly the demons excite
" the spirit of brutish passion against his regula-
'* tions ; so that there are prophets who, captivated
* 4 with lust, anger, pleasures of eating and drinking,
u costly garments, beautiful women, and engaged in
c * oppression towards the children of one race, whom
" they call infidels, consider these practices not only
4C as legal, but even as laudable, and tend towards
" them. So it happens that many learned men and
4< their followers, who, for the sake of the world
" have chosen to obey these prophets, but in their
" heart deny them, and are aware of the falsehood
^ of this sect, wait for an opportunity, with prudent
" regard to circumstances and a favorable hour, to

c <" adopt llie regulations of Akbar.' 9 Nobody in the
assembly had an answer to give to the learned phi-
losopher, who, after the effort which he had made,
left the hall. 1

The lord vicar of God said to his disciples, that,
it is an indispensable duty to worship God, the all-
just, and that it is necessary to praise those who are
near him ; among mankind, said he, none is higher
in rank than the planets, to the station of which no
man can attain. None except God, the all-mighty,
is the wish of the godly man, that is, whatever the
godly undertakes, the object of his wish in it is
God ; for instance, he takes some food, that he may
be able to perform the service of God; performs
that service, that he may not be slack and deficient
in his duties to God 5 desires a wife, that he may
give existence to a virtuous son, worshipper of God ;
pays veneration to the lights of the stars, because
they are near God the all-just; and abandons him-
self to sleep, that his soul may ascend to the upper
world. Finally, the godly man is at all times in the

1 In the Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay,, vol. II pp.
242-270, is to be found: " A Notice respecting the religion introduced
" by the Emperor Akbar, by Captain Vans Kennedy, written in 4818,"
with an elegant, but in several places abridged, translation of the just-
given disputes, between the doctors of the different religions, m form of a
dialogue, accompanied with valuable remarks respecting the author oi
the Dabistan, of which I availed myself in several quotations in the Tre-
liminary Discourse, as \\ell us in this place.

86

service and obedience of the all-just, and at no mo-
ment is he negligent in pious practices. Moreover,
he thinks himself bound to abstain from hurting
living beings, and he respects all the creatures of
God. He does not cut grass and green trees without
necessity, nor pollute the ground wantonly, except
on a particular place ; he throws neither water nor
fire upon vile spots ; he blesses the stars ; further
in this disposition he accustoms himself to absti-
nence in speaking, eating, and sleeping; he con-
strains himself to many occupations : one of them is
to close with his fingers the exterior organs ; he
dwells with veneration upon the image of the lord
of fires (the sun), until he had carried this exercise
so far that, by merely covering his eyes, the great
object is present to him ; then, whichever of the
illustrious and mighty personages of Hind, or Iran,
or Greece, or any other place, he wishes to see, that
person presents himself to his view, and he sees
lights, explores many ways, and makes himself
master of the temporary and the eternal. The lord
vicar of the all-just is called HM, " divine," by his
followers, because in all their actions the object of
their wishes is God ; and the lord has received the
divine mission to establish the worship of the stars,
which are to be the Kiblah of the pious. In the an-
cient books of the Hindus and Parsis, without num-
ber, the excellence of the constellations is affirmed.

87

Nain Javet gave the information that, in the reign
of the lord (Akbar) the learned assembled, and Makh-
diim ul mulk gave the decision, that in this age it is
not required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca ; but
that whoever makes it deserves punishment; for this
reason; namely, because the road to Mecca by land
passes through the middle of Irak, and by sea through
Guzerat and the ports of the Farangis ; by land it is
unavoidable to hear unseemly speeches from the
Kazel bashan ; and on the voyage by sea to suffer
much impropriety in the transactions and commu-
nications with the Farangis ; because they have
represented upon their papers 1 the image of Jesus
and the picture of Mary, which bear a resemblance
to idolatry.

His majesty Akbar said one day that he heard
from Shaikh Abdul Nabi, that one of the chief law-
yers of the Sonnites declared the taking of nine
wives to be legal, whilst other learned men denied
it, and quoted the passage of the Koran :

" Take m marriage such women as please you, two, or three, or
" four." 2

1 This refers principally to papers, such as passports, of the Poitu-
guese, who, as I have been informed by Viscount Santarem, used to
represent St. Catherine upon them, this saint being the patroness of Goa
and of one of the principal confraternities; and the above-mentioned
images are besides often used as ornaments of books and printed papers.

2 Others translate: " two, and three, and four," consequently nine
wives ; as the conjunction va f in Arabic, may mean or as well as and.
(See Transact, of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. II. p 268.)

88

As even eighteen wives were said to be legal, then
the learned gave the decision that it may be admis-
sible, by the mode of mat&h, " a temporary agree-
* ' ment," ' by means of which the obtainment of wo-
men is facilitated for a certain price; and this is
permitted pursuant to the creed of the Imam Malik.
The sect of the Shfahs assert, that a son begotten in
consequence of matah, is preferable to all olhers.
Nakib Khan followed the footsteps of the Imam
Malik, who at last declared the maiah legal by a pub-
lic patent. The sect of the Shiahs quote, in sup-
port of this, the following passage of the Koran :

1 The passage of the Koran favorable to temporary marriage is in
chap. IV. v. 28 : " For the advantage which you receive from them, give
" them their reward (assign them their dower), according to what is
" ordained: but it shall not be criminal to make any other agreement
" among yourselves, after the ordinance shall be complied with." In
this passage the word matdh occurs. This sort of marriage is also ad-
mitted in the H6daya fil foru', " the Guide in the Branches of the Law"
( translated into English by Charles Hamilton/' 1791) .

Nevertheless it was a subject of great contest among the Muhammedan
doctors whether such a connection be legitimate or not. The Imam Abu
Hanifah and others declared it abrogated, according to the universal
concurrence of the prophet's companions, on the authority of Ebn Abbas
Abdallah, who died Hej . 68 (A. D 687). This Imam adduced the inform-
ation received from All, who, on the day of the combat of Chaibar (A.D.
630), heard the prophet declare that such marriages are forbidden. More-
over, a strong opposer to their legitimacy was Yahia, the son of Aktam,
son of Muhammed, son of Katan, a celebrated judge, who died in the
year of the Hejira 242 (A D. 856) Living during the reign of Mamun,
he succeeded in persuading the Khalif to prohibit by a decree temporary
marriage, which he had before permitted. (Sec Abulfeda, vol. If, pp.
195-199).

89

" Your women arc a field for you: approach your field as you
" may like."

By which they pretend to show that any mode of
coition is permitted. ' Nam Javet said that, when the
era of the Muselmans was fixed, the people had a
bad opinion of the companions of the prophet, and
wise men called all the laws " prisons /'and declared
the centre of faith rests upon reason. Nobody dis-
puted with them. Then arrived learned Farangis,
and argued in their speeches. Shaikh Bhavan, so
was called a learned Brahman from the country of
Dekan, having conceived hatred towards his rela-
tions, became a Muselman, and obtained this name :
he had the fourth Veda in his possession, and inter-
preted some precepts of this book, which contains
many beauties, and a sentence like that of the Koran :
" There is but one God ;" and it was also stated
therein, that whoever does not make this confession
will not obtain salvation. In another place it was
said that to eat cow's flesh was, under certain condi-
tions, allowable; and elsewhere it was ordained to
bury, and not to burn, a corpse. Thus, the before-
said Shaikh was triumphant over the Brahmans-
But Nain Javet related that he has requested him to
interpret this passage ; when he had translated it, its
meaning was completely contrary and opposed to

vO -^ ante vel rctrorsum

90

the sentence: " There is but one God," and the
restriction to eat cow's flesh also was contrary to the
custom of the Muselmans ; and concerning the bury-
ing of the dead he gave a different account from that
which is lawful by the faith of the Muselmans. His
Majesty (Akbar), with all those present, laughed at
the Brahman, and said : " Look at these Musel-
" mans and Hindus, who among many conflicting
" arguments did not think to ask what was the
" meaning of the passages in question, and have
" praised me exceedingly.

Mir Said Sherff Amely came to the place of Dai-
bal pur, and waited on his Majesty ( Akbar ), who was
then taking part in a public dispute between a num-
ber of young men with some theologians, about Mah-
miid , and he reduced them to silence . The Emperor
conferred also many favors upon the said Mir , and the
controversy in religion went so far that even doctors
in law were accused of infidelity ; learned men and
Sufies declared in the celestial court ( Akbar 's), that
wise and capable men existed in all religions : where
then is the superiority and preponderance? More
than one thousand years have not elapsed since this
faith was established.

In like manner, a number of children were put in
a place called Gangmahel, where every thing neces-
sary was furnished to them ; but none could articu-
late a letter ; having remained there to their four-

91

teenth year, they were found to be dumb ; which made
it evident, that letters and language are not natural
to man, that is, cannot be used unless they have
been acquired by instruction, and it is then only
that the use of conversation becomes possible.
From this the conclusion was drawn, that the world
is very ancient, and language of a long date, whence
the Brahmans derive arguments founded upon rea-
son and testimony for the truth of their religion and
the futility of others.

The crown of the pious Shaikh Taj-ed-din, the son
of Shaikh Zakria Jondeheni Dahluvi, explained the
exterior rites of the mystic doctrine ; the system of
the unity of the real being ; and the precepts of the
religion of Pharaoh, which is the Fes us id hikem, the
" bezels of philosophers," 1 and the superiority of
hope over fear. His Majesty Akbar liked the mode
in which the Kings of Ajem performed worship ; the
Sufis, acknowledging holy personages as represent-
ing the Khalifs of the age, used to prostrate them-
selves before them, touching the ground with their
foreheads; this was intended to mark the secret
meaning that the angels had once adored Adam.
The truth is, that the wise are the terrestrial angels,
who worship an holy personage as a Khalifdi, " vi-
46 car," of God ; and for having attained to this dig-

1 This is a work of Mohi eddin Ibn Arabi, \vlio died in the year of the
Hejira 638 (A. D 1240), of whom hereafter

nity, they venerate him under a similar character,
and call him also their Kabdh and Kiblah : because
the heart of a just man is the heart of the all-just
God, and it is to its door that they turn in the wor-
ship of God ; in that sense Yakiib and his sons pros-
trated themselves before Yitsef.

Shaikh Yakiib, a grammarian of Kashmir, who
was a spiritual guide of the age, related, as from Ain
alkasa Hamddni, that Muhammed is the manifest
name of a guide, and Iblis the manifest name of a
seducer. Mulla Muhammed Yzedi blamed the three
khalifs, and reviled the companions of the prophet
and their followers ; he seduced people to the faith
of Shiahs, and, having brought forth chapters of the
Gospel, he drew from them a proof of the third
person of the Trinity as being true, and confirmed
the religion of the Nas aranains.

As his Majesty (Akbar) showed himself a friend of
all men, he gave orders to the Nawab, the wise
Shaikh Abu 'I Faz'il, ' who frequently witnessed the

1 Abu 1 Fazil, the wise minister of Akbar, is generally known by his
\vork entitled Aytn Alibari, " the Institutes of the Emperor Akbar,"
translated from the original Persian, by Francis Gladwin, in two volumes.
This work contains the best statistical account hitherto given respecting
India of those times. Abii '1 Fazil was the first Muhammedan who be-
stowed attention upon the history and religion of the Hindus, and drew
his information regarding them from their own books. It was by him, or
under his eyes, that the Mahabharat was translated from Sanskrit into
Persian. The tolerance and liberality of the Empeior Akbar towards all
religions, and his attempt to establish a nc>\ creed, arc generally ascribed

95

prodigious deeds of the emperor, to interpret several
foreign works, and instead of die common sentence,
" Bismilla," etc,, he adopted another, viz. :

" Thy name is a fortress, and thou art its foundation,
" Thou art holy, and there is no God but God."

The Rajah Birber conceived in his mind thai the
sun is an object all comprehensive ; that he causes
the ripening of the grain, of the sown Gelds, of the
fruits, and of all vegetables ; and gives splendor and
life; likewise, fire and water, and stones and trees,
all are manifestations of God; he gave the mark on
the forehead and the zunar. The learned brought
it nearly to certainty that the sun, the great, the
exalted luminary, is the benefactor of the world,
and the protector of mouarchs. The Yezdanian said,
that the sun is the world of spirits, the self-existent
being; and the sun of the world of bodies is a lumi-
nary (a soul) 1 which is the Khalifah, " the vicar,"
of God. A sect of the fire-worshippers stated also
that the learned entertain conflicting opinions about
the existence of spirits, of unity, and the self-existing
being; and other sects denied this; but no denial is

to the influence of his enlightened minister, who paid it with his life :
for Jehangir, Akbar's fanatic son, hired assassins who murdered the excel-
lent man, near Orcha, in the district of Narwar, on his return from the
Dekan, during the life of Akbar, who, except his utmost indignation,
had no punishment to inflict upon the heir-apparent of his empire.
1 ^l#! , aftdb, signifies sun and soul.

9-4

possible about the existence, the splendor, and QIC
beneficence of the sun. His Majesty, Akbar, as he
was ordered by God, used to read prayers, contain-
ing the praise of the sun, in the Persian, Hindi,
Turkish, and Arabic languages, among which all
was one prayer which is proper to the Hindus, and
which they sing at midnight and at sun-rise. Be-
sides, the emperor forbade his subjects to kill cows
and to eat their flesh; because medical men have
declared that cow's flesh causes itch, dry scab, le-
prosy, elephantiasis, and the like diseases, and is
difficult to digest. The Hindus say also that, as
many advantages are derived from the cow, it is not
right to kill it. The Yezdanian maintained that it is
tyranny to kill harmless animals, and a tyrant is an
enemy of God, the Almighty. But the learned of the
time showed in the book Serai ul mustakim, " the
" right road," composed by the Imam Majeddin Mu-
hammed, son of Ydfoft, son ofMuhammed, Firozdbddi, l
that what is known

" The most excellent meat of both worlds is flesh."

This has not been firmly established, and in the
subject of the excellence of hersiah, a kind of pottage,

1 Majeddin Abu Thaher Muhammed ben Yakub is the compiler of the
celebrated Arabic Dictionary, called Al lamus, already quoted, which
from a work of sixty-five volumes was reduced to two. He is the author
of several works besides the above-mentioned. He died in the year of
theHejira817(A. D. 1414)

95

nothing appeared, nor on die subject of the virtues
of the white cock ; l and on the subject of bastards It
is known :

*< The illegitimate son has no access to paradise."

This was not firmly established, and is futile. HisMa-
jesty, the khalifah of the all-just, proclaimed himself
the joyous tidings, that cows ought not to be killed.
In like manner, the fire-worshippers, who had
come from the town of Ndusaii, situated in the
district of Gujerat, asserted the truth of the religion
of Zoroaster, and the great reverence and worship
due to fire. The emperor called them to his pre-
sence, and was pleased to take information about
the way and lustre of their wise men. He also called
from Persia a follower of Zardusht, named Arde-
shir, to whom he sent money; he delivered the
sacred fire with care to the wise Shaikh Abu 1 Fa-
z il, and established that it should be preserved in
the interior apartment by night and day, perpetual
henceforth, according to the rule of the Mobeds, and
to the manner which was always practised in the
fire-temples of the Kings of Ajem, because the Iti set
was among the sentences of the Lord, and light from
among the lights of the great Ized. He invited like-
wise the fire-worshippers from Kirman to his pre-
sence, and questioned them about the subtilties of

1 1 am not acquainted with the subjects above alluded to, nor does the
text appear connected.

96

Zardusht's religion; and he wrote letters to Azer-
Kaivan, who was a chief of the Yezdam'an and Aba-
danian, and invited him to India; Azer-Kaivan
begged to be excused from coming, but sent a book
of his own composition in praise of the self-existing
being, of reason, the soul, the heavens, the stars, and
the elements ; as well as a word of advice to the King;
all this contained in fourteen sections : every first
line of each was in Persian pure deri; when read
invertedly, it was Arabic ; when turned about,
Turkish ; and when this was read in reversed order,
it became Hindi. The Nawab, the wise Shaikh Abu
1 Fazil placed a full confidence in Azer Kaivan ; he
called the inhabitants of Ajem and Arabia ' ' infestors
4< of roads, "and the people of Islam " accursed."
The wise Shaikh Abu 1 Fazil said in Fatah piir to
Abd ul Kader Bedavani : l ' I have to complain of the
" authors of books for two reasons : the first is,
u that they have not explicitly enough written the
" account of ancient prophets, similar to that of
<f their own prophet; the second is, that nothing
" remained of the industrious men whose name
" is not mentioned in the Tazkeret-ul-awlia, ' the
" * Story of the Saints/ 1 and the Nafhdt alum, ~

i Composed by Fend eddin Attlar.

1 This is a work of the celebrated Abd-al rahmen fa mi; its whole
title is: /^AaJt o|^=^ ^ i/ "^ olsr^ ^US' Kttdb-tt-
nafhat-i 'I uns-i, min hazarat-i 'I Kades, translated by Silvestre de

97

" ' the fragrant Gales of Mankind/ and the like;
" and the family of the prophet, what was their
tc guilt that their names were not admitted into
" them?" Abd ul Kader gave no satisfactory
answer. Ghazi Khan Baddakshi, who had not his
equal in logical science, treated explicitly and labo-
riously in sections of the just Imam (Ali), and esta-
blished by investigation his superior merit in other
treatises ; and other learned men exercised their
sagacity upon this subject.

In the month Rajeb of the year of the Hejira 987
(A. D. 1579), the Emperor Akbar was ordered (by
Heaven) to fix the sentence : "There is but one God,
"and Akbar is his Khalifah," to be used. If the
people really wished it, they might adopt this faith;
and his Majesty declared, that this religion ought to
be established by choice, and not by violence. In
this manner, a number of men, who were more pious
or wise than those of their times, chose this creed
according to their conscience. The command came
from God, that the attachment to the cause of the
Lord God and to one's master has four degrees,

u Sacy, " les Haleines de la farmhantti, provenant des personnages
" eminens en samtetti," " the breathings of familiarity proceeding from
" personages eminent in sanctity." Baron von Hammer rendered the
title by: 4t Die Hauche der Menshhett," li the Breathings of Mankind;"
Nefhat being interpreted in the Dictionary, by " a breath of wind, a
" fragrant gate, perfume, (metaphorically for) good fame," I prefered
the version given in the text.

\. in. 7

98

which are : sacrifice of properly, life, reputation, and
religion. The command of the Hah, "divine," faith
means that, in case of an indispensable conflict, if one
does not sacrifice all he possesses, he must renounce
these four degrees. Further, it is the divine com-
mand, that one may relinquish something of the four
degrees, but never make an abandonment of his God.

The Emperor further said, that one thousand
years have elapsed since the beginning of Muham-
mad's mission, and that this was the extent of the
duration of this religion, now arrived at its term.

Another of his ordinances abolished absolutely
the obligation of bathing after pollution by spermatic
emission. The sages said that the most exquisite and
best part of a man is mam, u sperm," and that the
seed of creation is pure. What sense is there that,
after the common natural secretions bathing be not
required, whilst the release of a quantity of delicate
matter is subject to an entire ablution ? Yet it is suit-
able to bathe before indulging sexual propensity.

It is equally absurd to prepare food for the spirit
of a corpse, which then belongs to minerals : what
sense is there in it? Yet the birth-day of a person
is justly made a great festival, and called " theban-
" quet of life." Moreover, when one's soul has at-
tained the full knowledge of the primitive cause, and
has left its mortal garment, this day also is devoted
to rejoicing, and named " the day of union."

99

On account of the diflerenco between the era of
the Hindus and that of the Hejira used by the
Arabs, the Emperor introduced a new one, begin-
ning from the first year of the reign of Hamayiin,
which is 965 of the Hejira (A. D. 1555-6); the
names of the months were those used by the Kings
of Ajem ; and fourteen festivals in the year insti-
tuted, coinciding with those of Zardusht, were
named " the years and days of Ilahi" This ar-
rangement was established by Hakim Shah Fattah
ulla Shirdzi. On account of hearing so many dis-
putes of the learned in the midst of the multitude,
the custom of reading the comments on the Koran
and the science of religion and law, were laid aside,
and in their place astronomy, physic, arithmetic,
mysticism, poetry, and chronology became cur-
rent. The people of Ajem used to repeat frequently
these verses :

" By living upon milk of camels and upon lizards,
" The Arabians raised their fortune ,
" So that they now covet Ajem:
" Fie upon thee, revolving world, fie'"

Khaja abd ul latif, 1 who was one of the distin-
guished personages of Ma verah ul naher, gifted with
the talent of subtile distinctions, raised doubts upon
the truth of the saying :

1 Abdul latif Khan, son of Abdalla, prince of the Usbccks, died in the
year of the Hejira 948 ( A. D

100

" The neck oi' the lord Muhammed is similar to the neck of an idol.'

If that prevailed, then idolatry would be laudable.
in like manner, the tradition about the she-camel
straying far off, l which is published in the Sir,
" acts and deeds ;" then the assault upon the cara-
van of the Koraish, in the beginning of the Hejira ; 2
also demanding nine wives, 3 and the interdiction of
women from husbands according to the pleasure of

1 This appeais an allusion to the following occurrence: Ayesha, Mu-
hammcd's favorite wife, accompanied the prophet on an expedition against
the tribe of the Mostalek, in the sixth year of the Hejira (A. D. 627).
During the night-march, according to her own statement, she alighted
from her camel, in order to search for a valuable necklace which she had
dropped. On account of her light weight, her absence was not perceived
by the drivers, who went on and left her alone on the road. There,
having laid down and fallen asleep, she was the next morning found by
Safwan Ebn al Moattel, and brought, at noon, on his own camel to Mu-
hammed's next resting-place. This occurrence raised suspicions respecting
Ayesha's virtue; Muhammed found necessary to inveigh against slander in
the Koran (chap XXIV), and to punish the free-speakers as slanderers :
but he could not silence the severe reflections of some respectable men,
among whom was Ali (Hammer's Gemaldesaal, I L<3 ' Sand. Sexte,
144-145.

2 Muhammed made, in the beginning of the Hejira, several unsuccessful
attempts to intercept the caravans of the Koreish, his enemies; at last,
in the second year of the Hejira (A. D. 623), took place the battle of Bedr,
in the valley of the same name, near the sea, between Mecca and Medina.
Muhammed, with 319 combattants, had marched to take a caravan of the
Koreish, which, richly laden, returned from Syria; apprised of it, the
inhabitants of Mecca sent 950 men to succour the caravan: this force
was attacked and routed by Muhammed's infeiior number, assisted by
angels, and a rich booty fell into his hands.

3 See vol. III. p 79

101

the prophet, and this taking place; 1 the compa-
nions giving up their body ; which is to be known
by reading the book Sir; further, the appointment
of the three first khalifs ; 2 the affair of Fadek ; 3 the
war of Safin; 4 the victory of the Shiahs ; and the
defeat of the Sonnites : all these topics are subject to
reflection.

At a convivial meeting on the new-year's festival,
a Kasi and a Mufti were inclined to drink cups of
wine. Shaik Abu 1 Fazil, as a counterpart lo the
explanation of the verse of the Koran, called " the
" throne/' 5 composed a sermon in two parts. He
also translated the Mahabharat, which is the history
of the wars of the ancient Hindu chiefs. Some
learned men denied absolutely the affair of Muham-

1 See vol III. p. 59

2 See vol. I. pp. 99-100

3 See vol. HI. p 51

4 See vol III. pp. 59-60. note 2,

5 This is the 256th verse of chapter II It is justly admired by the
Muhammedans, who recite it m their prayer, and some of them \veui it
about them, engraved on an agate or other precious stone Here it fol-
lows, as translated by Sale, who remaiks that his translation must not be
supposed to equal the dignity of the original (vol. I p. 47) : " God 1
14 there is no God but he; the living, the self-subsisting ; neither slumber
" nor sleep seizeth him; to him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and
" on earth. Who is he that can intercede with him, but through his
** good pleasure? He knoweth that which is past, and that which is to
" come to them, and they shall not comprehend any thing of his know-
" ledge, but so far as he pleaseth His throne is extended over heaven
" and earth, and the preservation of both is no burthen unto him, Ho
44 is the High, the Mighty "

102

med's marriage night with Sidikdh, 1 and blamed the
deed of David concerning Uriah's wife.

When the Sultan Khajah, who was one of the
llahian, was about to leave this world, he said to the
emperor : ' 4 Let not your Majesty bury me as if I had
' ' been an adorer of Divs." On that account he was
placed in a tomb with lamps, like a person of dis-
tinction, and a lattice was left towards the great
majestic luminary, the splendor of which purifies
from of all sins. Further, orders were issued that,
in imitation of the kings of Ajem, low people may be
prevented from reading the books of the wise, and
from the pursuit of sciences. By other ordinances,
the affairs of the Hindus were to be decided by
learned Brahmans, and those of Muselmans by their
ownKas'is. Likewise the followers of other reli-
gions and persuasions received orders, that the head
of a corpse may be laid in a tomb towards the east,

1 Sidika'h, < k the true," is a surname given by theMuhammedans to the
blessed Virgin, and to Ayisha', daughter of Abu-bekr, and wife of Mu-
hammed. At nine years of age, her mother took her down from a swing
suspended between two palm-trees, where she childishly slept, and placed
her upon the lap of the prophet, a bridegroom of fifty-two years. She
\\as but eighteen when he died She then became the head of a party
hostile to AH. She never forgot the austere judgment which he had
passed upon the occurrence related m the preceding note (p. 100 note 1) ,
not satisfied with having discarded him more than twenty-three years from
the khalifat, she led in person a strong aimy against him, to wrest it from
his hands; but was taken m battle, genctously treated, and sent to
Medina, where she died in the year of the llcjira 58 (A D. 677), having
atMmod tho pinphct's age of sixty-three years.

105

and Its fcci towards the west ; and that persons,
even in their sleep, may dispose themselves in thai
direction. It was farther ordained, that the Ua-
hian may not apply to any other sciences of the
Arabs but to astronomy, arithmetic, physic, and
philosophy, and not spend their life-time in the
pursuit of what is not reasonable. The interdic-
tion of slaying cows was confirmed. It was also
regulated, that a Hindu woman is not to be pre-
vented from burning with her dead hpsband, but
that the sacrifice ought to take place without vio-
lence used towards, or abhorrence shewn by, the
widow. Another regulation was that, whoever
eats with one whose profession is the slaughter of
animals, should have his hand cut off; but only a
finger, if he belong to the people of his house.

Again, a woman who is going about in narrow
streets or in market-places, without having at that
time her face veiled, ought not to be approached by
her husband; and a woman of improper conduct,
who quarrels with her husband, ought to be sent to
the place of prostitutes, whose business it is to offer
themselves for sale. In addition to this, in times of
distressing famine, a father and a mother may hap-
pen to sell their children under age; when they find
themselves in better circumstances, they must be
allowed, by giving money, to rescue their offspring
from the bonds of servitude. Moreover, a Hindu

104

who, in his infancy, without his will, has been made
a Muselman, if later he chooses to return to the faith
of his fathers, is at liberty to do so, and is not to be
prevented from it; also every person is permitted
to profess whatever religion he chooses, and to pass,
whenever he likes, from one religion to another.
But if a Hindu woman, having fallen in love with a
Muselman, wishes to adopt his religion, she can be
taken by force and delivered up to her family. And
likewise a Muselman woman, if she has fallen in
love with an Hindu, and wishes to adopt his faith, is
prevented from it, and not admitted in his caste.
Finally, the erection of a temple of idols, of a church,
of afire-temple, and a sepulchral vault, ought not to
he impeded, nor the building of a mosque for the
Muselmans.

Sader Jehan adopted the llahi religion. Acbar
called the harmless animals the beasts of peace, and
showed abhorrence to their slaughter. He mixed
the best and purest part of every religion for the
formation of his own faith. Mulla Tersiin Badakh-
shi, who was a Muselman of the Hanifa creed, in-
formed me, in the Hejira 1058 (A. D. 1648-9),
that one day he went on a pilgrimage to visit the
sepulchre of Akbar, the inhabitant of heaven; there,
one of his friends, having hurt his foot in climbing
up the holy tomb, set about reviling the khalifah of
God. The companions said : " If the blessed Em-

105

" peror, now in heaven, have any power, thai man
" will certainly come to some misfortune." Soon
after, indeed, he broke a toe of his foot by a stone
which had fallen down from a crevice of the
wall. In one of Akbar's works we find, that it is
indispensable to worship God, the all-just, and
necessary to praise the beings near him ; that none
of mankind rise to the rank of stars, as men are not
equal to the dignity of celestial luminaries. The
Emperor inculcated on his followers, that a godly
man ought to know no other object of his wishes
but God, the Almighty ; that is, whatever business
the godly undertakes, his wish in that business ought
to tend towards God.

SECTION III. UPON THE VIRTUES OF THE STARS, ACCORD-
ING TO REASON, MANIFESTATION, REVELATION, AND TRA-
DITION.

Aghdtho ddmon, l or Shis, and Hermes al hermes, or

1 According to Sheristanf, there is a sect called Herndmtes, or Herra-
nites, disciples of a certain Herndn, a branch of the Sabeans, of \\hom
hereafter; these sectaries designate, as authors of their scientific trea-
tises, four prophets, among whom are Agdtho de'mon and Heimes.

Agatlio (kmon, that is to say, " the good genius,'' was an Egyptian

106

and the philosophers said, that the Almighty
Author created the celestial bodies and the s(ars in
such a manner that, from their movements, effects
may be manifested in the nether world, that is to
say, the events below are subject to their motions,
and every constellation, and every degree of altitude
has its particular nature; which being known by
experience, and information having been collected
about the qualities of the degrees, the celestial
signs, and their influences, it is in this manner evi-
dent that they are near the all-just ; and that the
house of prayer, the Kabah of truth, and the Kiblah
of conviction is heaven. The wise men believe,
that every master of fame worshipped one of the
stars : thus Moses worshipped Saturn, as Saturday

god. According to general belief, this denomination is the approxi-
mative translation ofKnef, or " the good principle," and m that accepta-
tion it was applied to other deities, as for instance, to the Nile , and typi-
fied as the emblem of wisdom, prudence, life, health, youth, eternity,
and infinitude, in the inoffensive serpent, now and then this form is
combined with that of other animals According to some authors, Agatho
demon was the Egyptian Chetnuph; and to him are attributed a numbei
of works, a list of which is given by Fabricms in, his " Bibliotheca
graeca."

1 The first Hermes of the Orientals lived one thousand years after
Adam, in the beginning of their second solar millenium, and was no other
but Idris, or Enoch; the second m the third solar millenium, was the
Tnsmegist of the Greeks According to Abu '1 farage, the second was
the third ; and between these two intervened a Chaldean or Babylonian
Hermes, who lived a few centuries after the deluge, and to whom the
principal notions of astronomy are referred. A disciple of the first Her-
mes, or of Idris, was Esculapius, of whom hereaftoi .

107

is holy to the Jews, and Moses vanquished the magi-
cians and enchanters who are subservient to Saturn ;
Jesus worshipped the sun, on which account Sun-
day was sanctified by him, and finally his soul united
with the sun; Muhammed worshipped Venus, where-
fore he fixed upon Friday as a sacred day : as he
would not reveal this meaning to the common peo-
ple, he kept it secret ; but it is evident from the
prophet's customs that he held Venus in great vene-
ration; one of these was his passion for perfumes
and the like. * We find in the histories of the Per-
sians, that Ferhosh was a king in the time of Abad,
and had poets without number about him ; out of
them all he chose seven ; each of them, on one day
of the week, recited his verses to the king. On
Sunday, which was consecrated to the great lumi-
nary, the monarch used to go to the Kermdbah, and
on his return from thence, having approached the
august image of the great fire, and there performed
his worship, he betook himself to his palace. The
chief of the speech-adoring bards, called Shedosh,
came then into the royal presence. As the King
professed the religion of the Yezdanian, who never
hurt an harmless animal, they brought, on this day

1 Muhammed used to say : "I like of your world but women and per-
* fumes, and God has placed the refreshment of my eyes in prayers."
(Baron Hammer.)

2 This word, not in the Dictionary, means perhaps ' assembly of the
" nobles "

108

sacred to the sun, Swdin, that is " rice," and Perdin,
called in Hindostan pahati, before the King, and peas
in the shell, which were then stript of their inte-
guments. The King asked Shedosh : " For whom
16 is this food?" The poet answered: " For the
" friend who, for the sake of retirement, is naked
" from head to foot/' The monarch, being pleased
with this answer, filled the poet's mouth with pre-
cious pearls of the purest water. The Queen, named
Shuker, averting her heart from the King her hus-
band, attached it passionately to the sweet composer
of melodious speeches. When night came on, Shu-
ker, believing that the King slept, went out by
stealth. The King too followed her steps. When
Shuker arrived at the house of Shedosh, many
words occurred between them. Then the poet said
to her: " A woman fears nobody; on that ac-
' c count she ought to be feared. Thou hast left Fer-
" hosh, the King, and wilt devote thy affections to
" one like me!" Upon these words, the woman
returned home without hope, and Shedosh turned
his face to the image of the sun. But his looks fell
upon one of the maids who were adorers of the sun,
and desired her to converse with him ; the maid,
indignant at such a proposal, having approached
the image of the sun, said : " I am thy worshipper ;
" and this is not the time for associating with men :
t4 this poet of the King addressed to me an improper

109

ci speech." When Shidosh came to the image of
the sun, he found himself afflicted with a malady,
and returned ashamed. Afterwards he went to the
King, who, having seen him the night before in
company with Shuker, said: " Shidosh, if thou
4< speakest not the truth, thou shalt be put to
" death: what didst thou mean by saying that a
" woman fears nobody? Shidosh replied:

" A woman is a king; her strength is that of an ocean;
" It opens its passage, and has fear of nobody."

The King was pleased with this speech, and be-
stowed Shuker on him as a gift ; whatever excuses
Shidosh offered, the sovereign did not listen to
them ; wherefore the poet brought the king's wife
to his house. But, from disease, his flesh began to
diminish, and he was so far reduced as to be un-
able to leave his house. Thus it was, until the son
of the king came to visit his father, and requested
to see the royal poets. The King, having convoked
six of them, ordered that Shidosh sbould recite his
verses sitting behind a curtian. Shidosh, having
heard this order, demanded at the very moment
that a fire should be kindled, and in the midst an
iron chain adjusted to suspend a seat above the
flames. He resolved to himself from thence to ad-
dress his praises to the majesty of the great fire, the
sun; if he received them with favor, so much the
better ; if not, to throw himself into the fire, and so

no

to obtain his due. He then got upon the seat, and
began to chaunt the verses which he had composed
in honor of the sun : at this very time his leprosy
disappeared. But, before he had ended his poem,
his followers thought the great luminary would not
grant his wish ; and the poet, from fear of his life,
would not throw himself into the fire ; therefore,
pulling the chair by means of the chain, they precipi -
tated it into the flames. But after falling, he felt the
lire had no effect upon him, and although dejected,
remaining in his seat, he terminated his praise ; then
coming forth, he approached the King, and recited
the verses which he had composed for the occasion ;
he subjoined: " King, 1 have not been guilty of
" any vile deed on this occasion; but on the same
44 day, at the time when the women approach the
* i image of the sun, I also went there, and the guards
" did not know me. But the rebellious spirit had
" his play with me, so that, supposing a virtuous
tc woman I beheld to be unmarried, I spoke im-
tc proper words to her $ on that account I was pu-
* ' nished ; but at the same time I held Shuker as a
" mother."

Hoshang, the King, in the work Bahin ferah, " the
4C highest dignity/' which is written to inculcate
the duties towards the sanctity of the stars, states
great miracles of every luminary. We read like-
wise, in the Mahabharat, that the Raja Jedeshter

Ill

(Yudhishtliira) 1 attained the fulfilment of his wishes
by worshipping the sun. As the Mahabharat is all
symbolic, we also find there that the sun, having
appeared to him in the form of a man, announced to
him : " I am pleased with thee ; I will provide thee
li with food during twelve years, then for the space
ct of thirteen years thou wilt obtain a wonderful
" empire." And the sun gave him a kettle, saying :
" The property of this kettle is, that every day all
tfi sort of food in such quantity as thou wishest,
" comes forth from it, under the condition that
" thou first distributes! it among Brahmans and
" Fakirs, and then among thy valiant brothers,
" the Kshatriyas." Herodetes, the author of the
history of the Yiinan (Greeks), stated that in a
town of Riimi there was in a temple an idol in the
shape of Iskalapitis, which was known under the
image ofApti, that is " the sun/' and that, whatever
question they addressed was answered by him. 2

1 Yudisht'hira, according 10 the Vichnu-purena (Wilson's transl , pp
437-459), was the son of Kunti, also called Pntha', and of the deities
Dharma, Vayu, and Indra He was the half-brother of Kama, whom his
mother conceived by Aditya, " the sun."

2 In the History of Herodotus, if this be meant above, the name of
Esculapms does not occur. The denomination of Ruirn' may be applied
to Asia Minor, Turkey, the whole ancient and modern empire of the
Greeks and Romans ; in so vast a space there was certainly more than one
town with a temple and an oracular statue of Esculapms. One circum-
stance is singularly true in the above account of Apu, to wit: that Escu-
lapms was formerly called Apius, Apwyov av^Vovctv 'H*IOV yovov" adjuto-

The raiser of this figure was Iskalaphis. In the
opinion of the Magians of Riimi, it rendered oracles,
because, having been made in strict dependency on
the observation of the motions of the seven planets
at the most suitable moments, it was constituted in
such a manner that one of the spirits of the stars
descended into it; and therefore answered any ques-
tion asked from him. The name of this figure was
Sdklapes.

The Sabeans believe that in some of their idols a
white hand appears. Further, the wise men of
Persia, Greece, India, and the Sabeans, all acknow-
ledge the stars as the Kiblah, and the blessed Em-
peror (Akbar) also received divine commands with
regard to them.

In the histories of the Turks is to be found that
Jangiskhan 2 worshipped the stars, and several

rera mvocabunt ^Esculapii filium (see fycophron, v. 1054) ; and that he
was often confounded with the sun, as son of Apollo, who also was the
sun, and of the nymph Coronnis,who was the daughter ofPhlegyas, that
is, ' the heat of the sun."

1 Saklapes probably stands for Serapis. It is known that Serapis and
Bacchus were the sun of autumn and the sun of spring. Serapis bore
sometimes the character of the Egyptian Chmun, surnamed Esculapius.
To predict and to resuscitate were powers attributed toApollo-Esculapius.
As the latter, so had Serapis a serpent. He was also Osiris. Hehos-
Serapis and Jupiter-Serapis are read upon bronzes. Temples of Serapis
were numerous in Asia, Thracia, Greece, and Italy. 1 shall only mention
that of Antium, and that at Rome, on an island of the Tiber, beyond the
pons Palatinus.

