The Dabistán : or School of manners, translated from the original Persian, with notes and illus.

UNIVERSITY OF

ILLINOIS LIBRARY

AT URBANA -O ;A,WAIGN

BOOKS I ACKS

(J

THE DABISTAN,

MADAJME VEUVE DONDEY-DUPRE,

Printer to the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, and Calcutta,
46, rue St-Louis, Paris.

THE

DABISTAN,

OR

SCHOOL OF MANNERS,

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN,
WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,

DAVID SHEA,

OF THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT IN THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA
COMPANY'S COLLEGE;

ANTHONY TROYER,

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, OF CALCUTTA
AND PARIS, AND OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS;

EDITED, WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, BY THE LATTER.

VOLUME I.

PARIS:

PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND
OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

SOLD BY

BENJAMIN DUPRAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIO I HEQLfi KOYALE,
7. RUE DU CLOITRE SAINT-BEVOIT.

AND ALLEN AND CO., LEADENHALL-STP.EET, LONDON.
1843.

TO

JHemorg

OF

THE RIGHT HONORABLE

Etc,, etc , etc.

\M

CONTENTS

#/* the Preliminary Discourse.

Page

PART I.
Introduction.

Section I. — How the Dabislan first became known — its

author— the sources of his information. . . iii
II. — Discussion on the Dcsatir .................. xix

PART II.

Synopsis of the dynasties, religions, sects, and philosophic opi-
nions treated of in the Dabistan.

Section I.— The first religion — the dynasties of Mahabad,
Abad Azar, Shai Abad, Shai Giliv, Shai Mah-
bad, and Yasan ......................... hvi

II.— The Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and
Sassanian dynasties — their religious and
political institutions ................... Ixxvii

III.— The religion of Zardusht, or Zoroaster ..... Ixxxiii

IV.— The religion of the Hindus ............. . cv

V.— Retrospect of the Persian and Indian religions cxx
VI.— The religion of the Tabitian (Tibetans) ...... cxxv

VII.— The religion of the Jews ............ . ..... ibid.

VIII.— The religion of the Christians ........... cxxvi

IX.— The religion of the Musclmans ............. cxxviii

X.— The religion of the Sadakiahs .............. cxli

XL— The religion of the Roshenians ............ cxlv

XII. — The religion of the Ilahiahs .............. cxlvii

XIII.— The religion of the Philosophers .......... cliii

XIV.— The religion of the Sufis ................ clxix

XV.— Recapitulation of the Contents of the Dabistan ibid.

PART III.
Conclusion.

Section 1.— General appreciation of the Dabistan and its

author ................................ clxxix

II.— Notice concerning the printed edition, some
manuscripts, and the translations of the
Dabistan ............................. clxxxviii

•0

CONTENTS

Of the Dabistdn (vol. I.)

Page

Introduction of the Author 1

CHAPTER I.

Of the religion of the Parsian 4

Section I. — Tenets and ceremonies observed by the Sipasian and

Parsian 5

Description of the worship rendered to the seven pla-
nets, according to the Sipasian faith 35

II.— Description of the Sipasian sect 87

III.— The laws of the Paiman-i-Farhang and the Hirbed Sar 147

Descriptions of the gradations of Paradise 150

Description of the infernal regions 152

IV.— An account of the Jamshapian sect 193

V.— The Samradian sect 195

VI.— The tenets of the Khodaiyan 201

VII.— The system of the Radian ibid.

VIII.— The Shidrangian creed 203

II.— The Paikarian creed ibid.

X.— The Milanfan system 204

XL— The system of the followers of Alar 206

XII.— The Shfdanian faith 207

XIII.— The system of the Akhshiyan sect. ibid.

XIV.— The followers of Zardusht 211

Account of the precepts given by Zardusht to the

king and all mankind 260

The Sad-der, or " the hundred gates" of Zardusht 310
Enumeration of some advantages which arise from
the enigmatical forms of the precepts of Zar-

dusht's followers , . . 351

Summary of the contents of the Mah-zend 353

XV.— An account of the tenets held by the followers of

Mazdak 372

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

PART I.
INTRODUCTION.

§ I. — How THE DABISTAN FIRST BECAME KNOWN — ITS

AUTHOR THE SOURCES OF HIS INFORMATION. .

It is generally known that sir William Jones was
the first who drew the attention of Orientalists to
the Dabistan. This happened five years after the
beginning of a new era in Oriental literature, the
foundation of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta by that
illustrious man. It rnay not appear inopportune
here to revive the grateful remembrance ol one who
acquired the uncontested merit of not only exciting
in Asia and Europe a new ardor for Oriental stu-
dies, but also of directing them to their great ob-
jects — MAN and NATURE ; and of endeavoring, by
word and deed, to render the attainment of lan-
guages conducive to the required knowledge equally
easy and attractive.

IV PKELIMINAKY DISCOURSE:

Having, very early in life, gained an European
reputation as a scholar and elegant writer, sir Wil-
liam Jones embarked ' for the Indian shores with
vast projects, embracing, with the extension of sci-
ence, the general improvement of mankind. 2 Four
months after his arrival in Calcutta,3 he addressed
as the first president of the Asiatic Society, a small
but select assembly, in which he found minds
responsive to his own noble sentiments. A rapid
sketch of the first labors of their incomparable
leader, may not be irrelevant to our immediate
subject.

In his second anniversary discourse, 4 he proposed
a general plan for investigating Asiatic learning,
history, and institutions. In his third discourse, he
traced the line of investigation, which he faithfully
followed, as long as he lived in India, in his annual
public speeches : he determined to exhibit the pro-
minent features of the five principal nations of Asia
- the Indians, Arabs, Tartars, Persians, and Chi-
nese. After having treated in the two following
years of the Arabs and Tartars, he considered in his
sixth discourse5 the Persians, and declared that he

1 In April, 1783.

2 He landed at Calcutta in September, 1783.

3 In January, 1784.

4 Delivered in February, 1785.
s In February, 1789.

INTRODUCTION.

had been induced by his earliest investigations to
believe, and by his latest to conclude, that three
primitive races of men must have migrated origi-
nally from a central country, and that this country
was Iran, commonly called Persia. -Examining with
particular care the traces of the most ancient lan-
guages and religions which had prevailed in this
country, he rejoiced at " a fortunate discovery, for
" which," he said, " he was first indebted to Mir
'* Muhammed Hussain, one of the most intelligent
" Muselmans in India, and which has at once dissi-
** pated the cloud, and cast a gleam of light on the
" primeval history of Iran and of the human race,
" of which he had long despaired, and which could
" hardly have dawned from any other quarter;"
this was, he declared, " the rare and interesting
" tract on twelve different religions, entitled the

Sir William Jones read the Dabistan for the first
time in 1787. I cannot refrain from subjoining here
the opinion upon this work, which he communi-
cated in a private letter, dated June, 1787, to J. Shore,
esq. (afterwards lord Teignmouth); he says: "The
* ' greatest part of it would he very interesting to a
" curious reader, but some of it cannot be translated.
" It contains more recondite learning, more enter-

1 The works of sir William Jones, with the lite of the author, by lord
Teignmouth, in 13 vols. Vol. 111. p. HO. 1807.

VI PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

** taining history, more beautiful specimens of poetry,
** more ingenuity and wit, more indecency and blas-
* ' phemy, than I ever saw collected in a single vo-
** lume;1 the two last are not of the author's, but
' ' are introduced in the chapters on the heretics and
' " infidels of India. 2 On the whole, it is the most
" amusing and instructive book I ever read in Per-
" sian."3

We may suppose it was upon the recommendation
of sir William Jones, that Francis Gladwin, one of
the most distinguished members of the new Society,
translated the first chapter of The Dabistdn, or
' * School of Manners," which title has been preserved
from due regard to the meritorious Orientalist, who
first published the translation of a part of this work.
The whole of it was printed in the year 1809, in
Calcutta, and translations of some parts of it were
published in The Asiatic Researches.* It is only at
present, more than half a century after the first
public notice of it by sir W. Jones, that the version

1 I shall hereafter give some explanations upon this subject.

2 There appears in the printed edition no positive ground for the opi-
nion above expressed; we find, however, frequent repetitions of the same
subject, such as are not likely to belong to the same author; we know,
besides, that additions and interpolations are but too common in all
Oriental manuscripts.

3 The Persian text, with the translation of the first chapter, appeared
in the two first numbers of the New Asiatic Miscellany. Calcutta, 1789.
This Knglish version was rendered into German by Dalberg, 1809.

4 These translations are mentioned in the notes of the present version.

INTRODUCTION. Vll

of the whole work appears, under the auspices and
at the expense of the Oriental Translation Com-
mittee of Great Britain and Ireland.

Who was the author of the Dabistan?— Sir Wil-
liam Jones thought it was composed by a Muham-
medan traveller, a native of Kachmir, named Moh-
san, but distinguished by the assumed surname of
Fdnij " the Perishable."

Gladwin1 calls him Shaikh Muhammed Mohsin, and
says that, besides the Dabistan, he has left behind
him a collection of poems, among which there is a
moral essay, entitled Masdur ul asas, " the source of
" signs;" he was of the philosophic sect of Sufis,
and patronised by the imperial prince Dara Shikoh,
whom he survived ; among his disciples in philo-
sophy is reckoned Muhammed Tahir, surnamed Ghaw-
n, whose poems are much admired in Hindostan.
Mohsan's death is placed in the year of the Hejira
1081 (A. D. 1670).

William Erskine, 2 in search of the true author of
the Dabistan, discovered no other account of Mohsan
Fani than that contained in the Gul-i-Rdana, ' ' charm-
" ing rose," of Lachmi Naraydn, who flourished in
Hyderabad about the end of the 18th or the begin-
ning of the 19th century. This author informs us,
under the article of Mohsan Fani, that ' * Mohsan, a

1 New Asiatic Misc., p. 87.

2 Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. II. p. 374.

Vlll PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" native of Kachmir, was a learned man and a

" respectable poet; a scholar oi ' Mulla Yakub, Sufi of

" Kachmir; and that, after completing his studies,

" he repaired to Delhi, to the court of the emperor

" Shah Jehan, by whom, in consequence of his great

*' reputation and high acquirements, he was appoin-

" ted Sadder, * chief judge,' of Allahabad; that

" there he became a disciple of Shaikh Mohib ulla,

" an eminent doctor of that city, who wrote the

" treatise entitled Teswich, ' the golden Mean. '

" Mohsan Fani enjoyed this honorable office till

* ' Shah Jehan subdued Balkh ; at which time Nazer

" Muhammed Khan, the Wall, ' prince,' of Balkh,

" having effected his escape, all his property was

*' plundered. It happened that in his library there

*' was found a copy of Mohsan's Diwan, or ' poeti-

" ' cal Collection,' which contained an ode in praise

*' of the (fugitive) Wali. This gave such offence

*' to the emperor, that the Sadder was disgraced and

** lost his office, but was generously allowed a pen-

" sion. He retired (as Lachmi informs us) to his

" native country, where he passed the rest of his

" days without any public employment, happy and

" respected. His house was frequented by the

" most distinguished men of Kachmir, and among

"the rest by the governors of the province. He

" had lectures at his house, being accustomed to

' ' read to his audience the writings of certain authors

INTRODUCTION. IX

" of eminence, on which he delivered moral and
' ' philosophical comments. Several scholars of note,
" among whom were Taher Ghawri (before men-
" tioned) and Haji Aslem Salem, issued Irom his
44 school." He died on the before mentioned date.
" It is to be observed that Lachmi does not mention
" the Dabislan as a production of Mohsan Fani,
" though, had he written it, it must have been his
4 ' most remarkable work . "

Erskine goes on to recapitulate some particulars
mentioned in the Dabistan of the author's life, and
concludes that it seems very improbable that Mohsan
Fani and the author of the Dabistan were the same
person. In this conclusion, and upon the same
grounds, he coincides with the learned Vans Ken-
nedy. '

Erskine further quotes,2 from a manuscript copy
of the Dabistan which he saw in the possession of
Mulla Firuz,in Bombay, the following marginal note
annexed to the close of chapter XIV. : ** In the city
** of Daurse, a king of the Parsis, of the race of the
" imperial Anushirvan, the Shet Dawer Huryar,
" conversed with Amir Zulfikar Ali-al-Husaini (on
" whom be the grace of God!), whose poetical
" name was Mobed Shah. " This Zulfikar Ali, who-
ever he was, the Mulla supposes to be the author of

1 Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. II. pp. 243-244.

2 Ibid., pp 37B-37A.

X PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

the Dabistan. Erskine judiciously subjoins: " On so
" slight an authority, I would not willingly set up an
' ' unknown author as the compiler of that work ; but
" it is to be remarked that many verses of Mobed's
(t are quoted in the Dabistan, and there is certainly
' ' reason to suspect that the poetical Mobed, whoever
" he may be, was the author of that compilation."

'* To this let it be added, that the author of the
" Dabistan, in his account of Mobed Serosh, says'
"' that one Muhammed Mohsan, a man of learning,
"told him that he had heard Mobed Serosh give
"three hundred and sixty proofs of the existence
4 * of God . This at least makes Muhammed Mohsan ,
u whoever he may be, a different person from the
" author of the Dabistan."

I cannot omit adding the following notice annexed
to the note quoted above: '* Between the printed
" copy and Mulla Firuz's manuscript before alluded
"to, a difference occurs in the very beginning of
** the work. After the poetical address to the
" Deity and the praise of the prophet, with which
'< the Dabislan, like most other Muselman works,
" commences, the manuscript reads : ' Mohsan Fani
" * says,' and two moral couplets succeed. In the
" printed copy, the words ' Mohsan Fani says,'

1 See the present Transl., vol. I. pp. 113-114. A mistake is Here to be
pointed out: at p. 114, 1. 11, the name of Kaivan has been substituted
for that of Mobed Serosh.

(t

INTRODUCTION. XI

— which should occur between the last word ot the
first page and the first word of the second — are
omitted. As no account of the author is given
in the beginning of the book, as is usual with
Muselman writers, Mulla Firuz conjectures that a
' ' careless or ignorant reader may have considered
** the words ' Mohsan Fani says' as forming the
*' commencement of the volume, and as containing
* ' the name of the author of the whole book ; whereas
" they merely indicate the author of the couplets
" that follow, and would rather show that Mohsan
** Fani was not the writer of the Dabistan. This
" conjecture, I confess, appears to me at once
* 4 extremely ingenious and very probable. A com-
" parison of different manuscripts might throw
" more light on the question."

Concerning the opinion last stated, I can but re-
mark, that in a manuscript copy of the Dabistan,
which I procured from the library of the king of
Oude, and caused to be transcribed for me, the very
same words : " Mohsan Fani says," occur (as I have
observed in vol. I. p. 6, note 3), preceding a rabad,
or quatrain, which begins :

"The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice," etc. etc.

These lines seern well chosen as an introduction
to the text itself, which begins by a summary of the
whole work, exhibiting the titles of the twelve chap-
ters of which it is composed. As the two copies

XII PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

mentioned (the one found in Bombay, the other in
Lucknow) contain the same words, they can hardly
be taken for an accidental addition of a copyist. I
found no remark upon this point in Mr. Shea's
translation, who had two manuscript copies to refer
to. Whatever it be, it must still remain unde-
cided, whether Mohsan Fani was there named only
as the author of the next quatrain or of the whole
book, although either hypothesis may not appear
destitute of probability ; nor can it be considered
strange to admit that the name of Mohsan Fani was
borne by more than one individual. 1 shall be per-
mitted to continue calling the author of the Dabistan
by the presumed name of Mohsan Fani.

Dropping this point, we shall now search for
information upon his person, character, and know-
ledge in the work itself. Is he really a native of
Kachmir, as here before stated?

Although in the course of his book he makes fre-
quent mention of Kachmir, he never owns himself
a native of that country. In one part of his narra-
tive, he expressly alludes to another home. He
begins the second chapter upon the religion of the
Hindus (vol. II. p. 2) by these words: " As incon-
" slant fortune had torn away the author from the
" shores of Persia, and made him the associate of
** the believers in transmigration and those who
" addressed their prayers to idols and images, and

INTRODUCTION.

" worshipped demons * V Now we know that
Kachmir is considered as a very ancient seat, nay
as the very cradle, of the doctrine of transmigration,
and of Hinduism in general, with all its tenets, rites,
and customs ; and that from the remotest limes
to the present it was inhabited by numerous adhe-
rents of this faith; how could the author, if a native
of Kachmir, accuse inconstant fortune for having
made him elsewhere an associate of these very reli-
gionists with whom, from his birth, he must have
been accustomed to live? The passage just quoted
leaves scarce a doubt that the shores of Persia, from
which he bewails having been torn, were really his
native country.

When was he born?

He no where adduces the date of his birth ; the
earliest period of his life which he mentions, is the
year of the Hejira 1028 (A. D. 1618) : ' in this year
the Mobed Hushi'ar brought the author to Balik
Natha,a great adept in the Yoga, or ascetic devotion,
to receive the blessing of that holy man, who pro-
nounced these words over him: " This boy shall
''acquire the knowledge of God." It is not stated in
what place this happened. The next earliest date
is five years later, 1035 of the Hejira (A. D. 1623). a

1 See vol. II. p. 137.

2 See vol. II. p. 145.

Xiv PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

He says that, in his infancy, he came with his friends
and relations from Patna to the capital Akbar-abad,
and was carried in the arms of the Mobed Hushiar
to Chatur Vapah, a famous ascetic of those days.
The pious man rejoiced at it, arid bestowed his bless-
ing on the future writer of the Dabistan ; he taught
him the mantra, " prayer," of the sun, and appointed
one of his disciples to remain with the boy until the
age of manhood. We have here a positive state-
ment: in the year 1623 A. D., he was c< in his
" infancy," and carried " in the arms of his pro-
" tector. " Giving the widest extension to these
expressions, we can hardly think him to have been
either much older or younger than seven or eight
years : not much older, for being in some way car-
ried in the arms of the Mobed ; nor much younger,
having been taught a hymn to the sun, and he might
have been a boy of three years when he received the
first-mentioned blessing from Balik Natha. We
may therefore suppose him to have been born about
the year 1615 of our era, in the tenth year of the
reign of the emperor Jehangir. We collect in his
work fifty-three dates relative to himself between
the year 1618 and 1653. From 1627 to 1643, we
see him mostly in Kachmir and Lahore, travel-
ling between these two places; in 1643, he was at
the holy sepulchre, probably at Meshhad, which
appears to be the furthermost town to the West

INTRODUCTION. XV

which he reached ; from 1654 to 1649, he dwelt in
several towns of the Panjab and Guzerat; the next
year he proceeded to Sikakul, the remotest town in
the East which he says he has visited ; there he fell
sick, and sojourned during 1655, at which epoch, it
the year of his birth be correctly inferred, he had
attained his thirty-eighth year. We have no other
date of his death than that before stated : if he died
in 1670, it was in the eleventh year of the reign of
Aurengzeb, or Alemgir. Mohsan Fani would there-
fore have passed his infancy, youth, and manhood
mostly in India, under the reigns of the three empe-
rors, Jehangi'r, Shah Jehan, and Aurengzeb.' It
was the state of religion, prevailing in those days in
Hindostan that he describes.

From his earliest age he appears to have led an
active life, frequently changing his residence. Such
a mode of life belongs to a travelling merchant or
philosopher, and in our author both qualities might
have been united, as is often the case in Asia. Moh-
san Fani, during his travels, collected the diversified
and curious materials for the Dabistan ; he observed
with his own eyes the manners and customs of dif-
ferent nations and sects. He says himself at the
conclusion of his work : " After having much fre-
" quented the meetings of the followers of the five

1 Jehangir reigned from 1605 to 1628.
Shah Jehan 1628—1659.

Aurengzeb - 1659-1707.

XVI PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" before-said religions," Magians, Hindus, Jews,
Nazareans, and Muselmans, " the author wished
" and undertook to write this book; and what-
' ' ever in this work, treating of the religions of dif-
" ferent countries, is stated concerning the creed
" of different sects, has been taken from their
" books, and for the account of the persons belong-
" ing to any particular sect, the author's informa-
" tion was imparted to him by their adherents and
" sincere iriends, and recorded literally, so that no
' * trace of partiality nor aversion might be perceived :
' ' in short, the writer of these pages performed no
" more than the task of a translator." This decla-
ration, even to a severe critic, may appear satisfac-
tory. Sir William Jones called him' a learned and
accurate, a candid and ingenious author. A fur-
ther appreciation of Mohsan Fani's character is
reserved for subsequent pages. We can, however,
here state, that he sought the best means of infor-
mation, and gives us what he had acquired not only
from personal experience, which is always more or
less confined ; not only from oral instruction, which
is too often imperfectly given and received; but also
from an attentive perusal of the best works which
he could procure upon the subject of his investiga-
tion. Of the latter authorities which the author
produces, some are known in Europe, and we may

1 The Works of sir W. Jones, vol. IV. pp. 16 and 105.

INTRODUCTION. XVH

judge of the degree of accuracy and intelligence with
which he has made use of them. Of others, nothing
at all, or merely the name, is known. This is
generally the case with works relative to the old
Persian religion, which is the subject of the first
chapter, divided into fifteen sections.

The authorities which he adduces for this chapter
are as follow :

1. The Amighistan (vol. I. pp. 15. 26. 42), without

the name of its author.

2. TheDmfor(vol. I. pp. 20. 21. 44. 65), an heaven-

bestowed book.

3. The Darai Sekander (vol. I. pp. 34. 360), com-

posed by Dawir Haryar.

4. The Akhteristan, " region of the stars" (vol. I.

pp. 35. 42).

5. The Jashen Sadah, *' the festival of Sadah"(the

16th night of January) (vol. I. pp. 72. 112).

6. The Sdrudi-mastan, " song of the intoxicated"

(vol. I. p. 76. vol. II. p. 136): this and the
preceding work composed by Mobed Hushiar.

7. The Jam-i-Kai Khusro, *' the cup of Kai Khusro, '

a commentary upon the poems of Azar Kaivan,
composed by Mobed Khod Jai (vol. I. pp. 76.
84. 119.

8. The Sharistan-i-Danish wa Gulistan-i-birtish, " the

" pavilion of knowledge and rose-garden of

b

XV1I1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

44 vision" (vol. I. p. 77. 89. 109), composed
by Far/anah Bahrain.

9. The Zerdusht Afshar (vol. I. p. 77), work of the
Mobed Serosh, who composed also:

10. Nosh Dam, "sweet medicine" (vol. I. p. 11 4); and

11. The Sagangubin, " dog's honey" (vol. I. p. 114).

12. The Bazm-gah-i-durvishan, " the banquetting-

t( room of the durvishes" (vol. I. pp. 104.
108), without the name of the author.

13. The Arzhang Mam, ' ' the gallery of Mani ' ' (vol . 1 .

p. 151).

14. The Tabrah-i-Mobedi, *' the sacerdotal keltio-

" drum " (vol. I. p. 123), by Mobed Paristar.

15. The Dadistan Aursah (vol. I. p. 131).

16. The Amizesh-i-farhang (vol. I. p. 145), containing

the institutes of the Abadiah durvishes.

17. The Mihin farush (vol. 1. p, 244).

18 The Testament of Jamshid toAbtin (vol. I. p. 195),
compiled by Farhang Dostiir.

19. Razabad, composed by Shi'dab.

20. The Sdnydl, a book of the Sipasians (vol. II.

p. 136), containing an account of a particular
sort of devotion.

21. The Rama zastan of Zardusht (vol. I. p. 369 and

vol. II. p. 136).

22. Huz al Hayat (vol. II. p. 137), composed by

Ambaret Kant.

23. The Samrad Nameh, by Kamkar (vol. I. p, 201).

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIK. XIX

Besides other writings oi'Zertusht, in great num-
ber, which the author has seen.

These works are most probably of a mystical
nature, and belong to a particular sect, but may
contain, however, some interesting traditions or
facts of ancient history. Of the twenty- three books
just enumerated, a part of the third only is known
to us, namely, that of the Desatir.

§ II. — DISCUSSION ON THE DfiSATIR.

This word was considered to be the Arabic plural
of the original Persian word dostur, signifying " a
" note-book, pillar, canon, model, learned man;"
but, according to the Persian grammar, its plural
would be dosturdn, or dosturha, and not desdtir.
From this Arabic form of the word an inference was
drawn against the originality and antiquity of the
Desatir; but this of itself is not sufficient, as will
be shown.

Other readings of the title are Dastdnir, in one
passage, ' and Wasdtir* in two other places of Glad-
win's Persian text, and the last also in a passage of
the printed edition . 3 The first is not easily accounted

» See note, vol. I. p. 20.

2 Ibid., p. 44.

3 Calcutta edition, p. 30, line 6.

XX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

for, and is probably erroneous ; but ihe second is
found in the index of the printed edition, ' under the
letter j, -yaw, and explained : " the name of the book
" of Mahabad ;" it cannot therefore be taken for a
typographical error, and is the correct title of the
book, as I now think, although I formerly2 pre-
ferred reading Desdtir. It is derivable from the
Sansrcit root &*^ was, '* to sound, to call," and
therefore in the form of wasdtis or wasdtir (the r and
s being frequently substituted for the msarga} it sig-
nifies " speech, oracle, precept, command." It is
also in connection with the old Persian word wak-
shur, " a prophet." Considering the frequent sub-
stitution in kindred languages of ba for va, and ba
for bha, it may also be referred to the root w® bha-
sha, " to speak,"3 which, with the prepositions part
and saw, signifies " to explain, expound, discourse."
Hence we read in the Commentary of the Desdtir
the ancient Persian word basdtir* (not to be found in
modern Persian vocabularies), which is there inter-
preted by u speculations," in the following passage :

» See vol. I. p. 534. 2 j^y., p. 65.

3 M. Eugene Burnouf, to whose most valuable judgment I had the
pleasure to submit the question, prefers the derivation from bha'sh,
because this word in Zend would be wdsh, as the Zend w represents
exactly the Sanscrit bh, which aspiration did not exist in the ancient
idiom of Bactrian Asia. This sagacious philologer hinted at a comparison
with the Persian usta, or awesta, upon which in a subsequent note.

* See the Persian text of the Dasatir, p. 377.

DISCUSSION ON THE DESAT1R. XXI

" the speculations (basatir) which 1 have written on
" the desdtir."

I shall nevertheless keep, in the ensuing Dis-
sertation, the tide Desatir, because it is generally
adopted. Besides, in the Mahabadian texl, the van,
j» frequently occurs for the Persian ddl, •>» thus
we find ,j3b» wdden, for ^b, ddden, " to give;"
and wdrem, pb , for ddrem, >jb, "I have;" but

1 am aware that the two letters, so similar in their
form, may be easily confounded with each other by
the copyist or printer.

The extract from the Desatir contained in the
Dabistan was thought worthy of the greatest atten-
tion by sir William Jones, as before mentioned; nay,
appeared to him " an unexceptionable authority,"
before a part of the Desatir itself was published in
Bombay, in the year 1818, that is, twenty-four years
after the death of that eminent man.

The author of the Dabistan mentions the Desatir
as a work well known among the Sipasians, that is,
the adherents of the most ancient religion of Persia.
According to his statement, the emperor Akbar
conversed frequently with the fire-adorers of Guze-
rat ; he also called from Persia a follower of Zer-
dusht, named Ardeshir, and invited (ire-worshippers
from Kirman to his court, and received their reli-
gious books from that country ; we may suppose (he

XX11 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Desatir was among them. So much is positive,
that it is quoted in the Sharistan chehar chemen, a
work composed by a celebrated doctor who lived
under the reigns of the emperors Akbar and Jehan-
gir, and died A. D. 1624. The compiler of the
Burhani Kati, a Persian Dictionary, to be compared
to the Arabic Kamus, or " sea of language," quotes
and explains a great number of obsolete words and
philosophic terms upon the authority of the Desatir :
this evidently proves the great esteem in which this
work was held. Let it be considered that a dic-
tionary is not destined for the use of a sect merely,
but of the whole nation that speaks the language, and
this is the Persian, considered, even by the Arabs,
as the second language in the world and in paradise. '
It is to be regretted that Mohsan Fani did not
relate where and how he himself became acquainted
with the Desatir. I see no sufficient ground for the
supposition of Silvestre de Sacy2 and an anony-
mous critic," that the author of the Dabistan never
saw the Desatir. So much is certain, that the ac-
count which he gives of the Mahabadian religion

1 Tableau de V Empire ottoman, by M. d'Ohson, t. II. p. 70.

2 Journal des Savons, ftvrier 1821, p. 74. The Persian passage
which de Sacy quotes, and in which there is Destanir for Dasatir, is
taken from the text published by Gladwin, and not from the printed
Calcutta edition.

3 See Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its
Dependencies, vol. VIII., from July to Dec. 1819, p. 357.

DISCUSSION • OK THE DESATIK. XXJil

coincides in every material point with that which is
contained in that part of the sacred book which was
edited in Bombay by Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus. '

This editor says in his preface (p. vi) : " The
" Desatir is known to have existed for many years,
"' and has frequently been referred to by Persian
" writers, though, as it was regarded as the sacred
" volume of a particular sect, it seems to have been
** guarded with that jealous care and that incom-
" municative spirit, that have particularly distin-
" guished the religious sects of the East. We can
'* only fairly expect, therefore, that the contents
" should be known to the followers of the sect."
Mulla Firuz employs here evidently the term sect
with respect to the dominant religion of theMuham-
medan conquerors, whose violent and powerful in-
tolerance reduced the still faithful followers of the
ancient national religion to undergo the fate of a
persecuted sect. But we shall see that the doctrine
of the Desatir is justly entitled to a much higher
pretension than to be that of an obscure sect.

Whatever it be, Mulla Firuz possessed the only

1 The Desatir, or sacred writings of the ancient Persian prophets in
the original tongue; with the ancient Persian version, and commentary
of the fifth Sasan ; published by Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus. Bombay, 1818.
Mulla Firuz is supposed to possess the only copy of the Desatir extant.
He allowed sir John Malcolm to take a copy of it, which, by some acci-
dent, was lost by Doctor I,eyden —(See Transact, of the Lit. Soc. of Bom-
bay, pp. 342 and 349).

XXIV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

manuscript of the work then known in Bombay. It
was purchased at Isfahan by his father Kaus, about
the year 1778, from a bookseller, who sold it under
the title of a Gueber book. Brought to Bombay, it
attracted the particular attention of Mr. Duncan, then
governor of Bombay, to such a degree, that he began
an English translation of the work, which was inter-
rupted by his return to England. The final comple-
tion of the version was owing to the great encourage-
ment which sir John Malcolm gave Mulla Firuz in
consequence of the high opinion which sir William
Jones had publicly expressed of the Dabistan, the
author of which drew his account of the ancient
Persian dynasties and religions chiefly from the
Desatir. There is an interval of one hundred and
thirty-three years1 between the composition of the
Dabistan and the fortuitous purchase of the manu-
script copy of the Desatir, by Kaus in Isfahan ; as it
would be assuming to much to suppose that the latter
is the same from whichMohsan Fani drew his inform-
ation, we can but admit that the agreement of both,
in the most material points, affords a confirmation of
each respective text.

The great Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, on re-
viewing the Desatir,2 says: " We are in a man-

1 Mohsan Fani marks the time of his composing the Dabislan (vol. II
l». 50) to be the year of the Hejira 1055 (A. D. 1645).
a See Journal des Savons, No. for January, 1821, p. 16.

DISCUSSION ON THE DESAT1R. XXV

44 ner frightened by the multitude and gravity of
" the questions which we shall have to solve, or at
* * least to discuss ; for every thing is here a problem :
* ' What is the age of the book ? Who is its author?
44 Is it the work of several persons ; or the divers
' ' parts of which it is composed, are they written by
" one and the same author, although attributed to
*' different individuals, who succeeded each other
" at long intervals? The language in which it was
" written, was it, at any epoch, that of the inhabi-
44 tants of Persia, or of any of the countries com-
" prised in the empire of Iran? Or is it nothing
** but a factitious language, invented to support an
' ' imposture ? At what epoch were made the
" Persian translation accompanying the original
44 text, and the commentary joined to this transla-
" tion? Who is the author of the one and the
44 other? Are not this translation and this commen-
44 tary themsehres pseudonymous and apocryphal
" books; or may not the whole be the work of an
" impostor of the latter centuries? All these ques-
44 tions present themselves in a crowd to my mind ;
'* and if some of them appear to be easily answered.
t6 others offer more than common difficulties."

Well may a person, even with far greater pre-
tensions than mine can be, hesitate to attempt the
discussion of a subject which frightened the illustrious
Silveslre de Sacy; but as the Desalir is one of the

XXVI PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

principal sources from which ihe author of the
Dabistan drew his account of the Persian religion
and its divers sects — a considerable part of his work
— I cannot dispense with presenting the subject in
the state in which the discussions hitherto published,
by very respectable critics, have left it. If I venture
to ofler a few remarks of my own upon it, it is only
in the hope of provoking further elucidations by
philologers who shall examine the Mahabadian text
itself, and by arguments drawn from its fundamen-
tals decide the important question — whether we
shall have one language more or less to count
among the relics of antiquity?

Instead of following the order in which the ques-
tions are stated above, I will begin by that which
appears to me the most important, namely: " the
" language in which the Desatir is written, is it
"• nothing but a factitious language invented to sup-
'* port an imposture?"

The forgery of a language, so bold an imposture,
renders any other fraud probable ; through a false
medium no truth can be expected, nor even sought.
But, in order to guard against the preconception of
a forgery having taken place, a preconception the
existence of which may, with too good a foundation,
be apprehended, 1 shall first examine, as a general
thesis, whether the invention of a language, by one
individual or by a few individuals, is in itself pro-

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. XX VII

bable and credible. I shall only adduce those prin-
ciples which have received the sanction of great phi-
lologers, among whom it may be sufficient to name
baron William Humboldt, and claim the reader's
indulgence, if, in endeavoring to be clear, I should
not have sufficiently avoided trite observations.

Tracing languages up to their first origin, it has
been found that they are derived from sounds ex-
pressive of feelings ; these are preserved in the roots,
from which, in the progressive development of the
faculty of speech, verbs, nouns, and the whole lan-
guage, are formed. In every speech, even in the
most simple one, the individual feeling has a con-
nection with the common nature of mankind ; speech
is not a work of reflection : it is an instinctive crea-
tion. The infallible presence of the word required
on every occasion is certainly not a mere act of
memory ; no human memory would be capable of
furnishing it, if man did not possess in himself
instinctively the key, not only for the formation of
words, but also for a continued process of asso-
ciation : upon this the whole system of human
language is founded. By entering into the very
substance of existing languages, it appears evi-
dent that they are intellectual creations, which do
not at all pass from one individual to others, but
can only emerge from the coexisting self-activity
of all.

XXVI11 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" - — That one the names of things contrived,
" And that from him their knowledge all derived,
" Tis fond to think." *

As long as the language lives in the mouth of a
nation, the words are a progressive production and
reproduction of the faculty to form words. In this
manner only can we explain, without having re-
course to a supernatural cause, how millions of
men can agree to use the same words for every
object, the same locution for every feeling.

Language in general is the sensible exterior vest-
ment of thought ; it is the product of the intelli-
gence, and the expression of the character of man-
kind; in particular it may be considered as the
exterior manifestation of the genius of nations : their
language is their genius, and their genius is their
language. We see of what use the investigation
of idioms may be in tracing the affinities of na-
tions. History and geography must be taken as
guides in the researches upon tongues ; but these
researches would be futile, if languages were the
irregular product of hazard. No : profound feeling
and immediate clearness of vivid intuition act with
wonderful regularity, and follow an unerring ana-

1 Lucretius, book V., Transl. of Dr Creech:

" — — putare aliqueni turn nomina distribuisse
" Rebus, et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima

" Desipere est."

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. XXIX

logy. The genesis of languages may be assimilated
to that of works of genius — 1 mean, of that creative
faculty which gives rules to an art. Thus is it the
language which dictates the grammar. Moreover,
the utmost perfection of which an idiom is suscep-
tible is a line like that of beauty, which, once attain-
ed, can never be surpassed. This was the case
with some ancient tongues. Since that time, man-
kind appear to have lost a faculty or a talent, inas-
much as they are no more actuated by that urgency
of keen feeling which was the very principle of the
high perfection of those languages.

Comparative philology, a new science, sprung up
within the last thirty years, but already grown to an
unforeseen perfection, has fixed the principles by
which the affinities of languages may be known,
even among the apparently irregular disparities
which various circumstances and revolutions of the
different nations have created. This would have
been impossible, if there did not exist a fundamental
philosophy of language, however concealed, and a
certain consistency, even in the seemingly most
irregular modification of dialect, for instance, in
that of pronunciation. But, even the permutation
of letters in different and the most rude dialects, has
its rules, and follows, within its own compass, a
spontaneous analogy, such as is indispensable lor
the easy and common practice of a society more or

XXX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

less numerous. Thus sounds, grammatical forms,
and even graphical signs of language have been sub-
jected to analysis and comparison ; the significant
radical letters have been distinguished from the
merely accidental letters, and a distinction has been
established between what is fundamental, and what
is merely historical and accidental.
From these considerations I conclude :

First — That the forgery of a language is in itself
highly improbable ;

Secondly — That, if it had been attempted, compara-
tive philology is perfectly capable of detect-
ing it.

Taking a large historical view of this subject, we
cannot suppress the following reflection : The forma-
tion of mighty and civilized states being admitted,
even by our strictest chronologers, to have taken
place at least twenty-five centuries before our era, it
can but appear extraordinary, even after taking in
account violent revolutions, that of so multitudinous
and great existences, only such scanty documents
should have come down to us. But, strange to say,
whenever a testimony has escaped the destruction
of time, instead of being greeted with a benevolent
although discerning curiosity, the unexpected stran-
ger is approached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice
is stifled with severe rebukes, his credentials dis-

DISCUSSION ON HIE DESATIR. XXXI

carded with scorn, and by a predetermined and
stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is
repelled into the tomb of oblivion.

I am aware that all dialectical arguments which
have been or may be alleged against the proba-
bility of forging a language, would be of no avail
against well-proved facts, that languages have been
forged, and that works, written in them, exist.
We may remember the example adduced by Rich-
ardson ' of a language, as he said, *' sufficiently
" original, copious, and regular to impose upon
" persons of very extensive learning," forged by
Psalmanazar. This was the assumed name of a
an individual, whom the eminent Orientalist calls
a Jew, but who, born in 1679, in Languedoc or
in Provence, of Christian parents, received a Chris-
tian, nay theological education, as good as his first
instructors, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans
could bestow. This extraordinary person threw
himself at a very early age into a career of adven-
tures, in the course of which, at the age of seventeen
years, he fell upon the wild project of passing for a
native of the island of Formosa, first as one who
had been converted to Christianity, then, as still a
pagan, he let himself be baptized by a Scotch minis-
ter, by whom he was recommended to an English
bishop ; the latter, in his pious illusion, promoted

1 Richardson's Dictionary, preface, Ixvii.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

at once the interests of the convenor, and the fraud
of the neophyte. l This adventurer who was bold
enough, while on the continent, to set about in-
venting a new character and language, a grammar,
and a division of the year into twenty months, pub-
lished in London, although not twenty years old,
a translation of the catechism into his forged lan-
guage of Formosa, and a history of the island with
his own alphabetical writing, which read from right
to left — a gross fiction the temporary success of
which evinces the then prevailing ignorance in his-
tory, geography, and philology. But pious zeal and
fanaticism had changed a scientific discussion into a
religious quarrel, and for too long a lime rendered
vain the objections of a few truly learned and clear-

1 This man, who never told his true name, was from the age of fifteen to
seventeen a private teacher — then passed for an Irishman -went to Rome
as a pilgrim with a habit stolen from before an altar where it was lying
as a votive offering of another pilgrim — wandered about in Germany,
Brabant, Flanders— indolent, abject, shameless, covered with vermin and
sores— entered the military service of Holland, which he left to become
waiter in a coffee-house in Aix-la-Chapelle— enlisted in the troops of the
elector of Cologne. He acted all these parts, with those above-mentioned,
before be was baptised under the name of George, by a Scotch clergy-
man, and, having learned English, passed over to England to be protected
by Compton, the lord-bishop of London. At the expense of the latter,
he studied at Oxford— became a preceptor- chaplain of a regiment— fell
back into indolence, and lived upon alms. — (See A New and General
Dictionary, London, 1798, vol. XII ; and Vie de plusieurs Personnages
ctlebres des Temps anciens et modernes, par C. A. Walckenaer, membre
de Vlnittitut, tome II. 1830. )

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. XX XI II

sighted men ; until the impostor, either incapable
of supporting longer his pretensions or urged by
his conscience, avowed the deception, and at last
became a truly learned good and estimable man. '
We see this example badly supports the cause of
forged languages.

In 1805, M. Rousseau, since consul-general of
France at Aleppo, found in a private library at Bagh-
dad a dictionary of a language which is designated
by the name of Baldibalan, interpreted " he who
" vivifies," and written in Arabic characters called
Neshki; it was explained in Arabic, Persian, and
Turkish. The unknown author of the dictionary
composed it for the intelligence of mysterious and
occult sciences, written in that language. The
highly learned Silveslre de Sacy had scarce been
informed of this discovery, when he sought and
found in the Royal Library, at Paris, the same dic-
tionary, and with his usual diligence and sagacity
published a short but lucid Notice of it.2 What he
said therein was sufficient for giving an idea of the
manner in which this language participates in the
grammatical forms of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish.

1 This change took place in his thirty-second year— he learned Hebrew
and became an honest man, esteemed by Samuel Johnson ; he wrote eleven
articles in a well-known work, the Universal History, and his own Life
at the age of seventy-three years ; the latter work was published after his
death, which happened in his eighty-fourth year, in 1763.

a See JVof ices et Extraits des Manuscrit$, vol. IX. pp. 365-396.

XXXIV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Silvestre de Sacy, as well as M. Rousseau, have
left it uncertain whether the language be dead or
living ; by whom and at what period it was formed,
and what authors have made use of it. The former
adds, that some works written in Balaibalan are
likely to be found in the hands of the Siifis of Persia.

This language deserves perhaps a further exa-
mination. All that is positive in the just-adduced
statement of the two great Orientalists may be said
of any other language, which is not original but com-
posed, as for instance the English or the Dutch, of
more than one idiom. We can but admit that, at all
times an association of men for a particular purpose,
a school of art, science, and profession may have,
has, and even must have, a particular phraseology.
Any modification of ancient, or production of new,
ideas, will create a modified or a new language ; any
powerful influence of particular circumstances will
produce a similar effect ; this is a spontaneous repro-
duction, and not the intentional forgery of a lan-
guage.

Such a forgery, even if it could remain undetected,
which it cannot in our times, would but furnish a
curious proof of human ingenuity, to which no
bounds can be assigned ; but the true and sole object
of a language could never be attained by it ; because,
never would a great number of independent men
be disposed, nor could they be forced, to adopt the

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. XXXV

vocabulary, grammar, and locutions of a single man,
and appropriate them to themselves for the perpe-
tual expression of their inmost mind, and for the
exchange of their mutual feelings and ideas. ' To
effect this, is a miracle ascribed to the Divinity, and
with justice ; being the evident result of the Heaven-
bestowed faculty of speech, one of the perpetual
miracles of the world.

Of this a prophet must avail himself who an-
nounces to the world the important intelligence of
a heavenly revelation. The great purpose of his
sacred mission implies the widest possible proclam-
ation of his doctrine in a language generally intel-
ligible, which a forged language never can be. If,
as was surmised,2 the Desatir be set up as a rival
to the Koran, it must have been written in a na-
tional language for a nation; the Persians owned
as theirs the Maha badian religion, the identical one
which history, although not under the same name,
attributes to them in remote ages, as will result
from an examination of the doctrine itself.

Considering the knowledge required, and the
difficulties to be overcome in forging a language in

1 I am here applying to the forger of a language what Lucretius, in
continuation of his above quoted verses (p. xxx), urges against the belief
that a single individual could ever have been the inventor of human
speech.

2 By Norris, Asiatic Journal, vol. IX., November, 1820, p. 430.

XXXVI PKELIMINAKY DISCOURSE I

such a manner as to impose, even for a time, upon
the credulity of others, we shall conclude lhat nothing
less than direct proof is requisite for establishing
such a forgery as a real fact. Now, what arguments
have been set forth for declaring the language of the
Desatir to be nothing else than " an artificial idiom
" invented to support an imposture?"

Silvestre de Sacy says:1 *' It is difficult indeed,
" not to perceive that the multiplied relations which
" exist between the Asmdni, • heavenly,' and Per-
44 sian languages are the result of a systematic
44 operation, and not the effect of hazard, nor that of
" time, which proceeds with less regularity in thealtera-
" lions to which language is subjected."

I must apologise for here interrupting this cele-
brated author, for the purpose of referring to what
nobody better than himself has established as a per-
emptory condition of existence for any language, and
what he certainly never meant to deny, but may per-
haps here be supposed to forget — namely, lhat a lan-
guage is not '4 the effect of hazard, " and although
4' not the result of systematic combination," yet, as
an instinctive creation, shows surprising regularity,
and that an evident rule predominates in the altera-
tions which time produces in languages.

Silvestre de Sacy proceeds : " The grammar of
4< the Mahabadian language is evidently, for the

1 Journal des Savons, February, 1821, pp. 69-70.

DISCUSSION ON THE DBS ATI II. XXXVH

*' whole etymological part, and even (which is sin-
" gularly striking) in what concerns the anomalous
** verbs, tracked from (calqude sur) the Persian gram-
" mar, and as to the radical words, if there lye
** many of them the origin of which is unknown,
" there is also a great number of them in which
*' the Persian root, more or less altered, may be
" recognised without any effort."

Erskine examined, without the least communica-
tion with the French critic, the Mahabadian lan-
guage, and says : l "In its grammar it approaches
'* very nearly to the modern Persian, as well in the
" inflection of the nouns and verbs, as in its syn-
" tax." Norris- takes the very same view of it.

These highly respectable critics published their
judgment upon the Mahabadian language before the
comparison of several languages with the Sanscrit
and between each other had been made by able
philologers, creators of the new science of compara-
tive philology. According to the latter, the proofs of
the real affinity of language, that is, the proofs that
two languages belong to the same family, are to be
principally and can be properly deduced, from their

1 See Transact, of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. II. : " On the Authen-
" ticity of the Desatir, with remarks on the Account of the Mahabadi
" Religion contained in the Dabistan," by William Erskine, esq., p. 360.

2 The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India and its
Dependencies, Novemb. 1820, p. -421 et seq.

XXXVlii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

grammatical system. Thus, for instance, the forms
of the Greek and Latin languages are in several
parts nearly identical with the Sanscrit, the first bear-
ing a greater resemblance in one respect, the latter
in another ; the Greek verbs in mi, the Latin declen-
sion of some nouns appear, to use the expression
of the illustrious author, " traced from each other
" (caiques I'un sur I'autre)." These two languages
seem to have divided between them ihe whole sys-
tem of the ancient grammar, which is most per-
fectly preserved in the Sanscrit. This language
itself is probably, with the two mentioned, derived
from a more ancient language ; we meet in them
three sisters recognised by their striking likeness.
This, although more or less weakened and even
obliterated in some features, remains upon the whole
still perceptible in a long series of their relations :
I mean in all those languages which are distinguished
by the name of Indo-yermanic, to which the Persian
belongs.

But, in deciding upon the affinity of languages,
not only the grammatical forms are to be examined,
but also the system of sounds is to be studied, and
the words must be considered in their roots and deri-
vations. The three critics mentioned agree that the
language of the Desatir is very similar to the Persian
or Deri, not only in grammar, but also in etymo-
logy ; a great number of the verbal and nominal

DISCUSSION ON THE DESA.TIR. XXXJX

roots are the same in both. This similarity would,
according to comparative philology, lead to the con-
clusion that either the one is derived from the other,
or that both proceed from a common parent; but
nothing hitherto here alleged can justify the suppo-
sition of invention, forgery, or fabrication of the so-
called Mahabadian language.

We continue to quote the strictures of Silvestre de
Sacy : " There is however a yet stronger proof of
" the systematic operation which produced the
" factitious idiom. This proof I derive from the
" perfect and constant identity which prevails be-
" tween the Persian phraseology and that of the
'* Mahabadian idiom. The one and the other are,
" whenever the translation does not degenerate into
" paraphrase or commentary, which frequently
" happens, traced from each other (caiques Yun sur
" Vautre] in such a manner that each phrase, in both,
44 has always the same number of words, and these
" words are always arranged in the same order.
" For producing such a result, we must admit two
" idioms, the grammar of which should be perfectly
** alike, as weil with respect to the etymological
" part as to the syntax, and their respective dic-
" tionaries offering precisely the same number of
" words, whether nouns, verbs, or particles: which
" would suppose two nations, having precisely the
4< same number of ideas, whether absolute or rela-

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" tiver and conceiving but the same kind and the
" same number of relations."

If what we have already stated be not unfounded,
the last quoted paragraph, which the author calls
" a yet stronger proof of the systematic operations
" which produced the factitious idiom" must be
acknowledged not to have the weight which he
would attribute to it. If the Mahabadian and Per-
sian be languages related to each other, " a perfect
" and constant identity of phraseology between
" them both," if even so great as it is said to be, is
not only possible, but may be fairly expected in the
avowed translation of theDesatir into Persian. Such
identity is most religiously aimed at in versions of a
sacred text. Need I adduce modern examples of
translations which, in point of phraseological con-
formity with their original, may vie with the Persian
version of the Mahabadian text? The supposition
that two nations have the same number of ideas,
absolute or relative, is far from being absurd : it is
really the fact with all nations who are upon the
same level of civilisation ; but the present question
is of the writings of the same nation, which, pos-
sessing at all times a sort of government and reli-
gion fundamentally the same, might easily count an
obsolete language of its own among the monuments
of its antiquity.

On that account, we cannot see what the former

DISCUSSION ON THE DESAT1R. Xl

arguments of the critic gain in strength by the addi-
tion : "that the perfect identity of conception falls
" in a very great part upon abstract and metaphysi-
" cal ideas, in which such a coincidence is infinitely
" more difficult than when the question is only
" of objects and relations perceptible to the senses."
— A great similarity is remarked in all forms of
thinking. Little chance of being contradicted can
be incurred in saying, that the fundamental ideas
of metaphysics are common to all mankind, and
inherent in human reason. The encyclopedian
contents of the Dabistan, concerning the opinions
of so many nations, would furnish a new proof of
it, were this generally acknowledged fact in need
of any further support.

Silvestre de Sacy acknowledges that the Asmani
language contains a great number of radical words,
the origin of which is not known. Erskine says : '
" It is certainly singular that the language in which
" theDesatir is written, like that in which the Zend-
*' A vesta is composed, is nowhere else to be met
" with. It is not derived from the Zend, the Peh-
** levi, the Sanscrit, Arabic, Turkish. Persian, or
" any other known language." ******
** The basis of the language, and the great majority
" of words in it, belong to no known tongue. It
** is a mixture of Persian and Indian words. A

1 The work quoted, p. 360.

Xlii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" few Arabic words occur." Norris1 also found
lhat a great part of the language appears to have
little resemblance to any other that was ever spoken.
A judgment, so expressed, might induce an impar-
tial mind to ascribe originality to at least a part of
the Asmani language ; which would naturally render
the other part less liable to suspicion, inasmuch as
it would have been not less difficult to execute, but
less easy to conceal, a partial than a total forgery.
Nevertheless it so happens that the dissimilarity
from any other, as well as the similarity to one par-
ticular idiom, are both equally turned against the
genuineness of the language in question : where dis-
similarity exists, there is absolute forgery — where
similarity, an awkward disguise !

Erskine continues: " The Persian system it is
" unnecessary to particularise; but it is worthy of
" attention that, among the words of Indian origin,
*' not only are many Sanscrit, which might happen
" in a work of a remote age, but several belong to-
" the colloquial language of Hindustan : this is sus-
" picious, and seems to mark a much more recent
** origin. Many words indeed occur in the Desatir
* * that are common to the Sanscrit and to ihe vulgar
Indian languages (the author quotes thirty-four of
them); many others might be pointed out. Bui
the most remarkable class of words is that which

The Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 421 el seq.

t(

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR.

" belongs to the pure Hindi ; such 1 imagine are the
' ' word shet, ' respectable, ' prefixed to the names
*' of prophets and others (twenty-four are adduced).
' ' Whatever may be thought of the words of Persian
" descent, it is not probable that those from the
'* Hindustani are of a very remote age; they may
' ' perhaps be regarded as considerably posterior to
4< the settlement of the Muselmans in India."

Strongly supported by the opinion of respectable
philologers, I do not hesitate to draw a quite con-
trary conclusion from the facts slated by Erskine.
It should be remembered that, in the popular or
vulgar dialects are often found remains of ancient
tongues, namely, roots of words, locutions, nay
rules of grammar which have become obsolete, or
disappeared in the cultivated idioms derived from
the same original language. It was not without
reason that the illustrious William Humboldt recom-
mended to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Bri-
tain and Ireland, l to examine, on behalf of general
Oriental philology, the different provincial dialects
of India. Even the gibberish of gypsies is not to
be neglected for that purpose. 2

Thus, if we are not greatly mistaken, the very

1 An Essay on the best means of ascertaining the affinities of Oriental
languages, by baron W. Humboldt, in the Transactions of the Royal
Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. II. part I. p. 213.

2 Colonel Harriot on the Oriental Origin of the Gypsies. Ibid., 518.

xlJV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

arguments alleged to show that the Mahabadian
language is an invention or forgery, lead rather to
a contrary conclusion. Duly sensible of the great
weight of authority which opposes the result of
my inquiry, I sought an explanation of the severe
judgment passed upon the Desatir, and venture to
surmise that it was occasioned by the certainly extra-
vagant claim to a heavenly origin and incredible anti-
quity which has been attached to this work. Such
pretensions, taken in too serious a light, can but
hurt a fixed, if not religious, belief. Every nation
acknowledges but one heavenly book, and rejects
every other. Hence arises a very natural, and even
respectable pre-conception against all that appears
without the limits traced by religion, or mere early
habit and adopted system. Thus a severe censure
is provoked. To annihilate at once the impertinent
pretension to a divine origin, all that ingenuity can
suggest is brought forward to prove the book to be
a fraudulent forgery ; to strip it of the awful dignity
of antiquity, it must by any means be represented
as the work of yesterday. But error is not fraud,
and may be as ancient as mankind itself; because
credulous, a man is not the forger of a document. If
the Mahabadian language is not that primitive idiom
from which the Sanscrit, the Zend, and other lan-
guages are derived, it does not follow that it is " a
V mere jargon, fabricated with no great address to

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIH. xlv

" support a religious or philosophical imposture ;"'
if it was not spoken in Iran long before the esta-
blishment of the Peshdadian monarchy, it does
not follow " that it has at no time belonged to any
** tribe or nation on the face of the earth."

However I may appear inclined in favor of the
Desatir, I shall avoid incurring the blame of unfair
concealment by adding to the names of the great
critics above quoted, adverse to this work, the
great one of William von Schlegel. I must avow
it; the celebrated author declares the Desatir,2 inti-
mately connected with the Dabistan, to be * * a forgery
*' still more refined (than that of the Brahman who
" deceived Wilford),3 and written in a pretended
" ancient language, but fabricated at pleasure." As
he, however, presents no arguments of his own, but
only appeals in a note to the articles written by Sil-
vestre de Sacy and Erskine, there is no occasion here
for a further observation concerning this question.
As to von Schlegel's opinion upon the Dabistan, I
reserve some remarks upon it for another place.

General arguments, opposed to general objec-
tions, may produce persuasion, but are not sufficient
for establishing the positive truth concerning a sub-

1 Erskine, loco cit., p. 372.

2 See Reflexions sur I'Etude de$ Langues asiatiques, adressdes a
*tr James Mackintosh. Bonn, 1832, pp. 51-52. *

3 See Asiatic Researches, vol. VIII. Lond. ed. 8. p. 254.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

ject in question. It is necessary to dive into the
Mahabadian language itself for adequate proofs of
its genuineness. I might have justly hesitated to
undertake this task, but found it already most ably
achieved by baron von Hammer, ! in whom we do
not know which we ought to admire most, his vast
store of Oriental erudition, or the indefatigable ac-
tivity, with which he diffuses, in an unceasing series
of useful works, the various information derived not
only from the study of the dead letter in books, but
also from converse with the living spirit of the actual
Eastern world. This sagacious reviewer of the
Desatir, examining its language, finds proofs of its
authenticity in the nature of its structure and the
syllables of its formation, which, when compared to
the modern pure Persian or Deri, have the same rela-
tion to it as the Gothic to the English; the old Per-
sian and the old Germanic idioms exhibit in the
progress of improvement such a wonderful concor-
dance and analogy as can by no means be the result
of an ingenious combination, nor that of a lucky
accidental coincidence. Thus, the language of the
Desatir has syllables of declension affixed to pro-
nouns, which coincide with those of the Gothic
and Low German, but are not recognisable in
the modern form of the Persian pronouns. This is

1 See Heidelberger Jahrbiicher der Literatar Vom Janner te Juni
1823, N°s 6. 12. 13. 18. 20.

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR.

also the case with some forms of numerical and
other words. The Mahabadian language contains
also a good number of Germanic radicals which
cannot be attributed to the well-known affinity of
the German and the modern Persian, because they
are no more to be found in the latter, but solely in
the Desatir. This has besides many English, Greek,
and Latin words, a series of which baron von Ham-
mer exhibits, and -which ought to be duly noticed
— a considerable number of Mahabadian words,
belonging also to the languages enumerated, are
sought in vain in any Persian dictionary of our
days ! Surely, an accidental coincidence of an in-
vented factitious language, with Greek, Latin, and
Germanic forms would be by far a greater and more
inexplicable miracle, than the great regularity of
this ancient sacred idiom of Persia, and its con-
formity with the modern Deri. It is nevertheless
from the latter that the forgery is chiefly inferred.

Moreover, the acute philologer, analysing the
Mahabadian language by itself, points out its essen-
tial elements and component parts, that is, sylla-
bles of derivation, formation, and inflexion. Thus
he adduces as syllables of derivation certain vowels,
or consonants preceded by certain vowels ; he shows
certain recurring terminations to be syllables of
formation for substantives, adjectives, and verbs;
he sets forth particular forms of verbs, and remark-

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

able expressions. All this he supports by numerous
examples taken from the text of the Desatir. Such
a process enabled him to rectify in some places the
Persian translation of the Mahabadian text.

I can but repeal that my only object here is to
present the question in the same state that I found
it ; and am far from contesting, nay, readily admit,
the possibility of arguments which may- lead to a
contrary conclusion. Until such are produced, al-
though not presuming to decide, I may be permit-
ted to believe that the language of the Desatir is no
forgery ; I may range myself on the side of the
celebrated Orientalist mentioned, who, ten years
after the date of his review of the Desatir (ten years
which, with him, are a luminous path of ever-
increasing knowledge), had not changed his opinion
upon the language of the Desatir, and assigns to it1
a place among the Asiatic dialects; according to him,
as it is more nearly related to the new Persian than
to the Zand and the Pehlevi, it may be considered
as a new intermediate ring in the hermetic chain
which connects the Germanic idioms with the old
Asiatic languages ; it is perhaps the most ancient
dialect of the Deri, 2 spoken, if not in Pars, yet in

1 See Journal asiatique, tome XII. juillet 1833, pp. 24-26.

2 Ibidem, pp. 20-21. Deri was spoken on the other side of the Oxus,
and at the foot of the Paropamisus in Balkh, Meru, in the Badakhshan,
in Bokhara and Bamian. The Pehlevi was used in Media proper, in the

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. \lix

the north-eastern countries of the Persian empire, to
wit, in Sogd and Bamian. When it ceased to be
spoken, like several other languages of by-gone ages,
the Mahabadian was preserved perhaps in a single
book, or fragment of a book, similar in its solitude
to the Hebrew Bible, or the Persian Zend-Avesta.

At what epoch was the Desatir written?

The epoch assigned to it, according to different
views, is the sixth1 or the seventh2 century of our
era, even the later time of the Seljucides, who reigned
from A. D. 1057 to 1195. The latter epoch is adop-
ted as the earliest assignable, by Silvestre de Sacy,
who alleges two reasons for his opinion : the one is
his belief that the new Persian language, in which
the Desatir was translated and commented by the
fabricator of the original or Mahabadian text did
not exist earlier ; the second reason refers to some
parts of the contents of the Desatir. I shall touch
upon both these questions.

It is useless to discuss what can never be ascer-
tained, who the author of the Desatir was. But
this work would be unintelligible without the Per-
sian translation and commentary. Silvestre de Sacy

towns of Rai, Harnadan, Ispahan, Nehawend, and Tabriz, the capital of
Azar bijan. — Beside the Deri and Pehlevi, Persian dictionaries reckon five
other dialects, altogether twelve dialects, of ancient and modern Persian.

1 Tfioluck. Sufitmus, sive Theosophia Pantheistica, p. HI.

a Norris, Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 430.

d

1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

asks: " Are not this translation and this com-
'* mentary, themselves pseudonymous and apo-
" cryphal books, and is not the whole, perhaps,
" the work of an impostor of the last century?" In
answering this, I shall be guided by the baron
von Hammer, who wrote his review of the Desatir
before he had seen that of the Journal des Savans,
but, after having perused the latter, declared that
he had nothing to change in his opinion. Although
the commentator, to whom the honor of being the
inventor of the Mahabadian language is ascribed,
follows in the main the ancient text word for word,
and substitutes commonly a new for the obsolete
form of the term, yet frequent instances occur (some
of which baron von Hammer adduces) which prove
that the interpreter did not clearly understand the
old text, but in place of the true meaning gave his
own arbitrary interpretation. The proper names
even are not always the same. Besides — and this
is most important — the doctrines contained in the
Desatir and in the Commentary differ from each
other. In the books of the first Mahabadian kings
we find the fundamental ideas of the Oriental philo-
sophy, such as it was before its migration from Asia
to Europe; but in the commentary we perceive the
development of the Aristotelian scholastic, such as
it formed itself among the Asiatics, when they had,
by means of translations, become acquainted with the

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. li

Stagirite. We shall revert to this subject hereafter.
Whatever it be —the discrepancies between the ori-
ginal text and the interpretation, as they would
certainly have been avoided by the author of both ,
prove that they are the works of two different per-
sons, probably with the interval of a few centuries
between them.

The Persian translator and commentator is said
to be the fifth Sassan, who lived in the time of the
Persian king Khusro-Parviz, a contemporary of the
Roman emperor Heraclius, and died only nine years
before the destruction of the ancient Persian mo-
narchy, or in the year 643 of our era. It must be
presumed that the five Sassans, the first of whom
was a contemporary of Alexander, 525 years before
Christ, were not held to be immediate successors to
each other, but only in the same line of descent ;
otherwise an interval of 946 years, from Alexander
to Parviz, comprehending the reign of thirty-one
Arsacides and twenty-two Sassanian princes, would
be given to no more than five individuals, which
absurdity ought not to be attributed to the commen-
tary of the Desatir. In general, so common is it
with Asiatics to deal with names of celebrity as if
they were generic names, that it is very frequently
impossible to be positive about the true author of a
work. There appears in the present case nothing
to prevent us from placing the translator and com-

Ill PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION.

mentator of tbe Desatir (whether a Sassan or not)
in the seventh century of our era.

The translation and commentary of the Desatir
are written in what the best judges consider as
very pure Persian, though ancient, without any
mixture whatever of words of Arabic or Chaldean
origin, and conformable to the grammatical system
of modern Persian. But when was the latter,
formed? — As the opinion upon this epoch involves
that upon the age of the composition itself, I shall
be permitted to take a rather extensive historical
view of this part of the question.

Setting aside the Mahabadian kings mentioned
in the Desatir and Dabistan, we know that Gil-
shah, Hoshang, Jamshid (true Persian names) are
proclaimed by all Orientalists as founders of the
Persian empire and builders of renowned cities in
very remote times. This empire comprised in its
vast extent different nations, speaking three princi-
pal languages, the Zand, Pehlevi, and Parsi. Among
these nations were the Perm, " Persians," properly
and distinctively so called. We are informed by
Herodotus' that there were different races of Persae,
of whom he enumerates eleven. Those who inha-
bited originally Fars, Fanistan, Penis,'2 a country

» Clio, lib. I.

2 In the Bible it is called Paras, or Faras, and reckoned as extensive
as Great and Little Armenia, or as Hungary, Transylvania, Slavonia,

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIH. III!

double the extent of England, and gave their name
to the whole empire, certainly spoke their own
idiom, the Parsi or Farsi. A national language may
vary in its forms, but never can be destroyed as
long as any part of the nation exits ; can we doubt
that the Persians who, once the masters of Asia,
although afterwards shorn of their power, never
ceased to be independent and formidable, preserved
their language to our days?

We may consider as remains of the oldest Persian
language, the proper and other names of persons,
places and things mentioned by the most ancient
historians ; now, a number of such words, which
occur in the Hebrew Bible, ' in Herodotus, and other
Greek authors, are much better explained from
modern Persian than from Zand and Pehlevi. In
the Armenian language exist words common to the
Persian, none common to the Pehlevi;2 therefore,
in very remote times Persian and not Pehlevi was
the dominant idiom of the Iranian nations with
whom the Armenians were in relation. More posi-
tive information is reserved for posterity, when
the cuneiform inscriptions upon the monumental

Croatia, and Dalmatia together.- (See Gatlerer's Weltgeschichle Ilter
Theil, Seite 9. )

1 In the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

2 See Observations sur les Monumem historiques de I'ancienne Perse,
par Etienne Quatremere. Journal des Savons, juin et juillet 1840,
pp 347-348.

llV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

rocks and ruins, to be found in all directions within
the greatest part of Asia, shall be deciphered by
future philologers, not perhaps possessing greater
talent, but better means of information from all-
revealing time than those of our days, who have
already successfully begun the great work — Grote-
fend, Rask, St. Martin, Burnouf, Lassen, etc.

Let us now take a hasty review of a few principal
epochs of the Persian empire, with respect to lan-
guage, beginning only from that nearest the time, in
which Persia was seen and described by Herodotus,
Ctesias, and Xenophon, not without reference to the
then existing national historical records. Khosru
(Cyrus) the Persian King, placed by the Occidentals in
the seventh century before our era,1 having wrested
the sceptre from the hands of the Medes, who spoke
Pehlevi, naturally produced the ascendancy of his
national idiom. This did not sink under his imme-
diate successors, Lohrasp and Gushlasp. Although
under the reign of the latter, who received Zardusht
at his court in the sixth century B. G.,2 the Zand
might have had great currency, yet it certainly
declined after Gushtasp, as his grandson Bali man.

1 The Orientals place him in the tenth century B. C.

2 According to Richardson (see the preface of his Diet., p. vi ), the
Farsi was peculiarly cultivated by the great and learned, above 1200
years before the Mu hammed an era, i. e. above 600 years R. (!.. which
epoch is commonly assigned to (iushtasp's reign.