2 Jangis khan, originally called Tamujin, was, according to Chinese and

115

things of wonderful meaning were connected with
his person. In the first line was that which they
call the state of washt. Some of the spirits of the
stars were his assistants. During several days he
was in a swoon, and in this state of senselessness
all that the world-conquering Khan could articulate
was Hu, hu I It is said that on the first manifesta-
tion of this malady, he obtained union with spirits,
victories, and revelations of mysteries. The very
same coat and garment which he first put on w r ere
deposited in a wardrobe, there sealed up, and kept
by themselves. Every time that the illustrious Khan
fell into this state, his people dressed him in that
coat, and every event, victory, purpose, discovery
of enemies, defeat, conquest of countries, which he
desired, came upon his tongue; a person wrote
down every thing, and put it into a bag which he
sealed. When the world-seizing Khan recovered
his senses, every thing was read to him and he
acted accordingly, and every thing he had said took
place. He possessed perfectly the science of divina-
tion by means of combs, and having burnt them,
gave his decisions in a manner different from that of

Moghul authorities (see Geschichte der Ost-mongolen von Isaak Jacob
Schmidt, Seite 376), born in the year of the Hejira 558 (A. D, 1162), m
Dilun Jalu'n. It was m the year 1206 of our era that he received, in a
general assemhly of submissive Tartars, the name of Jangis-khan,
*' Great Khan :" his own tribe, which was that of Moghuls, before him
called Bida, he raised to pre-eminence over all the Tartars.
v. in. 8

114

other diviners vJio paid attention to combs, il is
said that, when this conqueror of the world fell into
the hands of his enemies, he recovered his libert}
by the assistance of Amir Shir Khan, who, having
given him a mare of Kiraug, enabled him to join his
men, who had already despaired of his life. Tuli
lihan, who was then in his infancy, said one day :
" My father, sitting upon a mare of Kirang, is com-
" ing near." On this very day, the Khan returned
in that manner to his camp. When the Turks saw
the wonders of his acts, they opened freely the
road of their affection to him. Such was his justice
and equity, that in his army nobody was bold enough
to take up a whip thrown on the road, except the
proprietor of it ; lying and thieving were unknown
in his camp. Every woman among the Khorasa-
nian, who had a husband living, had no attempt
upon her person to fear. Thus we read in the
Tabkat Nds'eri, " the degrees of Nas'er," 1 that when
Malik Tdj-ed dm y surnamed the King of Glior, re-

1 This is a work of Nas'er eddin Tu'si i^about whom, see vol. II. p. 417,
note 2, and p 449). He was the favorite minister of Hulagu Khan,
whose arms he had successfully directed against Baghdad and the Khalif.
The Khan, after his conquests, took up his residence at Maragha, in
Aderbigan ; there he assembled philosophers and astronomers to culti-
vate science, under the direction of NaYer eddin In our days the place
is still shown where the observatory of this astronomer was situated,
and where he compiled the astronomic tables, known under the name
of Jal-lhanm'

115

turned with the permission of Jangis Khan, from the
country of Talkau to Ghor, lie related the following
anecdote: When I had left the presence of Jan-
gis Khan, and sat down in the royal tent, Aghldn
herbi, with whom 1 came, and some other friends,
were with me, a Moghul brought two other Mog-
huls, who the day before had fallen asleep when on
the watch, saying: " I struck their horses with the
whip, rebuking them for their guilt in sleeping, yet
left them; but to-day I have brought them here/'
Aghlan faced these two Moghuls, asking them :
" Have you fallen asleep?" Both avowed it. He
then ordered one of them to be put to death ; and that
his head should be tied to the hair lock of the other ;
the latter then to be conducted through the camp,
and afterwards executed. Thus it was done. I
remained astonished, and said to Aglan: " There
" was no witness to prove the guilt of the Moghuls ;
" as these two men knew that death awaits them,
c< why have they confessed? If they had denied,
" they would have saved themselves." Aghlan Herbi
replied: " Why art thou astonished? You, Taji
" Khan, you act in this way, and tell lies; but,
" should a thousand lives be at stake, Moghuls
tc would not utter a lie."

Jangis Khan raised Oktdyi Khan to the rank of a
Klialif, " successor." ' Chdtayi Khan, who was his

1 Jangis Khan had four sons, whose rank of seniority is differently^

116

elder brother, in a drunken fit dashed his horse
against Oktayi Khan, and then hurried away. When
he became sober, he reflected upon the danger which
would ensue from his act, and that the foundation
of the monarchy might be destroyed in consequence
of it; therefore, presenting himself as a criminal, he
said to his brother : " How could a man like me
" presume to measure himself with the King, and
14 dash his horse against him! Therefore I am
" guilty, and confess my crime. Put me to death,
" or use the whip against me : you are the judge/'
Oktayi replied: " A miserable like myself, what
' ' place should he lake ? You are the master : what
" am I? that is, you are the elder, I the younger,
"brother." Finally, Chenghayi, presenting him
nine horses, said: "I offer this as a grateful
" acknowledgment that the King did not exercise
" his justice towards me, and that he forgives my
" crime."

When Oktayi Khan dispatched Jermdghun, a corn-
stated by different authors, and among whom he divided his vast empire
Octayi was to rule all the countries of the Moghuls, Kathayans, and
others extending towards the East. He died in the year of the Hejira
639 (A. D. 1241). Chdtayt was to possess Mawer ul nahir, Turkistan,
Balkh, and Badakhshan. He died in the year of the Hejira 638 (A. D.
1240). Jujt was to reign over Desht, Kapchak, Kharizm, Khizer, Bul-
garia, Lokmin, Alan, As, Russia, and the northern countries. He died in
Hejira 624 (A. D. 1226), during his father's life. Tub Khan received
for his share Khorassan, India, and Persia ; he died soon after his father;
but his sons, ManjuLa, Koblai, and Hulagu became celebrated m history.

117

inander of a district furnishing ten thousand men,
with an army of thirty thousand warriors, to re-
duce the sultan Jelal eddin, 1 king of Kharazim, at
the time of the breaking up of the army, he said
to one of the Oraras, who was subordinate to Jer-
maghiin : " The great affair of Jelal eddin in thy
" hand will sufficiently occupy thee." Finally, this
Amir, having fallen upon the Sultan Jelal-eddin in
Kurdistan, destroyed him completely. The libe-
rality and generosity of Oktayikan was as conspi-
cuous as the sun. When Tayir Bahdder, in the year
of the Hejira 625 (A. D. 1227) moved the army of
the Moghuls from Abtal to the country ofSistdn, they
besieged the fort AT ak ; at that time the plague mani-
fested itself among the Moghuls, so that, at first, a
pain was felt in the mouth, then the teeth moved,
and on the third day death ensued. Malik Sdlakin,

1 Jangis Khan, during his terrific career, m the fourteenth year of
slaughter, devastation, and conquest, fell upon the empire of Kharism
and Ghazni. Muhammed of the Seljuks was driven from all his posses-
sions, and died a fugitive. He had before divided his empire between
his four sons, to one of whom Jelal eddin, he had assigned Khanzm,
Khorassan, Mazinderan, Ghazni, Bamian, Ghor, Bost Takanad, Zamigdand,
and all the Indian provinces. This prince, retiring before superior forces
towards Ghazni, gained two battles over the Moghuls, but was at last
obliged to fly to the banks of the Indus. There, closely pressed by the
enemies, who mmdered his captive son seven years old before his eyes, he
threw his mother, wife, and the rest of his family, at their own desire,
into the water, and then swam, with a few followers, across the river,
before his admiring pursuers, who followed him no further.

118

the governor of the fort, fixed upon the stratagem
that seven hundred young men should lie in am-
bush : who, when they should hear the sound of die
war-drum from the eastern gate, opposite which they
were placed, were to break out from the ambush , and
fall on the back of the enemies. Conformably with
this plan, in the morning the eastern gate was open-
ed, and the Muselmans were engaged in the assault ;
but when the drum was beaten, nobody came forth
from the ambush : after three watches, a man was
was sent to bring intelligence from that quarter, but
he found them all dead.

The world-conquering Jangiz Khan, at the time
of his wasting away, said to his sons : ' * Never de-
" viate from your faith, nor lend your powerful
^ support to other religions; because, as long as
4 ' you remain firmly rooted in your faith, your peo-
4 ' pie and companions will acknowledge you as the
" chiefs of their faith, and count you as the leaders
^ of worship; but he who changes his religion for
" that of others, being a chief of the faith, maybe
4 4 still considered as a chief by the people of the new
" religion; but in the eyes of his own people will
4 A lose that dignity : because he who passes over with
1 ' you to another faith will esteem as chiefs those of
44 the new faith ; besides, he who remains attached
44 to my iailh will also be displeased with you for
" not having continued in the religion of his fa-

119

4t thers." To sum up all, as long as they conformed
themselves to the last will of the Khan, they were
powerful ; but when they deviated from his counsel,
they sunk into distress and abjection. The stars
were favorable to them in every thing. '

It is related : Kik Khan, who was of the family of
Chaghaty Khan, was one day walking with noble-
men of his suit in the plain, travelling about in the
desert. At once, his looks fell upon bones; at the
same moment he became thoughtful, and then asked:
" Do you know what this handful of bones says to
u me?" They replied: " The King knows best."
He resumed : 4< They demand justice from me as
" being oppressed," He demanded information
about the history of these bones from Amir Haza-
rah, who held this country under his dependence.
This governor inquired of Amir Sadah, who admi-
nistered this district under him; and after reiterated

1 Jangis Khan died m the year of the Hejira 626 (A. D. 1228), in his
sixty-sixth year. He left an empire which extended from the Indus to
the Black sea ; from the banks of the Wolga to the remote plains of
China ; and from the and shores of the Persian gulf to the cold deserts of
Siberia. Having, in his early age, been driven by his subjects from his
home, he passed several years under the protection of a Christian prince,
Awenl Khan, or Ungh Khan, known to Europeans under the name of
Prester John, and was therefore supposed by some to have adopted the
Christian religion : thus much is true he and his successors protected
the Christians and persecuted the Muhammedans, until Niku&ai Oglan
professed the Muharamedan faith, in A, D 1281, and drove the Christians
out of his empire.

120

investigations, it became clear that, nine years be-
fore, a caravan had been attacked at this place by a
band of highwaymen, and plundered of their pro-
perty, a part of which remained still in the hands of
the guilty. At last it was recovered from the mur-
derers, and restored to the heirs of the slain who
were in Khorasan.

It is said that, when an army of the Moghuls was
occupied with the siege of the fort of /mfedi, in which
were the mother and several women of the king of
Khararem, nobody had ever given information that
the garrison was distressed for want of water. Al-
though a quantity of rain-water was collected in the
reservoirs, so that during years they had no need of
spring-water, yet at the time when the Moghuls
were encamped before the place to reduce it, no rain
had fallen, and one day not a drop of water remained
in the reservoirs; the next day the women of the
Turks and Nas'er eddin, with thirsty lips, compelled
by necessity came down to surrender ; but at the
very moment that they arrived at the foot of the fort,
and the army of the Moghuls entered it, a heavy
rain began to pour down, so that the water ran out
from the ditches of the fort. When this intelligence
was brought to the Sultan Muhammed, sovereign of
Ivharazem, he become Insensible, and when he re-
covered his senses, he died without being able to
utter a word.

121

Upon the whole : as long as the Sultans of the
Moghuls preserved the worship of the stars, they
conquered the inhabitants of the world; but, as
soon as they abandoned it^ they lost many coun-
tries, and those which they kept were without value
and strength. 1

SECTION IV. UPON THE SAYINGS OF ins MAJESTY
(AKBAR), DWELLING IN THE SEVENTH HEAVEN.

First, the ordinances of conduct which theNawab,
the wise and learned Shaikh Abu 'I Fazil wrote,
with the pen of accuracy, by orders of his Majesty,
dwelling in heaven, in order that the governors of
the countries occupied by his sovereignty, and the
clerks, may pay attention to their execution.

This is " God is great ;" this is the patent of the
Ilahi faith : and the ordinances of conduct are a work
of instruction, which sprung from the fountain oi
benevolence, and the mine of kindness of sovereignty ,

1 The duration of Jangu> Khan's dynasty reckoned from the year ot
the Hejira 599 (A. D. 1202) extended by fourteen princes to 736 (A 1)
1335), comprising 137 lunar, 133 solar, years. It does not appear that
change of religion, by itself, had any influence upon the decline and fall
of this dynasty.

122

and according to which the regulators of die i'o\al
offices, the managers of the Khalifa's court among
his fortunate sons, the gentle-minded princes, the
Omrahs, high indignity, all men of rank, the col-
lectors of revenues and the Kotwals may settle their
practices ; and in the arrangement of important
affairs in great cities and in villages, and in all places
maintain their authority.

The principal point is summarily this: that, in
in all transactions, they may endeavor to deserve the
divine favor, by their usages and pious practices ;
and that, humbly suppliant in the court of God,
without partial complacence to themselves and to
others, they may execute the law in their proceed-
ings. Another point is, that they may not too much
like their private apartment; for this is the manner
of the desert-choosing durvishes; that they may not
accustom themselves to sit in the society of com-
mon people, nor to mix in large crowds ; for this is
the mode of market people ; in short, that they may
keep the medium between the two extremes, and
never forsake the just temperance ; that is, avoid
equally excess in dissipation and retirement. Be-
sides, they are enjoined to venerate those who are
distinguished by devotion to the incomparable God;
to take the habit of vigilance in the morning and
evening, and particularly at midnight; and at all
times, when thev are free from the affairs of God's

125

creatures, to occupy themselves with perusing the
books of the masters of purity and sanctity, and
the books of moral philosophy, which Is the medi-
cine of spirituality and the essence of all sciences ;
such as Ikhldk Naseri, " the Ethics of Nas'ery;" 1
and mcunjiat wa mahelkat, " the Causes of Salvation
and Perdition,' 7 Ahydyi alum dl din, " the Revival
c * of the Sciences of Faith ;" 2 the Kimidyi S&adet, Al-
" chymy of Felicity;" 3 and Masnavi, " the poetical
44 compostion of the Maulavi of Riim," 4 so that
having attained the highest degree of religious
knowledge, they may not be liable to be moved
from their station by the fictions of the masters of
deceit and falsehood; as in this state of dependence
the best sort of worship is, after all, the most im-

1 A work of Nas'ir-eddm Tusi, upon whom see vol. II. p. 417.

2 This is a celebrated work of Ghazali (See vol. II. p. 350, note.)

3 A work of the same author.

4 Rumi is the surname underwhich Ah Ebn Abbas, an illustrious poet,
is most known. He was of Turkish origin, but born in Syria. He com-
posed several works, which Avisenna used to read with delight, and the
most difficult passages of which he commented. He died in the yeai
of the Hejira 283 (A. D 896) (see Herbelot). But the poet above allu-
ded to is Ma.wlQ.na Jelal eddin Rumt, whose proper name is Muham-
med of Balkb, who derives his origin from Muhammed, son of Amam.
He is praised as the greatest mystical poet of the Orient, the oracle of the
Sufis, the nightingale of contemplative life, the author of the Masnavi
(a double-rhymed poem), the founder of the Mawlavis, the most cele-
brated oider of mystic Durvishes Ho died m the year of the Hejirah
661 (A D 1262 ]. We shall quote hereaflci a specimen of his poeiiy. -
(See upon him Schone Redekunste Pemens, by baron von Hammer, pp
163 etseq.)

124

portant concern of creatures ; that, without being
influenced by friendship or enmity, without re-
gard to relations or strangers, they may with an
open forehead raise themselves to a dignified rank;
further, that they may, to the extent of their power,
confer benefits upon the religious mendicants, the
miserable and indigent, particularly upon the pious
recluse in a corner, and upon the saints, who,
straitened in their expense and income, never
open their lips for a demand; that, being in com-
pany with the pious hermits seeking God, they may
beg their benediction ; besides that, having weighed
the faults, errors, and crimes of men in the balance
of justice, they may assign to each his proper place,
and by the balance of well-founded appreciation
bestow retribution upon each ; that by the judgment
of sagacious men they may find out in the crowd him
whose faults ought to be concealed and passed
over, and him whose guilt is to be examined, pro-
claimed, and punished ; for there are faults which
deserve greatly to be repressed, and others which
are to be treated with great indulgence ; it is required
that, to show the right way to the disobedient, they
use advice and gentleness, harshness or mildness,
according to the difference of rank and season ;
when advice remains without effect, then impri-
soning, beating, maiming of members, and capital
punishment may be indicted, according to the diver-

125

sity of cases; but in pulling a man to death they
ought not to be too rash, but rather employ an
abundance of considerations :

" A head once severed cannot be refitted to the body "

Whenever practicable, they ought to send the
delinquent worthy of death to the King's court, and
there represent his case. If keeping him be likely
to occasion an insurrection, or (sending him to the
King's court) become the cause of trouble, in this
necessity he may be executed ; but flaying alive, or
throwing a man under the feet of an elephant, which
is practised by violent kings, ought to be avoided.
The treatment of every man is to be conformable to
his rank and condition ; because to a high-minded
man a severe look is equivalent to death, whilst
to an abject person, even flagellation is nothing.
Besides, remission is to be made to any body who,
by his genius, knowledge, and virtue should have
acquired consideration^ and when the magistrates
observe in his conduct any thing unbecoming in
their opinion, they ought to tell it to him in pri-
vate. If one of the historians of the times relates
something wrong, they are not to rebuke him
severely for it ; for a rebuke is a barrier upon the
road of truth-speaking ; and he upon whom the
incomparable God has conferred the aptness of
speaking truth, deserves to be accounted precious:

126

for men are excessively weak, and those who are of a
mean origin and depraved, have no inclination lo
speak truth, hut choose to submit to every sort ot
abjectness. He who is of a good disposition is cau-
tious that nothing in his speech may be disagree-
able to the ears of his master, and that he may not
incur disgrace. But the man of noble sentiments,
who prefers his own loss to the advantage of others,
possesses the science of the philosopher's stone.
Administrators ought not to be fond of flattery,
as many affairs are left undone on account of flat-
terers ; nor ought they, on the other hand, to ill treat
those who are not flatterers, as a servant may also
be obliged to say unpleasing things.

The judges should attend personally, as much as
possible, to the examination of the plaintiff (verse of
Sddi) :

'* Throw not his complaint to the divan (tribunal),

" As he may possibly have to complain of the divan itself."

The plaintiffs ought to be examined in the order
in which their names are inscribed on the list, in
order that he who came first may not be subject to
the inconvenience of waiting. The disposal of pre-
cedence or delay is not to rest with the first regis-
trars of the court. If a person be accused of acting
criminally, the judges ought not to precipitate his
punishment ; for there are many eloquent slander-
ers, and few well-intentioned speakers of what is

right. During the period ol anger, they ought not
lo let the bridle of reason slip out of their hands,
but act with calmness and reflexion. It becomes
them to grant privileges to some of their friends and
servants, who are distinguished by great wisdom
and devotedness. At the time of overbearing grief
and affliction, when the wise abstain from speaking,
let them not exceed eilher in words, silence, or
imbecility. They should be sparing with their
oaths, as much swearing raises a suspicion of lying.
They ought not to accustom themselves to offend an
interlocutor by evil surmises or by bad names : for
these are vile manners. Finally, it is their duty to
show solicitude for the promotion of agriculture,
the welfare of the cultivator, and the assistance of
tenants ; in order that, from year to year, the great
cities, the villages, and towns may rise in prosperity,
and acquire such facility of improvement that the
whole land may be rendered fit for cultivation, and
consequently the increase of population be carried
to the utmost.

These ordinances, separately written, are to be
communicated to every agent of government, that
they may apply their minds to the execution of
them; in short, having given notice of them to all
subjects small and great, the magistrates ought not

128

lo deviate from them under no circumstance nor in
any manner : and to prevent the soldiers from enter-
ing the houses of the inhabitants without their per-
mission ; besides, in their proceedings, they should
not rely upon their own judgment, but ask the advice
of those who are wiser than themselves ; not ob-
taining this, they ought nevertheless not to desist
from seeking advice ; as it happens frequently that
even the ignorant may indicate the road of truth,
as it was said (by Sadi] :

" Now and then, from the aged sage,
'* Right advice is not derived;
" Now and then, the unmeaning ignorant
" By accident hits the butt with his arrow "

Moreover, advice is not to be asked from many
persons : for, right judgment in practical life is a
particular gift of God ; it is not acquired by reading,
nor is it found by good fortune. It may also hap-
pen, that a set of ignorant men opposes thy endea-
vors, and causes irksome embarrassment in thy
way, so as to retain thee from the dictates of thine
own reason, and from the right-acting men, whose
number is always small.

The magistrates are also directed never to charge
their sons with a business which belongs to servants;
and never to be a guarantee for what is done by
their sons; as thou canst easily find amends for
what passes between others ; but, for what occurs

to thee a remedy is difficult It may become ttiee
to listen to excuses, and to look with half-shut eyes
at some faults ; for there is no man without guilt or
defect; rebuke sometimes renders him but bolder;
sometimes depresses him beyond measure. There
are men who must be reprehended at each fault ;
there are others in whom a thousand faults must be
overlooked ; in short, the affair of punishment does
not suit the dignity of the important concerns of
royalty, and is to be carried with calmness and
judgment to its proper aim. A governor ought to
grant all facilities to God-fearing and zealous men,
and to inquire from them the good and the bad,
never ceasing to collect information : for royalty
and command borrow security from vigilance. He
ought not to oppose the creed and religion of the
creatures of God: inasmuch as a wise man chooses
not his loss in the affairs of this perishable world,
how in those of religion, which is permanent and eter-
nal, should he knowingly tend to his perdition? If
God be with his faith, then thou thyself earnest on
controversy and opposition against God; and if God
fails him, and he unknowingly takes the wrong
way, then he proves to himself a rule of erroneous
profession, which demands pity and assistance,
not enmity or contradiction. Those who act and
think well, bear friendship to every sect. Besides,
they avoid excess in sleeping and eating., without

150

deviating from the measure of what is necessary, so
that, rising above the relinquished step of brutish-
ness, they attain a distinguished rank of humanity.
Let il be recommended to watch by night as much
as possible ; never to show violent enmity towards
any man , and to beware of making one's bosom the
prison-house of rancour ; should it nevertheless take
place from the infirmity of human nature, let it soon
be stifled : for, in the interior of our soul resides the
true agent, the unparallelled God, and raises tumul-
tuous strife for the sake of provoking the investiga-
tion of truth.

A governor should disdain laughing and joking:
he should always be informed of every occurrence
by spies ; but never rely upon the information of one
of them, because truth and disinterestedness are
rare among them ; therefore, in every affair, let
him appoint several spies and intelligencers, who
are not to know each other ; and, having written
down separately the account given by each of them ;
compare them, with each other. But the notorious
spies are to be dismissed and discarded from his
presence, nor access granted to persons of mean
birth and depraved habits, although this sort of
people may be usefully employed against other bad
men; but he should never let the account-book slip
out of his hands, and always entertain in his heart
suspicion against this class of men, that they may

151

not perhaps, under the guise of friendship, usurp
the place of honest men. Let him observe those
near him and his servants, that they may not, on
account of their approaching him, oppress others.
He ought to be on his guard against the flattering-
tongued liars, who in the garb of friendship act the
part of real enemies^ as disorders are occasioned by
their agency. Great personages, on account of
abundant occupations, have little, but these male-
factors have a great deal of leisure; therefore, from
all sides and quarters, precautions against the latter
are required. To cut short all prolixity, a gover-
nor ought to find men worthy of confidence, and
pay the greatest attention to the promotion of know-
ledge and industry, so that men of talent may not
fall off from their high station among men. He
ought besides to favor the good education of the old
families of the royal court.

The warlike requisites and arms of the soldiers
are by no means to be neglected. Further, the
expenses must always be less than the revenues :
this last is of the most essential concern, for it is
said : Whoever spends more than he receives is
a blockhead ; he who equals his expense and in-
come is to be accounted neither wise nor stupid ;
but he lays no foundation of any establishment;
he is always subject to service, expecting favor,
and dependant upon promises. A commander is

152

bound to be true in his words, particularly with
the functionaries of government. Let him con
stanlly practise shooting with arrows and guns, and
exercise the soldiers in arms ; but not be passion-
ately devoted to hunting, although he may some-
times indulge in it for the training of troops, and
the recreation of the mind,, which is indispensable in
this world of dependencies. He is never permitted
to take corn from the class of the Rayas, with the
intention to hoard it up for selling it at a high price.
Let him attend to the beating of the kettle-drum at
the rising of that luminary which bestows light upon
the world; and at midnight, which is properly the
beginning of sunrise, and during the progress of the
great majestic light from station to station, let him
order small and great guns to be fired, so that all
all men be called up to offer thanks to God.

Somebody ought to be placed at the gate of the
court, for bringing all petitions before the high pre-
sence of the King. If there be no Kutwdl, l he ought,
observing well the parts and rules of it, to apply
himself to the performance of this office, and not on
account of considering it rustic (low) business, say
to himself: " How can I do the business of a Kill-
" wal?" but from piety acknowledging the great-
ness of God, he ought to submit to this charge.

1 Police officer or mspectoi.

153

To explain clearly its duties, the lirst of all is,
lliat the Kiitwal of every city, town, and village
write down, with the agreement of the people,
their houses and buildings ; as well as register in a
book the inhabitants of every part of a place from
house to house, and, having taken security from
house to house, grant them free intercourse with
each other ; having determined the divisions in each
of them, a head man of the division is to be ap-
pointed, so that the good and bad men may be
under his superintendence; he must also appoint
spies, by whose means every occurrence by night
and day, the arrivals and departures in each quar-
ter, are to be recorded. He ought to establish that,
whenever a theft is committed, fire breaks out, or
any other mishap takes place, at the very moment
succor be given by the neighbors, and likewise all
householders tender their services : if they be absent
without necessity, they are to be held guilty No-
body can undertake a journey without giving inform-
ation of it to his neighbor, the head man of the
division, or the recorder of news. No man of bad
character is to be received in any quarter of the place,
and all those who have not given security, are to be
kept separate from the other inhabitants in the great
public house, to which a head man and a recorder
of news are to be attached. The Kiitwal ought to
be perpetual)) informed of the income and expense of

154

every individual, for the sake of survey and precau-
tion, and fix his attention on it : for, any body whose
income is small and expense great, cannot certainly
be without guilt. It is incumbent on him to follow
an indication, and never to be remiss in attention to
persons of good birth and right intentions. This
inquiry is to be understood as a measure of order,
and not as the means of rapine and oppression.
Further, the KiitwaFs business is to establish in the
bazar, " market/' brokers of all sorts, after having
taken security from them, that he may receive no-
tice of whatever is bought and sold. He ought to
declare that whoever buys or sells any thing without
notice, is subject to a fine. The names of the buyer
and seller are to be entered into a daily register, and
nothing is to be bought or sold without the consent
of the head man of the division. Moreover, the
Kiitwal must appoint guards for watching at night
in every quarter, every street, and in the whole
district of the town, and endeavor that in the quar-
ters, bazars, and streets no stranger be found; he
must apply to the search and pursuit of thieves and
pickpockets, and other delinquents, and leave no
trace of them . Whatever is purloined or plundered
he must bring forth, together with the pilferers,
and if not, by returning the equivalent, he must
make good the damages. It is his duty to ascertain
the property of strangers and deceased persons, in

135

order thai, if there be heirs, he may remit it to
them, and if not, deliver It to the Asnin, Ct superin.
u tendant," and write an explanation thereof to the
Royal court, so that at any time when the true pro-
prietor is discovered, he may be put in possession
of it. In this transaction too, he ought to manifest
his right principles and his good origin, so as, per-
haps, to come up to what is customary in the coun-
try of Rum. The liiitwal is further bound to en-
deavor that there be no trace of wine-drinking to be
found, and to reprehend, with the concurrence of
the judge, the buyer and seller, the abettor and
perpetrator thereof; so that the people may take an
example from it ; nevertheless, if any body, of high
character for prudence for the sake of relaxation of
mind, makes use of wine as a medicine, no opposi-
tion is to be made to his usage.

The Kiitwal must be sollicitous for the cheapness
of provisions, and not allow rich men to buy and to
hoard a large quantity to sell it dear afterwards.
Let him take care of providing the requisites for the
Nduroz, " new year;" this is a great festival, the
beginning of which is the time when the great world-
illuming luminary enters the sign of Aries, at the
commencement of the month Farvardin (March).
Another feast is on the 19th of the said month,
which is the day of the most glorious sun. Other
feasts are as follows : the 3rd of Ardibihest (April);

136

the 6th of Khorddd (May) ; the 10th of Abdn (Octo-
ber); the 9th of Azar (November); In the month
of Ddi (December) are three festivals, viz. on the
8th, the 15th, and the 23rd ; besides, the 2nd of
Bahman (January), and the 15th of Isfenddrmend
(February). The known festivals are to be cele-
brated according to regulations ; and the nights of
the Ndi-roz and Sherif, " glorious/ 7 nre to be illumi-
nated by torches, in the manner of the night Bha-
rdt, in the 8th Arabian month, called Sh&abdn,
il consecrated to the memory of forefathers;" and
in the first night which is followed by the morning
of a festival, the kettle-drum is to be beaten, which
is also to be done on an elephant's back on all fes-
tivals. A woman ought never, without necessity,
to appear on horseback. The Kiitwal is enjoined
to separate the fords of rivers for bathing from
those for fetching water, and to assign particular
fords to women.

The emperor inhabiting the seventh heaven, Ak-
bar ? wrote a book of advice for the King Alias Safavi,
and this was also penned by Shaikh Abu 1 Fazil.
Some precepts from this book are as follows : The
high personages of the people, who ar the deposi-
tors of the divine secrets, are to be considered with
eyes of benign admiration, and kept with zeal in our
conciliated hearts. Acknowledging that the bounty
of the Incomprehensible God embraces all religions,

157

let us entirely devote ourselves lo the culture of
flowers in the rose garden of the perpetual spring
of peace, and unceasingly attend to the Nas eb ul dyin,
" establishment of the thing itself/ 7 as to the study
of promoting one's happiness; as the Almighty God v
opening the door of his bounty to the different reli-
gions 1 in their various means of salvation, maintains
them; so, in imitation of him, it is incumbent on the
powerful Kings, who are the shades of divine pro-
vidence, never to desist from this rule, because the
Creator of the universe confided to them this vast
population for the sake of directing the state of the
apparent world, and of watching over all mankind,
not without preserving the good name of exalted
families.

In Multan, we saw the Shah Salam ulla ; he was
a man unmarried, attached to the unity of God, and
to sanctity; having retired from the world, he said:
" I was often in the society of Jelal eddin Akbar ; 1
" heard him frequently say : * Had I possessed be-
f ' * fore the knowledge which I now have, I would
* c * never, for my sake, have taken a wife ; for to me
" ' the elder matrons are mothers, women of my
" ' age sisters, and the younger ones daughters.' "
One of my friends heard this speech, which has just
been attributed to the blessed emperor, from the

* The original means mashanb, <l drinks, drinking vessels," above
rendered by " religions."

158

mouth of the Nawab Abu 1 liassen, surnamcd Lash
ker Khan Mashhedi. Shah Salam ulla related also
that he heard the lord khalifah of God say, weeping :
" Would to God my body were the greatest of all,
" that the inhabitants of the world might take their
4 4 food from it, and not hurt any other living being. "
A proof of the extensive views of this celebrated
King was, that he employed in his service men of
all nations Firangis, Jews, Iranians, and Tura-
nians ; because, if they were all of one nation, they
would be disposed to rebellion, as it was the case
with the Usbeks, and the Kazel bashan, who de-
throned their sultan ; but the King Abas, son of
sultan Khodabendah Safavi, who succeeded him,
reduced the Kurjis to order. He also paid no atten-
tion to the wealth of heritage, but without showing
partiality to lineage or religion, he promoted the
skilled in science and laws.

CHAPTER XL

OF THE RELIGION OF THE WISE ( PHILOSOPHERS),

IN THREE SECTIONS

SECTION I Of the lehgion of the philosophers, and of some blanches
of their questions

159

SECTION II Of then reputation

SECTION 111 Of the wise men, and of late philosophers, and of those
of that class who existed among all the nations of the children
of Adam, and still exist; named in Peisian Zire\ and Farza-
nah, m Hindi Budhvan^ Badisher, Set mat, Setpati, Kiam-
sher, Chater, Pah danter, and Jami , in Greek Filsofi ; and
m Arabic Hakim.

SECTION I. OF THE RELIGION OF THE PHILOSOPHERS,

AND OF SOME BRANCHES OF THEIR QUESTIONS.

The distinguished men of that class divide them-
selves into two sorts : the one are the Oriental, the
other the Occidental. As to the religious customs
of the Orientals, let it be known, that they are also
called Ravdkin, and in Persian Keshish, ** the reli-
" gious," Pertavi, 4t the splendent," and Roshendil?
u the enlightened/' and in Hindi Ner mel men and
Jokisher: these names relate to sanctity. The Occi-
dentals are called in Persian Rah beri, ' ' way-guides/'
and Joy a, inquirers;" in Hindi Tdrkek.

As to their tendency and opinions whatever re-
lates to the creed of the Orientals has already been
stated in the chapter on the Yezddnidn, who are
also entitled Azarhoshangian, but all that is attri-
buted to the two sects is symbolical. The ancient
philosophers of Greece, down to Afldttin (Plato), were
Oriental ; it was Aras tu (Aristotle), his disciple, who
then took the lead in the doctrine, the centre of
which with this class is the argumentative reason.

140

Both sects, by means of their discussions, cannot
explain the nature of the self-existing being ; the
essence, unity, particularity, and all attributes are
inherent in his holy nature, as I have said in the
account of the religion of the Hoshanganians. They
have said besides : God is the world in its univer-
sality, but in its particularity mutable conformably
with the whole, as it has been stated in the doctrine
of the Yezdanfan. They maintain, the work of God
is according to his will ; he does ; if he wills not, he
does not ; but a good work is conformable to his
nature . because all his attributes are perfection, in
which sense they draw necessary conclusions with
regard to the nature of God.

' The year of God is that which passeth away; and thou shall not find
" a change in the years of God "

Their creed is : God is not the immediate actor ;
as it would not be suitable to the dignity of royalty
and sovereignty to perform himself every business ;
but it is proper that he should appoint some one of
his servants who, on account of his great knowledge
and power, is qualified for business, for the execu-
tion of the royal orders and the protection of the
subjects. The latter also may, by the Sultan's or-
der, name another as Vizir or Nawab, for the affairs ;
every one of these chiefs may instal functionaries
or agents ; so that the whole administration may be
firmly established according to the desire and the

141

order of the sovereign. On that account, God crea-
ted a first intellect, called in Persian Bahman, that is,
" supreme soul," or Borosii, or Ferom, or Serosh
semhdn, and " the science of truth;" he who pro-
duced something c4 new;" he is also entitled " the
u true man : ' God created man according to his image;"
that is to say, pure, luicoropounded, like reason,
betwixt necessity and possibility, 1 in the centre be-
tween both ; necessity is on his right side, possibility
on his left , the perfect spirit rises from the left,
which is the side of possibility. With respect to
truth, the image of man is Akl, * c< spirit of wisdom,
4t the holy spirit, and the image of Eva a perfect
spirit : on that account it was said that the forth-
coming of Eva took place from Adam's left side. The
Sofis also agree with this, as we find it explained by
Shaikh Muhammed Lahaji, 3 in his work Shardln-

1 .t&i imkan, " possibility," signifies that, the existence or non-
cxistencc of which, is the necessary consequence of the essence of a thing.
The philosophers distinguish by name four sorts of possibility : i. imltan
zati, " possibility with respect to essence;" 2 imlan istidadi, " possi-
" bihty by disposition, "also called moltuni, " eventual ;" 3. imhan khaz,
" special possibility ;" and 4. ^mkan dam, 4{ general possibility "(See
on this subject Jorjam's Definitions, Notices et Extraits des MSS.,
vol. XI. pp. 82-83 )

2 The word dkl has a manifold and therefore often vague meaning ; it
corresponds sometimes to Holy Ghost. I thought it right to translate it
hereafter by " intelligency," in the double acceptation of '* unbodied
" spirits" and " wisdom;" and also by " reason."

3 His whole title is Shemseddin Muhammed ben Fa/ya, 6cn AH Lah-
jdm, a native of Lahjan, a town in the province of Gilan. He wrote in

142

Gvhhen, " llie Commentary of the Rosa-bower. 11
Jesus, ihe son of God, proceeds from this " holy
" spirit/' When wisdom manifests itself through
somebody, it is called his " spirit of wisdom ;" and
when impressions of sciences in all creatures have
penetrated through its mediation, it is named " ar-
' ' row ;" and as the perfection of the lord of the pro-
phetic asylum is a ray of that jewel, it bears the
name of " Muhammed's light."

" If not for thee, I would not have created the worlds." l

These are the attributes of its nature, and besides
these it has many names. By the intervention of
the first intelligence came forth the second intelli-
gence, the spirit and body of " the crystalline hea-
" ven;" and the soul of the heaven above the crys-
talline firmament is called " havdyi m&nam, " the
'* true soul." By the intervention of the second
intelligence, the third, and the spirit and body of
the heaven of the fixed stars were produced. In
this wonderful way, intelligences and spirits were
formed, until the spirits of the tenth class ; 2 among

A. D 1474 a work under the title Mefat-i-hul djaib fi sherh-z-Gulshen-
raz, " the Key of Marvels, in explanation of the Mystery of the Rose-
" bower." The latter work was quoted vol I. p. 82.

* See vol. I. p. 2. note.

2 I shall attempt to sketch, in the smallest possible compass, the
fundamental ideas of Asiatic cosmology, which are rather confusedly
stated in the text.

According to the Dasatir, God created primitively, immediately, and

145

these ten bringcrs ol good news (Evangelists) are
distinguished; likewise nine heavens were brought

singly, the supreme intelligence, this produced the second intelligence,
with the primitive soul and body; the second intelligence brought forth
the third, and the corresponding heavenly sphere, with soul and body ;
and so down to the tenth intelligence, to wit that of human reason. The
modern Orientals kept the first-born supreme intelligence, which to the
Muhammedans was sanctified by the verse of the Koran, saying : The frst
being ivhzch God created was intelligence, and established a double
series of descending intelligences and ascending heavenly spheres, as
follows, according to the ancient and modern system:

COSMOLOGY

OF THE DASATIR OF THE MODERN ORIENTALS.

Intelligences Spheres

'I ho 1st intelligence

II The 1st intelligence The JXth heavenly s|thcie The uppermost Ilea-

III IT VIII That of the 7od.ac, or

of dxcd stars.

IV III VII That of Saturn

V IV VI . Jupitei

VI .. V V Mars

VII VI . IV .. the Sun

VIII . VII HI Venus

IX . VIII . II Mercury

X IX . I the Moon

XI , . X The human the Earth

The difference between the system of the Dasatir and the latter consists
only in this : that the first enthrones the first supreme intelligence, or
reason, above all nine heavenly spheres, and assigns to the second intel-
ligence with its soul and body the ninth sphere, in which the latter sys-
tem places the first intelligence, and the third intelligence corresponds to
the eighth sphere, and so on ; each intelligence is placed in the first sys-
tem, one sphere higher than in the latter; so that the numbers of intelli-
gences and spheres, counterparts of each other, do not form a perfect
Dete, which mutually meets m the sacred number five, but they make
an Endekas. Besides, the Muhammedan philosophers call the soul of the
second intelligence " the truth of truths/' arid identify it with Muham-
med, who is said to have declared : The first being which God created

144

into existence, that they may correspond to nine
prophets. From the tenth class of intelligences
came forth the matter of the elements, and bodies,
and the spirits of elemental existence. The philoso-
phers said, that ten kinds of intelligences are enu-
merated, not because there may not exist any more,
bnt because these are required ; and likewise we
want the number of nine heavens, without its being
prohibited to add any other. The Eastern philo-
sophers however declare themselves against num-
bering the kinds of intelligences, because, with
them every kind of thing has its god., whom they
call " the god of the species/' in Persian Ddra, the
angel of rains, the angel of rivers, to which the fol-
lowing sentence relates :

" Each thing has its angel to whom it is confided, and an angel de-
" scends with every drop."

The Oriental philosophers hold the bodies to be
shadows of the uncompounded lights.

" Seest thou not that God has spread his shadow over me?"

According to the sages, the kinds of intelligences
and spirits of heaven are the heavenly angels, who
have no body nor any thing corporeal, neither fea-
thers nor wings. When an effulgence of the lumi-
nous attributes of the self-existing Being falls upon
them, it is by the mediating power of this ray, that

was my %/it (See upon this subject Heidelberg&r Jahrbucher der
Literatur. 1823. Erste Hulfte, pp. 313, etc.)

145

deeds of wonderful purity proceed from them; and
in this production there is no need of a motion, nor
of an instrument, in like manner as in the forth-
coming of a work of God his will is sufficient. This
meaning has been made intelligible to the under-
standing of the vulgar by saying, that an angel with
feathered wings traversed the distance of a road
which could not be travelled over in a thousand
years. They say also that Israfil is one of the powers
of the sun ; the angel of death proceeds from Saturn ;
Mikail from the moon ; and Jebriii emanated from
the tenth power of intelligence. As often as, on
account of the revolution of the heavens or the mo-
tion of the stars, something suitable manifests itself
in the elemental matter, compounded and uncom-
pounded, it issues into existence by way of emana-
tion from the superior wisdom ; and the revelation
of the prophet, and the instruction of the perfect to
mankind, takes place by the intervention of the last-
mentioned angel. On that account there is an in-
trinsic connexion between the souls of the prophets
and this by-standing angel. According to the Eas-
tern philosophers, Jabriil is a god of a kind similar
to human nature, and called in Persian Wakhshur,
" prophet/' and Serosh pajdm sipdr, " Serosh, the
" message-bringer." In I he opinion of the philo-
sophers, the crystalline heaven is the ninth heaven,
and the heaven of the fixed stars the throne of God.

v. in 10

146

The exalted rational spirit is without an habitation,
and, without being in the body, is connected with ii,
in a manner similar to that of a lover with his mis-
tress. This doctrine is very ancient with tbe Orien-
tals, as has been stated in the account about the Azar
Hoshangian, but with the first master among the
learned, Aristotle and his followers, it is a tradition.
According to general consent, the soul is eternal.

" Believe not that those who were killed in the way of God are dead;
'* on the contrary, they are living and nourished at the side of then
" Lord." *

To unite the soul with the body is as much as
to drive Adam from heaven ; to long for the body
is to bear the commands of Eva ; and to perform
bad actions is to eat of the forbidden tree ; anger is
the serpent ; lust is the peacock. They hold that
Iblis represents the power of imagination which
guides us, and tbe sensual influence which de-
nies the knowledge of words and things consentient
with reason, and contends with the power of rea-
son ; that what is stated in the law, that all angels
prostrated themselves before Adam, except Iblis,
signifies that all bodily powers, which are the an-
gels of the earth, are obedient to the soul of Adam,
except the po er of imagination, that is Iblis, which
is rebellious, and sometimes gets the better of
judgment. Reason says, that a corpse is to be

1 Koran, chap. III \, 163.

147

accounted a mineral, and no wise to be feared ; but
imagination says: " this is true; nevertheless we
" must fear ;" and when one finds himself in a house
alone with a dead man, it may happen that his
mind experiences an agitation of terror. The Siifis
too agree with this, as we find it expressed by the
venerable Shaikh Mahmiid Shosteri l in a chapter of
the Herat ul Mohakakin, Cc the mirror of the investi-
' ' gators of truth . " It is stated in the Akhvdn us afa,
" the companions of purity," ofMulIa Ali, that there
were intelligences and spirits which were not or-
dered to adore Adam, as being of a higher rank, as
it is written in the Koran, that God, the All-just,
addressed this speech to Iblis :

" Thou art proud; behevest thou thyself to be one of the more exalted
" beings?" 2

And this was the occasion on which the angels of
the earth were ordered to adore Adam.

The Orientals maintain that when the soul real-
ises, as it ought to do, the conditions of its primitive
origin, it obtains emancipation from the bodily
bonds, and joins the intelligences and spirits : this
exalted dignity is Paradise.

1 Shosteri, or TosterJ, " native of the town of Shoster or Tester," is
the surname of Abu Muhamrned (above Mahmudi Sahal Sen And. He
is reputed as one of the principal chiefs of the Sufis ; he was a disciple of
Zu al nun, and condisciple of Jionaid. He died in his eightieth year, in
the year of the Hejira 283 (A. I) 896).

2 See pp. 8-9, note 2.

148

" peaceful soul, return to thy lord willingly and readily, and 'who-
ever desnes to meet his lord, let him perform good \iorks "

In this high state it is possible to behold the face
of God. There is another sect which asserts, that
the All- Just is visible ; they say right ; because the
rational soul sees with interior eyes: another sect
which denies the seeing of God is also right ; because
he cannot be seen with bodily eyes,

" The eyes attain him, and attain him not."

But the soul which has left the narrow prison of
the body, but has not attained the field of its beati-
fying residence, unites, for taking a seat, with the
body of any one of the celestial spheres with which
it has some relation ; it finds rest in the higher or
lower heavens, according to order and distinction;
it is engaged in the contemplation of beauteous
forms, and the noble endowments of one who praises
God in the delight of that sphere, which, with some,
means the fancy of a particular kind, and is blessed
by the enjoyment of delightful imaginations and
representations. What is stated in the code of law,
that the souls of the vulgar among the believers are
in the first heaven ; this is founded upon the words
of the prophet.

" His acquisition is but a known place "

The meaning of this relates to the different de-
grees of merit.
By " Paradise 77 is understood one of the heavens,

149

eight of which are counted, and these are beneath
the ninth, which is the roof of the Paradise, as it is
stated in the traditions. But, when the souls not
yet come forth from the pit of the natural darkness
of bodily matter, are nevertheless in a state of in-
creasing improvement, then, in an ascending way,
they migrate from body to body, each purer than
the former one, until the time of climbing up to
the steps of the wished-for perfection of mankind,,
yet according to possibility, after which, purified of
the defilement of the body, they join the world of
sanctity: and this final migration (death) is called
nasikh, " obliteration."

" The verses which we have abrogated, we have replaced by others."

Some call this state Adrdf, 1 " boundary;' 7 which

* Adra'f, the plural of drf, from the verb arafa, " to distinguish bc-
" tween two things, or part of them:" some interpret it as above, " a
" wall; any thing that is high raised, as a wall of separation may be
" supposed to be/' In the Koran, chap. VII. entitled A I Adraf, v, 44, it
is called " a veil," to wit: " Between the blessed and the damned there
" shall be a veil, and men shall stand on AlAraf, who shall know every
** one of them by their mark, and shall call unto the inhabitants of Para-
" dise, saying: * Peace be upon you:' yet they shall not enter therein,
" although they earnestly desire it " It appears a sort of purgatory for
those who deserve neither hell nor heaven. In this sense it is taken
above. Others imagine it to be a state of limbo for the patriarchs and
prophets, or for the martyrs and saints, among whom there will also be
angels m the form of men. But, on the day of universal judgment, all
those who are confined in this place shall prostrate themselves m adora-
tion before the Lord, and hear these words: " Enter ye into paradise;
" there shall come no fear upon you, neither shall ye be grieved."
Ibtd. f v. 47.

150

means a wall between, heaven and hell, behind
which shall be those who in their conduct fell short
of goodness, until the time of being permitted to
enter into heaven. If the iniquities of the souls
predominate, then, descending, they assume the
forms of animals corresponding to their prevailing
character : thus, the souls of the powerful malefac-
tors and of the furious enter into the bodies of
lions ; the proud become tigers ; the formidable,
wolves ; and the crafty and covetous appear as little
ants; in this manner they are all ravenous, grazing,
Hying, creeping ; and this state of things is called
masakh, " metamorphosis/'

" As often as their skin is burnt we renew it with another, in ordei
" that they may taste punishment."

*< There is no kind of beast on earth, nor fowl which flieth with its
" wings, but the same is a people like unto you *

Sometimes, descending, the souls are united with
vegetable bodies ; and this is entitled ra&akh, ' ' firm-
c< ness/'

44 Under the form which thy master wills."

Sometimes they enter into mineral bodies, as for
instance into metals; and this is named fasakh,
" fracture/'

*' We let you grow according to your acts."

The learned Umer Khiyam says :

1 Koran, chap. VI. v 38

151

" Endeavor to acquire piaise worthy qualities: for, in the field of

" destiny,
** Thy resurrection shall be in conformity with thy qualities "

This threefold division they call " hell." The
number of the stories of hell, according to the fol-
lowers of the law, is seven ; that of the simple ele-
ments, four ; and that of the compound elements,
three : altogether seven. Every soul, on leaving the
elemental world, enters into one of the stories of
hell. According to the Mashdyiw, " Peripatetics/'
the human soul which, during its connection with
the body has contracted bad habits, becomes afflicted
and distressed by the impurity of such human attri-
butes as are accounted defects of the mind : on ac-
count of the extinction of sensual pleasure which
had grown into a fixed habit, the soul is bewildered,
and its base customs and qualities bear manifestly
upon it under the guise of a serpent, a scorpion, a
burning fire, and by all the torments which are
recorded in the law-book, whilst, on the contrary,
the noble habits of the virtuous shine under the
guise of Huns, Kdsun, sons, and youths, and in all
the blessings of heaven.

Sirdt, " the bridge of the last judgment," signi-
fies nothing else but the temperature of power; as
it has been established in the doctrine of Ethics :
for instance, the excess of courage is temerity, a
deficiency in it is cowardice; a medium between

152

both is valour ; and, as to keep the middle tenor, is
very difficult, this has been emblematized by some-
thing which is finer than a hair and sharper than
the edge of a sword, and by three arches, which
indicate the due mixture of three powers, viz. :
knowledge, courage, and lust. Under hell is meant
elemental nature.

We shall pass to the interpretation of the gates
of heaven, the number of which is eight ; that of the
gates of hell, seven. It is established that there are
five external senses and five internal ; but all of
them are not apt to perceive without the assistance
of inference and imagination; because it is imagi-
nation which perceives the forms, and inference
completes the perception of sensible things. The
two internal with the five external senses, make
seven. If they attend not to the commands of rea-
son, each of them goes for imprisonment to that hell
which is under the heaven of the moon, and if they
listen to these commands, they reach with the ninth
rank of intelligence the eight gates of heaven for
salvation and emancipation, as well as enter the
Paradise which is among the heavens.

" As> to him \\ho disobeyed, and preferred the worldly life, hell shall
" be his abode; and as to him who feared the being of the Lord and
'* refused to give up his soul to concupiscence, Paradise shall be his
" abode."

153

UPON THE ANGELS OF PUNISHMENT. It is 10 be

known, that there are seven rulers of the world
over the seven stars which revolve within the twelve
signs of the zodiac ; seven and twelve make nineteen,
and over these nineteen rulers, that is, managers of
the world, are other nineteen inspectors. In the
space of the nether earth are seven powers of vege-
tation, viz. : that of nourishment, watering, birth,
retention, attraction, mildness, and repulsion.
There are twelve powers of animal life, viz. : five
ex|ernal, five internal senses, and two powers of
movement, namely, lust and anger. Mankind, as
long as they remain in prison beneath the heaven of
the moon y and not severed from sensuality and its
ties, is indispensably and continually subject to the
impressions of the upper and nether rulers, and to
sufferings; but if it rids itself of these conditions, it
enjoys freedom in this and in the other world.

Nahr and Monkir point to our praise-worthy or
blameable conduct. The body is a tomb, and so is
the belly of the mother, and the interior part of the
heaven of the moon.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PAGES OF HUMAN ACTIONS AND THEIK
RECORDERS ; AND OF THE DESCENT OF ANGELS AND
DEMONS TO THE GOOD AND THE WlCKED.

Know that, of every speech or action which is

154

said or done, a mark is made by them; and when,
in any one of them a repetition occurs, the mark
becomes permanent, as it may be assimilated to what
takes place in acquiring a knowledge or learning an
art. As the marks of good and bad actions of man-
kind are determined, so every body shares accord-
ingly pleasure or pain. Words or deeds, one by
one, being revealed and described, establish convic-
tion ; so that disavowal becomes impossible. This
is the office of two recorders, the one of whom
stands to the right and the other to the left ; what-
ever of one's speeches and actions is praise-worthy,
this is called " angelic ;" and whatever is blameable
is named " satanic," This is what the prophet of
Arabia said: u From goodness arises an Angel, from
u badness a Satan." The balance typifies the rule of
justice in the retribution of conduct, so that there
may not be any disparity; the basins of the balance
contain the good and bad actions ; if the basin of the
first descends heavy, everlasting heaven is bestowed ;
if it ascend light, hell.

" He whose \\eight is heavy, shall be admitted to a delightful life,
" and he whose weight is light, shall fall into hell."

Praiseworthy speeches and actions are the pro-
perties of dignity, steadfastness and peace of mind;
blameable words and deeds belong to perturbation,
doubt, and want of conviction ; he who acquires
composure and dignity of mind, obtains the grace

155

of God ; this grace is the treasurer of paradise, who
is Razvan, " the porter of heaven; 7 ' but doubt and
perturbation are the leaders to misfortune and to
disdain ; and disdain is the treasurer of hell, who is
called Malik, " the keeper of hell."

AN ACCOUNT OF MOUNTAINS AND SEAS, AND OF WHAT
OCCURS UPON THE EARTH OF THE LAST JUDGMENT.

It should be known, that a mountain can be the
emblem of a body, which is as overgrown with wool,
and the seas can signify the elements ; or it may be
proper to call the mountains " elements, which are
"opaque," and the seas " the skies." Besides,
from a mountain, bodies can be desired ; as it may
be the station of angels, and from the sea angels
proceed. Attempting to investigate the nature of
God we meet with a veil, and this veil is darkness.
The only light we find is, that whoever travels over
the stages of materiality and spirituality, attains
rest in the seat of purity,

" Near the mighty King "

The veils of darkness are like colored wool raised up.

" The mountains shall become like carded >vool of various color?
<{ driven by the wind." 1

1 Koran, chap. CI. v, 4,

156

He lifls up the immense veil before the light, as
then the contradiction, the mutual opposition, and
the unsuitableness of conduct which arises from the
sensuality of the body, vanish at the passing away of
the body ; conformity and concord, which belong to
unity and harmony, manifest themselves ; certainly
nothing of repugnancy and no sort of apprehension
remains ; the poison of serpents and of scorpions is
no more; the wolf associates with the sheep, the
falcon with the little partridge, and confidence be-
tween those who feared each other, appears ;

" When the animals will unite;"

When there is no body, there is no death. This is
what the prophet declared : " On the day of resur-
" rection death will be summoned and annihi-
" lated;" he likewise said : " On the day of the last
" judgment hell will be made visible :

" Hell manifests itself to whosoever looks."

On no other day but this, hell, as it is, can be
seen ; because one who is plunged in the ocean, how
can he see the ocean ? It is when he rises above
the waves that he can distinguish them :

" A spirit appears better on the border of an expanse."

*

I have now given an explanation about the streams
of heaven and hell;, the pleasures and pains during
the time of the soul's progress and regress. The
running streams signify life, which the celestial com-

157

iiiuiiily enjoys ; milk is the cause of nourishment in
early infancy, and is more excellent than water;
because, although its use be at times salutary foralJ,
yet, in different circumstances, it is not so for all.
Rivers of milk signify rivers of knowledge for noble
persons; they proceed from the origin and develop-
ment of sciences, and from these rivers is derived
the enjoyment of the celestial beings, whose state
may be compared to that of infancy. Honey is the
cause of recovery to the sick and afflicted, and is
more excellent than milk, because its advantage is
reserved to a certain number only; and rivers of
honey in heaven are emblematical of rivers of noble
sciences; and the enjoyment of the select in heaven
is derived from these rivers. Wine is the cause of
the removal of terror, and fear, and sadness; and is
more excellent than honey, because it is prohibited
to the people of the world, and permitted and lega}
to the inhabitants of heaven ; and it is a purifying
draught of the water of Paradise :

" Their lord made them drink a purifying beverage."

And rivers of wine in heaven signify rivers of know-
ledge, for the nobles, among noble personages, and
their enjoyment in heaven is derived from these
rivers :

" There will be rivers of limpid water, and rivers of milk,
" The savor of which shall not be altered; rivers of wine
** Will be a delight to those who drink of them ;
" And there will be rivers of purified honey."

158

For the inhabitants of hell are four rivers, in oppo-
sition io those in heaven ; they are called c ' that of
6t heat; that of water, blood, and matter; that of
" liquid pitch : and that of poison ;' } that is to say :
death, ignorance, simple ignorance, and compound
ignorance ; for it is said :

" These are the similes which we propose to men ; the wise only under-
stand their explanation."

ACCOUNT OF THE TREE TUBA, WHICH is IN HEAVEN, AND

THE TREE ZAKUM, WHICH IS IN HELL.

It is to be known that Tuba 1 is a celestial tree
which sends branches into every corner of heaven ;
and this is an emblem of the tree of wisdom, from
which branches extend to every corner to any
body, whether it be elemental or imaginary; that is
to say, to every mind which is illumed and warmed
by a ray of the sun of wisdom ; it is by this light
that his speech and conduct answer the exigency of

1 Tuba, says Herbelot, according to the Commentators of the Koran,
is a word derived from the Ethiopian language, and means properly
" eternal beatitude." The Tuba, as the heavenly lotos tree, or tree of
life, occurs in all mythologies, in the Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyp-
tian, and Scandinavian. This tree is represented upon the coffin of a
mummy which exists in the imperial cabinet of Vienna ; a deity pours out
from its branches the paradisiacal fountain, which, according to the Mu-
hammedans, issues from the roots of the tree of life,(See TheMtms of
Orient, vol. V,)

159

wisdom, and that he considers well the end of his
actions ; so that lie has never to repent of any one of
his words or deeds, which is a sign of knowledge

The tree zMm, 1 represents the tree of nature, a
branch of which extends to every corner, that is to
say, whatever power a man (actuated by it) exerts,
he never considers the end of the action which he
does, and has therefore always to repent of his words
and deeds, which is a sign of ignorance.

As to an explanation about the Har and Kas'ur, it
is to be known that both names relate to secrets of
hidden things and sciences, which are concealed from
the eyes of the profane by a veil, or by the pavilions
of sublimity :

" The Hur and Kasur are concealed in the pavilions."

The hand of men with an elegant and fanciful
conception has never reached, nor shall ever reach,
them.

" Nobody has ever touched them before, neither men nor genii."

For these Hur and Kas ur belong to men endowed
with sanctity and truth ; as often as these perfect
personages approach them, they find also virgins,
and enjoy each time a pleasure such as they never

1 This tree is imagined to spring from the bottom of hell. There is a
thorny tree, called xaku'm, which grows in Tabama, and bears fruit like
an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given
to this infernal tree (See Sale's JBToran, pp. 104, 310.)

IGO

had before ; because each time they meet with the
beginning of a new meaning, finer than the former,
although they obtain these objects before their death.

It has been stated by some sages that, when they
were intent upon some high undertaking, they
declared after its conclusion: " How can empe-
t6 rors and their sons enjoy such a happiness,
" which is still to be increased when all impedi-
tc ments will be removed." Know, men attached
to exterior evidence said, that whatever is commonly
believed of the last judgment, and what is connected
with the soul of the world, implies nothing else but
that, from the time when the Almighty God brought
forth out of nothingness into existence, the heavens,
the stars, the material bodies, the three kingdoms of
nature, and the essences, the duration of the world
shall extend to that period when he will again
plunge the whole into non-existence, and this shall
be " the other world."

The learned say besides, that the composition of
the human body, and its conjunction with the soul,
make but one period of time, although birth and life
appear two distinct periods ; the one comprising the
sensible and perceptible world, the other the ra-
tional and intellectual world : for

" Whoever is not born twice, shall not enter at the same time into the
" kingdom of heaven and that of the earth." l

1 This seems an incorrect quotation from St. John's Gospel, chapter III.

161

This is the speecli of the Lord Jesus, and with him
the present and the future world have also a twofold
signification, also both a particular and a common
one. As to the particular there is something exter-
nal and internal in every one ; body and soul in every
one ; this is his present and future world. As to the
common signification there is an external and an
internal world, that is, the material world is the pre-
sent, and the future is the internal world. As to
what is stated in the ostensible law, that the earth
has seven stories and the heaven also seven, the
interpretation of this is, that the earth is divided into
seven regions, whence is concluded that the heaven
also is divided into seven, separate from which they
account the Kersi or Arsh, that is the ninth heaven.
As to what is said, that on the day of resurrection
ihe heaven will be folded together,

" On the day on which we shall fold the heavens, as the angel folds
" the book (of good and bad actions of men), we shall replace them as
4k they were formed at the beginning of the creation. The heavens will
" then be folded by his grace, power, and strength,"

verse 3, which is as follows : " Jesus answered and said unto him (Nico-
demus) : Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
' cannot see the kingdom of God "Further, v. 5: " Verily, verily, I
" say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot
41 enter into the kingdom of God "V. 6: That which is born of the
" flesh, is flesh, and that \vhich is born of the spirit, is spirit." V. 7:
" Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born .igam " V.8: The
t wind bloweth where it hsteth, and thou nearest the sound thereof,
" but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth : so is every
" one that is born of the spirit "

\ in. 11

162

And the earth changed into another.

kk One day >\e shall change this earth into another earth."

And after this change the earth and heaven will be
annihilated ; the earth will be like pure silver, and
opon this earth DO sin whatever will be committed :
in all this, the day of resurrection, heaven, and hell
are rendered present. As to what is asserted that
ihis earth will be changed into another the Orien-
tals say, this is meant to relate to a vision which is
called the region of symbolic truth. And the ren~
dering present heaven and hell ; this also refers to
an attribution of good and bad. Whoever assumes
the form of Hur or Kasur, serpent or scorpion, is
rendered happy or miserable. As to the transmuta-
tion of the earththis needs no Interpretation : what
wonder is it that the culture of a region passes into
that of another country ; and the passage from the
region of the sensible into that of allegory is evi-
dent in the transformation of the folded heavens.
It has also been maintained that tc the book of God' 7
is one thing, and " the word of God" another :
because the word is derived from the world 1 of
commands, which has its purport from the invisible
and rational world ; whilst the book is from the
world of creatures ; that is, the material world ; the

1 The>\ord dalem, " world," has here (as it occuis \vith the corres-
ponding Sanskrit ^oid Joka) the meaning of state, " condition."

165

word, when written down, becomes a book ; a com-
mand which is brought to pass becomes an action ;

and this is, with these believers, the meaning of the
words : Run fa yakun.

" (God said) ' Let it be,' and it as "

The world of command is devoid of contradiction
and multiplicity; it is pure in its essence; butthe
world of creatures contains contradiction and multi-
plicity, and no atom of all atoms of beings is out of
the material world.

" There is nothing fresh or dry but in the true book (the Koran)."

Besides, the world of forms and of perceptible
things is to be considered as the book of God, and
every thing as a Surah, " a chapter/' of the Surahs
of this book ; the alternation of days and nights, the
changes and alterations in the horizon and in the
phenomena are the vowel points of this book ; the
days and nights of this book, Surah after Surah,
verse after verse, letter after letter, follow each
other, as in writing the lines are read in succession;
thus them proceedest, from line to line and from let-
ter to letter, until thou findest the meaning which is
hidden in the subject of the words and expressions,
until thou knowest and renderest evident to thyself
the purport of the book :

" We shall show our verses (of the Koran) in the horizon (every where),
*' and in their souls, until it become evident to them that it is the
" truth."

164

And when thou understandest ihe book and hast
satisfied thy desire, cerlainly the book is then closed
and put out of thy hand.

" On the day on which we shall fold the heavens, as the angel folds
" the book the heavens will then be folded by his grace, power, and
" strength."

And it was said, 4l On the right hand," that it may
be manifest, that those who are at the left can have
no share in the possession of heaven.

The change of the earth is thus interpreted, that
mankind has two states : at first a terrestrial body
and a heavenly nature, subject to the dictates of
passion and of lust ; and in this stale all creatures
are in the troubles of imagination, and pride, and
conceitedness. Then takes place the first blast of
the trumpet for the sake of rest, in order that the
terrestrial, who are subject to the qualities of the
body, and the celestial, who possess those of a higher
nature, may both of them become dead to the trou-
bles of imagination, pride, and conceitedness, unless
a few of the qualities of the former state remain
alive; as this, on account of these very qualities,
may be indispensable by the power of necessity.

" And the trumpet was blown, and all the beings who were in heaven
(< and upon earth were troubled, except those whom God willed (that
" they should not).

The second blast of the trumpet will be for recall-
ing all men to life, so that the terrestrial, who are

165

endowed with the qualifies of nature, may resusci-
tate from the death of ignorance and the sleep of
heedlessness, and rise up ; that they may avert their
face from material objects and bodily pleasures,
which are understood under the name " world,"
and devote themselves to reasonable pursuits and
spiritual enjoyments, which are essential, so as to
know every thing in its real nature : which is

" Then the trumpet shall be blown, and instantly they shall resusci-
" tate, and see."

In this state, the body, world, and the nature of
reason and law, are broken.

" The earth was illumed by the light of his Lord; he placed the books,
u and he brought the prophets and the witnesses "

Then the earth of darkness shall be changed into
the world of light, and the heaven of nature into the
sphere of spirits :

" On the day on which the earth shall be changed for another earth,
" as well as the heavens; and it shall then be known that there is but
" one God, the Almighty."

The obscuration of the stars, and the extinction
of the sun's and the moon's light are interpreted,
that the stars signify the external and internal
senses, each of which is in its corresponding sign in
heaven ; the spirit of animals and the light of the
moon are referred to the light of the soul ; as the hu-
man soul has in fact no light of its own, but solicits
an abundant loan of it from the sun of reason, and

166

diffuses it according to its own deficiency. It is said,
that when the human soul manifests itself, then
sensuality remains out of its action ;

" When the stars shall be obscured ;"

And when the light of reason breaks forth, then the
human soul also is dismissed from its action, and
when the benefitted unites with the benefactor, then
an incomparable form shows its face ;

" He reunited the sun and the moon ;"

And when the light of God shines forth, that is,
when " knowledge is infiised," which is equivalent
to revelation, manifesting itself, then reason and sight
are removed from the action, which they call

11 When the sun shall be folded up." 1

There are fifty stations in the field of judgment :

" Present is the Creator and the master ;
" At every station another question;
" Whoever gives his answer with justness
'* Shall reach his station with rapidity "

The stations are in their order as follows : five
external and five internal senses ; seven powers of
passion and lust; three spirits of nature, that is, of
minerals, vegetables, and animals ; four humors ;
three kingdoms of nature ; four elements ; eight
temperatures ; seven forms of imagination ; the other
four will be stated on another occasion .

1 Koran, chap. LXXXI v 1.

167

The book of God signifies knowledge. As to the
last judgment and the resurrection of bodies, intel-
ligent men said, that each atom of the atoms of a
human body ? which are dispersed, will be all col-
lected on the day of resurrection, and restored to
life , and at this hour there will be no question put
about any thing done, but what is come to us from
the prophets and saints, this we must believe. The
learned say besides, that the question is here about
the soul, which on the day of resurrection returns
(to its origin), and this substance is pure, and
does not require to be suitable to any dimension,
color, or place, but is independent of all these,
and on that account fit for sciences and knowledge
of all things; its extreme excellence is to be able to
collect for review all things from the first origin to
the last extremity, and to know that whenever it
attains that degree of perfection, it has returned to
the place of its origin ; and this is the knowledge of
purity, which is remote from the defilement and
mixture of what is material. The learned assert be-
sides, that the night of power, " the night on ^hich
" the Koran was sent down," refers to the be-
ginning, and the day of resurrection to the place
to which one returns ; because the nature of night
is to conceal things of which few may have in-
formation, and the nature of day is to bring to
view things of which all may take notice. Further,

168

the whole of the notions and powers of primitive
creation is contained in the knowledge of God, who
is understood under the name of " primitive, per~
" manent, and predestinator." Every body pos-
sesses not this knowledge ; it was then on account
of the belief that the predestinations were concealed
in it, that ' c the night of power" was said to be
" primitive," and as in the place to which one re-
turns (that is at the resurrection) every thing con-
cealed shall become manifest, and every one be in-
formed of it, on account of this belief, this place was
referred to * day/' As on this day, all are to rise
from the tomb of the body, and to awake from the
sleep of heedlessness, it was called " the resurrec-
ct tion."

According to the learned, Kabah (the square tem-
ple at Mecca) is an emblem of the sun, on which
account it is right to worship it ; and the well Zem
zem 1 signifies likewise " the great luminary," as
Hakim Klidkdni said relatively to both :

" Kabah, them traveller of the heaven!
" Zem zem, thou fire of the world!"

Hajer id dsvad, ' c the black stone at Mecca," repre-
sents the body of Venus, which on the border of the
heavens is a star of the planets. Some have inter-
preted the resurrection of the bodies in the sense of
the learned, who referred it to the revolution of the

1 A well at Mecca, sec this vol , p. 14-15, note 1.

169

heavens, and to the influences of the stars upon the
terrestrial globe,

<l Every external form of things, and every object which disappeared,

" Remains stored up' in the storehouse of fate ;
" When the system of the heavens returns to its former order,
M God, the All-Just, will bring them forth from the veil of mystery "

Another poet says :

" When the motion of the heavens in three hundred and sixty thousand

*' years,

" Shall have described a minute about its centre,
" Then shall be manifest what had been manifest before,
" Without any divergence to the right or to the left."

The great revolution with them, according to the
word of Berzasp, the disciple of Tahamiiers, is of
three hundred and sixty thousand solar years : that
is, as the motions of the heavens take place in a cir-
cle, their positions are necessarily determined ; when ,
according to that revolution, the positions of the
heavens manifest themselves so that from the conti-
guities, the adwar and ikwdr, i " the cycles/' the zatk
and /a{&, " the shutting and opening," from the
conjunctions of the whole and from the unions, all
parts of the phenomena show the very same neces-
sarily determined position, in its reality without
increase and decrease. In the hooks of the Persian

1 j[^ 3 )\2^ are ^ e c y c ^ es or ^volutions of years, according to
which the astrologers pretend to prognosticate the accidents of human life.
Every adwar consists of 360 solar years, and the ikwar of 120 lunar
years ; the whole art consists in finding the combination of these years,
and their respective relations

170

sages is stated that, as the motions of the heavens arc
circular, certainly the compasses return to the same
point from which the circumference began to be
drawn, and when at a second revolution the com-
passes run over the same line upon which the former
circumference was drawn, undoubtedly, whatsoever
has been granted in the former circumference, shall
be granted again ; as there is no disparity between
two circumferences, there will be no disparity be-
tween their traces ; because the phenomena, having
returned to that order in which they were found in
the beginning, the stars and heavens, having made
their revolution about the former centre, the dis-
tances, contiguities, appearances, and relations hav-
ing in no aspect been contrary to the former aspects,
certainly the influences which manifested themselves
from yonder origin shall in no manner be different.

This is called in Persian mahin cherkh, " the great
" circle;" and in Arabic dawrah^ kabra.

Farabi 1 says : the vulgar form to their own sight

Abu Nasr Muhammed Ebn Turlhan al Fdrdbt, a native of Far ah,
a town situated on the occidental confines of Turkestan, afterwards
called Otrar. He is esteemed as the greatest philosopher among the
Muselmans, and at the same time the most detached from the world. To
him is attributed the translation of Aristotle's Analytics, under the title
of Anoluthica. Avisenna confessed to have derived all his science from
him. Ghazali counts Farahi and Avisenna among the philosophers who
believed the eternity of the world, but not without a first mover, which
doctrine is believed by the Muselmans to be atheistical. Farabi died in

171

their belief according to the shape of their imagina-
tion, and will continue to form it so, and the place
of their imaginations will be a body of the heavenly
bodies. The venerable Shaikh Maktul tends to
establish in his demonstrations, that the heavenly
bodies are places of imaginations of the inhabitants
of heaven, and that beneath the heaven of the moon,
and above the globe of fire is a spherical body, with-
out motion, and this is the place of the imaginations
of the inhabitants of hell.

It is to be known, that this sect hold the world to
be eternal^ and say that, as the sun's light is to the
heaven, so is the world to God. Nothing was that
had not been> and nothing will be that is not. Far-
ther, according to the expounders of theological
law, the world is a phenomenon of time. The phi-
losophers assert, the meaning of that phenomenon
is " procreation;" and the phenomenon of procrea-
tion is not contradictory to " permanency ;" infinite
permanency coalesces with time.

the year of the Hejira 339 (A. D. 950), according to Elm Owl and Abul-
feda, quoted byPococke (p 372); according to Herbelot in Hejira343
A. D, 954).

SECTION II. OF THE REPUTATION AND THE TRUTH OF

THE PROPHETIC DlGNlTY.

Know that, when individuals of mankind want
to associate in the concerns of life, they find it in-
dispensable to have recourse to customs, regula-
tions, and religious faith, in order that they may
be concordant, and that oppression may be ex-
cluded from their transactions and associations, and
the order of the world preserved. It is requisite
to refer the customs and regulations to God, and
to proclaim that they proceed from God, in order
that all may adopt them. On that account the ne-
cessity of theology and of a prophetic mission became
evident, in order that the institutes for the govern-
ment of the creatures may be established, and, by
means of mildness and severity, men might be in-
duced to be concordant, and the different conditions
of the world arranged. And such an institutor is
named " illustrious sage;" his precepts are likewise
celebrated ; among the eminent moderns, his title is
that of " prophet," or " legislator," and that of his
precepts u the law/' But his deputy, who is a
judge, ought to be a person distinguished by divine
grace, that he may promote the instruction and ar-
range the affairs of mankind; such a man is called
by the wise " an universal ruler/' and his precepts
are entitled " the practice of the empire ;" the mo-

175

derns gave him the name of Imdtn, and to his pre-
cepts that of Imdmet. The unusual customs, which
are called indjasdt,' ct miracles/' 1 and Mrdmdt, " pro-
" digies," 2 have been submitted to investigations
from which it results that the vital spirit, or soul, is
the cause of the accidents which are manifested in
our body, such as anger and violent emotion. It
may be that the vitality attains such a force in every

1 Xj-s:*"* 9 mdjezet, is an extraordinary thing, operated by prophets
(01 the confirmation of their prophecy.

2 ^\, ~ke,rdmet, signifies a prodigy, or sign, manifested by any
pious person without his claiming prophetic dignity (See Pococke,
Spec^m. Hist. Arab , p. 186. 1st edit.)

The Asiatic Doctors admit that extraordinary things may be operated
by men who pretend to be deities, prophets, Yahs (Saints, of whom more
hereafter), and magicians, who <ire supposed to command demons. Thus
they quote Pharaoh, who arrogated divinity to himself, and performed
miracles, and thus it shall be with the Antichrist. Celestial favors granted
to Valis are believed by the orthodox Muhammedans, upon the strength of
the Koran and authentic traditions. To these are added innumerable
tales accredited among the superstitious, some of which are ingenionsly
combined with a moral lesson. Jami, m his Lives of Sufis, quotes the
following words of another illustrious personage, whom he does not name.
" The principle on which all is comprised is, that, when a man performs
" an extraordinary action, renouncing something which other men are
*' wont to do, or which he himself was wont to do, God also, on his
" part, by a sort of compensation, changes, in that man's favor, some-
4< thing in the ordinary course of nature. It is that which the vulgar call
" Eeramet. But distinguished men understand by this word the divine
" favor which gave a man aid and force to renounce the things to which
" he was accustomed. This is what we understand by Keramet. This
explanation differs from that given above. The whole doctrine relative to
this subject is united with that of Sufism, which is hereafter to be deve-
loped. (See Notices el Extraitt* desMSS., vol. XII. pp. 357-369.)

174

manner, that its relation to ibis world of depravity
becomes of thai nature as is our relation to our own
bodies : then its desire proves the cause of the acci-
dents ; it brings about what it wishes in this world.
On that account, all the learned agree on this point,
that, in every respect, the soul is of an extreme
ingenuity and sagacity, so that, of whatsoever kind
the knowledge may be to which it turns its atten-
tion, it renders itself master in one day of the whole
science, and the power of its memory is such, that it
recollects whatever it has heard but once, and, to
whatsoever object it directs its look, the soul will
give an account of it, of the past as well as of the
present. Another power of the soul is to know,
either in a dream or by ilhdm, " inspiration/' 1 an
event before it takes place. A further power of the
soul is, to discover the purport of whatever it sees.
All this together is the attribute of the soul. When,
on account of pious austerity and struggles in the
cause of God, one's sensual spirit is kept in due tem-
perature,, it becomes like an essence of heaven, and

tlham, means what is thrown in a man's mind by way of

emanation, or with the exclusion of diabolical suggestions; that is, not
by way of thought and reflection It is also explained, a knowledge which
rises in a man's heart and excites him to action without his demanding a
a prodigy, or the investigation of a proof for believing the truth of what
is so revealed to him (Sec Definitions of Jorjam, Ext. et Not, des
MSS , vol. X pp. 76-77 )

175

his rational soul borrows as much as possible from
ihe heavenly spirit, in the same manner as a polished
mirror receives the image from a painted surface.
Whatever comes forth from the rational soul in the
way of generality, of that the rational soul gives an
account by means of images in ihe way of particu-
larity, and brings it home to common sense by way
of allegories. And when comprehended by common
sense, it becomes evident, and there is no difference
between what comes to common sense from the
exterior or from the interior ; on which very ac-
count some have entitled it the common sense, as
being sensible from both sides. Further, he whose
constitution is better tempered, and whose power
of imagination and common sense is brighter, he,
after being freed from worldly dependencies, will
possess a righter fore-knowledge, such as that in
sleep : for sleep also is suitable to prescience, and
the revelation of some prophets was received during
sleep.