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. Iv

the son of Isfendiar, favored the cultivation of the
Parsi. ' This language was perfected in Baktria
( the original name of which country is Bdkhter,
" East," an old Persian word) and in the neigh-
boring Transoxiana ; there the towns Bamian, the
Thebes of the East, and Balkh, built by Lohrasp and
sanctified by Gushtasp's famous Pyraeum, besides
Merv and Bokhara, were great seats of Persian arts
and sciences. The Parsi, thus refined, was dominant
in all the royal residences, which changed according
to seasons and circumstances; it was spoken at the
court of the Second Dara (Darius Codomanus), and
sounds in his own name and that of his daughters
•SiJdra(Statira), "star, "and /?os/tawa(Roxana),'< splen-
*' dor," whom the unfortunate king resigned with
his empire to Alexander.* This conqueror, intoxi-
cated with power, endeavored to exterminate the
Mobeds, the guardians of the national religion and
science ; he slew many, but dispersed only the
majority. From the death of Alexander (325 B. C.)
to the reign of Ardeshir Babegan (Artaxerxes), the
founder of the Sassanian dynasty (200 A. D.), a

1 See Hammer's Schone Redekunste Persiens, Seite 3 et seq.

2 Strabo, who flourished in the beginning of the Christian era. and
drew his information mostly from the historians of Alexander, refers
probably to the time of the Macedonian conquest, when he says (xv. 2,
** 8, fol. 724, edit. Gas.) : that the Medians, Persians, Arians, Baktrians,
and Sogdians spoke almost the same language. This probaMy was that
of the (hen leading nation, the Persian.

Ivi PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

period of more than five centuries is almost a blank
in the Persian history ; but when the last-mentioned
king, the regenerator of the ancient Iranian mo-
narchy, wishing to restore ils laws and literature,
convoked the Mobeds, he found forty thousand of
them before the gate of the fire-temple of Barpa. '
Ammianus Marcellinus, in the fourth century of our
era attests, that the title of king was in Deri, " court-
" language," yet the Pehlevi was spoken concur-
rently with it during the reigns of the first twelve
Sassanian princes, until it was proscribed by a for-
mal edict of the thirteenth of them, Bahrain gor, in
our fifth century. Nushirvan and Parviz, in the
sixth century, were both celebrated for the pro-
tection which they granted to arts and sciences.
We have on record a school of physic, poetry, rhe-
toric, dialectics, and abstract sciences, flourishing
at Gandi sapor, a town in Khorasan : the Persian
must have then been highly cultivated. We are
now in the times of Muhammed; were they not
Persian, those Tales, the charm of which, whether
in the original or in the translation, was such, that
the Arabian legislator, to counteract it, summoned
up the power of his high-sounding heaven-inspired
eloquence, and wrote a part of the Koran against
them? If he himself had not named the Deri as
the purest dialect of the Persian, what other Jan-

1 Hammer, loc. cit , p. 7.

DISCUSSION ON THE DESAT1R. Ivii

guage could we believe he admired for its extreme
softness so much as to say, that the Almighty used
it when he wished to address the angels in a tone of
mildness and beneficence, whilst he reserved the
Arabic for command?1 Such a fact, or such a tra-
dition, presupposes a refined, and therefore long-
spoken language. After Muhammed's death, his
fanatic successors attempted to bury under the ruins
of the Persian empire even the memory of its an-
cient religion and language— but they did not suc-
ceed : the sacred fire was saved and preserved beyond
the Oxus ; it was rekindled in Baktria, that ancient
hearth of Persian splendor ; there poetry and elo-
quence revived, but could not raise their voices
until princes of Persian origin became lieutenants
of the Muhammedan khalifs. It was under Nasr,
son of Ahmed the Samanian, in the beginning of our
tenth century, that RUDIGI rose, the first celebrated
new Persian poet, but he found, he did not create
the language, more than Homer created Greek,
Dante Italian, or Spenser English. A great author,
in whom the genius of his nation is concentrated,
does no more than aptly collect into a whole the
idiom which exists every where in parts, and elicit
its pre-existing resources. Thus under his pen the
language can appear to spring up with all its beau-

1 Works of sir \V. Jones, vol. V. p. 426, Transactions of the Literary
Society of Bombay, vol. II. p. 297.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

ties — as Minerva, equipped in armour, sprung forth
from the head of Jupiter.

Such being the historical indications relative to
the Persian language, we cannot participate in the
doubts of Silvestre de Sacy, nor find Erskine1 just in
disdaining even to make a comment upon the credi-
bility of the hypothesis " that the Persian language
" was completely formed in the age of the latter
" Sassanians. " It would be rather a matter of
wonder that the Par si, related to the most ancient
and most cultivated language in the world, should
not have been much sooner fitted for the harmonious
lays of Ferdusi ! — a matter of wonder indeed, that
the Persians, who taught the Arabs so much of
their religion — heaven and hell, should have re-
mained behind them in the refinement of their idiom !
— that they, who could scoff at the Tazis as eaters
of lizards, should not have possessed, in the seventh
century, a language to contend with that people,
who themselves possessed celebrated poets long
before Muhammed ! 2

1 Loco cit., p. 363.

2 See the preface to the most valuable work Le Divan d'Amro 'Ikais,
par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane, Paris, 1837, pp. viii and ix. The
learned author confirms that celebrated Arabian poems existed before the
introduction of the Muhammedan religion, which, for a certain time,
averted the Arabs from the cultivation of poetry and history. We shall
here add (which would have been more appropriately placed in the note
upon Amro 'I Kais, in vol. Ill p. 65, and will correct the same) that (hi?

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. IJX

It is for ever regrettable that overpowering Mu-
hammedism should have spoiled the original admir-
able simplicity of one of the softest languages in the
world, by the intrusion of the sonorous but harsher
words of Arabic, and imposed upon us the heavy
tax of learning two languages for understanding
one ; but, as the translation of the Desatir is free
from words of an Arabic or Chaldean origin, should
we not fairly conclude, that it was executed before
the Muhammedan conquest of Persia ? So did Nor-
ris, and so Erskine— I can but think — would have
done, if his judgment and penetration, usually so
right and acute, had not been prepossessed by the
idea of an imposture, which he had assumed as
proved or self-evident, whilst this was the very point
of contestation. Thus, " the very freedom from
4 * words of foreign growth, which the learned natives
" consider as a mark of authenticity, appeared to
(i him the proof of an artificial aud fabricated style."

If even there are some Arabic words to be found
in the text and the translation of the Desatir, this
affords no fair inference that these works had not
been composed before the Arabs conquered Persia,
because those words might have come from Pehlevi,
in which there is a mixture of Arabic, and there are
also Persian words in the Koran ; most naturally,

poet (see loc. cit., p. xvi et seq. ) flourished at an epoch anterior to Mo-
hammed, and died probably before the birth of that extraordinary man.

Ix PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

as there subsisted from times immemorial relations
between Persia and Arabia.

What I have said will, if I am not mistaken, suffi-
ciently justify the conclusion, that the Persian idiom
could in the seventh century have attained the re-
gularity and form of the present Persian, such at
least, as it appears in the Commentary of the Desatir,
not without a very perceptible tincture of obso-
leteness.

I need scarce remark that the title asmdni, ' ' hea-
"venly," belongs exclusively to the* superstitious ad-
miration with which the Desalir is viewed. Nor are
its fifteen books to be taken for sacred works of so
many prophets who succeeded each other after such
long intervals of time ; yet nothing prevents us, as I
hope to show, from believing some parts of them
very ancient. Neither are these of the same anti-
quity. Thus, prophecies which are certainly inter-
polations made after the events, occur in them, not
otherwise than in the Indian Puranas, the funda-
mental parts of which are nevertheless now ad-
mitted to be as ancient as the Vedas themselves.
We find in the two last books of the Desatir are
mentioned : the contest between the Abbasides and
the descendants of Ali ; the adoption of Muham-
medism by almost the totality of Iran ; inimical
sects, and the power of the Turcomans super-
seding that of the Arabs; the latter parts must cer-

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. hi

tainly have been composed after the taking of Bag-
dad by Hulogu in 1258 of our era. The fifteenth
book of the Desatir is probably apocryphal.

As to the doctrine of the Desatir, Erskine says : '
" I consider that the whole of the peculiar doc-
" trines, ascribed to Mahabad and Hoshang, is bor-
" rowed from the mystical doctrines of the Persian
' ' Siifis, and from the ascetic tenets and practices of
" the Yogis and Sanyasis, of India who drew many
" of their opinions from the Vedanta-school." But
this involves the great historical question, concern-
ing the origin of Siifism and the whole Indian phi-
losophy, which is by some (not without foundation)
believed to have been spread throughout a great part
of Asia. It is quite gratuitous, I may say, to regard
them " as having had no existence before the time
" of Azar Kaivan2 and his disciples in the reigns of
" Akbar and Jehanguir, and as having beende-
' ' vised and reduced into form between 200 and 300
"years ago in the school of Sipasi-philosophers."
Nor can I admit as better founded the following in-
sinuations of the same ingenious critic : *' Nor shall
" I inquire whether many of the acute metaphysical
te remarks that abound in the commentary and the
" general style of argument which it employs have
" not rather proceeded from the schoolmen of the

1 Loco citato, p. 372.

* See vol. I. pp. 87 et seq.

Ixii PRELIMINARY DIRCOURSE :

" West, than directly from the Oriental or Aristo-
*' telian philosophy." To this may be answered :
It is highly problematic, whether the translator of
the Desatir ever knew any schoolman of the West,
but it is certain that he, as an Asiatic and a Persian,
knew the Oriental philosophy, the fundamentals of
which were preserved in the first books of the De-
satir, as we have already said; but the commentator
could but participate in the modification, which the
ancient doctrine had undergone in his age, after
its. return from the West to the East, in translations
of Greek philosophical works into Asiatic languages.
Thus, in the Desatir and its commentary — I borrow
the words of baron von Hammer: — " We see
'* already germinating the double seed of reason and
" light, from which sprung up the double tree of
4< rational and ideal philosophy," which spread its
ramifications over the whole world, and lives and
flourishes even in our times.

The commentator was no ordinary man: living,
as we may believe, in the first half of the seventh
century, he possessed the sciences of his learned
age ; flourishing under the reign of king Khosru
Parviz, who professed the ancient Persian religion
in his letter to a Roman emperor of the East,2 and

1 Heidelberger Jahrbiicher, loc. cit. Seite 313.

2 The Dabistan (see Pers. text, Calcutta edit., p. 69, and English transl.,
vol. I. p. 145) quotes verses containing this profession, addressed by

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIH.

tore to pieces Muhammed's written invitation to
adopt Islam'; in this yet unshaken state of national
independence, the fifth Sassan preserved pure his
creed and style from the influence of the Arabian
prophet. The translator and commentator of.the
Desatir says of himself:2 "I loo have written a
'*' celebrated book under the name of Do giti, ' the
" 'two worlds', full of admirable wisdom, which
*4 1 have derived from the most exalted intelligence,
" and in the eminent book of the famous prophet,
•" the King of Kings, Jemshid, there is a great deal,
" concerning the unity which only distinguished
" Ascetics (Hertasp) can comprehend, and on the
** subject of this transcendant knowledge I have
" also composed a great volume Pertu estdn, ' the
" ( mansion of light,' which 1 have adorned by

Khosru Parviz to a Roman emperor, whose name, however, is not men-
tioned. During the reign of this Persian king, two emperors ruled in the
East, namely, Mauritius, whose daughter Parviz married, and Hera-
clius, by whom he was defeated towards the end of his life. I found it
probable, but had no authority to assert (see vol. I. p. 145, note 2), that
the above-stated profession was made to Mauritius ; but those verses by
themselves deserve attention, as they establish the adherence of Parviz to
the religion of Hoshang, in contradiction to several historians, according
to whom he adopted Christianity: this assertion seems founded upon his
great attachment to the celebrated Mary, or Chin'n, his Christian wife,
and daughter of a Christian emperor, the said Mauritius .

2 Muhammed, when informed of the ignominious reception which the
Persian king gave to his letter and ambassador, said : " God will tear his
" empire, as he tore my letter, to pieces." — (Herbelot. )

3 The Desatir, p. 99.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

'* evidence deduced from reason, and by texts from
" the Desdtir and Avesta, so that the soul of every man
" may derive pleasure from it. And it is one of the
" books of the secrets of the great God."

This is a most important declaration. The com-
mentator considered the Desatir and the Avesta as
sources of delight TO ALL MEN. And he was right.
The doctrine of the former work now under con-
sideration is found every where, not denied either
by the ancients or moderns; it is the property of
mankind. As such, ' ' it does not belong to any particular.
" tribe or nation :" in which point, although in quite
another sense, we agree with Erskine, but we may
dissent from the learned author, when he taxes it to
be (C a religious or philosophical imposture, which
" needed the support ofa fabricated language." After
careful examination, I must conscientiously declare,
I discover no imposture aimed at by any artifice;
there was no secret to be concealed ; nothing to be
disguised ; the Mahabadian religion is as open as its
temple, the vault of heaven, and as clear as the
lights, flaming in their ethereal attitudes; its book
is a sort of catechism of Asiatic religion ; its prayer
a litany of Oriental devotion, in which any man may
join his voice.

Thus have I endeavored, to the best of my
power, to exhibit faithfully what has hitherto been
alleged for and against the authenticity of the book,

DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR. IxV

which is one of the principal authorities of the
Dabistan. If the author of this latter work was,
as the often-quoted ingenuous author supposes,
" in strict intimacy with the sects of enthusiasts
" by whom the Desatir was venerated, and whose
" rule it was," we may so much the more rely upon
the truth of his account concerning such a reli-
gious association. If he professed the new religion,
which the emperor Akbar had endeavored to
found, as this was a revival of the ancient Persian
religion, we may reasonably presume, that he
would have searched, and brought to light writings
concerning it which were concealed, neglected, or
little known; he would have cautiously scrutinized
the authenticity of the documents, and conscien-
tiously respected the sacred sources of that faith,
which, after a careful examination of all others,
deserved his preference; nothing justifies the sup-
position, that he would forge any thing himself, or
countenance, or not be able to detect, the forgery
of others. However this be, Mohsan Fani's charac-
ter will be best known by the perusal of his work;
after a rapid synopsis of its contents, to which 1 will
now proceed, I shall be permitted to point out, as
briefly as possible, some of the merits and defects
conspicuous in his composition.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

PART II.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DYNASTIES, RELIGIONS, SECTS,
AND PHILOSOPHIC OPINIONS, TREATED OF IN
THE DABISTAN.

§ I. — THE FIRST RELIGION — THE DYNASTIES OF MAHABAD,
ABAD AZAR, SHAI ABAD, SHAI GILIV, SHAI MAHBUL,
AND YASAN.

Mohsan Fani exhibits the remarkable notions,
dogmas, customs, and ceremonies of twelvereligions,
and their various sects, without giving more of their
origin and genesis than the names of their founders.
The very first principle of all religion is referred,
by some, to a primitive Divine revelation; by others,
to a natural propensity of the human mind to super-
stition. However this may be, history confirms the
suggestions of psychology, that admiration was one
of the principal sources of religious feelings ; how
should man not be struck with the glories of the sky?
Therefore, the adoration of stars was one of the
most ancient religions. It needed no prophet : it is
** the poetry of heaven," imprinted in eternal charac-
ters of fire upon the ethereal expanse. Prometheus,

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. Ixvii

enumerating the benefits which he bestowed upon
untutored barbarians, says : '

" — — — At random all their works
" Till I instructed them to mark the stars,
" Their rising, and, a harder science yet,
" Their setting.2

According to all traditions, astronomy was one
of the first sciences cultivated by men.3 The stars
not only occasioned the institution, but also served
to announce the regular return, of religious feasts ;
thus they became, as called by Plato, " the instru-
" ments of time," men were at once induced and
taught by religion to count months and years. As-
tronomy, in her feast-calendars, consecrated upon
an altar the first fruits of her labors.

Upon the star-paved path of heaven man was
conducted to the sanctuary of the supreme Being.
In general, the first feeling of" the Divine (ro Sstov),"
seizing the human mind with its own supernatural
power, elevated it at once above the material con-

Eirpaudov, e's ft <Jy) tjtfiv avroXa$ lyi)
Aarptov tiJti^a, TX; TE <Ju<jxptTov<; (Jvuttj.

(v. 457-459).

2 Transl. by Dr. Potter.

3 Hyde, who did not know the Dabistan, says (p. IBS) : that a year, or
calendar, of Median invention was introduced in Persia, before Jamshid,
that is, according to Ferdusi's not irrational chronology, earlier than
3429 before our era.

PRELIMINARY DIRCOl'RSE :

cerns of the nether world ; thus, sublime ideas of
the Deity, the universe, and the immortality of the
soul preceded the invention of many arts and sciences
relative to the comforts of social life. This is con-
firmed by theaccount, contained in the Dabistan, of
the most ancient religion of the Persians, which is
founded upon transcendental ideas of the Divinity:
41 Except God himself, who can comprehend his
" origin? Entity, unity, identity are inseparable
" properties of this original essence, and are not
" adventitious to Him." So the Desatir, with
which the Dabistan generally so fully agrees, that we
can scarce doubt that the author of the latter had
the former before his eyes.

No sooner has man acquired the consciousness
of mental freedom, than he endeavors to expand
beyond himself the first vague feeling of the Divine;
not satisfied to admire all exterior marvel, he desires
to understand and to name its interior moving
cause: this is something immaterial; it is a soul,
such as acts in himself. Among the ancient Ira-
nians, the " first creation of the existence-bestowing
" bounty" was the intellectual principle, called Azad
Bahman, " the first intelligence;" he is also the first
angel; from him other spirits or angels proceed.
Every star, every heavenly sphere has its particular
intelligence and spirit or angel. In the lower re-
gion, each of the four elements owns its particular

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAN.

guardian; vegetables, minerals, animals have their
protecting angels ; the conservative angel of man-
kind is Farun Faro Vakshur. It is not without reason,
that this religion was called u the religion of light."
As the supreme Being

" Sow'd with stars the heav'n thick as the field."1

So also he peopled the vast extent with the " sons
" of light, the empyreal hostof angels," who not only
moved and governed the celestial orbs, but also
descended into the elemental regions to direct, pro-
mote, and protect his creation. Not a drop of dew
fell without an angel. The Hindus and Greeks ani-
mated universal nature; the Persians imparadized
the whole creation by making it the abode of angels.
Hence demonology in all its extent. But, " among
*' the most resplendent, powerful, and glorious
" of the servants who are free from inferior bodies
" and matter, there is none God's enemy or rival,
" or disobedient, or cast down, or annihilated."
" This important passage of the Desatir 2 1 shall have
occasion to refer to hereafter.

Human souls are eternal and infinite; they come
from above, and are spirits of the upper spheres.
If distinguished for knowledge and sanctity, while
on earth, they return above, are united with the
sun, and become empyreal sovereigns; but if the

1 Milton's Paradise Lost, b. VII. v. 358.

2 The book of Shet Shai Kiliv, v 59. p. 56.

P11ELIM1NARY DISCUSSION.

proportion of their good works bore a closer affinity
to any other star, they become lords of the place
assigned to that star ; their stations are in conformity
with the degrees of their virtue; perfect men attain
the beatific vision of the light of lights, and the che-
rubine hosts of the supreme Lord. Vice and de-
pravity, on the contrary, separate souls from the
primitive source of light, and chain them to the
abode of the elements : they become evil spirits. The
imperfectly good migrate from one body to another,
until, by the efficacy of good words and actions,
they are finally emancipated from matter, and gain
a higher rank. The thoroughly-depraved descend
from the human form to animal bodies, to vegetable,
and even to mineral substances.

So far we see the well-known dogma of trans-
migration ingeniously combined with the Sidereal
religion. Here is exhibited a singular system of
heavenly dominion, maintained by every star, whe-
ther fixed or planetary, during periods of many
thousand years. A fixed star begins the revolution,
and reigns alone, the king of the cycle, during a
millenium, after which, each of the fixed and pla-
netary stars becomes its partner or prime-minister
for a thousand years ; the last of all is the moon, for
a millenium . Then the sovereignty of the first king
devolves to the star which was its first associate.
This second king goes through the same course as

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAN.

the first, until this becomes for a thousand years
his partner, and then his period is also past.. The
same is the course of all other stars. When the
moon shall have been king, and all stars associated
with it and its reign too past, then one great period
shall be accomplished. The state of the revolving
world recommences, the human beings, animals,
vegetables, and minerals, which existed during the
first cycle, are restored to their former language,
acts, dispositions, species, and appearances ; the
world is renovated, that is to say, forms, similar to
those which passed away, reappear. This system,
copied from the Desatir, ' expresses nothing else but
the general vague idea of long heavenly revolutions,
and periodical renovations of the same order of
things in the nether world.

The Dabistan2 adds a mode of computing as pecu-
liar to the followers of the ancient faith : they call
one revolution of the regent Saturn a day ; thirty
such days one month ; twelve such months one year;
a million of such years one fard ; a million fard one
vard ; a million vard one mar A ; a million vard one
jad; three thousand jads one vad; and two thousand
vad one zdd. To these I must subjoin salam, sha-
mar, aspar, radah, aradah, raz, araz, biaraz, that is,

1 Bombay edit. Engl. trans!., pp. 19. 20.

- Vol. I. p. 14. The Bombay Desatir does not mention the revolution
of Saturn, and states differently the value of fard, mard, etc., etc.

IXXU PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

eight members of a geometric progression, the first
of which is 100,000, and the coefficient 100. But
these years are revolutions, called farsals, of thirty
common years each. There are besides farsals of
Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the moon, a day of each
being the time of their respective revolution.

I thought it necessary to repeat these extravagant
numbers, because it is by them that the reigns of the
first ancient dynasties are measured. ' The first
earthly ruler of the present cycle, who with his wife
survived the great period to become the first ancestor
of a new innumerable population, was Mahabada.
This name seems of Sanscrit derivation.2 In his
reign we find traced the first ground-lines of all
human societies ; agriculture and the arts of life are
invented ; villages and cities organised ; four classes
of society established — priests, warriors, agricul-
turists, and tradesmen. The names of these classes
are in the Dabistan much like those of the four

1 It is known that in India, and perhaps all over Asia, the number of
ciphers not followed by a significative number, is indifferent, and indi-
cates nothing else but magnitude. Thus the Hindus, to determine posi-
tively hundreds, thousands, etc., affix the required figure at the end : for
instance, to determine 100 rupees to be given, they write 101.

* The word is perhaps a form of the Sanscrit Mahabodhi, " a great
" deified teacher." In the Burhaui Kati we find six significations attri-
buted to the word Abad; these are : 1. cultivated ; 2. praise and prayer;
3. exclamation of praise ; 4. the name of the Kaba ; 5. the name of the first
Persian prophet; 6. good and beauteous.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

Hindu castes, but the Desatir and the Shahnamah
have other denominations, belonging to an ancient
Persian dialect,1 for these divisions, which origi-
nated in the indispensable wants of a rising society.
This institution connects itself with the principles
of social morality : men are bound to each other by
the laws of justice and mutual kindness, which is
extended even to all innoxious creatures. To Maha-
bad the Desatir was sent, a celestial code, and his
faith was maintained through the whole series of
his fourteen successors; the number of whom re-
minds us of the fourteen Indian Manus ; they are
said to have reigned six hundred and six trillions
of years.

To the Mahabadians succeeded Abad Azar, who
soon withdrew from government, and devoted him-
self to solitude and piety. After him, the hitherto
fortunate state of society changed into war, confu-
sion, and anarchy. His son, JaiAfram, was called
to the throne, and restored peace and order in the
world, giving his name to a new dynasty. After
this, four other princely families are named, that of
Shai Abad, Shai Giliv, Shai Mahbul, and Yasan.* I
shall not count the many millions of years during

1 See vol. I. pp. 19-20.

1 I have (see vol. I. p. 26, note 1) derived this name from the San-
scrit yas, " glory, honor." In Burhan Katii it is interpreted by " what
" is convenient."

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

which they ruled ; all that is said of their reigns
appears nothing but a repetition of the first ; a
period of peace, order, and happiness is followed
by war, disorder, and misery, until a revolution
renews the state of things. Such traditions of a
progress and regress in virtue and happiness, and
of repeated changes from one condition to another,
are not destitute of general truth. The moral is not,
more than the physical world, exempt from revolu-
tions. These, although their date cannot be deter-
mined, have left behind them undeniable traces,
and without a reference to them, we could not ex-
plain so much of the strangeness, incoherence, and
heterogeneity in the history of men and nature.

Thus I have slightly sketched the principal fea-
tures of the religion which prevailed among the first
Persian dynasties ; these, not mentioned in other
historical books, are we know peculiar to the Desatir
and Dabistan, which appeared to sir W. Jones an
unexceptionable authority for believing the Iranian
monarchy " the oldest in the world." Upon this,
W. Erskine remarked:1 ** Shall I be forgiven for
" saying, that the history of letters seems to me
'* scarcely to afford an instance of a more perverted
" judgment on historical evidence?" Silvestre de
Sacy too " banishes among the most absurd fables

1 Loco cit., p. 342.

2 Journ. des Savons, fevrier 1821, p. 69.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. IxXV

" the dynasties of the Mahabadians, and of their
" successors, which sir William Jones, and after
" him some other Orientalists, have too hastily
" adopted, and of which they would to-day blush,
"since their titles have been produced." More
recently, William von Schlegel1 said: *' It would
' ' be useless to conceal to the public that that learned
" man, endowed with talents so rare, was totally
" deficient in historical criticism:" This was in-
ferred, because he had admitted, and used in
some of his considerations, as genuine, a forgery
of Wilford's Pandit. Besides, ' ' he received without
'* diffidence, and even welcomed with enthusiasm,
" the traditions contained intheDabistan,amodern
*' Persian book, written with the intention to claim
' t for Persia the pre-eminence over India with respect to
" the antiquity of religious revelations."

As to " the intention" mentioned, I hope to be
able to justify Mohsan Fani. With respect to the
Mahabadian dynasties — the light recently acquired
upon the ancient history of Persia, reflect rather
favorably upon that part of sir William Jones's opi-
nion, that this country, in its wide extent, was once
the original seat of many nations now settled in dis-
tant regions. So much, at least, may be considered
as established: 1. that the limits of history are to

1 See Reflexions sur I' Etude des Lan;/ues orientates, Inc. fit., p. 51.

IXXVJ PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

be removed further back than those before fixed ;
2. that in the earliest times primitive nations, related
by language to each other, had their origin in the
common elevated country of central Asia, and that
the Iranians and Indians were once united before
their migration into Iran and India. ' This great
fact presents itself, as it were, upon the border of a
vast abyss of unknown times.

For these a measure was sought. Hence we meet
with extravagant, but perpetually recurring chrono-
logical statements. The Mahabadian ages are nei-
ther better nor worse, as to accuracy, than the Indian
yugs, the Chaldean,2 or other periods. In order to
reduce them to their true value, we must consider
them as nothing else than expressions of the ideas
which the ancients entertained of the antiquity of
the world and human society, in which they cannot
be easily refuted, and at least are not absurd. Such
ideas originated, when man, curious after his past,
had long ceased to be a listless barbarian ; but the
earliest civilisation is a late product of slow-working
time, the memory of which could have- been pre-

1 See the development of these ideas in Erdkunde von Carl Ritter,
VUllf' Theil ; UP** Such, West-asien Seiten 105-109, with reference to
E. Burnouf Comment, sur le Yacna, pp. 461. 363.

2 We may be here permitted to call to mind the eras of the Chaldeans,
who, according to Berosus, Epigenes, Diodorus of Sicily, Abydenus
counted 490,000, 720,000, 473,000, 463,763 years. They are said to
ave exhibited, before Alexander's conquest in Asia, historical annals
or 130,000 years.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

served only by monuments. The most ancient of
these however are but recent in our historical know-
ledge, the limits of which are far from being those of
antiquity. The duration of ante-historical empires,
in printless but extensive spaces of times, escapes
research and computation. As men, however, bear
with impatience vague and loose ideas, the Persians,
as well as other nations, determined the past by
numbers formed from the multiplication of some
astronomical periods known in early times, as has
been observed: ' this appears to me at once the
whole truth and falsehood of those statements. In
the utter impossibility to reconcile the discordant
data of different nations, we must content ourselves
to take up the general ideas and facts in which they
all agree, whilst in the particulars they all differ.
Thus, in laying down maps of countries little known,
we are satisfied with tracing the general direction of
some rivers and mountains, and abstain from topo-
graphical details.

§ II. — THE PESHDADIAN, KAYANIAN, ASHKANIAN, AND
SASSANIAN DYNASTIES — THEIR RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL
INSTITUTIONS.

After the four dynasties mentioned follows the
Gilshanian, monarchy, founded by Gilshah, or Kayo-

1 See p. Ixvii.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

men, ** the king or form of earth."1 We are now
upon well-known ground, and hear familiar names
of four races: the Pdshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkaniun,
and Sassanian, to which, altogether, the Dabistan
attributes a period of 6024 years, differing consider-
ably from that of other Asiatic chronologers. 2

Sir William Jones was right when he declared, 3
that " the annals of the Pdshdadi (or Assyrian) race
4 • must be obscure and fabulous ; those of the Kay-
" ani family, or the Medes and Persians, heroic and
'* poetic:" annals gathered from oral traditions
can be but such as the great Orientalist character-
ises those of the mentioned dynasties. But it was
in his younger years, before he had enlarged his
views upon the history of mankind, that he fixed the
origin of the Persian monarchy so late as 890 years
before our era;4 afterwards, in India, he refuted his
former notions, and ranged more freely in the ex-
panded fields of antiquity. I shall add that Ferdusi
places the beginning of Gilshah's reign 3529 years
before Christ, an epoch which receives synchronical
confirmation from our daily-increasing knowledge of
the antiquity of China, India, Assyria, Egypt, and
other slates.

1 The first word is pure Persian ; the other may be derived from the
Sanscrit kaya, " body, form," and mrita, earth."

2 See vol. I. p. 31, notel.

3 His Works, vol. III. the sixth Anniversary Discourse, p. 108.
1 Ibid., vol. XII. p. 399.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DA BIST AN.

The fundamental religion remains the same : a
celestial volume called Payman-i-farhang , in perfect
accord with the Mahabadian code, is transmitted to
Kayomers. So the Dabistan : but, in the Desatir,
the four books ascribed to the first four Mahabadian
prophet-kings contain the purest deism, and al-
though the foundation of astrolatryand demonolatry
may be perceived in the cosmology of the first book,
yet these did not form a positive worship, which
develops itself in the seven planetary books of the
seven subsequent Persian kings, to wit: Kayomers, Sia-
mok, Hushang, Tahmuras, Jamshid, Feridun, and Meno-
cheher. Under these monarchs, a particular worship
was rendered to the seven planets, as to mediators
between God and men ; the description of the forms
under which they have been adored, is not, to my
knowledge, found in any other book but the Da-
bistan.

Superstition is certainly as ancient as human na-
ture itself; it is impossible to fix the epoch at
which particular opinions and practices originated,
such as the eighty-four sitting-postures at prayer;
the suppression of the breath for the abstraction
of thought; the mystical and fantastical notions
upon vision and revelation; and particularly the
belief that a man may attain the faculty to quit and
to reassume his body, or to consider it as a loose
garment, which he may put off at pleasure for as-

IXXX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

cending lo the world of light, and on his return be
reunited with the material elements. All these
matters are considered as very ancient.

We find in the Dabistan a curious account of Per-
sian sects under different names, such as Abadians,
Azur-Hushangians, Jamshaspians, Samradians, Khodai-
yans, Radians, Shidrangians, Paikarians, Milaniam,
Alarians, Shidabians, Akshiyam. The founders of
these sects are placed so far back as the reigns of
Jamshid and Zohak. Individuals professing the
particular creed of each of these sects were living in
the time of the author of the Dabistan, who was
personally acquainted with several of them, and im-
parts the information which he had himself re-
ceived from their lips, lie gives with particular
care an account of the before-mentioned Azar Kai-
van, ' the chief of the later Abadians and Azar-Hus-
hangians. The doctrine of these sectaries contained
peculiar notions about God's nature and attri-
butes, and the world; the latter was to some an illu-
sion; God himself but an idea. To others, God
was every thing, to be served alone without a me-
diator between him and mankind ; the heavens and
the stars were his companions. God was the sun —
fire— air — water - earth ; he was the essence of the
elements : from every one of these divine principles

i

1 See page 63.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. l.XXXJ

the heavens, stars, and the whole world proceeded.
These were some of the fundamental principles of
their metaphysical religion.

Their morality appears to have consisted in the
acknowledgment of all natural virtues ; piety, jus-
tice, charity, sobriety ; wine and strong drinks
were forbidden ; above all a tenderness towards all
living creatures was recommended; and the seve-
rity against those who slew innoxious animals was
carried to such an excess, than even sons pu-
nished their fathers with death, and fathers their
sons, for the slaughter of a sheep or an elk.1

Their political constitution appears from the ear-
liest time to have been that of an absolute monar-
chy : this is the curse attached to Asiatics. The
king was to be of a noble descent, and bound to ac-
knowledge the Farhang-Abad, " code of Abad." All
dignities, military and civil, were hereditary from
father to son. The royal court and inner apart-
ments appear to have been regulated in much the
same manner as they are still in Asia; his cup-bear-
ers and familiar servants, as well as those of his
sons, and other nobles, were always females.

The interior administration of cities and villages
is sufficiently detailed in the Dabistan. An active
police was established, with numerous spies and

1 See vol. I. pp. 181.184.

IxXXli PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

secret reporters, for the security of government.
We are glad to find in such early times hospitals for
the relief of the suffering, and caravansaras for the
convenience of travellers. Moreover, post-stations
of horses and messengers were distributed for the
rapid communication of news, from all sides of the
vast empire, to the monarch. '

Not a little care was bestowed upon the discipline
and continual exercise of numerous armies. The
military chiefs were distinguished by the magnifi-
cent decorations of their persons, horses, and arms,
in which they prided themselves . They were bound
to treat their soldiers kindly, nay, obliged to pro-
duce certificates, from their subordinates, of having
behaved well towards them. An order of battle
was prescribed, in which they were to encounter the
enemy; no plunder after victory was permitted;
they never slew, nor treated with violence, a man
who had thrown down his arms and asked for
quarter.

History may well be referred to religion, which
is an ancient intellectual monument, living in the
human soul from generation to generation. I have
hitherto marked two religious periods : the first,
that of the Desdtir, through the Mahabadian dynasty;

1 Parasang, Farsang, even in our days a Persian word, is found and
determined as a lineal measure of distances in Herodotus, lib. II. V.
and VI.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

the second, that of Paiman-i-Farhang, prevailing
during the Pesh-dadi-race until the middle of the
Kayanian reign ; I now come to the third .

§ HI. - THE RELIGION OF ZARDUSHT, OR ZOROASTER.

All religions are said to have deviated from their
primitive simplicity and purity, as men advanced
in knowledge and civilisation. This is true but in
a restricted and distinctive sense, and may be
explained, even without yielding to our habit of
considering that which is more remote and less
known as holier than that which is nearer and better
examined. Thus, we may admit that the impres-
sions made upon men in the first stage of expand-
ing reason are stronger and more vivid, the less
they are distracted by simultaneous and correlative
associations ; one great idea is enough to fill their
whole mind, and admits of no rival, of no commix-
ture with any thing else ; curiosity, versatility, luxu-
riancy of intellect are not yet known ; constancy is
a necessity in a small compass of ideas. We have
already touched1 upon the powerful effect which
the early perception of the Divine produced upon
man: but he soon circumscribed what was too vast

1 See page 70.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

for his comprehension in a perceptible object— hea-
ven, sun, fire, to which he offered his adoration;
he wanted a visible type or image of the invisible
Divinity; but, his means of formation being at first
very confined, he contented himself with the most
simple representation : he had a symbol, an idol in
a grove or cavern, but not yet a Pantheon. Simpli-
city may be a mere restriction to one object or to
few objects; purity, nothing else but homogeneity in
good or bad, true or false; we shall not confound
them with rationality, which may subsist with mul-
tiplicity and mixture. Thus, the adoration of one
deified man, one great serpent, one huge stone, is
by no means more rational than the worship of
numerous generations of gods, the ingenious per-
sonification sof multiform nature, ever acknow-
ledged as the genuine offspring of the happy mar-
riage between intellect and imagination. In the
absence of arts and riches, worship is rude and des-
titute of showy accessories. Afterwards, the deve-
lopment of the understanding widens ihe field of
reasoning, the fertility of which may be attested
more by the shoot of weeds than by the growth of
fruits : error prevails over truth ; the increase of
manifold resources facilitates and prompts super-
fetation of exterior religion. Besides, the impres-
sions, by which the first legislator attached his fol-
lowers to his doctrine, are effaced by time; the first

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. l.XXXV

traditions, obscured, confused, and altered; faith is
weakened, and an opening made for change in
belief, practice, and morals. A change, merely as
such, is considered as a corruption by the adherents
of the old creed. Finally, revolutions, interior and
exterior, deteriorate or destroy religion and civi-
lisation.

These reflexions, with the explanation previously
given as to the various notions of which the religions
in Asia were composed, will clearly show that, in the
course of ages, a reform of astrolatry, pyrolatry, and
idolatry, the branches of Saba3ism and Mezdaism, be-
came desirable; and Zardusht, or Zoroaster, appeared.

In the notes placed at the bottom of the pages
containing Mohsan Fani's account of Zoroaster,1
will be found some of the principal results of the
investigations which have been made in Europe
respecting this legislator. The name of Zoroaster
was applied by some to the founder of Magism, or
Sabaeisrn; we know also, that he has been identified
with many other prophets under different names,
among whom is Abraham, called " the great Zar-
** dusht," and Horn, of so extensive a celebrity, that
his name is mentioned by Strabo as predecessor of
Zoroaster. No wonder that the name of the latter
occurs in more or less remote times. According to

1 Sec vol. I. p. 211 el seq.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

the Dabislan, he was born in Rai, a town in the
province of Jebal, or Irak Ajem, the country of the
ancient Parthians, and appeared as a reformer of
religion, under the reign of Gushtasp, the fifth king
of the Kayanian dynasty, by the Occidental histo-
rians generally identified with Darius Hystaspes.
Although variously stated, this period is less subject
to chronological difficulties than are many others ;
for, as Eastern and Western historians agree in the
epoch of Alexander's death (521 B. C.), we may from
this, as from a fixed point, remount upwards to
Gushtasp ; we find, according to some Orientals, five
reigns in 228 years, ' and therefore that of the said
king, beginning 549 years before our era, whilst,
according to the Occidentals, there are ten reigns
within 200 years, from Alexander's conquest of
Persia to Darius Hyslaspes, whose reign commences
in 521 A. D. The discrepancy of twenty-eight years
is far from being unexampled, even in more known
periods, and may in this case be most easily and
plausibly adjusted. 2

1 See sir John Malcolm's History of Persia. Ferdusi counts 304 years
from Alexander's death to the beginning of Gushtasp's reign ; but he
assigns to the latter 120, and 112 to that of his successor Bahman Arjer,
or Ardishir diraz (Artaxerxes longimanus). These two reigns might
have comprised those of several others not mentioned by Ferdusi.

2 The duration of the whole Kayanian dynasty is stated by the Orien-
tals (see vol. I. p. 31, note 1 of this work) to be 704 years in 10 reigns;
according to Occidental historians, it is only 380 years in 18 reigns. The
first statement is evidently erroneous as to the small number of kings,

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAK.

According to a wide-spread tradition, to which 1
shall have occasion to return, Gushlasp was in-
strycted by Brahmans; pursuant to the Dnbistan,
his brother Jamasp was the pupil of the Indian
Jangran-ghachah (Sankara acharya). ' This sage, as
soon as he heard of Gushlasp 's listening to Zoroas-
ter, wrote an epistle to dissuade the king from the
adoption of the new creed ; an interview look place
at Baikh between the Persian and Indian sages, and
the latter abandoned his religion upon hearing a
nosk, or chapter of the Zand-Avesta. '2 This is the
name of the work attributed to Zoroaster himself, a
part of which was brought to Europe, in the year
1761, by Anquetil du Perron.

but it is not decided that it is equally so as to the duration of the whole
dynasty. The error is more likely to be in the list of the kings than in
the whole period of their reigns. May I be permitted to refer to my
discussion upon the chronology of the Rajatarangini (vol. II. p. 387)?

1 Sir William Jones says (Works, vol. III. p. 128) : " It was he (Zoroas-
" ter)— not as Ammianus asserts, his protector, Gushtasp— who travelled
" in India, that he might receive information from the Brahmans in theo-
" logy and ethics." This is not to be found in the edition of Calcutta,
nor in the manuscript of the Dabistan which D. Shea and myself have seen.

'* Mr. Eugene Burnouf, when he communicated to me his opinion upon
the derivation of the word Wasatir (see p. xxii), adverted incidentally
to that of the term Zand-Avesta, interpreted sometimes " the Zand and
" the Usta," and said, that these words are found in perhaps a single
passage of the books of Zoroaster, to wit, huzunth vacha vaidhya cha.
These two words are applied to mantras ( prayers), and seem to signify
" which will give life," or " which are salutary to towns and nations,"
and " which are learned. " We recognise the Sanscrit sujantu and
vidya.

J.XXXviii PRELIMINAIIY DISCOURSE :

The author of the Dabistan mentions the Zand-
Avesta, and declares the Mah-Zand to be a portion
of the Desatir, and the Zand books in general qpn-
formable to the Mahabadian code. The fifth Sassan,
the translator and commentator of the Desatir, in a
passage above-quoted, ' joins this work to the Avesta,
and is said in the Dabistan to have made a transla-
tion of the code of Zardusht.

Great was the sensation caused among the learned
of Europe at the first appearance of the works attri-
buted to Zoroaster, published in French by Anque-
til du Perron, in 1771. In a note of this volume2
will be found the names of the principal authors
who declared themselves for or against the authen-
ticity of the Zoroastrian books. Among those who
combated it,sir William Jones was most conspicuous.
Seventy years have since elapsed, and a learned con-
troversy may now be considered as settled, nay,
entirely forgotten, in the course of a mc£t eventful
historical period. Nevertheless, the Desatir is so
closely connected with the Zand-Avesla, that so
much having been said of the one, the other should
not be lightly discarded. The value and impor-
tance of the Dabislan rest chiefly upon the support
of the two documents mentioned ; on that account
I may hope to be pardoned if I here venture to re-

1 See page 66.

2 See vol. I. p. 223.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

peat whatever facts and arguments appear to me
to have some bearing upon this work. But it was
sir William Jones who then roused the whole
learned public into lively attention, and, 1 dare pre-
sume, that the subject may by itself at all times
excite considerable interest.

I shall quote the very words of lord Teignmouth
concerning the French author before mentioned:1
' ' Anquetil had published in three quarto volumes
' ' an account of his travels in India, the life of Zoro-
" aster, and some supposed works of that philoso-
' ' pher . To this publication he prefixed a Discourse,
" in which he treated the university of Oxford, and
" some of its learned members and friends of Mr.
41 Jones, with ridicule and disrespect. From the
"• perusal of his works, Mr. Jones was little dis-
" posed to agree with Monsieur du Perron in the
" boasted importance of his communication ; he was
" disgusted with his vanity and petulance, and par-
" ticularly offended by his illiberal attack upon the
"university, which he respected, and upon the
" persons whom he esteemed and admired. The
" letter which he addressed to M. du Perron was
" anonymous; it was written with great force, and
t; expresses his indignation and contempt with a

1 See Memoirs of the life, writings, and correspondence of sir W.Jones,
in his Works, vol. I. p. 190, 8vo. ed., 1807.

XC PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

' ' degree of asperity which the j udgment of maturer
" years would have disapproved." *

The letter alluded to contains most severe re-
marks, not only upon the Zand-Avesta, but also
upon Oriental studies in general : these are blows
so much more sensible to Orientalists, as they come
from a friendly and most revered hand. Such was
the ardor of a susceptible mind under the impres-
sion of having to vindicate the honor of his friends,
that he forgot for a moment the wreath which he
had already won in the career of Oriental literature ;
he had already composed his commentary upon
Asiatic poetry, and translated from the original Per-
sian the Life of Nadir-shah ; he had then no presen-
timent of the glory which he was destined to acquire
by collecting, under the Indian heaven, the lore of
antique Asia. As his French letter, written in a
very spirited and brilliant style, can never be read
without causing a great impression, I shall be per-
mitted to borrow from the writings of this cele-
brated author himself some reflexions, which I think
necessary for placing in a right point of view Orien-
tal studies in general, and in particular the contents
of the Dabistan, inasmuch as these are in some parts
founded upon the Zand-Avesta, and in other points
of a nature similar to that so much ridiculed in
that ingenious satire.

1 See Works of sir W. J. vol. X. p. -403 ct seq.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAN. XC1

If it were true, that Anquetil was wrong '* to
" affront death for procuring us useless lights — if
" the writings of Zoroaster are a collection of gali-
" matia- if enlightened Europe had no need of his
" Zand-A vesta, which he has translated to no pur-
'* pose, and upon which he uselessly spent eighteen
" years, a time which ought to have been precious

'* to him "' then any similar attempts which

have been or shall be made to procure, in Asia, and
to publish ancient historical documents, are equally
ridiculous and blamable. It is certainly not the
founder of a new era in Oriental literature whom we
hear in these words. Nobody knew better than he
that, in Asia, the cradle of mankind, we must search
for the most ancient documents to restore the lost
history of mankind ; and if all endeavors were to
prove vain and useless, still the merit of having
attempted the attainment of a most laudable pur-
pose would remain. It is not unimportant to fix
the limits which researches can reach, and beyond
which nothing is to be gained ; men are benefitled
and enriched at once by the saving of time and
trouble which preceding attempts teach ; and by all
the acquisitions which better directions render
possible in a new and more profitable career.
Should the bold navigators who strive to arrive at
the pole never attain their aim, still would their

1 See Works of Sir W. J., vol. X. p. 403 el seq.

XC11 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

endeavors be worthy of praise ; the smallest frag-
ment of a rock, the slightest shoot of a plant,
plucked off in the desert of eternal ice, in latitude
eighty-eight, would at home be regarded with lively
interest, and navigation have not a little gained in
aid of other more fortunate undertakings.

But, who can like to read " puerile details, dis-
" gusting descriptions, barbarous words— Zoroas-
" ter could not have written such nonsense — either
" he had no common sense, or he wrote not the
" book which Anquetil attributed to him."1

As much has been and may be said of the books
attributed to other Asiatic legislators, who were
nevertheless revered as sacred during many ages by
numerous nations. Until we properly understand
the ignorance and habitual ideas of Asiatics, we
shall always remain ignorant of what is proverbi-
ally called the wisdom of the East. To appreciate
the just value of the ancient codes of laws, we ought
to represent to ourselves the primitive children of
the earth, as Prometheus describes them:

" They saw, indeed, they heard ; but what avail'd

" Or sight, or sense of hearing, all things rolling,

" Like the unreal imagery of dreams,

" In wild confusion mix'd ! The lightsome wall

" Of finer masonry, the rafter'd roof

" They knew not; but, like ants still buried, delved

" Deep in the earth, and scoop'd their sunless caves.

1 See Works of sir W. J. pp. 413. 432. 437.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. XC111

" Unmark'd the seasons chang'd, the biting winter,
" The flow'r-perfumed spring, the ripening summer,
" Fertile of fruits."1

It will then be felt how important it was to break
the savage under the yoke of seemingly puerile
practices and customs. In a state which was not
unaptly called " the infancy of man," it was by no
means absurd to ensure health by dietelical pre-
scriptions, cleanliness by obligatory ablutions, and
decency with convenience by a regulated dress; the
koshti, " the girdle," of Zoroaster was then not so
unmeaning as it now appears to us. It was neces-
sary to educate the moral sense by appropriate
images, and to occupy conveniently, by fables, sym-
bols, and mythical accounts, the first active faculty
of the soul, imagination. Although those men who,
as legislators, were elevated above their barbarous
age, could in many points but partake in the ge-
neral imbecility and ignorance of an infant state
of society, they have nevertheless, among seemingly
childish and absurd precepts, promulgated most
luminous truths, better than which none have
hitherto been known, even at the most advanced
degree of civilisation. • Any information above the
common understanding of the age is justly called
•* a revelation/' and every nation has received some

1 De Potter's Transl of jEschylus, Prometheus chained. In the Greek
origin, v. 447-456.

XC1V PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

from their prophets, by which we have all benefited.1
We, the youngest sons of science, ought to keep a
grateful and reverential remembrance of our elder
brothers. Let it be a subject of regret that, by the
maintenance of ancient institutions much longer
than was required for their intended purpose, the
intellectual growth of many Asiatic nations was
stopped ; thus they now appear made for their laws,
whilst their laws were once made for them. After
these and similar reflexions, we shall view Zoroas-
ter's hundred gates, and the remains of his twenty-
one nosks, as venerable monuments of an antique
civilisation, which ought never to be profaned by
derision.

Upon the Zand language, in which Zoroaster's
laws were written, I refer to the great philologers
of our days, who have examined it — Rask,2 Bopp,
Burnouf, Lassen, and others : it is one of the most
important conquests made in archaeology and phi-
lology, and this we owe to Anquetil. When

1 Voltaire, whose genius sir W. Jones knew how to appreciate, said :
" Glorifions-nous de ce que les ve'rite's les plus importantes sont deve-
" nues des lieux commons pour les Europeans, mais ne nous en moquons
" pas, et sachons avoir quelque reconnaissance pour les anciens legisla-
" teurs qui nous les ont, les premiers, appris."

2 See Transact, of the R. A. S. of Great Brit, and Irel., vol. III. part I.
p. 524 et seq. Remarks on the Zand language and the Zand-Avesta.
This able tract is chiefly a comment upon Erskine's Memoir On the sacred
book and religion of the Parsis, in the Transact, of the Lit. Soc. of
Bombay, vol. II. p. 293.

SYNOPSIS OF THE UABISTAN. XCV

Jones' treated with such severity the publication of
this French author, he could not foresee that he
should one day call forth to notoriety the Dabistan,
which rests in great part upon the authority of
the Desatir, and these very books to which he re-
fused all authenticity. Mohsan Fani, one hundred
and twenty years before Anquetil, derived his in-
formation probably from other copies of Zoroaster's
works, and knew nothing of Western authors, yet
his statements agree with what the latter, before
and after our era related, and most particularly
with what the French discoverer published of that
ancient philosopher. Can it be supposed that all
these men of different nations, whose statements have
thus coincided during the lapse of more than two
thousand years, have *' imposed upon themselves,
** or been imposed upon by others concerning the
" pretended laws of a pretended legislator?" An-
quetil deserved a better name than that of "a
' ' French adventurer, who translated the books as-
" cribed to Zoroaster, from the translation of a cer-

1 Sir W. J. says (see his Works, vol. III. p. 116) that, according to
his conviction, the dialect of the Guebrs, which they pretend to be that
of Zertusht, of which Bahman, a Guebr and his Persian reader, gave him
a variety of written specimens, is a late invention of their priests. What
language does he mean? certainly not that of the Zand-Avesta, of which
he speaks in particular, and states (ibid., p. 118) " the language of the
" Zand was at least a dialect of the Sanscrit, approaching, perhaps, as
" nearly to it as the Pracrit, or other popular idioms, which we know to
" have been spoken in India two thousand years ago."

XCV1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" tain gypsy at Surat, and his boldness in sending
*' them abroad as genuine"1 was not unsupported
by judgment. If there was some folly and foppery
to deride in a young man, who spoke of his lilly-rosy
cheeks and elegant figure, there was no *' imposture"
to detect, and too much acerbity shewn in retorting
thoughtless indiscretions, exaggerated into " in-
** vectives."

Sir William Jones, when he published the stric-
tures which his antagonist, from pride or modera-
tion, never answered, was but in his twenty-fourth
year and under the influence of youthful ardor.
Eighteen years after, in a discourse, addressed to
the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, in 1789, he spoke
with more moderation of Anquetil as *' having had
" the merit of undertaking a voyage to India in his
" earliest youth with no other view than to recover
' ' the writings of Zoroaster. ' ' The illustrious presi"
dent of that Society was not in the position to appre-
ciate Anquetil's whole character, and died too soon
to become acquainted with the brilliant reputation
which the youthful voyager acquired in his maturer
years as a learned member of the French Academy
of Letters, both in his own country and abroad.2

1 Sir W. J.'s Works, vol. V. pp. 414-415.

2 Anquetil composed a number of Memoirs, read to the French Institut
and preserved in their printed records. He published, in 1771, three
quarto volumes upon his voyages to, in, and from India, and the Works
of Zoroaster; in 1798, L'lnde en rapport avec I' Europe; in 1799, La

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAIN.

The Dabistan informs us, that the Zand-books are
of two kinds : the one, perspicuous and without
enigmatical forms of speech, is called the Mah- Zand,
" great Zand;" the second, abounding in enigmatic
or Ggurative language, is entitled Kah-Zand, " little
* ' Zand. " The first, in most points speculative and
practical, agrees with the Desatir; the second is in-
tended to prevent philosophy falling into the hands
of the ignorant, to whom an enigmatical veil is
offered, whilst the sages know the true purport of
the pure doctrine. To king Gushtasp, his brother
Jamasp, his son Isfendiar, and to Bahman, the son
of the latter, were attributed the interpretations of
Zoroaster's religious system, and many ingenious

Legislation orientate, ou le despotisms conside're' dans la Turquie, la
Perse et I'Indostane. An epistle which he placed before his Latin transla-
tion ofDara Shuko's Persian Upanishad, and addressed to the Brahmans
of India, contained, as it were, his religious and political testament. He
declares his nourishment to have been reduced, like that of an abstemious
ascetic, living, even in winter, without fire ; and sleeping in a bed without
feathers or sheets. His juvenile boast of" personal beauty" was expiated
by total neglect of his body, left "with linen unchanged and unwashed;"
his aspirations to " a vast extent of learning" had subsided into patient
and most persevering studies. But, disdaining to accept gifts and pen-
sions, even from government, he preserved his absolute liberty, and
blessed his poverty, " as the salvation of his soul and body, the rampart
" of morality and of religion; a friend of all men; victorious over the
" allurements of the world, he tended towards the Supreme Being.
Well may virtues so rare efface other human failings of Anquetil du
Perron. He died, in his seventy-fourth year, in 1803.— (See Histoire et
Me'moires de I'Institut royal de France. Classe d'Histoire et de LitU-
rature anciennes, tome III. 1818.)

XCV1I1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

parables which, for their moral sense, may be reck-
oned among the best specimens of this kind of po-
pular instruction.

This true statement, contained in the Dabistan, '
corrects the assertion of sir William Jones,2 that
Mohsan Fani affirms " the work of Zartusht to
*' have been lost." The learned Orientalist evi-
dently confounds the Mah-zand, which is said to
be a portion of the Desatir, with the work of Zar-
tusht. The writer of the Dabistan enumerates 3 the
twenty-one nosks or books, of which the Zand was
composed ; he says : 3 " At present there are fourteen
'* complete nosks, possessed by the Dosturs ot
" Karman; the other seven being incomplete, as,
*' through the wars and dissensions which prevailed
' ' in Iran some of the nosks have disappeared, so
" that, notwithstanding the greatest researches, the
" nosks have come into their hands in a defective
" state." We find it expressly declared in the Da-
bistan, on the authority 4 of the Dostur who wrote
the volume of the Sad dur, " the hundred gates,"
that " the excellent faith has been received from the
" prophet Zartusht." In a particular section, intitled
Enumeration of some advantages which arise from the enig-

1 SeeTransl., vol. I. pp. 351-353.

2 Works, vol. III. p. 115.

3 Trausl. vol. I. p. 275.

4 Ibid., p. 310.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. XC1X

matical forms of the precepts ofZartmht's followers, Moh-
sannot only adduces examples of Zartushtian allego-
ries, but subjoins his own interpretations of them; yet
he never affirms, nor even insinuates ' ' the place of
' ' Zoroaster's lost works to have been supplied by a
" recent compilation." Nor can we assent to the
view, which sir W. Jones takes of the modern lite-
rature of the Mobeds, 4< for whom," he says, * " as
" they continued to profess among themselves the
" religion of their forefathers, it became expe-
" dient to supply the last or mutilated works of
" their legislator by new compositions, partly from
" their imperfect recollection, and partly from such
" moral and religious knowledge as they gleaned,
** most probably among the Christians with whom
" they had an intercourse."

To settle our judgment upon this subject, we
ought to recollect, that languages and precepts may
be transmitted from generation to generation by
oral instruction, which indeed was once the only
possible mode during a long period of time. It was
then that memory was so much stronger, as, desti-
tute of all artificial assistance, it depended solely
upon itself. We bought the advantage of writing
by resigning somewhat of memorial energy ; this
was the evil, which, according to Plato, Thamus, the

1 Loco cit., p. 117.

C PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.

Egyptian king, predicted to Theut, the inventor of
writing. However this may be, it will appear founded
upon reasonand history, tbatreligious creeds, which
had once been the property of nations, are not easily
eradicated by any force, or forgotten under any cir-
cumstances; they become living streams of ideas
and sentiments, which run uninterruptedly through
the ever-renewed races of man, even when these se-
parate from a parent stock. Hence we find, in
countries and among nations the most remote
from each other, so many notions and customs, the
origin of which is lost in the night of time. Shall
I mention the Jews, who, throughout the whole
world, repeat to-day the same words which they
learned more than thirty-three centuries ago?
With regard to the Guebres — sir W. Jones might
have safely granted a little more confidence to his
friend Bahman, his Persian reader, who always
named with reverence Zartusht, whose religion he
professed, in common with many so called Gue-
bres. For these it was not necessary " to preserve
" Zoroaslrian books, in sheets of lead or copper,
"at the bottom of wells near Yezd:"1 this fact,

1 Yezd, in central Persia, is the ancient Isaticha of Ptolemy. It is
celebrated on account of the tire-worship of Yezdan (or Ormuzd, as light),
there practised, and as the last asylum of the adherents to Zoroaster's
religion, who fled before the Muhammedans. From thence the fire-wor-
shippers sought a refuge in India, and settled in Diu, Bombay, and in
the higher valleys of the Indus and the Ganges.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. ci

which Bahmaii used to assert, shows the particular
care which had once been taken to guard these
sacred documents, the veneration for which most
naturally prevented any falsification of their known
contents.

We are confirmed, by the author of theDabistan,
that Zoroaster did not change the fundamentals of
the ancient religion ; only the dualism of the prin-
ciples, good and bad, not existing, as I have re-
marked ' in the Mahabadian religion, was either then
first introduced, or only further developed; besides,
we see thecycle of 12,000 years fixed, and divided into
four periods of 5000 years each ; we hear the pro-
mise of a Saviour to restore the empire of God pro-
mulgated, and the destruction of the world by fire
announced : this is at the same time the epoch of
the general resurrection, which is one of the most
remarkable dogmas of the Zoroastrian religion.

Although this be not destitute of religious obser-
vances, yet we find scarce any painful austerity re-
commended. The twenty-fifth gate of Zoroaster
contains the remarkable precept: " Know that in
'* thy faith there is no fasting except that of avoid-
" ing sin : in which sense thou must fast the whole
*' year."2 The ancient Mahabadian religion, al-
though adulterated before, during, and after Zo-

1 See vol. I. p. 71.
* See vol. I. p. 321.

Cll PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

roaster's life, seems to have never lost it's grave cha-
racter and solemnity. In the Zand-books known
to us, no trace of temples, altars, or religious sym-
bols exist. Herodotus knew of none; the fire-places
were upon a desert place, or upon mountains ; the
fire upon the ground. Upon the Persian monu-
ments which lime has spared, upon the walls of the
thousand-pillared palace of Isfahan, and upon those
of the Royal tombs we see no idols, but priests and
kings, performing the sacrifice of fire before their
fervers, " ideals of virtue and sanctity," and other
actions rather of a political than religious character.
The pyraBa, round and concave, represented the
vault of heaven. Nevertheles other accounts per-
mit us to believe, that, by association with other
nations; most likely by the introduction of sculp-
ture, architecture, and painting; and, as the Da-
bistan expressly says, by the use of symbolical lan-
guage; a superstitious worship of sacred places
and symbolic images gained a great ascendancy.

This religion prevailed during the times of the
Kayanian kings from Gushtasp to Dara the Second,
during more than two centuries. After the con-
quest of Persia by Alexander, a political and reli-
gious revolution took place in this country, and ex-
tended to Greece, where, according to the comnlen-
tary of the Desatir, the creed of the Gushaspians was
introduced. This is declared to be a medium be-

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. ciii

tween the Illuminated and the Rationalists, perhaps
the same which the Dabistan calls the faith of the
Beh-dinians, " professors of the belter religion." So
much is avowed by Philo, Plinius, and others — and
we have reason to lay stress upon this avowal —
that at one time the so called barbarians were reck-
oned to be more wise and virtuous than the Greeks.
During the Ashkanian dynasty (from the third cen-
tury B. C. to the end ol the second after our era),
the people conformed to the Kah-zand, that is,
yielded to the superstition, which the figurative lan-
guage was apt to suggest. Ardeshir, the first Sas-
sanian, in the beginning of the third century A. D.;
endeavored to re-establish the ancient religion ; but,
after his reign of forty years, the Kah-zand took
and kept the ascendancy, until the Persian empire
fell before the overwhelming power of the Muham-
medans. The Mah-zand was lost during the domi-
nation of the intolerant invaders, Greeks, Arabs,
and Turks ; the Kah-zand still remains in some of
its parts, whilst many others were lost in the suc-
cessive disorders of the state.

The fifteenth and last section of the first chapter
treats of Mazdak, who lived in the fifth century of
our era. We are informed of the existence of a
book, called Desnak, which the author of the Da-
bistan saw, and which contains the doctrine of this
reformer. This was nothing else than the Zoroas-

CIV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

trian system about the two principles, Yezed, "God'
or " light, "and Ahriman, "agent of evil" or " dark-
" ness," with a few peculiarities which did not
destroy the fundamental principles of the original
religion. But, it was the ethical part of his doctrine
which at first caused a great revolution, and at last
the destruction of the teacher and his numerous
disciples, Mazdak bade all men to he partners in
riches and women, just as they are of fire, water,
and grass; private property was not to exist; each
man to enjoy or to endure, in his turn, the good and
bad lots of this world. To this strange doctrine
may be perhaps applied the saying of a great bi-
shop (Bossuet) : that " every error is but an abuse of
" some truth." To prevent an excessive inequa-
lity of fortunes in society was the object towards
which celebrated ancient legislators tended, and for
which frequently wishes were expressed, reforms
projected, and politico-philosophical romances ' com-
posed by well-meaning and respectable persons.
It is therefore to a natural, but dangerous propen-
sity of the human mind, that we ought to refer
Mazdak's bold and for some time too successful at-
tempt, as well as all the doctrines of the same ten-
dency, which before and after him were and will
henceforth be proposed.

1 For instance, ihe Utopia of Thomas Moore, the Oceana of Harring-
ton, the Leviathan of Hobbes, etc., etc.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CV

I have now terminated the general review oi what
the first chapter of the Dabistan, and the first vo-
lume of the English translation contain, concern-
ing the most ancient dynasties, religions, and poli-
tical institutions of Persia.

§ IV. — THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS.

The theatre upon which the author of the Da-
bistan begins history from the remotest times, is
Persia, without limitation of its extent, probably
including Chaldasa. From thence he passes to In-
dia, he says little of any other country, nothing at
all of Egypt. The delta of this most fertile land,
as an alluvial formation of the great river Nile, was
necessarily posterior to the existence of inland re-
gions; still its claims to antiquity are very high and
not unsupported, to a certain extent, by the best
written testimonies and architectural monuments.
If 1 here refer in a cursory manner to its eras, ' it is
to strengthen what was above remarked concerning
the general belief of the great age of the world. The
ancient religion of Egypt, although connected and

1 According to Manetho, a high-priest of Heliopolis, the Egyptians
counted 53,525 years; they saw twice the sun set where he now rises —
they saw (as well as the Chaldeans') the ecliptic perpendicular upon the
equator before 39,710 years. Herodotus (lib. II) attributes to them,
more moderately, 15,882 historical years.

CV1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

conformable in many points with other Asiatic re-
ligions, is never alluded to by the author of the Da-
bistan, probably because in his time the Egyptians
had lost even the memory of their ancient history,
which very little attracted the curiosity of their
masters, the Muhammedans, except perhaps by the
medium of the Bible of the Jews, often quoted in
their Koran. *

I cannot here omit briefly noticing the various opi-
nions of several learned men concerning the com-
parative antiquity of the Magi, the Egyptian priests,
and the Hindu philosophers. Aristotle2 believed
the Magi more ancient than the Egyptians; Diodo-
rus of Sicily3 believed the Hindus to have never
sent nor received colonies, and invented every art
and science; Lucian, Philostratus4, and Eusebius5
granted anteriority in philosophy to the Hindus
over the Egyptians. In our times the learned abbe
Mignot established in three Memoirs6, that the Hin-

1 The history of Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses in Egypt, is often referred to
by Muhammed and his followers ; they state that the Egyptian king pro-
fessed a religion unlike that mentioned by Greek authors, with whom the
Bible also disagrees. In general, monotheism is adverse to the examina-
tion of polytheistical systems, and seldom accurate in the representation
of their tenets.

2 Quoted by Diogenes Laertius, Proem., p. 6.

3 Lib. II. p. 113, edit. Wossel.

4 VitaApol. c. 6.

5 Chron. lib. post., n. 400.

6 Memoires de Litterature de V Academic royale des Inscriptions et
Jielles-Lettres, tome XXXI.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DA.BISTAN. CVIl

dus owed nothing to the Egyptians, and traced the
true communications of the former with several na-
tions of Asia and Europe. But sir W. Jones de-
clared in 1785 *, as not ill- grounded, the opinion
that Ethiopia and Hindostan were peopled or colo-
nized by the same extraordinary race, or that the
Ethiopians of Meroe were the same people as the
Hindus. His opinion was reproduced under different
forms by Rennel,Wilford, Forbes,Carwithen, among
the English, and adopted by L. Langles among the
French. I need not dwell upon this opinion, as
the grounds upon which it rested are now consi-
dered as entirely destroyed. Sir W. Jones himself
seems to have abandoned it in 1789, 2 as the Dabistan
appeared to him to furnish an unexceptionable evi-
dence, that the Iranian monarchy must have been
the oldest in the world, although, he added, it will
remain dubious to which of the three stocks, Hindu,
Arabian, or Tartar, the first kings of Iran belonged ;
or whether they sprang from a fourth race, distinct
from any of the others ; He further states, that no
country but Persia seems likely to have sent forth
colonies to all the kingdoms of Asia, and that the
three races (Indians, Arabs, Tartars) migrated from
Iran as from their common country, " the true cen-
" tre of population, of knowledge, of languages, and

1 Works, vol. III. p. 41.

2 Ibid., pp. 111. 134.

CV111 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

"of arts; which, instead of travelling westward
tf only, as it has been fancifully supposed, or east-
" ward, as might with equal reason have been as-
" serted, were expanded in all directions to all the
" regions of the world, in which the Hindu race
" had settled under various denominations."

The second chapter of the Dabistan describes, in
twelve sections, the religious systems and customs
of the Hindus. It is a detailed account, given by a
Persian who, as traveller and resident in India
during about thirty years, had the best opportuni-
ties to collect right information ; he shows himself
acquainted with the canonical books of this nation;
he quotes their Puranas, and other works less
known.1

The Hindus are, among all nations, most parti-
cularly distinguished by a decided turn for meta-
physics, which even tinctured the radicals of their
language; they have labored more than others to
solve, exhaust, comprehend, what is insolvible,
inexhaustible, incomprehensible. To give a general
notion of their metaphysical theology, I do not say

1 Such is the Jog-Vasishta, mentioned (vol. II. pp. 28 and 256) as a
very ancient book. Sir W. Jones calls it one of the finest compositions
on the philosophy of the Vedanta school; it contains the instructions of
the great Vasishta to his pupil Rama. LordTeignmouth says, that several
Persian versions of this work exist, and quotes some passages of them,
which, compared with the original Sanscrit, were found substantially
accurate.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAN. cix

to render it intelligible, would require an exten-
sive treatise. We will now give a few characteristic
and leading features of their systems as indicated in
the Dabistan.

Some of their theological philosophers made in-
credible efforts to steer clear of anthropomorphism
in their conceptions of the Divinity: their Brahm, in
the neuter gender, has no symbol, nor image, nor
temple ; they generally profess the great principle
of emanation of all existences from a common but un-
known source. God is the producer of the beginning
and end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure
space. Creation is held to have proceeded from
pure space and time. Other Hindu philosophers
establish : 1. a primary, subtile, universal substance,
undergoing modification through its own energy.
This they call Mula Prakritti, " rudimental nature,"
no production but the root of all, involving, 2. seven
principles, which are productions and productive
(that is, intellect, egotism, and five subtile elements) ;
from these seven proceed : 5. sixteen productions (to
wit, eleven organs and five gross elements); to these
just mentioned twenty-four (namely, Nature, seven
principles and sixteen productions); add, 4. the soul,
which is neither a production, nor productive, and
you have the twenty-five physical and metaphysical cate-
gories of the Sankhya philosophy. ' This strikes us

1 See the detailed table of it, vol. 11. p. 122.

CX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

as a very specious methodical arrangement of an
abstruse matter, which is not thereby in any degree
rendered more intelligible.

We seem to understand something more when, as
in the Vedenta philosophy, it is said of the truly-
existing Being (God):1 *' that he has exhibited the
" world and the heavens in the field of existence,
" but has nothing like an odor of being, nor taken a
* * color of reality ; and this manifestation is cal-
(t led Maya that is, ' the Magic of God, ' be-
" cause the universe is his playful deceit, and he is
" the bestower of imitative existence, himself the
*' unity of reality. With this pure substance, like
" an imitative actor, he passes every moment into
•" another form. He, manifesting his being and
" unity in three persons, separate from each other,
" formed the universe. The connexion of the spi-
" rits with the holy Being is like the connexion of
" the billows with the ocean, or that of sparks with
" fire." This is pure idealism; but man will spon-
taneously break through the shadowy illusion, and
grasp at some reality ; the trinity of the Hindus be-
came creation, preservation, and destruction (or reno-
vation), the history of nature before their eyes.

I shall here remark, without attempting to ex-
plain, the striking contrast in the religion of the
same nation between the most subtile metaphysic

1 Vol. II. pp. 91-92.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXI

theology and the grossest idolatry. In the latter, the
symbolical representation prevails ; it is known,
that in its immoderate use they have entirely aban-
doned the normal proportions of the human form,
and by the multiplication of members banished all
iitness and beauty. Their plastic and graphic typi-
fication of an all-mighty, all-bestowing, and all-resum-
ing God, with its three, four, five heads, so many and
more arms, is repulsive; in their poetry he frigh-
tens us with innumerable mouths, eyes, breasts,
arms, and legs, grinding between his teeth the ge-
nerations of men, who precipitate themselves into
his mouth like rivers into the ocean, or flies into
fire.1

The psychology of the Hindus is not less abstruse
than the rest of their metaphysics. We have already
mentioned the soul among the twenty-five catego-
ries as neither a production nor productive. The
Indian philosophers distinguish spirit and soul,
that is, a rational soul and a mere sensitive prin-
ciple. The first is supposed enveloped with a
subtile, shadowy form of the most delicate material
ether. Some hold the soul to be incased in three
sheaths, the intellectual, the mental, and the organic
or vital sheath. 2 According to different views the
vital spirit is Mat/a herself, or an emanation of Maya,

' See Bhagavad-gita, vv. 16. 23. 28. 29. Schlegel's ed.
a Vol. II. p. 24.

CX11 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

in any case the illusive manifestation of the uni-
verse.

This ingenuous conception seems to have taken
deep and complete possession of the Hindus ; it do-
minates in their most subtile abstractions, and em-
bodies itself in a thousand forms to their vivid and
luxuriant imagination. The Saktians, a sect wedded
to sensual materialism, represent Maya as a Saktior
energy of Siva ; she is ' ' the mother of the universe ; "
" non-entity finds no access to this creator, the
" garment of perishableness does not sit right upon
tc the body of this fascinating empress; the dust of
" nothingness does not move round the circle of
" her dominion; the real beings and the accidental
'* creatures of the nether world are equally ena-
" moured and intoxicated with desire before her."
Above the six circles, into which the Hindus divide
the human body, is " the window of life, and the
" passage of the soul, which is the top and middle
" of the head, and in that place is the flower of the
" back of one thousand leaves : this is the residence
" of the glorious divinity, that is, of the world-
" deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site reposes
" her origin. With the splendor of one hundred
" thousand world-illuminating suns, she wears, at
" the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs
" and various flowers upon her head, and around
** her neck : her resplendent body is penetrated

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXlll

'* with perfumes of divers precious ingredients,
** such as musk, safran, sandal, and amber, and
" bedecked with magnificent garments ; in this man-
" ner, she is to be represented." l Thus we see the
poetical imagination of the Hindus, playing, as it
were, with abstruseness, materializing what is spi-
ritual, and spiritualizing what is material.

Characteristic of and peculiar to the Hindus, are
their conceptions relative to the states of the embo-
died soul, which are chiefly three : " waking, dream-
" ing, and profound sleep."1 In these three condi-
tions the soul is imprisoned, but it may, by virtue
and sanctity, break the net of illusion, that is, ac-
quire the consciousness of the illusion which capti-
vates it, and know that, even when awake, man is
dreaming : this is the triumph of his perfection.

Such, and other notions, in their development
and application, form a system of metaphysics, in
which excess and abuse of refined speculations lose
themselves in obscurity, contradiction, and absur-
dity.

Among the Indian sectaries appear the Charvak,
who, rejecting the popular religion, follow their own
system of philosophic opinions.

Of Buddha and the Buddhists, we are disappointed
to find so little in the Dabistan, except the important
information that Vichnu, in order to destroy the de-

» See vol. II. pp. 180-131.

CX1V PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

mons and evil genii, the agents of night, assumed the
avatar of Buddha when ten years only of the Dwapa-
ryug remained, that is, 3112 years hefore Christ. In
the section on the tenets held by the followers of
Buddha, these religionists are called Jatis or Yatis, a
great number of whom are corn-traders and get their
livelihood as servants ; they are divided in several
classes, and do not believe the incarnations of the
deity ; as to the rest, they have tenets and customs
in common with other Indian sects, only distin-
guishing themselves by a great aversion to Brah-
mans, and an extreme care of not hurting animal
life.

In the whole account, which the Dabistan gives
of the various sects and doctrines of the Hindus,
we can but remark a frequent confusion of Indian
with Muhammedan notions and stories. Indeed,
this work having been written in India at a lime
when, after a sojourn of more than seven centuries,
about twenty millions of Muselmans appeared, as it
were, lost in the midst of one hundred millions of
Hindus, we cannot wonder that a mutual assimila-
tion in opinions and customs took place among in-
dividuals of both religions. A remarkable instance
of it presents itself in the person of Kabir, renowned
in his time for sanctity. After his death, both the
Hindus and Muhammedans claimed his corpse for
funeral honors ; monuments erected to him by each

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXV

party exist in our days, with the proverbial pre-
cept which originated from this event:

" Live so as to be claimed after death to be burnt by Hindus, and to
•" be buried by Muslims.''

The Indian Yogis, Sanyasis, and Vairagis are per-
petually confounded with Muhammedan Durvishes,
and Sufis, of whom hereafter.

We do not fail to meet with many traces of the
ancient Persian astrolatry and pjrolatry among the
Indians. Mohsan mentions the Surya-makhan (Sau-
ras), " worshippers of the sun," and periphrases,
as addressed to that luminary, a Sanscrit prayer,
which seems to be one of those called gaydtri, the
holiest verses of the Vedas, kept as mysterious by
the Brahmans, and pronounced with the deepest
sense of concentrated devotion. In our days, more
than one gaydtri has been made known.' We can-
not doubt that (according to the poet)2 —

" That vast source of liquid light, the ethereal sun, which perpetually
laves heaven with ever-renewed brightness,"

was, from the remotest times, the object of adora-
tion in India. The Dabistan mentions also the
Chandra -bakhtra, " worshippers of the moon."
Even in our days we find the veneration for the

1 That which sir W. Jones quotes (see Works, vol. XIII. p. 367) i«,
perhaps, most to be depended upon.

2 Lucretius, V. v. 282 :

Largus item liquidi fons luminis, aethereus sol,
Irrigat assidue coelum candore recenti.

CXVl PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

sun, the planets, and (ire, openly practised by the
Hindus. The worshippers of the latter elements
called Sagnikas, are very numerous at Benares ; * they
keep many agni-hotras, " burnt-offerings," conti-
nually blazing ; they kindle, with two pieces of
sacred wood, called sdmi, a fire, never extinguished
during their lives, for the performance of solemn
sacrifices, their nuptial ceremonies, the obsequies
of departed ancestors, and their own funeral pile.
There are besides particular worshippers of the
wind, water, earth, and the three kingdoms of na-
ture. The latter are called Tripujas, " trinilari-
" ans." We find also Manushya-bhakta, " worship-
" pers of mankind," who recognise the being of
God in man, and believe nothing to be more per-
fect than mankind; like Channing, a famous Ame-
rican preacher of our days. In short, the worship
of personified nature, in its utmost extent, is most
evident in what we know of the Vedas, and never
ceased to be the general religion of the Hindus.

Not without interest will be read in the Dabistan
the account of Nanak,* the founder of the Sikh reli-
gion and domination. He is there represented as
having been, in a former age, Janaka, sovereign of
Mithila, and father of Sita, the wife of Rama. The
revolution effected by Nanak, in the middle of the

* Sir W. J., Works, vol. III. p. 127.
•3 Vol. II. pp. 246-288.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAK. CXVU

sixteenth century, proves that the Hindus are not
quite so unchangeable in religion arid customs as is
generally believed. It is however to be remarked,
that the Panj-ab, the country of the Sikhs, was
always considered by the Brahmans as the seat of
heterodoxy (probably Buddhism), and blamed for
irregularity of manners. Mohsan's account will be
found to add confirmation and a few particulars to
that given of Nanak, from the ttest sources — the
generals sir John Malcolm, and John Briggs.

What will appear most valuable in this work is
the description of various usages, some of which
have never been described elsewhere. The most
ancient customs are brought to recollection. Thus,
we find staled, on the authority of Maha bharat,
that widows could formerly take other husbands —
married women, with the consent of their hus-
bands, maintain intercourse with other men — seve-
ral individuals, of the same race and religion,
espouse one wife among them ; — in ancient times
there existed no such practice as appropriation of
husband and wife ; every woman being allowed to
cohabit with whomsoever she liked ; conjugal fidelity
was only in later limes made a duty. Much of what
he describes may be seen, even in our days, in India,
where all the degrees of civilisation which the Hin-
dus ever attained, from the lowest to the highest,
occur here and there within a small compass of

CXV11I PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

country. So constant are they in good and bad !
The whole of antiquity is still living in India, and
Herodotus stands confirmed in what appeared most
incredible in his narrative by the testimonies of Moh-
san Fani, the reverend abbe Dubois,1 Ward, and
others. The Persian author intersperses his account
with anecdotes which characterise in the most
livelymanner individuals, sects, and tribes. If now
and then we must avert our eyes from disgusting
scenes of human degradation, more frequently we
admire man, even in his errors, for the power and
command of the mental over the physical part of
his nature. The naked Yogi, who inflicts the most
cruel tortures upon himself, wants but a better
motive for being justly extolled as a hero of forti-
tude; death appears to him an habitual companion,
into whose arms he sinks without fear ; overpow-
ered by malady, he buries himself alive.
We may be astonished at the number of unbe-

1 See Moeurs, Institutions et Cdrdmonies des Peuples de I'Inde ; par
M. I'abbtf J. A. Dubois, ci-devant missionnaire dans le Meissour.
Paris, 1825. This work was first published in the English language,
London, 1816. It had been translated from the author's French manu-
script, which lord William Bentinck, governor of Madras, purchased on
the account of the East India Company, in 1807. This composition
received the approbation of major Wilks, resident of Maissour, sir James
Mackintosh, and William Erskine, Esq. ; to which I am happy to add the
most decisive judgment of the honorably-known Brahman, Ram Mohun
Roy, whom I often heard say : " The European who best knew the Hin-
dus, and gave the most faithful account of them, was the abbe Dubois."

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXJX

Jievers among the Hindus of whom we read, and at
the licentiousness of their opinions, expressed with
a strength which we should think carried to excess. *
We perceive also that, in contradiction to common
belief, in the midst of the seventeenth century, when
the Dabistan was composed (1645 A. D.) a numerous
class of Indians assumed the name of Muselmans,
but it must be remarked, that the Hindus neither
endeavor to make, nor easily admit, proselytes : be-
cause their religion depends much less upon creed,
in which they are latitudinarians, than upon the
fixed customs of their castes, the character of which,
being derived from birth, cannot be transferred to
strangers. 2 We shall see hereafter in what manner
Hindus and Muhammedans may be confounded with
each other.

So much of India being known in our days, we
have the facility of trying the veracity and correct-
ness of the Dabistan concerning this country. Its
account will be found, I dare say, rather incomplete
in the small compass in which so extensive a subject
was inclosed, but not inaccurate in the greatest part
of its various statements. Sir W. Jones 3 bears Moh-
san Fani the testimony, ' * that his information con-

See vol. II. p. 201.

2 The celebrated Ram Mohun Roy had abandoned all the tenets, but
remained as much as possible attached to the customs, of his Brahmini-
cal caste.

3 His Works, vol. IV. p. 16.

CXX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

" cerning the Hindus is wonderfully correct." Let
us compare the account given by him with all that
has been published about India by the best instructed
Europeans before the foundation of the Asiatic So-
ciety of Bengal, and we shall regret that the Dabis-
tan was brought into notice so late. Whatever it
be, the particular views of a Persian, through a
medium of education, religion, and custom, so dif-
ferent from that through which we consider India,
can but interest us by their novelty, and by them-
selves add something to our information about the
character of Asiatics.

§ V. — RETROSPECT OF THE PERSIAN AND INDIAN
RELIGIONS.

I have endeavored to trace the most remarkable
features of Persian and Indian religions from among
those which are contained in the Dabistan. In
them we recognise resemblances, and, in more than
one point, even coincidences, which appear not
merely taken from each other in the course of time,
but rather originally inwoven in the respective insti-
tutions. This may be explained, partly by the ge-
neral probability that nations, passing through the
same stages of civilisation, might agree in several
parts of religion, politics, and philosophy, and

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXX1

chiefly by the fact, now generally admitted among
the learned, ! that in very remote times, a union of all
the Arian nations, among whom the Persians and
Indians are counted, existed in in the common
regions of central Asia. Sir W. Jones2 goes so far
as to say : " We cannot doubt that the book of
" Mahabad, or Manu, written in a celestial dialect,
" means the Veda." William von Schlegel most
ingeniously surmises,3 " that the name of 1 'and may
" be but a corruption of the Sanscrit word chhan-
" das, one of the most usual names of the Vedas."
The fourteen Mahabadians are to him : * ' Nothing
" else but the fourteen Manus, past and future, of
" the Brahmanical mythology."4 Thus we should
have to thank Mohsan Fani for a confirmation of the
above-stated historical fact; the Mahabadians were
nothing else but Mahabodhis, in good Sanscrit, "great
'* deified teachers;" he would have placed them,
as did lately Burnouf, Lassen, and Charles Ritter,

1 See above, p. 76.

2 His Works, vol. IV. p. 105.

3 Loco cit., p. 69.

4 Ibid-,, p. 51. Among the Persians is even found Behesht-i-Gang,
and Gang-diz, " the Paradise," and " the castle of Ganga" (Hyde,
p. 170).— Mr. Julius Mohl says (Journal asiatique, mars 1841, p. 281):
" Zohac is the representative of a Semitical dynasty, which in Persia took
" place of the Indian dynasty, and overthrew the entirely Brahmanical
" institutions of Jarnshid." We see the opinion that Hinduism once
resided in Iran daily gaining ground.

CXX11 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

somewhere on the highlands of Iran, and he invented
nothing. .

From the ante-historical dynasties descending to
later times, let us consider that, according to respect-
able traditions,1 there existed friendly and hostile
relations between Iran and Persia in the time of the
Iranian king Feridun, 1729 years before our era : he
reconducted with an army a fugitive Indian prince,
and rendered India tributary. Two other invasions
took place under the Persian monarch Manucheher,'
after which the Indians recovered their liberty.
Under Kai Kobad3 flourished Rustum, who ruled,
beside other countries, Sejistan and Kabul, con-
quered the Panj-ab, and carried war into the bosom
of Arya varta. This country was also attacked by
Afrasiab, a Turan prince,4 then possessor of Persia.
Ferdusi's Shah-namah indicates expeditions of Fe-
ramurs, a son of Ruslum, to India, under the reign
of Kai Khosrii. We arrive at the epoch of Gusht-
asp, who ordered the Indus to be explored, and

» The History of Hindostan, etc., by Alex. Dow, 1768, t. I. p. 12 et
seq. The same, by J. Briggs, 1829. Introd., ch. p. liv. et seq.

2 The Mandauces of Ctesias and of Moses of Chorene. He reigned,
according to Ferdusi* B. C., from 1229-1109; according to our chrono-
gers, from 730-71 5.

3 The Arphaxad of the Hebrews; the Dejoces of Herodotus; the Arsaeus
of Ctesias; he is placed B. C. 1075 by the Orientals ; 696 years by the
Occidentals.

* All kings of Turan were called Afrasiab.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXX111

although he had not, as Herodotus asserts, * con-
quered the Indians, he entertained religious rela-
tions with that nation. After Alexander's con-
quest of Persia, Sassan, the son of Dara, retired to
Hind, where, devoted to the service of God, he
died.2 After a very obscure period of Persian his-
tory, Ardeshir, directed by a dream, brought an
offspring of Sassan from Kabulistan to Jstakhar.
We cannot doubt that at all times a communication
was open between Iran and India, where Bahram
Gor married an Indian princess, and whence Nushir-
van received a celebrated book and the game of
chess. In our seventh century, the Muhammedan
Arabians, driven by the spirit of conquest, turned
their arms towards India, but stopped on the bor-
ders of the Indus. It was reserved to Muhammedan
Moghuls, mixed with Persians, to establish in the
midst of India an empire which, after eight hundred
years, disjoined by various disorders, fell into the
hands of the English.

This rapid sketch is perhaps sufficient to explain
any mixture, fusion, and resemblance of Persian and
Indian doctrines and institutions, if even we were
not disposed to seek their fountain-head in the sacred
gloom of the remotest antiquity. Whatever it be,-
in any case, it will no more be said, that the Dabis-

1 Lib. IV.

2 See The Desdtir, Engl. trans., p. 185.

CXX1V PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

tan was written " with the intention to claim for
" Persia the pre-eminence over India, concern-
" ing the antiquity of religious revelations."1 In
fact, Mohsan Fani never explicitly alludes to a com-
parative antiquity between the Persians and Indians,
and implicitly acknowledges the anteriority of the
Indian religion over the Zoroastrian, in a part of
Persia at least, by relating that Gushtasp was con-
verted from the former to the latter by Zardusht,
by whom also the Indian sage, Sankhara atcharya,
was vanquished.

After a more accurate examination, the resem-
blance between the said religions will be found to
exist certainly in particular principles and tenets,
but not at all in the general character or the spirit
of these religious systems. Nothing can be more
dissimilar than the austerity of Mezdaism and the
luxuriancy of Hinduism in the development of their
respective dogmas, and particularly in their wor-
ship, as was already observed.2 We cannot how-
ever deny, that not a little of the similarity in the
account of different religions belongs to the author
of the Dabistan, who most naturally confounded the
ideas of his own with those of more ancient times,
and used expressions proper to his particular creed
when speaking of that of others. Thus he employs

1 See before, p. 75.
• See page 102.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXV

very often the term angels for that of divinities, and
carries the mania of allegorising, so peculiar to
the later Muhammedan Siifis, into his description
of the Indian mythology. This sort of substitu-
tion, or these anachronisms of expression, are to be
remarked in the narrative of other authors, praised
for general correctness and veracity ; I can here so
much the more readily call to mind similar inaccu-
racies in the accounts which Greek historians, and
in particular the philosophic Xenqphon, gave of
Persia, as I may add, that in many points they agree
with our Mohsan Fani.

§ VI. — THE RELIGION OF THE TABITIAN (TIBETANS).

The third chapter of the Dabistan treats of the
religion of the Kera Tabitdn (Tibitans). The author
says that he received his information from a learned
man of this sect by means of an interpreter, who
did not always satisfy his inquiries; the little he
says appears to belong to a class of Buddhistic Hin-
duism, and not to be destitute of truth.

§ VII. — THE RELIGION OF THE JEWS.

Then follows, in the fourth chapter, a short
account of the religion of the Yahuds or Jews. The
author derived his notion from a Rabbin converted

CXXV1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

to Muhammedism, and states nothing which was
not really professed by one of the Jewish sects,
which, in his summary narration, he does not dis-
tinguish. He gives a Persian translation of the first
five chapters, and a part of the sixth chapter of the
Genesis from the Hebrew original ; a comparison of
it with several olher translations known in Europe,
proves its general accuracy; 1 thought it not alto-
ther unimportant to point out the few variations
which occur.

§ VIII. — THE RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIANS.

It is not without great interest that an European
Christian will peruse the fifth chapter, in which a
Persian treats of the religion of the Tanas, that is,
" Christians." Mohsan Fani declares, that he saw
several learned Christians, such as the Padre Francis, l
highly esteemed by the Portuguese in Goa and in
Surat. We can scarce doubt, that it was from that

1 Probably a Portuguese. From him Mohsan Fani might have received
the information (see vol. II. p. 307) that an image of St. Veronica is
preserved in a town »f Spain, probably within the year 4641, before it
was known in India that Portugal had freed itself from the domination
of Spain, which event took place on the 1st December, 1640. On that
account, the father spoke of the peninsular sovereign as still possessor of
both kingdoms, and, instead of calling him king of Spain, styled him
king of Portugal, from fond partiality for his native country. This
remark was suggested to me by the learned viscount of Santarem. —
(See vol. II. pp. 307. 308, note 1. )

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXVH

father, or some other Roman Catholic missionary,
that he received his information ; as he portrays par-
ticularly the Roman Catholic doctrine, of which, in
my opinion, he exhibits a more faithful idea than
that which a great number of Protestants entertain,
and are wont to express.

Every Christian may be satisfied with the picture
of his religion, which, although contracted in a
small compass, is nevertheless faithfully drawn by
a foreign but impartial hand. Mohsan Fani, in se-
venteen pages of our translation, states only a few
circumstances of the life of Jesus Christ, and a few
dogmas relative to him as son of God, and the second
person of the holy Trinity. In the account of seven
sacraments, the eucharist is characterised in a man-
ner which will not fail to attract attention.1 Scarce
any rites or ceremonies are mentioned; the greatest
part of the statement relates to the moral precepts
of Christianity, which presents an advantageous
contrast with the many absurd and superstitious
duties, with which other religions are encumbered.
Thus, we find confirmed in the Dabistan that the

1 See vol. II. p. 313. " The holiest of all the sacraments, as it pre-
" sents the Lord Jesus under the form of bread, that it may become the
" power of the soul." This detinition was most likely not that which
Mohsan Fani heard from father Francis, but the intelligent Persian
might have understood that a strong and lively representation of an
object is equivalent to its real presence, which latter words must have
been those used, as orthodox, by a Roman Catholic priest.

CXXV111 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Pentateuch of the Jews and the Gospel of the Chris-
tians were both sufficiently familiar to Muhamme-
dans who had any pretension to learning.

§ IX. — THE RELIGION OF THE MUSELMANS.

The author of the Dabistan, after having treated
of the most ancient religions, passes to the compa-
ratively modern religious system of Arabia. The
Arabians, although frequently attacked, were never
conquered by the Assyrians, Medians, Persians, or
Romans; they maintained their political indepen-
dance, but could not avoid nor resist the religious
influence of nations with whom they were, during
ages, in various relations. The ancient history of
Arabia is lost, like that of many other nations ; so
much is known of their oldest religion, that it re-
sembled that of the Persians and Hindus : it was the
Magism or Saba?ism ; the stars were worshipped as
idols from the remotest times; we read of antedilu-
vian idols, At the time, which we now consider,
that is the seventh century of our era, all the then
existing religions seemed to be far remote from
their original simplicity and purity ; ! idolatry was
dominant, and Monotheism preserved and positively
professed only in Judaism and Christianity, although

1 See, in what sense, pp. 83-84.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXX1X

likewise corrupted by various kinds of superstition.
Followers of both these religions were settled in
Arabia, to which region the Jews fled from the
cruel destruction of their country by the Romans ;
and the Christians, on account of the persecutions
and disorders which had arisen in the Eastern
church.

We see by what facts, circumstances, and notions
Muhammed was acted upon, whilst nourishing
his religious enthusiasm by solitary contempla-
tion in the cavern of mount Kara, to which he was
wont to retire for one month in every year. In his
fortieth year, at the same age at which Zoroaster
began to teach 600 years before Christ (according
to some chronologers), Muhammed, as many years
after the Messiah, assumed the prophetic mission
to reform the Arabians. He felt the necessity of
seizing some safe and essential dogmas in the chaos
of Magian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian no-
tions ; broke all the figures of planets in the temple
of Mecca, and declared the most violent war against
all plastic, graven, and painted idols; he left undis-
turbed only the black stone, Saturn's emblem before,
and at the time when the Jewish traditions claimed
it for Abraham, and even transported it to heaven.
Muhammed preferred the latter to the more ancient
superstition ; as to the rest, he abhorred the prevail-
ing idolatry of the Sabaians ; and blamed the cor-

CXXX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

ruption of monotheism in the Jews and Christians.
He felt in himself the powerful spirit, and undertook
to re-establish the Touhid, " the unity and spiri-
*' tualism of God;" he preached with enthusiastic
zeal the Islam, ** devotedness und resignation to
"God,"

But, in order to found and to expand the great
and necessary truths, he knew no other means, but
to attach the believers to his own person, and to ac-
custom them to blind obedience to his dictates ; he
proclaimed : " There is no God but God, and Mu-
" hammed is his prophet;" he gave them the Koran,
the only holy book, in which his precepts were as
many commands proclaimed under the penalty of
eternal damnation. In the Muhammedan all spon-
taneity is stifled; all desire, all attempt to be self-
convinced is interdicted ; every thing becomes exte-
rior, the religious and civil Code but one.

Muhammed seemed not to know that religion
cannot be the gift, as it is not the property, of any
single man ; it belongs to mankind. Any particular
creed lives only by its inherent force, independently
of the founder, who retires and leaves nothing be-
hind him but his name as a mere distinction from
that of another religion. Every individual action
is of little avail, if it does not proceed from the
free and pure impulse of the spirit, which must re-
vive in all succeeding generations. This is ac-

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXX1

knowledged in the Dabistan1 by giving a very philo-
sophic explanation of the expression prophetic seal,
or •' the last of prophets : " *' That which is reared
" up by superior wisdom, renders the prophet's
" knowledge vain, and takes 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
t( the seal, and they know themselves to be effaced,
" and superior wisdom existing." Muhammed, al-
though wise enough to connect himself with other
prophets, his predecessors, pretended however to
close the series, and to be the last of prophets, or
".the seal of prophetism."

Vain project ! Immediately after him violent
contests arose,

" And discord, with a thousand various mouths."

Thirty years after his death his family was dispos-
sessed of the Khalifat. This passed to the Moa-
viyahs, who, residing in Damascus, kept it during
90 years, and then ceded it to the Abbasides, who
established their seat at Baghdad. The impulse
and development of the Islam was overwhelm-
ing during the one hundred and twenty years
after the prophet's death; the mighty spirit of con-

» See vol. III. pp. 202-203. See also ibid , p. 229 and note 2.

CXXXI1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

quest had arisen and was — I shall not say irresistible
— but certainly badly resisted by the nations assailed.
The Romans and Persians were then hard pressed
themselves ; on the West by the Goths, on the East by
the Huns : — whilst the Greeks had sunk into gene-
ral luxury and degeneracy ; all feebly sustained the
attack of hardy and active men, whose native habit
of rapine and devastation was then exalted and
sanctified by the name of religion, and continually
invigorated by rich, splendid, and easy conquests.
Thus, the khalifs, who were divided into two great
lines, the before-mentioned Abbasides and the Fati-
mites, extended their empire within 600 years after
Muharnmed, not only over the greatest part of Asia,
but also along the western shore of Africa, Egypt,
Spain, and Sicily; threatening the rest of Europe.

After the first labors, came rest, during which
the genius of the Arabs turned to persevering study,
deep speculation, and noble ambition : this was the
scientific age of the Arabs, which began in the mid-
dle of our eighth century, and was most conspicuous
in the old seats of learning, Babylonia, Syria,
Egypt, Persia, and India. But in the numerous
schools rose violent schisms and bloody contests
between philosophy and religion. In the mean
time the khalifs, by becoming worldly sovereigns,
had lost their sacred character, and were in con-
tradiction with the principle of their origin. The

SYNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STAN. CXXXlii

crusades of the Christians, by reviving their martial
energy, maintained for some time the vacillating
power of the Khalifs, but their vast and divided
empire, assailed by Pagan nations, first in the West
in 1211, and forty-seven years afterwards in the
East, fell in 1258 of our era. Muhammedism
however revived in the barbarous and energetic
conquerors, Turks, Seljuks, Albanese, Kurds, Afri-
cans, who were drawn into its circle;- and science
was again cultivated in Tunis, Bulgaria, and India.

I thought necessary to draw this rapid historical
sketch, because within its outlines is contained the
account of the Muhammedan sects as given in the
text of the Dabislan.

Mohsan Fani himself lived in the age of general
decline of Muhammedism. He exhibits in the sixth
chapter the religion of his own nation : we may
expect that he will be true and accurate. He di-
vides the chapter into two sections : the first treats
of the creed of the Sonnites; the second, of that of
the Shiahs . These are the two principal sects of the
Muhammedans, but divided into a number of others,
exceeding that of seventy-three, which Muhammed
himself has announced, and consigned, all except
one, to eternal damnation. This one was that of
the sonnah " the traditional law," or Jamadt, " the
'* assembly." The Dabistan explains this religion
in a manner which, to Muhammedans, might ap-

CXXX1V PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

pear sufficiently clear, in spite of digressions and
want of order in the arrangement of the matter;
but an European reader will desire more light than
is afforded in the text, and feel himself perplexed
to understand the meaning of frequent technical
terms, and to connect the various notions dissemi-
nated in an unequal narrative — now too diffuse, now
too contracted. The following are the principal
features of the long account of Muhammedism con-
tained in the Dabistan.

Immediately after the promulgation of the Koran,
which followed Muhammed's death, it became ne-
cessary to fix the meaning and to determine the
bearing of its text. There was one theme in which
all agreed : the grandeur, majesty, and beneficence
of one supreme Being, the Creator, ruler, and pre-
server of the world, which is the effulgence of his
power. This is expressed in the Koran in such a
strain of sublimity as may unite men of all religions
in one feeling of admiration. This excellence is an
inheritance of the most ancient Asiatic religion.
God can but be always the object of boundless
adoration, but never that of human reasoning.
Hence the Muhammedan sects disagreed about the
attributes of God.

The residence assigned, although inconsistently
with pure spiritualism, to the supreme Being was
the ninth heaven; an eighth sphere formed the in-

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXXV

termediate story between the uppermost heaven
and seven other spheres, distributed among so many
prophets, in the same manner as, in the Desatir, the
seven prophet kings of the Peshdadian dynasty
were joined to the seven planets which they, each
one in particular, venerated. Numberless angels,
among whom four principal chiefs, fill the universe,
and serve, in a thousand different ways, the su-
preme Lord of creation. We recognisee the notions
of the ancient Persian religion in this, and in the
whole system of divine government.

Another subject of violent and interminable dis-
pute was God's action upon the nether world, prin-
cipally upon mankind, or God's universal and eter-
nal judgment, commonly called predestination. This
subject was greatly agitated by the Matezalas, Ka-
darianSj Jabarians, and others ; they disputed

" Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate,
" Fix'd fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute,
" And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost."

Although this subject appears to be connected
with the Zoroastrian doctrine of the two principles,
" good and bad," yet it has never been agitated
with so much violence in so many particular ways by
any religionists as by the Muhammedans.

It has already been observed that, according
to tradition, the ancient Persian philosophy was

CXXXV1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

carried in the reign of Alexander to Greece, and
from thence, after having been recast in the mould
of Greek genius, returned in translations to its ori-
ginal country. We find it expressly stated in the
Dabistan, that Plato and Aristotle were acknow-
ledge as the founders of two principal schools of
Muhammedan philosophers, to wit, those of the
Hukma ashrdkin, ** Platonisls," and the Hukma mas-
hdyin, "Aristotelian, or Peripatetics." To these add
the Sufi's matsherdin, " orthodox Sufis," who took
care not to maintain any thing contrary to revela-
tion, and exerted all their sagacity to reconcile
passages of the Koran with sound philosophy.
This was the particular profession of the Matkalmin,
" scholastics." These cede to no other philosophers
the palm of mastering sublilties and acute distinc-
tions. They had originally no other object but
that of defending their creed against the heterodox
philosophers. But they went further, and attacked
the Peripatetics themselves with the intention to
substitute another philosophy for theirs. It may be
here sufficient to call to mind the works of three
most celebrated men, Alfarabi, Ibn Sina (Avisenna),
and Ghazali, whose works are reckoned to be the
best specimens of Arabian and Muhammedan phi-
losophy.1 They contain three essential parts of or-

1 See upon this subject a recent very ingenious work: Essai sur
fes Ecoles philosophiques chez les Arabes, et notamment sur la doctrine

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXXV11

thoclox dogmatism: 1. ontology, physiology, and psy-
chology ; these together are called " the science of
*' possible things;" 2. theology, that is, the discus-
sion upon the existence, essence, and the attributes
of God; as well as his relations with the world and
man in particular ; 3. the science of prophetism, or
" revealed theology." All these subjects are touch-
ed upon in the Dabistan, but in a very desultory
manner. I shall add, that the author puts in evi-
dence a sect called Akhbdrin, or " dogmatic tradi-
" tionists," who participate greatly in the doctrine
of the Matkalmin, and in his opinion are the most
approvable of all religious philosophers.

The contest for the khalifat between the family of
AH, Muhammed's son-in-law, and the three first
khalifs, as well as the families of Moaviah and Ab-
bas, a contest which began in the seventh cen-
tury, and appears not yet terminated in our days —
this contest, so much more violent as it was at once
religious and political, occasioned the rise of a
great number of sects. Much is found about Ali
in the Dabistan, and even an article of the Koran, !
published no where else relative to this great Musel-
man, which his adversaries are said to have sup-
pressed. The adherents of Ali are called Shidhs.

d'Algazzah', par Auguste Schmolders, docteur en philosophic, Paris,
1842. Dedicated to M. Reinaud, member of the Institute of France, and
professor of Arabic.
1 See vol. II. p. 368.

CXXXV111 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

The Persians, after being conquered by the Arabs,
were compelled to adopt the Muhammedan religion,
but they preserved a secret adherence to Magism ,
their ancient national creed, they were therefore
easily disposed to join any sect, which was more
or less contrary to the standard creed of their con-
querors, and bore some slight conformity, or had
the least connection with, their former religion.
They became Shiahs.

Among these sectaries originated the particular
office of Imam, whose power partook of some-
thing of a mysterious nature : the visible presence
of an Imam was not required ; he could, although
concealed, be acknowledged, direct and command
his believers; his name was Mahdi, " the direc-
'* tor." This opinion originated and was spread
after the sudden disappearance of the seventh Imam,
called Ismail. His followers, the Ismailahs, main-
tained that he was not dead ; that he lived conceal-
ed, and directed the faithful by messages, sent by
him, and brought by his deputies ; that he would one
day reappear, give the victory to his adherents over
all other sects, and unite the world in one religion.
More than one Mahdi was subsequently proclaimed in
different parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe— always
expected, never appearing — so that it became a pro-
verbial expression among the Arabs to denote tar-
diness : "as slow as a Mahdi." We recognize in this

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. CXXX1X

an ancient idea of Zoroaster : he too was to reappear
in his sons at the end of 12,000 years ; rather late,
— but mankind never tire of hope and expectation.

A creed, like that of the Ismdilahs, because founded
upon something mysterious, vague, and spiritual,
was likely to branch out in most extraordinary con-
ceptions and practices. The Dabistan abounds with
curious details about them. Their doctrine bore
the character of duplicity : one part was manifest,
the other concealed. Their manner of making pro-
selytes was not open ; they acted in the dark. They
first induced the neophyte to doubt, then to despise
his own creed, and at last to exchange it for appa-
rently more sublime truths, until, after having suf-
ficiently emboldened his reasoning faculty, they
enabled him to throw off every restraint of autho-
rity in religious matters. We see in the Dabistan, '
the degrees through which an Isrnailah was to pass
until he believed in no religion at all.

A most remarkable sect of the Ismailahs was that
of the Almutians, so called from Alamut, a hill-fort in
the Persian province of Ghilan. This fort was the
seat of Hassan, a self-created Imam, and became the
capital of an empire, perhaps unique in the history
of the world.2 An Imam, called by Europeans " the
" old man of the mountain," without armies, or

1 Vol. II. pp. 404-407.

2 See vol. II. p. 433 et seq.

CXI PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

treasures, commanded the country around, and ter-
rified a great part of Asia by a band of devoted ad-
herents, whom he sent about to propagate his reli-
gion, and to execute his commands, which were
frequently the murder of his enemies. The execu-
tioners were unknown save at the fatal moment
of action; mighty khalifs and sultans met with
their murderers among their most intimate servants,
or the guardians of their doors, in the midst of
crowded public places or in the solitude of their se-
cret bed-chambers. TheFedayis, so were they called,
devoted themselves not only to the sacred service of
their Imam, but hired their arm also for profane
service to foreign chiefs, such as the Christian cru-
saders. Among Europeans, these Ismailahs were
known under the name of Assassins, which well
answered their infamous profession, but is better
derived from Hashishah1 , a sort of hemp, from which
they extracted an intoxicating beverage for their
frequent use. During one hundred and sixty years
the Ismailahs were the terror of the weak and the
mighty, until they fell in one promiscuous slaughter,
with the khalif of Islamism, under the swords of the
ferocious invaders who, issuing from the vast steppes
of Tartary, fell upon the disordered empire of the
Muhammedans.

1 See Mdmoires geographiques et historiques sur I'Egyple et sur quel-
ques contrees voisines, par Etienne Quatremere, vol. II. p. 504. 1811.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

The Jsmailahs, and other sects connected with
them, professed a great attachment to an Imam,
whose lineage was always traced up to Ali through
a series of intermediate descendants; but it belonged
to the Ali-Ilahiam to deify Ali himself, or to believe
his having been an incarnation of God.

Another sect, the Ulviahs, also devoted to Ali,
maintain that he was united with the sun, that he
is now the sun, and having also been the sun be-
fore, he was for some days only united to an ele-
mental body. Both these sects reject the Koran.

Here terminates the review of the second volume
of the English Dabistan.

§ X. — THE RELIGION OF THE SADIKIAHS.

The third volume of this work begins with the
seventh chapter, upon the religion of the Sadikiahs.
It is generally known that, during the life of Muham-
med, another prophet, called Musaylima, arose in
the country of Yamama, and dared offer to himself
in a letter to the former as a partner of his sacred
mission, but was treated as a liar. He had however
gained a great number of followers, at the head ol
whom he was defeated and himself slain in a bloody
battle against Khaled, a general of the first Khalif,
the very same year as Muhammed's death. We

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

find in the Dabistan, what appears less generally
known, thatMusaylima's sect, far from being entirely
crushed after his fall, existed under the name of
Sadikias in the seventeenth century of our era, and
conformed to a second Faruk, or Koran, to which
they attributed a divine origin, and a greater au-
thority than to the first. !

Another account, not frequently met with, is
contained in the eighth chapter of the Dabistan, con-
cerning Vahed Mahmud, who appeared in the begin-
ning of our thirteenth century, and is by his adhe-
rents placed above Muhammed and Ali. Among
his tenets and opinions is to be remarked that of an
ascending refinement or perfection of elemental mat-
ter, from the brute or mineral to that of a vegetable
form; from this to that of an animal body; and
thence progressing to that of Mahmud.2 Further,
the particular mode of transmigration of souls by
means of food into which men, after their death, are
changed; such food, in which intelligence and action
may reside, becomes continually the aliment and

» Vol. III. p. 1-11.

2 The Druids, among the ancient Britons, believed the progressive
ascent of the soul, beginning with the meanest insect, and arriving through
various orders of existence at its human stage. The soul, according to
its choice during terrestrial life, progressed, even after death, in good
and happiness, or evil and misery; the virtuous could return to earth
and become prophets among mankind: in which belief the ancient Bri-
tons agreed with the Indian Buddhists.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. Cxliti

substance of new successive human beings. We
were not a little astonished to find these singular opi-
nions agreeing with the information, which Milton's
archangel Raphael imparts to Adam, the father of
mankind. '

" 0 Adam, one Almighty is, from whom

" All things proceed, and up to him return,

" If not depraved from good, created all

" Such to perfection, one first matter all,

" Indued with various forms, various degrees

" Of substance, and in things that live, of life:

" But more refin'd, more spirituous, and pure,

" As nearer to him plac'd or nearer tending,

" Each in their several active spheres assign'd,

" Till body up to spirit work, in bounds

" Proportioned to each kind. So from the root

" Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves

" More aery, last the bright consummate flower

" Spirits odorous breathes : flow'rs and their fruit,

" Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublim'd,

" To vital spirits aspire, to animal,

" To intellectual; give both life and sense,

" Fancy and understanding; whence the soul

" Reason receives, and reason is her being,

" Discursive, or intuitive — — — .

This sort of hylozoism is more expanded in a
particular system of cosmogony of the same Vahed, *
according to which the materials of the world existed
from the very beginning, which signifies from the
first appearance of afrad, " rudimental units." We

1 Paradise Lost, V. v. 470-488.

2 The Dabiatan, vol. III. p. 17.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

can never think meanly of this opinion, when we
find it coinciding with that of Leibnitz in our seven-
teenth century, contemporary of Mohsan Fani.
According to the celebrated German philosopher, !
there exists already an entirely organical preforma-
tion in the seeds of the bodies which are born, and
all souls had always pre-existed in some sort of or-
ganized body, and shall after death remain united
with an organic whole ; because in the order of na-
ture souls are not likely to exist entirely separated
from any kind of body. In the eighteenth century
Bonnet, a great physiologist, maintained,2 that all
was preformed from the beginning, nothing engen-
dered ; all organized bodies were pre-existing in a
very small compass in the germs, in which souls
may also pre-exist, these indestructible germs may
sojourn in such or such a body until the moment of
its decomposition, then pass, without the least alte-
ration, into another body, from this into a third,
and so on ; each of the germs incloses another im-
perishable germ, which will be developed but in a
future state of our planet, which is destined to ex-
perience a new revolution.

We see here the very same ideas, without any

1 See his The'odice'e, edit. Amsterd. preface, pp. xiviii et seq.

2 Seeio Paling6n6sie philosophique, ou Idees sur VEtat passe et sur
I'Etat futur des Etres vivans, par C. Bonnet, de diverses Academies,
Amsterd. 1769, vol. I. pp. 170. 198. 201. 204, etc., etc.

SYNOPSIS OF THE D\BISTAN. Cxlv

mutual communication, entertained in the East and
the West, in ancient and modern times.

Vahed Mahmud combines his cosmogony with
periods of 8000 years, eight of which form a great
cycle of 64,000 years, at the completion of which
the world is renovated. This sect is said to have
been widely spread in the world ; in Persia the per-
secution of Shah Abbas forced them to lie concealed.

§ XI. — THE RELIGION OF THE ROSHENIANS.

The ninth chapter of the Dabistan introduces
to us Mian Bdyezid, who, born in the Panjab, flou-
rished in the middle of the sixteenth cenlury under
the reign of Humayiin, the Emperor of India. At
first a strict observer of Muhammedism, he aban-
doned afterwards the exterior practices of this reli-
gion, and, devoting his mind to contemplation, as-
sumed with the character of a saint the title of a
" master of light ;" his followers were called Roshe-
nians, or *' enlightened." His sayings, several of
which are quoted in the Dabistan, express sound
reason, pure morality, and fervent piety. In the
spirit of his nation and time, and for self-defence,
he took up arms against the Moghuls. His history
and that of his sons is carried to the middle of the
seventeenth century, the time of Mohsan Fani.

A

Cxlvi PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Muhammed was the permanent type of a pro-
phet, in whom the religious and political character
were united. The first Khalifs were all military
chiefs and religious men; the Koran furnished the
rules of foreign and internal policy, the final deci-
sion of every tribunal, the inciting exclamation to
combat and carnage, and a prayer for every occa-
sion. The founders of sects were frequently war-
riors, or, what in Asia is generally the same, high-
waymen and plunderers of caravans; such was the
just mentioned Miyan Bayezid, and many others.
As possessors of empires, they preserved the austere
habits of ascetics : they carried a sabre and a rosary,
counted their beads and gave order for battle; ema-
ciated by fasts, covered with a woollen mantle, sit-
ting upon the bare ground, they disposed of em-
pires and received the homage of millions of men.

The Muhammedans preserved their religion, as
long as they were militant : because all states of
mental excitement are apt to support each other.
But, in solitary retirement, and in the precincts of
schools, the doctrine of Muhammed was put to the
test of reason : now began the struggle between
religion and philosophy. Fearful to part at once
with early impressions and national feelings, at-
tempts to reconcile faith and reason were made;
religious philosophers had recourse to allegory, in
order to rationalize strange and absurd dogmas and

i

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. Cxlvil

practices ; For the literal they substituted a mystical
sense; under arbitrary acceptations and interpreta-
tions, the foundation of the doctrine itself disap-
peared, or was confounded with some old dogma
renewed, if not one entirely invented : in short, the
Muhammedan religion appeared to have survived
itself; its presumed period of one thousand years
was believed to be completed under the reign of
Akbar.

§ XII. — THE RELIGION OF THE ILAHIAHS.

Akbar was the greatest among the Moghul empe-
rors of India. He began in his fourteenth year a
reign, environed by war and rebellion. After having
vanquished all his enemies and established peace and
security around him, he turned his attention to re-
ligion. He soon found it right to grant unlimited
toleration to all religions in his empire. Called the
" shade of God," he took the resolution to realise in
himself the otherwise vain title bestowed by slavish
flattery upon all sovereigns of Asia, and to imitate,
according to his faculties, him who bestows the
blessings of his merciful providence on all crea-
tures without distinction. This he declared to his
fanatic son Jehangir, who did not conceal his dis-
content about the building of an Hindu temple in

Cxlviii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

Benares : " Are not," said Akbar, " five-sixths of
" all mankind either Hindus or unbelievers? If
' ' I were actuated by motives similar to those which
" thou ownest, what would remain to me but to
' ' destroy them all ? "

The inquisitive emperor was acquainted with the
religious history of the Persian empire; he sur-
rounded himself with men of all religions — Muham-
medans of all sects, Hindus, Jews, and Christians,
as weH as with philosophers free from supersti-
tion ; he liked to question them all, and to encourage
public polemical discussions in his presence. The
Sonnites and Shiahs reviled reciprocally the chief
personages of their adherence, the three first kha-
lils and Ali; Muhammed himself was not more
spared than his companions and successors. The
errors ot their doctrine, the vices of their character,
and the irregularities of their conduct were freely
exposed, severely blamed, and wittily ridiculed.
If Muhammedism was treated in such a manner,
other religions could not claim more indulgence.
The dramatic form, which Mohsan Fani gives to
the religious controversies, is certainly curious; we
can scarce suppose his having known the dialogues
of Lucian, nor is it in the least probable that a late
French author ever saw the Dabistan and took from
this book the idea of the twenty-first chapter of his
celebrated work, entitled " Problem of religious

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

'* contradictions."1 The object aimed at by these
three authors was the same ; but their compositions
differ from each other as much as the genius and
character of the Greeks, French, and Persians, in
whose language each of them respectively wrote.
In whatsoever point Mohsan Fani may yield to the
Greco-Syrian, or to the French author, lie, cer-
tainly, 1 will venture to say, equals them in force,
boldness, and sincerity; and perhaps surpasses either
in pointed application of truth. His objections are
not vague attempts of witticism with the intention
to ridicule : they are special and serious, directed
to real and patent falsehood or prejudice ; he does
not fence with imaginary shadowy adversaries, but
he strikes a present and tangible foe; his style, ne-
ver tainted by affectation, is plain and blunt, such
as becomes a reformer combating popular supersti-
tion. The controversies, the scene of which is
placed before the throne, or rather tribunal, of Ak-
bar, obtain the imperial sanction : Muhammedism
is condemned.

Indeed, the emperor abrogated several prac-
tices of that religion to which he had been de-
voted in his first years; he confined the cultiva-
tion of science, as taken from the Arabs, to astro-
nomy, geography, medicine, and philosophy, and

1 I.es Ruines, ou Meditations sur les Revolutions des Empires, par
3f. Volney, depute a I'Assemble'e nationals de 1789, Paris, 1791.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

wished to prevent the waste of life in futile and
useless studies. At last, in the month of December,
A . D. 1579, twenty-six years before his death, he sub-
stituted for the common profession of the Muham-
medans the new: •• There is no God but God, and
" Akbar his khalif(or deputy)." He received from a
great number of Amirs and distinguished persons
the voluntary agreement and consent to four condi-
tions, namely, the sacrifice of property, life, repu-
tation, and religion, by entering into the new reli-
gious pact, called Ilahi, u divine." Moreover, he
introduced in lieu of the former r a new era, to begip
from the death of his father Humayiin, that is
from the year of the Hejira 965, (A. D. 1555) : it
was to be called Ilahi; the months were regulated
according to the mode of Iran, and fourteen festi-
vals established in concordance with those of Zo-
roaster's religion. It was to this ancient Persian
creed, that he gave the preference, having been
instructed in its sacred tenets and practices by a
learned fire-worshipper who had joined him; and
from books which were sent to him from Persia
and Kirman. He received the sacred fire, and
committed it to the faithful hands of Abu I fazil, his
confidential minister : the holy flames of Zardusht
blazed again upon the altars of Aria, and, after a
separation of many centuries, Persians and Indians
were reunited in a common worship.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DA.BISTAN. oil

As a proof of Akbar's expansive mind, directed
to all subjects which may interest mankind, I shall
mention his having sequestered a number of chil-
dren, before they could speak, from all communi-
tion with the rest of society, in order to know
whether they would form a language. After four-
teen years of seclusion, it was found that they were
dumb: " which made it evident," says Mohsan
Fani, <f that language and letters are not natural
" to man — that language is of a long date and the
" world very ancient."1

In the third section of the tenth chapter, the
author treats of the influences of the stars upon the
netherworld, a very ancient superstition, common
to most nations. Every master of fame is said to
have worshipped particularly one of the stars; Ak-
bar also received divine commands with regard to
them. We find, in a digression of this section,
curious historical details respecting the person of
Jangis khan, his adoration of the celestial bodies,
epilepsy, and singular superstition of combs. The
great conqueror addressed to his sons the most

1 Thus, our author coincides with lord Monboddo, who showed that
language is the slow product of necessity among men linked in society.
See his work Of the Origin and Progress of Language, with the motto
of Horace:

" Mutum ac turpe pecus — — — —
" Donee Verba quibus voces sensusque notarent
" Nominaque invenere."

clii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

earnest admonitions to remain faithful to the reli-
gion of the stars, to which their fortune was
attached; but fifty-three years after his death one of
his successors and a great part of his nation em-
braced Muhammedism.

The fourth section of the tenth chapter contains
important information upon the administration of
India. Akbar was the first of the Moghul emperors
who considered India as his native country, and
directed his best efforts to the amelioration of its
condition. Exalted to the highest rank, not only
by his birth, but also by his personal acquirements;
assisted, besides, by a train of devoted and enlight-
ened servants, he could promise himself duration
of the new religion, which he had fondly labored
to found. In vain : it disappeared with him. Pri-
vate persons, camel-drivers, and robbers, emerging
from obscurity, such as Muhamrned, and others
before and after that Arabian leader, effected more
than an emperor, with every possible advantage
united in and around his person ! Human intellect
was perhaps then satiated with religion ; its measure
was full : it could not receive any more. In fact,
after Muhammed a number of sects, but no new
religion, arose : in this sense he may, with some
appearance of truth, be called the last of prophets,
or the Khdtim, " the seal of prophetism,"

Akbar died in 1605 A» D., eight or ten years

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

before the birth of the author of the Dabistan. The
latter passed his youth and manhood in India, under
the reigns of that emperor's son, Jehangir, and
grand-son, Shah Jehan, and great-grandson Au-
rengzeb; and was in personal connection with the
latter's brother, the religious Darashukoh. Mohsan
Fani had therefore good opportunities to be informed
of the events of their days. The religion of the
Ilahiahs is properly the last of which he treats ; for
what relates to the religions of the philosophers
and Slifis, the subjects of the two last chapters,
are rather selections of all creeds and opinions, than
particular religions. It will be remembered that
sir- W. Jones supposed these two' last chapters not
to have been written by the author of the rest of
the Dabistan, which I dare neither affirm nor
deny. '

§ XIII. THE RELIGION OF THE PHILOSOPHERS.

In the eleventh chapter, entitled " Of the religion
" of the Wise," we find it repeated that Philoso-
phers were divided into two great classes: " the
"Eastern and the Western." The first are the
Hushangians, teachers of the Greeks until the time of
Plato and Aristotle ; it is believed that their philo-

1 See note, p. 6, n. 2.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

sophy, modified and refined, returned from Greece
to Asia, and was received by the Muhammedan
scholars to be adapted to their own creed. Then
took place a singular mixture and confusion of
Siderism, Judaism, Christianity, Muhammedism,
and all sorts of philosophic opinions. The cosmo-
logy of the Hushangians was preserved. Seven
special prophets, Ismail, Jesus, Joseph, Enoch,
Aaron, Moses, and Abraham, inhabit the seven
heavens, ' to begin from that of the Moon, which is
the lowest, and rising upwards. If, in general,
ten spheres are assumed,2 they are made the dwell-
ings of so many intelligences. These ideas, so

1 See (vol. I. p. 293, note 1) the seven heavens under particular names,
as given in the Viraf namah, and the explanation of them. The seven
prophets above-named are somewhat differently distributed by other
authorities. See the notes to Avisenna's explanation of Muhammed's
ascent to heaven (vol. III. pp. 186. 189). I shall subjoin the distribu-
tion of the seven prophet-kings, according to the Desatir, and that of
seven Jewish and Christian prophets, according to the the notes just
referred to :

ACCORDING TO ACCORDING TO

PLANETS: THg TJESATIR. MUHAMMEDAN AUTHORITIES.

Saturn, inhabited by Gilshaw. Inhabited by Abraham.

Jupiter, — Siamok. — Moses.

Mars, Hushang. Aaron.

The Sun, — Tahmuras. Idris.

Venus, Jemshid. Joseph.

Mercury, — Feridun. Jesus, St. John.

The Moon, — Minocheher. — Adam.

2 See the Cosmology of the Desatir, compared with that of the modern
Orientals, vol. III. p. 143, note.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. civ

ancient, as we have seen, were not disowned by
eminent men in much later times. The great Kep-
ler, and after him Reaumur, believed that intelli-
gences or souls directed the movements of celestial
bodies. Philosophers, struck with the marvellous
order of nature, were adverse to admitting any
mechanism — the very name of which frightened
them ; they therefore called all occult powers souls
or spirits. The same idea is adopted in morality:
whatever is praiseworthy is angelic, whatever blam-
able, satanic. From goodness arises an angel; from
badness , a Satan: so said the prophet. Such simple
and truth-like ideas were either originally disguised
under the vest of fiction ; or existing traditions of
various origin were afterwards more or less inge-
niously interpreted as allegories. Thus, the ordi-
nary names, expressions, tenets, traditions, and
practices of the Arabian prophet received symbolic,
allegoric, mystic interpretations. The Kabah (the
square temple of Mecca), the holy centre of a Jiving,
circumambulating world, becomes an emblem of
the sun; its famous black stone, hollowed by the
kisses of the pious, represents Venus, the bright
star on the borders of heaven ; paradise, its milk,
honey, wine, Tuba (tree of beatitude), Hur and Kasur
(nymphs and palaces ) allude to intellectual delights;
hell, its Zakum(tree of nature), and torments, are
explained as unavoidable consequences of depravity.

C'lvi PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

Such interpretations of the Muhammedans seem
often to be like their bridge Sirat, which con-
nects heaven and hell, sharp as a razor and thin as a
hair. Transmigration, or rather reproduction, is
admitted, although not easily reconciled with the
resurrection of the same body. The blasts of the
trumpet, and the whole scene of the resurrection lose
their materialism in a sort of rational allegory. The
other world is the destruction and renovation of na-
ture at the completion and renewal of great periods
of time, one of which comprised 360,000 solar
years. Resurrection is " the wakening from the
" sleep of heedlessness ; " whenever an intellect
attained that degree of perfection, it has returned
to its origin ; it is restored to life ; this indubitably
happens when nothing material exists : for, "where
" there is no body, there is no death."

After having treated in this way the great dogmas
of religion, the Muhammedan philosophers found it
not more difficult to rationalise every circumstance
respecting their prophet, he who obeyed the voice
of an invisible speaker. Did Muhammed really
split the moon? Not in the least— splitting is pene-
trating from the exterior into the interior ; the fis-
sure of the moon typifies nothing else but the renun-
ciation of the external for the internal, which is
" the superior wisdom;" who possessed 'it more
than the prophet (the peace of God be with him !)

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTA3. civil*

he, the master of the lunar sphere? This, with the
Orientals, is the seat of human intelligence arid
perfection.1 One of their greatest scholars, or as
they say " the learned of the world," known to us
under the name of Avisenna, undertook to give a
reasonable account of Muhammed's ascent to heaven,
and framed a wonderful romance of mystic spiritu-
alism. He terminates by explaining how the pro-
phet, after his return from such a journey, could
find his bed-clothes still warm : " He had travelled
" with his mind, and when he had completed his
" mental task, returned back to himself, and in less
* ' than an eye's twinkling recovered his former slate;
" whoever knows, understands why he went; and
4< whoever knows not, looks in vain for an explan-
" ation."

We may, not without interest, observe the natural
process of the human mind in reviewing and re-
forming conceptions, the original form of which is
not seldom entirely obliterated. The author of the
Dabistan does more than satiate the most inquisi-

1 According to the Occidental fabulists (seeAriosto's Orlando Fur ioso,
canto XXXIV), the moon holds, in a strait valley between two mountains,
all that mortals lose here below : fame, tears and sighs of lovers, lost
time, futile designs, vain desires, ancient crowns, all instruments of
deceit, treaties, and conspiracies, works of false coiners and knaves, the
good sense of every body, is there bottled ; all is there except folly, which
remains below, and never quits the earth:

Sol la Pazzia non v'd poca, nk assai,
CM sta quagyiit, ne se ne parte mai.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

tive reader with allegoric, now and then very fan-
ciful, interpretations, which he continues, not with-
out repetitions of the same subjects, through the
subsequent chapter, upon which I am about to
touch. Mohsan Fani, here as elsewhere, fails not
to adduce several philosophers of more ancient as
well as of his own times. Among the latter is Ha-
kim Kamran, wh,ose free and sound opinions, about
the origin of societies and the prophets regulating
them, will be read with some interest; as will also
the account of the books which Kamran read and
explained, whence the state of literature of those
times may be inferred.

§ XIV. — THE RELIGION OF THE SuFIS.

We arrive at the last chapter, " Upon the Sufis;"
the most abstruse of the twelve, but to which we
are well enough prepared by the contents of the
former.

Siifism, according to the Dabislan, belongs to all
religions; its adherents are known, under different
names among the Hindus, Persians, and Arabians ;
it appears to be nothing else but the rationalism of
any sort of doctrine. It could never be the religion
of a whole nation ; it remained confined to the pre-
cincts of schools and societies.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

In the work before us we find it stated, that the
belief of the pure Sufis was the same as that of the
Ashrakians(Platonists) : we know what theMuham-
medans have made of it. According to the Imam
Koshairi, quoted by Jami, l the Muselmans, after
Muhammed's death, distinguished the eminent men
among them by no other title but that of " the

•I

(" companions of God's apostle." These were, in
the second generation, called Tdbdyun, " followers."
Afterwards the Islamites were divided into divers
classes ; those among them who particularly devoted
themselves to the practice of religion, were named
" servants of God," which name was, after the rise
of numerous sects, claimed by some from among all
the different sectaries. It was then that the follow-
ers of the orthodox doctrine, in order to preserve
the purity of their faith and the strength of their
piety, assumed the name of Sufis, which name be-
came celebrated before the end of the second cen-
tury of the Hejira, that is, before the year 815 of
our era. We may believe one of the greatest scho-
lars of Muhammedism, Ghazdli, who ranged himself
among the Sufis of his time towards the end of our
eleventh century, when he declares that in their
society he found rest in believing one God, the pro-

1 Sec Journal des Savans, decembre 1821, pp. 721. 722, art. de Sil-
vestre de Sacy.

clx PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

phet, and the last judgment : this is the faith of the
orthodox Sufis.

The assumption of any particular name carries
men, who so distinguish and separate themselves
from their fellows, much further than they them-
selves at first intended, particularly when the dis-
tinction and separation are founded upon vague and
indeterminate notions of metaphysics. Under the
impression, that there are secrets upon which their
salvation depends, they will strelch reason and
imagination to penetrate them. The Sufis are
divided, according to their own phraseology,1 into
three classes: " the attracted, the travellers, and the
" attracted travellers;" the last of whom combine the
qualities of the two former. I will class them here,
with respect to their doctrine and manners, into
five orders.

1. The religious Sufis, in general, are occupied
with something beyond the limits of our natural
consciousness ; they exercise to the utmost their
inward organ or inner sense, and acquire a philo-
sophic imagination —

" The vision and the faculty divine." ^

Such was the prophetic gift of Muhammed, and as

1 The Sa'lik, Mejezub, and Mejezub Salik. (See A Treatise on Sufism,
or Muhammedan Mysticism, by lieutenant J. William Graham. In the
Transact, of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. I. p. 99, 1811.

2 Wordsworth.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN. clxi

long as they adhere to his sayings, they are the ortho-
dox Sufis, whom I have already mentioned.

2. Another order endeavor to comprehend, to
fix, and to explain the attributes of God ; the holy
object sanctifies their efforts ; unattainable, it exalts
their souls above themselves ; incomprehensibility
yields to the sacred power of self-intuition ; myste-
rious darkness to celestial light ; their intellect, no
more terrestrial, '* knows its own sun and its own
"stars;"1 by continual mental excitement they
produce in themselves (according to their own phra-
seology) a state of intoxication ; in the full enjoy-
ment of their liberty, they approach the Supreme
Being, and finally fancy an intimate union with their
Creator. These are the mystic Sufis.

Man, to express his most fervent adoration of the
Divinity, uses the expressions by which he is wont
to address the object of his most tender affections ;
he has but the fire of earth to kindle in sacrifice to
heaven; and to elevate his soul to the Supreme
Being, he makes wings of the most lively sentiments
which he ever experienced, and can excite in him-
self. The intensity of inward feeling breaks loose
in outward demonstrations, gesture, song, and
dance —

" — — — Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt."

.Eneis, c. VK v. 641.

C'lxii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

i

' Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere

' Of planets, and of fix'd, in all her wheels

4 Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,

' Eccentric, intervolv'd, yet regular,

' Then most, when most irregular they seem." '

Such in the poet's eye is the dance of angels, but
less refined must be that of mortals, and really one
sort of it strangely contrasts with the usually grave
deportment of bearded ample-robed Muselmans,
from Muhammed, who gave the example, down to
the Durvishes of our days, who, with frantic
howls and vehement whirling motions, by ludicrous
and unseemly exhibition, destroy the whole gravity
of inward intention. Mohsan Fani adduces some
instances of dancing, and quotes throughout his
work verses of mystical poetry upon Divine love, in
glowing expressions belonging to profane passion.
It is known how equivocal in their meaning they
appear in the works of Jelal eddin Rumi, Sadi, Hafiz,
and others.2

3. It was not always vehement enthusiasm which
was nourished in the contemplation of one Supreme
Being ; mysticism, in Sufis of a milder character,
became quietism : he to whom all things are one, who
draweth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may

» Milton's Paradise Lost, V., v. 620-624.

2 The two first give their name to the mystic and moral age; from
1203 to 1300; the third to that of the highest splendor of Persian lyrical
poetry and rhetoric, from 1300 to 1397 of our era.— (See Schone Redekiinste
Persiens Von Joseph Von Hammer, Wien, 1818.)

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

enjoy peace and rest of spirit. I have quoted the words
'of an English bishop, Jeremy Taylor, and might
borrow similar passages from a more ancient Chris-
tian bishop, Synesius, ' for expressing a sort of
purely spiritual pantheism. But there is another,
which seems not to exclude materialism : the great
cause from which the infinite series of all material
and spiritual existences originates, is enveloped, as
it were, with the vest of the universe ; never known
as to its essence, but always felt in its manifesta-
tions ; it is

" All in all, and all in every part."2

In short, God is all, and all is God. This ap-
peared not more incomprehensible, but less com-
plicated than any other system to the pantheistical
Sufis.

4. After excessive efforts to transcend the limits
of his nature, the philosophic inquirer re-enters
into himself, and coerces his futile attempts by the
precept : " Know thyself." Having, as it were,
recovered himself, and feeling that every thing pro-
ceeds from the depth of his mind, he sees himself
in every thing ; heaven and earth are his own ; " he
" demands from himself whatever he wishes:" for
he is every thing ; he finds the God whom he sought

1 -He was born in Gyrene, in Africa, towards the end of our fourth
century, and died, about 430, bishop of Ptolemais.

2 Cowley.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

in himself, in his own heart, and says, " Who
" knows himself, knows God." This is religious
psychology, the creed of the egotist class of Sufis.

It is a fact which appears incredible, but is too
well attested for the admission of a doubt, that Sufis
believed themselves to be gods, and adhered to their
belief, amid torments, until death.1 This psycho-
logical fact may be explained by considering that,
according to Siifism, God is nothing else but an
idea of the highest perfection ; he, says our author,
from whose sight both worlds vanished, who in the steps
of right faith arrived at the rank of perfect purity, from
truth to truth, became God; that is, be became one
with his own idea of perfection, which cannot be
disputed to him; his divinity is an illusion, but no-
thing else to him is the world; it is all and nothing,
dependent upon his own creation and annihilation.