ON THE MEANING OF REVELATION AND INSPIRATION.

Some of the novices who feel themselves in this

state, comprehend at once something which they
did not understand before ; they suppose they are

176

as if hearing something from within, and this they
call " a voice from an invisible speaker." It has
been said that, in miracles and supernatural events,
there is no doubt of our spirit being the phenomenon-
wfaich manifests itself in the human body from men,
tal excitement and exultation ; then it may happen
that the spirit receives such a force and perfection,
that its relation to the world of corruption be like
our relation to the body whence its desire may be
the mover in this exterior world.

There is another wonderful science and property
of things. The lord Shaikh Abu AH 1 says in his
book, " the Ascent to Heaven :" All the spirits are
subject to more perfect intelligences, except " the
C Holy Ghost," who is the mediator between the
self-existing Being and the first intelligences, and
this is * ' the command ;" and the word of God means
46 the revelation," which the Holy Ghost makes by
the intervention of perfect intelligences, and which
is manifested by the prophetic spirit; whence, what-
ever is the speech of the prophet, all is the expres-
sion of the word of God, and his word is futile by
itself, and the name of holiness comes from God
alone.

1 Avisenna. (See, upon this celebrated personage, vol. II. pp. 168-
175.) He and Al Farabl, before-mentioned (p. 170, note 1) are, according
to the concurring opinions of the Arabs, the most distinguished chiefs
of the Arabian philosophers, properly so called. The logic of Avisenna
has been translated by Vattier, 1658.

177

UPON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE MIRACLES OF THE
PROPHET.

The learned possess a great number of versions
on this subject, but the best of all interpretations
is that of the lord rais, the wise Abu All Sina, who
declares : ' 6 So said the prophet of God, Muhammed,
the selected (peace -be upon him): l C4 One night I
<c slept in the house of my father's sister; 2 it was a
<c night of thunder and lightning ; no animal uttered
* * a sound ; no bird was singing ; no man was awake ;
" and I slept not, but was suspended between sleep

1 The ascent of Muhammed to Heaven has been mentioned (vol. II.
p. 339). The prophet gave no explicit account of it in the Koran, yet
traditions of \vhat he himself had related of it, although not without
various versions, are preserved, and believed with equal faith as the verses
of the sacred book themselves, in which frequent allusions occur to the
circumstances and events of which Muhammed's voyage to Heaven is
composed. These, indeed, however absurd they may appear to unbe-
lievers, contain the fundamentals of the Muharamedan mysticism. On
account of this importance, I -shall add to the notice given above, byAvi-
senna, some particulars contained in the narration published from original
sources by the Baron of Hammer Purgstal Gemaldesaal moshrmscher ,
JJeersher. IHter $ a nd. 1837, Seite 81, etc )

2 Muhammed was sleeping in the house of Omm Hani, the daughter ot
Abu Thaleb,m the sanctuary of the Kaba, when Jabdl awakened him; the
angel called Mikail to bring him a cup full of water from the sacred well
Zemzem (see vol. III. pp. 14-15. note 1) Jabnl cleft Muhammed's
breast, drew his heart out, washed it, and, with three cups from the
sacred fountain, infused into him faith, knowledge, and wisdom. He
then conducted him out of the sanctuary to a place between Safa and
Merva, where he made the prophet bestride Borak (sec vol. II. p. 339),
which, as the Angel said, was mounted by Abraham.

v. ni, 12

178

4i and waking : the secret meaning of this might
*' have been, that II was a long while before I became
" desirous of understanding tlie divine truth. Under
' ' the shield of the night, men enjoy greater free-
" dom, as the occupations of the body and the de-
<c pendence of the senses are broken. A sudden
" night fell iheu, and I was still between sleep and
" waking ; that is, between reason and sensuality.
' ' I fell into the sea of knowledge ; and it was a night
" with thunder and lightning, that is, the seven
" upper agents prevailed, so that the power of hu-
" man courage and the power of imagination sunk
" from their operation, and inactivity manifested its
li ascendancy over activity. And lo ! Jabriil came
" down in a beautiful forai^ with much pomp, splen-
c c dor, and magnificence, so that the house became
<c illuminated ; that is, the power of the holy spirit
C came upon me in the form of the command, and
" made such an impression upon me, that all the
1 ' powers of the rational soul were renewed and
" enlightened by it. And what the prophet said
in the description of Jabriil, " to have seen him
" whiter than snow, with a lovely face, black hair,
" and on his forehead the inscription: * There is no
" * God but one God;' the light of his eyes charm-
" ing, the eyebrows fine, having seventy thousand
ct curls twisted of red rubies, and six hundred thou-
14 sand pearls of a fine water/' that is, he possessed

179

so many beauties in the eyes of pure reason, that
if an impression of these beauties was made upon
a sense, it was able to perceive those which have
been described, and the purport of the words :
" there is no God but one God," appeared in a
determined light: that is he whose eyes fall upon
his perfections is removed from the darkness of
infidelity, and doubt, and worldly connection;
and in such a manner he feels himself fortified in
the certitude of the Creator, and attains such a
degree of virtue, that hereafter, upon whatsoever
creature he looks, his faith in God's unity will be
enhanced by it. And such were the charms of
the angel that, if one possessed seventy thousand
curls, he would not attain to his beauty; and such
was his rapidity, that thou wouldst have said, he
was flying with six hundred wings and arms, so
that his progress knew neither space nor time/'
t4 What he said came upon me, and he took me to
" his bosom, and gave me kisses between the eyes,
44 and said: c thou sleeper, how long sleepest
" c thou ? rise !' That is, when the power of holi-
" ness came upon me, it caressed me, opened the
" road of ils revelation, and exalted me; a certain
" delight which I cannot describe diffused itself in
" my heart, and transported me to devotion. The
" angel then continued: c How long sleepest thou? 1
" that is c why indulgest thou in the delusions of

180

' ' ' falsehood? thou art attached to the world, and,
u ' as long as thou remainest in it, and before thou
k ' * awakes t, knowledge cannot be obtained ; but I,
" ' from compassion towards thee, shall be thy
" ' guide on the road. Rise.' 1 trembled at his
'* words, and from fear jumped up from my place:
" that is, from timid respect for him no reflection
* * remained in my heart and mind . He further said :
<* Be calm, I am thy brother, Jabriilj' thus, by his
" kindness and revelation, rny terror was appeased.
" But he unfolded more of his mysteries, so that
" fear returned upon me. I then said: bro-
" * ther, I feel the hand of an enemy.' He replied :
" * I shall not deliver thee into the hand of an ene-
< 4 4 my.' I asked: < Into whose?' He answered :
i( ' Rise, and be glad; and keep thy heart within
ct ' thyself:' that is, preserve thy memory clear,
" and show obedience to me, until I shall have
"have removed the difficulties before thee. And
4 * as he spoke I became entranced and transport-
" ed, and I proceeded on the footsteps of Jabnil;
" that is, I forsook the sensual world, and by the
" aid of natural reason I followed the footsteps of
44 holy grace." What the prophet said : " I saw
" Borak upon the footsteps of Jabriil," signifies,
the practical reason which triumphs by means of
the power of sanctity, and by its assistance gains
the ascendancy over this world of corruption : for

181

from the heavenly intelligences proceeds practical
reason, which is the supreme king and assistant of
the soul, at any time when it may be required. It
is to be compared to Borak for this reason, because
it was the illuminator of the night, and the vehicle of
the protector, who on that journey wanted it : on
that account the prophet railed it Bordk. And as to
what he further said: " It was greater than an ass
" and smaller than ahorse;" this means, it was
greater than human reason, but smaller than the
first intelligence. And " Borak's face was like that
" of a man," signifies, he had a propensity for hu-
man order and much kindness for men, as a family
by its manner and likeness among men has a bear-
ing to kindness and arrangement. What the pro-
phet stated of " a long hand and long foot," means
that his benefit extends to all places, and that his
bounty keeps all things new. What he stated : " 1
" wanted to mount Borak, but he resisted until
' c Jabriil gave assistance ; then he became obedient
" to me;" this implies, I was under the influence of
the corporeal world ; I desired to associate with rea-
son; but this was refused until the power of sanctity
washed off by a bath the entanglement of ignorance
and the hinderances of the body, so that I became
pure, and by such means attained the bounty and
advantage of practical reason.
What the prophet further said : li When I pro-

182

" ceeded on the way, 1 and had left the mountains
ie of Mecca, I saw a wanderer following my steps,
" who called out : * Stop !' But Jabriil said : ' Hold
<l ' no conversation; goon/ I went on." By this
the power of the iragination is indicated ; that is :
when I became free of the sight of my limbs and
every thing belonging to me, and yielding no more
to sensuality, and thus proceeded, the power of ima-
gination, upon my steps, called out to me to stop;
for the power of imagination is dextrous, and cer-
tainly is great, exerting itself in all affairs, and
serves in lieu of intellect to all animals ; but it is not
right to allow imagination too much liberty, because
it then descends to an equality with animals, and
disorders its noble nature ; further, whoever is as-
sisted by the grace of God, follows not, on all occa-
sions, the imagination. As to what the prophet
said : " Behind me called out a woman, deceitful
" and beauteous: * Stop until I join thee!' Jabriil
' ' also said : ' Go on, and beware of stopping : ' " this
means the power of imagination, which is deceitful
and bedecked, resembling a woman, to whom most
natures are inclined, and who keeps men in her
bondage; besides, whatever she does, is all art,

1 The lide proceeded to Jerusalem; a troop of Angels surrounded
them on all sides. On the way Muhammed was called to successively by
two men, the one of whom was a Jew, the other a Christian, and by a
seducli\e female, the prophet did not stop at the voice of either.

185

without foundation, and contaminated by fraud and
deception ; nay, the very business of women is arti-
fice and fiction : the power of imagination is not
otherwise seductive. To continue : the lies and false
promises of women being so many lures, they
render mankind their slaves with their show, and
never keep their faith; so that all they affect turns
out to be futile. Thus, when a man follows the
steps of imagination, he never attains true intelli-
gence, as he always remains upon the track of out-
ward ornament and in the bondage of corporeal
appearance, without reality.

" And as to what the prophet stated: When I
" went on, Jabriil said : c If thou hadst waited until
" 'she had joined thee, thou wouldst have become
' ' ' a friend of the world ;' " this means : that worldly
affairs are without reality, brittle and soon decaying,
and that worldly occupations have a value but in
conjunction with the views of a future state; inas-
much as occurrences and appearances are a decep-
tion, and are esteemed as adjuncts to the secrets of a
high intelligence 5 and whoever devotes himself to
the former rests behind the higher intelligences,and,
in the illusion of vanity, rests imprisoned in the pit-
fall of ignorance.

And what Muhammed said: " When I left the
u mountains and these two persons behind me, I
4t went on until I reached the house of sanctity

184

" (Jerusalem) ; and as I entered it, a person came to
" me, and gave me three cups the one of wine,
" the second of water, and the other of milk. 1
" wished to take that of wine, but Jabriil forbade it,
44 and pointed to that of milk, which I took and
44 drank:" the meaning of this is: When I freed
myself from sensuality, and knew the state of ima-
gination and deception, and resolved in myself to
enter the world of spirits, then I saw three spirits
in the house of sanctity the one was that of animal
life, the second that of nature, and the other that of
rationality. I wished to proceed on the footsteps
of brutishness, and compared it to wine, the power
of which is seducing, clouding, and ignorance-in-
creasing, like passion and lust, and wine is the
darkener of the two other powers. And he com-
pared nature to water, because from it is derived the
support and stability of a person, and man depends
upon the temperament of the agents which act in
the body; 1 water is also the vital strength of ani-

1 This obscure passage appears 10 aimae to a glose found in the
Desatir, English transl., p. 183. After having said that there are four
elements, the Commentator subjoins: " The water is of the shap6 of a
" ball, the half of which being broken, is filled with ^vater, so that the
" water and earth together compose one ball. And as the elements
" penetrate into and affect each other, a sort of middle nature is pro-
'* duced, which is called constitution or temperament If a body that
" is united with a temperament has the probability-^ subsisting foi a
" protracted time, and of retaining its compound substance, it is called
" ' permanent,' 01 l peifect;' if not, ' imperfect,' or ' aritmg pcima-

185

mals, and the promoter of growth and increase.
And the rational spirit he compared to milk, as
being a salutary and agreeable nourishment, and
promoting welfare. And as to what he said: " I
46 wished to take the wine ; but he forbade it, that
" I might take the milk :" is in allusion to most men,
who, being badly disposed, do not desist from obse-
quiousness to two spirits, those of nature and bru-
tishness ; and whoever is badly disposed demands
what is material, and the pleasure and enjoyment
of these two spirits are of this kind.

" The Prophet said farther: When 1 arrived
" there I entered the mosque, and the crier called
<fc to prayer; and I stepped forward, I saw an assem-
" bly of prophets and angels standing to the right
44 and the left ; every one saluted me, and made a
" new covenant with me." 1 This means: When I be-
came freed from all converse and concern with bru-
tishness and nature, I entered the mosque, that is,
I retired into the inmost of the soul ; by c ' crier of

44 ' nence.' " Lower down: ' And there can be no temperament so
" equalised that the elements in it should be exactly of the same quan-
" tity and mode. And in proportion as a temperament more nearly
" approaches equality, the soul bestowed on it by the Originator of being
44 is more peifect."

1 In the temple of Jerusalem, Muhammed was saluted by choirs of
angels and prophets, as the first of intercedes before God, the last of
prophets, and as one who will assemble the people on the day ot
judgment

186

" the mosque" is understood the power of remem-
bering and praising God; by " one's Imam," medi-
tation; and " the angels" mean the powers of the
inmost soul, such as abstraction, memory, praise of
God, and the like. Further/' saluting them" refers
to the comprehending of all the mental powers.
Thus, when one wishes to mount up to the terrace
of a house, he must first have a staircase by which
he may, step after step, ascend, until he attains
the summit of the terrace ; in like manner also are
these refined powers to be considered as ladder-
steps, upon which, the one after the other, a man
ascends until he arrives at his aim.

" And what the prophet said: When I became
'* free, I raised my face upwards, and I found a
** ladder, one step of which was of silver and the
" other of gold :" 1 this means, from the external to
the internal sense; ** gold" and " silver' 9 denote
the superior value of the one over the other. 2

1 From the temple, the prophet was conducted by Jabriil to the rock
upon which Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac. From them
rose a ladder to heaven; not only were the steps alternately of gold and
silver, but also, on one side shone edifices of emerald, and on the other
palaces of ruby.

2 Here Jabriil took Muhammed upon his wings and flew with him to
the gate of Paradise, which was guarded by a legion of Angels. In the
first heaven he saluted Adam, who sat between two gates, and was look-
ing now to the right, now to the left ; when to the right, he laughed, when
to the left, he wept ; for the right hand led to heaven, the left to hell :
the first father's joy or sadness followed his children going to either side,

187

frc And what he said : I arrived at the heaven of
t( the universe; the gates yielded and I entered.
c * There I saw Ismail seated upon a throne, and a
4t crowd before him, with their eyes fixed upon his
' ' face. I made my salute, looked at him, and went
46 on." By " heaven," is understood the moon;
by " Ismail," the body of the moon; and by " the
" crowd," those whose conditions are under the
influence of the moon.

lt What Muhammed said: I entered the second
4 * heaven ; 1 there I saw an Angel excelling all others;
44 by his perfect beauty, he captivated the admira-
44 tion of the whole creation; one half of his body
4 4 was of ice and the other half of fire ; and yet there
*' was no counteraction nor enmity between them.
44 He saluted me, and said: ' Be welcome! All
44 < things and riches are thine/ " This means : it
was the heaven of Mercury; and the import of this
is, that every star has a determined influence, either
auspicious or inauspicious ; but Mercury acts in both
ways ; with an inauspicious connection inauspici-
ously, with an auspicious one auspiciously ; so that
one half is good and the other half bad." The
4 * welcome," and the gift of * c prosperity and riches,' '
mean: the power of the mind, and the multiplicity
of sciences which the star bestows."

1 In the second heaven, Muhammed saw Jesus and St, John at his
side. They retained his salute.

188

What the prophet said: " When I arrived into
" the third heaven, 1 I there saw an Angel, equal to
u whom in excellence and beauty I had seen none;
t4 placid and joyful, he was seated upon a throne;
" and a circle of angelic effulgency was diffused
44 about him." This was the heaven of Yenus, and
it is not necessary to comment" its beauty: it de-
notes gladness and festivity/'

Further: " When I entered the fourth heaven, 2
* ' I there saw an Angel surrounded with royal pomp ,
" seated upon a throne of light ; I made my obei-
" sance, to which he replied with entire haughti-
" ness, and, from pride and majesty, he bestowed
" neither word nor smile upon any body about
" him. When he answered my salute, he said:
" c Muhammed, I see all things and riches in
" * thee : glory and happiness to thee/ " That is,
" the fourth heaven," the residence of ** this angel,"
means the sun ; " he represents the conditions of
kings and great personages ; his " smile " is his influ-
ence upon good fortune;" and his "congratulation"
signifies his bounty for any body's prosperity,

* * In continuation : When I arrived at, and entered,
" the fifth heaven, 3 I happened to have a view of
" hell; and I saw a black region, and, on its bor

1 In the third heaven was Joseph, the ideal of beauty.

2 In the fourth heaven was Idns (Enoch).

3 In the fifth heaven resided Aaron.

189

" ders was seated a terrific and dark Angel, who
"was engaged in the business of punishing bad
' f men/' That is c ' the fifth heaven, with its angel,"
signifies " Mars ;" this planet denotes the state of
criminals and of blood-shedding men; and by "hell"
is understood any account and description of the
conditions which are appropriated to them.

" Moreover, When I entered the sixth heaven, 1 1
<4 saw an angel sitting upon a throne of light, occu-
t pied with counting his prayers by beads, and with
" uttering benedictions ; he had wings, and curls
tc set with jewels, pearls, and rubies. I bowed be-
" fore him, to which he returned blessings and
1 ' congratulations, and wishes of joy and prosperity,
4 ' and said : ' I give thee perpetual blessing . ' " That
is, " the sixth heaven," and " its angel," signifies
th Jupiter ;" and he relates to persons of rectitude,
abstinence and knowledge; his ." wings and curls"
signify his light and rays ; and his " blessings," his
auspicious influence ; for he bestows great felicity,
and all sorts of good prooceed from him."

' ' To proceed : When I attained the seventh hea-
" ven, 2 1 saw an angel seated upon a throne of red
" rubies ; not every one had access to him, but he
" who approached him found a kind treatment. I

1 In the sixth heaven appeared Moses.

2 In the seventh heaven, Muhammed saluted Abraham, as he saluted
the holy persons before-named, >\ho returned his salute

190

" made my reverence, and he returned an answer
<4 by blessing me." This is understood to be t the
6C seventh heaven, and " that angel" was Saturn.
He is averse to greatness ; but, whatever impression
he makes is perfect and entire ; and when he shows
favor it is greater than any other ; " every one can-
" not approach him :" that is, it happens seldom
that one falls in with a fortunate situation, but, if it
occurs, the happy result is such as to surpass all
others.

" In sequel : When I proceeded, 1 1 arrived at the
" heavenly mansion of the angel Jabriil; I saw a
" world Ml of light and splendor, and such was
" the effulgency that my eyes were dazzled. To
" the right or left, to whatever side I turned my
" looks, they met with angelic spirits, engaged in
" devotion. I said : c Jabriil, who are this class
" ' of beings?' He answered : * these know of no
tc ' other fixed business but praying, counting their
" ' beads, and visiting churches.' "

1 Jabriil then conducted Muhammeji to his own usual residence There
was the heavenly lotus tree (the tree of knowledge), around which a
divine light was diffused, and legions of angels were ranged. Beneath
the roots of the tree four sources were flowing: the first, Kawser, spiri-
tuous, like wine; the second, Selsebil, sweet, like clarified honey; the
third, the source of mildness, like the purest milk, and the fourth, the
source of mercy, like liquid crystal. Jabriil offered to the prophet three
cups, made of diamond, saphir, and ruby ; the first filled with honey, the
second with milk, the third with wine. The prophet tasted the first, drank
the second, and declined the third, m which he was approved by the angel.

191

" There is foi him, on the othei side, but one place kno\\n "

st By the eighth heaven' is understood the hea-
ven of the fixed stars, and there are the constella-
tions ; " the churches" mean the twelve signs of the
zodiac ; each community of them inhabits a deter-
mined side ; they do not combat each other,, as the
southern have no business with the northern, and
each has his fixed situation : some of the constella-
tions are in the zodiac, some to the southland others
to the north.

" Besides, the prophet said: I saw five man-
ci sions greater than any thing else, which spread
ci their shade over earth and heaven." He denotes
here the great heaven, which in its interior incloses
all the other heavens, and is the greatest of all
spaces.

Again, saying: " When I proceeded, I saw four
" seas, the waters of each being of a different color/'
he implies an account of essentiality, corporeity, ma-
teriality, and exteriority; inasmuch as this account
is generally perplexing, the idea of every one being
conceived in a different way, and each way interpre-
ted by every one.

And what the prophet said: u I saw angels much
" occupied with beads and prayers and all taken up
" with the precious sentence, There is no God but one
" God:' 7 this refers to pure spirits who are free from
matters of desire, and spotless ; and every man who

192

is remote from the world, wise, pure, and disengaged
from all ties, when he separates from the body, is
transported by God Almighty to the place and man-
sion of angels, and invested with everlasting beati-
tude. And the prophet assimilated him with angels,
because they are seats of purity and devotion ; that
is, remote from corruption and perdition, and from
the disturbance of sensuality^ intent upon avoiding
anger, and raised to the dignity of angels, perpetu-
ally engaged in the exploration of secret knowledge;
they likewise never look upon the nether world, be-
cause, the body being in conjunction with mean and
noble spirits, when a person fixes his sight upon low
stations, he becomes liable to feel the attaint of ne-
cessity, and to search for expediency among circum-
stances ; but when he effects his separation from
them, he attains the noble perfection of himself, he
becomes beatified, and immersed in delight and tran-
quillity, in such a manner that he never throws a
look upon the inferior world, because, this bodily
form being taken off from him, he then, by increase
of knowledge and comprehension, acquires dignity
and nobleness.

' Some are upon their knees, and some prostrate themselves."

Some are spiritual, some praisers of God, some
bent before him, some holy, and some purified
cherubim, conforming in customs, lords, and
princes.

193

u Still more: When I left this assembly, in my
" progess I arrived at a sea without borders ; how-
4t soever I strained my sight, I could not perceive
44 any boundary or shore; and at this sea I saw a
ci river, and an angel who was pouring the sea-
" water into the river, and from thence the water
" ran to every place." By " the sea/' he implies
the first intelligence; and by t4 the river," the first
spirit.

" Likewise : On the level of that sea, I perceived
" a great desert, greater than which 1 had never
4 ' seen any space, so that, in spite of my endeavor, I
44 found neither the beginning nor the end of it/
That is : I could not assign a limit to what was more
extensive than any thing else, as the comprehension
of a pure being belongs only to a perfect intelli-
gence.

" In continuance : On the level of the sea and the
" desert, I saw an angel surrounded with every
44 grandeur, splendor, and pomp, who guarded both
44 halves with facility; he called me to him, and
44 having joined him, I asked: c What is thy name?'
" He answered: ' Mikdtl: I am the greatest of all
" angels; whatever is difficult, ask it from me ; and
4 4 whatever thou desirest, demand it from me : I will
' satisfy all thy wishes. " This means : When I had
learned and considered all this, I understood the
first command. And the Angel represents what is
v. in. 13

t94

called " the Holy Ghost/ 7 and is said to be " a clic-
" rub." Whoever has access to him and receives
his assistance, evinces himself as wise, and partici-
pates in spiritual enjoyments.

"And also: When I had set myself free from
" saluting and questioning, I said: ' To arrive at
" 4 this place I experienced much trouble, and my
04 ' purpose in coming here was to attain know-
" l ledge, and the sight of God Almighty. Grant
4t ' me guidance, that I may satisfy my desire, and
" 4 then return home/" Thai is: by the pure
command, which is the holy word, he wished that,
as, after the study of nature, his inward sight was
opened to clear evidence, he might behold every
thing such as it was ; he wished that he might find
the absolute Being, the first cause, the self-existing
necessary Being, the supreme good; and that he
might know his unity so that in him multiplicity
cannot exist. ]

" What the prophet further said: That angel
tc took me by the hand, 2 and gave me a passage

1 I followed here the manuscript of Oude, which reads:

* From the mansion of Jabriil they proceeded to the heavenly taber-
nacle, called battu'l mdmur, the house of delightful culture/' and
formed upon the model of the ancient Kaba, which, during the deluge,
was carried by angels up to heaven and placed perpendicularly above
the modern sanctuary of Mecca. Seventy thousand angels were always

195

" through several thousand curtains into a world,
" where 1 saw nothing like what I had seen before,
4 ' until he brought me at last near the Lord of glory ;
" then the command came to rne: c Approach.' "'
This means : that the holy God is exempt from body,
substance, and wants, which are found in this world.

going out and in to worship In entering it, JabriSl gave the precedence
to the prophet, they amved at a golden veil, which the angel touched.
Here the Angels sang . " There is no God but God; and from behind the
veil the voice of God answered: " I am God, and no God exists but me "
The Angels added: " Muhammed is the prophet of God;" and God con-
firmed it by the words: '* My servants say the truth; 1 have sent Muham-
" med as my apostle." Now, Muhammed was raised up by angelic hands,
Jabriil remained behind. The prophet proceeded through seventy thou-
sand veils of light and darkness; each veil had the opacity of a thousand
years, and as many years separated the one from the other.

1 Now he had attained the green rail with green cushions, illumed
with a green light clearer than that of the sun. Muhammed was then
called to approach; he adored ; saw the Lord in the most beauteous form;
and received the revelation of the Koran ; before all three objects : 1. the
five daily prayers; 2 the final verses of the second Suia of the Koran ; 3
forgiveness of all sins, except that of idolatry, for his people. Here the
Almighty pronounced the words: " If it had not been for thee, the world
" would never have been created." (See vol. I. pp. 2-3 . A drop
flowed from the throne into the mouth of the prophet, who by it imbibed
all the knowledge of the anterior and posterior world All the Angels
Joined in a chorus, singing: " There is no God but one God, and Mu-
" hammed is his prophet, and the great concert terminated with the
words of the Koran, (chap II. v. 285): " The Apostle believeth in that
" which has been sent down unto him from his Lord, and the faithful
' also. Every one of them believeth in God and his Angels, and his
t( Scr iptures, and his Apostles. And they say: * We have heard and
" ' do obey, we implore thy mercy, Lord! for unto thee must we
" * return.' "

196

' ' Again : In that majesty I immersed my sense
" and motion, and found entire relaxation, content-
' ' inent and tranquillity." That is : I acquired such
a knowledge of his purity and of his beneficence,
as no living being can comprehend with his sense :
for he may have a clear perception of bodies, and
observe forms and images ; a substance endowed with
a memorial intelligence conceives ideas ; but the self-
existent, necessary Being is out of this category,
and cannot be understood by sense, imagination,
and memorial power ; in his majesty there is no
motion, because motion is a change of existence;
but the self-existent necessary Being is such as to be
the mover of ail things.

4 * The prophet said further: From fear of the
" Lord I forgot all things 1 had seen and known
" before, and I felt such an exaltation, inspira-
*' tion, and inward delight, that thou wouldst have
44 said : * I am intoxicated.' " That is: When my
intelligence found access to the knowledge of unity,
1 considered and investigated the parts, and from
this study the rational soul derived such enjoy-
ment, that all the powers of brutishness and nature
desisted from their action, and such an immersion
into unity manifested itself, that there remained no
consideration for the science relative to substance
and bodies.

" Again : I felt some impressions of God's prox-

197

" imky, so that I was seized with trembling ; and I
44 heard the command: ' Proceed,' and I proceeded.
li Then came the word : ' Fear not nor be disqui-
" ' eted/ " This means : When I was initiated in the
mystery of unity , I learned that the self-existent neces-
sary Being is without the divisions of this world ; I
trembled at the boldness of my journey, which had
attained such a height and distance ; and I appre-
hended failing in the proof of the unity ; but I heard
the words : " Come nearer ;" that is : dismiss thy
pondering, fear, and terror; for such is the proper
state of a believer in the unity of God, to be continu-
ally immersed in a spiritual ecstacy, so that he may
never fall back into the disgrace of brutishness, and
fear and hope belong to the state of brutishness.

" Moreover : I drew nearer, and upon me came
* ' the blessing of the Lord, such as I never had
" heard before ;" that is : I received the revelatiort,
the true words of the self-existent, necessary Being:
and his speech is not like that of creatures by letters
and sounds; no! his speech is evidence of knowledge,
by itself pure, communicating to the spirit what he
wills in a universal not a particular way.

* * Further : The command came : Say thy prayer : '
" I replied : I cannot; for thou art thyself such as
i4 thou hast said/ 7 This means : When he was able
to-perceive the excellence of the belief in the unity of
Godj he found the truth of the words of the self-

198

existing necessary Being ; he then felt such delight
as he had never experienced before ; he knew that
the self-existing necessary Being is worthy of all
prayers, but he felt at the same time that he could
not express his prayers with the tongue, because an
arrangement of letters is required for every thing
which falls from the tongue, but that which has no
connection except that of parts and the whole, is
not suitable to the true, necessary, and self-existing
Being, as he is not conceivable, either in parts or in
a whole. The prophet knew that his prayer could
not properly come from the tongue^ as it is no bu-
siness of the senses, but belongs properly to reason ;
but reason knew that an object highly deserving to
be praised requires a praiser worthy of it, one whose
knowledge may be adequate to the power of the
being to be praised, so that the speech may prove
suitable to the intention. The self-existent neces-
sary Being is an object of unity without an equal,
therefore the praise of any one will never -be worthy
of him. Besides, the prophet trusted also to God's
knowledge, for he is all knowledge, and the know-
ledge of him is the theme of prayers to his being
without letters and sound, and not by reason : he
himself is his own ornament ; he himself is his elo-
quence.

What the prophet further said: " The word
" came to me: ' What dost thou wish?' I said:

199

" ' Leave io ask whatever comes inlo my mind, so
" ' that my difficulties may be removed/ " This
means: that when God asked : " What dost thou
" wish," and I said " leave," it was knowledge 1
wished : because in this journey no other consider-
ation but that of pure reason had remained, which
was to approach the majesty of the self-existent
Being, and to understand his unity, which cannot
be obtained but by the gift of knowledge. The pro-
phet wished to be rendered worthy of him, and by
full knowledge to acquire the dignity required, that
he might then exhibit every difficulty that occurred,
and receive a categorical answer. For the guidance
of mankind, he composed the rules of the law in
words which came suitably to the ears of men, so
that at the same time the meaning of them was fixed,
and the veil of advice remained upon such things as
are not required to be known; what proved also^an
assistance to that knowledge, was the journey, con-
sequently to which the law was given, and the ac-
count of which was drawn up for publication in
such a manner, that the sense of it was obvious to
none but to the investigators of truth.

The prophet also said : c< When I had performed
" all this, and returned home, on account of the
" rapidity of my journey, I found the bed-clothes
tc still warm." That is : he performed a journey
of reflection, and travelled with his mind; the pur-

200

pose of this voyage was, by the consideration of the
created beings to attain at the self-existent necessary
Being; and when he had completed his mental task,
he returned back into himself; he needed not a day
for this business, but in less than in the twinkling of
an eye recovered his former state; whoever knows,
understands why he went ; and whoever knows not,
looks in vain for an expedient. It is not right to com-
municate these words to an ignorant or low person,
because the enlightened alone can enjoy this fruit/

So far the words of the example of the wise, the
Shaikh Abii-ali Sina.

In the book of the investigators of truth is to be
found, and from the tongue of the intelligent the
information has been received, that the moon is one
of the archangels, and cherubim of God. Being a
celestial body, he cannot be cleft, and the supremacy
of his power is not subject to absurd changes of
form, nor does he undergo them. Conseqently, the
fissure of the moon, which is mentioned in the Ko-
ran, is an evident allegory, the sense of which is
obvious ; because every star and sphere has an in-
ternal foundation, called " reason," so that of the
moon among all bears the title of " superior wis-
Ci dom." It is also established in the fundamentals
of the philosophers among this sect, that the .utmost
dignity and perfection of man, attributable to corpo-
reity, is that which unites and coalesces into one,

201

** with superior wisdom;" whoever attains that de-
gree, comprehends also any other to which he may
proceed, without any new study for it ; and no degree
of human perfection and no knowledge is excluded
from it. Hence, whenever this matter is under-
stood, the fissure of the moon typifies nothing else
but renunciation of the external for the internal,
which is the '* superior wisdom." As ihe lord pro-
phet (the peace of God be upon him ! ) is the master
of the lunar sphere, to cleave (or divide) the moon
means to attain to the innermost recess of the moon.
But this creed belongs to the learned of the Mashdyin,
" peripatetics ;" the Ishrdkian say, the true solution
of this enigma is contained in their fundamental
science; viz. : light is the type of the primiiive crea-
tion of the world, and they divided whatever is con-
tained in it, in two parts : the first is a light, in
which there is not the least mixture of obscurity and
darkness, proper to corporeal matter ; the second
sort of light can be mixed with some material dark-
ness. The first sort of light, pure in a general and
reatl acceptation, originates from primitive matter,
and, according to their showing, emerged absolutely
free from parts; but the second sort of light is mixed
with obscurity, and throws rays on all sides ; its
knowledge can be comprehended by generalities
and particularities, whence by its power it passes into
action. In their metaphysics it is also settled, that

202

the furthermost stretch and connection of beings, and
the utmost term of completion, consist in this, that
knowledge, may become manifest in the whole by
generalities and particularities, so that nothing may
remain deficient In any degree of power. When-
ever this matter is settled, then the moon in their
language signifies a mixed light, with this property,
that it brings into action all the knowledge hidden in
its efficacy, and by means of the reflection of rays
elicits perfection.

Whoever is well founded in these notions acquires
the faculty that all sciences, whatsoever they may be,
come forth from him. It is then the moon which
signifies mixed light, and the rending asunder of it
means the arising of sciences and excellence, and
their manifestation ; that is, bringing forth all that is
within, by means of breaking its exterior form.

As to fixing the seal of the prophetic office, and
to completing the apostleship, so that after the pro-
phet of Arabia no other may appear, they said what
follows : The seal of the prophetic office means the
acquisition of dkl fad, " superior wisdom;" that
is : whoever obtains it, and makes the proper use of
it, possesses the seal of the prophetic office : because
the first prophetic dignity is his intelligence, which
is the real (intrinsic] Adam, a man." The prophetic
seal is the tenth rank of intelligences, 1 and that

1 Sec page U3 of this volume.

205

which is reared up by superior wisdom renders the
prophet's knowledge vain, and lakes his color: that
is to say, if one hundred thousand prophets like him-
self realise in themselves the person of superior
wisdom, they are possessors of the seal, the last
prophets, because it is superior wisdom, which is
the seal, and they know themselves to be mahu,
" effaced/' and superior wisdom to be existing."

But the Ashrakian say, that the first prophet is
the majesty of the cherubic light, that is the first intel-
ligence, and the possessor of the prophetic seal is the
Lord God of the human race, that is, the intelli-
gence which legislates the human race. Further,
whoever found grace with the Lord of mankind,
and became his near attendant, his Kdim makdm,
" vice-regent," although the authority of such a
person be vain by itself as delegate, yet he, too, is
called the possessor of the prophetic seal (the last pro-
phet) : so, as Azizi said :

" From head to foot, my person became my friend: hence, if I wish
" To see the friend, I place the mirror before me."

Kasam Khan said :

** I will in such a manner make myself one with thee, that if one day
" Thou seekest thyself, thou mayest find me within thy tunic."

As to the interpretation of what they say, that the
prophet had no shade this refers to an able son :
as after Muhammed (the peace of the Highest be
tipon him!) the prophetic mission did not devolve

204

upon a son of his : hence the saying that he had no
shade. It is also said, that never a fly sat upon the
body of the prophet ; which means that he never
was tainted by avarice.

SECTION III. OF THE SUCCESSORS OF THESE PHILOSO-
PHERS, AND THE CHIEF FOLLOWERS OF THIS CREED.