V. Transacting as it were directly with the Divine
Being, the Siifis throw off the shackles of the posi-
tive religion ; pious rebels, they neither fast nor
make pilgrimages to the temple of Mecca, nay, they
forget their prayers; for with God there is no other
but the soundless language of the heart. From
excess of religion they have no religion at all. Thus
is confirmed the trite saying that " extremes meet."
*' The perfection of a mans state," says Jami, " and the
*' utmost degree to which saints may attain, is to be with-

» See vol. III. p. 291 n. \.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

*' out an attribute, and without a mark." The most
fervent zeal sinks into the coldest indifference about
religion. The author of the Dabislan declares po-
sitively,1 that " whoever says that the Muselmans
'* are above the Christians, does not know the true
" Being." But the whole creed of an emancipated
(this is the name I give to one belonging to the fifth
order of Siitis) uniting in himself the egotist, panthe-
istic, and mystical Sufi will be found in the follow-
ing verses of Jelal-eddin Riimi, before mentioned:

2 ' ' 0 Moslims 1 what is to be done ? I do not know myself;
' ' I am neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Gueber, nor Moslim ; I
" am not from the East nor from the West ; nor from land nor
" sea ; neither from the region of nature nor from that of hea-
" ven; not from Hind nor China; not from Bulgaria nor
" Irak, nor from the towns of Khorassan. I am neither
" water nor dust, wind nor fire; not from the highest nor
" deepest, neither self-existent nor created; I am not from
" the two worlds, no son of Adam, not from hell nor from
" heaven, nor paradise. He is the first, the last, the interior,
" the exterior; I know but him, Yahu! Yahu! Menhu ! I
*' looked up, and saw both worlds to be one; I see but one —
" I seek but one — I know but one. My station is without
" space, my mark without impression; it is not soul nor
" body; I am the soul of souls. If I had passed one single
" day without thee, I would repent to have lived one single
" hour. When one day the friend stretches out his hand

1 See vol. III. pp. 123 n. 4 ; 293 n.

2 I follow the German translation of Baron von Hammer, loco cit.,
p. 189.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

"to me in solitude, I tread the worlds under my feet, and
" open my hands. 0 Shams Tabrizi,1 I am so intoxicated
" here that, except intoxication, no other remedy remains
" to me.

We know, by the preceding, what the Sufi is not ;
we shall now learn what he is.

" O Moslims ! I am intoxicated by love in the world. I
" am a believer — an unbeliever — a drunken monk ; I am the
" Shaikhs Bayazid, Shubli, Juneid, Abu Hanifa, Shafei,
4< Hanbeli ; I the throne and tent of heaven, from the dust
" up to the Pleyads ; I am whatever thou seest in separation
" and enjoyment; I am the distance of two bows-length3
" around the throne ; I am the Gospel, the Psalter, the
" Koran; I am Usa and Lat,k the cross, the Ba I and Dagon,'3
" the Kabah, and the place of sacrifice. The world is divided
" into seventy- and-two sects, but there is but one God; the
" believer in him am I; I am the lie, the truth, the good, the
" evil, the hard and the soft, science, solitude, virtue, faith,
" the deepest pit of hell, the greatest torment of flames, the
" highest paradise, Huri, Risvan,6 am I. What is the intent

1 Shams-eddin Tabrisi, whom Jelal-eddin names at the end of nearly
all his lyric poems, is said to have been the son of Khuand Ala-eddin,
chief of the Assassins ( Ismailahs ). He gained a great celebrity as a Sufi
and a saint. From Tabriz, from which town he took his surname, he came
to Konia ; there Jelal-eddin chose him for his spiritual guide, and remained
attached to him all his life, which terminated A. D. 1262. Shams-eddin
survived him. The tombs of the master and disciple, near each other in
Konia, are even in our days objects of veneration to pious Muselmans.

2 Ibid., p. 191,

3 The distance to which Muhammed approached God in heaven.

4 Two Arabian idols, the Dusares and Allitta of Herodotus.

5 Syrian deities.

6 The guardian of paradise.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

" of this speech? Say it, 0 Shams Tabrizi ! The intended
" meaning is: I am the soul of the world."

After having sounded human nature in its depth,
and viewed it in its various forms, the Muhamme-
dan philosophers conceived a high idea of man in
general, and call him insan kamil," the perfect man."
He is the reunion of all the worlds, divine and natu-
raf, universal and partial ; he the book, the pure,
sublime, and venerable pages of which are not to be
touched, nor can be comprehended, but by those
who have thrown off the dark veils of ignorance.
His soul is to his body what the universal soul is to
the great world, which bears the name of " the
great man."

Sir William Jones refers,1 for a particular detail
of Siiti metaphysics and theology, to the Dabistan.
These are given with a particular phraseology, for
which it is not easy to find corresponding expres-
sions in any European language ; and which I have
endeavored, to the best of my power, to explain in
my notes. A particular signification is attached
even to the most common terms, such as state,
station, time, duration, existence* non-existence,
possibility, presence, absence, testimony, sanctity,
annihilation, etc., etc. Besides, we find particular
divisions and classifications: different attributions

1 In his Treatise on the mystical poetry of the Persians and Hindus :
vol. IV. of his Works, p. 232.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE

and names of the Deity, the unity of which is to be
preserved in all; the division of spirits, prophetism,
true and false miracles, revelation, inspiration; four
sorts of mankind, as many of life and death ; seven
degrees of contemplative life, in each of which de-
grees the Siifi sees a different color ; four lights of
God ; four sorts of manifestations, the sign of which
is annihilation, called *' the science," or " positive
*' knowledge." Further we meet with a metem-
psychosis for the imperfect soul, and an appearance
for the perfect ; even with a geography of the invi-
sible, the land of shades in the towns of Jabilkha,
Jabilsa, and Barzah, etc., etc. ; and, in addition,
manifo 1 pinions of Asiatic philosophy.

Here should be pointed out how Muhammedan or
other Sufis may be confounded with the Hindu Yogis
or Sanyasis, although in reality distinguishable from
each other. The Yajur veda, and other sacred books
of the latter inculcate the precept that a man ought
to acquire perfect indifference concerning the whole
exterior world, and in all places to lay aside the
notion of diversity. This is what a Yogi or Sanyasi
endeavors to attain: he quits every thing, house,
wife, children, even his caste; the world has no
more right upon him than he upon the world. In
this he agrees with the Sufi ; but the latter gene-
rally aspires to the divine gift of inspiration, pro-
phetism, mystical enthusiasm, whilst the common

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

state of a Yogi is that of complete impassiveness or
torpor.

It is only towards the end of the Dabistan that
Mohsan Fani mentions particularly the Sabeans,
whose religion was, from the very beginning of the
work, treated of under different names of the an-
cient Persian religions, such as Yezdanians, Jamsas-
pians, etc., etc.

§ XV. — RECAPITULATION OF THE CONTENTS OF THE
DABISTAN.

Thus I have indicated the principal contents of the
Dabistan. Considering the philosophic opinions
touched upon, we may remark that truth, although
in different times and places variously colored, veiled,
sometimes mutilated, often running into falsehood,
is nevertheless widely diffused, inasmuch as it re-
appears in the concurring declarations of the great-
est thinkers of all times. Thus, among the notions
of the Asiatics, we find implied the sense of the
a/TeAe/eia (entekchia) of Aristotle, this untranslatable
word, * which however can but signify " some con-

1 Hermelaus Barbaro relates that, finding the interpretation of that
word so difflcult, he one night invoked the devil for assistance. The old
scoffer did not fail to appear, but told him a word still more unintel-
ligible than the Greek. Hermolaus at last brought forth the strange term
perfectihabia, which, I think, nobody adopted.

C1XX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

" tinued and perennial motion,1 activity, moving
" force, perfection, principle of things " 2 — we find
time and space, the necessary substrata of all our
notions, as taught by the Kantians — the want of
substantial reality in the objects of senses, main-
tained by the sceptics in general — the prototypes
and ideas of the Pythagoreans and Platonists — the
necessary connections of all things of the Stoics—
the atomic doctrine of Moschus, Leucippus, Demo-
critus, Empedocles, etc. — the universality of sensa-
tion and life of the Hermetites — the preformation
and pre-existence of the soul, alleged by Synesius,
Leibnitz, and others— the successive transformation,
transmigration, gradual perfection of beings ; the pe-
riodical renovation of the world professed by many
Greek schools — the palingenesis of Bonnet — the one
and the all of Parmenides, Plotinus, Synesius, Spi-
noza, not to omit the refined Egoismus of Fichte,
etc., etc. I shall not proceed further in the enu-
meration of opinions ascribed in the Dabistan to
different sects, and reproduced in the doctrine of

1 Cicero circumscribes the word: Quasi quandam continuatam motio-
nem et perennem ( Tusc. Qwest., 1. 10). Budaeus translates it efficacia.
— (On this subject see Thesaurus Grcecce lingua ab Henr. Stephana con-
struclus, new edit., Paris, 1838.)

2 Leibnitz (Op. t. II. p. II. p. 53; t. III. p. 321), after having said,
that to the material mass must be added some superior principle, which
may be called formal, concludes: " This principle of things, whether
" we call it entelechia, or ' force,' is of no matter, provided we recol-
" lect that it can only be explained by the notion of force."

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

celebrated ancient and modern philosophers of Eu-
rope. Who will realize that criterion of true phi-
losophy indicated by the great Leibnitz, namely,
that which would at once collect and explain the
fragments of truth scattered through all, and appa-
rently the most incongruous, systems?

This is perhaps the prize to be gained, not by one
mortal, but by a series of generations, in a laborious
task, so often interrupted and recommenced, but
never abandoned. The struggle of the human mind
is without term, but not without aim. We see
two principal movers of human intellect— PHILOSO-
PHY and RELIGION. The one employs reason as a
sufficient power for the solution of a solvable pro-
blem, which comprehends knowledge, morality,
and civilisation. The other distrusts reason, and
relies upon a supernatural power for the revelation
of a secret, or for the word of an enigma, which
relates to a destination beyond the bounds of this
world. The philosopher, self-confident, is liable
to error for various reasons ; but always capable of
correction and improvement, in the only possible
way, that of self-activity, the virtuous exertions of
his faculties towards attainable perfection in his
whole condition. The religionist is exposed to
deception by his gratuitous faith in superhuman
guidance, and, if mistaken, is precluded from re-
gress and improvement by his essential virtue, fide-

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE!

lity ; that is, the pious surrender of his soul to a
spiritual and mystical sovereignty. The Dabistan
shows us more religionists than philosophers ; it is
the school of sects, or rather that of inveterate
superstition, with which, in spite of the correctives
which human nature affords to its errors, the gene-
ral character of the Asiatics remains stamped, from
time immemorial to the present day.

Although the twelve chapters of the Dabistan
bear the titles of as many religions, the author says
himself, at the end of his work, that there are only
five great religions— those of the Hindus, Persians,
Jews, Nazareans, and Muselmans. He no where
mentions the Egyptians nor the Chinese, apparently
because, in his times and long before, no trace of the
Egyptian religion existed, although it certainly had
once occupied a great circle of influence, and be-
cause the Chinese creed was known to be Bud-
dhism.

The five religions mentioned constitute indeed so
many bases, upon which the whole creed of mankind
has been, and remains founded. They comprise, in
general, polytheism and monotheism. In all times and
places, the religion of the " Enlightened" was distin-
guished from that of the " Vulgar;" the first as
interior, being the product of universal reason, was
every where nearly uniform ; the second, as exte-
rior, being composed of particular and arbitrary

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

rites and ceremonies, varied according to the influ-
ence of the climate, and the character, history, and
civilisation of a people. But, in the course of time,
no religion remained entirely the same, either in
principle or form. Polytheism, by mere simplifi-
cation, tended to monotheism ; this itself, in its
awful incomprehensibility, was modified according
as it originated, or assumed its notions, from anthro-
pomorphism, hylozoism, spiritualism, or pantheism,
Nor did any religion remain simple and pure, as
proceeding from only one principle ; all religious
ideas, elemental, sidereal, allegorical, symbolical,
mystical, philosophical, and others were mixed, as
well as all sorts of worship interwoven. It is now
impossible to range in chronological order their rise
and transition into different forms. Still the one
or the other of these kinds predominated: thus
physiolatry, or " the adoration of personified nature,"
in India; astrolatry, or " the worship of stars," in
Arabia and Iran ; none of the religions entirely dis-
claimed monotheism, which was positively and exclu-
sively professed in Judaism, Christianity, and
Muhammedanism .

Magism and the three last-named religions were
founded or modified by holy personages, or pro-
phets, that is, by individuals whose historical exist-
ence in more or less remote times is positively
fixed ; Hinduism alone acknowledges Mww as an ideal

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

or mythological person, whose laws are however
derived from Brahma himself. This may perhaps
be assumed as a proof of its remotest antiquity ; and
India, having been less disturbed by invasions, and
conquered in much later times by foreign nations,
preserved its institutes complete in their originality.
There is scarcely a tenet to be found in any other
creed which does not, at least in its germ, exist in
the Hindu religion.

It is most remarkable that, although men revered
as divine messengers of religion have existed, still
the works containing the heaven-sent doctrine are,
either not at all or not incontestably, ascribed to
them ; and in any case devolved upon posterity in a
more or less corrupted and mutilated state ; so as to
entail for ever an inexhaustible subject of dispute, a
heavy task for belief, and severe trial of faith. If
the Vedas are the best preserved, it is to no ge-
neral purpose, inasmuch as they are the least
known and most obscure. These facts the author
pf the Dabistan has set in full light, and says,1 as
it were to tranquillise mankind with regard to the
multifarious inheritance of their prophets: " The
" varieties and multitudes of the rules of prophets
' ' proceed only from the plurality of names ; and as
'* in names there is no mutual opposition or contra-
<k diction, the superiority in rank among them is

» Vol. III. p. 276.

SYNOPSIS OF THE DABISTAN.

' ' only the predominance of a name. To this I sub-
join another passage, although it occurs in connec-
tion with another subject : ! " The time of a prophet
'* is a universal one, having neither priority nor
"posteriority — neither morning nor evening:"
that is, if I understand these words : As the same
sun ever shines upon us, so shines the same wisdom
of all times, incorruptible in its divine source.

If we take a rapid comparative view of the princi-
pal features of the five religions mentioned, we find
emanation of all beings, intellectual and material, from
one great source, to be the fundamental and charac-
teristic dogma of Hinduism, established and deve-
loped in the most explicit and positive manner.
The division of supernatural beings in good and bad is
adopted in the five religions, but in Magism it is of
a somewhat different origin : for Ahriman and his
host are not rebellious or fallen good genii ; they
are an original creation. A primitive innocence and
posterior corruption is generally believed ; but by the
Hindus as coming from riches and abundance, by
the other nations as caused by seduction of the bad
spirits. The destruction of mankind by a deluge is no
part of the Persian creed ; it occurs in 'the Indian
as one of the past periodical renovations of the
world, which are to be followed by others, and is
also admitted by the Persians, whilst the Jews,

1 Ibid., p. 289.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Christians, and Muhammedans believe a deluge not
very ancient, as a punishment of human depravity.
Incarnations of the Deity for the benefit of mankind, are
believed only by Hindus and Christians; to the
latter belongs exclusively the dogma of a propitiatory
sacrifice. Human souls, immaterial, have pre-existence
according to the Vedas and the Zand-A vesta ; in the
first, as parts of the Divinity ; in the latter, as created
in their fervers, or " pre-established ideals" at the
beginning of the world. Transmigration is taught
in the sacred books of the Hindus and Persians.
The immortality of the soul, reserved to future beatitude
or damnation, is maintained generally, less positively,
by the ancient Jews ; the righteous are cheered by
the prospect of the same heaven, the wicked threat-
ened by the same punishments, which are held to
be eternal by Christians and Muhammedans; the
Hindus and Persians place the future life in a long
series of purifications or purgatories, leading, how-
soever late, finally to heaven, to which, according
to the first, the most perfect only are admitted im-
mediately after their terrestrial life, and are not to
be born again, except by their own choice. The
resurrection with the same body, and the last judgment,
are among the most essential tenets of the Magi,
Christians, and Muhammedans ; the other world is
vaguely represented among the ancient Hebrews.
It is just to attribute to the Persians exclusively one

STNOPSIS OF THE DAB1STA.N.

of the most beautiful personifications that was ever
imagined : ' the soul of the deceased meets at the
bridge of eternity an apparition either of an attrac-
tive or repulsive form ; " Who art thou? " asks the
uncertain spirit, and hears the answer: "lam thy
life."

Although the variety and multitude of human
conceptions may appear boundless, yet they may
perhaps be reduced to a few fundamental principles.
In general, there is one object common to all sorts
of religion : this is to detach man from gross sensual
matters, and to accustom him to hold converse
with holy supernatural beings, guides to salvation,
omnipresent witnesses of all his actions, remunera-
tors of good, punishers of bad deeds; the belief in
such beings, one or more, is in fact the most
essential support of morality, which, being fixed in
each individual, insures the peace and happiness of
all. In short, the most important object of all
religion is to ennoble, refine, and sanctify man's
inmost thoughts and feelings, as well as his exterior
actions. No wonder, that the same virtues are
recommended by all religions.

But, if these virtues be the same as to names,
there is a great difference as to their practical appli-
cation. Thus, the Hindus, tending excessively to
the extinction of sensual propensities, and a con-

» Vol. I. p. 286.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

templative life, destroy spontaneity, and produce
apathy. The Persians recommend more practical
virtues. Both nations, however, as well as the
Jews and Muhammedans, are subject to a great
number of dietetical and ritual observances, which
divert them from useful activity, confine their prac-
tical sense, and render inert the innate perfectibility,
the most precious prerogative of mankind. Among
all the Asiatic nations, considered in this work,
theocracy, that is, the junction of the religious and
civil laws, doubles the power of despotism, and
commands equally the spiritual and material, the
present and the future world. The Western Chris-
tians were in the course of time fortunate enough
to modify the Asiatic morals, to enlarge the circle of
civilization, and to open to themselves a boundless
prospect of progressive knowledge, morality, and
happiness.

Finally, there is one idea common as an adjunct to
the five religions of mankind. Common are their
failings, common their sufferings, common is also
their consolation — hope. Always regretting a purity,
simplicity , and independence, supposed to have been
lost in the past, because not to be found any where
in the present, and never exempt from oppression,
men look to the future, and listen gladly to the
promise of universal reform and restoration to one
rule, which each religionist says, will be his own,

CONCLUSION.

to be effected among the Hindus by Kalki, an incar-
nation of Brahma ', among the other nations by the
reappearance of their respective prophet, Messiah,
Mahdi.

" And then shall come,
" When the world's dissolution shall be ripe,
" With glory and pow'r to judge both quick and dead,
" To judge th' unfaithful dead, but to reward
" His faithful, and receive them into bliss,
" Whether in Heav'n or Earth, for then the Earth
" Shall all be Paradise." 2

PART III.

CONCLUSION.

§ GENERAL APPRECIATION OF THE DARISTAN AND ITS
AUTHOR.

Mohsan Fani collected in the Dabistan, as J hope
to have shown by a rapid review of its principal con-
tents, various important information concerning
religions of different times and countries. His
accounts are generally clear, explicit, and deserving

1 Vol. II. p. 24, anAtVishnu-purana, transl. of Wilson, p. 484.

2 Milton's Paradise Lost, XII. v. 458-464.

C'lxXX PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE :

confidence ; they agree in the most material points
with those of other accredited authors. Thus, to
quote one more instance, the accuracy of his topo-
graphic information relative to the marvellous foun-
tain in Kachmir is in the main confirmed by that
published by Bernier who had visited the country.
Our author enlivens his text by interesting quota-
tions from the works of famous poets and philo-
sophers, and by frequent references to books which
deserve to be known. I beg to mention the Tab-
saret aldvam," Rendering quick-sighted the Vulgar,"
which he regrets not to have before his eyes. His
whole work is interspersed with anecdotes and
sayings, characteristic of individuals and sects
which existed in his times. To what he relates from
personal observation or other sources, he frequently
adds reflections of his own, which evince a saga-
cious and enlightened mind. Thus, he exhibits in
himself an interesting example of Asiatic erudition
and philosophy.

The Dabistan adds, if I am not mistaken, not
only a lew ideas to our historical knowledge, but
also some features to the picture which we hitherto
possessed of the Asiatics. May I be permitted to
quote a remarkable instance relative to the latter ?
We are wont to speak of the inherent apathy and
stationary condition of the Muhammedans, as an
effect of their legislation. Although this general idea

CONCLUSION.

of their character and state be not unfounded, yet it
is carried to such an exaggerated degree, that we
think them incapable of progress. We may there-
fore be astonished to find in the work before us ' a
maxim such as this: " He who does not proceed,
* ' retrogrades, '' and beside a declaration attributed to
Muhammed himself: " He whose days are alike is
" deceived." Our author, it is true, interprets it in
the particular point of view of an orthodox Sufi,
who thinks that there is a degree of mental perfec-
tion, beyond which it is impossible to rise: this
was, he says, the state of Muhammed, the prophet,
always the same, from which no ascent nor descent
was possible, the perfection of unity with God,
higher than whom nothing can be : the blackness beyond
which no color can go. With the exception of these
fits of mysticism, now and then occurring, it is just
to say that Mohsan Fani most commonly leans to
the side of progressive reform.

For the just appreciation of his work, I think it
necessary to point out another opinion, which, very
generally entertained, requires to be considerably
modified : I mean that which attributes to the Mu-
hammedansan unrestrained intolerance in religious
matters. On. that account, 1 beg to refer directly
to the book, which to them always was the sacred
source of all rules and precepts of conduct— the

1 Vol. III. p. 287.

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Koran. In this astonishing farrago of truth and
falsehood, we find here and there a great extent of
toleration. In fact, Muhammedism was eclectic in
all the religious ideas of its time, Magian, Jewish, and
Christian. Muhammed avowed himself to be "a
" man like every body;" * he did not pretend, that
" the treasures of God were in his power," nor did
he say (t that he knew the secrets of God, neither
'• that he was an angel; no; he thought only to
" follow what was revealed to him," 2 so much
every body else may say and think, He pro-
fessed his good- will to Christians, " as inclinable
" to entertain friendship for the true beleivers ; 3 he
" exhorted his followers not to dispute, but in the
" mildest manner,4 against those who have received
** the Scripture, and wished to come to a just de-
'* termination between both parties, that they all
" worshipped not any but God." ' — "Abraham,"
said he, " was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but
" one resigned unto God (Moslim); excellence is in
" the hand of God; he gives it unto whom he
" pleaseth." 6 — Still more; the prophet seems to
give a general license to the professors of every

1 The Koran, ch. XVIII. v. 100.

2 Ibid., ch. VI. v. 49.

a Ibid., ch. V. vv. 86. 88.
* Ibid., ch. XXIX. v. 45.

5 Ibid., ch. III. v. 37.

6 Ibid., vv. 61. 66. 67.

CONCLUSION. clxxxiii

religion to observe certain rites about which he
prohibits all disputes; ! nay, he declares:" If the
" Lord had pleased, verily, all who are in the earth
" would have believed in general. Wilt thou there-
" fore forcibly compel men to be true believers? No
" soul can believe but by the permission of God."2

Although the Arabian prophet and his followers
too often gave by their conduct a strong denial to
these principles, still the existence of them in the
Koran was a sanction to all those who were disposed
to profess them in words and actions. Such senti-
ments of religious toleration are in accordance with
similar ones expressed in many Christian moral
treatises, but in none of the latter do I remember
to have read: " that the diversities of religions dis-
" tributed among nations, according to the exigency
" of each, are manifestations of the divine light
*' and power, and that these various forms, by which
" God's inscrutable essence may. be viewed by
** glimpses, are means of possessing eternal beati-
" tude, whilst here below the acquisition of know-
u ledge is sufficient to insure to mankind the
*' enjoyment of concord, friendship, and agreeable
" intercourse."3

These appear to be the maxims adopted by the

1 Ibid,, ch. XX. v. 66.

2 Ibid., ch. X. vv. 99. 100.

3 See Epilogue.

CXXxllV PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

Sufis, and particularly by those among them who,
under Akbar, professed to be Ilahians. The creed
of this class exists in our days, although the name
has not survived. To these we may suppose, if to
any, Mohsan Fani belonged. If we could agree
with Erskine that " he was in strict intimacy with
" the sect of enthusiasts by whom the Desatir was
*' venerated," we should still be obliged to avow,
that his enthusiasm had not in the least influenced
his free judgment upon religious matters. His ima-
gination although justly exalted by sublime notions
of the Divinity, certainly appears now and then be-
wildered by the mysterious action of unknown causes;
but on other occasions pointing out, in a satirical
vein, so many follies, absurdities, and extravagances
prevailing among mankind, he seems to laugh at all
enthusiasm whatsoever,, his own not excepted. In
general, there breathes in his words a spirit'of in-
dependence, which would command attention even
among us in the accustomed circle of long-established
liberty. His boldness in religious controversy star-
tled even sir W. Jones so much that, in characte-
rising it by the harsh term of blasphemy, the English
judge appears for a moment ready to plead for the
abettors of popular superstition, who stood con-
founded before the tribunal of the philosophic
Akbar.

I shall however not conceal, that Mohsan Fani

CONCLUSION. clxXXV

sometimes paid tribute to the prevailing ignorance
and inveterate prejudices of his time, and above all,
to the sovereign power of early impressions ; nor
that, although in many respects he offers in himself
an honorable exception to the general character of
his countrymen, he now and then confounds him-
self with them. Thus, he was far from being above
all popular superstition. The Asiatic, from the
dawn of his reason, is nourished with the marvel-
lous, trained to credulity, and prepared for mysti-
cism, the bane of practical life; in short, he imbibes
from his infancy a superstition from which he never
frees himself, always prone to interpret every un-
usual phenomenon as a miracle. No sort of study
enables him to correct his first impressions, or to
enlighten his ignorance; natural history and expe-
rimental philosophy are not cultivated in Asia. If
not an agriculturist, mechanic, tradesman, or sol-
dier, he devotes himself to the intricacies of meta-
physics, and very commonly to a contemplative life;
he becomes an ascetic. Thus he knows no social life
embellished by the refinement of mutual sympathy,
nor the noble vocations of a citizen who lives — with
more than one life in himself, in others, and in the
whole community. Such being the general state of
Asia, let us not wonder that Mohsan Fani believed
some strange stories of miracles, and viewed with
astonishment tricks of jugglers, which he relates

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

with serious credulity, strangely contrasting with
his usual good sense, sagacity, and judgment. Thus,
he presents to us a man standing on his head wilh
his heels in the air during a whole night ; others
restraining their breath many hours, and remaining
immoveable during two or three days ; he speaks of
the miraculous effects of austerity, such as being in
different places at the same time ; resuscitating the
dead; understanding the language of animals, vege-
tables, and minerals; walking on the surface of
water, and through fire and air; commanding the
elements ; leaving and reassuming the body ; and
the like. But let us not forget that such stories were
told elsewhere, and in Europe, even so late as the
time in which the Dabistan was written.

Further, although generally moral and judicious
in his sentences, grave and austere in his views, fer-
vent and exalted in devout contemplation, our author
now and then happens to use the language of ribal-
dry and indecency, which deserves serious repro-
bation. We shall however remark that taste, or
the sense of propriety in words and expressions
among Asiatics differs, as much as their general
civilisation, from ours. From religious austerity
they banished the elegant arts, as objects of sensua-
lity; but, as they could not stifle this essential part
of human nature, they only prevented its useful
refinement; they dipt the delicate flower, but left

CONCLUSION. clxxxvii

the brute part of it : hence the grossness of their
jokes, expressions, and images. " To sacrifice to
" the graces" is, among them, not understood at
all, or thought an abomination. But they cannot
be said to violate laws which they do not know ; the
offence which they give from want of taste and de-
cency, is purely unintentional, and cannot with them
have that evil effect which, among us, it would be
likely to produce.

As to the general style of the Dabistan — it is only
in the original text itself, that it can be justly ap-
preciated. It will perhaps sufficiently appear from
our translation that it distinguishes itself favorably
among other Oriental works with which it may be
compared. The diction is generally free from their
usual bombast; it is commonly clear, and when
obscure to an European reader, it is so on account
of the strangeness and abstruseness of the matter
treated. As to form — if judged according to the
rules of Western criticism, the work of Mohsan Fani
may be found deficient in the distribution and
arrangement of matter; there are useless repetitions,
incoherences, disorder, abrupt digressions, and ex-
cess, sonetimes of prolixity, at others of concision.
Although we have reason to praise him for generally
naming the source from which he drew his infor-
mation, still we can but regret, now and then, his
not sufficiently authenticating nor explaining the

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

particulars which he relates. Thus we could
wish him to have been more explicit concerning
the Desatir. Upon the whole, we cannot accuse
him of not having performed what, in liis time and
circumstances, was hardly possible, and what hi-
therto no Asiatic author has achieved. We ought to
keep in mind how much, with respect to the perfec-
tion of literary publications, we owe solely to the
art of printing, the practice of which, by its own
nature, necessitates and facilitates a manifold revision
and correction of the text, which otherwise could
hardly take place. This alone sufficiently accounts
for the frequent defects even of the best manuscript
works.

Striking an equitable balance between faults and
excellencies, and with particular regard to the
abundance of curious, useful, and important infor-
mation, I shall not hesitate to express my sincere
persuasion, that the Dabistan was worthy of the
eulogy bestowed by the great Orientalist who first
brought it into public notice.

II. — NOTICE CONCERNING THE PRINTED EDITION, SOME
MANUSCRIPTS, AND THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE DA-
BISTAN.

It is well known, that the only printed edition of the

CONCLUSION.

Dabistan which exists is due to the press of Calcutta.
At the end of the work will be found the Epilogue of
the editor, Moulavi Nazer Ushruf, a learned Mu-
hammedan gentleman of the district of Juanpur,
who was for many years employed in judicial offices
in the district of Burdwan, and in the court of
Sudder Diwant Adawlet, in Calcutta. These parti-
culars were communicated to me by the favor of the
honorable gentleman whose name the said editor
mentions in his Epilogue with encomium, the since-
rity of which can certainly not be questioned: it was
William Butterworth Bayley, at present director
and chairman of the Honorable East India Company;
It was he, a distinguished Persian scholar, who di-
rected and superintended theedition of the Dabistan.
Upon the strength of his authority I am enabled to
add, that the printed copy was the result of a careful
collation of several manuscript copies of this work.
One was obtained from Delhi (as mentioned in the
epilogue), and another from Bombay; two or three
were in the possession of natives in Calcutta.
Although these, as it is more or less the case with
all manuscripts, procurable in India, were defective,
yet we may believe the assurance given by the
editor, that " the doubts and faults have been as
" much as possible discarded, and the edition
'* carried to a manifest accuracy." This is con-
firmed by the fact, that only a few discrepancies

CXC PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE:

from the printed edition were found in two other
manuscripts, which were in England at the disposi-
tion of the late David Shea for the translation of the
first part of the Dabistan. Nor did I find frequent
deviations from the printed text in the copy which
was transcribed for me in Calcutta from a manu-
script, procured from the library of the king of
Oude. Mutilated in many places, and imperfect as
is this latter, it afforded me nevertheless a few accep-
table readings. I was obliged to content myself
with the assistance of this only manuscript for the
translation, as several circumstances, among which
was the lamented death of the earl of Munster, pre-
vented me from obtaining the use of other manu-
script copies. All circumtances considered, I do not
hesitate to say, that the printed edition of the Dabis-
tan is more correct than any of the manuscript copies
which can be found; we have only to regret that
its typography, owing to the then imperfect state
of the Oriental press in Calcutta, is so irregular,
as to be scarce entitled to any preference over the
common sort of Persian manuscripts.

The English translation of the Dabistan was begun
some time before the year 1835, by David Shea, one
of the professors of Oriental languages at Hayley-
bury. He was in his early years distinguished in
the university of Dublin for his classical attainments,
and remained devoted to literature in all the various

CONCLUSION. CXC1

circumstances of his life. It was not for, nor in,
India— the great object and school of English stu-
dents— but in Malta, from peculiar inducement,
that, by uncommon application, he acquired the
Arabic and Persian languages. After his return to
England, having been attached to the Hayleybury
college— I should not fail to add to his eulogy by say-
ing, that he had before won the kind interest and
recommendation of sir Graves Haughton — and hav-
ingbecome a memberofthe committee of theOriental
Translation Fund, he earned the applause of Orien-
talists in England, and on the continent of Europe,
by his faithful and spirited translation of Mirkhond's
history of the early kings of Persia. Undertaking
the translation of the Dabistan, he was undoubt-
edly preparing to himself a new success, the full
realisation of which he was not permitted to enjoy;
the last date in his manuscript copy, in which he
was wont to mark the progress of his labor, was
April 22, 1835. From this day he appears to have
withdrawn his hand from the Dabistan, and too
soon after — I shall be permitted to use the very
words of the author whom he was translating : '

" He sought the stores of holy liberty,

" A resting place on high, and soar'd from hence

" Beyond the bounds of heaven, earth, and time."

It was in the beginning of the year 1837 that I

1 See vol. 1. p. 131.

CXC1I PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

was honored by the earl of Munster, the vice presi-
dent of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland, with the proposal of completing and
editing the English Dabistan. Having already seve-
ral years before been occupied with the same work
whilst pursuing my Indian studies, I was so much the
more prompted to accept the proffered honor. En-
gaged however as I then was in publishing my French
translation of the first six books of the Rajatarangini
from the Sanscrit, I could not begin the new work
before 1841 . This delay was the cause of my being
deprived of the desired honor and satisfaction of
presenting my translation to the earl of Munster, who
while in the full enjoyment of life, welcomed with
a benevolent interest every contribution, however
small, to the general diffusion of Oriental history and
literature ; he had accepted in Paris my Dedication
a short time before his death ; it remains to me to
consecrate, with a profound feeling of regret and
veneration for departed worth, the English Dabistan
to his memory.

1 took charge of the manuscript copy of David
Shea's version, which had been carried to page 201
of the printed Calcutta edition.1 In this there were
only a few omissions to be supplied, and no other
rectifications to be made but those which a second
review would have suggested to my learned pre-

1 In the English transl. to vol. II. p. 85.

CONCLUSION. CXClli

decessor himself; his notes, and those which I
thought necessary to add, are marked each with
the initials of our respective names.

If I found little to change, I had much to imitate
in David Shea's translation— his faithfulness and
clearness. By faithfulness I understand not only
expressing truly the sense, but also keeping unal-
tered the words, figures, images, and phrases of the
original, as it is in them that the author's national
and individual peculiarity is manifested. This sort
of faithfulness may roughen or hamper the phrase,
destroy the elegance of style, and even offend good
taste, but by it alone we shall not only know, as
I have just observed, the genius of the foreign
writer, but also satisfy the exigencies o-f philology,
which is one of the main purposes of translations
not undertaken as mere exercises of improvable
eloquence.

An author will not employ more or other words
than those he thinks necessary for being understood
by readers of his own nation, religion, school ; he
writes, for instance, as a Muhammedan for Mu-
hammedans,aSiifi for Sufis. But a translator must
do his best for uniting faithfulness with clearness,
the indispensable condition of any speech or writing ;
he must add what is required for illustrating the
original text, and thus submit to a charge, now and
then heavier than he can bear.

CX Civ PRELIMINARY' DISCOURSE :

Under ihe necessity of expounding the translation
by notes, I was not actuated by the ambition of being
new, but only by that of being as useful as my
means permitted, that is, by endeavoring to spare
the reader time and trouble to look for dates and bio-
graphical notices of the persons, the situation of the
places, and the explanation of the technical terms
which occur in the text. Orientalists know the
difficulty of rendering in a European language the
phraseology of the Asiatic theology and philosophy.
The Dabistan presents, besides the Sanscrit, a con-
fusion of Arabic and Persian technical expressions;
some of them have a very comprehensive significa-
tion, and for the sake of clearness must be rendered
by different terms in different places ; other expres-
sions have at times a particular sense, and are at
other times to be taken in the common acceptation ;
the same terms must be translated by different
words, and different terms by the same; finally, the
matter treated of is frequently so abstruse in its
nature that professed philosophers have not yet been
able to agree upon some of the most important
questions. I can therefore but apprehend that I may
not have thoroughly understood, and must confess
that I have not translated, to my own satisfaction,
more than one passage relative to Indian doctrines,
and to the Muhammedan scholastic philosophy.

The Sanscrit names and terms of Indian mytho-

CONCLUSION. CXCV

logy, theology, and philosophy are much corrupted
by the Persian spelling ; I have endeavored to restore
them to their original forms. 1 thought it right to
adduce in most cases the Sanscrit, Arabic, or Per-
sian word at the same time in Roman as well as
Devanagari, or Arabic characters , with its interpre-
tation . 1 followed the rule proposed by sir William
Jones for writing oriental words in Roman charac-
ters, as often as I took these words from a Sanscrit,
Persian, or Arabic text ; but from works written in
a European language, I was generally obliged to copy
the spelling of Oriental names : on which account,
in my notes, a regretable inequality of orthography
could not be avoided.

The Dabistan not only touches upon most dif-
ficult points of science and erudition, but also com-
prises in its allusions and references nearly the
whole history of Asia. In observing this, I am neces-
sarily at the same time pointing to the many defi-
ciencies which will be found in my attempts to
comment and illustrate so comprehensive and diver-
sified a text. The best advantage which a man
obtains at the termination of an arduous work, is to
have enabled himself to make it better, if he could
begin again ; but he can but humbly submit to the
decrees of an all-ruling power, which bestows
upon each mortal only a certain measure of faculties
and of time.

CXCV1 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE I

Desirous to fulfil my task to the best of my abi-
lities, I did not neglect to consult every transla-
tion of any part of the Dabistan which had been
published. I have already mentioned, in this
preface, ' that Gladwin edited the Persian text
of a part of the first chapter with an English
version which was worthy of his reputation as
an excellent Orientalist. Every thing that came
from the pen of the late doctor Leyden deserved
attention. I had before my eyes his translation of
chapter IX., on the religion of the Roshenian."2 I did
not neglect the abridged interpretation of the reli-
gious controversies held before Akbar, given in form
of a dialogue by the learned and ingenious Vans
Kennedy.3 I perused with due regard the expla-
nations which the illustrious Silveslre de Sacy fur-
nished of some passages of the Dabistan4 since this
work became known to him in 1821, as well as
the remarks cursorily made upon it by some
Orientalists.

I did not fail also to profit by the advantages
which my residence in Paris, and my connections

« P. vi.

2 See As. Res., vol. XI. pp. 406-420; Calcutta quarto edit.; and
vol. III. pp. 26-42 of this work.

3 See Transact, of the Bombay Lit. Soc., vol. If. pp. 242-270, and
vol. III. of this work, p 50 et seq.

4 See Journal des Savans, fdvrier 1821, Review of the Desatir; and
December, 1821 , and January, 1822, Review of Thulok's work upon Sulism.

CONCLUSION. CXCV11

with distinguished cultivators of Oriental literature,
could afford me on behalf of my translation. It is
my duty to acknowledge the services which I received
from the kindness of M. Garcin de Tassy, pro-
fessor of Hindostanee, whose intimate acquaintance
with Arabic and Persian literature in general, and
withMuhammedan theology in particular, is attested
by several esteemed works which he has published.
The many Arabic passages, disseminated in the
Dabistan, have mostly been revised, interpreted,
and referred to the Koran, by him. M. Eugene Bur-
nouf, professor of Sanscrit, is never in vain consulted
concerning that part of ancient philology in which
he has acquired a most particular and eminent
distinction. I also constantly experienced the
most friendly readiness to tender me information,
when required, in M. Julius Mohl and baron Mac
Guckin de Slane, as well as in M. Reinaud, pro-
fessor of Arabic, attached *to the Royal Library, a
most distinguished conservator and most complai-
sant communicator of the valuable manuscripts
under his special charge. I beg these honorable gen-
tlemen to receive my sincerest acknowledgments.

THE DABISTAN,

SCHOOL OF MANNERS.

THE DABISTAN,

OR,

1 In the name of the bountiful and merciful God.

Verse. 2

" O Thou, whose name is the beginning of the book of the chil-

" dren of the school,
" Thy remembrance is to the adult amongst the Sages the torch

" of their nightly retirement;

" Without thy name the tongue fails the palate of the barbarians,
" Although they know the language of Arabia; 3

1 The words in italic are not in the Persian texti.

2 The five distichs are in the metre called -r'j*', " hazaj," composed of

the following feet: ,.JU*2. tJr^ (J-vfrvsL* JLxsL*. See M, Caret n
de Tassy, author of the " Mdmoire sur le syst&me mttrique des Arabes,
adaptti a la langue Hindoustani." 1832.

3 This distich contains the same idea as the following of Nizami :

i ^ • s

It is better not to speak than to speak of another but thee ; it is better

1

2

" Having the heart in the body full of thy remembrance, the no-
" vice, as well as the adept, in contemplation

" Becomes a supreme king of beatitude, and the throne of the
" kingdom of gladness.

" Whatever road I took, it joined the street which leads to Thee;

" The desire to know thy being is also the life of the meditators;

" He who found that there is nothing but Thee, has found the
" final knowledge;

" The mobed is the teacher of thy truth, and the world a school."

Blessing without limit to the mighty Being, the
Lord of existence, the rider upon the sun of the
celestial sphere which is the eye-witness of his glory;
to Him whose servant is Saturn, Baharam (Mars) the
messenger, Jupiter the star, the herald of good for-
tune, Venus the slave ; to Him who is the ornament
of the throne of the empire of the faith, and the
crown of divinity of the kingdom of truth."

Masnavi. '

" The being to whom the holy God said:

" If not thee, I would not have created the worlds; '2

" to leave in oblivion what does not remind of thee." Quoted in the
" Rudimens de la langue Hindoustani,'' by the author just mentioned
(p. 16 and 25).

1 The two distichs are in a metre, which is a variety of the hazaj, before
mentioned, and is composed as follows: ,.^j*9 ^ic-lsL» J_«xL..

2 This verse expresses the same idea as the following hemistich of the
Arabic poem, called Borda, and composed by Sharf-eddin-al Busfri:

Without him the world would never have come forth from nothing-

" That primitive wisdom and that soul of the world ;
" That man of spirit, and that spirit of man.
'' Blessing be also to the Khalifs of the faithful, and to the Lords
of the Imans of the faith." 3

Rabaai (quatrain).

" The world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,

" The binder of which book is destiny, and the binding the be-

" ginning and the end ;
" The suture of it is the law, and the leaves are the religious per-

" suasions;
" The whole nation is formed of its disciples, and the apostle is

" the teacher."

In this book, called "The Dabistan," is contained
something of the knowledge and faith of past nations,
of the speeches and actions of modern people, as it
has been reported by those who know what is mani-
fest, and see what is concealed ; as well as by those
who are attached to exterior forms, and by those

•/

who discern the inward meaning, without omission,

" ness." This is one of the celebrated traditions respecting Muharamed,
contained in the following words :

j^n oJiL. u J^j

" If it had not been for thee (Muhammed), the worlds would never havo
" been created." This encomiastic eipression has been reproduced in
several other poems, Arabic, Persian, and Hindostani. See upon this
subject, "Les avenlures del(amrup,"p. 146-147, and "Les OEuvresde
Wali," p. 81-52, traduites de I'Hindouslani, par M. Garcin de Tassy.

3 The manuscript of Oude has here: ajy JU| ^,~,:sy% " Mohsen
" Fani says:" which would leave no doubt upon the name of the author
of this book, if these words were not a mere addition of the copyist.

4

and diminution, without hatred, envy and scorn,
and without taking a part for the one, or against
the other side of the question.

This work is composed of several chapters.

CHAPT. I. treats of the religion of the Pdrsinn.

CHAPT. II. of the religion of the Hindus.

GHAPT. III. of the religion of the Tabitian.

CHAPT. IV. of the religion of the Yahud (Jews).

GHAPT. V. of the religion of the Tarasds (Ghristians).

CHAPT. VI. of the religion of the Muselmdns.

GHAPT. VII. of the religion of the Sddakiah.

CHAPT. VIII. of the religion of the Vdhadidh (Unita-
rians).

CHAPT. IX. of the religion of the Roshenidn.

CHAPT. X. of the religion of the Ilahiah.

CHAPT. XI. of the religion of the Wise (Philoso-
phers).

CHAPT. XII. of the religion of the Sufwh.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE PARSIAN.

This chapter is divided into fifteen sections.

SECT. I. of the religious tenets and ceremonies of the
Sipdsidn.

5

SECT. II. of the distinguished men amongst the Si-
pas idn.

SECT. III. of the ordinances contained in the book
revealed to Abdd.

SECT. IV. of the Jemshdspidn.

SECT. V. of the Samrddidn.

SECT. VI. of the religion of the Khoddnidn.

SECT. VII. of the tenets of the Radian.

SECT. VIII. of the religion of the Shidrangidn.

SECT. IX. of the belief of the Pykeridn.

SECT. X. of the tenets oi the Mildnidn.

SECT, XI. of the doctrines of the Aldridn

SECT. XII. of the religious opinions of the Shiddbidn.

SECT. XIII. of the religion of the Akhshidn.

SECT. XIV. of the belief of the Zerdushtidn.

SECT. XV. of the doctrine of the Mazdakidn.

SECTION I.

1 Here commences the history of the tenets
and ceremonies observed by the Sipdsidn and
Par sidn .

Among the Par sidn, called also the Iranian, is a

1 Here begins the translation of David Shea.

6

sect styled the Yazadidn or Yazddnidn, Abddidn, Si-
pdsidn, Hushidn, Anushkdn, Azarhoshangidn, and
Azaridn. They believe it impossible for man, by
the force of intellect, or the energy of spirit, to com-
prehend the exalted essence of the Almighty and
Holy Lord. Entity, unity, identity, or all his divine
attributes of knowledge and life, constitute the foun-
tain of his holy essence. He is, in the most compre-
hensive sense, the paramount, omnipotent Lord
over all things, whether considered collectively, or
in the changes incident to their component parts.
All his works and operations are in conformity to
his exalted will : if he wills, he acts ; if he wills not,
he acts not ; but works worthy of adoration are as
inseparable from his honored essence, as his other
glorious attributes of perfection. — Urfi' of Shiraz
thus expresses himself:

" Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,
" Except to create one like thyself."

The first creation of his existence - bestowing
bounty was the precious jewel of the intellectual
principle, called Azad Bahman; the solar ray which
constitutes the excellence of his august existence is
from the essence of the light of lights. From the
effulgence of Bahman, or the " First Intelligence,"
proceeded another, along with the spirit and body
of the Pure Ether or Crystalline Sphere. In like

manner from this second Serusti ' or " angel" there
emanated three similar rays ; so that every star in
the universe, whether in motion or at rest, that
is, every planet and fixed star, and also every one
of the heavens, has its peculiar intellect and spirit.

They also believe that the heavens exceed the com-
pass of numbers, and that the spheres are as many .
in number as the stars : also that every star has its
own firmament, but that the movements of their
spheres are in accordance with those of the zodiacal
firmament.

In like manner, each of the four elements has its
separate guardian, from the Nuristan (region of
light), or the world of Intellects : which angel is
styled Parvardigar or Parvardigar-i-Guuah; Dara or
Dara-i-Gunah ; and in Arabic, " Rab-un-naw or
" Lord of the species ;" in the same manner, all
their relations, or every species, has its peculiar
regent from the Nuristan or * region of light.' —
They regard the subsisting spirit of man, or the

1 Serush or Serdsh, is derived from the Zend, and signifies properly
si-roz, that is " thirty days, a month." To the adorers of the stars,
Ser6sh is the name of an angel who presides over the 17th day of the
month ; according to their religion, he is moreover the most active of
the celestial spirits ; as king of the earth, he passes every day and every
night three times through his empire ; his throne is the summit of the
world ; all light, all intelligence, he purifies and fertilizes the earth,
blesses and protects mankind, strikes the evil spirits ; in short, he is adored
equal to the supreme being. (SeeZendAvesta, par Anquetildu Perron,
I. 2 P. pp. 80, 156, 228, 404, 415; //. 320, 330, 223, 235, 237).-A. T.

8

reasonable human soul , as eternal and infinite. Said
says thus:

" No sign of man or world appeared on the tablet of existence

" When the soul breathed forth pursuant to thy will in the school of love."

It is related in some of the esteemed records of this
sect, that by eternal souls are meant, the spirits of
the spheres : and that human souls are a creation,
but eternal : also, that some human temperaments
are so constituted, that souls from the upper world
are conferred on them : whilst others are adapted
for having attached to them souls abstracted from
matter; that such appropriation is regulated by
influence of the spheres, and is concealed from the
sight of the most profound thinkers. They also say,
when this immortal spirit attains to eminence in
praise-worthy knowledge and belief, that is, pure
faith and good works, that on leaving this lower
body, it succeeds in uniting itself to the sublime
uncompounded spirits : but should it not attain to
this high , emancipation-bestowing degree, it is uni ted
to that sphere, in relation to which its acts were
upright. If the habitual language were praise-worthy
and the works performed meritorious, but it should
not have attained to the rank of union with a sphere,
it being then divested of corporeal elements, remains
in the lower world with the similitude of a bodily
form, and in consequ^uce of its praise-worthy quali-
ties, it enjoys in appearance the view of the nymphs,

9

palaces, and bright rose-bowers of paradise, and
becomes a Zamini-Serush, or ' Terrestrial Angel.'
But if its words have been reprehensible, ! and also
accompanied with evil deeds, on deserting this mate-
rial body, it obtains not another similarly constituted
and is unable to reach the Shidastan or * the region
of Light.' Being thus separated from the primitive
source, it remains in the abode of Elements, in the
Hell of concupiscence and passion and the flames of
remorse : ultimately it becomes the prey of malady,
but does not obtain a higher mansion : the soul of
such a description finally becomes an Ahriman, or
* Evil Demon.' If in a spirit destitute of praise-
worthy conversation, the good actions preponde-
rate, 2 but in consequence of the attachment of the
heart to matter, or through ignorance, such a spirit
attains not to the dignity of liberation, it removes
from one body to another, until by the efficacy of
good words and deeds, it is finally emancipated from
body and gains a high rank. Sarabi thus says :

" The truly free, as soon as possible, disengages himself from body:
" If he cannot extricate himself from skin, let him resign his doublet."

1 The text given by Gladwin (see the New Asiatic Miscellany, vol. I.

p. 93), and the manuscript of Oude, have no negative before A~"*?ra'.;
the sense would therefore be : " if his words had been plausible, but the
deeds bad." The edit of Calcutta gives the sense as above.- A. T.

2 Gladwin translates this passage as follows ibid., p. 94): If a de-
serving soul produces good words and deeds," which is in accordance with
the text he followed, and with that of the edit, of Calcutta ; but Shea's

10

But if the spirit be prone to error, it descends
successively from the human frame to the animal
body : such are the doctrines of their distinguished
men. Some however of this sect, in whose language
all is metaphorical and figurative, assert, that some-
times the spirit, through excessive wickedness, be-
comes by insensible degrees connected with plants
and vegetables; and frequently, by progressive gra-
dations, becomes joined to mineral or metallic sub-
stances. According to this class of believers, there
is an uncompounded soul in each of the three king-
doms of nature : and they acknowledge that every
thing possesses a ray of existence emanating from
Skid Shtdan, or ' Effulgence of Light.' One of the
eminent men, agreeably to this view, has said :

" The soul is the marrow of certainty, the body its envelope :

" In the robes of spirit contemplate the form of a friend (the Creator).

" Whatever object bears the impress of existence,

" Regard it as the reflexion of light, or his very self."

They also hold that the world bears the same
affinity to the Creator, as the solar light doth to the
body of the sun ; that it has existed from all eternity
and will continue to all infinity. They maintain
that, whatever exists in this world, or that of form-
ation and evanescence, depends on the influence of
the stars ; also that astronomers and astrologers

translation is justified by the manuscript of Oude, which has : ^
,\\j&\ />=k».-3 .11*31 B _\J w\J.~o . — A. T.

11

have found out some few effects of the influence of
the seven planets, but are ignorant of the natures and
influences of the slow-moving or fixed stars. The
possessors of Farddt and Far lab, or those who are
directed by inspiration and revelation, have laid
down that every star, whether fixed or planetary,
is regent during certain periods of several thousand
years : one thousand years being assigned to each
star, without the association of any other : on the
termination of which, in the subsequent millennia,
both the fixed and planetary stars are successively
associated with it— that is, in commencing the series
with a fixed star, we call the fixed star which is Lord
of the Cycle, the First King ; on the termination of
the millennium appropriated to him, another fixed
star becomes partner with the First King, which
partner we style First Minister : but the supremacy
and dominion of the period belong exclusively to the
First King : on the termination of the second mil-
lennium,—the period of office assigned to the First
Minister expires, and another star is associated with
the First King; and so on, until the fixed stars are
all gone through : on which Saturn becomes asso-
ciated with the First King, and continues so during
a thousand years, and so with the other planets,
until the period of association with the moon arrives:
then terminates the supremacy of the fixed star,
named the First King, and his authority expires.

li

After the First King, the star associated with him
in the second millennium, and which was called the
First Minister, now attains the supremacy and be-
comes Lord of the Cycle, during which cycle of
sovereignty we style him the Second King, with a
thousand years appropriated to his special rule as
before stated . In the following millennium another
fixed star becomes his associate, as above mentioned,
and goes through a similar course. When the period
of the moon's association arrives, the moon remains
joined with the Second King during a millennium,
on the completion of which, that fixed star, the term
of whose sovereignty has passed away, and who
commenced the cycle, under the style of First King,
is associated with the Lord of the Cycle, styled the
Second King ; after which, the empire of the Second
King's star also terminates and becomes transferred
to another : thus all the fixed stars in succession
become kings, until they are all gone through, on
which the principality and supremacy come to Shat
Kaivan, or * the Lord Saturn,' with whom in like
manner the fixed stars and planets are associated
for their respective millennia, — when the dominion
comes to the Shat Mdh, or ' Lunar Lord,' his period
is ended as before stated, the cycle completed, and
one great circle or revolution has been described. —
On the expiration of this great period, the sove-
reignty reverts to the First King ; the state of the

15

revolving world recommences ; this world of forma-
tion and evanescence is renovated ; the human be-
ings, animals, vegetable and mineral productions
which existed during the first cycle, are restored to
their former language, acts, dispositions, species and
appearance, with the same designations and dis-
tinctions ; the successive regenerations continually
proceeding on in the same manner. The prince of
physicians, Abu Alt (whose spirit may God sanc-
tify ! ) expresses himself to this purport :

" Every form and image, which seems at present effaced,
" Is securely stored up in the treasury of time -
" When the same position of the heavens again recurs,
" The Almighty reproduces each from behind the mysterious veil."

It is here necessary to remark, that their meaning
is not, that the identical spirits of Abad, Kaiomors,
Sidymakand Hushang shall be imparted to the iden-
tical material bodies long since abandoned, or that
the scattered members of the body shall be reassem-
bled and reunited: such sentiments, according to
them , are absurd and extravagant : their real belief
is this, that forms similar to those which have passed
away, and bodies resembling the primitive ones,
their counterpart in figure, property and shape, shall
appear, speaking and acting exactly in the same man-
ner. How could the exalted spirits of the perfect,
which are united with angels, return back? They
also maintain that men do not arise from their own
species, without father or mother : but they affirm

14

that, as a man and woman were left at the com-
mencement of the past cycle, so there shall two
remain in the present cycle, for the continuance
of the human race. For although the heavens are
the sires of the three natural kingdoms or pro-
ductive principles, and the elements their mother,
yet this much only has been imparted to us, that
man is born of man, and is not produced after any
other fashion.

The followers of the ancient faith call one revolu-
tion of the regent Saturn, a day; thirty such days,
one month ; twelve such months, one year ; a mil-
lion of such years, one fard; ' a million fard, one
vard; a million vard, one mard; a million mard, one
jdd; three thousand jdd, one vdd; and two thousand
vdd, one zdd. * — According to this mode of compu-
tation, the happiness and splendor of the Mahaba-
dian dynasty lasted one hundred zad of years. They
believe it impossible to ascertain the commencement

1 According to Gladwin, after g.lj once followed in a series by . ka
the same word is to be always understood — thus i«^j3 S,'j . 1 Vft <^t\3

is not a thousand fard, but one million fard This word is not in the Bur
han : — I have therefore followed Gladwin's authority. But in the Desa-
tir, or " Sacred Writings of the ancient Persian Prophets in the original
tongue," published at Bombay in 1818, the following passage occurs in
the commentary of the Vth Sasan ( English transl. p. 36) : " They call a
thousand times a thousand years a ferd; and a thousand ferds, a werd;
and a thousand werds, a merd ; and a thousand merds, a jad; and
three thousand ja ds,awa'd; and two thousand ttYtd*, a2o'd;"etc — D. S.

15

of human existence ; and that it is not to be compre-
hended by human science : because there is no epoch
of identical persons, so that it is absolutely impos-
sible to form any definite ideas on the subject, which
resembles an arithmetical infinite series. Such a
belief also agrees with the philosophy and opinions
of the Grecian sages.

From the authority of esteemed works, they ac-
count Mdhdbdd the first of the present cycle ; as in
reality he and his wife were the survivors of the
great period, and the bounteous Lord had bestowed
on them so immense a progeny, that from their
numbers, the very clefts of the mountains were
filled. The author of the Amighistan relates, that
they were acquainted only to a trifling degree with
the viands, drinks and clothing which through the
bounty of God are now met with : besides, in that
cycle there existed no organization of cities, systems
of policy, conditions of supremacy, rules of authority
and power, principles of Nushdd or law, nor instruc-
tion in science and philosophy, until through the
aid of celestial grace, joined to the manifold favors
and bounties of God, the uncontrolled authority of
Mdhdbdd pervaded alike the cultivated region and
the wild waste; the wide expanse of land and sea.
Through divine illumination, in conjunction with
his spiritual nature, the assistance of his guiding
angel and the eyes of discernment ; and also what

16

he had seen and heard in the past cycle, he medi-
tated on the creation of the world : he then clearly
perceived that the nine superior divisions, and the
four lower elements, the subjects of existence, are
blended and associated with distinct essences and
accidents, so as to combine together opposing move-
men Is with contrary dispositions and natures : and
that the aggregate of this whole indispensably re-
quires a supreme bestower of connection, a blender
and creator : also that whatever this bestower of
relation wills, and this all perfect in wisdom does,
cannot be destitute of utility and wisdom : Mahabad
therefore dispatched persons to all quarters and
regions of the world, to select from land and water
all productions and medicinal plants held in esteem
for their various properties ; these he planted in a
proper site, so that by the aid of the terrene and
aqueous particles, the influence of atmospheric
temperature, in conjunction with the sidereal ener-
gies, their powers of vegetation, nutritious qualities,
and properties might be ascertained. At the time
of promulgating this excellent purpose, the sove-
reign of the starry host entered in glory the mansion
of Aries ; and the rapidly-sketching painter of des-
tiny drew forth the faces of the brides of the gar-
dens (blossoms and flowers): then, through the
efficacy of command, experiment, and examination,
Mahabad extracted from the various flowers, fruits,

leaves and fibres, the different alimentary substances,
medicinal compounds, viands and beverages. He
next commanded all sorts of ores to be fetched from
the mines and liquified in the furnace, so that the
different metals concealed in them became visible.
Out of iron, which combines hardness and sharp-
ness, he formed warlike weapons for the brave ;
jewels, gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, diamonds,
and chrysolithes, in which he observed smoothness
and capability of polish, he assigned as decora-
tions for kings, military chieftains, and matrons.
He also ordered persons to descend into the deep
waters and bring forth the shells, pearls, corals, etc.
People were commanded to shear the fleece of sheep
and other animals : by him also were invented the
arts of spinning, weaving, cutting up, sewing and
clothing. He next organized cities, villages, and
streets ; erected palaces and colonnades ; introduced
trade and commerce ; and divided mankind into four
classes. The first was composed of Hirbeds, Mobeds, '

1 A> »xB) " Hirbed" (see Thomas Hyde, Vetcrum Persarum et Partho-
rum et Medorum Religionis Uistoria, Oxonii,ifl60, p. 369-372) was
called a priest of the fire-worship ; according to oriental authors, a priest
of the ancient Persians was in general, called formerly <k^ ' magh, or

iy* ' mogh,' that is " excellent," hence Magus, a Magian. The Magi are
mentioned by Herodotus, and, according to Aristotle, were more ancient
than the Egyptian priests. Clitarchus and Strabo, contemporaries, the
one of Alexander, the other of Augustus, speak of the Magi. The latter

says (lib. XV.) : Ev §t TVJ KonrTra'Joxt'a, uoW tore TO TWV Mayov <pviov ot

18

ascetics, and learned men, selected for maintaining
the faith and enforcing the sentence of the laws :
these are also called Birman and Birmun; l that is,
they resemble the Barinian or supreme beings, the
exalted angels : they also style them Hurisldr. ~
The second class consists of kings and intrepid war-
riors, who devote themselves to the cares of govern-
ment and authority, to the promotion of equity and
the curbing of oppression ; those they call Chatra-
mdn, Chatraman, and Chain : 3 this word Chatri
means a standard or distinction ; as people of high
rank have a Chatra, 4 or umbrella, to protect them

xaJ Ilvps^oi XOUO-JVTOCI' " In Kappailocia is a great multitude of Magi,
" called alsoPyrethi," (SeeSelden,DeDisSyris syntagma, Lipsiae, 1662,
p. 317, 318). An order superior to this class of priests was the Jj p *.»,
' m6gh bed,' or Ju^»? ' mobed, ' a ' prefect, or judge of the Magi," of
the learned priests, or of the worshippers of the sun, in a general sense,
a wise man, adorer of the sun. A third order of Persian priests was called
.^~O, 'dastur,'or ' superintendent.' (See also Zend-Avesta, translated
by Anquetil du Perron, t. II, pp. 516, 517, 553, 555.)— A. T.

1 ^T^nr, " Brahman.'

2 Gladwin " Mahuristar." We read in the Commentary upon article 143
of the Desatir, English translation, p 27 : " In Pehlevi the Huristars are
" called Athurndns— They are the Mobeds and Hirbuds whose duty is
" to guard the faith, to confirm the knowledge and precepts of religion,
" and to establish justice." — A. T.

3 ^TW: , ^rfwi : , ff3T, ' kshatra, kshatriya, kshatri,' a man of the mili-
tary class, from g^ to divide, or eat, rather from %^. kshe'tram,
' field,' which they are to protect. This last from f%T, kshi, ' to dwell.

4 5^i ' chhatram,' a parasol, an umbrella, from S5c£ ' chhada,' to
cover.— A. T.

19

with its shade, which they call Sayafi dar and Sayali
ban; the people repose under the shade of the indivi-
duals of this class, who are also called Ntlristdr. '
The third class is composed of husbandmen, culti-
vators, artisans, skilful men, and mechanics; these
are called Eds, J which is synonymous with Bisydr
or numerous; as this class should for exceed in
number all the others. Bds also means cultivation
and improvement, results which altogether depend
on this order —they are also styled Surlstdr. 3 The
fourth class are destined for every kind of employ-
ment and service ; they are called Sudin, Sudi, and
Slid: 4 from them profit, indulgence, and ease accrue
to society : they are also called Ruzistar. * He insti-
tuted these four classes, 6 the four elements of soci-

1 " The Niiristars in Pehle\i are named Rehtishta'ran, and are the
" princes and warriors who are called to grandeur and superiority, and
" command, and worldly sway." Comment, upon art. 145 of the De-
satir, p. 27.— A. T.

2 fifST, chRT, ' vis' , vai$'ya, ' a man of the mercantile tribe,' from

fsTST, ' vis',' to enter.— A. T.

3 " The Suristars in Pehlevi are denominated Washt eryu'sha'n, and are
" devoted to every kind of business and employment." Comment, upon
the Desatir, p. 27.

4 ST^1, s'udra, a man of the fourth or servile class, fromST^, such,
to purify.— A. T.

5 " The Ruzistars are in Pehlevi styled Hotukhshan, and are artisans
" and husbandmen." - Comm upon the Des.

6 The names Huristar, Nuristar, Suristar, and Ruzistar, of the four
classes of the people, are to be found in the Desatir ( artic. 145,
English translation, p. 27), from which work the author of the Da-

20

ety, and the sources of organization were completed:
independence and want appeared ; there were pro-
duced the gradations of ruler and subject ; of lord
and servant ; discipline and authority ; justice and
knowledge ; kindness and severity ; protection of the
Zindbar or kind treatment of innoxious creatures ;
destruction of the Tundbar or noxious animals ; the
knowledge of God and the ceremonies of his wor-
ship.
God also sent Abdd a code called the Dasdiir, '

bistan is likely to have taken them, as various other information. As
this division of a nation is undoubtedly suggested by the natural state
of things, it has been attributed to more than one ancient king, and
by Ferdiisi, in his Shah-namah, to Jcmshid, under four denomina-
tions belonging to the ancient Persian language. These are as fol-
lows: 1° %lr. **!, Amuzian; 2° ,\j.L~o Nisarian; 3° O~~J,
i^j "j-^ \^j '-j •• <*—• J

Nasudi; 4° c-~j^ j-*', Ahnu khushi, corresponding to the learn-
ed, the warriors, the husbandmen, and the mechanics. The first of
these names, Amuzian, is easily recognised in the Persian J^L~»|5
amokhten (Imp. \^>\ amwz), " to teach, to learn;" the second nisarian
is the same with f.U*^ nisari, the common Persian word for a war-
rior; the third, nasudi, is a Pehlevi noun (see Hyde, p. 437); the fourth,
Ahnukhu'shi, appears composed of _**•* ', ahnu, "provisions, meat" (to
be traced to yifsjch, ahnika, " daily work, food"j, and of ~^,*^,
khushi, " good, content," or from Jl^locL, kha'stan, " to ask." Upon
the four classes of the people see also History of the early kings of
Persia, translated from the Persian of Mirkhond, entitled the Rauzu-
" us-safa" by David Shea," p. 108-113.— A. T.

1 The text of Gladwin has ~jll^,,>7 destdrur, the edition of Calcutta
and the manuscript of Oude have Dasa'tir. The single volume published
under that name at Bombay (see note page 14), if genuine at all, can be

21

in which are formed all languages and sciences.
This work consisted of several volumes, containing
a certain number for each dialect. In it was also
the language called Asmdni, or the Celestial, not a
trace of which has remained in any of the languages
spoken by the inhabitants of this lower world.
Abdd also assigned a language to every nation, and
settled each in a suitable place : and thus were pro-
duced the Parsi, Hindi, Greek and such like.

According to this sect, authentic revelation is only
obtained by the world of ecstacy or similitude, called
Mdnistdn; but from the time of Mdhdbdd,a\\ the pro-
phets who were sent were in accordance with his
faith ; not one of them being opposed to his law.
MlerMdhdbdd, appeared thirteen apostles who, with
him, were styled the fourteen Mdhdbdds : they were
called by the common name of Abdd, and acted on
every occasion in conformity to their ancestor and
his Celestial Code : and whatever revelation was
made to them tended to corroborate the faith of
iMdhdbdd. ' After them, their sons in due succession
obtained sovereign power, after their fathers, and
devoted themselves to j ustice. The followers of this

considered but as a very small part of the great work, said to comprehend
all languages and sciences. — A. T.

1 This faith is also called Fersenda'j, and the great A'bad himself
Ferza'ba'd, and Bu'zu'ga'bad, (Dasal., Engl. Transl., p. 27, 58, 187).
-A.T.

sect also believe that all ihe prophets and kings were
selected from the heads of the most distinguished
families.