Of this class, several learned men were personally
known to the author of this book, but he will give
an account of those only who were well founded
and skilled in this creed. First, the doctor In theo-
logy, Hirbed, whom the author visited in Lahore.
This doctor was a descendant from the family of
Zardiisht, the prophet of God; he was conversant
with Persian, showed great proficiency in Arabic,
and in other sciences, in Shiraz, and held intercourse
with learned Frangis. At last he came to India ;
always devoted to austerity, he led a pure and holy
life. He composed hymns in Persian, Hindi, and
Arabic, to the majesty of the light of lights, the pow-
erful luminaries, and the stars. He acknowledged
as a Kiblah the splendor-shedding bodies, and made
his own, in spirit and word, the work of the lord
Shaikh Maktul. Secondly, the doctor Manir was
met by the writer of this work, in the year of the
Hejira 1053 (A. D, 1645-4), in Kabul; he was one

205

of the Safds of Shiraz, but entered the elemental
world in Irak Ajem ; he was skilful in sciences, and
lived as a chaste independent and pious man ; like
ilirbed, he abstained from all sorts of animal food,
and sang die hymns which go under the name of
Shaikh Maktul, in praise of the luminaries, and
venerated the stars ; and both these persons paid
homage with the sun, refulgent with light. The third
was Hakim dostur, who in 1054 of the Hejira (A. D.
1644-5) came to Lahore. He drew his origin from
Ispahan, but was born in Balkh; he studied in the
service of the followers of Mulla Mirza Khan ; then,
having gone to Iran, he held intercourse with Mir
Muhammed Baker daniad, with Shaikh Bahav-ed-
din Muhammed, with Mir Abiil Kasem Kandersaki,
and with other learned men and Ulama of Shiraz,
not without great profit to himself; he attached
himself to the rule of the Mashdyin, " peripatetics/'
and repeated the prayers which were written by the
chief of this persuasion in praise of the self-existent
Being, the intelligences, and spirits, and stars ; and
he was very zealously addicted to the worship of the
heavenly bodies ; although without pious austerity,
yet he abstained from wickedness, and kept the way
of moderation ; according to the custom of mer-
chants, he travelled a great deal. A fourth was
Kdmrdnj of Shiraz. He also followed the creed of
the Mashayiu ; he possessed the natural and revealed

206

sciences ; and after having acquired excellence, he
happened to find himself at the mountain which is
near the sea-ports of the Frangis ; he took a great
liking to their society, and was attracted by the reli-
gion of the Nasareans : on that account he studied
the Gospel, and derived great profit from their doc-
trines. Afterwards he went to India, where he con-
tracted friendship with some Rajas ; he became fond
of their religion; read, with learned Brahmans, the
sastras of the Hindus, that is, their scientific books,
and in these also he became a master of art among
die learned of India. Although ostensibly he adopted
the said faith, yet he remained attached to the reli-
gion of the ancient philosophers. lie showed great
aversion to lying, thieving, debauchery, and unna-
tural love ; and, according to the custom of the wise,
forbore from killing animals ; but now and then he
indulged in a draught of wine, saying that it is very
salutary. He was wont to sing hymns, which are
in use among the Yunian philosophers, and are now
translated, in praise of God, the high intelligences
and spirits, and the stars. He accepted no gift from
any body ; he was employed in trade, but he con-
tented himself with a competent capital. Mir Abii
'1 Kasem Kandarsaki called him " a brother dear as
" life/' nay, wrote to him as to an " elder brother."
In the year of the Hejira 1050 (A. D. 1640-1) he
retired to solitude at the Serai Fargh, " the fortu-

207

ki nate palace," near the heaven-built town ofAkbar-
abad. It Is said that, in his malady, he bestowed all
he possessed in gift upon the Durvishes, and the
ready money upon the Brahmans of Yichnu, and
the like, who never hurt a living being. He deli-
vered garments into the care of one named Muham-
med, that this man might distribute them among
the poor upon the road of Kachmir and Kabul,
where the cold is severe, which Muhammed did ; he
there collected forage and provisions, which were
given to cows, asses, to travellers, and the indigent,
because they carry loads ; he also confided scientific
books to one called Hiishiar, that he might give
them to doctors devoted to science, and Hiishiar so
disposed in Agra of the works which he had received ,
and sent them to his friends. During his mortal
malady he was constantly engaged in reading the
Alhiydt shafd, " the hymns of recovery, "and in trans-
lating theAMijia, 1 " Theologia," and hesang cheer-
fully : ' 4 I believe in the divinity of the most high
" Creator, the prophecy of intelligence, the Imamet
4 4 of the spirit, the heaven as a Kiblah, and the libera-
44 tion of philosophy, and I detest the free-thinkers,

i L=s. J *M,t is supposed to be one of Aristotle's works, which is said

to have been translated by Abenama, a Saracen, from Greek into Arabic.
This translation was found in the library of Damascus, by Franciscus
Roseus, and at his request rendered into Latin, by Moses Koras, ft Jew,
but in a very barbarous style. This interpretation has perhaps never
been published. Soon after, or about the same time, Petrut Nicolaus ex

" and other religions." At the moment of death,
he pronounced the names of the self-existent Being,
of the intelligence and spirit, and of the stars, and
the by-standers also joined him in chorus, until he
had left the mortal garment. His life exceeded one
hundred years, and he had preserved his strength
and his faculties entire. He gave these directions to
Hiishi'ar j that alter death to be burnt would be pre-
ferable, but, if the people prevented it, Hiishiar
should bury him with his feet to the West, as all
distinguished personages, such as Aristotle and his
followers,* repose in the same way, Hiishiar exe-
cuted his will, and also, according to his direction,
burnt at the head of his tomb, during a whole week,
every day and every night, a lamp to the honor of
the star which at that time ruled over him, and dis-
tributed the food and raiment which are appropri-

Castellanm Faventinus, a medical man and philosopher, translated the
same work from Arabic into Latin; this new veision was published with
a dedication to Leo X., in 1718, by the above-said Franciscus Roseus.
As it did not appear a sufficiently neat composition, Jacobus Carpentanus
Claromontanus Bellovacus, a Parisian philosopher, who was ignorant of
Arabic, published, in 1571, an emendated edition, or rather a meta-
phrase of this work, under the title: Anstotehs hbn XIV de secretion
parte divines sapientice secundum Mgyptws. Some preferred to the
latter the more exact although less elegant version of Petrus Nicolaus,
new editions of which appeared m 1591 and 1593 (see upon this subject
the Btbhotheca Grccca of Fdbncws, edit, of Harles, vol. Ill pp. 278-
279, and the preface of the edition of Carpentaria). The Arabic text of
the work is in the Royal library of Pans, under the title

209

ated to that star among the Brahmans and necessi-
tous, who all prayed to render the star propitious,
in order that the soul of Hakim Kamran might be
united with the pure spirits. Hiishiar went after-
wards to Agra, and I saw a book in the hand-writ-
ing of Hiishiar, in which was stated, that he, after
Kamran's death, saw him in a dream clothed in
a fine garment, and sitting by the side of the lord
Mashlerij " Jupiter." Hiishiar asked him : " How
ci earnest thou to this place?" He answered: u The
" pure spirits, when they saw me free from worldly
fct desires, drew me to them, and by the aid of their
" intercession, I was made one of the angels.' 7

The creed of the Hakims Hirbed and Manir, with
regard to the reality of inspired persons, was, that
these celebrated men were perfect sages, and mas-
ters of an excellent condition ; by their words and
deeds they reached the state of perfection, on which
account they treated mysterious questions relative
to theoretical and practical wisdom with the confi-
dence of pure truth; but for the sake of the vulgar,
they used a typical and allegorical language, leaving
it to other sages, the able chiefs and saints of their
persuasion, to explain the law and the religion: this
is the creed of philosophers.

The prophets of Persia, such as Abad, Zardusht,
and the like, are called Vakhshur ; the apostles of the
Yondn and of Rome are Aghdsd daimun (Agatho de-

14

210

mon); 1 Hermes, and the like, whom they namc-
" possessors of fame ;" the prophets of the Hindus,
such as Rama, Krishna, and the like, are entitledlva
tars, and the prophets of the Turks, such as Aghrires
and4#/mrfe/ian,are distinguished bythe name ofAbul-
mas. The prophets of Islam, from Adam, the father
of mankind, to Muhammed, are called resul In
like manner the prophets of other nations were
distinguished by titles such as buzerg, " great, "or
sddik, " pure." They said : it is right that no other
prophet should come after the one : which is signi-
fied by the seal of the prophetic mission, that is, " the
" utmost dignity of mankind." Ibn Makand Sd-
heb-i-Mah Kashgher,* also was reckoned among the
prophets, and such was the controversy which arose
about the head-khalafet, the distinction, prece-
dence, and rejection of the lords among each other,
that it has not yet been brought to a satisfactory
conclusion. They said that there were four cele-
brated doctors ; if a controversy arose, this is no-
thing less than what is proper to mankind, as no
man can be free from the attributes of his race ; on
that account they abstained from reviling the case
of Moaviah, but they said that he was a great per-
sonage. But the creed of the Hakim Dostur was,
that the prophets of the Persians, Hindus, Yonans,

1 See pp. 105-106.

2 See pp. 3 and 80

211

Turks, and Arabs, and such people, were promoting
the establishment of a sort of knowledge and of
some sorts of sciences; the philosophers, exerting
themselves by the aid of the reasoning faculty, be-
come founders of theoretical schools, and also lend
their assistance with respect to theology. The scope
of an Hakim is, that his reason may direct its labo-
rious efforts towards all quarters, and, inasmuch as
may be in its power, to bear a resemblance to the
Lord God, the self-existent Being. The utmost
endeavor of the prophets is, that the order of the
world may be evident to them, so that they may,
according to this order, arrange the affairs of so-
ciety. But this order of affairs cannot be exempt
from the excitement of desire, terror, and dubi-
ousness ; although, certainly, whatever the mas-
ters of law and religion have combined into a sys-
tem, may be explained by what certain eminent
philosophers have exhibited. Among other things
it is said, that the world is very ancient, and its
eternity without beginning and end indubitable.
In the sequel, a learned Hakim raises pretensions to
inspiration, excites others to the adoption of a creed
which he endeavors to render firm. But Hakim
Kamzan assented to no inspiration, he said: In
ancient times, sages established customs and regula-
tions for the order of the world, and, as long as the
inhabitants conformed to them, there was not the

212

least oppression in their doings; until finally the)
collected into a nation, worshipping pleasure and
bent upon worldliness ; then arose concealment of
truth from the people, union by the strength of
parentage, combination by fraud, and enveigling by
means of enchantment and the like, by which idiots
were drawn into a net. When those who implored
protection were seized by the oppressors, helpless,
the prudent among them bent down their heads ;
because when the strong become masters of the day,
men submit to them on account of their being supe-
rior to the weak people, who have timid souls; thus
they accepted their dominion by force, and conten-
tion ensued in the world. Moises was held to be
an enchanter, and called rali Moises ; rabi being the
name given by the Jews to the learned ; Jesus was
accounted a physician, and entitled Hakim Jesus,
son of Joseph, the carpenter; Muhammed bore the
name of " the prophet of God, the king of the Ara-
" bian poets ;" 1 Krishna went under the name of

This is not quite correct: Muhammed

introduces m his Koran (ch XXXVI. v 69) the Lord saying: " We ha\e
" not taught Muhammed the art of poetry, nor is it expedient for him
" to be a poet. This hook is no other than an admonition from God,
" and a perspicuous Koran." The Arabian prophet, according to the
best accounts, liked to hear poetry read, but never perused any himself,
although he frequently spoke in the metre called j^. njes. The only

Arabic yerse which he often repeated was the celebrated one from the
poem of Lebid :

213

Avatar chahnal, ' that is, the "incarnation of the lewd,
" and devoted to women." And thus the celebrated
prophets were distinguished. The intelligent know
well that the most high Creator does not articulate
words, but the sacred dictates which the vulgar re-
ceive are to be thus considered that, if those books
which they call " heavenly," such as the Koran,
were really the words of God, which were delivered
in time past to our ancestors, such as to Adam and
Noah, it would be right that they should be also com-
municated in time to come to future generations,
expressing, viz. : that in such a time and year, and
month and week, on such a day, at such an hour, a
person shall appear, in such a town and such a
street, tribe sprung from such a one, with such a
name, and such an aspect. But such an account is
not to be found in the Koran ; it is only by the inter-
pretation of his followers that many traditions about
Muharnmed are current. The same may be said of

Is not every thing, except God vain ?

Aisha, his favorite consort, declares in the traditions, that he hated
verses, and never recited one correctly. One day he attempted to quote
the known verse of an Arabian poet :

The days bring to thee news that thou dost not know ,
And some man bnngs news the spint of which he doth not understand.

But he altered somewhat the order of the last words. ' * Prophet of God I"
said Abu bekr, u the verse runs not so." Muhammed answered: " 1
*' am no poet." (Gemaldesaal Mosl. Herrscher, /< Sand, Seite 230 )
chhalana, " tricking, deceiving "

214

other prophets. For if it were slated in the book of
Jesus, that at the determined time, as we have just
shown, there shall appear a person whose name in
Arabia shall be Muhammed, sprung from the father
Abd 'ulla and the mother Amina, from the children
Hashem and Koresh, inhabitants of Mecca; and he
shall be the last prophet of the age ; all the Chris-
tians should acknowledge and believe in him. And
in the same manner there should have been, in the
book of Moses, a prediction of Jesus, and a further
account of events which took place at his appearance.
But this is not the case, except that the followers of
Jesus seize, in figurative language, on whatever may
suit their persuasion. Thus it happened that one
of the Afghans applied the words: " Say, there is
" but one God/ 7 to himself.

He further said: " If I agree to their prophetic
mission, whence was it shown that this people were
prophets? for, if pursuant to their claim to prophe-
tic office and legislation, we adopt what at every
time is held out as legal, why are their fundamental
articles of faith in contradiction to each other with
respect to the knowledge of the self-existent Being?
Thus, in the Pentateuch of the Jews, God has a
body, and corporeity; and the Christians believe
Jesus a son of God, and the Muhammedans accord-
ing to the Koran believe God to be without an equal,
and not to be described. If God be similar to what

215

he is represented in all these books, he is not unlike
ii man who does not know himself, and at each time
gives an account of himself, which he varies, and of
which he repents. If they say, the real sense is the
same, the figurative expression and interpretation
only change, it is not less evident, that the books
and the prophets have been sent for the purpose of
leading men to God, and not to instigate them to
rebel; or, after having proclaimed his word, to com-
bat each other by controversy. He commands the
sacrifice of their blood and property for the common
good. And if they say, the servants cannot disagree
about the knowledge of God, why then is it written
in the books that they must know him in that, and
in no other way? and why do we perceive such a
contradiction in the deeds, and frequently in the
words, of the celebrated prophets? The intelligent
man can no longer recognise them by their noble
actions.

Somebody said to the Hakim Kamran: " Give me
" in substance the belief of the Sonnites and the
4< Shiahs." He replied : " The creed of the Son-
4 nites is, after the praise of God the most high, and
" the attributes of the prophet, blessing and mercy
" of God upon all transgressors and sinners, men,
" and women; and the creed of the Shiahs is after
" the praise of God, and the attributes of the pro-
" phet, the curse of God upon all believers, men

216

" and women ; and Museimans, men and women."
And he had much to say about this subject.

Abu 'I Hassan Taherani, surnamed Isfahan, son of
Ghdib bdig, surnamed latimad eddoukh, became a
follower of Kamran, by the persuasion of the friends
of the latter, as the author of this book perceived in
a letter, written by Rafid 'I Kader to Hakim Kamran,
in which the former declared himself the disciple of
Kamran, whom he called his master, and addressed
in a suitable style. Thus was also Zeman Baig born
in Arghiin, his father, a native of Kabul, was sur-
named Mababet Khan, who, by his gravity, bravery,
and wisdom, acquired a high rank among the Omras
of the Indian Sultans. He was in a friendly con-
nection with Kamran, and in the letters which the
mighty khan wrote to Hakim Kamran, he showed
him great respect, and professed himself his dis-
ciple. It is said that, at a banquet, Mahabet Khan
declared the saying ,of the prophetic asylum

" I was a prophet, and Adam in water and mud"

to be without sense. Further, whoever acknow-
ledges the prophetic mission of Muhammed accounts
it to begin after the prophet's fortieth year, and who-
ever does not acknowledge it, is free in this opinion.
Muhammed said : " / was a prophet, and Adam in water
" and mud." Kamran went seldom into the houses
of this sect, and kept himself at a distance from
them. When, yielding to a thousand entreaties, he

217

visited them, lie changed his usual dress, sat only
a moment with them, and rose immediately; he
never ate with them,, nor accepted he any thing
from one of this sect. When asked upon his keep-
ing himself at a distance from them, he said : " The
" spirit of brutishness and savagery holds its mas-
" tership over you, and I cannot always associate
66 with brutes and beasts of prey." He remained
even a long time without seeing them. But Abd ul
rasul frequented him, and, conformably to Kamran's
advice, detached himself from worldly desires, and
crushed anger and lust in his mind. On lhat account
Hakim Kamran, having conceived friendship for him,
taught him first the rules of grammar and etymo-
logy, then the Sh&rah Shamsiyah," Commentary upon
4 ; Shamsiyah ;" i besides the physiological part of the
Commentary upon Heddyah al hikmet, " the Guide to
" Science/' composed by Hossam, son of Mdyin ed-
dm Maibedi ; 2 further, matters relating to the Com-

1 Shamsiyah, " the sun's course, ecliptic," is the title of a treatise
composed upon logic by Nagmedd^n Ah Sen Omar al Kazwm, who was
a disciple of Nusir-eddin al-Tiisi The said work is dedicated to Kho-
giah Shams-eddin Muhammed, perhaps one of the twelve princes called
Sarbedanan, who reigned thirty-five years in the town of Sebzvar, in-
Khorassan, and in other places which they had conquered. (Herbelot )

2 Mazbed is a town of Persia, the native place of ~Kdz% Itftir Hossam
Ibn Mdyin eddin, above-mentioned. He is one of the commentators of
the work above quoted, which is divided into three parts, comprising
logic, physiology, and theology, and was composed by the Shaikh Asir

218

menlary uiponHikmet al din, " the Science of whal is
" essential," 1 and afterwards the Commentary upon
Tajerid,* " Divestment of what is accessory," with
marginal notes ; also the physiological part of the
Commentary upon Ishdret^ '" Indications (aliegori-
" cal, symbolical, and others);" and, finally, the
Ilahyat shafa, " the Hymns of Recovery." Thus
also, Mulla Yaciib read with him the Taherir,
" Writings" of Euclid, and a Commentary upon
Tazkerah, 4 " Commemoration;" and was attached
to him. Likewise Mir Sherif, having read the Mu-
tavel 5 " Development/' and the Taf&r, 4t Explana-
" tion," of Baizavi, 6 resolved to follow his school;

eddin Mifazzel, son of Omar al Abhen. The author died in the yeai of
the Hejira 660 (A. D. 1261).

1 The author of Hikmet al din was Najem edd^n Abu 'I Hassan Ah,
son of Muhammed, siirnamed Dabiran al Katebi al ILazmm He was a
disciple of the celebrated Nasir-eddm Tusi, and died in the year of the
Hejira 675 (A. D. 1276).

2 We find, m the Bibliographical Dictionary of JETojt Khalfa, several
titles of books beginning by the word Tajerid.

3 There exists a work entitled Isha'ret, composed by Asir-eddin Mi-
fazzel, before-mentioned.

4 The Tazkerah was written by Nasir-eddin Tusi.

5 The Mutavel denotes a Commentary, the author of which is Sdadr-
eddin Taftaram (or " Tagtarani," according to Herbelot), upon the
work Meftah al alum, ** the Key of Sciences," and which is entitled
Talkhts al Meftah, " Explanation of the Key."

6 Baizavi is the surname of Nastr eddin Abu Said Abdalla Sen Omar,
a native of the town Baizah, m the province of Fars, about forty-five
miles distant from Shiraz. He was a JffaV, " judge," of the last-named
town, from which he passed to Tauns, where he died m the year of the

219

and,what is more astonishing, Mulla Usain read with
him the illustrations and demonstrations which are
in the fundamentals of Hanifa's religious law, and
adopted his faith. But Mulla Sultan, although he
acknowledged his high rank of excellence, never
adhered to him. And Hakim Kamran said : " What
" is not understood, becomes a subject of dispute/'
Thus Mulla Sultan followed with intense applica-
tion the study of the soul, and the chain of demon-
strations relative to it, but he said: u I am notable
ct to understand its nature, and am, in that respect,
" like a parrot." Among the able disciples of Ha-
kim Kamran was Hakim Mershed, who passed
through all degrees of science before him, and pos-
sessed his entire confidence. ' Hakim Kamran was
wont at that time, when he gave lessons of science,
to wash his head, hands, and feet, to burn sweet
perfumes, and to turn his face towards the sun, in
which his disciples imitated him. He did not confer
his instruction upon every body, but refused it to
the depraved, the oppressors, and the voluptuous;
nor did he hold intercourse with low persons.

Hejira 685 or 692 (A. D. 1286 or 1292). He composed a literal Commen-
tary in two volumes upon the Koran.

1 Here a play upon a name is omitted: ,},. sr 5 ^.^ ,\^^ ,\ *s*

J C'-' 0-"

s, is Kamran, * fortunate."

220

CHAPTER XIL

OF THE RELIGION OF THE SUFIAHS, i CONTAINED IN

THREE SECTIONS.

SECTION I. Some of their tenets

SECTION II. The open interpretation of their open confessions

SECTION III -Some individuals among them

SECTION I. OF SOME OF THEIR TENETS.

These sectaries, like other philosophers, always
were, and are, scattered among all nations of the

1 Several derivations are given to the word Sufi , it may be here suf-
ficient to adduce the three most specious of them. Some derive the
name from the verh liLo, Safd, " he was sincere, pure;" this deriva-
tion is claimed by these sectaries themselves, who frequently call them-
selves LyLot, Asfid, " pure," as maybe seen in Jami's work, Tohfat

ol ebrar, " a present offered to the pious:" and in Gulshenraz (work
quoted). To this etymology is objected, that a substantive derived from
the said verb should be gg^o , and not ^9^> . Others deduce it with

grammatical strictness from v ^0 suf, " wool," and sufi signifies

therefore " wool-dressed " But the fact is, that not all wool-dressed per-
sons are Sufis, and not all Sufis are wool-dressed : a Sufi may wear a Dur-
vish's patched coat, or satin, as it was said by a true Sufi. If, of the two
etymologies quoted, the first does not answer the grammatical construc-
tion, the second does not render the meaning to be expressed. The latter
appears to me so much more important, that I am disposed to pass over
an anomalous construction, which in other names is not without nu-
merous examples Nor would I be averse to derive the word, with other
etymologists, from the Greek ao<po?, " wise, 3 ' or cra^?, "pure;" not-
withstanding the general use of representing in words of Greek deriva-
tion the sigma, 2; by a sin, ^ } and not by a sad, ^ y if I did not

221

\vorld, and are called in Persian vhhahderun, ' ' inler-
" nally pure," or rouchen-dil, " enlightened minds/'
or YMncMn, " seers of unity ;" in the Hindu lan-
guage, Rakhisher (Rakshasas) and Tapisher (Tapasis\
Gyanisher and Gydm ( Jnanis), or Atma-yndnis. The
lord Maulavi Jdm%, in his work entitled Resdlah-i-
vajudiah, " treatise upon existence," 1 states^ that
the universal Being is distinct from any intellectual
and exterior existence, inasmuch as every individual
from among the intellectual and exterior beings
belongs to some class of beings ; but the universal
Being is not subordinate to the condition of any
thing ; he is absolute and sovereign, and not general ,
not partial, not special, not common, and not one
by (the number of) unity; for, it is neither a sub-
stance nor an accident, but by itself one, and not a
multiple. These things however are necessary in

perceive a great difference between the doctrine of a Sofos and that of a
Sufi, which latter bears most especially an Asiatic character, and the
origin of which remounts to the kings Mahabad and Jemshid (Dasa'tir,
Eng. Transl., pp. 23, 97). Our author says : " Siifism is to be found
" among all nations." The first Muhammedan Siifi is said to have been
Abu Hashem, a native of Kufa, who died in the year of the Hejira 150
(A. D. 767). (See Notices et Extraits des manuscnts de la bibhothtque
du Roi et d'autres bibhotheques, vol. X. p. 290.) The origin of such a
character among Muselmans, if not in name, yet in fact, may be traced
further back to the first century of the Hejira (See note 2, p. 18.)

1 The more correct title of this work is Resalah fil vujud (See
Geshtchte der Schonen Redelunste Persiens von Joseph von Hammer,
S. 314j

the sovereign being, according lo their degrees and
stations, 1 but the real Being, under the condition of
no substance whatever, is distinguished by the name
martibah- ahadiyat, 2 " degree of unity," and all
names and attributes are (as it were) consumed by
this degree, which the Yogis express by the title
hakiket al hakayek,* a reality of realities. 1 ' But the
real Being, under the condition of all things which
are necessarily himself, according to generalities and
specialities, is called by names and attributes of the
divine degree, and this degree is entitled Vahedet-i-
inokam,* " solitariness of station, "and jamah? " uni-
" on." The real Being, under no condition of " a
6 ' thing" (shi) , 6 and under no condition of " nothing"
(ids/ii), 7 is called hwiyat,* "essence, absolute being,
' * objectivity," and it is manifesting itself 9 in all exist-

4 oU ! A.

2 <U>wa

3 ,&, vfiar'l vJ

4 ,U

r-
<s~^-

a substantive formed from ^ y hu, '* he is" (Yahu

Yehovah)

9 I interpret in this place the word san f in the sense which is given to
it by the commentator of the Gulshen Raz, in a passage of that work
which will he quoted hereafter

225

ences, and under the condition of u a thing and no-
" thing/' is the form of the universe. l

Some of the sagacious have stated that, in the
same manner as the sun is radiant, so the real Being
manifests himself at once ; for in opposition to it is
ddem, " non-entity/ 7 and from the superabundance
of manifestation the tongue and language (in the
effort) to express and to describe, to define and to
explain, become dumb. The final explanation of
the two words, wjud, " existence," and ddem, " non-
" entity" may be, that existence is the negation of
non-entity, and non-entity the negation of existence;
and the Lord of unity is the grand origin of the mul-
tiplicity of names and attributes. The first at tri-
bute, which emerged into manifestation by this Lord
from within, was intelligence ; and in this degree all
adydn safatah, " fixed realities, 2 were under intellec-

1 The above shi and lashi is evidently the sad asat, " being, not
" being," of the Hindus, an attribute of the divinity, combined with its
unity. "For," says the author of Gulshen Raz (see German Trans!.,
p. 17), " unity exists in non-existence as well as in existence; multipli-
" city proceeds but from relation; difference and variety of things pro-
" ceed from the change of the possible* as the existence of both is but
" one, they furnish the proof that God is but one."

2 <U>liJ! .)^i. Adyan signifies " substances:" these are things
which maintain themselves by themselves; or realities, which occupy a
space by themselves, without their existence in space depending upon the
concomitant existence of another thing. This is the contrary of acci-
dents, the existence of which depends upon the concomitant existence of
the substance which serves to support them, or which is the place by
which they are supported. AAya'n sabitah, that is, " fixed substances,"

224

tual forms, and in this degree the Sufis give to the
true highest and absolute Being the name of " All-
" Wise/' The impulsion of divine wisdom to pro-
cure to his fixed ideals the superiority over non-
entity is by them entitled wddet, { ' ' providence, "and
the name of muricf, " he who wills," attached to
God. As often as the divine knowledge becomes
joined to accomplishment and victory, as having

are realities of things inclosed in the science of God, that is to say, the
figures of realities of divine names in the scientific presence. They are
posterior to God only as to essence, and not as to time; for they are eter-
nal, as much on the side of the past as on the side of the future. When it
is said, that God produces them by emanation, the posteriority which is
thereby expressed, refers but to essence, and is not true in any other
sense. (See Jor jam's Definitions in Ext. et Not. des MSS., vol. X. p.
65.) -We may, m a language more familiar to us perhaps, express them
by " eternal ideals," or " prototypes of realities." Silvestre de Sacy adds
to Jorjam's explanation, that the question is here about divine names,
that is, attributes of God as emanating from his essence, and residing in
him, but not yet produced externally by any action. The scientific pre-
sence mentioned in this explanation appears, to him, to signify the divine
majesty, inasmuch as manifesting its presence to beings -which have no
other existence but in the science of God.

1 CjOU, "inclination, design, will," According to Jorjdm's
Definitions (see Eat et Not. des MSS , vol. X. p. 37), iradet is a qua-
lity which produces in a living being a state, the effect of which is that
he acts in one manner rather than in another In its exact sense, it is d
faculty wbich has no other object in view but that which does not exist,
for " the will" is an attribute, the special object of which is to give exist-
ence to any thing, and to produce it conformably with the words of the
Koran : " When he wills a thing he says to it "$e" and it is " Iradet
is also interpreted an inclination to any thing which follows the opinion
of utility, and in this sense I have translated it above " providence."

given to the existence of knowledge the superiority
over contingencies, in this degree they call this vic-
tory kadaret, " might;" and in this degree origi-
nated the name of Kadir, tc Almighty." With re-
spect to the seeing of God, as the meaning of know-
ledge is his presence in face of the existing external
figures of contingencies, in this degree, the name
of Bdsir, " the All-Seeing," offered itself. Like-
wise, the meditation upon God, by those who, pray-
ing, recite his emblematic attributes, is the time of
propitiating; and the granting of these prayers is
called samld, " hearing:" whence proceeded the
name samia, " hearer," Further, the will of God,
the Highest, becoming concentrated in this state,
having joined the letter kaf (k) to the letter nun (n),
so as to manifest by action kun faikun, { " Be, and it
" is:" this state they called kaldm, " the word,"
and the name Qfmutkalem, " speaker," was produced
on this account.

The lord Shaikh Muhammed Shosteri, 2 in his
treatise Hak al yakin^ " the truth of conviction," has

2 I think it ought to he Shabisten instead of Shosten, as I find in
Baron von Hammer's Gulshen-raz (pp. 27-32) a treatise entitled Hak ol
yakin, as ahove, attributed to the before quoted Mahmud Shebisten (vol.
I. p. 82), of whom more heieafter. The whole title of the above-men-
tioned work is Hak ol yukin fi mdanfet-i-rebbil dalemtn, k< the truth of
" conviction in the knowledge of the Lord of the world."

3 The word yakm signifies " an intuitive certainty," produced by
energy of faith, and not by arguments and proofs

\. in 15

staled, that llie action of choice prevails with the
self-existent Being over necessity, because choice is
presupposed in the nature of might, and provident
choice, as well as vicissitudes and excitement, are
parts suitable to a purpose, and providence came to
succour every one of the necessitous crowd, by pro-
creating remedies against the evils without number
which are determined by necessity, in opposition to
that necessity whence pure procreation proceeds.
When the free agent is straightened in his choice,
then choice assumes the nature of necessity. Thus/lw
Mdyin eddmMaibedi { relates, in his Favdtah, " Prole-
gomena/' that the Sufis say : The wished for, but ne-
ver-found Being proceeds from the field of pure non-
entity, and the bare negation puts no foot into the
station of evidence and habitation of bodily existence,
in the same manner as the wished-for but never-found
Being never assumes the color of bodily existence ;
certainly, the real Being also does not take the color
of non-entity. The substance of any thing cannot
be caused to vanish into non-existence ; thus, if thou
consumest a stick in the fire, its substance is not
annihilated although its form changes, and becomes
manifest in the form of ashes. The self-existent
Being is an essence which is stable in all conditions,
and in the accidents of existence, in the forms and

1 See page 217, note 2.

227

states which undergo changes, the divine procrea-
tion of the world is the manifested light of his abso-
lute reality, under the shape of divers combinations
which thou beholdest

" Certainly God made the heaven and earth to shine "

In the book of the sagacious is found that the
beautiful of this world enjoys the advantage of his
beauty, when he beholds and considers its reflexion
in a looking-glass ; on that account, the absolute
Being, having been revealed in the mirror of exist-
ences and appropriate places, and having seen his
beauty in various mirrors, and in every one of them
being exhibited under a shape worthy of himself,
become manifest In a series of multitudinous appear-
ances.

The Sufis further say : God is pure, conformable
to his essence, above all purity and comparison, and
in the gradations of names and attributes praised
in both ways. Whoever dispenses with the com-
parison of something which has no equal, does not
know that, declaring God to be without an equal, is
comparing him with pure beings. The friends of
God say that his name is of three kinds, viz. : he is
itldk," absolute," by his essence, or considered as an
unsubstantial (abstract) thing; 1 and they give him

1 The original text has here ^A& ,^t ,L*&1) ba itibdi-i-amr ddemi

c? J J "
Itibar has in the Dictionary, among other significations, that of "rea-

the name of zdt, " essence/' like thai of kadus,
" pure, holy;" that is, considered as a substance,
he is the Being llie meaning of which is not depen-
dent upon the meaning of another ; they call him
sifet, " excelling in attributes/' and hdi, " living;"
that is, considered as a substance, he is a Being
whose meaning is dependent upon that of another.
They name hinT/JH, " action," like khdlik, " Crea-
" tor/' which is the general name of God, as well as

" soning or computing by comparison; considering with attention; cal-
" culating properly," which appears to me the only meaning applicable
in this place ; ba itihar may perhaps here be better interpreted by < in the
" acceptation (assumption) of." This word occurs twice with .**!,
amur (the plural of amr), in the following important passage of Gul-
shen raz:

Baron von Hammer interprets amu'n itibari by " Gegenstande der
" Erschemung," that is objects of appearance," I dare differ somewhat
in the expression, but not in the meaning of these words : *' Existence
" manifests itself (see p. 222, note 9) in its own place; things perceived by
" senses are mere objects of acceptation; things of acceptation are not
" real. Theie are many numbers, but one only is numbered (that is,
" numbers are only one unit, repeatedly employed). The world has no
" existence but as a metaphonc image : Us state is entirely a farce and
" a play."

rahmen, < mercy;" but the great name is at last
khafd, " the concealed (mysterious)/' A person
asked the lord Shaikh Bayezid Bastdmi : l " Which is
4 * the great name of God ?" The Shaikh answered :
" Communicate thou to me his least name, that I
" may give thee in return his greatest :" that is to
say, the names of God are all great.

The sagacious say : Every era is the epoch of the
fame and dominion of a name, and when this epoch
expires, it becomes concealed under the name which
it had at the epoch of its flourishing state. 2

1 Bastara is a town of Khorassan. the native place of Abu Jezid Taifer
ben Issa, one of the most celebrated Sufis of Persia. He had inherited
the frock of another mystical personage, called Habib Ajemi Bastami
attained the supreme degree of spirituality perfect union with God. He
occasionally branched out into all the enthusiasm imaginable, saying
that God was with him and near him, nay in the sleeve of his garment ;
and then again he came at times into the regular order of piety and
devotion, hoping that God would forgive him his sins, and let his latter
end be that of the righteous. It is said of him ( see the thiPji Majalis,
*' conference," of Sadi) that, having once called out to God for union
with the supreme Being, he heard the voice from above: *' Abu Yezid, thy
" thou is still with thee : if thou wilt come to me, abandon thyself and
" come." He died in the year of the Hejira 261 (A. D 874). (Sec
Transact of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. I p. 100; Malcolm's Hist
of Persia, p 395; Pend nameh, edit, and transl. by Silvcstre de Sacy,
p. 231.)

2 Silvestre de Sacy, in the translation of a part of the Definitions of
Jorjani, gives the following note as translated from the Persian (seelVotos
et Extraits des MSS , vol. X. p. 67) : " The Sufis declare that every time
" is the turn of the manifestation of a name (divine) ; when the turn of
" this name is terminated, it conceals itself under another name, for
" which the turn of denomination is arrived. The periods of the seven

230

They say, the names of the Deity contain the dis-
tinct forms in the divine science, and these are called
adyan sdbitah, 4C fixed substances," 1 whether general
or partial, and these intellectual forms received exist-
ence in eternity without beginning, ' by /aj/z, 2 ' ' ema-
" nation," from the essence of God endowed with
most holy emanation. Further, the intellectual forms
rise into evidence with all dependencies and neces-
sary consequences of the most holy emanation.
The fixed substances have a relation to the names

u planets, each of one thousand years, are attached to it, and the \\ords
" of the Koran, speaking of God: " Every day he is in action, indicate
" it ; because one day of thy Lord is equivalent to one thousand years of
" yours Verse. thou whose light manifests itself in the vest of the
" world, thy names are manifested in the nature of man; thy science
" shows itself by the science of (Muhammed) the seal (of prophets) , thy
tl bounty is manifested by the bounty of Jthatem (the seal). The divine
" names are distinct forms, which are called adyan sabitah, " fixed reali-
" ties "--^Extracted from the Divan of All )

1 The word in the text is Jj I , azl, which means duration of existence
during a series of finite times, and infinite on the side of the past, as
Jj|, abad, signifies duration of existence during a series of finite times,
and infinite on the side of the future. (See Definitions of Jorjam, in
Not. et Ext. des WSS., vol. X p 39.)

ls translat ed by Silvestre de Sacy " emanation;" and
l fays al kudis, by u Emanation tres samte (see Ibid., p. 66)
In common acceptation, fayz signifies " plenty, abundance, bounty,
" grace;" fays-al akdes means also " communication of divine grace made
" to angels, prophets, and other superior intelligences without the inter-
u vention of the Holy Ghost,"

of bodies, and to the external substances 1 of spi-
rits, and between all beings there arises an inter-
position dependent on the degree of excellence
which it has with respect to God. All the reality
of accidental beings lies in the external existence ;
the reality of individuals is dependent upon fixed
times, and every one emerges into existence at his

time. 2

The Siifis maintain that ail attributes of perfection
are necessarily inherent in the supreme holy essence;
that is, are fixed by the purity of his essence. What
in the accidental substance is fixed by properties,
for instance, thy substance, is not sufficient for
the revelation of thyself ; as long as the attribute of
God's essence, which is the principle of that revela-
tion, has not taken firm hold of thee, this revelation

^ .A~frt , adyan kharjJak The scholastics have distm-
L/ "

ginshed fixed and external substances; the Sufis distinguish substances in
and without God.

2 The word o*Sj, waist, " time," has a technical signification
According to Jorjani, it means: " Your state, that is, that which is re-
" quired by your actual disposition, and is not produced by design."
Shehab eddin Omar Sohrawerdi (who died 1. D. 1234) says: " Time is
*' what dominates man; man is not dominated by any thing more than by
" his ttme; for time is like a sword, it executes its decrees and cuts By
" time is therefore meant what comes forcibly upon a man without being
" the fruit of his action; so that, subject to its power, he is constrained
' ' to conform to it. It is said : ' Such a one is under the dominion of time,'
" that is, he is retired from things winch are his own, and transported to
" things which belong to God."

252

cannot be obtained. On the contrary, God, the
most High, stands not in need of that revelation of
things, on account of the purity which is inherent
in him ; but his essence is the principle of that reve-
lation ; that is, his essence and attributes are one.
On this account, the Amir of the believers, All',
said:

" The perfection of the belief ID the unity of God consists in the
" negation of attributes."

The lord Shaikh Baud Kais'eri says in the Sherah-
fes us, ' ' Commentary upon the bezels :" * the know-
ledge of God the most High, in his essence, is the
identity of the essence, and the knowledge of this
world is that of the forms of things in it, whether
generally or partially ; and if one essence is said to
be the receptacle of manifold things, this acceptation
is not to be feared, as the things are identic with God
according to the acceptation of 4 ' existence/' and in
truth are different only according to the acceptation
of being either involved or manifested. Further, in
reality, there is neither state nor place, but there is
one object exhibited under forms of decoration and
portraiture by external appearances. Kasd, * * God's

1 Fes'us' ol hikem, " the bezels of philosophemes," is one of the most
celebrated works composed by Mohi eddm Ibn Arabi, upon \vhom see a
subsequent note This work was commented, not only by the above-
rnenuoned Daiid Kais'eri (of Caesarea), but also by Amf-eddm Telmesani,
and others See Baron von Hammer's Geschtchte des Osm Reiches,
//r Band Seite 657 1

" universal judgment or decree (predestination)" is
the summary decision of the conditions of existence,
as the decision for the death of all mankind ; and
Kadr 1 is " the interpretation of that decision by
u determined means, and in consequence of results
" conformable to the faculties;" for instance, the
decision of the death of Zaid, on such a day, by
such a malady. Kasa, " predestination," is the
eternal knowledge concerning existences, and this
knowledge is dependent on the Ay an sdbitah, " fixed
" substances." Each thing demands, by disposi-
tion, 2 a peculiar emanation of God.
The Siifis say, according to the sacred text :

" God created man according to his image."

We have the power of acting on account of our
being the mirror of the supreme essence ; if we say :
"The action is ours, "it may be right; and if we say:

" It is of God," it is equally true. The master of
the rose-bower says :

li Masnavi. Recognise the mark of God in every place,
" Never place the foot without its own limit.
** Whoever has a faith other than that of Jabr 3

1 Upon Kas'a and Kadr see vol. II. pp 352-353, note 1.

2 3\ Jjilwl, zstidad, " disposition," that is, when a thing possesses

ihe near or remote quality for action (Jorjani's Definitions )

3 The name of Jabr is common to several doctors of Muselmamsm
The most ancient of them is Abu Abd-allah Jabr Ben AM allah al
Ansan, a native of Medina, as it is indicated by his surname Jabr,

254

* Is, according to the word of the prophet, to be accounted a Gue"bei

' In like manner as that Gue*ber said : ' Yezdan, Aherman,'
" So was it as if that ignorant blockhead had said : ' He and me ;'
" The actions have but a metaphorical connection with us,
" A connection with him m reality is a ludicrous play.
" How came it, man without intelligence, that, from eternity,
" This man should be Muhammed, and the other Abu .Jehel?"