Next to this dynasty, known as the Mahabadian,
comes Abad Azdd, who withdrew from temporal
power and walked in the path of devotion and seclu-
sion. It is recorded, that in their time, the realm
was highly cultivated; treasures were abundant ; lofty
palaces, ornamented with paintings and exciting
admiration ; colonnades attracting the heart ; the
Mobeds celebrated, profoundly learned, worshippers
of God, undefiled, equally eminent in good words
and deeds ; soldiers, well-appointed and disciplined,
with corresponding trains of attendants and officers;
mountain-resembling elephants ; chargers like frag-
ments of Alburz, ' rapid in their course ; swift-paced
animals for riding ; numerous camels and dro-
medaries ; well-trained cavalry and infantry, and
leaders who had experience in the world ; precious
stuffs ; vases of gold and silver ; thrones and crowns
of great price ; heart-delighting tapestries and gar-
dens with other such objects, the like of which exists
not at present, and were not recorded as being in

1 Burz, with the Arabic article Al-burz, is a mountain in Jebal or
Irak Ajemi, not far distant from, and to the north of, the town Yezd in
the province of Pars, where, from very remote times to our days, a great
number of fire-temples existed. Alburz belongs to a fabulous region ;
this name is given to several mountains, among which tin- great Caucasus
is distinguished from the tirah, or " little," Alburz.— A. T.

existence in the treasures or reigns of the Gilsftdidu
monarchs.

However, on the mere abandonment of the crown
by Abad Azdd, every thing went to ruin ; so much
blood was shed that the mills were turned by streams
of gore ; all that had been accomplished by the inven-
tions and discoveries of this fortunate race was for-
gotten ; men became like savage and ferocious beasts,
and as in former times resumed their abodes in the
mountain-clefts and gloomy caverns ; those superior
in strength overpowered and oppressed the weaker.
At last some of the sages eminent for praise-worthy
language and deeds, and who possessed the volume
of Mahabad, assembled and went into the presence
of Jai Afrdm, the son of Abad, who, next his sire
was the most undefiled and intelligent of men, and
became one of the great Apostles : he passed his
time in a mountain cave, far removed from inter-
course with the world, and was styled Jai on account
of his purity, as in the Abddi or Azdri language, a
holy person is called Jai : ' the assembled sages with
one voice implored his justice, saying : " We know
" of no remedy for preserving the world from ruin,
" excepting the intercourse of thy noble nature with
" mankind." They afterwards recited to him the

1 This word reminds of flrr, jina, or jrrr, jama, from f^", jf, ' to
conquer' or ' excel,' a generic name of distinguished persons, belonging
(o the Jaiua sect of Hindus.— A. T.

24

counsels, testamentary precepts, traditions and me-
morials of the Abddidn princes on the great merit of
this undertaking. He did not however assent, until
a divine command had reached him, when through
the influence of revelation and the presence of the
decree-bearing angel, Gabriel, he arose and assumed
the high dignity, The realm once more flourished,
and the institutes of Abdd resumed their former
vigor. The last of the fortunate monarchs of the
Jai dynasty was Jai Atdd, who also retired from
mankind ; when the dominion had remained in this
family during one aspdr of years. It is written in
hooks of high authority that Jai Afrdm was called
the son of Abdd Azdd, because next to his noble
ancestor no individual possessed such great perfec-
tions : but in reality many generations intervened
between them : besides, Jai Afrdm was descended
from the sons of Abdd Azdd, so that there is a wide
interval between Shdi Giliv and Jai Abdd: in like
manner between Shdi Mahbul and Ydsdn, and be-
tween Ydsdn and Gilshdhi there must have elapsed
multiplied and numerous generations.

Those who would understand the doctrines of this
faith must know, the process of numeration among
this profoundly-thinking sect is as follows ; by tens,
hundreds and thousands : one saldm equal to one
hundred thousand; one hundred sal«im,one sliamdr;
one hundred shdmar, one aspdr; one hundred aspdr,

25

one rddah; one hundred rddah, one arddah; a hun-
dred arddah, one rdz ; a hundred rdz, one ardz ;
and a hundred ardz, one bidraz.

Now that their system of computation has been
explained, I shall proceed with their history. They
say that when his attendants found not the auspi-
cious monarch Jai Aldd, neither amongst his cour-
tiers, nor in the royal apartments, or harem, nor in
the house of praise, or place of prayer, the affairs of
the human race fell once more into disorder : at
length the sages and holy men went and represented
the state of affairs to the praise- worthy apostle Shdi
Giliv, son of Jdi Aldd, who was then engaged in the
worship of the Almighty. This prince, from his
great devotion and unceasing adoration rendered to
God, was called Shdi and Shdyi, that is a god and a
God-worshipper : his sons were therefore styled
Shdyidn. When the sages had stated the case, the
first Shdyidn prince, Shdi Giliv, having reflected on
the cruelty practised towards the animal creation,
arose, through the influence of a celestial revelation
and Divine light, and sat in his illustrious father's
throne. After this happy dynasty came Shdi Mah-
6ii/,when the Shdiydn empire had lasted one shamdr
of years.

After these came the Ydsdnidn, so called from
Ydsdn, the son of Shdi Mahbul : this prince was
exceeding wise, intelligent, holy and celebrated ; the

26

apostle of the age : and being in every respect worthy
of supreme power, was therefore called Ydsdn, or the
meritorious and justly exalted. ' His mighty sire
having withdrawn from mankind, retired into seclu-
sion, and there giving himself entirely up to the
worship of God, the affairs of the human race again
relapsed into disorder. Tradition informs us, that
when these auspicious prophets and their successors
beheld evil to prevail amongst mankind, they inva-
riably withdrew from among them — as they could
not endure to behold or hear wickedness; and sin
had no admission to their breasts. When the chain
of worldly repose had been rent asunder, Yasan, in
obedience to a Divine revelation, seated himself on
the throne of sovereignty, and overthrew evil. Of
this happy dynasty the last was Ydsdn Ajdm, when
this admirable family had graced the throne during
ninety and nine saldm of years. The author of the
Amiyhistdn says : ' * The years which I have men-
tioned are farsdls of Saturn : one revolution of the
regent Saturn, which is allowed to be thirty years,
they call one day ; thirty such days, one month ; and
twelve such months, one year." This is the rule
observed by the Yezddnidn, who write down the
various years of the seven planets after this manner :

1 This is evidently the Sanskrit word dUiy, yas'as, " fame, glory,

celebrity, splendor," and yaKcu-J, yas'asvan, " famous, celebrated."
-A. T.

27

such is the amount of the saturnian farsdl. This
same system of computation is applied to thefarsdls
of Mars, Venus, Mercury and the moon, a day of
each being the time of their respective revolutions :
they at the same time retain the use of the ordinary
lunar and solar months.

It is also to be observed that, according to them,
the year is of two kinds; one the farsdl, which is
after this manner: when the planet has traversed
the twelve mansions of the zodiac, they call it one
day; thirty such days, one month; and twelve such
months, one year ; as we have before explained under
Saturn. Similar years constitute thefarsdls of the
other planets, which they thus enumerate ; the far-
sals of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mer-
cury, and the moon : the months of the farsdl they
csAlfarmdh; the days of the farmah, farroz. The
second kind of years is, when Saturn in the period of
thirty years traverses the twelve mansions, which
they call a saturnian karsdl; the karmdh is his re-
maining two years and a half in each mansion, —
Jupiter describes his period in twelve common years;
this time they call the hormuzi karsdl ; and the hor-
muzi karmdh is his remaining one year in each man-
sion : and so with regard to the others. However,
when we speak of years or months in the accounts
given of the Gilshdiydn princes, solar and lunar
years and months are always meant; day implies the

28

acknowledged day ; and by month is meant the resi-
dence of the Great Light in one of the zodiacal man-
sions ; and by year, his passing through the zodiac ;
a lunar month is its complete revolution, and tra-
versing all the signs, which year and month are also
called Timiir. '

When Yasan Asam had abandoned this elemen-
tary body and passed away from this abode of
wickedness, the state of mankind fell into utter
ruin, as his son Gitshdh, who was enlightened in
spirit, intelligent in nature, adorned by good deeds,
feeling no wish for sovereign power, had given
himself so entirely up to the service of God, that
no one knew the retreat of this holy personage. —
Men therefore, shutting up the eyes of social inter-
course, extended the arm of oppression against each
other ; at once the lofty battlements and noble edi-
fices were levelled to the ground ; the deep fosses
filled up ; mankind being left destitute of a head, the
bonds of society were broken; slaughter was car-
ried to such excess, that numerous rivers flowed
with currents of blood, streaming from the bodies of
the slain : in a short time not a trace was left of the
countless treasures and the boundless stores, the
amount of which defied the computations of imagin-
ation. Matters even came to such an extremity, that

1 (, lad win has i^J, nimur ; the edition of Calcutta and the manu-
script of Oude have »*£*•> timur. — A. T.

men threw off the institutes of humanity, and were
no longer capable of distinguishing the relative values
of precious stones, wares and commodities : they left
not a vestige remaining of palaces and cities; but
like ferocious and savage beasts, look up their dwell-
ing in the mountain caverns- — Besides this, they
fought against each other, so that the multitudes of
the human race were reduced to a scanty remnant.
On this, Gilshdh1 of exalted nature, in obedience to
a revelation from heaven, and to the command of the
ruler of the universe, became the sovereign of man-
kind : he restored the institutes of justice, and reas-
sembled the members of his family, who, during his
seclusion, had totally dispersed : on this account he
was styled Abu-l-Bashr, or " the Father of the hu-
man race," because with the exception of his family,
the great majority of the others having fallen in their
mutual contests, the survivors had adopted the pur-
suits and habitudes of demons and of wild beasts :
Kaiomors, or Gilshdh, with his sons, then proceeded
to give battle to the vile race, and disabled their

1 Gil-shah, " Earth-King, "also " the King formed of clay." According to
the Mojmil-al-Tavarikh (see Extracts from this work by Julius Mohl, Esq. ,
Journ. Asiat., February 1841, p. 146), he was so called, because he go-
verned the then not inhabited earth. Gil-shah is one of the names given
to the first man or King; in the Desa'tir (pp. 70, 131) he is called Gio-
mert, Gilshadeng; by others Kaiomars (see also Rauzat-us-Safa of Mirk-
hond, translated by D. Shea, p. 50).— A. T.

50

hands from inflicting cruelly on the harmless ani-
mals : all that we find in Histories of Kaiomors, and
his sons fighting against demons, refers to this cir-
cumstance, and the systems of faith which sanction
the slaughter of animals were all invented by this
demon-like race. In short, the only true Ruler of
the world transmitted a celestial volume to Kaio-
mors, and also selected for the prophetic oifice
among his illustrious descendants, Siydmak, Hii-
shany, Tahmuras, Jems hid, Faridun, Minucheher,
Kai Khusro, Zaratusht, Azdr Sdsdn the first, and
Azdr Sdsdn the fifth, enjoining them to walk in con-
formity with the doctrines of Mahabad and Kaio-
mors 5 so that the celestial volumes which he be-
stowed on those happy princes, all their writings
and records were in perfect accord with the code of
Mdhdbdd : with the exception of Zaratusht, not one
of this race uttered a single word against the book
of Abad : and even Zaratiisht's words were, by the
glosses of the Yezddnidns, made to conform to the
Mdhdbddian code — they therefore style Zaratusht,
" Waklishur-i-Simbari," or the parable-speaking
prophet.

The Gilshaian monarchs constitute four races ;
namely, the Peshdddian, Kaidnidn, Ashkdnidn, and
Sdsdnidn : the last of these kings is Yezdejird, the son
ofSheriar: the empire of these auspicious sovereigns
lasted six thousand and twenty-four years and five

31

months. ' During their existence, the world was
arrayed in beauty : Kaiomors,* Siyamak,* Htishatuj*
named the Peshdddidn, Tahmuras/ surnamed the
Enslaver of Demons, and Jemslud, 6 through celestial

1 This number differs considerably from the chronology of other Asia-
tics. Here follow the periods enumerated in the Epitome of the ancient
History of Persia, extracted and translated from the Jehan Ara, by
Sir Wil. Ouseley ( p. 71-74).
The Pcshdadian ruled ( the mean of 4 different data ) . . 2531 years.

Kaianian ( 4 ) . . 704 —

Ashkanian — ( 11 ) . . 352 —

Sasanian — ( 7 ) . . 500 —

TOTAL 4087 years.

As Yezdejird's reign terminated 651 or 653 years of our era, the begin-
ning of the Peshdadfan, according to the Dabistan, is placed 6024—651
=5373 years before J. C.— A. T.

a Adopting the just computed period of 4087 years between Yczdegird
and the 1st of the Pfehdadian, Kaiomars would have begun to reign 3436
years before Christ; according to the Shahnamah, it was 3529 years before
our era ; Sir W. Jones places him 890 years B. C. (see his Works, vol. XII,
Svoedit. p. 399).

3 Siyamak the son of Gilshah or Kaiomors, was killed in a battle agains t
the Divs.

ACCORDING TO FERDUSI : ACCORDING TO SIR W. JONES :

•* Hushang began to reign 3499 years B. C. ; 865 years B. C.

•r' Tehmiiras 3469 — ; 835

G Jemshid 3429 — ; 800

Jemshid, also called Jermshar in the Desa'tir (pp. 88, 89), according to
Ferdusi the son of Tehmuras, according to the Zend-Avesta the son of
Vivergham, brother or son of Tahmuras. He, or rather his dynasty, ruled
700 years the Persian empire. He is believed to have been the first who
amongst the Persians regulated the solar year, the commencement of
which he fixed at the vernal equinox, about the 5th of April (see Zend-
Avesta, by Anquetil du Perron, vol. II, p. 82). He is also distinguished

revelations, Divine assistance, the instruction of
Almighty God, unerring prudence, and just views,
having followed in all things what we have recorded
concerning Mahabad and his illustrious children,
introduced the rules of Divine worship, the know-
ledge of God, virtuous deeds, purity of conduct,
modes of diet, clothing, the rites of marriage, the
observance of continence, with all kinds of science,
letters, books, professions, solemn festivals, ban-
quets, wind and stringed musical instruments, cities,
gardens, palaces, ornaments, arms, gradations of
office, the distinctions of the two sexes with respect
to exposure and privacy, the diffusion of equity, jus-
tice, and all that was praiseworthy.

After these, the Gilshaiyan ruled, through divine
inspiration and the communication of the Almighty
added to their intelligence, so that the greater part
of the splendor, pomp, and beauty we now behold
in the world is to be attributed to this happy race :
many however of the excellent institutions of this
happy dynasty have fallen into disuse and a few
only remain.

The following is the sum of the Sipdsidn creed :
from the commencement of Mdftdbdd's empire to the

by the epithet Sad-wakhshur, which signifies " hundred prophets;" to
him is ascribed the book Javedan Ehirad, " eternal intelligence," which
is said to have been translated into Greek, with other books, by order of
Alexander (see Desa'tir, English transl. pp. 79, 153, 163).— A. T.

53

end of Yezdejird's reign, the great majority, nay all
the individuals of this chosen race, with the excep-
tion of Zokah, ' were models of equity, character-
ized by justice and piety, perfect in words and deeds.
In this holy family, some were prophets, all were
saints, righteous and God-fearing persons, with
realms and armies maintained in the highest order.
They also acknowledge the apostles and princes
prior to Gils hah, from Mdhdbdd to Ydsdn A jam, as so
eminently pious, that in no degree whatever did wick-
edness enter into their conversation or actions : nor
did they at any time deviate from the Paymdn-i-Far-
hang, or " Excellent Covenant," which is the code
of Mahabad, nor omit the performance of any duty;
they also held that the stars are exceedingly exalted,
and constitute the Kiblah 2 of the inhabitants of this
lower world.

1 Zohak, the son of a sister of Jemshid, usurped the throne of his uncle
and sovereign, according to Ferdusi, 2729 years B. C. ; according to Hel-
vicus, 2248; according to Jackson, 1964 ; but only 780 years B. C., accord-
ing to Sir W. Jones who, in general, fixes the ancient Persian reigns much
lower than other chronologers. Zohak is also called Pivar-asp, or Bivar-
asp, from the circumstance of his always keeping ten thousand Arabian
horses in his stables, for Bivar, says Ferdusi, from the Pehlevi, in counting
means in the Dari tongue, ten thousand (see Rauzat-us-safa, Translat.,
p. 123 ; and also Mojmel-al-Tavarikh). The empire which Zokah founded
is identified by some historians with the Assyrian monarchy of Semiramis,
or with a Semitic domination in general. It lasted, according to the
Orientals, 1000 years ; according to Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Justin and
Syncellus 13 or 1400, according to Herodotus only 520. years.— A. T.
2 Kiblah signifies that part to which people direct their face in prayer,

3

34

In the lime of Ddwir Hdrydr (the author ofDarai
Sekander), who was of the Kaidnian race and a fol-
lower of the Yezdanian faith, some one said: " The
" prophets and faith are higher in dignity than the
sun." Dawir replied : " Where are now the forms
" and bodies of that description of men?'* On
which that person having stated the names of the ci-
ties and burial places of the prophets, Dawir rejoined:
" During their whole lifetime, the form of no pro-
" phet or saint ever emitted light, even the distance
" of one day's journey, and since they have been
" committed to the earth, not a single ray has been
" shed from their graves : and they are now so
' ' blended with the dust that not a trace of them is
" left!" The person then said : "the spirits of the
" prophets and saints are exceedingly resplendent."
Dawir retorted : " Behold what amount of light is
4 ' diffused by the solar globe ! whereas the bodies of
" your saints are destitute of splendor ; therefore
" rest assured that his spirit is more resplendent
" than theirs. — Know besides, that the sun is the
" heart of the heavens : if he existed not, this world
' ' of formation and dissolution could not continue :
" he brings forth the seasons and the productive
" energies of nature ; moreover, the prophets were
'* not in the beginning, nor are they in existence

the temple of Mecca to the devout Muhammedans : in a general sense,
it means the object of our views or wishes. — A. T.

, 35 '

'* now : but the world endures, the seasons rejoice,
* ' and the people are gladdened : this much how-
" ever may be conceded, that the prophets and
4 ' saints are more exalted than the remainder of the
** human race." — On hearing this, that person was
silenced. Lastly, it is stated in the Akhtaristdn,
that the Sipasian tenets were, that the stars and
the heavens are the shadows of the incorporeal
effulgences ; on this account they erected the tem-
ples of the seven planets, and had talismans formed
of metal or stone, suitable to each star: all which
talismans were placed in their proper abode, under
a suitable aspect : they also set apart a portion
of time for their worship and handed down the
mode of serving them. When they performed the
rites to these holy statues, they burned before them
the suitable incense at the appointed season, and
held their power in high veneration. Their tem-
ples were called Paikaristan, or " image-temples,"
and Shidistdn,or" the abodes of the forms of the lu-
minous bodies."

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORSHIP RENDERED TO THE SEVEN

PLANETS ACCORDING TO THE SlPASIAN FAITH.— It IS Stated

in the Akhtaristan, that the image of the regent
Saturn was cut out of black stone, in a human shape,
with an ape-like head ; his body like a man's, with
a hog's tail, and a crown on his head; in the right

36

hand a sieve ; in the left a serpent. His temple was
also of black stone, and his ofticiating ministers were
negroes, Abyssinians and persons of black com-
plexions : they wore blue garments, and on their
fingers rings of iron : they offered up storax and
such like perfumes, and generally dressed and offered
up pungent viands; they administered myrobalam,
also similar gums and drugs. Villagers and hus-
bandmen who had left their abodes, nobles, doc-
tors, anchorites, mathematicians, enchanters, sooth-
sayers and persons of that description lived in the
vicinity of this temple, where these sciences were
taught, and their maintenance allowed them : they
first paid adoration in the temple and afterwards
waited onthe king. All persons ranked among the
servants of the regent Saturn were presented to the
king through the medium of the chiefs and officers
of this temple, who were always selected from the
greatest families in Iran. The words Shat and Tim-
sar are appellations of honor, signifying dignity,
just as Sri in Hindi, and Hazrat in Arabic.

Theimage of the regent/formtudfJupiter) was of an
earthy color, in the shape of a man, with a vulture's '
face : on his head a crown , on which were the faces of
a cock and a dragon ; in the right hand a turban ; in
the left a crystal ewer. The ministers of this temple

1 The text has -o £ ', Herges, a bird, feeding on carcasses, and living
one hundred years.— A. T.

37

were of a terrene hue, dressed in yellow and white ;
they wore rings of silver and signets of cornelian ;
the incense consisted of laurel-berries and such like ;
the viands prepared by them were sweet. Learned
men, judges, imans, eminent vizirs, distinguished
men, nobles, magistrates and scribes dwelt in the
street attached to this temple, where they devoted
themselves to their peculiar pursuits, but principally
giving themselves up to the science of theology.

The temple of the regent Bahram l (Mars) and his
image were of red stone : he was represented in a
human form, wearing on his head a red crown : his
right hand was of the same color and hanging down;
his left, yellow and raised up : in the right was a
blood-stained sword, and an iron verge in the left.
The ministers of this temple were dressed in red
garmenls ; his attendants were Turks with rings of
copper on their hands ; the fumigations made before
him consisted of sandaracha and such like ; the
viands used here were bitter. Princes, champions,
soldiers, military men, and Turks dwelt in his street.
Persons of this description, through the agency of
the directors of the temple, were admitted to the
king's presence. The bestowers of charity dwelt
in the vicinity of this temple ; capital punishments
were here inflicted, and the prison for criminals
was also in that street.

1 Bahram is also called Ifanishram (Desatir, Engl. transl. p. 79).

38

The image of the world-enlightening solar regent
was the largest of the idols ; his dome was built of
gold-plated bricks : the interior inlaid with rubies,
diamonds, cornelian and such like. The image of
the Great Light was formed of burnished gold, in
the likeness of a man with two heads, on each of
which was a precious crown set with rubies ; and
in each diadem were seven sdrun or peaks. He was
seated on a powerful steed ; his lace resembling that
of a man, but he had a dragon's tail ; in the right
hand a rod of gold, a collar of diamonds around his
neck. The ministers of this temple were dressed in
yellow robes of gold tissue, and a girdle set with
rubies, diamonds, and other solar stones : the fumi-
gations consisted of sandal wood and such like : they
generally served up acid viands. In his quarter
were the families of kings and emperors, chiefs,
men of might, nobles, chieftains, governors, rulers
of countries, and men of science : visitors of this
description were introduced to the king by the chiefs
of the temple.

The exterior of Wahid's1 (Venus) temple was of
white marble and the interior of crystal : the form
of the idol was that of a red man, wearing a seven-
peaked crown on the head : in the right hand a flask
of oil, and in the left a comb: before him was burnt
saffron and such like ; his ministers were clad in

1 Nahid appears also under the name of Ferehengt'ram (ibid., p. 90).

39

white, iine robes, and wore pearl-studded crowns,
and diamond rings on their fingers. Men were not
permitted to enter this temple at night. Matrons
and their daughters performed the necessary offices
and service, except on the night of the king's going
there, as then no females approached, but men only
had access to it. Here the ministering attendants
served up rich viands. Ladies of the highest rank,
practising austerities, worshippers of God, belong-
ing to the place or who came from a distance, gold-
smiths, painters and musicians dwelt around this
temple, through the 'chiefs and directors of which
they were presented to the king : but the women
and ladies of rank were introduced to the queen by
the female directresses of the temple.

The dome and image of the regent Tir* (Mercury)
was of blue stone; his body that of a fish, with a
boar's face : one arm black, the other white ; on his
head a crown : he had a tail like that of a fish ; in
his right hand a pen, and in the left an inkhorn.
The substances burnt in this temple were gum mas-
tic and the like, tts ministers were clad in blue,
wearing on their fingers rings of gold. At their
feasts they served up acidulous viands. Vizirs, phi-
losophers, astrologers, physicians, farriers, account-
ants, revenue-collectors, ministers, secretaries, mer-
chants, architects, tailors, fine writers and such like,

3 Tir, also Temira'm (ibid., p. I02\ — A. T.

40

were stationed there, and through the agency of the
directors of the temple, had access to the king : the
knowledge requisite for such sciences and pursuits
was also communicated there.

The temple of the regent Mah (the moon) was
of a green stone ; his image that of a man seated on
a white ox : on his head a diadem in the front of
which were three peaks : on the hands were brace-
lets, and a collar around the neck. In his right
hand an amulet of rubies, and in the left a branch
of sweet basil : his ministers were clad in green and
while, and wore rings of silver. The substances
burnt before this image were gum arabic and such
like drugs. His attendants served up salted viands.
Spies, ambassadors, couriers, news-reporters, voy-
agers, and the generality of travellers, and such like
persons resided in his street, and were presented to
the king through the directors of the temple. Be-
sides the peculiar ministers and attendants, there
were attached to each temple several royal commis-
sioners and officers, engaged in the execution of the
king's orders; and in such matters as were con-
nected with the image in that temple. In the Khu-
ristar or " refectory of each temple," the board was
spread the whole day with various kinds of viands
and beverages always ready. No one was repulsed,
so that whoever chose partook of them. In like
manner, in the quarter adjacent to each temple, was

41

an hospital, where the sick under the idol's protec-
tion were attended by the physician of that hospi-
tal. Thus there were also places provided for tra-
vellers, who on their arrival in the city repaired to
the quarter appropriated to the temple to which
they belonged. l

It is to be observed, that although the planets are
simple bodies of a spherical form, yet the reason
why the above-mentioned images have been thus
formed, is that the planetary spirits have appeared
in the world of imagination to certain prophets,
saints, and holy sages under such forms; and under
which they are also connected with certain influ-
ences ; and as they have appeared under forms dif-
ferent from these to other persons, their images
have also been made after that fashion.

1 It was from time immemorial to our days the practice of the Asiatics
to refer the common affairs of life to the stars, to which they attribute a
constant and powerful influence over the nether world. Thus Hnmaiun the
son of Baber, emperor of India (see the History of Ferishta, translated by
general John Briggs, vol. II, p. 71) " caused seven halls of audience to be
" built, in which he received persons according to their rank. The first,
*' called the palace of the Moon, was set apart for ambassadors, messen-
'' gers and travellers. In the second, called the palace of Vtarid (Venus),
" civil officers, and persons of that description, were received ; and there
" were five other palaces for the remaining five planets. In each of these
" buildings he gave public audience, according to the planet of the day.
" The furniture and paintings of each, as also the dresses of the house-
" hold attendants, bore some symbol emblematical of the planet. In
" each of these palaces he transacted business one day in the week."
-A.T

42

When the great king, his nobles, retinue and the
other Yezdanian went to the temple of Saturn, they
were arrayed in robes of blue and black hues ; ex-
pressed themselves with humility, moving with a
slow pace, their hands folded on the breast. In the
temple of Hormuzd (Jupiter), they were dressed in
his colors, as learned men and judges. In that of
Baliram (Mars) they were clad in the robes peculiar
to him, and expressed themselves in an arrogant
manner — but in the temple of the Sun, in language
suitable to kings and holy persons ; in that of Yenus,
they appeared cheerful and smiling ; in the temple
of Mercury they spoke after the manner of sages and
orators ; and in the moon's, like young children and
inferior officers.

In every private house there were besides images
of the stars, a minute description of which is given
in the Akhtaristan. They had also, in every tem-
ple, the spherical or true forms of the several
planets.

There was a city called the royal abode or sardi,
lacing which were seven temples. On each day of
the week, in the dress appropriated to each planet,
the king exhibited himself from an elevated tabsar
or window, fronting the temple of the planet, whilst
the people, in due order and arrangement, offered
up their prayers. For example, on Sunday or
Yakshambalt, he shewed himself clad in a yellow

kaba or tunic of gold tissue, wearing a crown of the
same metal, set with rubies and diamonds, covered
with many ornaments of gold from the tabsar, the
circumference of which was embossed with similar
stones : under this window, the several ranks of the
military were drawn out in due gradation, until the
last line took post in the kashudzdr or ample aren,
in which were posted soldiers of the lowest order.
When the king issued forth, like the sun, from the
orient of the tabsar, all the people prostrated them -
selves in adoration, and the monarch devoted him-
self to the concerns of mankind. The Tdbsdr is a
place of observation in a lofty pavilion, which the
princes of Hindustan call ajahrokah or lattice win-
dow : on the other days, the king appeared with simi-
lar brilliancy from the other Tabsars. In like man-
ner the king, on their great festivals, went in choice
garments to the temples of the several images : and
on his return seated himself in the Tabsar, facing the
image of the planet, or, having gone to the Rozis-
tdn or Dddistdn, devoted himself to the affairs of
state. This Rozistan was a place which had no
tabsar, where the king seated himself on the throne,
his ministers standing around in due gradation.—
The Dddistdn was the hall of justice, where, when
the king was seated, no one was prevented from
having access to him : so that the king first came to
the Tabsar, then to the rdzislan, and lastly to the

Dadistan. Also on whatever day a planet moved
out of one celestial house to another, and on all great
festival days, the king went to the temple appro-
priate to the occasion. Each of the planetary forms
had also its peculiar Tabsar, in the same manner as
we have before stated concerning the royal Tabsar ;
and on a happy day, or festival, they brought the
image to its Tabsar , The king went first and offered
up prayer, standing in the Tabsar of the image, the
nobles placed around according to their gradations,
whilst the people were assembled in great multitudes
in the Kashudzdr, offering up prayers to the planet.
According to what is stated in the Timsdr Da-
sdtir,1 that is, in the " Venerable Desatir," the Al-
mighty Creator has so formed the celestial bodies,
that from their motions there result certain effects
in this lower world, and, without doubt, all events
here depend on the movements of these elevated
bodies ; so that every star has relation to some event,
and every mansion possesses its peculiar nature :
nay, every degree of each sign is endued with a dis-
tinct influence : therefore the prophets of the Lord,
in conformity to his orders, and by great experience,

1 Gladwin has ^yU^ kt** •> timar Vasatir, the manuscript of Oude
jju.v~O il^y, tima'r dasya'tir, the edition of Calcutta j-A-O J^VJ'j
ti'msa'r dasatir, which is the right reading, as the word " timsar" is ex-
plained in the index of obsolete or little known terms by these words :
»Jax) dsjJo, " a word expressing respect." - A. T.

have ascertained the properties inherent in the de-
grees of each celestial mansion , and the influences
of the stars. It is certain that whenever the agent
does not agree with the passive, the result of the
affair will not be fortunate ; consequently, when the
prophets and sages desired that the agency of the
planet should be manifested advantageously in the
world, they carefully noted the moment of the star's
entering the degree most suitable to the desired
event : and also to have at a distance from that point,
whatever stars were unfavorable to the issue. When
all had been thus arranged, whatever was connected
with the productive cause was then completed : they
then bring together whatever is connected with caus-
ation in the lower world : thus all the viands, per-
fumes, colors, forms, and all things relating to the
star, being associated, they enter on the undertaking
with firm faith and sure reliance : and whereas the
spirits possess complete influence over the events
which occur in the lower world, when therefore the
celestial, terrestrial, corporeal and spiritual causes
are all united, the business is then accomplished.
But whosoever desires to be master of these powers,
must be well skilled in metaphysics ; in the secrets
of nature; and having his mind well stored with the
knowledge of the planetary influences, and ren-
dered intelligent by much experience. As the union
of such qualifications is rarely or never found, the

46

trulh of this science is consequently hidden from
men. The Abadidn moreover say, that the prophets
of the early faith, or the kings of Farsistdn and the
Yezddnidn, held the stars to be the Kiblah of prayer,
and always paid them adoration, especially when a
star was in its own house or in its ascendant, free
from evil aspects ; they then collected whatever bore
relation to that planet, and engaged in worship,
seating themselves in a suitable place, and suffering
no one to come near them : they practised austeri-
ties ; and on the completion of their undertaking, ex-
hibited kindness to the animal creation.

In the year 1061 of the Hegira (A. D. 1651) the
author, then in Sikakul of Kalany, ' was attacked
by a disease which no application could alleviate.
An astrologer pronounced, that " the cause of this
'* malady arises from the overpowering force of
the regent Mars;" on which, several distinguished
Brahmins assembled on the fourth of Zikadah (the
9th October) the same year, and having set out the
image of Bahrain and collected the suitable per-
fumes, with all other things fit for the operation,
employed themselves in reading prayers and re-
citing names ; at last, their chief, taking up with
great reverence the image of Mars, thus entreated:

1 Cicacole, a town in the northern districts of the Coromandel coast,
anciently named Kalinga, the ancient capital of an extensive district of
the same name, lat. 18° 21' N., long. 83° 37 'E.— A. T.

47

" O illustrious angel and celestial leader! moderate
'* thy heat, and be not wrathful : but be merciful lo
" such a one" (pointing to me). He then plunged the
image into perfumed water ; immediately on the
immersion of the image, the pain was removed.

In front of each temple was a large fire-temple,
so that there were seven in all : namely, the Kaiwan-
dzar, Hormuz-dzar, Bahrdm-dzar, Hdr-dzar, JNahid-
dzar, Tir-dzar, and Mdh-dzar, so that each fire-
temple was dedicated to one of the seven planets, and
in these they burnt the proper perfumes. They
assert that, during the flourishing empire of the early
monarchs, several sacred structures, such as those
of the Kabah and the holy temple of Mecca ; ! Jeru-
salem ; the burial-place of Muhammed ; the asylum
of prophecy, in Medina; the place of repose of
Ah',2 the prince of the faithful in Najf ; the sepul-
chre of Imam Husain in Kerbela ; 3 the tomb of Imam

1 The Muhatnmedans distinguish particularly two temples, or mosques :
the first, the principal object of their veneration, is the Masjed al Haram,
or " the Sacred mosque," that is to say, the temple of Mecca, where is
also the Kdbah, or " the Square-edifice," built, as they say, by Abraham
and his son Ismael. The second of the temples is the Masjed al Nabi,
" the mosque of the Prophet," who preached and is buried in it. —
(Berbelot.)—A.. T.

2 AH, the son of Abu Taleb, the cousin and son in law of Muhammed.
Ali was assassinated in the mosque of Kufa, and buried near this town,
in the province of Irak, the Babylonian, on the right bank of the Eu-
phrates.—A. T.

3 Kerbela is a district of Irak, the Babylonian, or of Chaldaea, not far

48

Musa4 in Baghdad ; •' the mausoleum of Imam Reza0
in Sanabad of Tiis; and the sanctuary of Ali in
Balkh, 7 were all in former times idol and fire-tem-
ples. They say .that Mahabad after having built a
fire temple, called Hqftsur or seven ramparts, in Is-
takhar of Persia, 8 erected a house to which he gave
the name of Abdd, and which is at present called the
Kdbah: and which the inhabitants of that country
werecommanded to hold in reverence : among the
images of the Kdbah was one of the moon, exceed-
ingly beautiful, wherefore the temple was called
Mdhydh (Moon's place) which the Arabs generally
changed into Mekka. They also say that among the
images and statues left in the Kabah by Mahabad and

from Kufa, and west of the town called Kaser Ben Hobeirah It is famous
on account of the death and sepulchre of Hossain, the son of Ali, who
was killed there, fighting against the troops of Yezid, son of M on via, who
disputed the khalifat with him.- A. T.

4 Musa was the seventh of the twelve Imams whom the Shiites revere.
He was born in the year of the Hegira 128 (745 A. D. ), and died in 183
(799 A. D.).-A. T.

5 Baghdad, a town in the province Irak Arabi.

6 The Imam Reza was the eighth Imam of the race of Ali ; he was called
Ali Ben Mussa al Kadhem, before he received the title Reza or Redha (one

n whom God is pleased ) from the Khalif Almamum, when the latter
appointed him his successor, but survived the Imam, who died A. D. 818.
-A.T.

7 Balkh, a town in Khorasan, situated towards the head of the river
Oxus, in lat. N. 36° 28'; long. 65° 16'.

* Persepolis, in Persia proper.

49

his renowned successors, one is the black stone, '
the emblem of Saturn. They also say that the pro-
phet of Arabia worshipped the seven planets, and
he therefore left undisturbed the black stone or Sa-
turn's emblem, which had remained since the time
of the Abadian dynasty ; but that he broke or car-
ried away the other figures introduced by the Ko-
reish, and which were not formed according to the
images of the stars. In most of the ancient temples
of Persia they had formed the symbol of Venus in
the figure of a Mihrab, or arch, like the altar of the
mosques : consequently the present Mihrab, or altar,
is that identical symbol : which assertion is also
proved by the respect paid to Friday or the day of
Venus.

Ibrahim (Abraham), the friend of God, pursued
the same conduct; that is, he rejected the idols

1 For the black stone, consult Dart's Antiquities of Westminster,
vol. II, p. 12; Matthew of Westminster, p. 430.— D. S.

Stones, especially when distinguished by some particular form* or
colour,, were in the most ancient times venerated as the only then pos-
sible monuments, consecrated to some respected person, or to some Di-
vinity. Thus the ancient Arabians venerated a square stone as sacred
(see Selden de Dls Syris, p. 291, 292). It is known that the Muhamme-
dans bestow a particular veneration upon a black stone, which is attached
to the gate of their mosque at Mecca (Herbelot, Bibl. orient, sub voce).
It is evident that the followers of Muhammed, who is the prophet of a
comparatively recent religion, appropriated to themselves more than one
object and place of the most ancient veneration by merely changing its
name, and attaching to it a legend in accordance to their own belief.
-A. T.

50

which were not of ihe planetary forms : and the
reverence paid by him to the black stone, according
to ancient tradition, seems to prove that point.
Isfendiar , the son of king Gushlasp ' conformed also
to this practice ; nay Socrates the Sage, in like man-
ner, forbad the people to worship any other forms
except those of the planets, and commanded the
statues of the kings to be removed. Moreover, the
holy temple of Jerusalem, or Kundizh-huhkt* was
erected by Zohak, and Faridun 2 kindled in it the
holy fire. But long before Zohak's time, there were
several idol and fire temples in that place. In the
same manner, they say, that when Faridoon turned
his attention to the overthrow of Zohak, during his
journey his brethren having hurled a rock at him,
this revered prince, who was skilled and mighty in

1 According to Ferdusi in his Shah-namah, Gushtasp (Darius, son of
Hystaspcs, 519 B.C.) was induced by Zcrdusht to adopt a reformed doc-
trine which prescribed the adoration of fire, and was probably a purer
sort of Sabaeism, as practised by the most enlightened magi of very an-
cient times. Isfendiar, Gushtasp's son, a zealous promoter of this reli-
gion, erected fire-temples in all parts of his empire ( see also Rauzat-us-
safa, Shea's transl., p. 285).— A. T.

* The Persian text of Gladwin reads: v.xCJLS' " Gangdezh."

2 Faridun, the son of Abtin, restored the power of the Pe'shdadian
according to Ferdusi, 1729 years B. C.; according to Sir W. Jones and
other chronologers, 750 years before our era. Faridun, or rather his
dynasty, reigned 500 years; according to the Boundehesh and theMujmel-
ul-tavarikh during the 500 years of Feridun, twelve generations inter-
vened between Faridun, and Manutcheher, his grandson.— A. T,

51

all the extraordinary sciences, manifested a won-
derous deed : he prayed to the Almighty that it
might remain suspended in the air, so that the stone
even to this day is known as Kuds KhaliL They
also say that in Medina, ' the burial place of the pro-
phet, there was formerly an image of the moon : the
temple in which it was, they called Mahdinah, or the
" Moon of Religion," as religion is the moon of
truth, from which the Arabs formed Medinah.
They in like manner relate, that in the most noble
Najf, where now is the shrine of Ali, the prince of
the faithful, there was formerly a fire-temple called
Faroyh pirdi (the decoration of splendor), and also
"Nakqf,"oTNa akaft(uo injury),whichis at present
denominated Najf. Also at Karbald, the place where
the Imam Husain reposes, there was formerly a fire-
temple called Mahydrsur Urn* and Kar bala (sublime
agency), at present called Karbela.

Also in Baghdad, where the Imam Musa reposes,
was a fire-temple called Shet Pirdyi (decoration): and
in the place where rest the remains of the great
Jmam Abu Hanifah, of Kufah, was a temple called
Huryar (sun's friend) : also in Kufah, on the site of the

1 Medina signifies a town in general, but in particular that of Jatreb,
in Arabia, in the province of Hajiaz, to which town Muhammed fled
when obliged to abandon Mecca, on the 16th July, 622 of our era, which
is the first year of the Hejira, " flight."— A. T.

* The text of Gladwin reads. Jic. \j~\\Jiut " Mahlarsu'z Urn"

52

mosque, was a fire-temple called Roz-Azar (the day
of fire) : and in the region of Tiis, on the site oflmam
Resa's shrine, was a fire-temple called Azar Khirad
(the fire of intellect) — it was also known by many
other appellations, and owes its erection to Fari-
diin. — Also when Tus, the son of Ndzar,1 came to
visit Azar-i- Khirad, he laid near it the foundation of a
city which was called after his name.2 — In Balkh,
where is now the sanctuary of the Imam, formerly
stood a temple called Mahin Azar (great fire), now
known under the name of Nobahdr. In Ardebil, 3
the ancient Dizh-i-Bahman* (Rahman's fort), Kai
Khosrii, on reducing the citadel, constructed there
a fire- temple called Azari-Kdus, 5 which now serves
as the burial place of the shaikh Sufi Ud-Din, the
ancestor of the Safavean princes : 6 they also assert

1 Nazar is the eighth king of the Pe"shdadian, placed by Ferdusi 1109
years B. C. ; by the modern chronologcrs 715-708 B. C. He had two
sons, Tiis and Gustaham.

2 The foundation of the town Tus, in Khorasan, is also attributed to
Jemshid.

3 Ardebil, a town in the province called Azerbijan, which is a part of
the ancient Media.

4 Bahman, son of Isfendiar.

5 Kaus, the second king of the Kaian dynasty, whose reign began,
according to Ferdusi, 955 years B. C. ; he is supposed by western histo-
rians, to be Darius, the Mede, of the Greeks, and placed by them 600,
634-594 years B. C.— A. T.

6 The Safavean dynasty began in 1499 A. D. by Shah-Ismail, who
derives his origin from Musa, already mentioned as the seventh imam of
the Muselmans. All his ancestors were considered as pious men and

55

that there were fire-temples in several parts of In-
dia : as in Dwaraka, ' was the temple of Saturn,
called Dizh-i-Kaiv an ( Saturn's fort), which the Hin-
doos turned into Dwaraka: and in Gya also was an
idol temple, called Gah-i-Kaivan, or " Saturn's resi-
dence," which was turned into Gya. * — In Mahtra
also was an idol temple of Saturn, the name of
which was Mahetar, that is the chiefs or mahetar
resorted thither; which word hy degrees became
Mahtra. ** — In like manner several places among

some as saints. The first of this family who gained a great reputation
was Shaik Sufi Ud-din, from whom this dynasty takes the name of Sufa-
viah. His son was Sudder Ud-din. The monarchs of that time used to
visit his cell. Timur asked him what favour he could bestow on him.
The saint answered: " Set free all the prisoners whom thou hast brought
" from Turkey." The conqueror granted this request, and the grateful
tribes declared themselves the disciples of the man to whom they owed
their liberty. Their children preserved the sacred obligation of their
ancestors, and placed the son of the pious Eremite upon the throne of
Persia. (Malcolm's Hist, of Persia. )— A. T.

1 Dwaraka, an ancient town, built by Krichna, destroyed by a revolu-
tion of nature ; actually exists a town and celebrated temple of that name,
in the province of Guzrat, situated at the S. W. extremity of the penin-
sula, lat. 22« 21' N. ; long. 69° 15' E.

* The true name is Ga'ya, a town in the province of Bahar, 53 miles
south from Patna, lat. 24° 49' N. ; long. 85° 5' E. It is one of the holy
places of the Hindus, to which pilgrimages are performed. It was made
holy by the benediction of Vichnu, who granted its sanctity to the piety
of Gaya the Rajarchi ; or according to another legend, to Gaya, the Asura,
who was overwhelmed here by the deities, with rocks. This place is also
considered by some Hindus either as the birthplace or as the residence
of Buddha, from which circumstance it is usually termed Buddha-Gaya
(Hamilt. E. I. Gazetteer. Wilson's Diet, sub voce).— A. T.
"* Mathura, a town in the province of Agra, situated on the east side of

54

0

the Christians and other nations bore names which
show them to have been idol-temples. When the
Abadian come to such places, they visit them with
the accustomed reverence, as, according to them
holy places are never liable to abomination or pol-
lution, as they still remain places of worship and
adoration : both friends and foes regarding them as
a Kiblah, and sinners, notwithstanding all their
perverseness, pray in those sacred edifices. Rai
Gopi Nath ' thus expresses himself:

0 Shaikh ! behold the dignity of my idol-house ;
Even when destroyed, it remains the house of God!

There is not on record a single word repugnant
to reason from the time of Mahabad to that of Yasan
Ajam ; and if they have recourse to allegory, they
then express its figurative nature. From these
princes to the Gilshaiyan there are many figurative
expressions, all of which they interpret. For ex-
ample, they say that the tradition of Siamak being
slain by the hand of a demon implies, that in suc-
cessive battles, through ignorance of himself and
God, he unwittingly destroyed this elementary body ;
thus, wherever, in the language of this sect, mention

the Jumna, 30 miles N. E. by N. from the city of Agra, lat. 27° 32';
long. 77° 37 'E. This place is much celebrated and venerated by the
Hindus, as the scene of the birth and early adventures of Krichna ( Ha-
milt. Gazet.).— A. T.

1 This is an entirely Indian name : Gopinath, " the lord of the cow-
" herds' wives," a name of Krichna.— A. T.

55

is made of a demon, they always understand a man
of that description, as has been explained in the
Paiman-i-ferhancf, or * * Excellent Code. " They also
maintain that, in some passages, the rendering the
demons obedient, and slaying them, is a figurative
mode of expressing a victory gained over the plea-
sures of sense, and the extirpation of evil propensi-
ties : in like manner, whatever is related about the
appearance of angels to virtuous and holy persons,
is the revelation and vision of good spirits, whilst in
a state of sleep, transport, recovery from excess, or
abstraction from the body ; which states are truly
explained in this work. They say that Zohak's two
serpents, do-mar, and ten fires (vices) or deh ak,
imply irascibility and sensuality: the devil, his car-
nal soul, and in some places his disposition — the
two pieces of flesh which broke out on Zohak's
shoulders in consequence of his evil deeds, appeared
to the human race like serpents, the pain caused by
which could only be alleviated by the application of
human brains. They also say that the celebrated
Simuryh1 (griflin) was a sage, who had retired from
the world and taken up his peaceful abode in the

1 According to oriental Romance, the Si-murgh, or Enka, is endowed
\vith reason. He acts a considerable part in the Shah-namah, as tutor
to Zal, the father of Rustam. In the Kaherman Namah, this bird in a
conversation with Kaherman, the hero, states that it has existed during
many revolutions of ages and beings prior to the creation of Adam. It
is called Si-murgh, as being equal in magnitude to thirty birds.— A. T.

56

mountains : he was therefore called by this name,
and. was the instructor of Dastan, the son of Sam ;
so that Zal, through his instruction, attained the
knowledge of the occult sciences. As to the current
tradition about Kai-Kaus attempting to ascend to
Heaven, and his downfall, this occurred, according
to them, during his sleep, and not when he was
awake. Kai Nishin, his brother, who had retired
from all intercourse with mankind, thus interprets
the adventure of Kaus : " The four eagles are the
" four elements; the throne, the predominating
" passions; the lance, their energy and impetuosity
" in the desire of sensual gratifications; the thighs
"•of flesh, their various pursuits of anger, passion,
' ' lust, and envy ; their ascent implies that they may
" be subdued by religious austerities, and by the aid
' ' of their energy be made the means of ascending
" to the world on high and the supreme Heaven ;
" their fall, instead of reaching Heaven's eternal
" mansions, intimates that if, even for a short pe-
" riod, we become careless about repressing evil
' ' propensities, and desist from the practice of mor-
" tification, the passions will return back to their
" nature, or wander from the eternal paradise, the
" natural abode of souls:" the hemistich, " during
" one moment I was heedless, and he was removed
"from me a journey of a hundred years " is applic-
able to such a state.

57

I ! us t ;un 's ' bringing back Kai Kaus lo his throne
from the forest into which he had fallen, means, his
bringing back intelligence into the king's soul, and
turning him back from the desert (lit. meadow), of
natural infirmity : Kai Kaus therefore, by direction
of Kai Nishin, his younger brother, but his elder
in purity of faith and good works, remained forty
days in retirement, until in the state of sleep,
through the awakening of his heart, he beheld this
heavenly vision. They also assert, whatever mo-
dern writers have declared, relative to Khizr 2 and
Iskander, having penetrated into the regions of dark-
ness, where the former discovered the fountain of
life immortal, means, that the Iskander, or the intel-
lectual soul, through the energy of the Khizr, or

1 Rustam appears to be a personification of the heroic times of the
Persians, the Medes and the Scythes. He was born under the reign of
Manucheher, after the year 1299 B. C., and died under that of Gustasp,
after the year 625 before our era ; his existence comprises therefore 604
years. He was the lord of Sejestan, and extended his domination over
Zabulistan and Kabul ; but the circle of his actions comprehends a great
part of Asia between the Indus, the Indian and the Caspian seas.

2 Khizar is confounded by many with the prophet Elias, who is sup-
posed to dwell in the Terrestrial Paradise, in the enjoyment of immor-
tality. According to Eastern traditions, Khizr was the companion, vizir
or general of the ancient monarch, named Zu-al-Kurnain, or " the Two-
horned;" a title which was also assumed by Alexander the Great. Accord-
ing to the Tarikh Muntakhab, this prophet was Abraham's nephew, and
served as guide to Moses and the children of Israel, in their passage of the
Red sea and the desert. The same author tells us, that Khizr lived in
the time of Kai Kobad, at which time he discovered the fountain of life.
(Herbelot).— A. T.

58

reason, discovered, whilst in the stale of human
darkness, the water of life, or the knowledge of the
rational sciences, or the science which forms the
proper object of intellect— as to what they say about
Iskander's returning back empty-handed, by that is
meant, that to expect eternal duration in this eva-
nescent abode being altogether absurd, he conse-
quently could not attain that object, and therefore
departed to the next world. What they record
about Khizr 's drinking of that water, means, that
the perfection of intellect exists not through the
medium of body, and that reason has no need of
body, or any thing corporeal, either as essence or
attribute.

In some passages they interpret the tradition after
this manner ; by Khizr is meant the intellectual
soul, or rational faculty, and by Iskander the animal
soul, or natural instinct; the Khizr of the intellec-
tual soul, associated with the Iskander of the animal
soul, and the host (of perceptions) arrived at the
fountain-head of understanding, and obtained im-
mortality, whilst the Iskander of the animal soul re-
turned back empty-handed. ' It must be remarked,

1 Ferdusi in his Shah-namah narrates that: Secander was in search of
the water of life, accompanied by Khizr. The prophet attained his pur-
pose, but the king lost his way in the dark. The troops of the latter
followed a mare running after her foal, until they found themselves in a
place full of pebbles sounding beneath their feet, and heard a voice
from heaven, saying: " Take, or leave, the stones; sorrow of the heart

59

lhat this sect explain after this manner, whatever
transgresses the rules of probability, or cannot be
weighed in the balance of comprehension ; in short,
all that is contrary to reason. They also say purifi-
cation is of two kinds ; the amiyhi or true, and the
ashkari or apparent : the first consists in not defil-
ing the heart with any thing ; in not attaching it
to the concerns of this treacherous world, emanci-
pating it from all ties and prejudice, maintaining
no connection with any object whatever, and wash-
ing away all bias from the soul. The Ashkari, or
apparent, consists in removing to a distance what-
ever appears unclean ; consequently this purifica-
tion is effected with water which has undergone no
change of color, smell, or taste: that is, which is
free from bad color, smell, or taste; if otherwise,
rose-water and suchlike are more to be commended.
Ablution requires a kur, or a measure of lustral
water ; that is, according to them, the measure for a
man, is that quantity into which he can immerge his
head ; for an elephant, a quantity proportioned to
his bulk ; and for a gnat, a single drop of water.
They reckon it meritorious to recite the prayers and
texts of the Shat Dasdlir, relative to the unity of the

" awaits you in any case." And so it happened. At day-break, the
stones picked up were found to be precious rubies ; all were grieved : the
one for not having taken more, the others for not having taken any, of
them.— A. T.

60

self-existent Creator, the great dignity of intelligence
and souls, with the pains of the superior and infe-
rior bodies ; after which they repeat the benedictions
of the seven planets, particularly on their days, and
offer up the appropriate incense. The worshipper
after this recites the praises of the guardian of the
month, and those of the days of the month ; for ex-
ample, if it be the month of Farvardin, l the believer
repeats benedictions on that angel, and then on each
of the regents of the days of that month : particu-
larly the regent of that day called by the same name
as the month : which day is also regarded as a festi-
val.2 For instance, in the month of Farvardin, he
utters benedictions on the angel Farvardin, who is
one of the cherubim on whom that month is depen-
dent ; if it be the first day of the month, called the

1 Farvardin presides over the 19th day of the month, and over the first
month of the year (Zend-Avesta, by Anquetil du Perron, II, p. 320-337).
Hyde (p. 239) says: the first month, March, in theJelali-year(or the new
Persian era of Jelaluddin) which first month was July in the old year, is
called Farvardin, and he endeavours to derive this word from the mo-
dern Persian. Anquetil du Perron (I, lre part. p. 493) rejects Hyde's
etymology, and says that Farvardin signifies in Zend " the Fervers (the
souls) of the law." Hyde himself seems to enter into this sense, in saying
(p. 240) : " Iste Angelus (Farvardin ) creditur praeesse Animabus quae in
Paradiso" (this angel is believed to preside over the souls who are in
Paradise).— A. T.

2 The Calcutta manuscript, translated by Gladwin, differs in this pas-
sage from the printed copy of Calcutta, 1224 of the Hejirah, A.D. 1809,
and also from two excellent manuscripts : the Calcutta copy has been
followed. -D. S.

61

day of Hormuz (the angel who superintends the first
day of the month), the believers address their bene-
dictions to Hormuz; and act in a similar manner on
the other months and their respective days. Accord-
ing to them, the names of the months are called after
the names of their lords ; and the appellations of the
days are according to the names of their respective
regents : consequently, as we have said, the believer
adores the lord of the month, and on festivals, pays
adoration to the angel who is the lord of the month
and the day.1 According to the Abadian, although

1 The most ancient year of the Persians (Hyde, p. 188, 189) appears to
have been vague or erratic, its commencement varying through all the
different seasons, or at least soon gave room to the vague Persian-
Median civil year, to which was joined afterwards the fixed ecclesiastic
year of Jemshed. Both these years lasted to the time of Yezdejerd,
who made some considerable changes in the Persian calendar. This
king being killed, after an interval of time, the fixed solar year, beginning
in the middle of " pisces," was introduced into Persia. The names of
the ancient months and days appear to have come from the Medes, with
their denomination, to the Persians ; and even those invented by Yezde-
jerd were of Median origin. Here follows the order of months called Jelali
(Hyde, p. 180).

I. Farvardin March. VII. Miher September.

II. Ardibehist April. VIII. Aban October.

III. Khordad May. IX. Azar — November.

IV. Tir June. X. Dai December.

V. Mardad (Amardad. XI. Bahman January.

Anquetildu Perron) July. XII Isfandarmend. February.

VI. Shahrlvar August.

The old Persian month was not divided into weeks, but every day had
its particular name from the angel who presided over that day. Here
follows the order of their names, according to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190) :

ill a month, the name of the month and of the day
be the same, this coincidence makes not that day
dependant on the month, but on the regent who
bears the same name with him, consequently it is
necessary to celebrate a festival. In the same man-
ner, on the other days of every month, salutations
are paid every morning to the regent of the day : also
during the Sudbar, or the intercalary days, they
offer up praises to their angels. They also regard
the angels of the days as the ministers to the angels
of the months, all of whom are subject to the ma-
jesty of the Great Light — in like manner the other
stars (planets) have also angels dependent on them :

they also believe that the angels dependent on each
/

I. Hormuzd. XI. Khur. XXI. Ram.

II. Bahman. XII. Mah. XXII. Bad.

III. Ardibehist. XIII. Tir. XXIII. Daibadin.

IV. Shahrivar. XI V. Jiish or Gush . XXIV. Din.

V. Isfandarmend. XV. Daibamiher. XXV. Ird, or Ard.

VI. Khurdad. XVI. Miher. XXVI. Ashtad.

VII. Murdad. XVII. Sunish. XXVII. Asaman.

VIII. DaJbader. XVIII. Resh. XXVIII. Zamlad.

IX. Azur. XIX. Farvardin. XXIX. Marasfand.

X. Aban. XX. Bahrain. XXX. Aniran.
The names of the five additional days were as follows:

I. Ahnud-jah.

II. Ashnud-jah.

III. Isfandamaz-jah.

IV. Akhshater-jah.

V. Vahashtusht-jah.

Room is wanted for entering into further developments of this exten-
sive subject.— A. T. -

63

star (planet) are beyond all number : and finally, that
the angelic host belonging to the solar majesty are
reckoned the highest order. Besides, on the period
at which any of the seven planets passes from one
zodiacal mansion to another, they make an enter-
tainment on the first day, which they regard as a
festival, and call it Shadbar* or "replete with joy."
Every month also, on the completion of the lunar
revolution, on ascertaining its reappearance from
astronomical calculation, they make great rejoic-
ings on the first day : there is in like manner a great
festival when any star has completed its revolution,
which day they call Dddram,1 or " banquet deck-
ing." Thus, although there is a festival every day
of the week in some idol-temple or other, as has
been before stated, relative to the day of Nahid, or
Friday, in the temple of this idol : yet on the day of
the Sun, or Yakshambah (the first day of the week),
there was a solemn festival at which all the people
assembled. In like manner they made a feast when-
ever a star returned to its mansion or was in its
zenith.

* The text of Glachvin has j.^ which has the same meaning.
- A. T.

1 The text of Gladwin has \\ Ora'm. The name is properly Ura-

man, a peculiar manner of chanting or reading Pahlavi poetry, which
derives its name from a village in the dependencies of Kushgun, where
its inventor lived.— D. S.

64

They believe it wrong to hold any faith or reli-
gious system in abhorrence, as according to them,
we may draw near to God in every faith : also that
no faith has been abolished by divine authority —
they hold that, on this account, there have been so
many prophets,in order to shew the various ways
which lead to God. Those who carefully investi-
gate well know, that the ways which lead to heaven
are many ; nay more than come within the compass
of numbers. It is well understood, that access to a
great sovereign is more easily attained through the
aid of his numerous ministers ; although one of the
prince's commanders be on bad terms with his con-
fidential advisers, or even should all the chiefs not
co-operate with each other ; yet they can promote
the interest of their inferiors : therefore it is not
proper to say that we can get to the God of all exist-
ence by one road only. But the insurmountable
barrier in the road of approaching God is the slaugh-
ter of the Zindibar, that is, those animals which
inflict no injury on any person, and slay not other
living creatures, such as the cow, the sheep, the
camel, and the horse : there is assuredly no salva-
tion to the author of cruelty towards such, nor can
he obtain final deliverance by austerities or devo-
tions of any description. Should we even behold
many miraculous works performed by the slayer of
harmless animals, we are not even then to regard

65

him as one redeemed ; the works witnessed in him
are only the reward of his devotions, and the result
of his perseverance in the practice of religious aus-
terities in this world : and as he commits evil, he
cannot be perfect in his devout exercises, so that
nothing but suffering can await him in another
generation (when born again) : such an instance of
an ascetic endued with miraculous powers is likened
in the Shat Dasatir1 to a vase externally covered
with choice perfumes, but filled internally with im-
purities. They also maintain that in no system of
faith is cruelty to innoxious animals sanctioned : and
all human sanction for such acts proceeds from their
attending to the apparent import of words, without
having recourse to profound or earnest considera-
tion— for example, by putting a horse or cow to
death is meant, the removal or banishing from one's

1 Gladwin and Shea read Wasatir, but I cannot forbear from thinking,
the right reading is dasatir ; the j and the 3 being easily confounded with
each other. The simile above quoted is not to be found in the Bombay edi-
tion of the Desatir, although the same precepts are stated therein (pp. 12,
13, 14). Here follows the passage ( English transl. Comment, p. 45 ) about
the Desatir itself: " There are two books of Yezdan. The name of the
" first is Ddgt'ti, ' two worlds,' and this they call the ' Great Book,'
" or in the language of Heaven Ferz-Desatir, or the ' Great Desatir,'
" which is the great volume of Yezdan. And the other book is called
" Desatir, the doctrines of which Mahabad, and the other prophets from
" Mahabad down to me, have revealed. " * And in the heavenly

" tongue this is called Derick Desalir? ' the Little Desatir,' as being ihe
"Little Book of God."— A. T.

66

self animal propensities, and not the slaughtering
or devouring of innoxious creatures. They state
the later historians to have recorded without due
discrimination that Rustam, the son of Dastan (who
was one of the perfect saints), used to slay such ani-
mals : whereas tradition informs us, that the mighty
champion pursued in the chase noxious animals
only : what they write about his hunting the wild
ass, implies that the elephant-bodied hero called the
lion a wild ass ; or " that a lion is no more than a
*' wild ass when compared to my force." In the
several passages where he is recorded to have slaugh-
tered harmless wild asses and oppressed innoxious
creatures, and where similar actions are ascribed to
some of the Gilshaiyan princes, there is only implied
the banishment of animal propensities and passions :
thus the illustrious Shaikh Farideddin at'ar declares,

In the heart of each are found a hundred swine;
You must slay the hog or bind on the Zanar." l

They hold that, from the commencement to the
very end, the chiefs of the Persian Sipasian, far from
slaughtering these harmless creatures, regarded as
an incumbent duty to avoid and shun, by every pre-
caution, the practice of oppression or destruction
towards them : nay, they inflicted punishment on
the perpetrators of such deeds. Although they es-

1 Zanar is called in India the brahminical, or in general, a religious
thread; here is meant the mark of any unbeliever.— A. T.

67

teem the Gilshaiyan prophets, pontiffs, and princes,
exceedingly holy personages, yet in their opinion,
they come not up in perfect wisdom and works to
the preceding apostles and sovereigns, who ap-
peared from the Yassanian to the end of the Maha-
badian race.

They assert that some innoxious animals suffer
oppression in this generation by way of retribution :
for instance, an ox or a horse, which in times long
past had, through heedlessness, wantonness, or
without necessity, destroyed a man : as these crea-
tures understand nothing but how to eat and drink,
consequently when they obtain a new birth, they
carry burdens, which is by no means to be regarded
as an act of oppression, but as a retribution or retali-
ation for their previous misconduct. They are not
put to death, as they are not naturally destructive
and sanguinary : their harmless nature proves that
they cannot be reckoned among the destroyers of
animal life : so that putting them to death is the same
as destroying an ignorant harmless man : therefore
their slayer, though he may not receive in this world
the merited punishment from the actual ruler or
governor, appears in the next generation under the
form of a ferocious beast, and meets his deserts. A
great man says on this subject :

" In every evil deed committed by thee, think not that it

" Is passed over in Heaven or neglected in the revolutions of time ; •

68

" Thy evil deeds are a debt, ever in the presence of fortune,

" Which must be repaid, in whatever age she makes the demand."

They also hold the eternal paradise to be the Hea-
vens ; and regard the solar majesty as lord of the
empyrean ; and the other stars, fixed or planetary,
as his ministers : thus a person who, through reli-
gious mortifications and purity of life, attains righte-
ousness in words and deeds, is united with the sun
and becomes an empyreal sovereign : but if the pro-
portion of his good works bear a closer affinity to
any other star, he becomes lord of the place assigned
to that star : whilst others are joined to the firma-
ment on high : the perfect man passes on still far-
ther, arriving at the aethereal sphere, or the region
of pure spirits; such men attain the beatific vision of
the light of lights and the cherubinic hosts of the
Supreme Lord. Should he be a prince during
whose reign no harmless animals were slaughtered
in his realms ; and who, if any were guilty of these
acts, inflicted punishment on the perpetrators of the
crimes, so that no such characters departed this
world without due retribution ; he is esteemed a
wise, beneficent, and virtuous king : and immedi-
ately on being separated from the elements of body,
he is united with the sun : his spirit is identified
with that of the majesty of the great light and he
becomes an aBthereal sovereign. Prince Siamak,
the son of Kaiomors declares : " I beheld from first

69

'* to last all the Abadian, Jyanian, Shaiyan, and
" Yassanian monarchs : some were cherubim in the
' ' presence of the Supreme Lord ; others absorbed
" in the contemplation of the Light of Lights : but
*' I found none lower than the sphere of the sun,
" the vicegerent of God." On my asking them con-
cerning the means of attaining these high degrees,
they said: " The great means of acquiring this dig-
" nity consist in the protection of harmless animals,
" and inflicting punishment on evil doers."

According to this sect, labouring under insanity,
suffering distress on account of one's children, being
assailed by diseases, the visitations of providence,
these calamities are the retribution of actions in a
former state of existence. If a person should fall
down or stumble when running, even this is re-
garded as the retribution of past deeds : as are also
the maladies of new-born babes. But whatever
happens to a just man, which is evidently unmerited,
this is not to be looked on as retribution, but as pro-
ceeding from the oppression of the temporal ruler,
from whom, in a future generation, the Supreme
Ruler will demand an account.

According to their tenets, the drinking of wine or
strong liquors to excess, or partaking of things which
impair the understanding^ by no means to be toler-
ated : which may be proved by this reflexion, that
the perfection of man is understanding, and that in-

70

toxicating beverages reduce human nature, whilst in
that state, to a level with the brute creation. If a
person drink strong liquors to excess, he is brought
before the judge to receive due castigation ; and
should he, during that state, do injury to another,
he is held accountable for it, and is punished also
as a malefactor.

Among this sect it is permitted to kill those ani-
mals which oppress others, such as lions, fowls,
and hawks, which prey on living creatures : but
whatever animals, whether noxious or innoxious,
suffer violence from the noxious, duly receive it by
way of retribution : when they slay the former, or
noxious animals, that is regarded as a retribution,
because in a former existence they were oppressive
and sanguinary creatures : and in this generation the
Almighty has given them over to other more san-
guinary animals, that they might shed the blood of
the sanguinary bloodshedder : so that when noxious
creatures are slain, it is by way of retribution for
having shed blood : the very act of shedding their
blood proves them to have been formerly shedders
of blood : it is not however allowed to put them to
death until they become hurtful: for example, a
young sparrow cannot, whilst in that state, commit
an injury ; but, when able to fly, it injures the insects
of the earth ; and, although this happens to the in-
sects by way of retributive justice, yet their slayers

71

become also deserving of being slain, as in a former
generation they have been shedders of blood. For
instance, a person has unwittingly slain another, for
which crime he has been thrown into prison ; on
which they summons one of the other prisoners to
behead the murderer: after which the judge com-
mands one of his officers to put the executioner
to death, as, previous to this act, he had before
shed blood unjustly. But if a man slay a noxious
animal, he is not to be put to death, because that
person taking into consideration the noxious ani-
mal's oppression, has inflicted retribution on it:
but if a brave champion or any other be slain in
fighting with a noxious creature ; this was his me-
rited retribution ; and it is the same if an innoxious
animal be slain in lighting with a noxious crea-
ture : for example, in a past generation the ox was
a man endued with many brutal propensities, who
with violence and insolence forced people into his
service and imposed heavy burdens on them, until
he deprived some of them of life : therefore in this
generation, on account of his ruling propensities, he
comes in the form of an ox, that he may receive the
retribution due to his former deeds, and in return
for his having shed blood, should be himself slain
by a lion or some such creature. But mankind are
not permitted to kill the harmless animals, and these
are not shedders of blood : and if such an act should

.72

be inadvertently perpetrated by any individuals, de-
structive animals are then appointed to retaliate on
them, as we have explained under the head of the ox.
The best mode to be adopted by merciful men
for putting to death destructive creatures, such as
fowls, sparrows, and the like, is the following : let
them open a vein, so that it may die from the effusion
of blood : there are many precepts of this kind re-
corded in the Jashen Sudah of the Mobed Hoshydr :
but philosophers, eminent doctors, and durveshes
who abandon the world, never commit such acts :
it is however indispensably necessary that a king, in
the course of government, should inflict on the evil-
doer the retaliation due to his conduct. The Mo-
bed Hoshydr relates, in the Sarud-i-Mastdn, that in
the time of Kaiomors and Siamak, no animal of
any kind was slain, as they were all obedient to the
commands of these princes. So that one of the Far-
jud, or miraculous powers possessed by the Yezda-
nian chiefs of Iran, from Kaiomors to Jemshid, was
their appointing a certain class of officers to watch
over the animal creation, so that they should not
attack each other. For instance, a lion was not
permitted to destroy any animal, and if he killed one
in the chase, he met with due punishment ; conse-
quently no creature was slain or destroyed, and car-
nage iell into such disuse among noxious animals,
that they were all reckoned among the innoxious.

75

However, the skins of animals which had died a
natural death were taken off, and in the beginning
used as clothing by Kaiomors and his subjects : but
they were latterly satisfied with the leaves of trees.
Those who embrace the tenets of this holy race attri-
bute this result to the miraculous powers of these
monarchs, and some profound thinkers regard it as
effected by a tails man, ; whilst manyskilled in interpre-
tation hold it to be an enigmatical mode of expression:
thus, the animal creation submitting to government
implies, the justice of the sovereigns ; their vigilance
in extirpating corruption and evil, and producing
good. In short, when in the course of succession
the Gilshaiyan crown came to Hiishang, he enjoined
the people to eat the superabundant eggs of ducks,
domestic fowls, and such like, but not to such a
degree that, through their partaking of such food,
the race of these creatures should become extinct.
When the throne of sovereignty was adorned by the
presence of Tahmiiras, he said, " It is lawful for
" carnivorous and noxious creatures to eat dead
" bodies :" that is, if a lion find a lifeless stag, or a
sparrow a dead worm, they may partake of them.
In the same manner, when Jemshid assumed the
crown , he enacted : ' ' If men of low caste eat the flesh
" of animals which die a natural death, they com-
" mil no sin." The reason why people do not at
present eat of animals which died in the course of

74

nature, is, that their flesh engenders disease, as the
animal died of some distemper : otherwise there is
no sin attached to the eating of it. When Jemshid
departed to the mansions of eternity, Deh Ak, l the
Arab, slew and partook of all animals indifferently,
whether destructive or harmless, so that the detest-
able practice became general. When Faridiin had
purged the earth from the pollution of Zohak's
tyranny, he saw that some creatures, hawks, lions,
wolves, and others of the destructive kind, gave
themselves up to the chase in violation of the origi-
nal covenant : he therefore enjoined the slaughter
of these classes. After this, Jraj permitted men of
low caste, that is the mass of the people, to partake
of destructive creatures, such as domestic fowls
(which prey upon worms), also sparrows and such
like, in killing which no sin is incurred : but the
holy Yezdanians never polluted their mouths with
flesh, or killed savage animals for themselves, al-
though they slew them for others of the same class.
For example, the hawk, lion, and other rapacious
animals of prey were kept in the houses of the great,
for the purpose of inflicting punishment on other
destructive animals, and not that men should partake
of them : for eating flesh is not an innate quality in
men, as whenever they slay animals lor food, ferocity
settles in their nature, and that aliment introduces

' Zohak.

75

habits of rapacity : whereas the true meaning of put-
ting destructive animals to death, is the extirpation
of wickedness. The Yezdanians also have certain
viands, which people at present confound with ani-
mals and flesh : for instance, they give the name of
barah, " lamb," to a dish composed of the zingu, or
egg-mushroom ; gaur, or *' onager" is a dish made
out of cheese : with many others of the same kind.
Although they kill destructive animals in the chase,
they never eat of them ; and if in their houses they
kill one destructive animal for the food of another,
such as a sparrow for a hawk, it is done by a man
styled Dazhkim, or executioner, who is lower than a
Milar, called in Hindi, Juharah or " sweeper," and
in modern language Halldl Khtir, or one to whom
all food is lawful. But the dynasty preceding Gil-
shah, from whom the Yezdanians derive their tenets,
afforded no protection whatever to destructive ani-
mals, as they esteemed the protection of the oppres-
sor most reprehensible. In the time of the Gilshaiyan
princes, they nourished hawks and such like, for the
purpose of retaliating on destructive animals ; for
example, they let loose the hawk on the sparrow,
which is the emblem of Ahriman ; and when the
hawk grew old, they cut off his head and killed him
for his former evil deeds. The first race never kept
any destructive creatures, as they esteemed it crimi-
nal to afford them protection ; and even their de-

76

struction never took place in the abodes of righte-
ous and holy persons.

Among the Sipasi'yan sect were many exemplary
and piouspersonages, the performers of praise-
worthy discipline : with them, however, voluntary
austerity implies " religious practices" or Saluk,
and consists not in extreme suffering, which they
hold to be an evil, and a retribution inflicted for
previous wicked deeds. According to this sect,
the modes of walking in the paths of God are ma-
nifold : such as seeking God ; the society of the
wise ; retirement and seclusion from the world ;
purity of conduct; universal kindness ; benevolence;
reliance on God ; patience ; endurance ; content-
edness ; resignation ; and many such like quali-
ties— as thus recorded in the Sarud-i-Mustdn of
the Mobed Hushyar. The Mobed Khodd Jdi, in the
*' Cup of Kdi Khusro," a commentary on the text
of the poem of the venerable Azar Kaivan, thus re-
lates: " He who devotes himself to walking in the
" path of God, must be well-skilled in the medical
" sciences, so that he may rectify whatever predo-
44 inmates or exceeds in the bodily humours: in the
44 next place, he must banish from his mind all
44 articles of faith, systems, opinions, ceremonials,
4 ' and be at peace with all : he is to seat himself in
44 a small and dark cell, and gradually diminish the
44 quantity of his food." The rules for the diminu-

77

lion of food are thus laid down in the Sharistan
of the holy doctor Ferzanah Bahrain, the son of
Far had: " From his usual food, the pious recluse
" is every day to subtract three direms, until he
" reduces it to ten direms weight: he is to sit in
" perfect solitude, and give himself up to medita-
tion." Many of this sect have brought themselves
to one direm weight of food : their principal devo-
tional practice turning on these five points: namely,
fasting, silence, waking, solitude, and meditation on
God. Their modes of invoking God are manifold,
but the one most generally adopted by them is that
of the Muk Zhup : now in the Azanan or Pehlevi,
Muff signifies " four," and Zhup " a blow;" this
state of meditation is also called Char Sang, " the
" four weights," and Char Kub, " the four blows."
The next in importance is the siyd zhup, " the three
weights" or " three blows." The sitting postures
among these devotees are numerous ; but the more
approved and choice are limited to eighty-four; out
of these they have selected fourteen ; from the four-
teen they have taken five ; and out of the five two are
chosen by way of eminence : with respect to these
positions, many have been described by the Mobud
Sarush in the Zerdiisht Afshdr: of these two, the
choice position is the following : The devotee sits
on his hams, cross-legged, passing the outside of
the right foot over the left thigh, and that of the left

78

foot over the right thigh; he then passes his hands
behind his back, and holds in his left hand the great
toe of the right foot, and in the right hand the great
toe of the left foot, fixing his eyes intently on the
point of the nose : this position they call Farnishin,
" the splendid seat," but by the Hindi logics it is
named the Padma dsan,1 or " Lotus seat." If he
then repeat iheZekr-i-Mukzhub, he either lays hold
of the great toes with his hands, or if he prefer,
removes his feet off the thighs, seating himself in the
ordinary position, which is quite sufficient — then,
with closed eyes, the hands placed on the thighs,
the armpits open, the back erect, the head thrown
forward, and fetching up from the navel with all
his force the word Nist, he raises his head up : next,
in reciting the word Hesti, he inclines the head
towards the right breast ; on reciting the word Ma-
gar, he holds the head erect ; after which he utters
Yezdan, bowing the head to the left breast, the seat
of the heart. The devotee makes no pause between
the words thus recited ; nay, if possible, he utters
several formularies in one breath, gradually increas-
ing their number. The words of the formulary
(Nist hesti magar yezdan, " there is no existence
" save God") are thus set forth: " Nothing exists
" but God; or, " There is no God, but God;" or,

79

' ' There is no adoration except Cor what is adorable ; "
or this, " He to whom worship is due is pure and
" necessarily existent ;" or, " He who is without
'* equal, form, color, or model." It is permitted
to use this formulary publicly, but the inward medi-
tation is most generally adopted by priests and holy
persons ; as the senses' become disturbed by exclam-
ations and clamors, and the object of retirement is
to keep them collected. In the inward meditation,
the worshipper regards three objects as present :
" God, the heart, and the spirit of his Teacher;"
whilst he revolves in his heart the purport of this
formulary : " There is nothing in existence but
" God." But if he proceeds to the suppression of
breath, which is called the " knowledge of Dam
" and Stafwtf," or the science of breath and ima-
gination, he closes not the eyes, but directs them
to the tip of the nose, as we have before explained
under the first mode of sitting : this institute has
also been recorded in the Surud-i-Mastan, but the
present does not include all the minute details. *

1 These practices are evidently the same as those used among the Hindu
devotees. The chapter upon the Hindus, which follows, will set forth the
great conformity, nay, identity of Indian religions with the tenets and
customs here ascribed to Persian sects. In the Desatir (English transl.
Comment, pp. 66, 67) is a curious account of the postures to be taken
standing, or lying, or sitting, on the ground before any thing that burns,
and reciting the Ferz-zemiar, " great prayer," to Yezdan, or another to
Shesh-kdkh, that is to say, to the stars and to the fire which yield light."
-A. T.

It is thus recorded in the Zerdusht Afshdr; the
worshipper having closed the right nostril, enume-
rates the names of God from once to sixteen times,
and whilst counting draws his breath upwards ;
after which he repeats it twenty-two limes, and lets
the breath escape out of the right nostril, and whilst
counting propels the breath aloft; thus passing from
the six Khans or stages to the seventh ; until from
the intensity of imagination he arrives to a state in
which he thinks that his soul and breath bound like
the jet of a fountain to the crown of the head : they
enumerate the seven stages, or the seven degrees, in
this order : 1st, the position of sitting ; 2d, the
hips ; 3d, the navel ; 4th, the pine-heart ; 5th, the
windpipe; 6th, the space between the eyebrows;
and 7th, the crown of the head. As causing the
breath to mount to the crown of the head is a power
peculiar to the most eminent persons; so, whoever
can convey his breath and soul together to that part,
becomes the vicegerent of God. According to an-
other institute, the worshipper withdraws from all
senseless pursuits, sits down in retirement, giving
up his heart to his original world on high, and with-
out moving the tongue, repeats in his heart Yez-
dan ! Yezdan ! or God ! God ! which address to the
Lord may be made in any language, as Hindi, Ara-
bic, etc. Another rule is, the idea of the Instructor :
the worshipper imagines him to be present and is

81

never separated from lhat thought, until he attains
to such a degree, that the image of his spiritual
guide is never absent from the mind's eye, and he
then turns to contemplate his heart : or he has a
mirror before his sight, and beholds his own form,
until, from long practice, it is never more separated
from the heart, to which he then directs himself :
or he sits down to contemplate his heart, and re-
flects on it as being in continual movement. In all
these cases he regards the practices of the suppres-
sion of the breath as profitable for the abstraction
of thought : an object which may also be effected
without having recourse to it.

Another rule is, what they call dzdd dwd, or the
' * free voice ; " in Hindi A nahid / and in Arabic
Sdut Mutluk, or " the absolute sound." Some of
the followers of Mohammed relate, that it is re-
corded in the traditions, that a revelation came to
the venerable prophet of Arabia resembling " the
" tones of a bell," which means the *' Saut Mul-
luk: ' which Hafiz of Shiraz expresses thus :

" No person knows where my beloved dwells;
" This much only is known, that the sound of the bell approaches."

The mode of hearing it is after this manner : the
devotees direct the hearing and understanding to
the brain, and whether in the gloom of night, in the
house, or in the desert, hear this voice, which they

0

82

esteem as their Zikker,w ' ' address to God. " Azizi '
thus expresses himself:

" I recognise that playful sportiveness,
" And well know that amount of blandishment:
" The sound of footsteps comes to my ear at night;
" It was thyself; I recognise the hallowed voice!"

Then having opened the eyes and looking be-
tween the eyebrows, a form appears. Some of those
who walk in the path of religious poverty among
the followers of Mohammed (on whom be benedic-
tions!) assert that the expression Kab Kausain, " 1
" was near two bows' length," alludes to this vision.
Finally, if they prefer it, having closed the eyes for
some time, they reflect on the form which appeared
to them on looking between the eyebrows ; after
which they meditate on the heart ; or without
contemplating the form, they commence by look-
ing into the heart ; and closing both eyes and ears,
give themselves up entirely to meditation on the
heart, abandoning the external for the internal :

1 £V>V& A.zizi is supposed, by Mr. Tholuck (Sufismus, sive Theoso-

phia Persarum Pantheistica) to be the name of the so long unknown
author of Gulshen-raz, " the rose-bower of mystery." Silvestre de Sacy
(see Journal des Savants, de'cembre 1821, p. 719, 720), without abso-
lutely rejecting this supposition, explains the word azizf by " homme
vertueux" in the verse upon which Mr. Tholuck founded his opinion.
The true author of Gulshen-raz is now known to be Mahmud Shabisterf.
See the Persian text with a German metrical translation of this poem,
published in 1838 by the baron Hammer-Purgstall.— A. T,

whoever can thus contemplate obtains all that he
wants; but

" The anguish of my friend strikes at the portal of the heart;
" Command them, 0, Shani ! to purify the dwelling of the heart."

Finally the searcher after the Being who is with-
out equal or form, without color or pattern, whom
they know and comprehend in the Parsi under the
name of " had," in Arabic by the blessed name of
" Allah," and. in Hindi as "ParaBrahmaNdrdyaria"1
contemplates him without the intervention of Ara-
bic, Persian, Hindi, or any other language, keeping
the heart in his presence, until he, bei ngrescued
from the shadows of doubt, is identified with God.
The venerable Maulavi Jami says on this head :

" Thou art but an atom, He, the great whole ; but if for a few days
" Thou meditate with care on the whole, thou becomest one with it."

They hold that reunion with the first principle,
which the Sufees interpret by evanescence and
permanence, means not, according to the distin-
guished Ishrakian2 or Platonists of Persia, that
the beings of accident or creation are blended with
him whose existence is necessary, or that created
beings cease to exist ; but that when the sun of the
first cause manifests himself, then apparently all
created beings, like the stars in the sun's light, are

2 For Ishrakian, see pages 31 and 86 ad rcfutationem Alcorani.— D. S.

84

absorbed in his divine effulgence ; and if the searcher
after God should continue in this state, he will com-
prehend how they become shrouded through the
sun's overpowering splendor, or like the ecstatic
Sufees he will regard them as annihilated : but the
number of Sufi's who attain to this state is exceed-
ingly small, and the individuals themselves are but
little known to fame. This volume would not be
sufficient to enumerate the amount of those lights
(precepts) which direct the pilgrim on his course,
but the venerable Azur Kaivdn has treated at large
on this head in the Jdm-i-Kai Khusro.

It is, however, necessary to mention that there
are four states of vision ; the first, Nuniar, l or that
which is seen during sleep : by sleepis meant that
state when the subtile fumes arising from the food
taken into the stomach mounting up to the brain,
overpower external perceptions at the time of re-
pose ^ whatever is then beheld is called in Farsi
Tindb, in Arabic /frh/a, and in Hindi Svapna. 2 The
state beyond this dignity is Susvapna, 3 in Arabic
Ghaib or '* mysterious," and in the popular lan-

1 In Gladwin's Persian text, it is .l^Vj Tutiar; in the manuscripts
consulted by Shea, in the edition of Calcutta, and in the manuscript of
Oude jU^«v> n«nfor.

2 *cnr,

, " good sleep."

85

guage of the Hindoos Sukhasvada ' or Samddhi a (sus-
pending the connexion between soul and body),
which is as follows : when divine grace is communi-
cated from the worlds on high, and the transport
arising from that grace locks up external percep-
tions, whatever is beheld during that state is called
Binab or " revelation:" but that state into which
the senses enter, or Hoshwdzhen, *' a trance," which
is expressed in Arabic by Salm or ** recovering
from ebriety," and in Hindi byJagrai, 3 " awaking,"
undPratyaya ' 'evidence,"4 means that state in which
divine grace being communicated, without the senses
being overpowered, it transports the person for the
time being to the world of reality : whatever he be-
holds in this state is called Bindb or Mdainah " re-
ality." The state higher than this is the power of
the soul to quit the body and to return to it, which
is called in YarsiNivah-i-chaminafi, in Arabic Melkdt
Khald-baden, and in Hindu prapura paroksha. 5

They affirm that the bodies occupied by some
souls resemble a loose garment, which may be put
off at pleasure ; so that they can ascend to the world

1 «<?il«roin£, sukha'sva'da, " enjoyment."

2 ^mftf, sama'dhi, " deep and devout meditation."

3 sTrarT, jagrat, " watching, being awake."— A.. T.

4 Qrtm, pratyaya, " certainty."— A. T.

s ctcrajT^, prapura- parukilia, " absent from the former body."-
A.T.

of light, and on their return become reunited
with the material elements. The difference be-
tween Sahti and Khald is this : Sahu means, being
absorbed in meditation on the communication of
divine grace, so that, without a relaxation of the
senses, the person may, for the time being, actually
abide in the invisible world : whereas Khald means,
that the individual, whenever he pleases, separates
himself from the body and returns to it when he
thinks fitting. The spiritual Maulavi thus says :

" Shout aloud, my friends ! for one person has separated himself from

" the body;
" Out of a hundred thousand bodies, one person has become identified

" with God."

According to this sect there are seven worlds :
the first is absolute existence and pure being, which
they call Arang i or '* divinity;" the second is the
world of intelligences, which they call Birang or
" the empyreal; the third is that of souls, called
Alrang or the angelic ; the fourth that of the supe-
rior bodies, or JSirang; the fifth, the elementary or
Rang; the sixth the compounds of the four ele-
ments, or Rang-a-Rang: but according to the Sufis
all bodies, whether superior or inferior, are named
Mdlk or region ; the seventh is Sarong, which

1 The text of Gladwin has v^x_.r. " za'reng;" the edition of Calcutta
and the manuscript of Oude ^£-J>1 Arang ; in the Desatir we find
Lareng for the name of a divinity.— A. T.

87

is that of man or of human beings : but in some
Parsi treatises they term these seven regions the
seven true realities : however, if the author were to
describe minutely the articles and ceremonies of this
sect, their details would require so many volumes,
that contenting himself with what has been stated,
he now proceeds to describe some of their most
distinguished followers of later times.

SECTION II.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SIPASIAN SECT.

Among the moderns, the chief of the Abadian and
Azurlmshangidn sects was Azar Kaivdn, whose
lineage is as follows : Azar Kaivan, the son of Azar
Zerdusht, the son of Azar Barzin, the son of Azar
Khurin, the son of Azar Ayin, the son of Azar Pah-
ram, the son of Azar Nosh, the son of Azar Mihlart
the younger son of Azar Sdsdn, styled the tifth Sd-
sdn, the elder son of Azar Sdsdn, the fourth of that
name, the younger son of Azar Sdsdn, the third of
that name, the eldest son of Azar Sdsdn, or the
second Sdsdn, the mighty son of Azar Sdsdn, or the
first Sdsdn, the son of Darab the less, the son of
Darab the great, the son of Bahmdn, the son of

88

Isfendiar, the son of Gushtasp, the son of Lohrasp,
the son of Arvand, the son of Kai Nishin, the son
of Kai Kobad, the son of Za6, the son of Nauder,
the son ofMinuchehr, the son of Iraj, who was of the
lineage of Feridun, the son of Ablin, who was of
the lineage of Jamshid, the son of Tahmuras, the son
of Htisheng, the son of Siamak, the son of Kaiomors,
the son of Ydsdn Ajam, of the lineage of Ydsdn, the
son of Skai Mohbul, of the lineage Shai Giliv, the
son of Jai Alady of the lineage of Jai Afram, the son
of Abdd Azdd, of the lineage of Mah Abdd, who
appeared with splendor in the beginning of the
great cycle. The mother of Kaivdn was named
Shirln, a fortunate and illustrious dame descended
from the lineage of the just monarch Nushirvan.
Through eternal aid and almighty grace Azar Kai-
vdn, from his fifth year, devoted himself to great
abstinence in food, and watching by night. Salim
thus expresses himself:

" Innate essence has no need of instruction;

" How could an artist produce the image in the mirror?"

In the progress of his admirable voluntary mor-
tification, the quantity of his daily food was reduced
to one direm weight. On this point, the divine sage
Sunai observes :

" Ifthou eat to excess, thou becomest an unwieldy elephant;
" But if with moderation, thou becomest another Gabriel ;
" If any person should give way to-«xcess in eating,
" Rest assured that he is also vile to excess."

89

He abode in Khum during twenty-eight years,
but removed in his latter days from the land of Iran
into India : he remained some time in Palna, where,
in the year of the Hegira 1027 (A. D. 1673), he
took his flight from this lower elementary abode to
the sphere of the mansions on high. Azizi ob-
serves :

" Whoever is wise, esteems this mortal coil the obstacle to union with

"God:
11 This life is the death of Durvishes: look on ( the world of) reality as a

" friend.» ~

He continued eighty-live years united to the ele-
ments of body, during which lime he never desisted
from the practice of austerities. On this subject
Hafiz of Shiraz observes :

" 0 ! my heart, if thou once become acquainted with the lustre of

" austerity,

" Like those who strike the smiling taper, thou canst give up thy head—
" But thou longest after thy beloved and sparkling Mine-bowl :
" Abstain from such desire, for thou canst accomplish better things."

Farzdnah Bahrdm relates in the Sharistan, that
from the very commencement of his religious career,
AzarKaivan, having resolved on learning thoroughly
the science and systems of the eminent sages of anti-
quity, on this, the distinguished philosophers of
Hindustan, Greece, and Persia, having appeared to
him in a vision, communicated all kinds of know-
ledge. He went one day to a college, where he
answered every question that was proposed, and

90

gave the solution of every difficulty : he was therefore
entitled Zu-l -ulum, or " the Master of Sciences."
Ali Sani Amir Saiyid Ali of Hainadan observes :

' If thou advance even one step from this abode of vain desire,

' Thou mayest repose in the sanctuary of omnipotence;

' And if thou perform ablution with the water of religious austerity,

4 Thou canst convert all the uncleanness of thy heart into purity ;

' This path however is only traversed by the active pilgrim,

' How canst thou, the world's idol, perform such a task ?"

It is reported that Saiyid Hasan of Shiraz, who
was styled " the sage, the embellishment of pure
" faith and works," one day said thus : " On a cer-
" tain day, two followers of the Sufis came into
" the presence of Azar Kaivan, and pursuing the
** path of opposition to the Master of Sciences,
'* treated him not as one possessed of perfection.
*' Their teacher, a man equally eminent in theoreti-
" cal and practical science, who by dominion over
** the external world had established the relation
4 * of spiritual intercourse with the holy prophet, fell
" one night into a state of ecstasy, and beheld in his
" trance the effulgent perfection of the prophet,
" who said to him : « My son! tell thy disciples
* 4 * that through the assistance of the Only Wise
** * and the Omnipotent, who is independent of all,
" 'Ali Kaivan is a completely perfect man, who has
" * attained to the different degrees of spiritual do-
" ' minion, by the practice of the seven cordial
" ' ejaculations, and varied mysterious illumina-

91

' tions, visions, revelations, spiritual realities in his
4 acts and attributes : moreover his evanescent
' existence, through grace predestined from eter-
4 nity, has received the boon of divine nature -,

* equally versed in special and general providence ;
' unique in the true knowledge of things from
' inspection, not contented with the illumination
4 of tradition ; the most perfect master of the
' seekers after truth in matters of worship, seclu-
' sion, social intercourse, and whatever is meet
' and suitable to their state in all kinds of insti-

* tutes and religious austerities. He is the true
' philosopher ; the physician of the human race;

* the discipline of religion ; the institute of the
' devout; the interpreter of events; the instructor
' of worship ; the director of those who seek God,
' labouring diligently in the purification of souls ;
l. co-operating in the cleansing of hearts ; the spi-

* ritual champion of the law ; fighting the good

* fight of faith ; the principle of truth ; confirmed
' in the knowledge, source, and evidence of cer-
' tainty ; supported by divine aid in the funda-

* mental points and collateral inductions. Let

* not thy disciples calumniate him, but esteem
' him a holy personage, and regard attendance on
' him as pregnant with happiness : do thou also

* approach his presence, and use every effort to

* conciliate his affection.1 The teacher having

92

44 during his ecstacy repeated this panegyric seve-
" ral times, 1 committed the words to writing, and
** on the holy man's arising from his ecstatic trance,
44 he summoned me and said: ' Who in this city
" ' is Azar Kaivan? The prophet hath praised him
" * exceedingly, and ordered me to go into his pre-
" * sence.' I answered : * He has lately come hi-
" ' ther from the direction of Istakhar :' on which
" he replied : ' Conduct me near him.' I therefore
" accompanied him, but was ignorant of Kaivan's
44 residence. When we had proceeded some time,
" one of Kaivan's disciples, by name Farhad, came
44 near him and said : * The master (that is Kaivan)
44 ' invites you, and has sent me to be your guide.'
" When we came into his presence, my teacher had
44 determined in his mind to salute him first, but
' ' was unable to obtain the priority, as Azar Kaivan
44 had much sooner anticipated him in salutations
44 in the Persian language, and afterwards addressed
44 him in Arabic. We were struck with astonish -
" ment. My teacher then repeated what he had
4i communicated to me concerning the vision, on
44 which Kaivan commanded him * not to remove
" 4 the veil of this mystery.' ' The teacher, on his
return, having called before him his two misguided
disciples, recounted the perfections of Kaivan, and
enjoined them to abstain from censuring the holy
man. For as Sadi says :

95

" Respecting the thicket, imagine it not unoccupied,
" A tiger may probably be couched there. »

Azar Kaivan mixed little with the people of the
world ; he shunned with horror all public admirers;
and seldom gave audience to any but his disciples
and the searchers after truth ; never exposing him-
self to the public gaze. According to Shaikh Baha
Uddin Muhammad of Amil,

" If thou have not guards in front and rear to keep off the crowd,

" Aversion to mixing with crowds will be a sufficient safeguard to thee."

Farzanah Bahrain- relates in the Sharistan, that Kai-
van expressed himself after this manner : " The con-
" nexion of my spirit with this body, formed of the
" elements, resembles the relation of the body to a
** loose robe; whenever I wish I can separate my-
' ' self from it, and resume it at my desire. " The
same author also thus relates of him, in the text of
the Jam-i-Kai Khusro, wherein are recounted some
of his revelations and spiritual communications :

" When I passed in rapid flight from material bodies,
" I drew near a pure and happy spirit ;
" With the eye of spirit I beheld spirits :
" My spirit was moving amidst kindred spirits:
" In every sphere and star I beheld a spirit;
" Each sphere and star possessed its peculiar spirit;
" Thus in the three kingdoms of nature I beheld a common spirit,
" As their spirit was mutually communicated to each other.
" I attained the knowledge of all existences,
" And was associated with the great Ser6sh Ramah.
1 • • But when I reached a great elevation,

1 Edit, of Calcutta : flM* ^>f^ o~*> .^ j y. In one

9-4

" Splendor from the Almighty gave me light;

" As the radiance increased this individuality departed;

1 " Even ihe angelic nature and the principle of evil disappeared :
" God only existed, there was no sign of me

" (or of my individual existence):

2 " I no longer retained intellect or recollection of spirit:

3 «« I discovered all my secrets to be but shadows;
" I then returned to the angelic intelligences,

" And from these intelligences 1 came back to the spirit;

'• And thus at last to bodies also summoning me.

" In this manner I became powerful, wise, and sublime,

" Until I descended from that high degree —

" Upon the road by which I had gone up, I returned to my body
" With a hundred divine favours4 deriving splendor from that assemblage ;

" The dignity of the Supreme Lord is too exalted

" For intercourse with his servants to be worthy of him.
" By his effulgence intellect becomes (illumined) like the earth or sun;
" He is elevated too high for his servants to hold intercourse with him:

" If the spirit receives illumination from him,
" It becomes beside itself, and its speech is ' I am without intellect' —

manuscript: *^_3b C..15..J o-**3 i/i?-?-.?' In the manuscript of Oude :

^

Jji e~~i a. ^- The first is best'

JL9j

1 Edit, of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have : JLV.J jJ J*. ^

~xv&i. Two other manuscripts : ^Js! . Jolxi ^L»^ The
t_> ^ O -/-'•• '•• O ~>J

latter seems to be the better reading.

2 Edit, of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude: . ***\3 ; two other
manuscripts, /£<»» I w»— the better reading by far.

Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have
4 The text has :

and * the edit, of

Izedi means any thing given for God's sake, or as one's due; here it seems

95

" The world is a drop which proceeds from the ocean of his existence ;*

" What is the dropping dew ? it is Himself (God);
" Thou art not the dropping dew, but only a drop among the drops of it.

" I know not what to say, as the result of all is deficiency :

" Through love he confers bounties on his servants;

" As it is proper to raise up the down-fallen

" His love renders the mendicant a man of power.

" The world is but a ray emanating from the sun of his face:

" The just Creator addressed me in kind words,

" And conferred on me the splendor of an Ized ;

" None but He can duly praise Himself,

" As He cannot become the object of speech or hearing."

Kaivan was master of noble demonstrations and
subtile distinctions : one of the Moslem lawyers hav-
ing asked him: " Why dost thou forbid thy follow-
" ers from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring
" living creatures?" He thus replied : " The seek-
" ers of God are named the peculiar people of the

to signify a divine gift. J^j , y^\ , ized, also ,jb^r« , yezdan, is the
name of God, and may be derived from ^2T, t'*a, " to possess power,"
JGT, t'*Ao, " to give," ^cr, isha, to wish, or according to Hyde (p. 159),
from .»JwJ, ishten, supplicare, intercedere." Ized is also light, purity;
it is the name of good spirits, created for the good of the world, and
appointed to protect individuals.— A. T.

' In the Gulshen raz, a poem quoted in our note p. 82, this idea is
expressed in several verses, of which the following:

s j Utj jb 6^89

" The world, which is composed of intellect, soul, heavens, and bodies,
" Know them to be as a drop from beginning to end."

Room is wanted for quoting, as a curious coincidence with this image, four
beautiful strophes of Klopstock, from his ode " Die FmhUngs feyer," the
Festivity of Spring.— A. T.

96

" heart ; and the heart itself, the true Kaabah :
' ' therefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary
" formed of water and clay cannot ajortiori be suit-
" able to the true Kaabah: that is, the eating of
" animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A
' ' great man says :

" I have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher,

" At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword :

" ' I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I

" ' tasted;
" ' What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted

" ' loin?'"

Kaivan also said : " If you think proper, keep your
" tenets secret wherever you happen to be, conceal-
" ing them even from your brethren in the faith;
" as they, for the confirmation of their system, will
*' make you publicly known." Azizi also says :

" As long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend ;

" For that friend has another ; beware therefore of thy friend's friend?"

Some one asked him : " In the schism of Abad
" Ansari, which faith shall I adopt, and whose
" arguments must I regard as true?" Azar Kaivan
replied: " Remain in the same faith that, until the
** present time, God doeth as seemeth good to him;
* * and for the time to come he will do whatever he
" thinks proper." Urfi of Shiraz says, l

•• Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,
" Except to create one like thyself!"

' This verse has already been quoted, page 6.

97

He once said to a holy man : " The knowledge of
** evanescent objects is not properly knowledge, but
4 ' bears the same relation to reality as the mirage
* ' of the desert to water : the searcher after which
1 * obtains nothing but an increase of thirst. Shah
* ' Subhan says :

•' Men favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge;
" They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity;
41 The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity
" Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve."

They once observed to Kaivan : ' ' Notwithstanding
• ' the great exertions made by his highness the sin-
" cere and faithful Akbar, and the grand justiciary,
" the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two
' lights, Os man, in the way of the faith proved by
" miracles, and their mighty labors in diffusing its
" institutes, the Shee-ites are opposed to these
" great personages?" He replied : *' The mass of
" mankind are acted upon by time and place, in
" opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also
• ' to be observed that the people of Iran have adopted
" the Shee-ite faith; and as the above-mentioned
kt great personages destroyed the fire-temples of
44 that nation, and overturned their ancient religion,
" therefore rebellion and envy have remained in
" their hearts."

Two learned men having a dispute concerning the
superiority of the chosen Ah', " the Elect" (whose

7

98

face may God honor), over the two Shaikhs and the
Lord of the two lights (Osmar), (upon all of whom
be the mercy of the Almighty) having referred the
dispute to Kaivan, he observed:

" All four are the four perfections of the prophetic edifice;
" All four are the four elements of the prophets' souls."

44 The distinction between the two exalted parties
44 is difficult, as two of them claim supremacy on the
" celebrity (drum) of being fathers-in-law to the
* * Arab founder of religion ; and the other two are
" fitted for dignity, by being sons-in-law to the
44 apostle of the Arabs. But whereas all things are
4' objects of the Almighty's regard, the excellent
44 Ali, * the Lion of God,' was esteemed so pre-emi-
4 ' nent an object of divine favor among the Moslems,
44 that want of faith and ignorance induced many
" to worship him as the true God, until this great
44 personage openly disclaimed such a pretension.
* ' Also during the pontificate and caliphat of Sadik,
'4 ' the faithful witness,' the powerful Abubeker,
" 4 the separator,' the grand Omar, and that of Zu-
" l-Narain, l the Lord of the two Lights,' error
44 misled many to such a degree, that they denied
14 their authority, until these legitimate directors
44 asserted their claims to that dignity." l

1 Allusion is here made to the four immediate successors of Moham-
med; these were Abubeker, Omar, Osman, and Alt'.
The first who took the title of khalif, that is " lieutenant of the Pro-

99

He returned an answer of a similar description in
a dispute between a Jew, a Christian, and a Musel-
man, who were arguing about the superiority of their

" phet," was Abdallah, better known by the name of Jo y }, Abubeker,

" Father of the Virgin," so called because Aisha, his daughter, was the
only one of Mohammed's wives who had not been before married to an-
other man. He was also distinguished by the title of . JJjJUo sadik,
or '« the faithful witness," given to him because he, the first Muselman
after Mohammed's preaching, attested the miracle of the Prophet's
ascension to heaven. It was he who collected the verses of the Koran,
which were written upon separate leaves, into one volume, called Al-
moihaf, " the book by excellence," the original text of which was
deposited in the hands of Hafsat, daughter of Omar and widow of
Mohammed. After a reign of two years and three months, he died in
the year 13 of the Hejira, 634 A.D., not without having named his
successor.

This was Omar Ben al-Khetab, known under the title of . a. Aj
fa'ru'k', " the separator," so called by Mohammed, because he had
separated the head from the body of a Muselman who, not satisfied
„ with the decision which the Prophet had given in a law-suit, came
to submit the case to Omar's revision. Under Abubeker's khalifat, Omar
acted as chief of justice, or chancellor. As khalif he was the first

A

who took the title of ^jjusj^l j^>\, Emir al-Mu'ment'm, " prince or

" commander of the faithful," which title devolved to all his successors.
He conquered Syria, Chaldaea, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt, and
built the town of Bassora at the mouth of the Tigris, in order to prevent
the Persians from taking the route to India by the gulph of Persia.
After a reign of ten years he was killed by the hand of a Persian slave,
who, having complained of his master's cruelty to him, did not receive
the expected redress. Omar, a judge cruel but just, would not fix
the right of succession upon his son, but wishing to keep the khalifat
elective, named six persons, called .CijiJj J-»t, Qhel al-shurah,

" people of council," who should choose a khalif among themselves.
Among these were Osman and Alt. After a hard contest between

100

respective prophets ; some acknowledging Jesus as
God, the others as the Son of God. One day as a
Christian and Muselman were disputing with each

these two competitors, the former, supported by his four colleagues, was
proclaimed khalifat the end of the year 23, or the beginning of 24 of the
Hejira, 643 or 644 A. D. Osman Ben Affan was called by his partisans
,.*> vj-v! j3, no ul nardin, *' the possessor of two lights," because he

had married Rakiah and Omm al Kachum, both daughters of Moham-
med, whose prophecy was supposed to be the source of light diffused
over his whole posterity. Osman published the Koran such as it was in
the original text, deposited (as was before said) in the hands of Hafsat,
one of Mohammed's widows, and he caused all copies, differing from
this one, to be suppressed. The domination of the Mohammedans was
established and extended, to the east, in Khorassen and in Upper Asia:
to the west, over the whole northern coast of Africa and even a part
of Spain, during thisk halif's reign, which, after eleven years, termin-
ated by his violent death in an insurrection which took place against him
in Egypt,

The Egyptians offered the government to AH As before mentioned,
he was one of the six persons named by Omar as fit for the khalifat,
which AH claimed as his right, being the cousin-german and son-in-law
(husband of Fatima, the eldest daughter) of Mohammed, and thus the
head of the family of the Hashemites, who were distinguished by the
name of " the house of the Prophet." After Osman's death, AH was by
his party proclaimed the head of the Muselmans. His title was juJ

v Jladl &lM, as sad allah al-ghaleb," the lion of God, the victorious."

Possessed of great learning, he composed several celebrated works in
prose and in verse, although he had to sustain a continual struggle with
the adverse party. He was assassinated in Kufa, in the year 40 of the
Hejira, 660 A. D. After him, his sons Hassan and Hossain (see note 3,
pp. 47-48) fell victims to Moavia, a relation of Osman, and the mortal enemy
of the whole race of AH. The contest between these two parties Mas,
after the death of their chiefs, carried on by their numerous adherents,
and, connected as it is with some difference in their religious opinions
and rites, continues to our days. Ali is acknowledged the head of the

101

other, the former allowing the death of Jesus, and
the latter believing him to be alive, Azar Kaivan
said: " If a person who knew not the direction of
'* a road which formed his destination, should in
' ' the course of his journey come to a dead body
44 lying down, and a living person seated, from
" which of the two ought he to inquire his way?"
As the disputants both replied, " from the living
41 person;" he then said to the Muselman: 4< Adopt
4 thou the faith of Jesus, as according to thy belief
' he is living." He then added : * ' By life is meant
1 the life of the rational soul : in this Mohammed
•' and Jesus are on an equality ; call your prophets
* 4 the ' eternal living :' for life means not the per-
44 petuity of this body fashioned out of the elements,
*; which cannot accompany us beyond a hundred
" or a hundred and twenty natural stages (years)."
Azizi says:

" If the domestic fowl should lly along with the fowls of the air,
" It could not proceed in flight beyond the summit of the wall."

A hermit once came into Zu-l-Ulum's ' presence;

i Shidts, which word means in general " a troop, a party," but is
particularly applied to those who believe that the Imamat, or the supreme
dignity over the .Muselmans, belongs by right to AH and his descendants,
who call themselves Alddiliats, or " the party of the just." Opposed to
them are the Sonnites, so called from the Arabic word sonnat, which
signifies " precept, rule," or the orthodox faith of Muselmans, com-
prehending the traditional laws relative to whatever has not been written
by the great legislator (see Ilerbelot, sub toe.).— A. T.
1 Zu-1-Ulum, " master of sciences," was a title of Kaivan.

102

he pronounced a panegyric on the opposition to
sensual passions exhibited by pious Moslem believers:
and then added : ' * There is no limit to the opposi-
* ' tion to these passions : even the unbeliever through
" the practice of austerities finally becomes a Mos-
" lem." He also added: " An exemplary unbe-
' ' liever had become able to work miracles : a Shaikh
*' went to him one day and asked : * By what route
' ' * hast thou attained to this dignity?' He replied,
" • * By opposing the suggestions of the passions.'
' * On which the Shaikh answered : * Now turn to
" * Islamism, as thy soul has admitted infidelity.'
" On hearing which the unbeliever became a fol-
" lower of Islamism." Kaivan observed : " The
" Shaikh must have been an infidel, as his soul was
** slill seeking after Islamism, or the true religion."
Urfi says:

•• Lay aside the recollection of (these words) belief and unbelief, as they

" excite great disputes;
" For according to our (supposed) bad doctrines, all persons think

" aright."

A person once came to Zu-1-Ulum, and said : " I
" propose embracing the profession of a durvesh,
" and breaking asunder the chains which bind me
" to the world." Kaivan replied, " It is well."
Some days after, he returned to Kaivan, and said:
" I am at present engaged in procuring the patched
" tunic, cap, wallet, and other things necessary for

105

" my profession." Zu-1-Ulum observed : " The
' * profession of a durvesh consists in resigning every
" thing and abandoning all manner of preparations,
" and not in accumulation of any kind."

A merchant through penury having assumed the
dress of hypocrisy, appeared in a Shaikh's garb,
and many persons devoutly regarded him as a holy
man. He one day came before Kaivan and said :
' ' Often have wretches plundered me on the road :
11 it was however for a good purpose, in order that
" by embracing the life of a durvesh I might attain
*' the great object of salvation." Azar Kaivan re-
plied : * ' Be not grieved, as thou art now plundering
*' mankind by way of retaliation."

" The society of Urfi pleases not the superior of our monastery ;

" Because the superior is a foe to the intelligent and UrQ to the stupid."

At present some of Kaivan's disciples, as far as
the author's acquaintance extends, are about to be
enumerated.

Farzanah Kharrdd, of the family of Mahbud, who
had been the khan salar (royal table-decker or taster)
to the equitable monarch Nushirvan, l and put to

1 Nushirvan, called by the Arabs Kesra, by the Persians Khosru, is
reckoned by some authors the 19th (by others the 20th) Persian king of
the Sassanian dynasty, which, according to different opinions, was com-
posed of 31, 30, or 29 princes, and lasted 527, 500, or 431 years.
Nushirvan reigned from 531 to 579 after J C. He was called " the
" just:" from the outside of his palace to his room was drawn a chain,
by the motion of which he could have notice of any complainant who

104

death through the sorcery of a Jew and the calum-
nies of a chamberlain, as recorded in the Shah
Namah of the king of poets, Ferdiisi, and in other
histories : Kharrad joined himself to Kaivan in the
bazar of Shiraz, and practised religious austerities
for many years. Farzanah Khushi has often men-
tioned in conversation, and has also frequently
repeated in the Bazm-gah-i-Durveshdn, " the Dur-
'* vesh's banquet ling-room," the following circum-
stance: " I one day beheld Kharrad and Ardeshir
" (a descendant of Ardeshir Babegan,1 and one of
** Kaivan's disciples), standing face to face and mu-
' * tually opposing each other : whenever Ardeshir

wanted redress. He was victorious .in the east and west of Asia ; he
destroyed the prophet Mazdak ( of whom see hereafter, section XV ) ; he
brought from India to Persia the fables of Pilpay, called Anvari Sohili ,
" the Canopian lights," and a game similar to chess. During his reign
Mohammed was born. Nushirvan's favorite minister, Buzerg-Mihr,
called also Bvzer-Jmihr, was famous for virtue and wisdom; about
both these personages a great number of marvellous and fabulous accounts
forms the matter of favorite poems in the East.— A. T.

1 Ardeshir Babegan was the first king, and founder of the IVth dynasty
of Persian kings, called the Sasssa'm'dns, or the Khosroes. His father
was .S'assan, a descendant of another Sassan, the son of Bahman Isfen-
diar, the 6th king of the lid Persian dynasty, called the Kaya'ni a n.
The latter Sassan was reduced to a low station, having become the shep-
herd of Babek, a wealthy man, whose daughter he married ; — he had by
her a son named Ardeshir, who took the name of his maternal grand-
father (which is to be noted as an Indian custom): hence he was called
Babegan. He is identified with the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, a contem-
porary of the Roman emperor Commodus ( A. D. 180-193 ). The epoch
of his reign is one of the most uncertain points of Persian history. It may
be Qxed from the year 200 to 240 of the Christian era. -A. T.

105

" wished to smite Kharrad with a sword, he ap-
" peared like a stone, so that when the sword came
' ' into contact with his body, it was instantly broken
<l to pieces." — In the year 1029 of the Hejirah
(1(520 A. D.) he became reunited to the pure uncom-
pounded spirit. Buzurgi says :

" What is the soul? the seminal principle from the loins of destiny:
" This world is the womb : the body its enveloping membrane :
" The bitterness of dissolution, dame Fortune's pangs of childbirth.
" What is death? to be born again an angel of eternity."

Farzanah Farshid wird was one of the Parsi vil-
lage chieftains : his pedigree ascended to Farzanah
Shedosli, who was one of the fifth Sassan' s * disciples.
He also became attached to Azar Kaivan in the same
place as Kharrad, and devoted himself to the service
of the Almighty. Khushi relates as follows : " Far-
" shid wird and Bahman used to stand facing each

1 The 5th Sassan, above mentioned, is said to be the last of fifteen Per-
sian prophets, the first of whom was Mahabad, and the 13th Zoroaster. The
fifth Sassan lived in the time of Khosru Parviz, who reigned, the 21st or
22nd king of the Sassanians, from 591 to 628 of the Christian era. We
read in the Persian preface of the Desatir. that five years after the death of
Khosru Parviz (that is in the year 634), the Persian empire being shaken
by the conquests of the Arabs, the fifth Sassan translated the Desatir. The
English preface of the same work states, that " he died only nine years
" before the destruction of the ancient Persian monarchy," or nine years
before 652, which would be in the year 643 of our era. It appears from
the Desatir (English transl. p. 192), that the fifth Sassan, not less than his
father, the fourth Sassan, was attached to the king Parviz, of whom he
says (ibid. p. 202) : " From the wickedness of mankind did it arise that
" such an angel-tempered king was taken from the Hirtasis (Persia)."
— A. T.

106

" other; every arrow which Bahman discharged
** against Farshid wird, he used to cut in two with
" his sword : and whenever the latter let fly an
" arrow, Bahman with activity and address threw
" himself to one side and avoided it. But this is
" still more wonderful: whenever Bahman shot off
" a musket, Farshid let fly one at the same instant,
*' and ball met ball, so that they both remained
'* unhurt : sometimes also when Farshid Wird shot
" off his musket, Bahman used to move rapidly on
" one side." In the year 1029 of the Hejirah
(A. D. 1619) he hurried away from this abode of
the elements to the skies. The Khajah Hafiz speak-
ing on this subject, says :

" He never dies whose heart is quickened with love divine;

" But remains for ever stamped on the records of our eternal world."

Farzanah Khiradmand was descended from Sam,
the son of Nariman : he joined Zu-l-Ulum and gave
himself up to religious austerities. Khushi thus
relates : " I once beheld Khiradmand while standing
' ' face to face to Rustam (who was descended from
" Bahram Gur, l and was one of Kaivan's distin-

1 Bahram Gur ( Varanes V), the son of Yezdejird badkar (the iniqui-
tous), was educated out of Persia. After the death of his father, the
throne having been given to Kisra, a stranger, Bahram came to dispute the
crown, which he proposed should be placed between two famished lions,
and belong to him who should seize it there. Kisra accepted the propo-
sal, but would not attempt the first to snatch what he already possessed.
Bahram then, after having killed the fierce animals, took and kept the

107

"guished disciples), assume the form of a dragon,
" and shower out fire from his mouth, to such a
" degree that a strong palm was consumed by its
" violence."

In three months after Bahman's death, Khirad-
mand was restored to his original place. Buzurgi
says :

The skilful and intelligent artist

Should have in this world two successive lives :

So that in one he might acquire experience,

Which he could carry into effect by another experiment.

Of these illustrious personages they have recorded
many miraculous and mysterious deeds ; such as,
in the upper world, hiding the sun's disk ; causing
him to appear at night ; making the stars visible in
the day-time : and in this lower world, walking on
the surface of water ; making trees productive out
of season ; restoring verdure to dried-up wood ;
causing trees to bow down their heads ; also showing
themselves between heaven and earth in the form of
lightning ; and such like : and, in the animated
world, metamorphosing animals ; rendering them-

prize with universal applause. He was the 13th (or 14th) king of the
Sdssdnians. After having repulsed an invasion of the Turks, and secured
his empire, he left Persia, and travelled in disguise to India in search of
adventures; by a series of daring actions, he gained a great reputation,
and the hand of an Indian princess, with whom, after two years of ab-
sence, he returned to Persia. Fortunate in war against Greeks and Ara-
bians, he lost his life in a hunting party, after a reign of 23 (some say
18) years, which is placed from 420 to 438 of our era.— A. T.

108

selves invisible lo men ; appearing under various
shapes and forms : some of which wonders have been
recorded in the Bazmgah-i-Durveslii Khushi. They
relate that these great personages were to such a
degree enabled to divest themselves of corporeal
elements, that they quitted the body at pleasure :
also that they had acquired from the court of Hea-
ven the knowledge of all sciences whether known or
occult, and consequently had the power of exhibiting
such wonderful works ; having rendered, by the
efficacy of their austerities, elementary matter sub-
ject to themselves. The author of these pages
beheld these four holy personages, Kharrad, Far-
shid wird, Bahman, and Khiradm.and, in Patna, on
which occasion they bestowed their benedictions,
and imparted to him the glad tidings of the means
of obtaining the great object, or final salvation.
Shaikh Saadi says :

" It becomes the truly wise to pass every day in the exercise of holy zeal,
" And to offer up prayers for the prosperity of durvcshes."

Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, was de-
scended from Gudarz, the son of Hashwad. When
Azar Kaivan had proceeded to Patna, in this sage's
latter days, Farzanah Bahram came from Shiraz
and devoted himself to the practice of religious aus-
terities. He was a man who had attained the high-
est degree of knowledge in logic, natural philosophy,
the abstract sciences, and theology, which he had

109

most attentively studied as far as set forth and ex-
pounded by sound reasoning in the Parsi, Pehlevi,
and Arabic : in practical and theoretical science he
was unequalled ; being profoundly skilled and a
perfect philosopher in all the objects of science and
morality : among the Moslem doctors, he had esta-
blished the relations of external tuition with Khajah
Jumdl-Uddin Mahmud, one of the disciples of the
Mulla Jaldl Dawani. Farzanah Bahrain is the po-
lished author and compiler of the book entitled
Sharistdn-i-Ddnish, wa Gulistdn-i-Binish, " the
" pavilion of knowledge and the rose-garden of
"• vision." In the Sharistan, he thus tells us :
44 Through the aid of Azar Kaivan, I reached the
** invisible, the angelic, the empyrean worlds,
** and the seat of the Divinity, and attained to
" union with him through revelations of the four-
*' fold kind — impressive, operative, attributive, and
'* essential." The Mobed Hoshyar relates: " I
' ' have heard Farzanah Bahram relate as follows :
' * I was one day standing in the presence of Azar
" Kaivan, and conceived in my heart the wish
" that he should tell me what occupied my secret
" thoughts. The venerable personage unfolded the
' ' secret thoughts of my heart, and afterwards said :
" ' O, Farzanah! it is an easy matter for me to
tk * know the secrets of the soul; but then what
' • * purpose does thy tongue answer ? in order

110

" ' that thy tongue may not be useless, I shall for
44 ' the future suffer thee to speak. ' He assumed
the dress of a merchant, but people imagined it
was for the purpose of concealment, and that he
gave himself up to alchymy. In the year of the
Hejirah 1054 (A. D. 1624), he ascended from this
lower abode of darkness to the pavilions of light.
The sage Sunai says :

" Wherever intellect and divine knowledge are found,
" The death of body is the birth of soul."

The Mobed Hoshyar is the author of the Sarud-i-
Mastdn, " the songs of the intoxicated." He was
born at the port of Surat ; he traced his pedigree to
the invincible champion Rustam, the son of Zal,
and was a man of exceeding bravery, heroism, and
experience ; perfect in generosity, sagacity, the
termination of disputes, right reason, and sound
experience. If his history were detailed at full
length, it would become necessary to write another
Shah Namah concerning his victory at Girdun, his
defeat of Ali Yakah, and such like. *

In short he entered the service of the great philo-
sopher Azar Kaivan and his eminent disciples, being
associated with them in the doctrine of self-know-
ledge ; from the commencement of night to the rise
of the world-illuminating sun, he slept in the atti-

1 This passage is very obscure— the occurrences here mentioned must
have been local.— D. S.

Ill

tude of Murdah Khasp. Now the terms Murdah
Khab,Murdap Khasp, and Sdonds, are terms applied
by the Sipasian to the following mode of sleeping :
the devotee rests ( having thrown his legs beneath
him) on his knees, pressing to the ground both
heels as far as the great toe : and applying the extre-
mities of the knees to the earth, he keeps his seat
on the same ; he is then to lie on his back, keeping
the points of his fingers on his head ; after this, he is
to look intently between the eye-brows, and carry
into practice the Habs-i-dam, or imprisonment of
the breath. The Durvesh Subahani, one of the great
Sufees, used to say : «' Such was the sleep of the
' ' prophets. " They also say : ' ' The prophets of old
'* used to sleep on their backs, with their faces di-
*' reeled towards the Heavens :" which is the same
as the position before described. Hoshyar had at-
tained to the power of suppressing the breath for
one* watch (three hours). Shaikh Saadi says :

" They who restrain the soul from sensual pleasures
" Surpass in heroism both Rustam and Zal."

Hoshyar was not scrupulous about what he ate ;
never turning away his face from whatever was set
before him : he however most diligently shunned
the practice of cruelty to living creatures, and avoided
superfluities and excess of every description. Hafiz
of Shiraz on this head says :

" Addict not thyself to cruel pursuits, and do whatever else thou pleascst,
" As in our law there is no sin except that of cruelty."

In the year of the Hejirah 1050 (A. D. 1640) he
was delivered from the bondage of body in the capi
tal named Akbar Abad. l The Mobed says :

" Truly the body is a narrow sepulchre which entomhs every spirit,

" When that tomb is entombed, thou beholdest a wall, that really is

" no wall ;

" When the tomb is entombed, the living spirit is freed from its prison.
'« Alas ! 0 Mobed, the sovereign of the body knows of no restriction."

The Mobed Hoshyar, who was conversant with
the visible and invisible worlds, master of the eso-
teric and exoteric doctrines, was the interpreter of
the Jashn-i-Sadah (the festival of Sadah), 2 from
which work his superior talents are evident : he
derived his descent from the sage Jamasp. 3 In the

1 Akbar Abad ( Akbar' s town) was Agra.

2 Sadah is the name of the 16th night of the Persian month Baltman
(the ilth of the year, January) This night is solemnized by fires lighted
in towns and in the fields (Herbelot). — A. T.

3 Jamasp, a great priest of the religion of Zoroaster, and supposed author
of a Persian work upon the great conjunctions of the planets, and upon
the events which they produce. This work was translated into Arabic
by Lali, in the year 1280 of our era. According to the Shah-namah and
to some historians, Jamasp was the brother of Gustasp, the Vth Persian
king of the Pe'shdadian dynasty (Herbelot). In the book Mugjizat Farsi
(see Hyde, Prefatio^, Jamasp is the Vlth of ten Persian prophets, who are
enumerated as follows: I. Feridun ; II. Alexander; III. Anushirvan;
IV. Baheramgor ; V. Rustam ; VI. Jamasp ; VII. Buzurgjmihr; VIII.
Barbud ; IX. an anonymous sculptor of the beautiful horse Shabdiz,
which had belonged to king Parviz; X. Fcrhad, a celebrated architect,
enamoured of Shfrin, the wife of Parviz.— A. T.

115

year of the Hejirah 1056 (A. D. 1620) the aulhor of
this work met him in the delightful region of Kash-
niin. He used to support himself on the extremities
of his fingers, so that his body came not into con-
tact with the ground, in which position he conti-
nued from midnight until dawn. On the subject of
penance Hafiz says :

" 0, my heart '. couldst thou but acquire a knowledge of religious

" austerity,
" Thou wouldst be able to abandon women like smiling torches."

The Mobed Sarosh, the son of Kaivan, the son of
Kamkar, who was styled Namddr, or " the illus-
" trious," on account of the celebrity of his know-
ledge. The Mobed carried his lineage on the father's
side to the venerable prophet Zardusht, and on his
mother's, to Jamdsp the Sage. He was equally con-
versant with the theoretical and practical sciences ;
and was master of the languages of Arabia, Persia,
and Hindustan ; he had travelled over most of the
habitable world ; his nights were passed in prayer;
his conduct was always pure. On coming into atten-
dance on Kaivan, he was illuminated by the sun of
his knowledge, and during his attendance on Far-
zanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, he acquired the
Arabic language. His age reached to sixty years ;
in short he was a saint elect, who in the course of
his life never looked on a woman ; his mouth was
never polluted with animal food of any description;

114

he sought seclusion from the world, and limited him
self to a small quantity of food.

" If thou didst but know the pleasure of abandoning pleasure,
" Thou wouldst never more talk about the pleasures of sense."

He is the author of many admired literary works
and compilations; such as the Nosh Darn , *' sweet
" medicine;" the Sagangubin, " dog's honey, "and
ihe Zerdusht A/shar, "the companion of Zerdusht,"
and such like. It was heard from an eminent doc-
tor, named Muhammed Mahsan, who said thus : " I
** heard from him (Kaivan) three hundred and sixty
1 * proofs confirmatory of the existence of the Deity :
" hut when 1 wished to commit them to writing, it
" was no longer in my power." People relate all
manner of miraculous stories about him ; such as his
creating what was not previously in existence; re-
vealing secret matters, and concealing what was
evident; the acceptance or fulfilment of his prayers ;
his performing a long journey in a short space of
time ; his knowledge of things hidden from the
senses; and his giving a description of the same;
his appearing at the same lime in places far distant
from each other ; bringing the dead to life, and
depriving the living of vitality ; his being enabled to
hear and understand the language of animals, vege-
tables, minerals, etc. ; to produce food and wine
without any visible means; to walk on the surface
of water, also through fire and air ; and such like.

115

The author met him in Kashmir in the year of the
Ilejirah 1036 (A. D. 1627).

Firrah Kdri, the attendant on the venerable Shi-
dosh (an account of whom shall be soon given) was
a person, whose essence was adorned with science
and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordi-
nary probity and sound understanding, said thus :
" I once received some injury from the peasantry of
*' Achan, a district bordering on the public and
" sacred place of Kashmir : speaking of this to Yaz-
4 * dan Sildi, a disciple attached to the Mobed Sarosh,
" I said * the people of Achan have grievously af-
•* ' flicted me,' and stated to him the criminal con-
** duct of this wicked set of men. He answered :
" ' Do you wrish that the Almighty should over-
" * whelm with floods the cultivated grounds of
" 'these wretches?' I replied * Certainly.' It
" then began to rain so exceedingly, the loftiest and

* * slrongest-built houses were overthrown ; from the
•' overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings

* * and tilled grounds ; and the fields of these men
" themselves were nearly destroyed by the waters
** at the very commencement." The Maulavi Ma-
nevi says :

" As long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction,
" God never brings calamity on any people."

The rains still continued, which Sarosh having

116

observed, he was exceedingly wroth with his disciple
and reproved him ; and that same day the rain ceased .
Firrah Kari used to say, " Mobed Sarosh was ac-
" quainted with the desires of my heart, and pos-
" sessed power over men's minds." He also related
the following story concerning him : '* At the time
" of arriving in the caravanserai of Balik, in the
" city of Tarkhan, the men of that place wished
' ' to act wickedly towards us, and practise oppres-
" si on. I explained the nature of their conduct to
4 * the Mobed, on which he retired into a corner. That
" same night there appeared in the air men whose
" heads reached to the heavens, whilst their feet
" touched the earth. The people of the city were
" seized with consternation and desisted from op-
" pressing us, and the merchants at the same time
" bestowed freedom on those who had been cap-
" lives for many years."

The Mobed Htishyar relates : " Being in want of
" a few direms, 1 went to Yazdan Sitai, the disciple
" of ihe Mobed Sarosh ; on this he stretched forth
" his hand, and taking up some broken pottery,
" formed twenty heaps of it: having breathed on
" these a few times, they all became gold Mohurs :
" these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them
" in the course of my ordinary expenses." He also
" relates: " Yazdan Sitai constructed a house of
" such a kind that, when any one entered, he be-

" held liie sun; and when the holy man sat with
" his friends, lie appeared as a crocodile coming to
" the river-bank, which was about to snatch away
" all present. He sometimes threw into the fire
** towels on which the flames had no effect : he
*' frequently repeated something, stirring his lips,
" and so rendered himself invisible ; he used some-
' ' times to appear in the air, and used to say : * 1
** ' am actually at rest, although I appear olher-
" ' wise.' ' Shidosh, the son of Anosh, said: "We
' ' were once seated near him when he placed a taper
*'* in a basin of water ; there immediately appeared
" some peacocks turning towards the water, plun-
" ging their heads into it, and displaying all their
" beauty, whilst we remained in utter astonish-
" ment." Shidosh also says: " I once beheld him
* ' disporting in the midst of a blazing fire. " Nay, the
writer of these pages has seen him swallow fire.
The Mobed Hiishyar says : "He once exhibited a
** sight, so as to make a house appear filled with
" serpents and scorpions." He used also to lay
on the breast of a person plunged in sleep, some-
thing of such a nature as to make him return an
answer to every question proposed to him. The
Mobed Hiishyar also relates: " I once beheld the
" Hakim (the Sage) Kamran of Shiraz, in the feast
" of joy and hospitality made for the reception of an
" Iraki friend, light a match: on this, all the Lu-

118

* ' lees ' then in the house stripped themselves naked
" and began to dance, whilst we looked on at a
" distance. The sage said : ' This we have learnt
" ' from Yazdan Sitai : as I give no invitation to
" ' Lulees, and no others can be prevailed on to
" ' commit such indecency, 1 therefore tried the
" ' experiment on the party of them assembled in
'* ' this place.' ' Many other things of a similar
nature are related concerning Yazdan Sitai.

Khoda Joi was a native of Herat, who had passed
many years in the service of exemplary and holy
men; he relates: " I once saw in a vision holy
" personages come around me and say: ' Depart
" ' and seek a spiritual guide free from prejudice/
" During many years' search I was unable to dis-
** cover such a character ; but having once seen in
" a dream, * that Azar Kaivan of Istakhar was one of
" * that description:' I went near him in company
" with Farzanah Khushi"

Khoda Joi excelled in the knowledge of Parsi
and Arabic ; he avoided altogether animal food of
every description ; he could suppress his breath dur-
ing four watches (twelve hours), and was in the
habit of practising the Hubs-i-dam ; he never slept
at night, nor ate more than fifty direms weight of

1 The Lulees in Persia and in other parts of Asia are women of the
same description as the dancing girls in India, devoted to pleasure, and
exercising their art of pleasing at all festivals, public and private.— A. T.

119

food. He never gave utterance to a lie, and what-
ever he stated had reference to exalted objects and
pursuits : even these were uttered only at the soli-
citation of his friends. He is the author of the
volume entitled Jdm-i-Kai Khusro, " the cup of
Kai Khusro, " an admirable commentary on the
poetic compositions of Azar Kaivan, and also con-
taining his visions. He arrived in the delightful
regions of Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040
(A. D. 1631), where the author met him : in that
same year this distinguished personage hastened
Irom this abode of evanescence to the mansions of
eternity. Hafiz of Shiraz says :

" 0 joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation ;
" I then seek my soul's repose and follow the adored object :'
" Fluttering about like a solar mote in the atmosphere of that lip,
" Until I attain at last to the fountain-head of the radiant sun."

The Mobed Khushi is the author of the Bazm-Gah
(or " banqueting house"), in which treatise when
describing the stations of Azar Kaivan's illustrious
disciples and most eminent followers, who are twelve
in number; he enumerates them in this order: Ar-
dashir, Kharad, Shiroiyah, Khiradmand, Farhad,
Suhrab, Azddah, Bizhen, Isfendiar, Farsltidwird,

1 These verses of Hafiz, p. 56, edit, of Calcutta, are again quoted, p. 6,
of the same edit.; but instead of ^jUU. &)\\ ; which occur in the

first of these pages, we find in the last ..) '->'•?>• c-J \$ ; which last reading
was adopted.— A. T.

120

Bahman and Rustam: the daily food of each of these
individuals was much below ten direms weight :
and they carried the austerities recommended by
Kaivan to the utmost limit, so that no others of his
disciples attained to the same rank as these twelve
persons. Of Farhad, Farshidwird, and Bahman,
some account has been given in the preceding part
of this work.

In the Bazm-gali, Khushi thus states respecting
himself: " In the days of my youth, it was my anxi-
*' ous desire to find a spiritual guide. I therefore
' ' had recourse to the eminent doctors of Iran, Tu-
" ran, Room, and Hindustan ; that is, to Moslems,
" Hindoos, Guebers, Christians, and Jews. They
" all said to me : * Quit thy present faith and pass
" ' over to us :' but my heart felt no inclination to
" change of religion, to adopting another, and aban-
" doning opinions, as they did not afford me suffi-
" cient light in the object of my pursuit.

" Whilst a person beholds not the water, why pull off his slippers?"

* ' Such is the language of the prejudiced ; although
' ' each of these doctors praised himself as being free
1 ' from its influence : I afterwards beheld, in a vision,
" a mighty river from which streams and canals
" issued forth, all of which after many windings
' ' returned back into the same great river, and were
• " confined within its two banks. I abandoned the

121

" great water, and in order to allay my thirst, di-
" reeled my steps towards the rivulets in search of
' ' water : but as the banks of their channels were
" difficult of access through slime and mud, and car-
" rying a bowl,1 I could not reach the stream, and
" remained in great perplexity. At length my fa-
' * ther came up and said : * Entreat God to conduct
" ' thee to the water.' A voice then reached my
** ear: ' This man has abandoned the river, and
' ' ' directed his face towards the rivulets. ' On my
*' directing my steps towards the river, a blessed
' ' Angel said to me : ' The great river is Azar Kai-
" ' van ; the small rivulets are the doctors.' I then
" knew that the slime and mud of the banks, the
' ' bowl, and the rivulets refer to prejudice and envy :
" therefore, being accompanied by Khoda Jdi, 1
" joined myself to Azar Kaivan, and discovered the
" object of my inquiries." Hafiz of Shiraz ob-
' ' serves :

" Whither can we turn our face from the high-priest's threshold?
" Happiness dwells in his abode, and salvation within that portal."

Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, was called
Bahrain the Less : the Arzhang Mdni (the gallery of
Mani) is the production of his genius: he was in
attendance on Zu-al-Ulum, but attained to commu-

1 ^—sr*^- chamchamah, " a skull," answers to ehMi<yi kapala,
which signifies skull, and a skull-like howl, in which beggars receive
alms.— A. T.

n ion with God and to perfection, in the service of
Farzanah Bahrani, the son of Farhad. In the year
of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1658) the compiler of
these pages met with Bahrain the Less, the son of
Farhad, in the imperial city of Lahore, in perfect
health, but in the same year that sage bade adieu to
this world. He was a man who Ibund repose in
God, and avoided all intercourse with society : he
was learned in all the theoretical and practical sci-
ences, and eminently conversant with the languages
of Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and Europe : by him
were translated into Persian, that is, into Parsi
mixed with Arabic, the works of the Shaikh Ishrdk
Shuhdb ud din Maklid, which treated of the Ishra-
kian tenets ; his time was employed in transcribing
books, from which source he was obliged to derive
his scanty support. He never slept at night ; in
the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1658) the author
beheld him with Hiishyar at Lahore; during the
entire night, the writer of these pages sat in his pre-
sence, and from morn until evening Hiishyar re-
mained before him ; whilst the above-mentioned
Farzanah, seated on both knees, with his face to the
east, never moved : people have witnessed in him
many things of this description. They say that he
used to remain sealed two or three days after this
fashion, neither eating bread nor drinking water ; he
never laid his back on ihc ground ; his food consisted

125

of a small quantity of cow's milk; his lips were never
polluted with any other substance, and even this he
swallowed at intervals of two or three days.