It is written in the glorious Koran :

" If any thing good happens to them, they say : * It comes from God ;'
*' and if any thing bad, they say: * It comes from me,' say: * Every
44 * thing comes from God.' "

The Siifis say that the whole heaven is a body, the
first intelligence its soul, the breath of the whole his
heart, and the spirits of the seven planets, of the
fixed stars and the rest, are his power.

" Your creation and your resurrection are as those of one man "

The Shaikh Mohi eddin i says in his Fas hawdi,

according to Mirkhond, first a pagan, after having examined the sacred
books of all other nations, Jews and Christians, was vanquished by Mu-
hammed's eloquence, and adopted his faith.

Another Jabr is Alu Mussa Jabr Ben Haiian al Sufi, author of the
book Kitab al Jafr, and of many other, some say five hundred, works
upon the philosopher's stone. He lived in the middle of the third cen-
tury of the Hejira (about A. D. 864).

A third Jabr, an Andalusian, is surnamed Shems-eddin.

1 Mohi-eddin, " he who makes religion revive and flourish," is a sui
name borne by several Muselman doctors. The above-mentioned is Mohi-
eddin Ibn al Arabi, born in Kordua, in Spain, of an Arabian family,
called Tayi, in the year of the Hejira 560 (A. D. 1164). He studied in
the academy of Seville, and then visited Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt,
where he heard the most distinguished Shaikhs of his time. He became
the founder of a mystic school from which, among other remarkable
disciples, the great Maulana Jelal-eddin Rumi issued ; he is called " the

255

' ' chapter of repentance :" The world is the image of
God, and he the soul and governor of the universe,
further he is the great mankind. The lord Maulavi
Jami, in the Nakd-al fas us, " the ready money of
" bezels," states, that there are two divisions of the
beings of the universe : the first consists of those who
on no account have any sort of connection with the
bodily world, in conformity to office and direction ;
these, called Cherubim, are divided into two classes :
the one take not the least notice of the world and
its inhabitants, and are named " the great Angels ;"
the other, although not connected with the bodily
world, are yet entranced in astonishment as wit-
nesses and valuers of God's power, standing at the
curtain of the divine court, and being the ministers
of the supreme bounty; before them is an angel enti-

" Pole of the raystic world." He died in the year of the Hejira 638
(A D. 1240), m his seventy-sixth year, and was buried at the foot of
mount Cassius, near Damascus, where his sepulchral monument is still
well preserved He left thirty-three works, which are enumerated by
Baron von Hammer, the illustrious historian of the Ottoman empire.
( See vol. II. pp. 490. 657 of the German work.)

The Muselmans in India revere, under the name of Mohi-eddm, a saint,
son of Zangui and Bibi Fatima, called also Shaikh Saddo He lived at
Sambhal, in Rohilkunt, according to others, at Amroha, in the province
of Delhi, where his tomb still exists. There the devotees assemble every
year, on the llth day of the 2nd Rabia (the 4th month of the Arabian
year) and celebrate the saint's memory, by particular fatihas, " prayers,"
addressed to him, and other acts of devotion. (See Mdmoire sur lespar-
ticulariUs de la Rehg. Muselm, dans VInde, par M, Garcin de Tassy,
pp. 46-54 ;

236

lied " the great spirit," greater than whom no angel
exists. According to another interpretation he is
said to be " the highest secretary and first intelli-
" gence." This great spirit (the blessing of God
be upon him ! ) holds the first rank of this class.
The spirit, who is called Jdbrkl, follows after him in
this legion.

" The rank which he possesses is a place known."

Another division is composed of those who have
connection with the bodily world according to order
and office ; these are named "spirits," also divided
into two classes : the one are spirits who perform
their office in the heavens, and these are entitled
" the high angels ;" the other class are those who
perform their office upon earth, and these bear the
name of * * lower angels. " Many thousands of them
are appointed to the human race, and many thou-
sands to minerals, to plants, and the animal king-
dom. The people of the revelation (prophets) say :
" There, where seven angels are not assembled, not
" a leaf can germinate from a branch ;" the seven
angels are meant to be seven divine powers. Thus,
the spirits of fire, who are called Jin and Sidtin,
" genii and demons," belong to the kind of lower
angels, and Iblvs is their chief and ruler. The lord
ShaikhMahmiid Shosterisays, that Iblis is the power
of imagination, which the learned call " the mate-
" rial." The Sufis give it the name of" the founda-

237

' f lion of material substance/' or Enka. l According
to the Sufis, matter is mddum, iC not eternally ex-
" istent." They call the absolute body " the uni-
" versal body." The Siifis say, as is found in the
Favdlah, that the spirit of mankind is the absolute
spirit of the divinity ; thus the spirit of mankind, for
the sake of elocution - that is, excellence expresses
itself by sound; and sound, for the sake of elocu-
tion, by various distinct modulations, which in utter-
ance are made sensible, becomes a word, and by the
combination of words a language acquires reality.
The Shaikh Muhammed Ldhaji 2 says, in his Com-
mentary on Gulshen raz, 3 " the Mystery of the Rose-
'* bower," that the meaning of the expression u the
" divine spirit," is a the revelation of truth in the
ct circus of multiplicity," and in the Sharh mahtaser,
" abridged Commentary (epitome)" on Gulshen, is
found that, in like manner as the spirit of mankind
becomes sound, and sound a word, so also the divine

1 See hereafter an explanatory note upon Enka.

2 See page 141, note 3.

3 A work already quoted (vol. I. p. 82i composed by Mahmud SheMs-
ten'. His native place was Shebister, distant eight parasangs (about
twenty-eight miles) from Tabriz, near which place he was buried in A.D.
1320. He wrote the Gulshen-raz three years before his death, as an
answer to fifteen questions addressed to him by the great Shaikh Hus-
sein, of Khorassan, who died A. D. 1318, one year after the composition
of the just-mentioned most celebrated didactical work upon the doctrine
of the Siifis.

spirit becomes jawher, " substance/' and substances
become spirits and forms ; thus human nature is
determined in a manner that its hidden conditions
proceed from the interior to manifestation.

The presence of the universal deity, which is
expansive in the divine spirit and soul), is fivefold.
The first is hazeret ghaib muilak, " the presence of
" the absolute mystery," and this is one with the
adyian sdbatah, " the invariable prototypes (realities
* ' of things)." The second is the hazeret ghaib mu-
sdf, ' u the presence of the relative mystery," which
is nearest the absolute mystery, and this belongs to
pure intellects and spirits. The third is the hazeret
musdfghaib^ " the presence of the mysterious rela-
" tion," which is nearest the absolute evidence; this
is the world of similitude, or dream. The fourth is
the hazeret shahddet muilak, 3 " the presence of the
ic absolute evidence/' which reaches from the cen-
tre of the earth to the middle of the ninth empyrean

Shahddet, interpreted in common
acceptation by '* testimony, attestation, witnessing, confession, evidence,"
is translated by Silvestre de Sacy, in a note of Jorjani (see a subsequent
note), by " assistance." It takes m the terminology of Siifis, a meaning
varying according to the particular opinion of their sects , thus it coin-
cides sometimes with " presence," whether with the qualifications of
attentive expectation, whether with that of perfect intuition.

259

heaven. The fifth is the hazerdt jdmAh, [ u the pre-
" sence of the vest," and this is the universe in an
extensive, and mankind in a restricted, accepta-

tion. 2

The Siifis besides say : The world is life and intel-
lect, as far as the mineral kingdom ; but the mani-
festation of intellect in every body is determined by
the temperature of the human constitution. Some-
times bounty attains an excellence which is uttered
with ecstacy, and becomes a modulation more pow-
erful than that wiiich strikes the ear : and this is the

Ljw&r^..

2 This is a very abstruse doctrine. To throw more light upon it,
I shall subjoin the explanation given by Jorjani upon this subject, accord-
ing to the French translation of Silvestre de Sacy (see Not. et Ext des
MSS.j vol. X p. 66) : " The five divine presences are: 1. the presence of
the absolute absence (or mystery] ; its world is the world of the fixed sub-
stances in the scientific presence (see pp. 223, 224, note 2). To the pre-
sence of the absolute mystery is opposed : 2. the presence of the absolute
assistance; its world is that named Aalem al mulk ( that is, the world of
the throne or seat of God, of the four elemental natures) ; 3. the presence
of the relative absence, this is divided into two parts : the one, 3. nearer
the presence of the absolute mystery; the world of which is that of spi-
rits, which belong to what is called jabrut and malkut, that is, of intelli-
gences and of bare souls ; the other : 4. nearer the presence of the abso-
lute assistance; and the world of which is that of models '(images),
called Aalem al mulhut; 5 the presence which comprises the four pre-
ceding ones; and its world is the world of mankind, a world which re-
unites all the worlds, and all they contain." This statement differs some-
what from that of our text ; to exhibit and to develop, in all their varia-
tions, the systems of Sufism is far beyond the compass of these notes, and
would require a separate work

240

mode of the prophet (blessing upon him!). Thus
is it commonly related that Jabriil brought to the
blessed prophet the happy news, that his poor fol-
lowers will enter heaven five hundred years sooner
dian the rich. The prophet, full of joy, said : 4 * Can
" none of you recite a verse?" A person proffered
these distichs :

" The serpent of desire bit my heart :
" There is, to cure me, neither doctor nor magician,
" If not the friend whom I adore :
" He alone possesses the theriac and the amulet suitable to my cure."

Upon this the lord prophet, with his companions,
moved about in ecstacy, with such a violence that
the cloak fell from his shoulder. i

Further, the sagacious say that the forms of the
sensible world are shades of seeming forms. The
Siifis also maintain that a spirit cannot exist without
a body ; 2 when it breaks forth from a body, it ob-
tains, according to its deeds and actions, an appa-
rent body, which they call acquired.

1 Such a tradition existing, we cannot wonder that, from early time
to our days, among the religious practices of Burvisbes, Sufis, and mo-
nastic congregations, there are different kinds of dances, accompanied by
song, with or without instrumental music.

2 The celebrated Leibnitz entertained a similar opinion; in conse-
quence of his great principle of "the sufficient reason," he was persuaded
that all souls, after death, remain united to an organic whole: " Bc-
" cause," says he, in his TModicte ( 90), " there is no appearance, that
" there be, in the order of nature, souls entirely separate from any sort
" of body." (See on this subject La Pahngtinesie philosophique, par
C Bonnet, tome II. p. 24 et seq )

241

SECTION II. Or THE PROPHETIC OFFICE; AND EXPLAN-
ATION OF THE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS CONFORMABLE TO

THE REVELATION OF INSPIRED PERSONS.

The Sufis say : The prophet is a person who is sent
to the people as their guide to the perfection which
is fixed for them in the scientific presence (of God)
according to the exigency of the dispositions deter-
mined by the fixed substances, whether it be the
perfection of faith, or another. The Shaikh Hamid
eddin Nagori ' slates, in his Sharh-i-ashk, " Commen-
tary upon Love," that Abtidiyet, " devotion," 2

1 In Herbelot's Bibl. Orient, we find Hamid eddin, a celebrated doc-
tor, surnamed al Dhanr , " the Blind," disciple of JTerdon, and master
of Nassafi the Younger The latter died in the year of the Hejira 710
(A. D. 1310). Baron von Hammer, in the catalogue of the literature of
the Sufis, annexed to his Gulshen ras (p. 32), mentions an Ishk-namah
'* Book of Love," composed by Fenshte-oghh.

2 o^jij-ss means also " servitude, submission, pious fervour;" it is
reckoned one of the most essential qualities of a saint in general. An
j.^5 9 dbid, is a peisoQ continually occupied with religious practices,
and all sorts of supererogatory pious acts, with the view of obtaining
future beatitude. It may be asked, how can devotion, as said above, be
an attribute of God? The answer is that, accoidmg to Sufism, God is
every thing which appears praise-worthy to man, who can never forsake
his own nature. Thus says Sddi in his fifth Sermon: " A hundred
' thousand souls, alas! are the devoted slaves of the shoe-dust of that
Durvish (God)." He who prays from the inmost of his soul, grants bis
prayers to himself ; he no more prays, but is the God who, at the same time,
offers and accepts piayers. (Sec Sufsmus, by F A. D Tholuck, p. 155.

v.iri. 16

and rububiyet, "divinity," 1 arc both attributes oi

God; as often as the manifestation of divinity came
to seize the lord of the prophetic asylum (Muham-
ined), and the quality of devotion became effaced in
him, in this transitory state, 2 whatever he proffered
was the word of God. The Maulavi Manavi says :

" As the Koran came from the lips of the prophet,

'* Whoever asserts, he said not the truth is a Kafr (Infidel)."

And when he arrived at the quality of divinity,
what he then uttered, this is called by them hadis,
" sacred saying;" further, what he said with the

^ i signifies a participation in the nature and excellence of
God, attainable by a mortal. There is a school of Sufis, called ^^\] ft s- !

Alhutiyat, who think that deity may descend and penetrate into a
mortal's mind Muhammed is supposed to have possessed this eminent
quality of a Sufi.

2 Two technical words occur ( among many others ) of the Sufis J U.
hal, and *ULo makam, which require a particular explanation. Hal

signifies a feeling of joy or of affliction of compression or dilatation-
or of any other condition, which takes hold of the heart without any
effort being made to produce or to provoke it, and which ceases when the
soul reverts to the consideration of its own qualities It is so called whe-
ther the same state be repeated or not. I generally render it by" state,"
dbove by " transitory state " If it persists and is changed into an habi-
tual faculty, it is then called makam ; I render it by " station." The
hah are pure gifts of God; the makam are fruits of labor. The first
proceed from God's pure bounty; the second are obtained by dint of
efforts Both words may, sometimes be rendered by extasy, or extatic,
supernatural condition, in which the soul loses sight of itself to see
God only, and \vhich ceases, as soon as its looks aie directed towards itself.
(See Ext at Not. desMSS., ^ol XII. p. 317 )

245

tongue of divinity, was a Iwdfa. The meaning of the

words " from Jdbrkl" is this, thai between these
two qualities (devotion and divinity), is a mind which
in the manifestation of divinity is giving information
from divinity, but in the quality of divinity there
is nothing intervening between itself: 1 hence it is
said :

" In love there is no message intervening.

" It was itself which acted as us own messenger "

The sagacious Sufis say, that what causes the
revelation of the original Being in the gradations of
divinity and in the wisdom of a book, and his
appearance in whatever form, is the manifestation
of his perfection, and this is of two kinds and in a
twofold degree. The first degree is manifestation
and exhibition in such a manner that whatever
exists may prove complete, and this can take place
only in the completeness of form ; it is man who,
according to the terminology of this sect, is indicated
by it, that is, essentiality ^ which is the union of uni-
versalities and particularities : it is said accordingly:

" There is nothing moist there is nothing dry, that be not in the
" manifest book (the Koran)." That is . Every thing is contained in the
Koran.

Without him (God) there is no strength; it is by

1 If I understand at all this obscure passage, it means: u there is an
" immediate connection, without any intervention, between the Deity
4 and man."

244

him that every thing enters into the area of form
and evidence.

" Without thee is nothing in the world;

" Ask from thyself, if thou desirest to know what thou art "

(ARABIC SENTENCE.)

" Every thing has an advantage, which, at the junction of Us parts,
' has been placed in it."

The second degree is in the perfection of the
existence of forth-bringing and exhibiting ; so that
every thing which exists, as it exists, is made to
appear complete.

The seal, or " the last prophet," in the termino-
logy of this sect, is a person^ to whom this office can
be appropriated, and from whom the great business
may proceed; but, in forthcoming it is not allowed
to him to be, in form, 1 all-sufficient in dignity, and
in showing this form in the world ; this is not con-
fined to a single person ; but if this excellence is
manifested around, it is acknowledged as the seal of
dignity in this age. When this condition is esta-
blished, then, by the before-said interpretation, the
moon is said to be the symbol realised in this form,
because, in the style of eloquence, it is generally
usual to interpret the form of perfection by that of
the moon, and " to divide the moon/ 7 means in
figurative language to elicit thoroughly the sense

1 Suret signifies the sensible form of a thing; the figure with which it
is invested.

245

from this form, without taking into consideration
the instruments of imitation and the arrangement
of artful contrivances. Thus was it with regard to
the promised lord of the prophetic asylum. The
lord Imam Muhammed n&rbakhsh, 1 " the light-
" bestower," in his treatise upon the ascent to hea-
ven, stated : " Know that the lord Muhammed, the
Selected (peace be with him!) ascended to heaven
with a body, but this body was light, like that
assumed in a dream, with which he went into a
state of trance, which is an intermediate state 2 be-
tween sleeping and waking, and on that account it
is said in the first tradition of the ascent :

" I was between sleeping and waking "

And further :

" God directed thee in the explanation of things revealed to the pro-
" phets and saints, upon whom be peace 1"

That his being carried from the mosque of Mecca to
the mosque of Jerusalem, is an image of the migra-

1 Mir Said Muhammed Nurbaksh was the assumed name of Shams-
eddw, a descendant from a Guebre family of Irak. He fixed himself in
Kachmir, where he became the founder of a sect which acknowledged
him as a prophet and a Mahd^, and took from him the name of Nur-bak-
shian. (See Journal des Savants, avnl 1840; article de JMf. fflohl sun
I'ffistoire de Ferishta. )

2 The word here used by the author is \ o barzakh, ' interval of

' time, according to the Koran (chap. XXIII) between the death of a man
44 and the resurrection, before which the souls of the departed receive
4< neither reward nor punishment."

246

tion of the terrestrial angels from one place lo an-
other. To keep the Imamate (or presidence) dur-
ing worship is to the prophet an image, that in his
religion there are many heirs of the prophet, who
are the saints and learned men of the age.

Bor dk, the vehicle of devotion, is like an image of
prayer ; the saddle and bridle represent the ready
mind and the perfect union of religion. The mem-
bers of Borak, of precious jewels, typify purity,
candor, affection, submission, humility, and perfect
love of God, rejecting all other desire except that
tending towards the supreme Being in prayer. The
restiveness of Borak, and the aid given by Jabriil in
mounting Borak present a similitude of the reluc-
tance of the human mind to the wisdom of its
knowledge of God, and Jabriil figures the science of
divinity.

The travelling by steps up to heaven, means the gra-
dual elevation by steps, which are remembrance,
rosary-beads, praising and magnifying by exclama-
tion, God and the like, by which the heart arrives
from this nether world of sensuality to the upper
world.

By the first heaven, which is that of the moon, is
understood the arrival at the station of cordiality,,
The opening of the heavenly door by an angeJ, and
the appearance of Jabriil, is figuratively the victory
of the heart over remembrance, as will be explained

247

in the sequel. The arriving at the heaven of Aid-
red, " Mercury," is the image of elevation on the
regions of cordiality on account of meditation on the
knowledge of God, as

" OQC hour's meditation is preferable to seventy years of exterior
b < woi ship."

The arrival at the heaven of Zaherah, " Venus/'
signifies elevation of the upper angels, on account of
the delight and beatitude which are produced in the
interior by the love of God. The arrival at the
heaven of the sun is to be interpreted as the elevation
in the inner sense, on account of accomplishing the
precepts of the failb, and the promulgated orders,
which are derived from it. The arrival at the hea-
ven ofMerikh, " Mars," denotes the elevation which
may have taken place in consequence of the war
made upon the spirit of fraud. The arrival at the
heaven of Mishteri, " Jupiter," offers an image of
the elevation on account of purity, piety, and absti-
nence from any thing doubtful, which are manifested
by these steps. The arrival at the heaven of Zehel,
64 Saturn," is to be understood as the elevation from
the state of spirituality to that of mystery by the
blessing of exertion and sanctity, by choice or by
force, which means overcoming a difficulty.

The arrival at Falek sdbetab, li the heaven of the
6< fixed stars," Is an image of the elevation by the
blessing of firmness in the faith, and evident proof

248

of diligent permanency in good practices, and fidelity
in the love of God and of the people of God The
arrival at Falek atlas, " the crystalline sphere," is to
be interpreted as the elevation to the utmost boun-
dary of the angels by the blessing of interior purity,
and a heart free from all desire except that after
God.

The remaining behind of Borah, the arch, and Ja-
6ml, in each station indicate the meaning, that in
the worlds of the upper spirits, and the empyreal
heaven, there are certain extents of spiritual facul-
ties, and limits of imagination, so that no body can
deviate from the station of comprehension, and

" The place of his acquisition is a place known "

The explanation of this is, that, as the elemental
body cannot deviate from the elemental world, and
the soul, however composed it may be, cannot make
a step out of the nether dominion, as well as the
heart cannot leave the outer skirts of the upper
angelic courts, so that the mystery never comes
forth from the middle of the upper dominion, and
the spirit cannot make a step out of the extreme ends
of the upper regions into the aalem-i-jabrut, " the
" highest empyreal heaven, "and the hidden cannot
transgress the empyreal world. Hence proceeds
the sense of ghaib al ghaiyub, " evanescence of eva-
< nescences," the mysterious hidden.

The Erika, upon the mount Kdf, i is divinity, and
there is annihilation into God. He does not allow

1 We have already mentioned (vol. I. p. 55. note i) the Enka, or Si-
murgh, '* thirty birds," as an object of fabulous romance At one time
this mysterious bird was counsellor of the Jms (genii), and for the last time
was visible at the court of Solomon, the son of David, after \\hich he
retired to the mount Kaf, which encircles the earth. According to a tra-
dition of Muhammed, God created, in the time of Moses, a female bird,
called Erika, having wings on each side and the face of a man God gave
it a portion of every thing, and then created a male of the same species.
They propagated after the death of Moses, feeding on ferocious beasts and
carrying away children, until the intervening time between Jesus and
Muhammed, when, at the prayer of Khaled, this race was extinguished.
Proverbially, the Enka is mentioned as a thing of which every body
speaks without having ever seen it.

But a much greater import is attached to this name m the doctrine of
the Sufis : with them this bird is nothing less than the emblem of the
supreme Being, to be sought with the utmost effort and perseverance
through innumerable difficulties which obstruct the road to his myste-
rious seat. This idea was ingeniously allegorized in the famous poem
entitled Mantel al tatr, " the colloquy of the birds," composed by Fend-
eddtn Attar, a Persian poet, who was born in Kerken, a village near
Nishapur, in the year of the Hejira 513 (A D. 1119), and lived 110, 112,
or 115 years, having died in A. H. 627, 629, or 632 (A D. 1229, 1231,
or 1234) In this composition, the birds, emblems of souls, assemble
under the conduct of a hoop (upapa), their king, in order to be presented
to Simurgh. To attain his residence, seven valleys are to be traversed;
these are: 1. the valley of research; 2. that of love; 3 that of know-
ledge; 4 of sufficiency (competence); 5. of unity; 6 of stupefaction;
and 7. that of poverty and annihilation, beyond which nobody can pro-
ceed; every one finds himself attracted without being able to advance.
These are evidently as many gradations of contemplative life, and austere
virtue, each of which is described m glowing terms, for which scarce an
equivalent is to be found in European languages. The birds, having
attained the residence of Simurgh, were at first ordered back by the usher
of the royal court, but, as they persevered in their desire, the violence of

250

plurality nor partnership of eternal beauty and
strength, and from that exalted station there is no
descent. When a bird or man is annihilated, a
name is always without a designate object. Yds el,
4fc the perfect master of union/' 1 finds in this sta-

their grief met with pity. Admitted to the presence of Simurgh, they
heard the register of their faults committed towards him read to them,
and, sunk in confusion, were annihilated. But this annihilation purified
them from all terrestrial elements ; they received a new life from the
light of majesty ; m a new sort of stupefaction, all they had committed
during former existence was cancelled, and disappeared from their hearts;
the sun of approximation consumed, but a ray of this light revived them.
Then they perceived the face of Simurgh: " When they threw a clandes-
" tine look upon him, they saw thirty birds in him, and when they
" turned their eyes to themselves, the thirty birds appeared one Simurgh:
4 * they saw in themselves the entire Simurgh ; they saw in Simurgh the
" thirty birds entirely." They remained absorbed in this reflection.
Having then asked the solution of the problem We and Thou, that is, the
problem of apparent identity of the divinity and his adorers, they received
it, and were for ever annihilated in Simurgh : the shade vanished m the
sun. (See Notices et Extraits des JW5S., vol. XII pp. 306-312).

According to the thirty-seventh and last allegory of Asz-eddin Elmoca-
dessi, an Arabian poet, who died in A. H. 678 (A. D. 1280), the assembled
birds resolved to pass a profound sea, elevated mountains, and consuming
flames, to arrive at a mysterious island where Simurgh or Erilta magh-
re&, " the wonderful," resided, whom they wished to choose for their
king After having supported the fatigues, and surmounted the diffi-
culties and penis of their voyage, they attained their aim, a delightful
sojourn, where they found every thing that may captivate the senses.
But when they offered their homage to Simurgh, he at first refused them,
but having tried their perseverance m their attachment to him, he at
last gratified their desire, and granted them ineffable beatitude (See
Les Oiseaux et ies Fleurs, Arabic text and Fiench translation, by M. Garcin
deTassy, pp. 119, etc , and notes, p 220)

The Sufis are divided into thicc great classes, to wt: 1

251

tion by annihilation into God emancipation from
the confinement of visible existence, and acquires
with an eternal mansion the intimate connection
with God, and an exit from the garment of servi-
tude, and becomes endowed with divine qualities.
In the station of transition into God, Jabriil is the
image of wisdom and of manifest knowledge, on
which account it has been declared

" There are moments when I am with God in such a manner that nei-
ther angel nor archangel, prophet nor apostle, can attain to it."

When at the time of transition, science, compre-
hension, knowledge, and all qualities are cancelled

and vanish, then transitory knowledge unites with
the perfect science, the dangers of mankind are car-
ried off and disappear, before the rays of light of
the supreme Being. And this is the kind of know-
ledge which Jabriil revealed. Above this station
resides the absolute Being. Again, ascent and de-
scent, and letter and sound denote the meaning that
mankind comprises all qualities the high and the

vastldn, " those who arrived (at the desired end)/' the nearest to God; 2.
tlxSlw sahkan, " the travellers, the progressive;" 3. ^L^ muki'-
man, " the stationaries." According to others (see Graham, Transact,
of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. I. pp. 99. 100), a Stifi may be: 1. a
sahk, " traveller;" 2. a ^^Asr* majexub, " one attracted in a state of

" intoxication from the wine of divine love; !> 3. a mcyezub sahl f " an
41 attracted traveller," that is, a partaker of the above two states. I omit
other divisions and subdivisions

low ; by the exigency of its united properties, at
times drowned in the ocean of unity, man is bewil-
dered ; and, at times, yielding to this prevailing
nature, he associates with women. Know what
Shaikh Aziz Nasfy says : Men, devoted to God's
unity declared, regarding the expression tdi asmavat,
Cc the folding up heaven," that <; heaven" signifies
something that is high and of a bountiful expan-
sion 1 with respect to those who are below it, and
this, causing a bountiful communication, may take
place either in the spiritual or in the material world ;
the bestower of the bountiful communication maybe
from the latter, he may be from the former, world.
Further, any thing may be either terrestrial or hea-
venly. If thou hast well conceived the sense of the
heavenly and terrestrial, know that mankind has
four nishd, " stages/' 2 in like manner as the blasts
of the trumpet are four times repeated: because
death and life have four periods. In the first stage,
man is living under the form of a thing ; but, with
respect to qualities and reason, he is a dead thing.
In the second stage, under the form of mind, he is
a living thing, but, with respect to qualities and rea-
son, a dead thing. In the third stage, under the

1 O^ Slivestre de Sac y ^slates " emanation, overflowing."
(Journal des Savans, dtic., 1821, p. 733.)

2 Uvj is Interpreted m the dictionaiy: growing, producing, being
boine upward, etc. ; above it can but signify " a condition of being."

253

form of mind, qualities he is a living thing, but,
with respect to reason, a dead thing. In the fourth
stage, under the form of mind, qualities, and rea-
son, he is a living thing. In the first stage, he is
entirely in the sleep of ignorance, darkness, and
stupidity, as

" Darkness upon darkness "

In this stage he awakes from the first sleep ; in the
second stage, from the second ; in the third, from
the third sleep ; in the fourth stage, from the last
sleep; and in this awaking of the heart he be-
comes thoroughly and entirely awake, and ac-
quires perfect possession of himself, and knows
positively that all he had known in the three pre-
ceeding stages was not so : because truth , having
been but imaginary, was falsehood; and that heaven
and earth, as they had been understood before,
were not so. Further, in this stage, earth will not
be that earth, and heaven not that heaven, which
men knew before. This is the meaning of the
words :

" On the day when the earth shall be changed into something else
" than the earth, as well as the heaven, and when all that shall be mam-
" fested by the power of God, the only one, the Almighty J>1

And when they arrived at that station and pos-
sessed positively the form of mind, qualities, and
reason of an individual, certainly they knew by

1 Koran.

254

means of revelation and inspiration, that except one
there is no being, and this being is God, the glorious
and sublime ; they were informed of the real state
of things from the beginning to the utmost extre-
mity. In the account concerning the obscuration
of the moon, and son, and stars, they said : that
stars have their meaning from the beginning of the
light, which is produced in the hearts of the intelli-
gent and select; that the sun denotes the utmost
fulness and universality of light ; and that the moon,
a mediator between the sun and the star/ from all
sides, spreads their tidings. Then the sun is the
universal bestower of abundant blessings; the moon
is in one respect * ' a benefactor," in another respect,
" benefited." As often as the sun's light, which
is the universal light, manifests and spreads itself,
unity of light comes forth ; the light of the moon
and that of the stars is effaced by the light of the
sun. From the beginning, the prophet says,
that

" When the stars shall fall,

And in the midst,

" When the moon shall be obscured,"

And when the select associate with the bestower of
abundant blessings, that

" When the sun and moon shall unite,"
1 In theDesatir the moon is called " the key of heaven '

255

there remains no trace of wto/osef, " diffusion," nor
ofafto/ "profusion."

"When the sun.shall be folded up."

It was said that the earth of the last judgment;
signifies that earth on which the creatures of the
world will be assembled, and that earth is the exist-
ing mankind, because the permanence of all beings
is not possible upon any other earth. Further,
there will be the day of the last judgment, and the
presence of the inhabitants of the world is not in-
tended, nor possible, upon any other earth but the
actual earth of mankind. Moreover there will be
Friday, 2 and truth will be separated from falsehood
upon no other earth but upon the earth of the actual
mankind. Then, there will be the day of the last
judgment, and no mystery among mysteries will be
manifested upon any other earth but that of actual
mankind. Afterwards, there will be the day of rip-
ping open the secrets,and upon no earth will a retri-
bution be given to any body but upon the earth of
the actual mankind. Finally, there will be the day
of faith.

The lord durvish Sabjany gave the information,
saying : With the Sufi's heaven is beauty; certainly
the other world of objects of beauty is to be refer-
red to the beauty of God ; and in hell there is ma-

1 Os^U^S and OwJsAst.

2 The weeklyhohday of the Muhammedans.

jesty ; 1 necessarily the other world of objects of ma-
jesty is referrible to that of God ; and the Jeldlian, or
" those to whom majesty applies," will be satisfied in
like manner as the Jem&lian, " those to whom beauty
" appertains." 2 Further, it is said, hell is the place
of punishment; this means that if an object of beauty
be joined to majesty, it becomes disturbed; in like
manner majesty is made uneasy by beauty. From
the lord Sabjani comes also the information that the

jelal, '' glory, majesty." I suppose " terrific majesty" may

be understood. "We find, in Richardson's Dictionary, that a sect called
Jeldtiyat, followers of Said Jelal Bokhari, worship the more terrible
attributes of the deity.

2 This is an obscure passage. Silvestre de Sacy (Journal des Savants,
janvier, 1822, p 13) says : " I see by the Dabistan that, by means of
u allegory, the Stiffs destroy the dogma of eternal punishment, as they
" destroy what concerns Paradise; but this subject is touched upon but
" in a superficial manner in the Dabistan, p. 486. * * * * I confess,
" as to the rest, that I have not yet formed to myself a very cleai idea of
" this theory." He subjoins the following note: " Paradise, according
" to the Dabistan is, with the Sufis, the beauty of God,' Jl r a. jemal,
" and hell, ' the glory,' J^ jelal; men who, by their conduct, belong
'* to the last attribute of the divinity, which is designated under the
' name of hell, that is the AJiia*, jelahan, find pleasure in it, and
" when it is said that hell is a place of torment, this means that those '
ic who belong to the attribute of beauty, the jlJU^ jemaltan, would
" be unfortunate, if they should be placed in the situation of those who
" belong to the attribute of glory, the .^UWcs. ; the same would be the
** case with those who belong to the attribute of glory, or to hell, if they
" should eipenence the destiny of those who belong to the attribute of
' beauty, or of Paradise."

257

sagacious declare : Pharaoh was worthy of the name
of God, and In him the establishment of divinity
gained predominance, as well as in Moses the esta-
blishment of divine mission. On that account the
lord Imam of the professors of divine unity, the
Shaikh Mahi-eddm gave in several of his compositions
the proof of Pharaoh's faith, and declared him to
be a worthy object of veneration, as well as Moses.
It is said also, that the land of Arafat 1 signifies
the land, which is sought by those who made a vow,
and conceived the desire, of pilgrimage, and with
their face turned towards this land, with the utmost
effort and endeavor proceed upon their way and
journey ; if in this country they meet with the day
of Arirfah, that is, " the ninth day of the moon,"
and accomplish the pilgrimage, they are then con-
sidered as having become pilgrims, and to have

1 Arafat is a mountain not far from Mecca. Muhammedans be-
lieve that Adam and Eve, having been separated to perform penance,
searched for each other during a hundred and twenty or two hundred
years, until at last they met again upon the mountain Arafah, the
name of which is derived from the Arabian verb " to know " This is
one of the etymologies of this name ; I omit others relating to Abra-
ham ( see D'Ohsson, t II pp 80-86). This mountain, in the pilgrim-
age to Mecca, is one of the principal sacred stations, which the pilgrims
cannot enter without having taken the Ihhram, or " penitential veil," on
the first day of the moon Zt'lhajah (the last of the Arabian year) ; on the
9th day of the same month, called also yum-Arafak, '* the day of know-
u ledge," they arrive at Arafdh, where they perform their devotions until
after sunset, and then pioceed to Mecca to execute the sacred rites men-
tioned pp. 408-409, note 2

in. 17

found the fruit of their journey, and fulfilled their
desire, as is said:

" He who reaches the mount Arafah has accomplished the pilgrimage."

If they have not arrived in this land on the said
day, they have not accomplished the pilgrimage,
they have not become pilgrims nor fulfilled their
desire. If this matter be well understood, it neces-
sarily follows that the land of Arifat signifies the
actual earth of mankind, because all beings, hea-
venly and earthly, are upon the way of travelling,
until they arrive at the dignity of mankind, and when
they arrive at it, their journey and voyage is accom-
plished. If on this earth which is that of the actual
mankind, they arrive on the day of Arafat, which
means the knowledge of God, they have attained
their wish at the Kabah, they have accomplished
their pilgrimage, and become pilgrims.

Hajj in the Dictionary, is interpreted ka&'ed, " as-
piring to," and based, in the law, means the
house which Ibrahim the prophet (the blessing of
God be upon him!) built in Mecca, and, in truth, this
means the house of God, according to these words :

* Neither the earth nor the heavens can contain me, but only the heat t
" of the believing servant.''

Besides, the Mobed says :

" At the time of prayer the dignity of man is shown;
" Profit by this time, as perhaps fate may seize it."

The sagacious Siifis said: Every action of the

actions commanded by law denotes a mystery of the
mysteries. 6/iosei, "bathing," means coming forth
by resignation from foreign dependence. Wwu,
cc ablution," indicates abandonment of great occu-
pations. Mazinaza, *' rinsing the mouth," refers to
the rapture caused by the sweetness of remem-
brance, hlmsak, l " washing the nostrils three
" times, by inhaling water out of the palm of the
46 hand," denotes inhaling the perfumes of divine
bounty. Istinsar, " drawing up water through the
" nostrils>and discharging it again, "signifies throw-
ing off blameable qualities. Washing the face, has
the meaning of turning our face to God. Washing
the hand is withholding the hand from prohibited
things. Washing the feet has reference to giving
precedence to diligence upon the carpet of devo-
tion. Standing upright signifies experience in the
earthlj station. To be turned towards the Kiblah is a
sign of offering supplications to the divine majesty.
Joining both hands denotes the bond of an obligatory
engagement. Keeping the hands open during prayers
means holding back the hand from all except what
relates to God. The Takbir,* " pious exclamation,"

1 Sec D'Ohssons Tableau gdndral dv I'Empire Ottoman, torn il
p 16

2 The TahUr consists of these words: Allah *u akbar, Allah 'w
la ilahi ill' Allah, Allah 'u alibar, Allah 'u akbar, va 1'illah 'il hamd,
* 4 God, most high 1 God, most high! there is no God but God! God most

260

signifies respect to divine commands. Kcrdt, chant-

ing (the Koran or prayers), is perusing the divine
signets upon the tables of fate, preserved in the
heart; by means of the interpretation of the tongue,
and the renewal of information upon the boundaries
of commanded and prohibited things. Ruhid,
" bowing the head with the hands upon the knees,''
represents the state of resignation and submission.
Sajtid, " prostration," 1 indicates investigation of the
divine Being, and dismissal of all pretension. Tash-
ahkud, " ritual profession of religion/' refers to the
state of resignation and humility. To sit down and
to stand up before God five times means understanding
and appreciating the five majesties, which are :
divinity, grandeur, dominion, *power, and love of
humanity. Two rifeto, 2 " attitudes of devotion in

" high! God most high! praises belong to God. (D'Ohsson, vol. II.
p. 77).

1 The prostration is made with the face to the earth, that is, the knees,
toes, hands, nose, and forehead touching the ground. During the pros-
tration the taKbir is recited.

- Several prescribed attitudes and practices constitute the namaz, or
" prayer:"!. The Muselman stands uptight, his hands raised to the
head, the fingers separated, and the thumbs applied to the inferior pai t
of the ears; 2. he places his hands joined upon the navel; 3. bo\vs the
upper part of his body, and, the hands upon his knees, keeps it horizon-
tally inclined ; 4 places himself in the second attitude; 5. prostrates
himself as described in the preceding note; 6. raises the upper part of his
body, and* kneeling, sits upon his legs, the hands placed upon his thighs ,
7. makes a second prostration ; 8 rises, and stands as in the second atti-
tude These eight attitudes, during which he recites several times the

261

" the morning/' are indicative of God's absolute
being and of reality. Four nk&ts relate to four efful-
gencies, which are impress! veness, agency, inhe-
rence of attributes, and substantiality. Three rik&ts,
imply separation, union, and union of unions, viz. :
separation, in viewing the creatures without God ;
union, in viewing God without the creatures; and
union of unions, in viewing God in the creatures, and
the creatures in God ; so that the view of the one
may not to the heart be a veil to the view of the
other. Keeping the fast refers to the purity of the
interior. The sight of haldl, " the new moon," 1 is
seeing the eye-brows of the perfect spiritual guide.

before-quoted takbir, form a nldt. (See D'Ohsson, vol. II. pp. 77
et seg.