" Be thou as a goblet, free from the contamination of body,

" Be thou earth in the footsteps of the pure.

" As from this earth thou mayst come to dust,

•• Break through the dust, and attain the human nature.

The Mobed Parislar, the son of Khurshid, who
was originally of Isfashan, assumed the elements of
body in Patna ; the Mobed, when a youth, was
accepted by divine favour, and through the aid of
the Almighty became one of the Yekdnah Bin, or
" seers of unity.' ' Having in his early years entered
into the service of Azar Kaivan, he obtained a per-
fect sanctity through the society of his holy master's
disciples. He however devoted himself chiefly to
the Mobed Sardsh: he was the author of the Tap-
rah-i-Mobedi, or " the Sacerdotal Kettledrum." In
the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1640) he
came to Kashmir, where the author of this work
was admitted into his society. From the night -
fal unlil sunrise, the Mobed Paristar gave him -
self- up to the Saraist, which in the celestial lan-
guage, or the Desatir, they call Faro, or " down-
" ward:" this rite, according to them, consists in
elevating the feet in the air, and standing on the
head ; which position is called in Hindi Kapal Asan '

124

or "head-seat." He ofa sudden quitted thcbodyand
entered the bowers of Paradise. A Mobed has said :

" If thou be a wanderer upon the path of spirituality,
" Fix not on the (external) robe, the motion of thy heart,
" For nothingness will be the dwelling of thy body:
" Although in reality thou continuest to move."

The Mobed Peshkar, the son of Khurshid, was
also born in Patna, and one year younger than Pe-
rishtar (his brother). He became unrivalled during
his age, in the Hindi chaunts and poems of that sect.
He was the servant of (lie leader Azar Kaivan and
liis disciples, and whilst in the service of the Mobed
Sarosh he attained the knowledge of God, and of
himself, and he became eminently divested of preju-
dice and exempted from human infirmities : being
totally unfettered by the bonds or chains of any sect
whatever, and studiously shunning the polemic do-
mains of prejudice : in short, the eulogium of one
creed and the abhorrence of another, entered not
into his system. He came to Kashmir with his elder
brother, with the purpose of departing from thence
toKalhay : he was noted for the imprisonment of the
breath, concerning which the Mobed Hiishiyar said :
" He once suppressed his breath and plunged into
" the water, where he remained immersed during
"two watches (six hours), after which interval he
" again raised his head above the surface."

HEMISTICH: " Wherever he may be, 0 God, guard him in safety I"

125

Sliidosh, ihe son of Anosh, descended from the
prophet Zardusht by his father Anosh, who was
styled Farhosh, " the splendor of intellect, "was one
of the sincerely devoted disciples of Azar Kaivan :
Zarbdd was also descended from the same divine
apostle Zardiisht, and finally became a man of opu-
lence, although at the beginning of his career he
only possessed the pangs of destitution. They both
came one day into the presence of Azar Kaivan, and
lamented the hardship of their forlorn state ; on this
Azar replied : " Proceed with a small stock to the
" quarter of sunrise, traverse the eastern borders,
" and dispose of it with speed towards the descend-
' ' ing sun, as your condition, through this depressed
" site of difficulty will be changed into the means
" of affluence." Nearly at the period of giving these
instructions, Azar Kaivan having withdrawn from
this earthly tabernacle, hastened to the resting-place
of the spheres, and these two Jupiter-like stars, the
unrivalled splendor of the world, set out as directed.
At length, through the efficacy of Kaivan's enlight-
ened spirit, the state of these pilgrims continued to
obtain an ascendancy, until they became possessed
of great opulence. Hafiz says thus:

" They who by a look convert clay into the philosopher's stone,
" What great matter if they bestow a single glance on me."

After this, Zarbdcli sent to Patna an ancient ser-
vant, Farrali Kari by name, to conduct his daugh -

126

ter to the musk-scented pavilion of Shidosh, the
illustrious son of Anosh. After this event, Farrah
Kari and Shidosh, proceeded from Patna on a com-
mercial adventure, and formed the plan of selling
out from Kashmir to Kashgar : they were however
obliged to remain some time in Kashmir : but on ihe
first moment of moving from Patna, there arose in
the breast of Shidosh an anxious wish for attaining
the knowledge of himself, the investigation of his
ancient abode, ascertaining his natural light, and
exploring the march of the invisible world : as from
the very first, this bright Jupiter, through the en-
treaty of Kaivan (Saturn) had directed his steps to
the region of atoms and the abode of elements of the
celestial and terrestrial parents: consequently, when
Kaivan had abandoned this bodily frame, he sat down
with his disciples,

" Choose thou companions who are better than thyself,
" In order that thy understanding and faith may increase."

He consequently devoted himself to religious exer-
cises, listening in the first place to the voice called
in Persian dzad dvd " the independent voice," in
Arabic, saut-i-mutluk, or " the absolute sound;"
and in Hindi, andliid. When he had duly practised
this rite, he directed his eyes, opened wide between
the eyebrows, which in Hindi they call terdtuk, until
the blessed form of Kaivan was clearly manifested :
he next contemplated that form, until it actually was

127

never more separated from him; he at last reached
the region of intellect, and having passed through the
six worlds, arrived in the seventh, and in this stale
of en trancement obtained admittance to the Almighty
presence ; so that, during this abstraction from self,
the annihilation (of every thing human) and the eter-
nity (of the spiritual) was joined to his existence.
Sadi says :

" 0 youth! enter thou this very day into the path of obedience,

" For to-morrow the vigor of youth comes not from the aged man."

One morning at the dawn of day he said thus to
the author of the Dabistan : *' Yesterday in the
" gloom of night, directed by the light of spirit, I
" departed from this external body, and arrived at
' * the mysterious illumination ever replete with efful-
" gence : the chamberlain of truth removed from
" before me the curtains, so that on quitting this
" mortal nature and leaving the visible world, I
" traversed the angelic sphere. The supreme in-
" dependently-existing light of lights became re-
*• vealedinall the impressive, operative, attributive,
" and essential radiance of glory : this state of ima-
" ginary being disappeared, actual existence was
" dearly witnessed." Ilafiz says:

" The perfect beauty of my beloved is not concealed by an interposing

" veil;
" 0 Hafiz, thou art the curtain of the road : remove away."

128

Shidosh, though far removed from receiving
pleasure by dainty food, still appeared always in
magnificent dresses : his audience always diffused
the fragrance of perfume ; he even clad in handsome
dresses his head domestic servants, and other de-
pendents, nay his very porter and doorkeeper. He
used to say: " My state proceeds from the splendor
" of Azar Kaivan's aid : to feel contempt for such a
*' capital would be highly improper; and not to
" make use of it would be an abomination before
" my benefactor ; for otherwise, I derive no pleasure
" from fine raiment." As to his abstinence in point
of food, and his shunning of female society, what
has been mentioned is sufficient on these heads.
Shidosh Bihin was a youth of a finely proportioned
person, and beautiful countenance ; the following
was the rule observed by him : he never attached
merit to any strange creed, but endeavoured to divest
himself altogether of prejudice, and maintained very
little intercourse with the generality of mankind :
when he formed an intimacy, on the first day he
testified only a small degree of warmth ; he exhibited
greater attention on the second; so that he daily
made greater advances in the path of friendship ;
progressively increasing his love and affection : as
to what has been stated relative to his displaying no
great degree of warmth on the first interview, the
same proportion obtained when he shewed a de-

129

crease of warmth to some ; that same would be reck-
oned very great in any other. He always asserted,
that in the society of friends, their intercourse must
not be separated from meditation on God, as what-
ever is, is but a radiancy emanating from the sun
of hisessence : the visible and invisible of the world
being only forms of that existence. Rafiah says :

" If angels and demons be formed from one principle,
" The husbandman, the spring, the seed, and the fleld must be the same :
" What has his unity to dread from the plurality of the human race?
" Although you tie the knot a hundred-fold, there is only a single cord."

Shidosh was seized with so severe an illness in
Kashmir, that his case surpassed the art of the phy-
sician : as Urfi says :

" What physician can there be, if the Messiah himself be taken ill?"

All the people about Shidosh were disconsolate,
but he remained cheerful of heart, and in propor-
tion as the symptoms became more aggravated, his
cheerfulness increased, and he frequently recited
these couplets from Hafiz :

" 0 joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation,

" Seeking the repose of my soul, and setting out in search of my beloved :

" Dancing like a solar mote around the atmosphere of her lips,

" Until I reach the fountain-head of the radiant sun."1

On the day of his departure from this temporary
halling-place to the eternal mansion of repose and
the exalted seat of happiness, his disconsolate friends

150

and affectionate domestics were deeply afflicted; but
Shidosh retained his cheerfulness and thus addressed
them with an expression of delight : " I am not
" grieved at this disease of body, why then do you
•' grieve? nay ought you not to wish that I, having
" quitted this gloomy abode of phantasy, should
" hasten to one beyond the confines of space, and
" the mansions of intellect may become united to
" the truly existent and independent (first cause)."
The Maulavi Manavi says thus :

" If death be a human being, say to him, ' draw near,'
" That I may closely fold him in a fond embrace.
" From him I extort by force eternal life,
" Whilst he but snatches from me the Durvish's party-colored dress.

He then lifted up his hands and directing his lace
to heaven, the Kiblah of prayer, recited the fol-
lowing blessed couplets from the Sahijah al Auliya,
^ volume of the Saints," written by the Imam Mu-
hammed Nur Baksh.

" Whether we are directors or guides1

" Still do we want to be guided, on account of the infancy of our steps.
" We are but solitary drops from the ocean of existence,
" However much we possess of divine revelation and proof.
" 1 am far from the great reservoir of drops,
" Convey me, 0 God, to the boundless ocean of light!"

1 Mahdf, " guide," in the original is perhaps an allusion to the name
of the twelfth and last Imam of the race of Ali. The Persians believe that
lie is still living, and will appear with the prophet Elias at the second
coming of Jesus Christ, and will be one of the two witnesses mentioned
in the Apocalypse (Hcrbelot).— A. T.

On reciting these lines he closed his eyes. The
Shaikh Abiilfaiz Faiyazi says on this subject :

" The drop became a fountain, and the fountain grew into a river,
" Which river became reunited to the ocean of eternity."

This event occurred in the year of the Hejirah
1040 (A. D. 1629) : his affectionate friends expressed
their grief in the following manner :

" Thy brilliant hues still exist in the parterre,

" Thy fragrance still survives in the jessamine ;

" The sight of thee is put off to the day of resurrection ;

" It is well : but it forms the theme of many a tale."

The author also in his elegy on Shidosh thus
expresses his grief:

" Since Shidosh departed from my sight

" That which was a receptacle of eyes became a receptacle of rivers ;
" Had my eyes been a channel, they would have become a river-bed :
" The resting place of the bird was the paradisian sphere:
" From this lowly nest he departed to the nest on high.
" He was truly free and sought no stores except those of holy freedom.
" He abandoned his body to corporeal matter, and his spirit joined the

" spiritual region.

" His soul was united to the sublime being, the creator of souls,
" Soaring beyond the limits of heaven, earth, and time."

If the author attempted to describe the learned
and pious Abadiyan who were seen in the Dadistan
Aursah, l this treatise would never be brought to a
conclusion ; he now therefore proceeds to mention

1 The printed copy reads ju«. J • j^-- ^'4 , an^ lue manuscripts

*i,,b .,\3L, -ib and 4«,.b .jbL, ib , the MS. of Oude has

' ' /

some others, who though professing a faith different
from the Yezdanian or Abadiyan, yet walked ac-
cording to the institutes of Kaivan's disciples, and
attained their great object, the knowledge of God :
and although this class is too numerous to be fully
described, a few of the eminent personages are now
about to be mentioned.

Mahummed All, of Shiraz was the fellow-student
of Shah Futtah Allah, and he traced his family to
Azar Kaivan : he however attained perfection through
the society of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad,
and had also traversed the seven climes. A thief
came to his house one night, on perceiving whom
Muhammed Ali pretended to fall asleep on his car-
pet, so that the robber might not suppose him to
be awake, and continue his pursuits without appre-
hension. The robber searched the house carefully,
but as all the effects were concealed in a secure place,
he was unable to get at them. On this Muhammed
raising his head, said to him: " I laid myself down
" to sleep, that thou mightst accomplish thy de-
" sires, whereas thou art in despair : be no longer
" uneasy." He then arose and pointed out the
place where all the things were stored away : in con-
sequence of this generous proceeding, the robber
abandoned his infamous profession, and became a
virtuous character.

Muhammed Said of Isfahan was a Saiyid descended

153

from Husain, who attained his great object through
Farzanah Bahrain, the son of Farhad. He once said
to the author : " The first time I obtained the honor
" of admittance to the audience of the distinguished
" Farzanah, he rose up on seeing me, and showed
" the proper respect due to an honorable person,
" directing me to be seated on the most distin-
" guished couch. Some lime after, entered a naked
*' Fakir, but Farzanah Bahrain moved not from his
" place, but pointed him to a seat in the slipper-
" repository. I felt this scruple ; surely the highest
" distinction is due to the Durvish. Farzanah then
" turning his face to the wall, which was orna-
" mented with paintings, said : ' O, lifeless figure,
" thou art seated on high ; but external form con-
" fers not distinction ; but Durvishes enjoy a rank,
" when their bodies are under the control of their
** souls,1 and their souls united with the supreme
** object of love; even in this assembly they are
" seated with me in my heart.' On hearing this, I
" turned into the right road." In the year of the
Hejirah 1045 (A. D. 1654), he abandoned this ele-
mental frame in Lahore.

Ashur Beg Karamanlu is also one of those who
obtained the gift of spiritual intelligence through
Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, notwith-

• The printed copy reads «V>. ^^.i* > llie MSS > with ^at of
Oude, have .U. U cl> ,i.

154

standing the total absence of regular studies : by the
exertion of his innate powers, he, like the other Ye-
kanah Bin " seers of one God," attained communion
with God. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D.
1656) the author conversed with him in Kashmir,
and inquired into the nature of his intercourse with
Bahram. He answered : " I went by way of expe-
" riment to Farzanah, and he thus directed me:
" ' Whether alone or in a crowd, in retirement or
" ' in public, every breathing which issues forth
' * ' must proceed from the head ; and on this point
" ' there must be no inattention.' He also said:
" * Guard the internal breath as long as thou canst,
'• * directing thy lace to the pine-formed heart, until
" ' the invocation be performed by the heart in the
** * stomach ; also thy invocation should be thus :
" ' * God! God !' Meditate also on this sentiment:
" * * O Lord ! none but thou forms the object of my
',*-'* desire!' When I had duly practised this, and
" * found its impressive influence, then from the
" * bottom of my heart I sincerely sought God.
" ' After some time he enjoined me to practise the
" ' Tawajjah-i-Talkin,' turning to instruction:' that
" ' is: ' keep thy soul in the presence of God, di-
'**••' vested of letters and sounds, whether Arabic or
" ' Persian, never removing thy mind from the
" ' ' pine-formed heart.' By conforming to these
** ' instructions, I have come at last to such a state,
" * that the world and its inhabitants are but as a

155

4 ' * shadow before me ; and their very existence as
' ' ' the appearance of the vapor of the desert. ' '

He was truly a man who had entirely withdrawn
from all external employments and concerns ; never
mixing with the people of the world. If a person
deposited food before him, he took only the quantity
he thought proper, and gave away the remainder ;
he never polluted his hand with money in gold, sti-
ver, or copper; and he frequently passed two or
three days altogether without food and never re-
quested any thing.

Malimud Beg Timan, so called from the Timan
tribe of Arang in Lahore, joined himself also to
Farzanah Bahrain, the son of Farhad, and as the
precepts of that sage were entirely congenial to his
mind, he commenced his religious profession under
him, and became one of the Yekanah Bin, " seer of
** one God," and " knowing God :" thus without the
aid of books he attained to the knowledge of the
Lord, and notwithstanding the absence of written
volumes, discovered the actual road. In the year
of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1637), whilst in Kashmir,
coming out of his cell one day, he saw before him a
wounded dog, moaning piteously; as the animal was
unable to move, he therefore sold the only two
objects he possessed, his carpet for prayer and his
rosary, with the proceeds of which he purchased
remedies for the dog. That same year, he said to

156

the author : " On the first day of turning my heart
" to the mental invocation of God, I had scarcely
" performed it ten times, when an evident influence
" was manifested : at the moment of the first part,
" called nafi, of the sentence, my human existence
" disappeared; at the time of the second, called
' ' asbat, a determined sign of divine grace became
" visible : my sentence was this : ' There is no God,
but God." ' After this manner, several of this sect,
by the diligent practice of faith, attained to the
knowledge of God.

Musa and Harun were two Jews, to whom Farza-
nah Bahram, the son of Farhad, gave these names :
they were distinguished by a profound knowledge
of their own faith, and highly celebrated among the
Rabbins, who are a particular sect of Jewish teach-
ers. On their introduction into Bahrain's society,
they were fascinated by his manners, and through
his system of faith acquired the knowledge of them-
selves. They applied themselves to commerce, and
neither in buying or selling did a falsehood proceed
from their lips, as is the custom of merchants. They
have thus recorded : "To whomsoever Bahram, the
" son of Farhad, uttered a single word about the

1 This corresponds to the Arabic: la ila hah illilla; the first part of
which, la ila huh, " there is no God," is called nafi, " negation ;" the
other part, illi la, " but God," is called asbdt, " confirmation." To
which is added: Muhammed resul ulla, " Muhammed is his prophet."
—A. T.

137

" path of religion, he became immediately fasci-
" nated by his manner : also whoever beheld him
' ' felt an attachment to him ; even the hardened
' ' infidel who approached him, humbled himself, and
' ' we have often witnessed such events : for example,
' ' the Mulla Muhammed Said of Samarkand , who was
" our intimate friend, through excess of prejudice
" hurried once to revile him : at that moment, Bah-
" ram had retired from Lahore into a burying-
' ' ground : when the Mulla approached, he found
" himself irresistibly impelled to run forward and
" laid his face on Bahrain's feet : and on Bahrain's
" addressing a few words to him, immediately em-
"• braced his faith. I afterwards questioned the
" Mulla about the exact nature of this conversion
' ' from infidelity, and he replied : ' I no sooner
' ' ' beheld him than I fell at his feet ; and when he
" ' addressed a few words to me, I became enrap-
" ' tured with him.' The Mullah always styled
" Bahram ' the plunderer of hearts.'

One day the author asked Musa, " is Kasun thy
" brother?" he replied, " people say so." I then
asked, " who is your father?" he answered, " our
" mother knows that."

Antun Bmhuyah Wdvaraj ' was a Frank, zealous
in the Christian faith, and also possessed of great

The two MSS. read Antun pashulah dakardaj ; the MS. of Oude, An-
ton paslmyah.

158

property ; through divine aid, he conceived an
attachment to the society of Durvishes, and for
the purpose of acquiring knowledge held frequent
conferences with them: through his having dis-
covered the path pointed out by the son of Fur-
had, he altogether resigned his worldly concerns,
assumed the profession of a Kalander, ' and de-
nied himself the use of clothes : Farzanah always
called him " Messiah." He used to appear per-
fectly naked, and never wore clothes either summer
or winter : he abstained altogether from animals
of every description : he never solicited any thing,
but if a person brought food or drink before him, if
it were not animal food, he would eat part of it. One
day, although an evil-disposed person smote him so
that his limbs were wounded, yet he never even
looked at his oppressor ; when his persecutor had
departed, I, the author, came up as the people were
speaking of the injury inflicted on him ; on my en-
quiring the particulars from himself, he replied :
" I am not distressed for my own bodily suffering,
" but that person's hands and fists must have suf-
' * fered so much. " The Imam Kali Warns tali, * ' the
humble," says :

" If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!
" But how acutely I feel for the hapless broken thorn !"

1 A Kalander is a person of religious pretensions, a sort of durvish
not generally approved by the Muhammedans— (Herbelot).

139

Ram Bhot, a Hindu, was a learned Brahmin of
Benares ; on joining the son of Farhad, he desisted
altogether from his former rites, and began to follow
llie path pointed out by Bahram. The Mobed Ho-
shyar says : " I have often heard wonderful stories
** concerning him ; a person named Muhammed Ya-
" kub was so ill, that the physicians having given up
" all hopes of his cure, his relations, in their afflic-
" lion, had recourse to an ignorant woman who
" reckoned herself a skilful personage : I went one
** day near Ram Bhot, and found him reposing his
" head on his knee, on which this reflection passed
" across my mind : 'if Ram Bhot be one of the elect,
" he can tell whether Muhammed Yakub is to re-
" main or pass away.' He raised up his head, and
" looking on me with a smile, said: ' God only

* ' knows the hidden secrets ; however, Muhammed

* ' Yakub is not to depart : in another week he will
" be restored to health.' And truly the thing
came to pass as he had declared." Through his
guidance Ram Chand, a Kshatri, one of the chiefs of
the Sahan Sa/tal, adopted the faith : and through the
instruction of these two individuals, many of their
tribe embraced the independent faith as promulgated
by the son of Farhad. The word Sah 1 in Hindi is
applied to " a possessor or powerful person," and

Perhaps ^^ sahas, " strength, power, light."— A T.

140

the Sahkal* are a division of theKshatri,an Indian
cast or tribe. In reality, it the writer attempted to
enumerate the numbers of different nations who
zealou sly adopted the doctrines and ritual of Bahrain,
this work would become exceedingly prolix ; he must
therefore resist from such an undertaking. The
author of these pages has heard from Farzanah Bah-
ram, the son of Far had, as stated on the authority
of Farzanah Bahrain, the son of Farhad, that one
day the Shaikh Bahd-ud-din Muhammed Ama/i,
who was a Mujlahad, " a champion," of the secta-
ries of Ali, came near Kaivan and obtained an inter-
view : having thus become acquainted with Kaivanrs
perfection and wisdom, he was exceedingly rejoiced
and happy, and recited this tetrastich :

" In the kabah and the firetemple the perfect saint performed his

" rounds,

" And found no trace of any existence (save that of God) ;
" As the splendor of the Almighty sheds its rays in every place,
" Knock thou either at the door of the kabah or the portals of the

" temple."

After this interview, he became the diligent fol-
lower of Kaivan, and resorted to the disciples of the
Master of all Sciences.

Mir AbulkasimFandaraski also, through his inter-
course with Kaivan's disciples, became an adorer of
the sun, refraining from cruelty towards all living

» Perhaps njf^T sakula, " having a family."— A. T.

141

creatures. It is well known that being once asked :
" Why dost not thou in obedience to the law go on
u the pilgrimage to Mecca?" He replied: " I go
u not on this account, as I must there slaughter a
" sheep with my own hand." At present the author
proceeds to describe with the pen of truth a sum-
mary of the institutes of theAmezish, " intercourse,"
held by the Abadian Durveshes with society. Those
who adopt this rule call it the Amezish-i-Farhang,
or " the intercourse of science, " and Mezchar, or
" Stranger's remedy." When a stranger to their
faith is introduced to one of their assemblies, far
from addressing harsh observations to him, they pass
eulogiums on his tenets, approve whatever he says,
and do not omit to lavish on him every mark of atten-
tion and respect : this conduct proceeds from the
fundamental article of their creed, as they are con-
vinced that in every mode of belief, its followers may
come to God: nay, if those of a different faith should
present them a request respecting some object about
which they disagree, that is, solicit some act by
which they may approach God, they do not with-
hold their compliance. They do not enjoin a per-
son to abandon his actual profession of faith, as
they account it unnecessary to give him useless pain
of mind. Moreover when any one is engaged in
concerns with them, they withhold not their aid
from his society and support, but practise towards

142

him to the utmost extent of their ability, whatever
is most praiseworthy in this world and the next :
they are also on their guard against indulging in
sentiments of prejudice, hatred, envy, malice, giving
pre-eminence to one failh above another, or adopt-
ing one creed in preference to another. They also
esteem the learned, the Durvishes, the pure of life,
the worshippers of God in every religion, as their
trusty friends ; neither styling the generality of man-
kind wicked, nor holding worldly-minded persons
in abhorrence : they observe, " what business has
'* he who desires not this world's goods to abhor
" the world?" for the sentiment of abhorrence can
proceed from the envious alone. They neither com-
municate their secrets to strangers, nor reveal what
another communicates to them.

A person named .Mihrdb was among the disciples
who followed the son of Far had, in the year of the
Hejirah 1047 (A. D. 1637); the author, who was
then in Kashmir, thus heard from Muhammad Fal
Hasiri : " I once beheld Mihirab standing in the high
" road, at the moment when a Khorasanian, seizing
" on an old man by force, obliged him to labor for
" him without recompense, and placed a heavy
" burden on his head: at this Mihrab's heart so
" burned within him, that he said to the Khorasa-
" nian, ' Withdraw thy hand from this old man,
" « that I may bear the burden whithersoever thou

145

" * desirest/ The Khornsanian was astonished, but
'k Mihrab, without paying any farther attention to
" this, took the poor man's load on his head, and
" went along with his unjust oppressor, and on his
" return from that person's house showed no symp-
" toms of fatigue. On my observing to him, * This
* ' ' oppressor has heaped affliction on a holy priest
" ' and judge like thee!' he replied, * What could
" * a helpless person do? tne load must be con-
" ' veyed to his house, and he was unable to place
" ' it on his shoulders, as it was unbecoming for him;
" * nor was he able to give money (which is difficult
" * to be procured) in payment of his labour : he
" ' of course seized on some one to perform his
" * work. I applaud him for granting my request,
" ' and feel grateful to the old man for complying
** ' with my wishes, suffering me. to take his place,
" ' and transferring his employment to myself.' '
Hafiz of Shiraz thus expresses himself :

" The heavens themselves cannot remove the weight confided to us ;
" The lot of labour fell to my hapless name."

Malt Ab, the younger brother of the above Mihrab,
was seen by the compiler of this work in attendance
on the son of Farhad, and in the year of the Hejirah
1048 (A. D. 1658) he thus heard from the Mulla
Malidi of Lahore: " Bahram having one day sent
" him on some errand to the bazar, he happened
" to pass by the house of a person in the service of

144

" Alim Uddin of Halsub, styled Wazir Khan; the
" soldier was then chastising his slave, saying:
" ' Thou hast fraudulently sold one of my captives.'
** Mahab coming near the soldier, said to him :
" ' Withdraw thy hand from this slave, and accept
61 me in place of him who has run away.' Nay, this
" request was so importunately urged, that the sol-
te dier finally accepted the offer and desisted from
" beating his slave. However, when the soldier had
" discovered Mahab's spiritual gifts, he permitted
" him to return home, but Mahab would not quit
** him. A week after this event, Farhad said in my
" presence, ' I know not where Mahab is ;" on
*' which, resting his head on his knees, he directed
** his heaven-contemplating attention to the subject,
*' and the instant after, raising up his head, said:
" £ Mahab is in the service of a certain soldier, and
u c has voluntarily resigned his person to servitude.'
" He forthwith proceeded to the soldier's abode and
** brought back Mahab." Many similar transac-
tions are recorded of these sectaries. Muhammed
Shariz, styled Amir ul Umra, l a Shirazi by descent,
thus says :

" Through auspicious love we make perfect peace in both worlds,
" Be thou an antagonist, but experience nothing but love from us."

1 Amir signifies "commander, chief, prince." This title was once borne
by sovereigns, but in the course of time was changed for that of Sullan, it
remained a title given only to princes, their sons. Amir ul Omra signi-
fies " the commander of commanders" (Herbelot).-~A.. T.

145

It is to be observed that Halsub is a place in one
of the districts of the Parjab.

A short notice of theAmfaesli-i Farliany, or institute
of the Abadiyah Durveshes, having been thus given,
we next proceed to describe with the pen of truth
the chiefs and rulers of that religion. But it is al-
ways to be borne in mind that the faith of the princes
of Persia, whether of the Abadian, Jaian, Shaian,
Yesani-an, nay of the Peslidadian, Kaianian, Ash-
kanian, and Sassanian dynasties was such as has
been described; and although the system of Zardusht
obtained the pre-eminence, yet they have by means
of glosses reconciled his faith with that professed by
Abad, Kaiomars, and the system of Hushang, called
the Farhang Kesh or " excellent faith;" ' they re-
garded with horror whatever was contrary to the
code of Abad, which they extolled by all means in
their power, as Parviz the son of Hormuz, 2 in his

1 The Persians pretend to have ( see my note, p. 32, and Hyde, Prefa-
<fo) a book more ancient than the writings of Zoroaster, called Ja'vt-
du'n Khirid, " the eternal wisdom," which treats of practical philosophy,
and the author of which is supposed to have been Hushang. — A. T.

2 Khosro Parviz was the grandson of Nushirvan, mentioned in our
note, page 105, as contemporary of the fifth Sasan, the translator and com-
mentator of the Desatir. Parviz, soon after having taken possession of
his father's throne, was driven out of Persia by a fortunate usurper, called
Baltram Ju'bi'n, and took refuge in the court of the Greek emperor
Mauritius, from whom he obtained not only protection, but also the hand
of his daughter named Mary by some, and by others Shirin, and a pow-
erful army to recover the kingdom of Persia. According to Eben Batrik
(see Herbelot), it was after having been restored to his sovereignty, that

10

146

answer to the Roman emperor, thus expresses
himself:

" We feel no shame in professing our ancient faith,
" No other creed in this world can compete with that of Hushang.
" The whole object of this code consists in promoting justice and love:
" And contemplating the numbers of the celestial spheres."

They give Mdhdbdd the names of Azar Hushang A
lliishany, Hushancj, and A Hosh. It is also recorded,
that the Almighty bestowed on the princes of Ajam1
prudence, sagacity, and perfection of intellect,
whereby their theories were connected with practi-
cal results, and their words quite in harmony with
their deeds, so that their rule over this revolving
world for so many thousand years was entirely
owing to the efiicacy of the above-mentioned prin-
ciples and covenants.

he sued for marriage with the daughter of Mauritius, who answered that
he could not grant his daughter, unless the Persian monarch adopted the
Christian faith. The verses in the text seem to refer to this circumstance,
but express at the same time a strong attachment of Parviz to the ancient
religion of his country, whilst, according to theArabian author just quoted,
this prince apostatised, in spite of his opposing grandees, for the sake of
the beautiful Shirin, for whom he had conceived an irresistible passion.
Mauritius, his father-in-law, having been put to death, with all his chil-
dren except one son, Parviz endeavoured to replace this remaining son
upon the throne of his father. At first successful against Phocas, he was
defeated by Heraclius, the successor of the Greek emperor ; he lost all his
conquests, his reputation, his liberty, and at last his life, by a parricide,
his son and successor, Shiruyah or Sirocs. — A. T.

1 Ajem includes all Asia except Arabia. The Arabians, as formerly the
Greeks, call the inhabitants of all countries except their own, Barba-
rians; but here, and elsewhere, the author takes Ajem for Persia.- AT.

147

SECTION III.

THE THIRD SECTION OF THE DABISTAN explains tllC

laws of the Paiman-i-Farhang (excellent covenant)
arid the Hirbed Sar (the pure Highpriest).

The Paiman-i-Farlmny is the code of Mahabad,
of which many translations have been made ; one of
them is that made by Faridun, the son of Abtin;
another, that of Buzurg-Mihr1 for the use of Nitshir-
van, the son of Kobad; some extracts from these
have been given in the present work. The Yazda-
nian, " godly," who are also called Safii Kesh,
" flourishing faith," and Sipdsi, " adorers," main-
tain that the most exalted of the prophets, the migh-
tiest of kings, and the sire of the human race which
exists in this cycle was Mdhdbdd, whom they also
call Azar Hushang, " the fire of wisdom." They
also say that it is thus recorded in the code of this
venerable personage, which is the word of God;
and that moreover, this mighty prince has himself
expressly announced that the Divine Essence, which
has no equal, is totally devoid and divested of all
form and figure ; incapable of being the object of

1 Buzurg - Mihr was the celebrated minister of I\7ushirvan ( see
note, p. 104).

conception or similitude : also that the tropes of the
most eloquent orators, the illustrations of the most
enlightened and profound geniuses, are utterly
unable to convey a clear idea of the light, which
has neither perceptible color nor sign : the sublime
speculations of the learned and the discriminating
understandings of the sage are too feeble to compre-
hend the substance of the pure essence of that light,
which is without equal, quality, color, or model:
also that all existences have proceeded from the
bounty and wisdom of the Almighty, and are con-
sequently his creation: that not a single atom inlhis
world, nor even the motion of a hair on the body of
a living creature escapes his knowledge : all which
propositions are proved by evident demonstrations
deduced from various .premises, and accompanied
by excellent commentaries, the enumeration of which
this abridged treatise cannot admit. Also that the
cognizance of the self-existent God extends alike to
the most minute particles of matter and the entire
universe.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT ANGELS OF THE FIRST
ORDER. — In the code of the great apostle Mahahad it
is thus stated ; the work of God is above the power
of the tongue, and infinitely exceeds the calculations
to which the inhabitants of this lower elemental
world have recourse : the operations of the Eternal
are from eternity to eternity: they assign the name

149

of Bahman1 to the first Angel whom the Almighty
invested with the mantle of existence, and through
the medium of whom it was communicated to others.
The planets, fixed stars, and heavens have each their
peculiar conservative Angel ; also the four ele-
ments below the lunar sphere have four conservative
Angels, and in like manner all productions connected
with them : for example, in minerals there are many
precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, and eme-
ralds of every kind, which are under the dominion
of their good, munificent, protecting Angel : and so
on with respect to all species of vegetable and animal
productions. The name given to the conservative
angel of mankind is Farun Faro Vakhslmr. 2

1 Azad Bahman is called by the Sipasian (see p. 6) the precious jewel
of the intellectual principle. In the Zand-books and in the Bun-Dehesh,
lie is invoked as created by Onnuzd, and as one who is to conduct the
heavens; he presides over the eleventh month of the year and the second
day of the month; he is the king of the luminous world ; the other angels
repose under his guard; he is the principle of the intelligence of the ear,
given by Ormuzd ; the father of the purity of the heart ; the Ized of peace
who watches over the people ; he aids in the distribution of the waters,
and in the production of herds and other riches ; it is he who re-
ceives the souls of the just at their entrance into heaven, congratulates
them on their happy arrival, and clothes them with robes of gold.— Zend
Avesta, I, pp. 81, 134, 416, 418; II, pp. 75, 100, 144, 182, 316, and
elsewhere. According to the Desatir (English transl. p. 63) Bahman is
the first of the numberless created angels. A T.

2 Vakhshur signifies " prophet" in the old Persian language. According
to the Desatir (edit, of Bombay, English transl., p. 79), Sadvakhshu'r is
an epithet of Hoshang, signifying " one hundred prophets." by a mistake

f50

DESCRIPTION OF THE SECOND ORDER OF ANGELS. — The
code of Mahabad states that the second rank is as-
signed to the Angels connected with bodies : that
is, every heaven and every star has a simple uncom-
pounded spirit, bare of matter, as it is neither a
botly nor material : also that all living beings in the
world have an imcompounded soul.

DESCRIPTION OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ANGELS. — It is
staled in the code of Mahabad, that angelic beings of
the third rank are the same as the superior and
inferior bodies. The superior bodies are those of
the sphere and the stars; and the inferior the four
(guhar) elements. The most noble of all bodies are
those of the sphere.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GRADATIONS OF PARADISE. — The
code of Mahabad states thus: " In the Minu or
11 * azure heaven' there are many gradations, we
' ' shall first enumerate the gradations of Paradise
" in this lower world. The first gradation consists
" of minerals, such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds,
' ' and the like ; the second of vegetation, such as
" plane trees, cypress, gardens, etc. ; the third of
" animals, such as the Arab horse, the camel, and
" such like : the fourth consisting of selected indi-
** viduals amongst men, such as princes and those
" connected with that class, persons in the enjoy-

ascribed, as well as the work Jacidan Khirid, to Jemshid, in my note,
pp. 31 and 32.— A. T.

15]

" uient of health, ihe contented, and such like; all
*' which gradations they call Minii Sdr, ' celestial
" abode/ and Bist Lad,1 that is, Feroden Jero , ' the
" ' low foundation.' In these states there is a
retrospect ; for example, there is one man who in
relation to his deeds gradually descends to the ani-
mal state ; whilst the terrene particles of virtuous
men's bodies change either to the vegetable state or
that of the choicest minerals, however without the
existence of an incorporeal soul in either of them.
On ascending from this state, the change is called
Lim Sar, or " dwelling on high ;" the first is the
lunar step ; for in the soul of the exalted moon are
the forms of all those beings into which the elements
enter. A person on arriving there remains in it,
becoming the regent of all the lower world, and in
proportion to his knowledge and the habits resulting
from his laudable qualities, assumes a better form.
On arriving at a higher rank than this, he finds aug-
mented delight as far as the solar step ; for the sun
is the Pirah-i-Yazdan, or " the ornament of God,"
that is, the viceroy of the Lord and sovereign of the
stars, whose gracious influence pervades both high
and low. On leaving this and passing through the
various gradations to the empyreal heaven, every
step becomes more delightful and excellent. On

1 The manuscripts read ^i}l.y, the manuscript of Oudc reads: "3 j-^JJ ;
neither word is found in any dictionary.

152

ascending beyond the great sphere, he arrives at the
curtain ' of the great Angels and contemplates the
Lord of the light of lights surrounded by angels : no
state can surpass the beatitude and glory of this
gradation, which is called the Minuivdn Minu, or
" heaven of heavens."

DESCRIPTION OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS. — The code
of Mahahad states thus : Hell is situated under the
sphere of the moon : 2 the first step consisting of
minerals in mis-shapen masses, or stones without
worth ; of plants, thorny and vile and poisonous
herbage ; of living creatures, such as ants, serpents,
and scorpions; and of men labouring under indi-
gence, sickness, feebleness, ignorance, and disgrace :
in this step man is punished for whatever evil actions
he has committed, and escapes not without due retri-
bution. However, the severest gradation of the infer-
nal regions is that of mental anguish , which is appro-
priated to the irreligious philosophers, for when
his elemental body is dissolved, they do not assign
him another; so that he finds not his way to heaven,
but remains in the lower elemental world, consumed
by the flames of anguish : besides, in consequence
of his detestable qualities, his tormentors pounce

1 The manuscripts read 83»j, which appears the best reading; the
manuscript of Oude has, like the edit, of Calcutta, 8.5^.

2 The manuscripts, with that of Oude, read ?U, the edition of
Calcutta, 3\j

153

upon him in the shape of serpents, scorpions, and
other such plagues. This state they denominate
Puchdn-i-Puch, or " the hell of hells."

The code of Mahabad also states, that whatever
occurs in this elemental world proceeds entirely
from the planets ; so that their adoration, next to
that of the Almighty, becomes an indispensable
duty : for these luminaries approach near the palace
of the Almighty, and the chiefs of the court of eter-
nity. In this world, whoever draws near the seat
of grandeur, must have a friend to sound his praise,
which is a measure much to be commended. The
person who undertakes a journey cannot do without
a guide, and he who goes to a city where he has no
friend, meets with difficulty : consequently, the wor-
ship tendered to these dignities is much to be com-
mended. The stars are truly many in number,
but amidst these multitudes, the influences of the
seven planets are the most evident : also of all the
starry hosts the sun is the sovereign lord. It is
therefore necessary to form seven images, and to
raise that of the sun above the others ; the temples
built by the Abadian princes were open on all sides,
so that when the sun shone they were exceedingly
bright,in the interior ; not like the Hindoo idol-tem-
ples, in which they walk about with lamps, even in
the day time : the roofs of the Abadian temples were
also rather elevated. The emperors and princes are

154

individuals of the most select description, on which
account the king should find repose in the fourth
sphere, which is one of the solar regions. As it is
evident that the stars are set by God for the due go-
vernment of the world, in like manner it is clear that
it is not every individual indiscriminately who at-
tains to the regal dignity, but only a royal personage,
not opposed to the Farhang-Abdd, or the law of Azar
Hushang: as otherwise he would be undeserving of
the supreme power. Of the qualifications indispen-
sably requisite in a monarch, the first is conformity
to the faith above described, and firmness in adher-
ing to it. In the next place, if on the side of both
parents, which means Hasab va Nasab, "accomplish-
*' ments and genealogy," he were of royal descent,
it would be more advantageous : the meaning of royal
birth is to be the possessor of the kingdom of justice ;
if every external qualification be united with the
supreme power, it is much more agreeable, so that
the king should not say, " I am more excellent than
" my father, and he than his ancestors:" on the
contrary, he styles his father " highly distinguished,"
and his grandfather " far superior." Moreover, if
any one should praise him on this account, he should
order that person to be chastised. Azizi," a dislin-
" guished man," ' has said : " The following is what

1 It is not decided whether "Azizi" here and elsewhere is a proper
name, or the attribute of a person.

155

' ' we mean by this principle ; lhat as one sire is
" superior to another, if a son should imagine him-
" self the greater, then each child would reckon
" himself superior to his father, and there would
" then be no acknowledged ruler."

A king must also be provided with a distin-
guished mathematician as prime minister, to whom
the calculators and astronomers should be sub-
ject; in every city there should be an astronomer
or surveyor ; and an Arshiya, ' or accountant, should
act as vizir, one well versed in the amount of rents
paid by the Rayas ; he must also have commissa-
ries; and as there are attached to every city many
villages and hamlets, the king's private property,
to which the local director attends, that officer is
called the Vizhak. Also with every vizir, whether
absent or present, there should be two Ustuwars or
supervisors, and two Slmdahbands, or recorders of
occurrences ; the same rule is to be observed with
all administrators, and the Samdn Sdldr, or head
steward, the chief reporters and inspectors should
also be each accompanied by two Ustuwars and
two Shudahbands. Dustoor, or prime minister,
means the person to whose department the public
revenue is attached : the copies of the registers of
all ihe vizirs should be regularly kept at the seat

1 " Arshiya" — the manuscripts read " Arsmai;" the manuscript of
Oude has ^-^> Y».

150

of government, as well as the papers of the Shu-
dah bands.

The king also requires military commanders, in
order that they may keep the soldiers in due disci-
pline. The first dignity consists of the chiefs of a
hundred thousand cavalry ; the second, of the com-
manders of thousands; the third, of the commanders
of hundreds; the fourth, of the rulers over tens;
and the fifth, of those accompanied by two, three,
four, or five persons. Thus in this assemblage every
ten persons have an officer and every hundred a
Sipahdar, called in the popular language of Hindus-
tan Bakhshi, " pay-master," in that of Iran, Lash-
kar Navis, or " army-registrar, and in Arabic, Ariz,
or " notary :" a similar arrangement must be ob-
served in the infantry. In like manner, when the
military in regular succession are in attendance on
the king, there is at court a Bdrnujdri, or " regis-
t( trar," to set down those who are absent as well
as those present ; in the popular language of India
this officer is styled Chauki Navis, or u register
" keeper;" they are accompanied by a Shudahband,
an Ustuwar, and sentinels, so that they may not go
to their homes nor give way to sleep until their
period of duty is terminated : there are also different
sentinels for day and night, It is also so arranged
that there should be always four persons together
on each watch, two of whom may indulge in sleep

157

whilst the other two remain awake. In every city
where the king is present there ought to be a Shit-
daliband, to report to the king whatever occurs in
the city : the same rule should be observed in the
other cities also : this functionary they call, in India,
Wakia-Navis, u news- writer." There should also
be a Shahnah, or lC attendant of police," styled Far-
hann-i-roz, tf registrar of the day," who is to con-
duct all affairs with due prudence, and not suffer
people to inflict injury on each other. He is to have
two Shudahbands and an Usluwar or £' confidential
" secretary." In like manner, among the troops of
the great nobles there must be two Shudahbands;
and in all provinces a Shahrdar, or governor ; and
in every city a Bud-andoz, or collector-general, a
Sipah-dar, that is a Bakhshi, and an intendant of
police, or Shalmah ; it is to be noted that among the
Yezdanfan, a Kdzi and Shuhnah were the same, as the
people practised no oppression towards each other.
The Shudahband, the Navand (writer), and the Rd-
vand (courier), or those who conveyed intelligence to
the king, had many spies set over them secretly by
his majesty, and all those officers wrote him an
account of whatever occurred in the city. If the
Sipahdars did not give the men their just dues,
these officers called them to account : also if a
superior noble acted in a similar manner towards
his inferiors, they instituted an inquiry into his

158

conduct : they also took note of the spies ; so
that if any secret agent made himself known as
such, he was immediately dismissed. If any one
kept the due of the soldier or of the cultivator, in
the name of the king, and did not account for it,
they inflicted chastisement on him. The officers
were obliged to delineate the features of every one
employed in the cavalry or infantry, and also to fur-
nish a representation of his horse, and to give the
men their regular pay with punctuality. Previous
to the Gilshahian dynasty, no one ever branded the
king's horses, as this was regarded as an act of
cruelty towards the animal : most of the soldiers
also were furnished with horses by the king, as the
sovereigns of Ajem had many studs. On the death
of a horse, the testimony of the collectors and inspec-
tors was requisite. Every soldier who received not
a horse from the king, brought his own with him :
they also took one out of twenty from the Rayas.
However, under the Sassanian princes, the Rayas
requested " to take from them one out of ten :" and
as this proposition was accepted, it was therefore
called Baj-i-hamdaslani, or voluntary contribution,
as having been sell led by the consent of the Rayas.
The Omras and the great of the kingdom, near
and far, had not the power to put a guilty man to
death; but when the Shadahband, "recorder,''
brought a case before the king, his majesty acted

159

according lo ihe prescriptions of the Ferhang-abad,
unless in the case of executing a dangerous rebel,
when, from sparing him until receiving the king's
will, a great evil would arise to the country.

They laid down this royal ordinance : that if the
king sent even a single person, he was to bring back
the head of the commander of a hundred thousand;
nay, ihat person never turned aside from the pun-
ishment. For example, when such a commander
in the lime of Shah Mahbul had put an innocent man
to death, the prince sent a person who was to be-
head the criminal on a day on which the nobles were
all assembled : and of this there are innumerable
examples. Also in the time of Shah Faridun, the
son of Abtin, the son of Farshad, the son of Shd-i
Gilw, a general named Mahlad w as governor of
Kliorosan: and he having put to death one of the
village chiefs, the Shudahbands reported lo the king
all ihe public and privale delails of ihe fact, on
receiving which the king thus wrote to Mahlad :
" Thou hast acted contrary to ihe Farhaiig Abad."
\Vhen Mahlad had perused the king's letter, he
assembled the chief men of ihe province, and sending
for ihe village chieftain's son, put a sword in his
hand that he might cut off his head : the son re-
plied : " I consenl to pass over my father's blood."
Mahlad, however, would not agree to this, and in-
sisted so earnestly, that the voung man cut off his

160

head , which was sent to the court. The king greatly
commended this conduct, and according to his usual
practice conferred Mahlad's office on his son. In
the same manner, the Moghiils submitted implicitly
to the commands of the Lord strengthened by the
Almighty, that is, to Jenghiz Klian;1 and the tribes
of Kazl-Bash* were equally obedient to Ismail Safavi
during his reign . But the kings of Ajem were averse
to the infliction of capital punishments, so that until
a criminal had been declared deserving of death,
according to the Abadian code, the order for his
execution was not issued.

The kings and chieftains of Iran never addressed
harsh language to any one j but whenever a person
deserved chastisement or death, they summoned the
Farhangdar, or " judge," and the Dad-sitani, or
** mufti ;" on which, whatever the code of Farhang-
abad enjoined in the case, whether beating with
rods or confinement, was carried into effect: but
the beating and imprisonment were never executed

1 Jenghis Khan, " the king of kings," was the name assumed by Tcmuz
Khin, a Moghul, when he had succeeded in uniting under his own and
sole domination the various tribes of the Turks. He was born in the
year 1162 and died in 1228 of our era. His history is sufficiently known
and belongs not to this place. — A. T.

- Kail-bash signifies in the Turkish language " red head," a name
given by the Turks to the Persians, since Jhey began to wear a cap of
that colour enveloped by a turban with twelve folds in honour of the
twelve Imams. This happened in the year 1501, under the reign of
their king Ismail Sufi, already mentioned, note 6, pp. 52, 53.— A. T.

161

by low persons. Whatever intelligence was com-
municated by spies was submitted to a careful exa-
mination, in which they took great pains ; and that
unless reports made by two or more spies coincided,
they carried nothing into execution. The princes
and young nobles, like all others, began by personal
attendance on the king : for example, the routine of
Hash-o-bash , or " presence and absence" at court,
was enjoined them in rotation, that they might better
understand the state of humbler individuals : they
even attended on foot, that they might more easily
conceive the toils of the foot-soldier.

Bahzad the Yasanian, in one of his marches having
proceeded a short distance, alighted from his horse,1
on which a distinguished noble, named Naubar, thus
remarked : " On a march it is not proper to remain
" satisfied with soshort a journey." On this, Bah-
zad Shah, leaving the army in that place, said to the
commander Naubar, " Let us two make a short
*' excursion." He himself mounted on horseback,
and obliged the other to advance on foot. They
thus traversed mountain and plain, until Naubar
became overpowered by fatigue, on which Bahzad
said : " Exert thyself, for our hailing place is near ;"
but he having replied, " I am no longer able to
" move," the king rejoined; " O oppressor! as

Intending to put an end to the march.

1 1

162

" thou art no longer able to proceed, dost thounpt
" perceive that those who are on foot experience
" similar distress from performing too long a
" march?"

" Thou, who feelest'not for the distress of others,
" Meritest not to be called by the name of man."

The military, in proportion to their respective
ranks, had assigned to them costly dresses, vigorous
steeds with trappings and saddles inlaid with pre-
cious stones, equipments, some of solid gold and sil-
ver, and others plated with gold or silver, and hel-
mets. The distinguished men were equally remote
from parsimony and profuseness. The nobles of
Ajem wore a crown worth a hundred thousand
dinars of gold: the regal diadem being appropriated
to the king. All the great Amirs wore helmets and
zones of gold ; they also had trappings and sandals
of the same. When the soldiers set out on an expe-
dition, they took with them arms of every descrip-
tion, a flag and a poignard; * they were habituated
to privations, and entered on long expeditions with
scanty supplies : they were never confined within
the enclosure of tents and pavilions, but braved alike
the extremes of heat and cold. In the day of battle,
as long as the king or his lieutenant stood at his
post, if any one turned his back on the foe, no per-

signify also a bodkin and a needle.

165

son would join him in eating or drinking, or con-
tract alliance with him, except those who like him-
self had consigned their persons to infamy and
degradation. Lunatics, buffoons, and depraved cha-
racters found no access to the king or chieftains.

On the death of a person who had been raised to
dignity, his post was conferred on his son, or some
one of his legitimate connections adequate to its du-
ties ; thus no innocent person was ever deprived of
office, so that their noble families continued from
the time of Shdi Kiliv to that of ShdiMahbul. When
king Khusroj the son of Faridun, the son of Ablin,
the son of Forzad, the son of Shdi Kiliv, had sent
Gurgin 1 the son of Las to a certain post, that dig-
nity remained in his family more than a thousand
years; and when, in the reign of the resplendent
sovereign, king Ardeshir, Madhur the descendant of
Gurgin had become a lunatic, the king confined him
to his house, and promoted his son Mdbzdd to the
government ; and similar to this was the system of
Shah Ismail Safavi. But if an Amir's son were
unfit for governing, he was dismissed from office,
and had a suitable pension assigned him. Nay, ani-

1 Gurgin, in the Shahnamah, is called the son of Jlelad, and was one
of the principal chieftains under the reign of Khusro. Gurgin's character
does not figure advantageously in the history of Pe"zshen and Muniz-
sha, one of the most interesting episodes of Ferdusi's historical poem.
-A. T.

164

mals, such as the cow, ass, and horse, which were
made to labor when young, were maintained by
their masters in a stale of ease when they grew old ;
the quantity of burden which each animal was to
carry was delined, and whoever exceeded that limit
received due chastisement. In like manner, when any
of the infantry or cavalry grew feeble, infirm, or old,
although he might not have performed effective ser-
vice, they appointed his son to succeed him ; and if
the latter was not yet of mature age, they settled on
him a daily allowance from the royal treasury. But
if he had no son, they assigned him during his life
such an allowance as would keep him from dis-
tress, which allowance was continued after his de-
cease to his wife, daughter, or other survivors.
Whatever constitutes the duty of a parent was all
performed by the king ; if, in the day of battle, a
soldier's horse fell, they bestowed on him a better
and finer one. It has already been said that most
of the cavalry horses were supplied by the king,
and the military were at no expense save that of
forage. If a soldier fell in battle, they appointed the
son with great distinction to his father's post, and
also conferred many favors on his surviving family;
they also greatly exerted themselves in teaching
them the duties of their class, and in guarding their
domestic honor inviolate : as, in reality, the king is
the father, and the kingdom the common mother.

165

In like manner, when a soldier was wounded, he
received ihe greatest attentions. Similar notice was
taken of workers in gold and of merchants who had
failed and become impoverished, their children being
adopted by the government : so that, within the
circuit of their dominions, there was not found a
single destitute person. The Sardar of each city
took cognizance of every stranger who entered it :
in the same way, all friendless travellers were re-
ceived into the royal hospital, where physicians gave
themselves up to the curing of the sick : in these
there were also Shudahbands to take care that none
of those employed should be backward in their re-
spective offices. The blind, the paralytic, the feeble,
and destitute were admitted into the royal hospital,
where they passed their time free from anxiety.
Now the royal Bimdrasldn, or hospital was a place
in which they gave a daily allowance to the feeble
and indigent : thus there were no religious mendi-
cants or beggars in their dominions ; whoever wished ,
embraced a Durvesh 's life and practised religious
austerities in a monastery, a place adapted for every
description of pious mortifications : a slothful per-
son, or one of ill repute, was not permitted to become
a Durvesh, lest he might do it for the purpose of
indulging in food and sleep : to such a character
they enjoined the religious exercises suitable to a
Durvesh, which, if he performed with zeal, it was

166

all well ; but, otherwise, he was obliged to follow
his inclinations in some other place.

The king had also confidential courtiers, well
skilled in the histories of the righteous men of olden
time, which they recited to his majesty. There was
also an abundance of astrologers and physicians, so
that, both in the capital and in the provinces, one of
each, agreeably to the royal order, should attend on
every governor ; and their number was such in every
city, that men might consult them on the favorable
and unfavorable moments for every undertaking.

In every city was a royal hospital, in which were
stationed physicians appointed by the king ; there
were separate hospitals for women, where they were
attended by skilful female physicians, so that the
hospitals for men and women were quite distinct.
In addition to all this, the king stands in need of
wise Farhangs, " judges," well versed in the deci-
sions of law and the articles of faith, so that, aided
by the royal influence and power, they may restrain
men from evil deeds, and deliver the institutes of
Farhang, " the true faith," to them.1 The king
also requires writers to be always in his presence.

1 The manuscript translation of D. Shea reads in this place: " These
" officers are called Sa'mo'r, or the Char Ayin Farangi, " the four
" institutes of law :" which words are not in the printed edition of Cal-
cutta, but are probably in the two manuscripts which he had before his
eyes.— A. T.

167

A great Mobed must be acquainted with all sciences ;
a confidential courtier, conversant with the narra-
tives and histories of kings; a physician, profound in
medical science; an astrologer in his calculations of
the stars ; an accountant, accurate in his accounts ;
and a Farhangi, or lawyer, well versed in points of
law : moreover, the study of that portion of the
code contained in the Pdiman-i-Farhang, or in the
" covenant of the Farhang," is incumbent on all,
both soldiers, Rayas,and those who practise the me-
chanic arts, and on other people. In like manner,
persons of one rank were not wont to intermeddle
with the pursuits- of another: for example, that a
soldier should engage in commerce, or a merchant
in the military profession: on the contrary, the two
employments should not be confounded, so that one
should at the same time be a military man and a
servant, or in any employment ; and having become
a commander, should again take up the trade.

They also permitted in every city such a number
of artificers, conductors of amusements, merchants,
and soldiers as was strictly necessary ; to the re-
mainder, or surplus, they assigned agricultural occu-
pations ; so that, although many people may know
these arts, yet no more than is required may be occu-
pied with them, but apply themselves wholly to the
cultivation of the soil. If any officer made even a
trifling addition to the import on any business which

168

brought in a revenue to the king, so far from its
being acceptable, they, on the contrary, ordered that
ill-disposed person to be severely punished.

The king gave audience every day : but on one
day of the week in particular, he acted as Dddsitdn,
or " Mufti," when every person who was wronged
had access to the sovereign; also, once a year, he
gave a general audience, when everyone who pleased
came into his presence ; on this occasion, the king
sat down at table with the Rayas, who represented
to him, without the intervention of another, what-
ever they thought proper.

The sovereign had two places of audience ; one
the Rozistdn, or ** day- station," in which he was
seated on an elevated seat ; which place they also
called the Tdbsdr, or " place of splendor;" around
which the nobles and champions stood in their
respective ranks; the other was the Shabistdn, or
" night station," which had also an elevation, on
which the king took his seat. Men of distinction
stood on the outside; those of royal dignity were at
the door; and next the king was a company standing
with weapons of war in their hands. Every one,
indiscriminately, had not the privilege of laying his
hand on the royal feet; some only kissed the slipper
and walked around it ; others, the sleeve of the royal
mantle which fell on the throne : that person must
be in high favor at court who was permitted to kiss

169

the king's feet, or the throne, or perform a circuit
around it.

As a brief account has been given of the exterior
place of reception, and of the Rdzistdn, or " day
" station," we now proceed to write a few particu-
lars concerning ihe interior place of reception, or
the secret night station, or the Harem, which is also
called the " golden musk-perfumed pavilion." In
the code of Azar Hushang, or Mdhdbdd, it has been
thus laid down : whatever be the number of the
king's women, there must be one superior in dig-
nity to all the rest : her they style " the Great Lady;"
but she possessed not such absolute power that the
right of loosing or binding, inflicting the bastinado,
or putting to death within the night station should
be conferred on her : or that she could put to death
whomsoever she pleased without the king's consent,
a power quite opposed to law.

The Shudahbands also report to the royal presence
all the transactions of the Great Princess and of the
night station, just as they transmit accounts of those
persons who live out of its precincts. If the king's
mother be alive, the supremacy is of course vested
in her, and not in the Great Princess. Saldrbdrs,
or " ushers with silver maces," Jdddrs, or *' super-
" intendants of police," Gdtmumds or Shudahbands,
astrologers and such like professions, were also
met with in the interior residence.

170

Of these women and princesses not one had the
smallest degree of authority over the rest of their
sex who lived outside of the precincts, nor did they
possess the power of issuing any order whatever ; nay
they seldom made mention of them in the royal Ro-
z,istan; neither were they called by any fixed title ; nor,
without urgent necessity, did they ride out in public.

The king also, on visiting the interior apartment,
is not wont to remain long with the women ; nor
do they ever entertain any wishes which have not
reference to themselves ; such as the mode of speak-
ing when enjoining an officer to perform some ser-
vice, or increasing the dignity of the great warriors.
The same system was followed by every Amir in his
own house ; but in the dwelling of every Amir, whe-
ther near or remote, there was an aged matron or
Aluni, deputed on the king's part, with the office of
Shudahband, to report the exact state of affairs to
the Great Princess, or to send from a distance a
written report for being brought before the king.

To the king's Harem, or to that of an Amir, no
males had access, except boys not come to matu-
rity, or eunuchs ; but criminals only were qualified
for the latter class, who were never after admitted
to any confidential intimacy ; and no individual in
their empire was allowed from motives of gain to
have recourse to that operation. '

1 It cannot be denied that the Persians, in very remote times, practised

171

Every year, on certain occasions, on some great
festivals, the wives of the Amirs waited on the Great
Princess, and the women of the city came to the
general levee ; but the king never saw these women,
as on such days he did not enter the musk-perfumed
pavilion, but departed to some other place, so that
his eyes might not fall on a strange female. The
motives of the ladies' visit to the king was this :
that if any were oppressed by their husbands, it
might be reported to the king, who after proper
investigation was to enjoin the punishment awarded
by the court of justice.

The great king partook not of reason-subdu-
ing strong drinks, as he was a guardian, and as
such should not be in a state of helplessness ; on
which account not one of those kings who were
styled guardians ever polluted his lips with wine or
other intoxicating beverage before the Gilshaiyan
dynasty. The cup-bearers of the king's sons and
other nobles were always females, and these were

castration, and especially upon youths distinguished by their beauty
(Herod, lib. VI). They are even accused of having been the first among
whom this infamous practice and the name of eunuchs originated (Steph-
de urbibus. Donat. in Eunuchum, act. I, seen. 2). Ammian. Marcell.
(lib. XIV) attributes it, however, to Semiramis. (See upon this subject
Brissonius, de Regio Persarum principatu, p. 294, 295. ) The passage in
the text permits us to believe that this cruel operation was a dishonouring
punishment, generally abhorred, and particularly restricted by severe laws
among the Persians.— A. T.

172

called Bddeks:1 no beardless males were admitted
to the feast : even eunuchs were excluded from the
banquets of the Gilshaiyan princes, and they were
waited on by beardless youths under ten years of
age ; and at the time of taking wine even they were
not allowed to be present. The ancients, or those
previous to the Gilshaiyan dynasty, had appointed
seasons for drinking wine, which occurred when
the physicians prescribed it for the removal of some
infirmity, on which occasions they conformed to the
above-mentioned rules. If any one, and the king in
particular, labored under a malady the cure of which
could only be effected by wine, and the invalid
should be altogether reluctant to the drinking of it,
in that case, as the cure was confined to the use of
wine, the patient was obliged to comply with the
prescription : for things forbidden under other cir-
cumstances, become lawful when taken for medici-
nal purposes : but with this reservation, that no
injury should accrue to any innoxious animal.

Along the roads frequented by travellers in this
realm, there were many caravansaries, between
every two of which were posted sentinels, so that
the voice of a person reached from one to the next.
In every halting-place was a Shudahband, a physi-
cian, and a Timdri; and the inns were also construc-

i

It may be recollected that the interior service in the palace of an
Indian king was of old always performed by females.— A. T.

175

led near each other. Now a Timdri is one appointed
by the king to protect the helpless, such as persons
of tender years and the infirm . Aged women brought
out from the Haram all the requisite supplies (for
these establishments), which they transferred to
aged men, by whom they were conveyed to the
attendants.

The soldiers' wives were not without employ-
ment, such as spinning, sewing, and in various
works, the making of house-furniture, riding, and
in the management of the bow they were as able as
men ; they were all formed by discipline and inured
to toil.

It is evident to all the world that, notwithstanding
the extent of their realms was so exceedingly great
and spacious, yet in consequence of these arrange-
ments, the kings were necessarily informed of every
event which occurred : in addition to what has been
stated, pursuant to decrees influential as those of
Heaven, villages were erected at every stage and
halting-place, at each of which the king's horses
were picketted, and men appointed whom they called
Ravand, or "couriers." When the Shudahband day
by day delivered the report of whatever had oc-
curred into the hand of a courier, the one near the
city delivered it into the custody of another, and so
on, from the couriers of the stage to those of the
villages, until ihe report reached the capital. The

174

king observed the same system in corresponding
with the Umras ; at one time appointing an indivi-
dual who was with great caution to communicate
the royal despatches without entrusting them into
the hands of another ; a courier of this description
mounted at every stage the king's post-horses which
were picketted at the different halting-places until
he completed his object : this description of courier
they call Nuwand; the Umras also despatched Nuw-
ands to the king's court; but the couriers belonging
to royalty or the nobility were not empowered to
seize any individual's horse, or practise oppression,
as they would in that case meet with due retaliation :
there were besides, at the different villages, persons
stationed as guards, who were liable to be called to
account if a traveller suffered oppressive treatment
from any quarter. Shadahbands also were there.
Azar Hushdng, that is, Mdhdbdd, thus enjoined :
" Let there be no exactions practised towards the
" Rayas: let him afford what he well can, and no-
" thing more;" they therefore only took such an
amount as maintained both soldiers and rayas in
tranquillity.

All the king's devoted servants entertained this
belief, that the performance of whatever was agree-
able to the king was attended with advantage in both
worlds ; also that the royal command was the inter-
pretation of the word of God, and that it was highly

175

praiseworthy to meet death in the path of obedience
to the Great King : nay, they accounted death, with
the prospect of royal approbation, which is the be-
stower of paradise, as far superior to life ; but he
must be a king who acts in conformity with the
Paiman-i- Far hang, or " excellent code." In short,
the system of inquiry was such, that the inspectors
used to question the soldiers, whether they were
satisfied or not with their chief.

With respect to keeping guard, it was thus set-
tled ; that out of the four persons acting in concert
with each other, two went to sleep and the other
two stood up armed ; again, when the sleepers arose
the others went to rest ; and on the expiration of
the night, other troops came to keep watch : the
night sentinels, however, did not depart but by
order of their oflicer. These inspected the men
three limes during the night. In that manner each
person had, every week, one day's watch : and
when they retired from keeping guard, proclamation
was made to this purport by the king's command :
" If any have cause of complaint against their in-
" spector or chief, let them not keep it concealed."

In like manner every month the inspectors, whe-
ther near or remote, looked into the state of the
military; if they found any individual, without suf-
ficient cause, deficient in the requisites for service,
they ordered him to be punished, unless he adduced

176

a satisfactory excuse and testimony ; in which case
they accepted his reasons : and if they proceeded
from overpowering necessity, they had regard
to it.

To whomsover they had assigned land, Jaghir or
Mukdsd, they gave daily or monthly pay with the
greatest punctuality, never permitting any deficiency
to occur.

If any were deficient in the performance of duty,
for example, being absent one watch without suffi-
cient cause, besides inflicting the due punishment,
they deducted the pay of that watch, but not of the
whole day. When, for some good reason, he ap-
plied for a furlough, he obtained it.

The prime minister was obliged to institute an
inquiry into any aflair of which he got the neces-
sary information. The Rats sufid, ' ' chieftain," must
produce a Khushmidi namah, or " a certificate,"
purporting that he had given the due to his people,
and that they were satisfied with him ; also that
whatever revenue had been received was delivered
over to the inspector, in the presence of the Anim
and Shudahband : the inspectors also produced, in
the royal presence, certificates staling that they had
practised no oppression towards the military : and
although the spies made a report of all particulars
every week, still the king inquired besides of the
soldiers, as to the truth of this approbation.

177

The Yazdanians never attempted a thing mentioned
with abhorrence in the Farhang code, in which
every fault had its fixed punishment. When any
one was convicted of a crime, the king's near atten-
dants never made intercession for him : for example,
pursuant to this code, and by the king's command,
the son inflicted punishment on the father, and the
father on his son, so that even princes of the blood
had not the power of breaking this law ; if they were
guilty of injustice, the kings themselves inflicted the
allotted punishment : for example, Jai Aldd had a
son called Hudah, whom he himself beheaded for
having put to death the son of a villager. The king's
devoted servants raised themselves to distinction by
their excellence and exertions to obtain praise and
titles : whoever swore falsely by the royal family
was expelled from all intercourse with them.