1 The apparition of the new moon is to the Muhammedans an important
phenomenon, as it marks the beginning of then fasts, feasts, and othei
religious practices, which, to be valid, must be observed exactly at the
prescribed time. On that account, the magistrates in the Musulman
empire are attentive to announce the right epoch ; the Muezins, or
" cryers," of the highest mosques, at the approach of the new moon pass
the whole night on the top of the minarets to observe the precise moment.
Thus, the fast of the Ramazan, which lasts thirty days, begins at the
apparition of the new moon, the commencement of the moons Shewe*
and Ztlhijah are important for the celebration of the two only feasts in
the Muhammedan year: the first is the did-fitr, " the feast of breaking
" fast," which occupies one or three days, and seventy days after this is
the did-kurban, " the feast of sacrifice," which lasts four days : thus the
grave Muselmans allow but seven days of their whole year to festivity
As their years are lunar, these two feasts run in the space of thirty-three
years through all the seasons of the yeai. (D'Ohsson, tome II. j>. 227,
tome 111. pp. 4-5, and elsewhere. )

Aid, " a feast/' is the knowledge of God. Kurban,
"sacrificing" l (killing victims), denotes annihilating
the brutal spirit. Rozah, ic fasting," 2 has three
degrees. The first degree is guarding the belly and
the sexual organs from what is improper ; the se-
cond degree is guarding one's self from unbecoming
words and deeds ; the third degree is guarding the
heart from whatever is contrary to God. Jahad,
" holy war upon unbelievers," signifies combating
the spirit of deceit. Mumen, " right faith," implies
adherence to whatever is essential to the true wor-
ship of God, and tendency to it by any way which
God wills, for

" The road towards the idols is formed of the great number of sighs of
" the creatures "

The lord Ain ul-Kazat said, he has learned upon

1 The immolation of an animal in honor of the Eternal on the pre-
scribed day is of canonical obligation : every Muselman, free, settled, and
in easy circumstances, is bound to offer in sacrifice a sheep, an ox, or a
camel. Several persons, to the number of seven, may associate for such
d purpose. To this is added the distribution of alms to the poor, con-
sisting of killing one or more animals, sheep, lambs, goats, to be dressed,
a part of which is tasted by the sacnficer and his family, and the rest
given to the poor. (Ibzd., t. II. p. 425

2 Fasting, with the Muhammedans, imposes an entire abstinence from
all food whatever, and a perfect continence during the whole day from
the first canonical hour of morning, which begins at day-break, until
sunset. There are different sorts of fasts; canonical, satisfactory, expia-
tory, votive, and supererogatory Each of them, although determined by
different motives, requires, nevertheless, the same abstinence during the
whole day (Ibid , t. Ill p. 1).

265

his way, that the essence of all creeds is God, and
that of all creeds of the sophists is this :

"All shall perish except his countenance (that is God's); all that is
" upon the earth is perishable."

And the meaning of the verse of the merciful is,
that at a certain time he will be nothing, because on
that very day all is nothing; and this very opinion
is the principal part of the creed of sharp-sighted
men. In the takwiyat mdni, " the strengthening of
64 sense," the lord Ain ul Kazat, saheb-i ztiki, " pos-
64 sessor of delight/' said that the mood of the verbal
noun is in progressive efficiency at all times, whilst
perdition of all things at all times is also constant,
but has no determined future time : consequently
this perdition, which is an indetermined tense,
does not imply that the contingent efficiency is per-
dition in a future time.

The Imam Muhammed NUT bakhsh stated, that all
those who are reckoned to have seen God as parti-
cular servants near to him, have said the truth ;
because the rational spirit, which means that of
mankind, is pure and uncompounded ; on that ac-
count it is not prevented from seeing God, and those
who speak against the sight are also right, because
the eye cannot see the mysterious blessed Being on
account of his solitude. An investigator of truth
has said : Those who assert the solitude of God
are right: because the blessed Being is solitary.

264

And those who speak of his corporeity, and consider
God as one of the bodies, such as fire, air, water, or
earth, say right , because he Is in every sort of
beings. Likewise, those who hold him to be good
or bad, are not wrong; because nothing exists with-
out him, so that what happens can happen but by
his order. And those who as cribe the bad to them-
selves are right, because in practice they are the
movers of their works. So it is with other opi-
nions, such as those who consider God as a Father
with regard to all existing beings, and this opinion
is true.

The Sonnites recognise Abu Bekr (may God re-
ward him), as a khalif on the strength of his per-
fection: this is sufficiently founded. But the Shi-
ahs oppose that on the supposition of his deficien-
cies. Besides, every body may, conformably to
his own conceptions, have some objection to Abu
Bekr. In the same manner, concerning the future
state, there are contradictory creeds of nations, and
histories of their princes in the world adopted as
certain. All these contradictions of the inhabitants
of this world are to be considered in this point of
view that they are more or less belonging to truth.

The Sufis maintain that mlayet, " holiness," 1 in

1 A possessor of velayet, a veh, " a saint," according to Jami (in the
Lives of Stiffs ) is destined toseiveas an instrument for manifesting the
proof of prophetic mission. Extraordinary powers over all nature are

265

the Dictionary signifies vicinity (to God), and in [he
public circle to be chosen by the people of God, is
evident prophetic mission, and interior faith is incite-
ment to prophecy; the prophet is its faith, and the
incitement of the faith of a saint is the mission of a
prophet, and the faith of an apostle is the comple-
tion of the apostleskip. Inspiration takes place
without the intervention of an angel, and revelation
with the intervention of an angel is the revelation
appropriate to the prophet. Inspiration is also
appropriate to him.

The pious Sajan Sajani says, the perfection of
sanctity is the period of a MafwK's time ; hence all
those among the saints vdio claimed the dignity of
a Mahdi, were divine. In the same manner as every

ascribed to such a man. According to the Kasheful mahjuib, " the reve-
** lations of the veiled being," composed by Shaikh AH Osman BenEbil-
Ah el Ghaznam, there are four thousand saints m the world, walking
separate from each other upon the ways of God. Among these, the first
three hundred are called Akhyar," the best;" the next four hundred
are the Abdal, commonly called " Santons;" after them seven hundred
Ebrar, '* just men;" further, four hundred Awtad, " posts or stakes;"
iinally, three hundred Nukeba, " chosen." According to the author of
Futuhat-i-Mekki , " the revelations of Mecca," that is, Mahi-eddin Mu-
hammed, before-mentioned (p. 334, note 1), there exist at any time seven
Abdal, or Saints, who preside the seven terrestrial zones, or climates.
Each of them, in his climate, corresponds to one of the seven prophets
in the following order: Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Edris, Joseph, Jesus, and
Adam, who reside as we have said (see pp. 186-89, notes 2. 1. 1 2. 3,
1. 2.) in so many heavenly spheres. To the said Abdal belong the Owets,
that is the great shaikhs, and pious men who, nourished in the prophet's
Lip, aie never tainted by age.

266

malady of the body has a curative medicine, so every
malady of the spirit has also its means of cure.
Thus, as die pulse and the urine are indicative of
the state of bodies, so dream and vision indicate the
state of the spirit. On that account, the devotees
relate the visions to their Shaikh, who is the doctor
of the soul.

The Sufis say, that upon the way of pilgrimage
there are seven mertebah, " degrees/' The first de-
gree consists of penitence, obedience, and medita-
tion, and in this degree the light is, as it were, green.
The second degree is the punty of the spirit from sa-
tanic qualities, violence, and brutality ; because, as
long as the spirit is the slave of satanic qualities, it
is subject to concupiscence, and this is the quality
of fire. In this state Iblis evinces his strength, and
when the spirit is liberated from this, it is distressed
with the quality of fierceness, which may be said
flashing, and this is conformable to the property of
wind. Then it becomes insatiable, 1 and this is
similar to water. After this it obtains quietness,
and this quality resembles earth. 2 In the degree of
repose, the light is as it were blue, and the utmost

1 The text has ^.^ malhamah, which means " gluttonous, eager

" after any thing to excess;" limulhim, it means *' inspired "

2 The ecstatic conditions desired by the Sufis are attainable only in a
perfect apathy, that is, in a cessation of all action of the corporeal organs
and intellectual faculties

267

reach of one's progress is the earthly dominion. The
third degree is the manifestation of the heart, by laud-
able qualities, which is similar to red light, and the
utmost reach of Its progress is the middle of the
upper dominion ; and in this station the heart praises
God, and sees the light of worship and spiritual
qualities. With the pure Siifis, <c the heart " signi-
fies the form of moderation which keeps the mind
in such dispositions that it may not at all be inclined
to any side towards excess and redundancy, and the
possessor of his mind whose fortunate lot is such a
station, is praised as " the master of the heart," or
" the lord of the mind." The fourth degree is the
applying of the constitution to nothing else but to God, and
this is similar to yellow light, and the utmost reach
of its progress is the midst of the heavenly malkut?
iC dominion.'' The fifth degree of the soul is that
which resembles white light, and the utmost aim of its
progress is the extreme heavenly dominion. The
sixth degree is the hidden, which is like a black light, *
and the utmost reach of its progress is the ddlemijab-
rut, " the world of power/ 7 The seventh degree is
qhaiiiub al qhaMb, " the evanescence of evanes-

u v J </ '

1 According to the Diet., Ferhengi Shuun (vol. II p. 430, edit, of
Constantinople) the seven heavens mentioned in these pages as habita-
tions of the perfect are called Heft-aureng, " seven thrones" (a name
commonly given to the seven stars of the Great Bear) ; they have seven
colors, the highest is the black.

" cence," l which is fand, " annihilation," and baka,
" eternal life," and is colorless ; this is absorption
in God, non-existence, and efTacement of the imagi-
nary in the irue being, like the loss of a drop of
water in the ocean; and " eternal life" is the union
of the drop with the sea, and abstraction from all
except the proper view of the heart, or separation
from the idle images which prevented the sahk, " tra-
" veller," in the midst of existence from distinguish-
ing the drop from the ocean. Fand, " annihila-
" tion," is of two kinds : partial, and universal.
The partial consists in this : that a traveller is effaced
at once, or that, by gradation, several of his mem-
bers are effaced, and then the rest of his members.
The senses and faculties pass first through the
exigency of sukr, tc intoxication/' and, secondly,
through that of sahu, " recovery from ebriety."
The universal annihilation consists in this : that all
existences belonging to the worlds of ma We, malkut,

Silvestre dc Sacy translates it, la disposition do

la dispantion, " the disappeaiance of disappearance," that is to say, per-
fect absorption. "We have (pp. 238-9, note 1) met with the term hazeret,
" presence," which is a qualification either of attentive expectation, 01
perfect intuition; opposite to this we find <//*cw&," absence, disappeaiance,
" evanescence:" this is a station attainable only to a vali, " saint," by
means of jamah, " union," when he sees nothing else but God and his
unity; this station coalesces with fand, " annihilation," when his per-
sonal existence is withdrawn from his eyes, and he acquires bala, " etei-
" nal and sole life with and in Cod."

and jabnit, if of the angels, of dominion, and
"power," are effaced at once, or by gradation:
first, the three kingdoms of nature are effaced; then
the elements; further the heavens; afterwards, mal-
farf, " dominion;" finally, jabrut, 6C power." Pro-
ceeding, the traveller experiences first the exigency
of a sudden manifestation 1 of majesty, and, secondly,
that of beauty.

The author of this book heard from the durvish
Sabjani, that what the prophet has revealed, viz. :
" thai earth and heaven will go to perdition," signifies
u annihilation," not as people take it in the common
acceptation, but in a higher sense, " annihilation in
" God;" so that God with all his attributes mani-
fests itself to the pious person, who becomes entirely
annihilated. Eternal life, which is the opposite of

1 The word used in the original is ^Jcsr J tcyeli, signifying here pro-
perly " a sudden burst upon the eyes, a transitory vision." This word
occurs, evidently with this meaning, in the following passage of Sadi's Ou-
hstan, " Rose-garden," (chap II. tale 9), which at the same time eluci-
dates the state of the Sufi above alluded to: Ck The vision (of God) which
<4 the pious enjoy, consists of manifestation and occultation, it shows
" itself, and vanishes from our looks," VERSE Thou showest thy coun-
tenance and thou concealest it. Thou enhancest thy value and sharpen-
est our fire. When I lehold thee without an intervention, it affects me
in such a manner that I lose my road. It Undies a flame, and then
quenches it by sprinkling water; on which account you see me some-
times in ardent flames, sometimes immersed in the waves.

Theie are different sorts of o^is^ tajeh'at, " manifestations," and
whenever the mystic has attained the first degrees of such divine favors,
he icceives no more his subsistence but by supernatural ways

270

annihilation, has also four divisions. The lirst de-
gree is eternal existence with God, when the pious
person from the absorption in God returns, and
sees himself dyin vajud, " a real being/ 7 endowed
with all qualities

" Who has seen himself, saw God "

If in absorption he keeps consciousness, there
remains duality behind,

In the abridged commentary upon Guhhen raz, it
is stated, that there are four kinds of manifestations.
The first is dsdri, " impression," by which the abso-
lute being appears under the form of some corporeal
beings, among which the human form is the most
perfect. The second kind isAfdali, " belonging to
" action," when the contemplative person sees the
absolute being endowed with several attributes of
action, such as creator, or nourisher, and the like,
or sees himself a being endowed with one of the
attributes. The manifestations are frequently co-
lored with lights, and exhibit all sorts of tints. The
third kind is sifdti, " belonging to attributes," when
the contemplative person sees the absolute being
endowed with the attributes of his own essence, such
as science and life, or sees himself a real being, en-
dowed with these attributes. The fourth kind is
zati, " essence," in which, on account of manifesta-
tion, annihilation takes place, so that the possessor
of this manifestation participates in a condition in

271

which no trace of himself remains, and no conscious-
ness whatever is preserved. It is not necessary thai
the manifestation be colored in a vest of light, or
that every light be a light of manifestation. It may
happen that a light proceeds from a prophet, a
saint, or a creature. The symptom of manifesta-
tion is annihilation, or the science (that is intimate
knowledge) of the object manifested at the time of
manifestation. The evidence for the truth of mani-
festations is derived from the Koran, or from tradi-
tions.

" I am God, the Lord of creatures/'

Moses heard the voice from a bush, 1 and the
chosen prophet said :

" I saw my Lord under the most excellent form "

1 The bush from whence Moses heard the -voice of God is mentioned in
the Commentary upon the Koran in the following manner. Moses, tra-
velling with his family from Midiari to Egypt, came to the valley of Towa,
situated near mount Sinai; his wife fell in labor and was delivered of a
son, in a very dark and snowy night; he had also lost his way, and his
cattle was scattered from him, when on a sudden he saw a fire by the side
of a mountain, which on his nearer approach he found burning m a
green lush. The Koran ( chap. XX. vv. 9-14) says: " When he saw fire
" and said to his family: Tarry ye here, for I perceive fire: peradven-
" ture I may bring you a brand thereout, or may find a direction in our
u way by the fire. And when he was come near unto it, a voice called
" unto him, saying: Moses ' verily I am thy Lord: wherefore put off
* thy shoes : for thou art in the sacred valley Towa. And I have chosen
" thee : therefore hearken with attention unto that which is revealed unto
" thee. Verily I am God ; there is no God beside me: wherefore worship

" me, and perform thy prayer in remembrance of me."

272

The writer of these pages heard from the durvish
Sabjani that the Hindus and other nations, haying
formed and adored as Gods various different images,
this is founded upon the fact, that eminent persons
among them were impressed with manifestations ;
and in such a manner the ten avatars became the
counterfeits of these manifestations ; some of the
avatars held themselves to be divinities, because
they have been the masters of these manifestations;
that the Jews and other nations acknowledge God
under bodily forms proceeds from the like manifes-
tations. Besides, that Pharaoh declared himself to
be a God, comes from a like manifestation : l because
Pharaoh, under his own form had seen God ; on
that account the lord Imam Muheddin Shaikh Mahi-
eddin, in some of his compositions, exhibited proofs
of Pharaoh's religion, and rendered this personage

1 The name of Pharaoh occurs se\cial times in this work, but the cha-
racter of this personage is viewed in a diileient light by the sectanans of
Muhammedism. In the Koran he appears nearly as in the Bible of the
Je\\s, Tuth regard to Moses and the Israelites, cruel, tyrannical, presump-
tuous, and perishing in the Red Sea : not without having before acknow-
ledged their God, and confessed his sins. But some Sufis see and admire
in the impious daring of Pharaoh the omnipotence of his po\vci, and
adduce, in fa\or of their opinion, passages from some of then most cele-
brated philosophers Indeed Jelaleddm represents Pharaoh equal to
Moses Sdhel Ibn Abd-ullah of Shostr says, that the secret of the soul \vas
first revealed when Pharaoh declaied himself a God. Ghazah sees jn his
temerity nothing else but the most noble aspiration to the divine, innate
in the human mind

273

illustrious. Moses saw God under a bodily form,
and did not find himself like that (exalted) being;
but it was under his own form that Pharaoh saw
God, and found himself like that being. Jesus
declared himself the son of God ; because he found
himself the son of God Almighty, in a like mani-
festation.

Hajab, " the veil, ! is of two kinds: the one, of
darkness, is that of a servant, like morality and exte-
rior occupations ; and the other is the veil of light
which comes from God ; because traditions are veils
of actions; actions, veils of attributes; and attri-
butes, veils of the essence of revelation, which re-
lates to -mystery, dependent either upon exterior

1 The Sufis call s _ >l^ " veil," \\hate\ci is opposed to perfect union

with divinity. In the life of Joneid Abu 'l-Kasem, who was born and
educated in Baghdad, and died in the year of the Hejira 297 (A. D. 909),
one of the earliest and most celebrated founders of Sufism, we read what
follows: " Somebody said to Joneid: ' I found that the Shaikhs of Kho-
u ' lasan acknowledge three sorts of veils : the first is the nature (of man) ;
" ' the second is the world, and the third concupiscence.'' These are,
44 said Joneid, ' the veils which apply themselves to the heart of the com-
" ' mon among men ; but there exists another sort of veil for special men ;
" ' that is, for the disciples of spiritual life, the Sufis : this is the view of
u l woiks, the consideration of the recompenses due to acts, and the regard
" of the benefits of God. The Shaikh of Islamism said (relatively to this
" ' subject) : God is veiled from the heart of man, who sees his proper
" ' actions; God is veiled even from him who seeks recompense, and from
" ' him who, occupied with considering the benefit, turns his eyes from
" ' the benefactoi.' " (See Notices et Extraits des MSS., vol. XII.;
p. 435, Joneid's Life, by Jami, translated by Silvestrc de Sacy )
\, in. 18

274

form or Inner sense. The iirst kind of truth is called
Kashef suri, die'* 1 exterior revelation;" the second
kind is ihe Kashef mam, 4t inner revelation/' The
exterior revelation takes place by means of sight,
hearing, touch, smell, or rapture, and is dependent
upon temporal traditions ; this is called rahbdmyet*
"way-guarding," because the finding of truth
according to investigation is contemplation, and
some reckon this investigation among the sorts of
istidrdj, ' " miracles permitted by God for hardening
" the hearts of sinners, "and of makr llahi, u divine
Cfc fascination."

Some derived the commands relative to the other
world from the revelation, and confined their de-
sires to /and, ^ annihilation, and bahd, " eternal
" life." The author of this book heard from Sab-
jana that the exterior revelation concerning tempo-
ral actions is called" monastic institution," 2 because

-..w is also interpreted: " prodigy of chastisement," that is,
extraoidinary things maybe operated by a man who renounced obedience
to God, in order that such a man may be led to pcidition. This appears
founded upon a passage of the Koran (chap. XVIII vv.43, 44) : " Let me
" alone >vith him who accuseth this new revelation of imposture. We
" will lead them gradually to destruction by ways which they know not;
" and I will bear with them for a long time, for my stratagem is
" effectual."

2 See vol III. p. 18, note 2. Monachism was not only disapproved but
positively prohibited by the Wuhammedan religion, the first founders of
which, chiefs of \varlike tribes, were by necessity, profession, and habit,
continually engaged m military expeditions. But to the Asiatic, in general,

275

monks belong to the exterior people ; and its wor-
ship is, according to rules, relative to every thing
exterior; and its purpose, on account of service,
directed to the retribution of deeds, reward of hea-
ven, adherence to a particular prophet, and the
like. Further obedience is an indication which
bears towards temporal actions ; on that account its
revelation is connected with temporal concerns.
The devout Mnselman follows also the rule of mo-
nastic life, and the Christian is not without partici-
pation in absorption and eternal life.

It is to be known that in the service of a king
there are two confidential Amirs,who are not friends,
but entertain enmity against each other. They
may bring their own friends before the king. So
are the prophets appointed at the court of God; if
not so, how would the absolute Being have divided
the extent of his empire by religion, if this were to
be confined to one person? Another opinion is that
of a pious philosopher, who contemplates the light
of God in all objects of this and the other world,
and turns not his regard from the least atom ; he

so natural is ascctism, seclusion, and contemplation, that Muhammed, in
order to restrain a propensity which he felt and now and then showed
himself, declaied that, for monachism, the pilgi image to Mecca was sub-
stituted by divine order. Even during the prophet's life, the love of
monastic and anachoretic professions gamed ascendancy among Musel-
rnans, and easily united with Siifism

raised this belief to a high estimation ; and lo him
remained no rancor of creed or religion ; whoever,
in the service of faith and morality is not freed from
duality, and whoever says, the state of Muselmans
is indignity higher than that of Christians, knows
nothing of the real Being. Whoever said of him-
self : " I attained a height of knowledge equal to
" that otM&ruf Kerkh% 9 1 said nothing else than this :
4 ' the variety and multitude of the rules of prophets
" proceed only from the abundance of names, and,
u as in names there is no mutual opposition or con-
" tradiction, the superiority in rank among them
" is only the predominance of a name."
The Sufis say : The spirits of the perfect men 2

1 Sec vol. II. p. 390, note 2.

2 <oLvo! ./xle^ / JLj nafus Kamilah tnsdni. tnsan kamil,
" the perfect man," according to the doctrine of the Sufis, is, " the re-
" union of all the worlds, divine and natural, universal and partial; he
kk is the book in >\hich all books, divine and natural, are reunited. On
" account of his spirit and intellect, it is a reasonable book, called ' the
" ' Mother of Books;" on account of his heart, it is the book of the
" well-guarded table (al lowh); on account of his soul, it is the book of
" things obliterated and of things written; it is he who is then the
kt venerable sublime and pure pages, which are not to be touched, and
k ' the mysteries which cannot be comprehended but by those who are
" purified from the dark veils. The relation of the first intelligence to
" the great world, and to its realities themselves, is as the relation of the
" human soul to the body and its faculties; for the universal soul is the
" heart of the great world, as the reasonable soul is the heart of the man,
" and it is on that account that the world is called * the great Man.' "
( Definitions deJorjam. Not et Ext. des MSS., vol. IX. pp. 86-87). la

277

after separation Irons their bodies, go to the world of
angels. The saints are directed by the interpreta-
tion of the Koran, and the vulgar people by the
commentary upon both. Some maintain that the
Saints do not subject themselves to it, but are tena-
cious only of this verse :

" Adore God, thy Lord, until attaining certitude (himself)."

The Shaikh Najem eddin Kabra 1 said: When dis-
tinguished persons abandon the ceremonies of the
worship, this means that these ceremonies which
are performed by prescription, are contrary to them,
because in worship no difficulty or inconvenience is
to take place, but only joy and pleasure to be derived
from it.

The lord Said Muhammed Nurbakhsh says, in the
account of apparitions : The difference between
baroz, " apparition," and tandsokh, " Iransmigra-
" lion," is this : lhat the latter is the arrival of the
soul, when it has separated from one body to take
possession of another, in the embryo which is fit

the passage just quoted, SHveslrc de Sacy thinks the perfect man is
equal to the first intelligence. The book of things obliterated and of
" ihmgs wntten, the world of transitory things, in \vhich life and death
" succeed each other." The universal soul is an emanation of the divi-
nity, subordinate to the first and umveisal intelligence.

1 Najem-eddin Abu 'l-Jenab Ahmed, son of Omar, was a celebrated
Sufi, who foimed a gieat number of disciples. He was surnamcd Kobia,
" great," on account of hu> supcnoi knowledge. He died in the yeai of
the HejnafilS (A. I). J221)

278

for receiving a soul in the fourth month, to be reck-
oned from the moment when the sperina fell and
settled in the womb; and this separation from one
body and junction with another is called madd,
" resurrection." An " apparition" is when a soul
accumulates excellence upon excellence and an
overflow takes place; so that by beatific vision it
becomes visible ; that is, it may happen, that a per-
fect soul, after its separation from the body, resides
years in the upper world, and afterwards, for the
sake of perfecting mankind, joins with a body, and
the time of this junction is also the fourth month to
be reckoned from the moment of the formation of
the body, as was said upon transmigration.

It is stated, in the abridged commentary upon Gul-
shen-raz, that the soul cannot be without a body.
When it is separated from the elemental body, it
becomes a shadowy figure in the barzakh, that is, in
the interval of time between the death and the resur-
rection of a man; 1 this is called u the acquired
" body," The barzakh, to which the soul is trans-
ported after its separation from this world, is another
place than that which is between the spirits and the
bodies. The first is called ghaib imkani, " the pos-
" sible disappearance/' and the second ghaib mahdli,
" the illusive disappearance. " All those who expe-
rience the possible disappearance, become informed

1 See page 24S, note 2.

279

of future events. There are many contradictory
opinions about the Illusive disappearance, which is
the annunciation of the tidings of an extraordinary

O w

death. The lord Shaikh Muhammed Laheji stated,
in his commentary upon Gulshen-raz 7 that in the
histories and accounts before-said is to be found,
that Jdbilkd is a town of immense magnitude in the
East, and Jabilsd a town of the utmost extent in the
West, opposite to the former. ' Commentators have
said a great deal upon both. According to the im-
pressions which i, an humble person, have received
upon my mind relative to this subject, without copy-
ing others, and conformably with the indications,
there are two places; the one, Jdbilkd is dakim-misal,
" the " world of images," because on the east side
the spirits emerge into existence. Barzakh (another
name for it) is between the invisible and the visible,
and contains every image of the world ; certainly
there may be a town of immense greatness, and
Jdbikd is " the world of similitude." Barzakh is
there the world in which the souls reside after their
separation from the worldly station, all suitably to
their deeds, manners, and words, good or bad,which

1 Jabilka and Jabilsa signify the double celestial Jerusalem of the Sufis :
the first is the world of ideals, which is the wall of separation between
the real and the mystic world ; the second is the world of spirits after
the completion of their career upon eaith. (See Von Hammer's Guhhen-

raz, p 25.)

iliey had made their own in the worldly station, as
is to be found in the sacred verses and traditions.
This Barzakh is on the west side of the material
world, and is certainly a town of immense great-
ness, and opposite to it is Jabilka. The inhabi-
tants of this town are gentle and just, whilst the
people of Jabilsa, on account of the wicked deeds
and manners which they had made their own in the
worldly station, well deserve to be distinguished by
the title of oppressors. Many entertain the opinion
that both Barzakhs are but one ; it should however
be stated, that Barzakh in which the souls will
abide after their separation from the worldly station
is to the right of that Barzakh which is placed, be-
tween the pure spirits and the bodies : because the
gradations of the descent and ascent of beings form
a circle, in which the junction of the last with the
first point cannot be imagined but in the movement
of the circle, and that Barzakh which is prior to the
worldly station, with regard to the graduated de-
scent, has a connection with the anterior worldly
station ; and that Barzakh, which is posterior to the
worldly station, with regard to the graduated ascent,
has a connection with the posterior worldly station.
Further, whatever be the form of manners of the
souls in the posterior Barzakh, this will also be the
form of deeds, consequences of manners, actions,
and qualities which had been owned in ihe worldly

281

station, in opposition to the former Barzakli. Then
the one is a stranger to the other ; however, as both
worlds, inasmuch as spiritual essences of light, being
different from matter, are comprised in the visionary
forms of the universe, they may be taken for syno-
nimous. The Shaikh Baud Kaiseri relates that
Shaikh Mahi-eddin of Arabia (may his tomb be puri-
fied!) has stated In the Fattihdl, " revelations/' that
Barzakh is different from the first; and the reason
that the first is distinguished by the name of " pos-
" sible absence," and the latter by " illusive ab-
" sence," is, that every form in the first Barzakh
is contingent, and depends upon exterior evidence,
and every form in the last Barzakh, is inaccessible
to the senses, and admits of no evidence but on the
last day of the world. There are many expounders
to whom the form of the first Barzakh appears evi-
dent, and who know what takes place in the world
of accidents; however, few of these expounders are
informed of the news of death.

The author of this book heard from Sabjani, the
learned in the knowledge of God ; that the belief of
the pure Sufis is the same as that of the AshrMan,
u the Plalonists;" but the Sufis have now mixed
their creed with so many glosses, that nobody finds
therein the door to the rules of the prophet, and the
ancient Saints. Sabjani gave the information that
the essence of God Almighty is absolute light, abso-

lute brightness, and mysterious life; that he is pure,
and free from all colors, figures, shapes, and without
a prototype ; that the interpretation of the eloquent
and the indications of the learned are deficient in
the account of that light which is without color and
mark; that the understanding of the learned and the
wisdom of the sage is too weak for entirely compre-
hending the pure essence of that light, and as, con-
formably to these words :

" I was a hidden treasure , but I wished to be known, and I created
" the world for being known."

The essence of God the most High and Almighty
showed his existence, so that, except him, there is
no real being In this employment of manifestation,
he entered into contemplation, whence the sage
calls him die first intelligence ; because this lord of
expansive creation considered every being according
to the scope of propriety; and when the Almighty
Being of expansive creation had examined every
form inasmuch as by his power it was possible that
such a form might appear, he fixed his contempla-
tion in this employment of manifestation, so that
what is called " the perfect spirit" is nothing else
but himself. From Sabjana the information has
been received and found in books that Abul Hassen
Suri said : God Almighty rendered his spirit beau-
teous, then called it " truth," and made revela-
tions, and brought forth names to the creatures;

the absolute being has two heads : the first is itldk
wf, 1 " absolute excellence, " and vahedet mahs^
Ci unmixed unity ;" the second is mukayed va kasret
va baddy et^ " compass, abundance, and primi-

" tiveness." This, according to the greatest num-
ber, relates to unity. Further is dkl-kulh^ " the
a universal spirit," which incloses all realities
which are (as it were) concrete in him, and this is
called Anh-irmajid,* " the throne of glory" (the
ninth or empyrean heaven); he is the truth of
mankind, and between him and the majesty of
divinity there is no mediator according to the wise,
although some admit a difference. Sabjani said,
this indicates that they wish no separation from the
Lord of grace may ever take place. Moreover, the
universal spirit, which embraces all realities in the
way of expansion, they call Arsh-i-Kerim^ " the
4 throne of mercy," and hwh-i-mahfiz, 7 " the tables
" of destiny. " Besides, there is the universal

284

nature, penetrating all material and spiritual beings,
and this is called tiikdb, 4 " vicissitude." With the
philosophers nature is the noble part of bodies, and
Sajani stated, the penetrating nature in spirits indi-
cates and signifies that there is one divine Being,
and the rest nothing else but shadows. Finally,
there is an essence of life, which the philosophers
call hayuli, " the first principle of every thing mate
Ci rial/' and the Sufis call it enka.

SECTION III. OF SOME OF THE SAINTS AMONG THE
MODERNS, AND OF THE SUFIS, WHOM THE AUTHOR OF
THIS WORK HAS KNOWN.

The God-devoted lord Mawlana shah Badakhshi,
when he had come from his accustomed abode to
India, by the assistance of God was received among
the disciples of Shah Mir of the Kadari lineage, who
had chosen his residence in the royal capital of La-
hore, and acquired great knowledge by his studies.

285

From the original compositions of this sect of holi-
ness, we have the following quatrain:

" The being who descended from his high sphere of sanctity,
4f From the absolute world, inclined towards the nether bondage,
" He will, as long as the Lord forms mankind.
4k Remain fitted to the four elements."

Besides, the lord Mahi eddin Muhammcd, the
master of rank and dignity, the lord of the universe
Darashuko, 1 having, according to his desire, has-

1 Darashiko was the eldest son and heir presumptive of Shah-Jehan,
of Delhi, during whose life he defended him against the rebellion of his
younger brother, Aureng-zeb, who, leagued with two other brothers,
attempted to dethrone his father. Dara, having been defeated in a
battle on the river Jambul, retired towards Lahore, whilst the victorious
Aureng-zeb proceeded to Agra, and by stratagem rendered himself master
of his father's person, and imprisoned his brother Murad bakhsh, whom
he had, till then, treated as emperor, in the castle 6f Agra, where ihe cap-
tive prince died. Proclaimed emperor under the title of Aalemgir, the
new sovereign now turned his arms against Dara, who was in possession
of the Panj-ab, Multan, and Kabul, and defended the line of the Setlej
Here beaten, Dara retired beyond the Indus, and took refuge in the moun-
tains of Bikker Aalumgir was called to Allahabad, to encounter his
brother Suja, who had moved from Bengal to assert his right to the
throne. Aalemgir had scarce repulsed him, when he was obliged to
haste towards Guzerat: there was Dara, who had recrossed the Indus
and taken an advantageous position in that maritime province. He
might have been victorious in a battle, but he succumbed to the artful-
ness of Aalemgir Deserted by his army, abandoned by his allies, he was*
delivered up by traitors to his cruel brother, subjected to an ignomini-
ous exposition m the streets of Delhi, and executed. Suja, Alemgir's
last brother was obliged to fly to Arrakan, where he died, seven years
before his father, Shah Jehan, who died his son's prisoner, in 1665. 1 have
related the principal events of one single year, 1658 of our era. This
ib a date in the life of the author of the Dabistan, then in his fortieth

lened to wail, on his person, obtained the object of his
wish, so that, whatever was established as certainty
among the theological propositions which he found
for the benefit of the travellers in the vast desert, he
sent it to Kachmir, where the lord Miilana shah
keeps his residence.

" Upon the whole, God spoke by the tongue of Omar."

Any questions of every one who interrogates are
asked from him, although they may fall from the
tongue of the asker, and the hearing of every thing
solicited comes from the asker, although he him-
self may not know it.

" All beings are one."

Some of this sect of Alides (may God sanctify their
tombs !) also believe that the progress of perfection
has no limits, because revelation is without limit,
as it takes place every moment ; hence it follows that
the increase cannot be limited. So they say, if the
Siifi live one thousand years, he still is in progress.
Some of the ancient Shaikhs proffer, as a confirma-

year or thereabout. He was before this time in the Panjab, and might have
personally known Darashuko, who was renowned for his great learning
and most religious turn of mind Besides what is said above in our text,
we know (see Mtmoires sur les particularity de la Rehgion musul-
mane, par M Garein de Tassy, p. 107 ), that Dara frequented Bdba Lai, a
Hindu Durvish, who inhabited Dhianpur in the province of Lahore, and
conversed with him upon religious matters. The Munshi Shanderban
ShahJehamyfiQ tea Persian work, which contains the pious conversations
of these personages

lion of this statement, that the Shaikh al islam,
" the shaikh of the right faith," said : There exists
no more evident sign of bad fortune than the day of
a fixed fortune ; whoever does not proceed, retro-
grades. It is reported as the saying of the pro-
phet ( may the benediction of the most High be
upon him) :

" He whose t\\o days are alike is deceived."

It was also said: " A traveller, who during iwo
" days goes on in the same manner, is in the way of
" detriment; he must he intent upon acquiring and
" preserving." 1

The greatest part of this sect maintain the same
doctrine, but, by the benediction of my Shaikh,
the crier for help in the quarters of heaven, the
teacher of the people of God, the godly, the lord
Mulana Shah (the peace and mercy of God be
his!), upon me, an humble person, fell, as if it
were the splendor of the sun, and made it clear to
me that the Siifi has degrees and a limit of perfec-
tion, that, after having attained it, he remains at
that height; because with me, an humble broken

1 These are evidently sentiments conducive to progressive civilization
and perfection of mankind, and prove that, in Asia, even under the domi-
nation of the Muhammedan religion, men felt that they are not doomed
to be stationary ; thus the absurd dogma of fatality >vas, by a fortunate
inconsistency, counterbalanced by the dictates of sound reason. Unfor-
tunately, our author, generally so liberal-minded, appears upon that
point not to range himself upon the most rational side.

288

individual, lo remain at a height attained, is profi-
ciency, inasmuch as every state has its perfection,
and the perfection of a progressing state annihilates
the progress. This is also the meaning of the before-
quoted saying of the prophet ; because there is
lute freedom with those only who are united with
bondage with those who tend towards God, and abso-
him, and the words " two days" refer to time. In
the same manner my master (the mercy of God be
upon him ! ) interpreted those words. The truth is,
that they have not understood the saying, and have
not penetrated into the interior sense of the figura-
tive expression : because the latter refers in truth to
the insufficiency of a contemplative man. And this
sense agrees with that of the following authentic
tradition of the prophet (the peace and blessing of
the Highest be upon him) :

*' There are moments in which I am with God in such a manner that
" neither angel nor arch-angel, nor prophet, nor apostle, can attain
" to it."

These words confirm his having once been in a
lower station. It is said that the prophet (the peace
and blessing of the most High be upon him !) was not
always of the same disposition, the same state, and
the same sort of constitution ; but this is not so, but
from the same approved tradition it is evident that
the prophet ( peace and blessing upon him ! ) was
always in the same state, and no ascent nor descent

289

was possible therein ; because lie says : ' ' Yon place
' * was at" once so contiguous to me, that no che-
4t rub or no divine missioned prophet ever found
" himself in such a situation." The time of a
prophet is a universal one, and is free from tem-
porariness : this time has neither priority nor
posteriority

" With thy Lord there is neither morning nor evening."

Except this, the noble tradition has no meaning,
which is also evident from the obvious interpreta-
tion, and moreover included in the slate of perfec-
tion and constitution of Muhaxnmed (peace and bles-
sing upon him!). But, in the sense which they
attribute to the words, a deficiency is necessarily
implied. The state of the lord of the world (Mu-
hammed) is always in the perfection of unity; this
is the best to adopt, at times in a particular, and at
times in a general qualification. There is also an-
other interpretation which the Shaikhs (the mercy
of the most High be upon them) gave to these words :
inasmuch as the gradations of these Saints are infi-
nite. Thus in the work nefhdt ul ins, " the fragrant
" gales of mankind," l the opinion of the Shaikhs is
stated to be, that some of the saints are without a
mark and without an attribute, and the perfection
of a state, and the utmost degree to which Saints

1 See page 06, note 1.
\. in. 19

may allain, is to be without an attribute and with-
out a mark, It was said :

" He who has no mark, his mark are \ve."

Besides, those who acknowledge an ascent with-
out a limit, if in the pure being and true essence of
the glorious and most high God, who is exempt and
free from ascent and descent, color, odor, outward-
ness and inwardness, increase and decrease, they
admit a progression, it must also be admissible in
the existence of a Sufi professing the unity of God.
And if they do not admit a gradation of progress
in God, then they ought not to admit it in the pro-
fessor of the divine unity, who in the exalted state
of purity and holiness became united with him.
When a devotee among men, having left the con-
nexion with works of supererogation, arrives at thai
of divine precepts, he realises the words :

" When thou didst cast thy arrows against them, thou didst not cast
" them, hut God slew them." *

It may be said : Certainly, he who became one
with God, and of whose being not an atom remained,

1 Koran, chap. VIII. v. 17. We have mentioned (p. 100, note 2) Mu-
hammed's victory gamed at Bedr over a superior force of the Koreish. The
prophet, by the direction of the angel Gabriel, took a handful of gravel,
and threw it towards the enemy, saying : " May their faces be confounded :"
whereupon they immediately turned their backs and fled Hence the
above passage is also rendered: " Neither didst thou, Muhammed'
" cast the gravel into thepr eyes, when thou didst seem to cast ^t , but God
k ' cast it "

291

lie, from whose sight both worlds vanished, who in
the steps of right faith arrived at the rank of perfect
purity, and from truth to truth became God, what
then higher than God can there ever be, to which
the pious professor of unity may further tend to
ascend ? It is known :

" Beyond blackness, no color can go." *

Every one, as long as he is in the state of pro-
gress, cannot have arrived at the condition

" Where there is no fear and no care "

1 The assumption of being God was not uncommon among the Sufis
One of the most distinguished was Hassain Mans'ur Hallaj, a disciple of
Joncid. After having taught the most exalted mysticism, in several
countries, Hallaj was condemned to death in Baghdad, according to Ben
Shohnah on account of a point of his doctrine concerning the pilgrimage
to Mecca, for which he thought some other good works might be justly
substituted, according to Sheheristani and others, on account of having
proclaimed himself to be God During the infliction of one thousand
stripes, followed by a gradual dismemberment of his whole body, he never
ceased, by words and acts, to give demonstrations of the most extatic joy.
The manner of his death is variously related. (See Herbelot, and Tashrat
al auha, by Farid-eddin in Tholuck's Jttuthen sammlung aus morgenlanr-
discher Mysttk, S. 311-327). Abu Yezid Bastami (before mentioned,
p. 229, note) also used to salute himself as God. " Agriculturists," says
Gha/ali, "left their fields and assumed such a character; nature is
" delighted with speeches which permit works to be neglected, under the
" illusion of purifying the heart by the attainment of certain degrees
" and qualities." This opinion produced great e\ils, " so that," adds
the said author in his indignation, " to put to death the lowest of those
41 who set forth such futile pretensions, is more consistent with God's
*' religion than to preserve the life of ten persons " (See Pocotk, first
edit , pp 268-269 )

Because care and fear derive from ascent and de-
scent Fear at ascending is in the expectation whe-
ther the ascent will succeed or not, but whoever dis-
regards ascent and descent, and elevates himself
above care and fear, he obtains tranquillity in tran-
quillity, and rectitude in rectitude. And the verse
of the merciful is :

" Keep thyself upright as thou wast directed "

Hence is also understood, that the Sufi remains
steadfast in the dignity of perfection, for rectitude
is perseverance. Muhammed ! it is necessary;
remain fixed in the dignity of professing the unity
of God, which is free from the misfortune of incon-
stancy. And the verse of the merciful is :

" The day on which I perfected religion for your sake, and rendered
" complete my favor towards you."

This indicates clearly the meaning that, by this
perfection also, the prophet (upon whom be the
peace and the blessing of the most High ! ) is mani-
fested. And those who, on account of the infinity
of revelation, hold progress to be perpetual, are not
right: because, as long as the sight is illuminated
by the light of the revelation, the revelationists and
the illuminated are still separate, and not yet be-
come one : ' in this state there is duality and infidelity

1 As long as the Sufi is conscious of the least distinction between God
and himself, he is not thoroughly penetrated by the unity of God. Here

293

in the individual who has not ye I been liberated
from the idea of something double in himself, and
he to whom an atom of something else but that one
remains attached is reckoned, by all professors of
unity and by all perfect saints, to be one who gives
partners to God or an infidel, and in a state of defi-
ciency.

41 It behoves thee to keep neither soul not body,
*' And if they both icmain, I do not remain ;
" As long as a hair of thec remains upon its place,
' k Know, by this one hair, thy foot remains fettered
" As long as thou playest not at once thy life,
'' I shall consider thee as polluted and impious."

* Why dost thou not thyself produce revelation, so that ihou maycst
* always be illuminated? *

follows the translation of a passage taken from the Masnavi of the cele-
biated Jelal eddm Rumi, which passage, \\e may agree with Silvestre de
Sacy, admirably expresses this mystic doctrine in the form of an apo-
logue: " A man knocked at the door of his friend. The latter asked:
44 4 Who art thou, my dear?'' It is I.' 4 In this case, be off; I cannot
44 4 at present receive thee; there is no place at my board for one who is
" 4 still raw; such a man cannot be sufficiently dressed (that is ma-
44 * tured) and cured of hypocrisy, but by the fire of separation and
44 * refusal.' The unfortunate man departed. He employed a whole
44 year in travelling, consuming himself in the flames of desire and afflic-
44 tion, caused by the absence of his friend. Matured and perfected by
' 4 his long trial, he again approached the door of his friend and knocked
44 modestly, fearful that an uncivil word might again fall from his own
" lips _ .< Who is there?' was asked from the interior of the house. 7
4t ' Dear friend, it is thyself who art at the door ' * Because it is myselt,
" enter to-day, this house can contain no other than I ' " (Sec Notices
ft Extraits des MSS., vol. XII pp 430-431, note 4)
* The words between asterisks are not joined m the text to the veises

294

As this question, solved in this manner by me,
humble individual, was very abstruse, I sent it to
my friends, that, if there were occasion for further
discussion, they might write to me, and thus the
matter be better elucidated. God alone is all-suffi-
cient ; the rest is inordinate desire. What has been
hitherto said is taken from the prince of the world
(Darasheko).

It should be known that, in the work Herds ed at
Andyetj " Observations upon the blessed favor," is
stated, that the sect, which in their (exalted) feel-
ing i conquer the state of jazbetj ' 2 jama va vahedet,
" attraction, union, and unity," have acquired, by
means of the superiority of the manifest name (the
quality of] exterior deity, and interior and hid-
den creation. This sect is called, in the language of
the Siifis, sahebanri-kereb*-4-ferdis, " the masters of

they seem nevertheless to belong to them, although not in the metre of the
other lines.

1 -at-Xa , " tasting," from ,jjji , zawk, " taste, delight/' is above

employed in a wide acceptation, and means in the technical language of
the Sufis an uncommon exaltation of the mind.

2 w J^ 9 " attraction," is a mystical state, in which God attracts the
saint, in order that he, an obedient servant, may direct his mind towards
the side to which he is attracted, and may be inflamed in such a man-
ner as to rise up towards heaven. The majezub, " attracted," form a
particular class of the Siifis. (See p. 250-251, note 1.)

** ^y , " proximity," a technical term of the Sufis, is referred
the words addressed by God to Muhammed: " adore and approach "

295

proximity to divine " precepts/' and this proximity
is acknowledged to be that of divine precepts. This
sect, which, on account of the proper meaning of
the name of al bdten, " interior/' maybe brought
into relation with expansive creation and hidden
reality, this sect after jamd, " union," obtains ferk,
40 division," i and this is called kereb-wwodfil, " prox-
4< imity of supererogation." The lord Shaikh Mu-
hammed Laheji states that jamA, " union/' is con-
trary to ferk, " division ;" and division is the veil of
God before the creatures. Every one sees the crea-
tion, but acknowledges God to be without it; every
one has the sight of God by means of the creation,
that is, every one sees God, but the creation by
itself affords no access to the sight of him.

(See p. 197). A man approaches God by all acts which may procure him
happiness, and it is not God who approaches man, because God is always
near all men, whether they be predestined to heaven or hell ; but it is
man who approaches God.

1 s.4.2w and -0,3 are terms used in a particular sense by the Sufib

In the state of jama, " union," the mystic sees but God and his unity ,
in the state of ferk, " division," man enters again into the natural state,
and occupies himself with good works and the fulfilment of precepts.
He docs even what is not prescribed conformably with this passage of the
Jvoran (chap. XVII. v. 81) : " Watch some part of the night in the same
" exercise (praying), as a work of supererogation for thee; peradventure
" thy Lord will raise thee to an honorable station." These two states
( union and division ) are necessary to the mystic. The following passage
of the Koran is quoted as an authority for this doctrine: God testifies thai
there is no God Itut him; this is " union;" and the angels testify the
same, as well as the men who possess the science, this h " division."

Besides, the Mari)am of the world, the Fatima of

the lime and ages, the purity of Jmman kind, the
protecting intelligence, Jehdn dm Ci the ornament of
" the world," the begum, the lady, " the daughter
of Abu 'I Muzaf&r Skihdbu 9 d din Muhammed sahib-
Kir an sdni Amir id muslemm shah Jehdn pddshdh ghdzi,
vi the victorious lord, the bright star of religion,
44 Muhainnied, a second Sahib Kiran, the Amir of
" the believers, Shah Jehan, the conquering empe-
ror, having secretly followed, by the desire of her
heart, the injunctions of the blessed Mulla shah,
turned her face to the right rule, and attained her
wish, the full knowledge of God. One of the won-
derful speeches of this blessed and exalted person-
age, whom the author of this book knew, is the fol-
lowing: In the year of the Hejira 1057 (A. D.
1647 ) Mulla shah came to the house of a friend in
Hyderabad. One of the persons present, by way of
reproving allusion, began to ask questions about: the
hurt which the begum of the lord received by fire.
The teacher of morality said to him : " A slight gar-
" ment imbibed with oil, when it takes fire, is
u easily burnt ;" in such a manner came the misfor-
tune upon the most pure form of her majesty. This
person laughed and continued to revile. By acci-
dent, somebody came from the house of this person
and said: " What, art thou sitting here, whilst thy
" sister is burnt, because fire fell upon her gar-

297

nient." The master observed : " In such a man-
" ner, 1 said, befell misfortune on the illustrious

princess; God has shown it to thee."

" The lamp Tvhich God has lighted,

" Whoever blows it out burns his beard."

The Sufi Mulla Ismail Isfahani, seeking enjoy-
ment, came from Iran to the great towns of India,
and in Lahore visited the lord Mian Mir ; he chose
the condition of a Durvish, and from Lahore soon
betook himself to Kashmir, where he abandoned the
worldly affairs, and practised pious austerity. The
author of this book saw him in Kashmir, in the year
of the Hejira 1049 (A. D. 1659). The following
verse is by him :

u I knocked down every idol which \vas in my way,

" No other idol remains to my veneration but God himself."

From Mirza Muhammed Makim, the jeweller,
the information was received that Mir Fakher eddin

Muhammed Tafresi was occupied in Kashmir with
reviling and reproving Mulla Ismail and Fakher, and
said : " These belong to the infidels, and are des-
' ' tined to hell. " Mulla Ismail answered : " In this
14 state I withheld my hand from worldly affairs,
' < and in this world never was associated to thee ;
" in like manner in the future world, as, according
' ' to thy opinion, we are infidels, and go to hell, and
' ' not to heaven with thee ; therefore it behoves thee
1 ' to be satisfied and content with us, as we have left

2<J8

" to thee the present and the future world. The

Mobed says :

" The pious and the idolaters are satisfied with us, as we
" Are not ourselves their partners, neither in this nor in the other world,
*' Enmity arises from partnership; we, with the intention of friendship,

" Gave up the future, and follow the present world."

Mirza Muhammed Mokim, the jeweller, further
said : A person gave bad names to Fakheraye Fal ;
the latter, looking towards him, gave him no
answer. When we asked him the reason of his
silence, he replied: " A man moved his lips, and
" agitated the air; what does thai concern me?"
Fakher, the ornament of mankind, was not much
addicted to religious austerity, but gave himself up
to counselling, reforming, and correcting others.
He assumed the surname of Tana, " timid, or un-
" believer;" he called the Journal of his travels,
Dair-namah, " Journal of a tavern (also monastery),"
In this Journal are the following lines :

" I met upon my road with a bitch,

" Like a dog guided by scent in the circle of a chase.

" Her paw was colored with blood,

" In the middle of the road she lay like a tiger;

" Impelled either by wild instinct or necessity,

** She had made her own whelp the aliment of life.

" At the sight of so strange a scene,

" I restrained my hand from striking, and opening my lips,

*' I said : ' dog, what desirest thou to do?

" * Upon thy own heart why inflicting all this pain?'

44 Scarce had the tip of my tongue perforated the pearl of the secret*

44 When her tail was agitated, and she said :

" * thou who art not informed of thy own state,

" ' How shall I give thec an account of my condition?'

" When the words of the dog came upon my ear,

*' A resplendent sun fell into my mind.

" In the sense of (these words ^nd^cat^ve of the dog's] insanity,

" My own sense found the authority of a precept. 4

" The desire of wandering in the garden left my heart,

u Which assumed the quality of a tulip and a deep mark:

" It saw nothing upon the path of profligacy

" But the privation of remedies.

" I said again to her: '0 lion-like dog,

* ' * The morning-breeze learns from thee rapidity :

4< ' Manifest to me the state of thy heart,

" ' Exhibit to me the form of its history.'

44 She gave a howl, and, emitting lamentations:

" Rendered testimony of her own secret condition :

" ' I devoured the blood of the offspring of my own womb

" * That nobody might place a weight upon my head."

In the year of the Hejira 1056 (A. D. 1647),
according to information received, Fakhera Tarsa
left his old habitation in Ahmed abad of Guzerat*
The father of the Durvish, the pious Sabjani, was
an inhabitant of Hirat, but he was born in India.
This illustrious person made a great proficiency
in the sciences of philosophy and history, and ac-
quired also a fortune ; but he at last turned his
face from it, and chose retirement and solitude ; for

/> _ X-J I kJ I+^^AS&J*? A.J JJ 5" kA

u> -2/v f (^}

Literally: " In this bird from insanity the bird of my heart found the
'* station of a command " It is known that murgh, " birds," among
other significations, has that of " the heart, the understanding."

300

many years lie followed the footsteps oi a perfect
spiritual guide ; lie travelled to see monasteries and
hermitages, until he became the disciple of Shaikh
Mujed eddin Muhammed Balkhi Kaderi, who was
free, virtuous, and remote from the world. The
said Shaikh read the whole work of Shaikh Moki
eddin Arabi before his master, and his master
perused it likewise with Shaikh Sader eddin Kau-
tivi,who had heard the whole of it from ShaidhMohi
eddin. Ths pious Sabjani frequently expounded
the words of the lord Rais ul Mohedin, " the chief
44 of the believers of divine unity," Shaikh Mohi
eddin Arabi, and those of the best Sufis, and as
he was carried to the very limit of evidence, he
found them conformable with the doctrine of the
Platonists. The godly Sabjana studied the whole
work of the celebrated Shaikh in the service of his
perfect master. After this attendance, having re-
signed every thing into the hands of the fortunate
Shaikh, he turned his face entirely to sanctity,
and lived a considerable time retired in solitude,
until his master declared to him: Now, thou hast
attained perfection, The pious Sabjani keeps no-
thing with him but the cover of his privities ; he
abstains from eating the flesh of any animal ; he
asks for nothing ; if any sustenance be left near
him, provided it be not animal food, he takes a
little of it; he venerates the mosques and the

501

temples of idols ; and lie performs in butgadah, i
u house of idols, " according to the usage of
the Hindus, thepuja and dandavet, " worship and
" prostration," that is, the religious rites, but in
the mosques he conforms in praying after the man-
ner of the Muselmans ; he never abuses the faith
and rites of others; nor gives he one creed pre-
ference over another ; he always practises absti-
nence, but at times he breaks the fast with some
fruits from the mountains, such as pine-kernels, and
the like ; he takes no pleasure in demonstrations of
honor and magnificence to him, nor is he afflicted
by disdain and contempt, and in order to remain
unknown to men, he dwells in the Kohistan, " moun-
" taioous country "of the Afghans and Kafns, and
the like. The Kafris are a tribe from Kabulistan,
and are called Rafer Katoriz, who before lived upon
mountains, in deserts and forests, remote and con-
cealed from others.

The author of this book saw Sabjani in the year
of the Ilejira 1046 (A. D. 1636) in upper Baugash.
This personage never sleeps at night, but sits awake
in deep meditation ; every one who sees him would
take him for a divine being. Shaikh Sadi says:

1 But-gadah appears to me to have been corrupted into pagoda, the
modern name of a Hindu temple in popular language This name has
also been derived from bhagavata, but, if I am not mistaken, with less
probability.

502

" Dost thou not know that, when I went to the friend,
" As soon as I arrived before him, 1 said: ' It is he ' " l

Sabjani appears a (divine) revelation in his ac-
tions, steps, attributes, and nature, and to have
attained the summit of perfection. He said that,
with respect to the other world, there are several
classes of men. The one denies the absolute being ;
another interprets it in an abstract manner of rea-
soning, inasmuch as they have sufficient intelligence
to be modest and conciliating. The distinguished
Siifis, without interpreting the different systems of
nations, which, in their separate creeds of various
kinds and religions, differ about the beforesaid ob-
ject, view in the bodies the agreeableness of imagery.
Khiz'er, Elias, Brahma, Ganesa, and all the gods
of India, these and the like representations, which
in this world have no reality, all are distinct objects
of imagination. Essential is what was said by Abu
Nazer Farabi (may God illume his grave! ) that the
common people view their creeds under the form of
their imagination. The author of this book heard
also from the lord, the pious Sabjani : The contem-
plative man sees every one whom he loves and
esteems, frequently in dreams in a beautiful shape,
and in an exalted state, although to other people he
may appear iniquitous ; and the person whom he

1 See page 292-293, note 1.

505

knows lo be depraved, will often be viewed by him
in a repulsive condition, although to the crowd he
may appear glorious and powerful. Hence fol-
lows, that the learned among the contemplative
persons make use of a negative argument in their
creed, in order that it may become evident what the
truth really is. When any one sees a person of
high rank, such as a prophet, an Imam, or any dig-
nified individual, in a state of some deficiency, he
views his own defects in his understanding, spirit,
heart, or nature ; and as these things are but seem-
ing defects in the great personage, he must endea-
vor to remove them from himself. In like man-
ner, if one sees a person in good health (appearing
to him) in a state of illness, there is illness in his
own state, and if he thinks him bad with regard to
his own faith, he ought to be somewhat disposed to
think that person good.

A disciple demanded some employment from Sab-
jani. The master asked him : u Hast thou devoted
" thyself to piety?" The answer was: 4C I have."
Then Sabjani said : " If thou art a Muselman, go to
" the Franks, and stay with that people; if thou
" art a Nazarean, join the Jews; if a Sonni, betake
44 thyself to Irak, and hear the speeches and re-
" proaches of those men; if thou professest to
c < be a Shiah, mix with the schismatics, and lend
" thy ear to their words; in this manner, what-

504

" ever be thy religion, associate willi men of an
" opposite persuasion; if, in hearing their dis-
" courses thou feelest but little disturbed, thy mind
" keeps the tenor of piety ; but if thou art not in
" the least moved and mixest with them like milk
" and sugar, then certainly thou hast attained the
" highest degree of perfect peace, and art a master
44 of the divine creation."

Yusef was a man belonging to the tribe of Durds,
and in his youth a hermit ; at last, by his efforts, he
found access to the intellectual world, and by the
grace of God lie carried it so far, that he was ranged
among the disciples called Sanyasis, on account of
their piety and knowledge, and among the learned
followers of the celebrated master, who dwelt in
Barahmulah, a village in Kachmir. It so happened
that, when he devoted himself to his service, he
found what he was in search of. Shaikh Atar
says :

*' An unbeliever becomes a relation by love;
" A lover acquires the high sense of a dnrvish "

Having known many countries and persons, he
became impressed with the marks of revelations.
So it happened that the author of this book heard
from him what follows: " One night I saw in a

1 The Durds are the inhabitants of the mountainous country to the
west of Kachmir.

305

" dream thai the world was deluged by water ; there
"" remained no trace oi a living being, and 1 was
u myself immersed in the water. In the rnidst of
" this state I saw a kingly rider come, sitting upon
" his horse upon the surface of the water. When he
^ came near me, he said to me : ' Come with me
bC u that I may save thee ,' I replied: ' Who art
4 ' 4 thou?' He answered : * I am the self-existing
c ' ' being, and creator of all things/ Then I began
*' to follow him rapidly, and run along the surface
il of the, water, until I arrived in a garden. There
t I put my foot on the ground, and, directing my
" sight to the right, I beheld a delightful spot, full
"of all sorts of odoriferous herbs and elevated
" palaces, huris (beautiful virgins), kas'urs (bridal
44 chambers), and youths and boys, and all the gifts
Ci of heaven, as well as the blessed, occupied with
4i enjoyments. Besides, at the left, I saw pits,
*' black, narrow, and tenebrious; and therein, like
4t bats, suspended a crowd of miserable beings
" whose hands and feet were tied to the neck. The
" horseman, after having invited me to a pleasure-
1 ' walk in the garden, wanted to conduct me out of
" the delightful place, but I had resolved in myself
4 * that, like Idris, I would not go out of it. Then I
4 4 stuck close to the door, and took fast hold of the
tL post. When 1 awoke from sleep, 1 found my
" lips held fast by both my hands; and thus it was
v in. -20

r>o(>

" revealed to me that, whatever is, exists within
" mankind itself.

" Demand from thyself whatever thou wishes! : for thou ait evei)
" thing "

It is related : That there was a man called Bahddcr
among the Hindus, and he happened to have no male
offspring in his house ; therefore he came to Baba
Yiisef, and demanded his benediction. Baba Yiisef
gave him a bit of white earth, and said to him:
tc Let thy wife eat it/' When the man had done as
was enjoined him, a boy was born in his house, and
received the name ofRahu. This individual, by the
favor of the friends of God, became a learned man,
and acquired the surname of " independent," as was
said in the chapter of the Jnanian. '

The Mulla, called Umer, prohibited Baba Yiisef to
listen to music, and whatever gentle entreaties Baba
Yiisef employed, he paid no attention to them ; at
last the Baba, in the perturbation of his mind, threw
a small fragment of stone upon him, in such a man-
ner that Mulla Umer lost his senses for some lime ;
when he recovered, he prostrated himself before the
Baba, went out, and was no more seen.

Yiisef, the inspired, was a durvish, devoted to the
practice of restraining his breath, which he carried
so far that he kept his breath during four watches

1 We find nothing upon this Raliu in the preceding pages.

507

(twelve hours). 1 One of his friends said to the
author of this book in Ivachmir, that Yiisef during a
length of time ate nothing at all. The friend rela-
ted : " I went one night to watch with him ; he said
" to me: * Go and eat something.' I replied : * I
4 ' ' will ; but it would be well that ihou also shouldst
' ' ' take something to eat and to drink.' His answer
4 ' was : ' Thou art not - able to satisfy my want
44 4 of food/ 1 assured him: 'I am able/ He
" then ordered: * Go, bring what thou hast.' I
44 went home and brought him a great dish full of
" rice, a large cup of coagulated milk, with bread
44 and other eatables, as much as might have been
4t sufficient for ten gluttons; he eat up every thing,
44 and said: 4 Bring something more.' I went
44 home, prepared a meal for twenty persons, and
" with the aid of the people of the house, brought
k4 it to him. He eat it up, and desired more. I
t4 returned home, and carried to him meats half
4 4 cooked and other things. He eat up all , and said :
t4 4 Bring more/ I fell at his feet ; he called out :
44 ' Have I not said to thee that thou wouldst not be
44 * able to satisfy my want of food/ "
One of his disciples related : Yiisef said, that he

1 The practice of holding the breath, often mentioned in this work,
ib founded upon ihe belief, that to each mau a certain number of respu
ations is allotted: the less he bieathes the longci he Ines. (Shakes -
pear's Dictionary, p 305 )

r>os

lias seen God the Almiglily in the shape of a man,
sitting in his house. The author of this book fre-
quented the society of many contemplative pious
Sufis, and learned men of this sect, elevated in rank;
ifhc should relate all he knows of them, he would
have to write a copious work.

To sum up precisely the creed of all these sects, it
may be said, that some do not agree upon beings
perceived and beings probable, but all acknowledge
she existence of appearances. These are called
Sn'ifistdyah, and in Persian Samrddi All those who
believe all ought to be comprehended in what is
perceived, and deny any reality to things probable
(or to the subjects of reason), are named Tdbhhjah,
4i physiologists/' in Persian., Mami. The belief of
the latter is, that the world is composed of things
perceived, and ol individuals, children of Adam, and
that animals are like plants : the one dries, the
other shoots up afresh, and this occurrence will be
repeated without end . Enjoyment is comprehended
in eating, drinking, women, vehicles, and the like,
and besides this world there is no other existence.
Some agree upon the existence of things perceived
and things probable, but differ upon the limits and
laws. These are entitled Fildsafw-dahnah, u secu-
" lap philosophers," in Persian Jaydkdri, ''attached
" to temporariness.;' This sect establishes a world
of probabilities (composed) of nothing but things

509

perceived, hoi they believe also the perfection proper
to mankind is thai, after a certain knowledge of an
Almighty Creator, they attain the future spiritual
existence in an exalted station of the rational world,
and become blessed with an abundance of every
beatitude; they acknowledge a powerful intrinsic
virtue of the intellect in the acquisition of this ever-
lasting beatitude, which, with the essence of wis-
dom, has no want of another gift of any sort what-
ever. Disgrace means the opposition to the mode
of laudable reason, and law is the mode in which
the wise have settled the common affairs of the
individuals of mankind conformably with rectitude.
There is another sect which, assuming the con-
viction of a material and immaterial world, and the
power of reason, believe in a prophet, and say, that
these distinguished persons have established the law
for the good of God's creatures and the order of
cities; and to that effect they possess a knowledge
of the highest and most perfect kind ; they are sup-
ported by the self-existing Being for the establish-
ment of regulations and the decision of what is
legal and forbidden, and what they announce con-
cerning the world of spirits, angels,, the ninth hea-
ven, the throne ot God, the tables of destiny, the
written characters, and the like, are all ingenious
inventions, rendered sensible to the understanding
of the vulgar under forms which strike the imaginn-

510

tion and ofler tangible bodies ; in ibis manner, in the
account of the other world, they represent figura-
tively paradise, and hiiris, kasiirs, rivers, birds,
and fruits, merely with the intention of subduing
the hearts of the vulgar, as allurement often ren-
ders their minds inclined to the proposed ends.
And what they relate of chains, bolts, and hell, is
calculated for alarming and terrifying the people.
This class of men, that is the philosophers, direct
also their hints and interpretation to this object, and
their disciples say, that their wish is to follow the
indicated footsteps of the prophet ; these are the
pious sages to whom they give the title of " philoso-
" phers of God," and in Persian Jdnsdyi, '" the po-
" lishersof souls."

The sect which adopts the material and immate-
rial world, adopts also the precepts of reason, but
not the laws of the prophet. These are named Sd-
biah. l Another sect agrees to the material and im-

1 Sheheustcim derives, the name LjL*> sa'bi'a from the Synac verb

sdbd, " to love, to desire " It has also been deduced fromstt&a," a host,"
(meaning the stars); commonly it means " an apostate from anothei
" religion," so was called Muhammed for having abandoned this veiy
Sdbdan religion, before him dominant in Arabia, to which religion, how-
ever, he granted protection in his Koran, associating it there with Juda-
ism dndChristiamsm According to Maimomdes (who died A. D 1208),
this religion was very ancient, and once pervaded nearly the whole world.
It is said to have been founded by Seth, Adam's son (who is also called
the Egyptian Agathodemon, master of Hermes], whose son was Sdbi If

oil

material world, and to the precepts of religious
reason. 1ml they say that the law of the prophet is

was piopagated by Knoch (also Hermes) The most ancient books of this
need are reported to be written in the language which Adam and Ins
sons spoke: the Arabians still show a book of Seth. The original
u'ligion of the Sabaians consisted in the veneration of the stars and ol
angels, and coincided in its principal notions with the ancient system of
the Persians, as described m vol. I Pursuant to Shehenstani, the Sa-
baians were worshippers of chapels and of images The bodies of the
seven planets they called chapeh, these they held to be inhabited by
intelligences, by which they were animated in the same manner as our
bodies are by souls They observed the rising, setting, and motion of the
stars, for the division of time, and, mixing superstitious notions and rites
with their observations, made seals and talismans, and used incantations
and particular prayers; they not only built chapels of different figures,
but also formed images of different metals appropriated to each of the
pUnets; by the mediation of the images they had access to the chapels;
by means of the chapels to the intelligences or lords ; and by aid ol
these to the supreme God, the Lord of lords. In this manner they held
the planets to be inferior deities, mediators between man and the supreme
God. According to the before -mentioned Maimomdes, they acknow-
ledged no deities except the stars, among which the sun was the greatest
ibul faraj says that they firmly believed the unity of God

Among the sects of this religion is that of the Harbamsts, or Harna-
nites ' these believe one God manifesting himself in different bodies, hea-
venly and terrestrial, his creatures ; he committed the government of the
interior world to the first : these are the fathers, the elements the mothers,
and the compound beings the children of both After the period of
3(5,425 years, the universe perishes; nature is then renewed by a couple
of each species of beings ; thus centuries succeed each other, and there is
not any other resurrection

Sabaism must be distinguished as ancient and modern. The first,
especially if so remote as it is said to be, can but have imparted, and
the other owe, more than one notion, dogma, and rite to Judaism,
Chustiauism, and Muhammedism, all which may be considered as divi-
sions of one and the same Asiatic religion Thus, in all the foui roll-

512

to be conformable with reason, and every prophet
who appears is not to be opposed to his predecessor.,
and not self-complacently to exalt his law : these are
the Ydzdanian. Some adopt the law of tradition,
which others, with respect to literal meaning, reject
as contrary to reason.

It is known that there are five great religions ,
viz. : that of the Hindus, Jews, Magians, Nazarean,
and Muselmans. Each of these five proffer claims
that their law is the true one, and set forth demon-
strations for the confirmation of its truth.

Finally, at the conclusion of this book lei it be
said that, according to the statement of some excel-
lent personages, every thing relating to religion and
law has been exhibited in the work Tabs' eret id dvam,
" Rendering the Vulgar quick-sighted;" but at

gions, the same patriarchs and the same books, such as the Psalter, are
venerated; the Sabaians have a sort of baptism, as the Christians, they
believe that angels and intelligences, these movers of the universe, pei -
form the same office which the Muhammedans ascribe *o the patriarchs
and prophets, they venerate with the latter the temple of Blccca; they
perform, however, their principal pilgrimage to a place near Harran (the
ancient Carrae) in Mesopotamia; they honor also the pyramids of Egypt,
and say, that Sabi, son of Seth or Enoch, is buried in the third. They
turn their face in praying towards the arctic pole.

Several Oriental authors have treated of this religion To those men-
tioned in this note, I shall only add Abulfeda and Molnb eddm Abu 'I
Valid Muhammed, ben Kamal eddtn, al Ilancp, mostly known under
the surname of Ben Shonah, who collected most particular information
about this religion. (See Pococke, Spec Hnl Arab , p. 138 et seq,,
list edit., and Ilcrbelot)

515

present this is not before the eyes of the author ; on
that account its contents remain unknown to him.
The author begs further to say that, after having
greatly frequented the meetings of the followers of
the five beforesaid religions, he wished and under-
took to write this book, and whatever in this work
treating of the religions of countries has been stated,
concerning the creed of different sects, had been
received from the tongue of the chiefs of those sects
or from their books, and, as to the account of the
persons belonging to any particular sect, the author
wrote down the information which had been im-
parted to him by their adherents and sincere friends,
in such a manner that no trace of partiality nor aver-
sion might be perceived ; in short, the writer of these
pages performed nothing more than the office of a
translator.

" The purport of a picture is, that it may remain after me,
" As I do not see my existence lasting."

Thus, by the aid of the generous Ring, was brought
to a conclusion the printing of this work, entitled
Dabu&tdn al Mazdheb, "* the school of sects," in the
month of October of the year 1809, since the Mes-
siah's being carried to heaven, ' the prophet, upon

1 The Muhammedans do not believe that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
did really take place, but that God transported his soul and body to hea-
ven, whilst an unfortunate man exactly like the Messiah in appearance
\\as, instead of him, crucified by the Jews.

514

whom be the blessing (of heaven), which corre-
sponds to the sacred month of Zi 'I Kddah, " the
" penultimate month of the Muhammedans," of the
year 1224 of the Hejira of Muhammed, upon whom
be the most excellent blessings and veneration, as
well as upon his family and companions. Glory to
God for his benefits ! at the final conclusion.

END OF THE DABISTAN.

EPILOGUE

OF

MOULAVI NAZER USHRUF,

Editor of the Persian text of the Dahstan, printed, in
Calcutta. [

In the name of the bountiful and merciful God.

After the praise of God, who is acquainted with
things future and invisible, who painted the tables
of existence of mankind, and in the Dabistan aJii-
biteil the truths of things by the information of names
and by the representations of intellect, and put his
mark thereupon ; who bestowed on man, susceptible
of guidance, the pittance of the verse :

" Whom \\e had taught wisdom from before us " 2

He, the unity in whose being all the imaginable
unities are lost, and the multitudes of contrary sects
and religions are the exhibitions of his attributes.

QUATRAIN.

u Neighbor, companion, and fellow-traveller, all is he;

" In the habit of a beggar, and m the satin of a King, all is he ;

1 bee Pielimmary Discouisc, vol. I, part HI. g 2.

2 Koian, chap XVIII. v. 64.

516

" lie ij> in the concouisc o( divisions and concealed in (he mansion oS

" leunion ,
** By God all is he , certainly, by God, all is he "

Prayers of the pious, salutations of the saints,
sacrifice for the holy spirits of the prophets and
apostles, blessing and peace be upon our prophet and upon
them I who are the guides of the roads, those who
walk before us on the ways, parts of the whole.

The meanest of the weak servants in the post of
ignorance, taking upon himself to offer a noble pre-
sent lo the lordship of the country of God's crea-
tures in the empire of positive truths, and of the
throne-ornaments belonging to the district of subtil-
lies, represents, that the power of the omniscient
and bountiful God (be his majesty displayed and his
mercy diffused upon all!), has gratified the species
of mankind, according to the exigency of natural
genius, and the propensity of mind; and according
to the choice of a special rule and the assumption of
a particular religious opinion of eacft, in such a man-
ner that a troop, having been invested with the gar-
ment of lawful religion, and another people with
the golden texture of a convenient doctrine, they
may become the manifestations of the lights of his
perfect power and glorious miracle, and he knew
by immediate knowledge, that such various kinds
and cameleon-like forms, by which the inscrutable
essence of his majesty can be viewed by glimpses,

517

arc means of possessing eternal beatitude, and oblain-

!iii> the blessings of another world, inasmuch as the
meanest of those who acquire the beauties of know-
ledge having arrived from the defile of ignorance and
listlessness to the large expanse of the city of science
and knowledge, may enjoy the advantages of con-
cord, friendship, and society with each other.

In this manner, one day, when the discourse fell
upon this subject in the service of the master of
favour, the head of the sages 'of the age, the une-
qualled jewel of the multitude of the possessors of
beneficence, the ornament of the council of experi-
ence and of success, the splendor of the assembly of
I he distinction of merit and of happiness, the man
of exalted designs, knowing the enigmas of science
and wisdom, and endowed with eminent virtues,
WILLIAM BAYLEY SAHEB,' (may his prosperity be
everlasting in the ways of celebrity), I expressed my
sentiments as follows : That which embraces the dif-
ferent tenets and sects, demonstrating in what re-
spects they are either agreeing or conflicting with
each other, is an object not destitute of difficulty
nor of pretension; but the book called Dabisldn, is
incomparable for the assemblage of various tenets,
and of general and particular creeds. Direction
was therefore given that, as to execute the trans-

i William Buttei worth Bayley, Esq., now a director of the Hon. East
India Company. (See Preliminary Discourse, vol. I. part III. 2.)

518

cription of such a book Is, on account of the errors
which may be committed, an object of hesitation
and reflection, it should therefore be drawn in the
Win of print. As obedience to the order of a lord is
praiseworthy, necessary, important, and not devoid
of varipus manifest advantages, therefore was printed
the beforesaid copy, which is replete with the fun-
damentals of each religion and sect, and a collection
of the dogmas of all creeds and sects explicitly and
distinctively, in order to diffuse the useful notes and
disseminate the precious gems in such a manner,
that the colleagues in study may derive from the
reading of this work an abundant advantage, and a
sufficient satisfaction. Thus, a multitude of copies
in this country, which came under the view of the
editor, contained numerous errors, alterations, and
contradictions of vicious expressions ; afterwards,
with extreme care and pains to obtain the authentic
copy which had come into my possession from the
town of the King of the World (Delhi], the doubts
and faults have been, as much as possible, discarded,
and the editor carried it to a manifest correction.
Besides, on account of different idioms and techni-
cal phrases of each sect, the understanding and inter-
pretation of frequent expressions of this book were
difficult without having recourse to dictionaries ; on
that account, and for the convenience of those who
consider and the utility of those who investigate,

519

the editor, having inquired and examined as much
as was possible, by means of the most esteemed
books, such as dictionaries, interpretations, and
commentaries of the learned of each sect, fixed the
meaning of difficult words at the end of this book in
some separate leaves, in such a manner that, with-
out trouble and useless prolixity, the brides of those
ideas may become manifest upon the exalted bridal
seats of intelligence. 1 Moreover, for ranging the
die vocables, the editor adopted the mode that
under the first letter should be placed the chapter,
and under the second letter the section, and he ap-
pended this vocabulary to the end of the book. He
made also a list of errata, and concluded with an
epilogue, in order that all those who reason and
discuss upon these typical matters, may have the
facility of understanding them. Thus, from God we
expect grace and certain direction to righteousness
and to favour.

1 This is an allusion to the custom according to ^hich, ^hen the nup-
tials of distinguished persons are celebrated, the bride, in her most mag-
nificent attire is exposed to the multitude upon an elevated seat, or in a
palanquin carried through the sheets.