There were peculiar places assigned for the com-
bat of elephants, lions, and other wild beasts, the
backs and sides of which places were so elevated, that
people might behold from every part, without the
possibility of sustaining injury from the elephants
and other wild animals : the king being all the while
seated on a lofty throne. They never created embar-
rassments in bazars or populous places with furious
elephants or fierce lions, but kept them in remote
situations and secure places such as before*men-
tioned, from whence they could easily remove them.

12

178

r

It is recorded that, in the lime of Shirzad Shah, the
Yassanian, an elephant having broken out of the
place where he was tied up, killed some one ; on
which the king, in retaliation for the deed, put the
elephant to death, and also inflicted capital punish-
ment on the elephant-keepers and the door-keepers
of the elephant-stables, who had left the door open.
The king never listened to tales of fiction, but solely
to true statements : the military and the rayas also
never averted their necks from executing the king's
commands : and if a traveller invoked the king's
name and entered into any house, the inmates not
only washed his feet, but even drank the water in
which they performed the operation, as a sovereign
remedy, and sedulously showed all due attentions to
their guest.

On the day of battle, the soldiers were drawn up
in right, centre, and left columns, an arrangement
which they never violated in any engagement : as
when once dissolved, the restoration of that com-
bined order would be impossible : when the troops
had been arrayed in this manner, they gave the
enemy battle ; and in proportion to the necessity,
the bazar, or " market " of assistance followed
them : even after victory they observed the same
arrangement.

On the day of triumph, when the enemy fled and
the foe dispersed, the entire army did not give them-

179

selves up to plunder ; but the king appointed for the
service a certain detachment, accompanied by Shu-
dahbands and Bitiandahs, or inspectors and super-
visors, whilst the rest of the army remained pre-
pared for battle and ready to renew the engagement;
not one of them raising the dust of plunder or de-
parting to their homes, lest the enemy, on disco-
vering their dispersion in pursuit of plunder, might
return and gain the victory. When they had made
themselves masters of the spoil, the king ordered
them to set apart the choicest portion for the indi-
gent and the erection of religious foundations : he
next distributed an ample share to the men propor-
tioned to their exertions ; after \vhich he gave each
of his courtiers a portion ; and he lastly conferred a
suitable portion on the great officers ; but no part of
this division entered into the account of the allow-
ances settled on the military class : last of all, the king
drew the pen of approbation over whatever was
worthy of the royal majesty. Some of the ancient
kings and all the princes of the remote ages, far from
taking any part of the spoil to their own share, even
made good every injury which happened to the army
in executing the royal orders, as the loss of horses
and such like.

After the victory, they never oppressed the help-
less, the indigent, merchants, travellers, or the
generality of the inhabitants, and the Rayas. Those

180

who were guilty of such acls were, after conviction,
punished. They divided among them whatever the
enemy had in their flight left on the field of battle :
but whatever in the different realms belonged to the
conquered prince and his near connexions, they
submitted to the royal pleasure* They never slew
or offered violence to the person who threw down
his arms and asked for quarter.

This class of the obedient followers of the Amr
Husliang code were styled Farishtah. ' ' angelic ; "
Suriish, " seraphic;" Farishtah manish, " angel -
" hearted;" Surush manish, '* seraph-hearted;"
Sipdsi, " adorers ;" Sahi din. " upright in faith;"
and Zanddil, " the benevolent;" opposed to whom
are the Ahriman, the Dws, and the Tunddil, or
<f fierce demons."

The Divs are of two kinds ; the one class subject
to the king of the angels, who, through fear of that
prince, have been compelled to desist from injuring
animated beings ; the second kind consists of Divs
in the realms of other kings, who break through the
covenants of the law, and slay animals : these in
truth are no other than wolves, tigers, scorpions,
and serpents.

They record that in the time of Ardeslrir, the son
of Azdd, the son of Babegdn, the son of Nushirvdn,
there was a Jaiyanian champion by name Farhdd,
the son of Aldd, who were both ranked among the

181

distinguished leaders : Alad, when in a state of intox-
ication, having slain a sheep with his sword, his
son Farhad, on ascertaining this, made him pass
under the sharp-edged scimitar ; the people held him
in detestation, and said : " Thou shouldst have sent
" thy father to the king." He replied, " My father
** had committed two criminal actions; the first, in
'* taking so much wine as to lose his senses; the
*' second in destroying a sheep. Although it would
" have been proper to send him to the king, I
" could not suffer any delay to intervene in punish-
*' ing his crimes : at present I confess myself guilty
" of transgressing the Abadian code, for not sub-
" mi t ling the details of this affair to the king." He
then ordered himself to be put in chains, and
brought in that state before the king : but his majesty
drew the pen of forgiveness over his crime, and ele-
vated the apex of his dignity.

Moreover it was necessary to drink wine in a
secret place, as they inflicted due punishment on
whoever was found intoxicated in the public bazar.
In truth, permission to drink wine was only given
in cases of malady, as from the lime of the very
ancient sovereigns' of the Mahabad dynasly, unlil
lhat of Ydssdn Ajam, no person par look of wine or
slrong drinks, excepl the invalids who were ordered
by the physicians to have recourse to them; and
even they partook of ihem according to the esta-

182

blished rules : but among the ancient kings, i. e.
from Kaiomars' to Yezdagird, they at first indulged
secretly in wine for the purpose of sensual enjoy-
ment, under color of conforming to medical ordi-
nances. At last matters terminated in this, that
wine was openly produced at the banquets, and the
champions in attendance on the king partook of it ;
but it was not permitted to be drunk openly in the
bazars or streets.

The king gave audience every day, being seated on
an elevation, that is a Tdbsdr, or elevated window:
in the same manner he took his seat in the Roz-Gdh,
which is a place where, on his rising from the Tdb-
sdr, hesealed himself on a throne: on which occa-
sion the nobles in attendance were drawn out in
their proper gradations : note, that by giving audi-
ence is meant, turning his attention to the concerns
of mankind. Every decree issued by the king from
the rozistdn or sliabistdn of the interior or exterior,
was transcribed by the Shudahband and again sub-
mitted to the royal presence, and when its promul-
gation was ratified, it was laid before his majesty a
second lime.

Whenever a traveller entered a caravanserai or
city, the secretaries of the place, in the presence of
witnesses and notaries, made out a statement of his
wealth and effects, which they gave him ; and the
same at the time of sale ; so that if he should after-

185

wards declare that his stock had been diminished or
some part had been abstracted, they could ascertain
its value and quantity : there was also a fixed price
assigned to every commodity and article, and also a
certain rate of profit prescribed to each vendor.

The following was their mode of hunting : the
army being drawn out in array, in right, centre, and
left columns, the nobles and eminent warriors took
their several posts according to rank, and during a
period of forty or fifty days formed a circle around
both mountains and plains. If the country abounded
in wood, they formed the whole of it into well se-
cured piles: the king then directed his steps towards
that quarter, and his train by degrees drove in the
game, keeping up a strict watch that no beast of
prey should escape out of the circle : on this the
king, his sons, and relations dispatched with arrows
as many as they could; after this the king, surrounded
by the most distinguished courtiers, sat on a throne
placed on an eminence, formed of strong timbers so
fastened together that no animal could get up there :
the generals, and then the whole of the soldiery
charged into the centre, so that not a trace remained
of ferocious animals, that is, of lions and such nox-
ious creatures : they next counted the numbers of
the slain, and having piled them in one place, formed
a hillock of their carcases. If they discovered a
harmless animal amongst the slain, they ordered

184

vengeance to be inflicted on its destroyer, and cast
his body among those of the ferocious animals.

They record that in the reign of Yassan, the son
of Shah Mahbiil, an elk had been slain by some
tyrannically-inclined person, on beholding which
the father of the insane criminal, with the ruthless
sword, immediately dissevered his son's head from
his shoulders. Also in the reign of Niishirvan, the
fortunate descendant from the Shdiydn dynasty, at
one time whilst in the pursuit of game, an arrow
shot intentionally from the bow of a noble champion
named Farlush, wounded a deer so that it fell dead:
his son, Ay in Tush, was perfectly horror-struck, and
in retaliation with an arrow pinned his father's body
to that of the slaughtered deer ; so that, in future,
there should be no infringement of the Farhang law.

As soon as a lofty mound had been formed of
slaughtered noxious creatures, which either walk,
fly, or graze, then by the king's command a Mobid as-
cended the eminence and said : *' Such is the recom-
** pense of all who slay harmless creatures; such the
" retribution which awaits the destroyers of animals
i( free from crimes." He then said to the harmless
creatures : " The equitable king of kings, in order
" to destroy the noxious animals which cause you
" so many calamities, has come forward in his own
" precious person, and taken vengeance for the mis-
" deeds of these wicked creatures : now depart in

185

" peace; behold the vengeance inflicted on your
'* sanguinary foes; and commit no sin before the
" protector of your species." They then left a
road open for the innoxious animals to escape and
hasten to their mountains and deserts. This kind
of hunting they called Shikdr-i-ddd or Ddd-shikdr ; i. e. :
" the hunt of equity," or " the equity-hunt." The
royal governors also in their respective provinces
adopted a chase of the like description. Whenever
the sovereign was of such a character as not to devi-
ate from the Farhang code, if any person declined
rendering allegiance to the prince chosen by him for
his successor, that person was immediately destroyed
by the people.

In the reign of Shdh Giliv, a champion having be-
held in a vision, that the king had raised to the
throne one of the princes who met not his approba-
tion, immediately on awaking put himself to death.
Shah Giliv, on hearing this, said to the son of the
deceased : " When a person is awake, rebellion is
" to be abhorred ; but not in a state of sleep, as it is
" then involuntary."

Also in the reign of Bahman, the son of Isfendiar,
the son of Ardashir, the son of Azad Shai, 'one of the

1 Bahman, son of Isfendiar and successor of Gustasp, is also named
Kai Ardashir, diraz-dost and identified with the Artaxcrxcs uaxpo^'p
tlongimarius) of the Greeks. He is placed 505 years before our era. He
reigned 112 years, according to the Shah-namah.— A. T.

186

generals, Bahram by name, governor of Khorasan,
having made arrangements for revolt and rebellion,
the soldiers on learning his designs put him to death,
and offering up his flesh after the manner of the
Moslem sacrifice, divided it and ate of it, saying
" He is a noxious animal."

In the same reign, a champion, by name Gilshdsp,
saw in a trance that he had rebelled against Bah-
man : on relating the dream to his soldiers, they for
answer drew forth their swords and shed his blood,
saying : * < Although there is no blame to be attached
** to the vision, yet he is the genius of evil for pub-
" lishing it abroad."

Ay in Shakib, a M6bed, who saw in a vision that he
was uttering imprecations against Ardishir, the son
of Babagdn, the son of Azdd the Jaiyanian, immedi-
ately on awaking cut out his tongue : such was their
devotedness to their kings.

They moreover say, in the case of every prince
who was adorned with sound doctrine, good works,
and noble descent ; who promoted the interests of
the military and the happiness of the Rayas, and
who never deviated from the covenant of the law;
that when any one proved refractory to his com-
mands, that person's life and property were confis-
cated with justice. The kings made trials of their
sons' capacities, and conferred the royal dignity
on whichever was found the most deserving ; not

187

making the one king whom they regarded with the
greatest natural affection. They also said : ** Sove-
' ' reign power becomes not the monarch who trans-
" gresses this blessed law; neither should any
'* prince give way to the disposition to deviate in the
*' slightest degree from any of its covenants, lest
" from their esteeming one branch of the law as of
'* no importance, they might regard the whole as of
*' trifling obligation." The adorable and almighty
God so gave his aid to these praise-worthy sove-
reigns that they decked the bride of dominion with
the ornaments of equity, benevolence, and impartial
justice. Merchants, travellers, and scholars moved
about in perfect security ; during their reigns there
existed no annoyance from the payment of tolls, cus-
toms, and other exactions ; and in the caravanserais
was neither rent nor hire.

The kings had the covenants of the law tran-
scribed, which they always kept near them, and had
read over to them daily by some confidential cour-
tier : on great festivals they were communicated to
the military and the rayas, with strong injunctions
to store them up in their recollection. The Umras
also pursued the same system, and recited the law
to their dependants. In like manner, the princesse s
of the Shabistdn, " night-apartment," observed the
same rule.

They moreover say I hat every prince who, through

188

the suggestions of his own mind or of his minister's,
adopted any measures except in conformity to this
law, bitterly repented of it. — Jai Alad has said :
* ' Whoever in the king's presence utters a word con-
*' trary to the covenants of the law, or persuades
" him to do so ; the king may rest assured that
" the object of that person is to throw the kingdom
" into confusion."

When the Yezdanian princes and rulers gave audi-
ence, there lay before them a book, a scourge, and
a sword ; the book contained the covenants of the
law; and every affair which was submitted to them
being considered according to the view taken of it
in the book, they then gave a decision.

In the royal dynasty which preceded the Gilshaian
kings, there was no violation whatever of this code ;
but under later princes some disorder crept into
its observance. They also say, that whenever they
violated the commands, decrees, maxims, rules, and
decisions of this covenant, they became associated
with regret and repentance. Whenever a sovereign
sustained any injury, it arose principally from inat-
tention to this standard ; and whenever a monarch
lived in prosperity, it proceeded from his scrupulous
observance of the most minute details of this code.
The ancient sovereigns, that is, the Abddidn, the Jai-
ydn, the Shaiydn and the Yassdnian, who are the most
renowned of kings, never lost sight of the Farhang

189

Abaci, that is, they did every thing according to its
dictates : this code they also called Hirbud Sdr, or
* ' sacerdotal purity. " During this period no enemy
arose, and no foe obtained the supremacy ; the mili-
tary and the rayas enjoyed undisturbed repose.
Amongst the Gttshdiydn kings, Hushang, Tahmuras,
Faridun, Minuchahar, Kaikobdd, Kaikhusro, Lohorasp,
Bahman, Ardashir Babdgdn, and the others, had this
code transcribed in secret characters, which they
employed as mental amulets and spiritual charms.
Ndshirvdn also, having procured a transcript of this
law, kept it by him. Although all the sovereigns
conformed to this rule, yet none observed it in so
high a degree as the ancient sovereigns of the Abd-
didn, Jaiydn, Shaiydn, and Yassdnidn dynasties : as in
the belief held by the Yazdanians, or t( theists," their
dignity so far transcends that of the Gilshaiyans,
that we can institute no comparison between them.
The Gilshaiyan princes also exerted themselves to
prevent the slaughter of harmless animals ; although
the people did not pay the same respect to their
orders as to those of the ancient sovereigns, yet, as
compared with their successors, people were more
exact in the performance of duty than in later
periods.

They say that Rustam, the son of Zaul, at the mo-

1 Rustam, who in the Shah-namah, during a period of six centuries,
appears rather a generic name, or a representative of the Medo-Persian

190

ment of abandoning the robes of mortality, having
heaved a deep sigh, the king of Kabul said to him:
" O Rustam! art thou alarmed at death?" the hero
replied: " God forbid ! for the death of the body is
" to the spirit the bestowing of life ; and the issuing
" forth under the sphere is the being born from the
' ' maternal womb ; when the cloud of the body is
" removed, the sun of spirit shines more resplen-
* ' dently : but my grief proceeded from this reflec-
' ' tion, that when Kaiis commanded Tiis to put me
" to the ignominious death of the gibbet, ' I refused
" to submit to the punishment. Although Kaus,

heroism than a particular individual, Rustam is reckoned the fifth of the
ten Persian philosophers enumerated in our note, page 112. Hence Rus-
tam's philosophical reflexions. In general, we see frequently in the Per-
sian historical accounts the characters of kings, heroes, ascetics, and
philosophers confusedly blended in the same persons.— A. T.

1 At the time that a great army of Turanians commanded by Sohrab
overrun Persia, Rustam, the ruler of Sistan, was summoned by Kaus, his
liege, to repulse the invaders. Rustam, although willing to obey, having
spent some days in feasting, appeared later than his sovereign expected,
who, in a fit of rage, after having severely rebuked him for his tardiness,
condemned him to an ignominious death. Gfv, one of the principal
chiefs, and friend of Ruslam, was charged with the execution, but, refus-
ing to do what he felt impossible, he was sentenced to share the fate of
the great hero, and Tus, a chief mentioned in the text, received the order
to execute the mandate upon both. A reconciliation however took place
between the king and his powerful vassals, whose united efforts were
required against the Turanians. It was in the course of this war that
Rustam slew his son Sohrab, without knowing him, and without supposing
him at the head of the Turanian army: this is the subject of one of the
most celebrated episodes of Ferdusi's Shah-namah.— A. T.

191

' ' in violation of the Farhang code, had passed a
" sentence opposed to the decisions of Mahabad,
" and even the interests of Kaiis were ultimately
" advanced by my rebellious conduct, I am at pre-
" sent afflicted on that account, lest, perhaps, any
" thing opposed to the Farhang code may have
" proceeded from me. In like manner Isfendiar
" was slain by my hand, ! and I refused to be put
4 ' in chains ; although it became him not to exact
" compliance, nor was it in accordance with the
' ' Farhang code. " Dastan (Zaul) also lived in regret,

1 Isfendiar, the son of Gushtasp, several times mentioned in the course
of this work, adopted, like his father, and zealously propagated, Zoroas-
ter's religion, which caused a new war between the Persians and Tura-
nians. Arjasp, the sovereign of Tur, having invaded Persia, Isfendiar
was called to the assistance of his father, who promised the throne to him
if he repulsed the invaders; but, delivered from danger by his son's suc-
cessful exertions, Gushtasp, unwilling to fulfil his promise, readily listened
to suggestions about the treacherous designs of Isfendiar whom he empri-
soned. Arjasp, profiting by this event, marched to Balkh, killed Loh-
rasp, the father of Gushtasp, carried off the two daughters of the latter,
whom he defeated in a battle and pent up in a fortress. Isfendiar, called
out from his prison, routed the Turanian army and released his father.
Moreover, he rescued his two sisters (one of whom was his wife) from cap-
tivity, by taking the strong residence of Arjasp, whom he killed with his
own hand. He was not even then to enjoy the well-deserved reward,
but charged with the most perilous expedition to bring Rustam in chains
before the throne of his discontented liege. In vain did the hero just
mentioned proffer his willingness to submit to any terms of submission
except that of being enchained ; nothing less than this was insisted upon:
a combat became necessary, in which Isfendiar reduced his great antagonist
to have recourse to the miraculous aid of Simurgh (see note, p. 55) ; by this
alone Rustam was enabled to kill Isfendiar in a renewed combat.— A. T.

19-2

saying : " Why did I utter a word in opposition to
" Kai Khusran, on the day when he chose Loho-
" rasp as his successor, although my sentiments
" were expressed by way of counsel?" When
Bahman, the son of Isfendiar, made preparations
for laying waste Sistan, notwithstanding the people
urged Dastan to give the invaders battle, he approved
not of it, but said : "Never more will I break through
" the Farhang code." He then came on foot into
the presence of Bahman, by whose orders he was
thrown into chains : but he finally attained the king's
unbounded esteem, and was released ; whilst his
son Faramarz, contrary to the Farhang code, gave
the king battle, and, being taken prisoner, suffered
the ignominious death of the gibbet : 2 his son was

1 Kai Khusrb, after a glorious reign of sixty years, resolved to resign
the crown. He assembled in a plain all his chiefs and the people of
Iran. After a magnificent festival of seven days, he proclaimed his final
determination ; divided the empire among several chiefs, and appointed
Lohrasp the successor of his sovereignty. This choice met with some
opposition on the part of the aged Zaul (seeRauzat-us-Safa, Shea's transl.,
p. 263), and although this chief yielded to the sovereign will, yet he never
paid homage to the new king ; and a pernicious misunderstanding remained
between the descendants of both parties It may be remarked that Ka(
Khusro's abdication is quite Indian. According toFerdusi.it was towards
the mountains of India, called Amajal, that Kai Khusnj bent his steps,
accompanied by a number of his chiefs, the most ancient of whom he
soon dismissed, whilst others followed him further, although warned by
him of an impending storm of snow which was to bury them all. He
suddenly disappeared, and they were never heard of. This reminds of
more than one similar event in Indian history. — A. T.

2 This account agrees with the Shah-namah, according to which Bah-

also put to death on the same account. The impli-
cit obedience of the son Minufarad to Kobad,1 the
lather of Nushirvan, is also well known ; although
that prince was not strictly entitled to obedience
according to the Far hang covenant, yet the devoted-
ness of his subjects is highly celebrated.

THE FOURTH SECTION OF THE DABisTAN contains an
account of the Jamshaspian sect. The Yekanah-
binan, " seers of unity," also called the Jamshai,
who form another great body of theParsees, are the
followers ofJamshasp, the son of Jemshid, the son of
Tahmuras: in their speech there is much that is
enigmatical, and endless subtilty. Jamshasp never
invited any one to follow his tenets, but he was
of such exemplary life and so great a sage, that the

man, in order to revenge the death of his father (see note last but one),
invaded Sistan and took Zaul with all his treasures. It was then that
Faramars, the son of Rustam, encountered the Persians in a battle: he
was defeated, taken prisoner, and hanged. According to the Rauzat-us-
Safa (see Shea's trans!., p. 340), Rahman, on reaching Zabulistan, heard
of Rustam's death; his son Faramans fell, and Zaul was taken prisoner.
-A. T.

1 Kobad, the Cabades or Cavades of the Greeks, the eighteenth king of
the Sassanians, ruled 43 years in Persia from 488 to 531, A. D., not inglo-
riously within and without his empire, from which he was however
driven on account of the support which he gave to the new and dangerous
doctrine of the prophet Mazdak, about whom see section XV of this
chapter. Kobad recovered the throne by the assistance of the Tartar
prince Hestial (see Ferdusi's Shah-namah), or (see Herbelot) by that of the
nations, called Haiathelah, who inhabit the countries of Kandahar, Thi-
bet, and Rarantolah.— A. T.

13

people bore him great affection, and wrote down his
sayings, until by degrees great numbers voluntarily
adopted them as articles of faith. According to
them, the world has no external existence; they
hold that whatever exists is God, and that naught
exists besides him : a holy man has said :

" Every eye which is directed to the primitive nature,
" Unless tinged with the collyrium of divine light,
" Whatever it beholds in the world, except thy face,
" Is but the second image of distorted vision."

They hold that all the intelligences, souls, angels,
heavens, stars, elements, the animal, vegetable, and
mineral kingdoms exist within his knowledge, and
are not external to it : which sentiment king Jam-
shid explained to Abtin, saying : " Know, O Abtin,
* ' that the Almighty conceived in idea the first intel-
' ' ligence ; in like manner the first intelligence con-
" ceived three objects, namely, the second intelli-
" gence, the soul of the upper sphere, and the body
' ' of the same heaven : in like manner, the second
*' intelligence conceived three objects, and so on in
' ' succession to the elements and their combinations:
" and this is exactly as when we form an idea of a
" city, with its palaces, gardens, and inhabitants,
' ' which in reality have no existence external to our
" imagination; so that, consequently, the existence
" of this world is of the same description." The
Abadian regard these sayings as enigmatical, al-

195

though Jamshid composed many philosophical
works, which the Yekanah Binan admit without
any commentary : many of the Parsees adopt this
creed, and particularly the ascetics of that class.
The helief of these sectaries is illustrated by the
following tetrastich from Subahani :

" "tfhe sophist, who has no knowledge of intellect,

" Asserts that this world is altogether an optical illusion,

" In truth, the world is an illusion; however,

" Certainty is for ever displaying her effulgence there."

On this subject they have composed various
works, the most celebrated of which is, the " Testa-
4 ' ment of Jamshid addressed to Ablin," compiled by
Farhang Dostoor. Shidah, Suhrdb, Mizan, and Jamshdsp,
who, under the profession of mercantile pursuits,
travelled along with Shidosh, the son of Anosh, were
of the Yekanah Binan sect.

THE FIFTH SECTION OF THE DABisTAN describes the
Samradian sect. — In common language Samrad
means imagination and thought ; and the sects thus
named are of many descriptions ; the first is that of
the followers of Fartosh, who lived about the com-
mencement of the Serpent-shouldered Zohak's reign :
Fartosh followed mercantile pursuits, and his faith
was as follows : this elemental world is merely
idea; the remainder, the heavens, the stars, and
the simple uncom pounded beings actually exist.

196

The holders of this opinion are called the Farto-
shidn.

The second are theFarshidiyah, so called from Far*
shid, the son of Fartosh : he asserted that the heavens
and the stars are also ideal, and that the simple un-
com pounded beings only have actual existence.

The next are the Farirajiyah, so called from Fari-
raj, the son of Farshid: his opinion was that the
simple uncompounded beings, that is, intelligences
and souls, also have no existence, which is the attri-
bute of the necessarily self-existent God alone, and
that all besides is ideal, appearing only to exist in
consequence of the essence of that sole existence.

The next are the Faramandiyah, thus named from
Faramand, the disciple of Fariraj . he says, if any
person exists, that person knows that the elements,
heavens, stars, intelligences, and souls are the Al-
mighty ; and what people call the necessarily self-
existent God has no being, although we, through
imagination (idea), suppose him to exist ; which he
certainly does not. According to the testimony of
the sage Amr Khaiam •

" The Creator in this aged world is as a vase,

" Which is internally water and externally ice;

" Resign to children this trifling about infidelity and faith;

" Remove from the place where God is only a letter."

They said to him : " How dost thou prove this
idea?" he answered :

," By means of the solar light we can see: but where is the sun?"

197

ip

Thus, according to them, the Almighty is only
an idea of the imagination : the people of this sect
are now mixed up with the Moslems, and go about
in the garb of the faithful : according to them a per-
son named Kdmkdr, one of the ascetics of this sect,
who lived in the reign of sultan Mahmud of Ghiz-
nah, l composed a poetical treatise, and compiled
narratives, proofs, and revelations conformable to
his tenets ; assigning to his faith a superiority over-
all other systems, after this manner : that, whatever
devout persons have recorded in their respective
creeds concerning the existence of God, the great-
ness of the empyreal sphere, the extent of the an-
gelic world, or concerning paradise, hell, the bridge
of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the
interrogatory and reply,7 the appearing before God,
the rejection of tradition, eternity, and the creation
of the world, is all correct in this creed; as all be-
comes evident to the idea of their professor through
the existence of idea; with respect to which they
thus express themselves : " by means of idea, they

1 Mahmud, the son of Sebekteghin, was the first monarch of the dynasty
of Ghiznah, the foundation of which had been laid by his father. During
a reign of 33 years (from 997 to 1030, A. D.) he made twelve expeditions
to India, and established his domination in the western part of this
country, out of which he possessed a still greater empire, which to the
north-west extended over the whole of Persia, and was limited on the
north-east by the river Oxus.— A. T.

2 See about it hereafter the sixth chapter, which treats of the religion
of the Musulmans.

198

" behold the ideal." In proof of his system, he
farther says: " Self cannot be ignorant of self."
But in truth they are ignorant of their own identity,
and understand not in what " self" consists: some
of them maintain, that the being called man and
endowed with voice and speech, is an incorporeal
essence joined to the body; the relations of thought
and action resulting merely from its entrance or
descent into body : notwithstanding this principle,
they differ greatly among themselves respecting the
eternity and creation of (heir own souls. In like
manner, some have also denied the simple uncom-
poundedness of the intellectual soul, and have spoken
largely against that doctrine; consequently, as they
are unacquainted with their own identity, what can
they know about the heavens, stars, intelligences,
and God? and it becomes not that one should know
nothing about himself, but that he exists not. Kam-
kar, in his treatise,^has collected many amusing
anecdotes respecting the Samradian sect, of which
the following is an instance : a Samradian once said
to his steward : ' ' The world and its inhabitants have
*' no actual existence; they merely have an ideal
" being." The servant, on hearing this, took the
first favorable opportunity to conceal his master's
horse, and when he was about to ride, brought him
an ass with the horse's saddle. When the Samra-
dian asked, ** Where is the horse?" the servant re-

199

plied, " Thou hast been thinking of an idea: there
" was no horse in being." The master answered,
" It is true:" he then mounted the ass, and having
rode for some time, he suddenly dismounted, and
taking the saddle off the ass's back, placed it on the
servant's, drawing the girths on tightly; and having
forced the bridle into his mouth, he mounted him
and flogged him along vigorously. The servant, in
piteous accents, having exclaimed: " What is the
" meaning of this conduct?" the Samradian replied:
" There is no such thing as a whip ; it is merely
" ideal ; thou art only thinking of some illusion :"
after which the steward repented and restored the
horse.

In another tale it is recorded that a Samradian,
having obtained in marriage the daughter of a
wealthy lawyer, she, on finding out her husband's
creed, proposed to have some amusement at his
expense. One day the Samradian brought in a
bottle of pure wine, which during his absence she
emptied of its contents and filled it up with water ;
when the time for taking wine came round, she
poured out water instead of wine into a gold cup
which was her own property. The Samradian
having observed, " Thou hast given me water in-
" stead of wine," she answered, " It is only ideal ;
" there was no wine in existence." The husband
then said : " Thou hast spoken well; present me

200

" the cup, that I may go to a neighbour's house and
" bring it back full of wine." He therefore took
out the gold cup, which he sold, and concealing the
money, instead of the gold vase brought back an
earthen vessel full of wine. The wife, on seeing this,
said, ** What hast thou done with the golden cup?"
he replied, " Thou art surely thinking about some
te ideal golden cup:" on which the woman greatly
regretted her witticism.

As to those sectaries who assert that the world
exists only in idea, the author of this work saw
several in Lahore, in the year of the Hejirah 1048,
A. D. 1657. The first was Kdm Joi, who composed
the following distichs on Fariraj :

" Thou knowest that every thing is ideal,

" If the Almighty has given thee illumination!

" The mention even of ideality proceeds from idea ;

" The very idea itself is nothing more than ideal."

It is to be noted that Samrdd and Samwdd are
applied to fancy or idea. Ismail Sufi, ofArdistan1 has
poetically expressed himself to the same purport in
what is styled the mixed Persian :

" I am about to mention something although remote from reason;
" Listen carefully : but if not, mercy still awaits thee:
" This world is ideal; and ideality itself is but idea:
" This existence which 1 call ideal, that likewise is idea."

1 Upon Ismail Sofi, see note p. 52,53. Ardistan or Ardastan is;a town
of the province called Icbal, or Persian Irak, 36 leagues distant from Ispa-
han.—A. T.

201

The second person treated of in the Samrad Na-
mah of Kamkar was Ndk Khoy ; the third was Shad
Kesh ; and the fourth, Mdhydr : they were all engaged
in commercial pursuits, and styled Moslem or true
believers.

THE SIXTH SECTION OF THE DAMSTAN describes the
tenets of the IGiodaiyan. — This sect are followers of
Khoddddd, a Mobed, who lived during the decline of
Jemshid's power and the usurpation of Zohak.
Khodadad held intelligences and souls to be simple
uncompounded beings, and the stars and heavens to
be the companions of God ; each of which, in pro-
portion to its proximity to the Almighty beyond
other created beings, is so much more elevated in
dignity : notwithstanding which we are not to ac-
count any being, whether the simple uncompounded
or material, as a mediator or promoter between us
and God ; neither is there any occasion for prophets,
because through the medium of reliance, the seeking
out of God is attained, and we are to serve God
alone. Among those who held these opinions in
Lahore, in the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1639)
were seen Kamus and Fartush, both merchants.

THE SEVENTH SECTION OF THE DABiSTAN describes the
system of the Radian. — The chief of this sect was
Rdd Gunah, one of the eminently brave, a lion-like

202

hero, who, to beneficent acts and abstinence from
cruelly to animals, joined the dignity of knowledge j
he enjoyed distinguished honor and rank about the
end of Jamshid's reign and the commencement of
Zohak's usurpation : his opinion is, that God is the
same as the sun, whose bounty extends to all beings;
and that the fourth heaven, by reason of its consti-
tuting the true centre of the seven heavens, is the
seat of his glory ; and as his essence is pure good,
his place must also be regarded as a proof of his
goodness : besides this, his grace extends alike to
all bodies, whether superior or inferior : moreover,
as the heart, which is the sovereign of the body, is
settled in the midst of the breast, such is also the
rule and custom observed by renowned princes to
fix the seat of government in the centre of their
realms, so that their bounty as well as severity may
be equally extended over the whole community;
and, by such a measure, the repose of the people
and the due regulations of the Rayas may be pro-
moted. He asserted that the spirit of the heavens,
the stars, and the three kingdoms of nature proceed
from the solar spirit, and that their bodies return to
the light of his body ; that is, the virtuous return to
him or some of the stars approximating to his glory,
whilst sinners remain in the elemental world. lie
at first communicated these opinions secretly to his
friends, but promulgated them fearlessly during the

203

•

reign of Zohak. In the year of ihe Ilejirah 1052
(A. D. 1642), the author, whilst journeying from
Panjab to Kabul, met at the station of Rdwal Bundi
two persons of this creed, and whose names were
Hormuzd and Tirah Kesh, who were skilled in all
arts, abstinent, and remote from hurting any living
being,

THE EIGHTH SECTION OF THE DABisi'AN treats of the
Shidrangidn creed. — Shidrang, a champion of Iran,
who in battle was regarded as the acknowledged
chief of the marshallers of armies, and joined pro-
found knowledge in science to bravery in the field,
always turned away most studiously from doing
injury to the creatures of God. He appeared about
the middle of Zohak's reign, and soothed the ser-
pents between the usurper's shoulders. Shidrang
unceasingly invited the people to adopt his faith,
and had many followers : he maintained that Khoy
and Manish, " disposition and constitution" or na-
ture, to be God; according to his system, the state
of man and other animals resembles that of herbage,
which, when scattered about or dissolved, grows up
again. A merchant, named PilAzdr, who belonged
to this sect, was met by the author in Kashmir in
the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1051).

THE NINTH SECTION explains the Paikdridn creed.—

204

Paikdr was a virtuous sage from Iran, who appeared
about the middle of Zohak's reign. He thus ad-
dressed his disciples: " The Almighty is the same
** as fire, from the effulgence of which stars have
" been formed, and the heavens from its smoke;
" as fire is both hot and dry, from its heat pro-
" ceeded the air, which is hot and humid; and from
** the humidity of the air came water, which is cold
and humid ; also from the coldness of water pro-
ceeded the earth, which is cold and dry; and from
these conjointly came the compound productions,
both perfect and imperfect. Two individuals of
this sect, Paikdr Pazhuh and JahanNavard, who were
unequalled in drawing out astronomical tables,
painting, and inlaying, were met by the writer in the
year 1059 (A. D. 1649) in Gujarat," in the district of

Panjab.
J

THE TENTH SECTION OF THE DABisTAN explains the
Mildnidn system. —Milan was one of the brave cham-
pions of Iran and contemporary with Paikar ; he
exhorted many people to adopt his faith, which was
as follows : " The air is the truly self-existent God,
"as it is both hot and humid; from its heat pro-
" ceeded fire, and from its humidity, water ; from
" the effulgence of fire came forth the stars ; from
*'* its smoke the heavens (as before mentioned )>
" and from the frigidity of water proceeded the

205

earlh." One of this sect was Rohdm, who passed
under the designation of a draughtsman ; he was in
truth a painter possessed of European skill ; the hand
of Bahzad2 and the finger of Mani,3 who never re-

1 Vitruvius (who lived shortly before J. C.) says (1. iv. Praef. ): Thalcs
Milesius omnium rerum principium Aquam est professus, Heraclitus
Ignem, Magorum sacerdotes, Aquam et Ignem. As to the earth proceeding
from the frigidity of water, we read in Macrobius ( In Somno Scip. 1. 1 )
what follows : " Terra est sicca et frigida : aqua vero frigida et humecta
" est; ha3c duo elernenta, licet sibi et per siccum humectumque contra-
" ria sint, per frigidum tamen commune junguntur." — A. T.

2 Bahzad was a celebrated painter.

3 In the Desatir (English transl., pp. 188, 1889) it is stated that Mani
came into Iran during the reign of Ardeshir, and made himself notorious
by curious paintings and a new doctrine which he exhibited : he permitted
the killing of harmless animals, and forbade all intercourse with women.
After a controversy upon these two points with the king Shapur, he was
driven out of the court, and then lapidated and torn to pieces by the
people of the town. According to Sharistani, Mani was the son of Faten
or Fater; according to Mohammed Ben Ishak, his father was Fettak Ben
Ebi Berdsam. He was born about the year 240 of our era, but his birth-
place is differently stated to have been in Persia, in Babylonia, in Nisha-
pur, in Khorossan. He is reputed as a learned man, as will be shewn in a
subsequent note. He appeared at the court of king Shapur, the son of Ar-
deshir Babegan, but inhabited chiefly Turkistan. As a painter, he exhibited

/ ^

a set of pictures, called -JiX-JLJ'.!, artang; or s^Cjil, arzharik; or

<oU v_ijC-x3.J , archang Mani, which he said he had brought from
heaven, where he pretended to have dwelt, whilst in reality he was con-
cealed in a cavern during one year. The baron Hammer Purgstal suggests
that the artang might have been a banner or ensign, upon which astro-
nomical or cabalistical figures were represented, and which the Mongols
and Buddhists used to call Mani (see Jahrb. der Lit., for April, May,
June, 1840, p. 28). Mani was besides a skilful musician, and inventor of
a musical instrument, called dud by the Arabs, chelys by the Greeks.

200

niained long in one place. In the year of the Heji-
rah 1040 (A. D. 1630) the author beheld him in
Kashmir, in the house of Shidosh.

THE ELEVENTH SECTION describes the system of the
followers of Alar. — Alar was a native of Iran, cele-
brated for his extensive knowledge, who lived in
reputation and dignity about the end of Zohak's
reign, under whose command he distinguished him-
self in the erection of forts and other architectural
works. His belief was, that God is the same as
water, from the ebullition of which proceeded fire ;
from the fire came forth the heavens and the stars (as
before stated) ; from the humidity of water proceeded
the air, and from its frigidity, the earth. To this
sect belonged Andarimdn, who was well skilled in
the management of the bow, archery, wielding the
lance, horsemanship, and other military accomplish-
ments; he gave instructions in these sciences to the
sons of great men, in which occupation he passed
his life. In the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630)
the author met him in Kashmir at the house of Shi-
dosh. To this sect also belonged Mildd, who pos-
sessed consummate skill in writing, and was held in
great respect by men of high station : he was in truth

He was put to death by order of king Bahram, the son of Hormuz, about
the year 278; by some authors his life and death arc placed later.— See
about Maui, Hyde, pp. 282, 290, and Beausobre, Histoire critique de
Manic We.— A. T.

207

unequalled in the recitation of histories, the narra-
tion of stories and romantic tales. The author
enjoyed his society also in Kashmir.

THE TWELFTH SECTION treats concerning the Shida-
bian faith.— Shddib, who lived about the end of Zo-
hdk's reign, was an eminent physician of Iran, held
in great estimation by nobles and princes. He main-
tained that the self-existent lord is the same with
the earth, from the dry propensity of which was
produced fire ; and from fire the heavens and stars,
as before mentioned; from its frigidity proceeded
water ; from the humidity of which was formed the
air ; and when the four elements were mixed toge-
ther, the three kingdoms of nature were then mani-
fested. The physician Mihrdn was also of this sect.
In the year 1048 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1658) the
author joined him, and travelled in his society from
Lahore to Kashmir. Among those who held these
tenets was one named Khaki, who followed the pro-
fession of a merchant and possessed great wealth :
him the author met in Lahore. In that same year
and in the same place, he became acquainted with
a young man named Shir, who excelled in writing
the Nishki and Taalik characters, and was one of the
chosen followers of Shiddb.

THE THIRTEENTH SECTION describes the svstem of

208

the Akhshiydn sect. —The MobedAkhshi was by origin
a Persian, possessed of great knowledge, and full
of kindness towards the creatures of God ; he was
contemporary with Shiddb, and promulgated his
sentiments openly, inviting ail men to embrace his
faith : he maintained God to be the essence of the
elements ; so that when people say, u God is not
" visible," this implies the elemental essence, which
presents no form to the sight ; when they assert the
ubiquity of God, they style that the essence, as he is
every where under his fourfold form ; their propo-
sition of all things excepting God being perishable,
means that the elements admit of change, but that
their essence remains for ever in the same state.
They hold the sun to be the source of fire and of the
other stars, such as the falling and shooting stars,
comets with tails, etc. One of those sectaries was
a person named Shiddb, whom the author met in
the costume of a merchant, in Kashmir in the year of
the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), and from whom he
heard what has now been written, and which was
partly recited out of the book of Akshi. The same
Shiddb, called also Shams-ud-d$n, or u the sun of
" faith/' composed a treatise entitled Rdzdbdd in
proof of his system, which he demonstrated by texts
of the Koran and the traditions. According to these
sectaries, which became known after the Radiydn,
there is no resurrection nor return to life but after

209

this manner : the seminal principle being derived
from food, when the body of a living creature is dis-
solved, it becomes grass and constitutes the food of
some other animal : as to future rewards and punish-
ments, they enter not into the faith or practice of
this sect : their paradise consists in having fine rai-
ment, in carousing, riding, sensual enjoyments, and
such like pleasures, which alone they esteem the
chief good; torment, according to them, consists in
being separated from such objects : however, the
founders and followers of this faith carefully avoid
all kind of cruelty towards living creatures.

According to them, intercourse with daughters,
sisters, mothers, maternal aunts, and their children
is allowable ; l as there can exist no antipathy be-

1 According to Philo and to Diogenes Laertius, the Persians used to
marry their mothers and sisters. Alexander abolished these incestuous
marriages (see Brisson, p. 290). We know from Herodotus (I: 111) that
Cambyses married his sister Atossa. According to Strabo, the law per-
mitted the Magians union with their mothers. Plutarch, in the life of Ar-
taxerxes, relates that this king took to wife his two daughters Atossa and
Amestris; but his mother Parysatis (Part-dokht, " daughter of a fairy"),
at the very time she was engaging him to marry the first of his daugh-
ters, said that he must, in doing so, place himself above the laws of the
country. Zoroaster, in the Zand books, recommends but the marriages
between the children of brothers and sisters as actions deserving heaven.
We observe that the author of the Dabistan speaks here only of a particu-
lar sect, the custom of which might have been attributed to the whole
nation of the Persians, but without sufficient foundation. This is con-
firmed by the ancient tradition mentioned by Agathius (1. 11 }, who says,
that Sinus killed his own mother Semiramis, because she had proposed to
him an unnatural connection with her. For this same reason, according

14

210

Iween the source and what is derived from it : no de-
gree of relationship in their opinion should be a bar
to the intercourse of the sexes: nay, on the contrary,
it is highly to be commended, as the nearer the de-
gree of consanguinity, the greater will be the friend-
ship between the parties. ' They however regard
adultery as highly criminal, unless the husband
should willingly sacrifice his wife's honor. They in
fact maintain that marriage between any two parties,
however nearly related, is perfectly allowable if the
parties agree among themselves. They also regard
the ceremonial ablutions enjoined by the law as
absurd and unnecessary.2 They also say, that men
assume a particular nature by means of laws and
institutions, and on that account regard good as
evil, and evil as good. When they desire to make
a sacrificial offering, they kill some harmless animal
and count it not a foul crime. Nay, some religion-
ists who partake of swine's flesh, scrupulously avoid
that of cows, and vice vend. Whoever shall appeal
to the intelligence, which is the gift of God, will be
convinced that our discourse is true ; that is, all we

to the author just quoted, Artaxerxes is said to have discarded from
him \vith great indignation his mother Parysatis, although he did not
decline the marriage with his two daughters. — (See Hyde, p. 421.) — A.T.

1 The translation of this passage of the original text is not, and ought
not to be, literal, as the author's expressions are here such as an Euro-
pean reader would hardly think suitable to common decency.— A. T.

2 The same observation is also applicable to this passage.— A. T.

211

have narrated from the fifth chapter to the present.
The professors of this belief are mixed up with the
Muhammedans, and travel about under that mask,
assuming the name of true believers, but having a
distinct appellation for their peculiar creed ; they are
scattered over Iran and Turan, remote from and
averse to the fire-worshippers.

THE FOURTEENTH SECTION of this chapter of the Da-
bistan treats of the followers ofZardusht^—Farzanah

1 If the claims to originality and antiquity of the language in which the
Desatir is written were admitted, we should have (pp. 146, 147, Engl.
transl.) Hertusha'd or Herlu'rash, as the first and true name of the Persian
prophet who followed immediately Kai Khusro. In Zand, upon which lan-
guage we are now better informed, the true name of this legislator of the
Persians is Zerethoshtro', or Zarathustra, which signifies " star of gold ;"
of this was formed in the Pehlevi language the name of Zaratesht or
Zaratosht, and in Farsi that of Zardu'sht or Zaradusht. The Greeks
have changed the original Zand name, either by removing the " th" in
the middle of it, and thus making it Zereoshtro, Zoroastrds; or by
omitting the final syllable" tro," whence it became Zaratos, Zabratos,
Zaradas, Zarasdes, Zathraustis ; we find, moreover, Zoromasdres,
Azonaces, and Nazaratu's. The most ancient mention of the name of
Zoroastres, in Greek books, is to be found in the works of Plato, and
dates therefore from the fourth century before our era. The original
word has been translated by a.<rcpv3vty:, " he who sacrifices to the stars;"
by afftp&'aTYjj, " he who contemplates the stars ;" and by " living star."
These interpretations relate to the character of a priest and of an astro-
nomer, generally attributed to Zoroaster, who is also believed to have
been the inventor of magic; this word was originally taken in a sense
very different from that which has been given to it in later times, and can
be referred to the name of Magi, or Mobeds (see note, p. 17), well known
to Herodotus in the fifth century B. C. These Magi are represented as the
teachers and priests of a most pure philosophy and religion, the origin of
which is placed by the Desatir and the Dabistan in the most remote and

212

Bahram, the son of Farhad, the Yazdanian, thus
relates in the Sharistan: TheBehdin sages relate, that
the Almighty, on creating the holy spirit of Zar-

antc-historical times of the Mahabadfans. It may therefore appear less
surprising to find in Pliny's Natural History (1. xxx. c. 1. 2.) Zoroaster
placed, pursuant to the authority of Aristotle and Eudoxus, 6000 years
before the death of Plato, and, conformably to Hermippus, 5000 years
before the Trojan war. The last date is repeated by Plutarch (lib. de Is.
et Osir.). Diogenes Laertius says : " Hermodoros, a Platonic philosopher,
" counts 5000 years from the establishment of the Magi to the destruction
" of Troy." According to Suidas, a Zoroaster lived 500 years before the
Trojan war; if the number 500 had been erroneously substituted for
5000, which is admissible (see M. de Portia d'Urban, Mathematicians
illustres, p. 354), we should have the agreement of all these creditable
authors just mentioned, from the fourth century before, to the twelfth
century after, our era, in fixing the age of Zoroaster and the establishment
of the Magi, 6352 or 6194 years B. C.

The epocha of the Magi (putting aside that of the Mahabadfans) has also
been taken for that of Tahmuras and Jemshid, that is, 3469 or 3429 years
B. C. According to other accounts (collected in the Hist. Diction, of Mo-
reri, Bayle, etc., etc.), a Zoroaster ruled the Bactrian empire in the times
of Ninus, the Assyrian king, 2200 years B. C. ; vanquished by the latter,
he desired to be consumed by the fire of heaven, and exhorted the Assy-
rians to preserve his ashes as a palladium of their empire; after he
had been killed by lightning, his last will was executed. Some historians
( see Herbelot sub voce ) admit a Zerdrisht in the age of Feridiin, 1729
years B. C. Several other learned men concur in placing him much later,
few below the sixth century before our era.

In the utter impossibility to decide upon so many conflicting statements,
there is perhaps no better means of reconciling them all, than concluding
that Zoroaster having, in the course of ages, become a generic or appel-
lative name for sages, prophets, and kings professing and promoting a
certain religion or philosophy, this name could be applied to several indi-
viduals who appeared at different times, and in different countries of Asia.
Hence we explain in the various accounts a plurality of Zoroasters, and an
identity of several personages with one Zoroaster ; he has indeed been sup-

215

« I ti shi, attached it to a tree, when he commenced
the creation of contingent beings in the highest starry
heavens : this signifies the primary intellect, which
is as a tree, the leaves and fruits of which are all
contingent existences ; and their assertion concerning
the spirit of Zardiisht being attached to it, means
that his intellectual soul is a ray of the primary intel-
lect, the perfections of Zardiisht being also an efful-
gence proceeding from that same tree. The Mobed
Sarmh, the Yazdanian, relates : " The teachers of the
* ' Behdin faith have thus said : The father of Zardtisht
' ' had a cow which went forth every morning to the
' £ pasture : having one day come accidentally to some
* ' trees, the fallen leaves of which had become dried
"up, she partook of them, and after that occurrence,
" never led on any other provender except the

posed to be the same with Japhet , Ham (Heemo], Zohak, Nimrod, Buddha,
Abraham, Moses, Ezekiel, Balaam, etc., etc. Whatever it be, the Da-
bistan treats in this chapter of the Zardiisht, who appeared under the
reign of Gushtasp, king of Persia, upon whose epocha too our chronologers
are not unanimous.

Independently of the Dasatir, written originally in a particular lan-
guage, the Persians have Zand books which they attribute to the last
Zoroaster himself. Except these works, the age of which is a subject of
dispute, they have no written records of their great legislator prior to the
ninth or tenth century of our era, and these are the poems of Dakiki and
Ferdusi. The latter narrates, in his Shah-nameh, the history of Zerdusht
under the reign of Gushtasp. We have besides a Shah nameh naser, or a
Shah-nameh in prose, composed by some one of the Magi (Hyde, p. 324 1.
The Zardusht-nameh, and the Changragatcha-numeh arc Persian poems,
the epocha of which, according to Anquetil du Perron (Zend Avesta, t. I.
pp. 6 can scarcely be fixed farther back than the liftcenth century.— A. T.

214

u withered leaves of that grove. Zardiisht's father
" partook of the milk supplied by this cow, and the
* ' influence of it being communicated to his wifeDugh-
4 ' duyah, she conceived Zardtisht." l The object of the
above narrative is to show, that by eating the green
foliage, the vegetable spirit is afflicted ; for which
reason the cow fed only on dry leaves, so that no
injury could result to any spirit whatever : although,
in 'fact, the vegetable spirit is incapable of receiving
either pleasure or pain, it also shows, that unless a
cow be milked, she feels great pain in the udder,
whilst, at the lime of milking, no pain ensues from
the operation ; also, that the Almighty formed his
prophet's body out of milk, which in its essence
implies no injury to any living creature. This much
being premised, Zaratusht Bahrain, a Mobed of the
religion of Zardusht,2 says : When the world had
been thrown into confusion by the wicked, and was
entirely at the mercy of the demon, God willed to
raise up a prophet of an exalted dignity, which the

1 This is also related in Mirkhond's Runzat-us-Safa (Shea's transl ,
p. 286).— A. T.

2 Zaratiisht-Bahram is the author of the Zaratusht-namah before-men-
tioned (see Hyde, p. 332). The epoch of this work is uncertain, accord-
ing to the opinion of the dosturs of India ; yet the author of it informs
us, in the 2nd chapter, that he has translated it into Persian from the
Pehlvi under the dictation of a Mobed skilled in this language; and in
the last chapter in which he names himself he says that he composed the
Zaratusht-namah in the year 647 of Yezdegerd, which answers to 1276 of
our era (see Zend-Avesta, t. I. 2. P. p. 6).— A. T.

family of Faridun was alone worthy of filling. In
those days lived a man, by name Purshdsp, the son
ofPatirdsp, descended from Faridun ; ' and his wile's
name was Doghduyah, a virtuons matron, who was
also of the family of Faridun. These two persons
were selected by the Almighty as the shells for en-
closing the pearl of Zardusht. When five months
of Doghduyah's pregnancy had elapsed, she one
night beheld in a dream her house enveloped in a
dark cloud, which concealed the splendor of the sun
and moon ; and from this cloud were raining down
the noxious and rapacious creatures of earth and
air ; the boldest of these animals having rent open
Doghduyah's womb, took out the infant, which
he held in his talons, and the other wild beasts
gathered around him. Doghduyah in her alarm
wished to cry out, but Zardusht prevented her,
saying: " the just God befriends me; entertam
" no apprehensions." She consequently held her

1 According to Cedrenus, an author of the eleventh century, Zoro-
aster descended from Belus or Nimrod : this king is, by some authors,
identified with Zohak, who married two daughters of Djemchid, from
whom also Faridun descended; on account of this relationship. Zoroaster's
origin may without contradiction be referred to Belus and to Faridun.
In the Desatir, the name of his father is Heresfetma'd. According to the
authority of the book Sad-der (see Hyde, p. 316), Patira'sp, the grand-
father of Zoroaster, descended from Hitcherasp, who sprung from Tchech-
shu'nesh, and this from Espintaman, or Sad-yuman ; who is therefore the
third ancestor of the prophet : nevertheless this last is often called simply
Espinlaman, or also Sapetman; which word, according to Anquelil clu
Perron (t. I. 2. p. 9), signifies " excellent."— A. T.

216

peace. That instant she beheld a shining mountain
which descended from heaven and rent the black
cloud asunder; on which the noxious animals began
to fly away. When the mountain approached
nearer, there came forth from it a youth shining all
over, bearing in one hand a luminous branch, and
in the other the volume sent by the just God. He
next hurled that volume towards the beasts, on
which they all departed from the house, excepting
three ; a wolf, a lion, and a tiger : the youth then
smote these with the luminous branch, so that they
were consumed by fire ; after this, taking Zardusht,
he restored him to his mother's belly, and said to
her: " Fear not! grieve not! for God himself is
" thy son's guardian : this honored child shall be
" the prophet of the just God!" The youth then
disappeared, and Doghduyah awaking, rose up that
gloomy night, and hastening to a neighbouring seer
who was skilled in the interpretation of dreams,
related her vision. ' The interpreter answered :
" Through this sun-resembling child, the world
" shall be filled with thy fame ; depart, and bring
" hither the calculation of thy nativity for my in-
'* spection." She performed his command; and the
interpreter on examining it said : ' ' During three

1 The same dream is related in the Zardusht-namah ( c. 3 and 4 ), as
well as in the work of Henry Lord (p. 451), quoted by Anquetil du
Perron (Zend-Avesta, t. I 2. P. p. 11).— A. T.

217

" days keep this secret concealed from all ; return
' ' hither on the fourth day, and receive the answer
*' to thy demands." She did so; and on the
fourth day came to the astrologer, who smiled on
beholding her, and having carefully considered the
sidereal influences, turned to the interpretation of
the dream, saying : " The night on which thou
*' beheldest that vision, the unborn child had com-
" pleted five months and twenty-three days •, on his
*' issuing forth to the couch of existence, his illus-
" trious name shall be Zardusht; by him shall the
' ' enemies of the faith be destroyed ; but they will
" previously oppose him in battle, and put in prac-
" tice every hostile measure ; from the evil doers
'* thou shall feel much affliction, such as thou didst
" witness from the wild beasts of the vision.

" At last victorious and rejoiced in heart thou shall become,
" And through this unborn child feel all a mother's joy.

*' Next thou beheldest a youth descending from the
" sixth heaven with the glittering branch of a tree;
" that was Farrah-i-Izad, ' the splendor of God,'
" the warder of evils from thy son ; the written
" volume in his hand is the emblem of the prophetic
" office, by which he is to obtain the victory over
" all foes; the three wild beasts which remained
" behind are the type of a powerful evil-disposed
" enemy, who by wiles will endeavour to destroy
" Zardusht, but who shall be finally discomfited ;

218

" and there shall be a prince to promulgate the
u iaith: through his might shall Zardusht become
" sovereign of this world and the next. O Dogh-
' ' duyah ! paradise is the recompense of obedience
" to Zardusht, and hell is the reward of those who
" avert the face from him. Would to heaven that
" I could live in the days of his mission, to exhi-
" bit my zeal for his eminent dignity." Dogh-
duyah then said to the interpreter and astrologer :
' ' How hast thou found out the circumstance of the
" exact period of my pregnancy?" To this he
replied : " Through the power of knowledge of the
" stars, and the perusal of ancient records, which
" give an account of his auspicious existence."
Doghduyah, on her return home, told this event to
Purshasp, that he might communicate it toPatirasp;
on which both parents joined in praising the Al-
mighty. Zaradusht, on issuing forth into the abode
of existence, laughed aloud at the moment of his
birth, ' so that the women of the neighbourhood
who were there assembled heard the sound of his
laugh, and even his father, Purshasp,

" Said to himself, he must surely be an emanation of God,

" All, with the exception of him, weep on coming into the world "

1 The tradition of this appears to be widely spread, not only in the
East but also in the West, as it is mentioned by Pliny (H. N. 1. vii. c. 16),
with the addition of one wonderful particular, namely, that Zartusht's
brain palpitated so much as to repel the hand laid upon his head, a pre-
sage of future science. Solinus (c. 1) relates the same fact. Zoroaster is
proverbially known as the first child who laughed on being born.— A. T.

219

He then gave him the name of Zaratusht, '

" Thus the dream-interpreter's word was verified."

All the women became jealous at the laugh of
Zaradusht, and this wonderful occurrence was
spread abroad, until it came to the hearing of Dardn
Sarun, the king of that region, who gloried in the
practice of magic and the worship of Ahriman. He
had information of the appearance of Zaratusht, and
it was known from the historians and astronomers
that he will reveal a better religion and destroy that
of Ahriman. He therefore hastened to the pillow of
Zaradusht, and commanding him to be taken out of
the cradle, and putting his hand to his sword, pre-
pared to cut off the child's head ; but that instant
his hand was dried up, so that he left the house in
pain and affliction ; on which all the magicians and
worshippers of Ahriman (the only worship which pre-
vailed at that time) became quite alarmed. The magi-
cians then formed a mountain of wood, naphtha,
and sulphur, and having set it on fire, threw into
the midst of it Zaradusht, whom they had by force
taken from his father, and hastened with this intel-
ligence to their king : but, through the aid of God,

" The devouring flame became as water,

" In the midst of which slumbered the pearl of Zardusht."

1 See note, p. 211. This name has also been supposed a mere corruption
of O*~-O /(I, azer dost, that is, " a friend of fire" (see Hyde, who
rejects it, p. 314).— A. T.

220

On learning this, Zaradusht's mother hurried to
the desert, and taking her honored son out of the
embers, bore him secretly home. After many days,
when the account of his deliverance was published
abroad, the magicians, evil spirits, and demons
again bore Zardusht away, and threw him into a
narrow place, a thoroughfare for the passage of
oxen, that he should be exposed to be bruised and
trampled under foot. Through the goodness of God,
a powerful cow came in front, and, standing still,
took Zardusht between her fore feet, and drove off
with her horns whatever cow came in that direction:
when the whole had passed, she also went to join
them ; and Doghduyah, after great search, having
discovered her honored son, took him home : when
this intelligence came to Diiransariin, he commanded
them to expose Zardusht in a far narrower defile
through which horses were to pass ; but, owing to
divine aid, a mare advanced before the others, and
standing at the child's head kept a strict watch over
him, and Doghduyah, after encountering great
hardship, bore her fortunate offspring home. On
learning this occurrence, Diiransariin ordered per-
sons to repair to the dens of the ravening wolves,
and having slaughtered their cubs, then expose Zar-
dusht in the same place, in order that the dams
out of revenge might tear him to pieces. At night,
when the troop of wolves returned to their lairs,

221

they beheld their cubs slaughtered and weltering in
blood, and at the same time finding an infant crying
out, they all hurried towards him; the chief wolf
and the boldest of them, having rushed on to devour
Zardusht} his mouth became as sewn up : at this
miracle the wolves were altogether alarmed, and
seated themselves like so many nurses around the
infant's head ; at the same time there also came two
sheep from the mountain region, which applied their
teats filled with milk to the lips of Zardusht: thus
the sheep and the wolf lay down in one place.
With the morning dawn, his mother, after anxious
seeking and searching, came to that frightful place,
raised up the exalted prophet, and having poured
out her gratitude to God, proceeded with exultation
to her home. ! The magicians, on hearing this
miracle, became quite despondent ; they assembled
to devise some remedy, and formed a council for
the purpose of deliberating, when a celebrated magi-
cian named Purtarush and Parantarmh 2 said to them :
," Zardusht is not to be destroyed by your plans,
" for God befriends him, and the angel Far-i-Izad
" ' the splendor of God,' is ever with him. Bahman

1 The same circumstances of the child's dangers and miraculous escapes
are related in the Zardusht-namah (c. 7-il), and in Changrdgatha-
namah (c. 2). -A. T.

2 In the Zardusht-nameh, the name of the magician is Turberatorsh.

-A.T.

222

'c (who is the same as Jabriil) has borne Zardusht to
te the presence of the Almighty; and God having
*< imparted to him the knowledge of all the secrets
" of existence, sends him forth as a prophet. A just
" sovereign will co-operate with him in promul-
" gating his faith, and every vestige of enchanters
" and Deeves shall be cut off from the earth."

The father of Zardusht said one day to Partarush :
" Give me some account of Zardusht's star and its
<c rise; tell me also why he laughed at the time of
ct his birth". Partarush replied : "Thy son Zardusht
"is to be a chief, as all the happy spheres afford
" him aid ; this offspring of auspicious career will
16 conduct the creatures of God in the true way ;
" promulgate the Zandavasta^;1 destroy the demon

1 The edition of Calcutta reads generally jij * zhand; we shall keep
the more familiar name Joj, sand. We find also Avesta-sand, and
simply Asia- and zand.

Herbelot has interpreted this name of Zoroaster's writings by " the
" book of life." Hyde thought (p. 336) that Zand Avesta was properly
Zand va Esta, or Zand u Esta, and Zand, an Arabic word signifying
" igniarium, focile, pixis ignaria," joined to the Hebrew-Chaldaic word
Eshta, or Esta, " ignis," and explained the whole name by " igniarium "
and " ignis," or " tinder and fire." According to Anquetil du Perron
(Zend-Avesta, t. II. p. 423), zand signifies " living," and Avesta, "word;"
therefore Zand-Avesta, " the living word;" which was anciently the law
of the countries limited by the Euphrates, the Oxus, and the Indian
ocean (ibid., t. I. p. xiv). This law or religion is still professed by the
descendants of the Persians who, conquered by the Muhammedans, have
not submitted to the Koran; they partly inhabit Kirman, and partly the
western coast of India, to the north and south of Surat. It is besides

225

" and enchanters, and finally king Gush tasp shall
" embrace his faith." This announcement gave
great delight to Purshasp.

now decided by the investigations of the above-named author, and by those
of Kleuker, Rask, as well as by those of Messrs. Eugene Burnouf, Bopp,
Lassen, and other philologers, that Zand was an ancient language de-
rived from the same source as the Sanskrit; it was spoken before the
Christian era, particularly in the countries situated to the west of the
Caspian sea, namely in Georgia, Iran proper, and Arerbijan (the northern
Media). Moreover the Pa-zand denotes a dialect derived from the Zand,
or a mixed Zand, similar to the Rabbinic language of the Jews \'/,.-A\\,
t. II. pp. 67, 68).

It is generally known that Anquetil du Perron brought, in the year 1762,
from Surat in India, and deposited in the Royal library of Paris, several
Zand, Pehlvi, and Persian works, which, according to his opinion, were
partly the original works written by Zoroaster himself, partly translated, or
at least derived from original works of the Persian prophet. These writings,
namely The Vendidad, in Zand and Pehlvi, were brought about the year
1276, by the Dostur Ardeshir, from Sistan to Guzerat, and there commu-
nicated to the Parsees, who made two copies of them; from these come all
the Vendidads, Zand and Pehlvi, of Guzerat. These works, parts of which
only existed in England, were then for the first time translated into an
European language, and published in French by Anquetil. Examined as
monuments of an ancient religion and literature of the Persians, they
have been differently appreciated by learned men, and their authenticity
denied by some, among whom the most conspicuous are sir William
Jones, Richardson, and Meiners, and defended by others, by none with
more zeal than John Frederic Kleuker, who not only translated Anquetil's
Zand-Avesta into German, in three volumes, but in an appendix of two
volumes (all in quarto) commented and discussed with great judgment,
sagacity, and erudition, all that relates to the Zand-books attributed to
Zoroaster. Here follow, as shortly as possible, the principal results of
his laborious investigations :— testimonies of the existence of works attri-
buted to Zoroaster are found in Greek authors who lived before our era.
It was in the sixth century B. C. that the Persian religion and philosophy
became known in Europe by Hostanes, the Archimagus who accompanied

At this time there lived an aged saint named Bar-
zinkaroos, of profound experience and clear discern-
ment ; this sage having come to the house of Pur-

Xerxes in his expedition against Greece. In the fourth century B. C., Plato,
Aristotle, and Theopompus show a knowledge of Zoroaster's works. In
the third century B. C.,Herraippus treats expressly of them, as containing
not less than 120,000 distichs. Soon after the beginning of the Christian
era, works attributed to Zoroaster are mentioned under different names
by Nicolaus of Damascus, Strabo, Pausanius, Pliny, and Dion Chrysos-
tomus. St. Clement of Alexandria, in the third century, was not unac-
quainted with them. Later, the Gnostics made a great use of the oriental
cosmogony and psychology as derived from Zoroaster. The testimony of
Eusebius establishes that, in the fourth century, there existed a collection
of sacred works respecting the theology and religion of the Persians. It
was mostly the liturgical part of them that was spread about, mixed with
notions relative to the magical art. The empress Eudokia of the fifth,
and Suidas of the twelfth, century, attribute to Zoroaster several books,
four of which treat of nature, one of precious stones, and five of astrology
and prognostics. So much and more can be gathered from Greek and
Latin works about the writings of the Persian legislator.

The records of the Muhammedans concerning them begin only in the
ninth century, by Muhammed Abu Jafar Ebn Jerir el Tabari (Hyde, 317-319),
according to whom Zoroaster wrote his revelations upon 12,000 cow-skins
(or parchment folios). Abu Muhammed' Mustapha, in his life of Gushtasp,
says: " Zoroaster wrote the just-mentioned work in 12 tomes, each of which
" formed a bullock's load." Both authors say that the Persian king depo-
sited these books, magnificently ornamented, in Istakhar. By several other
authors, from ihe ninth to- the seventeenth century, it is positively esta-
blished that the books of the Zand-Avesta existed in all the centuries in
which the Muhammedans had intercourse with the disciples of Zartusht.
Works composed by the latter are : the Bun-Dehesh, the Viraf-nameh,
the Sad-der Bun-Dehesh, the Ulemai-Islam, the Ravacts ( that is, the
correspondence between the Dosturs of Persia and India since the fifteenth
century), the Zaratusht nqmeh, the Changragachah namah, and the his-
tory of the flight of the Parsees to India. In all these works breathes the
spirit of the strongest conviction that authentic works of Zartusht have,

225

shasp, entreated that he might be allowed to bring
up Zardusht, and acquire glory by his education.
Purshasp consented to this proposal, and entrusted
the infant to the holy sage.

although not entirely, yet partly, been preserved to later days. This
conviction is common to a numerous nation, who adhere to their sacred
books as to the inappreciable inheritance of their forefathers. The gene-
rality of this sentiment is attested by several respectable and intelligent
European travellers in the East, such as Henry Lord, .Gabriel de Chinon,
J. B. Tavernier, D. Sanson, the chevalier Chardin, and others.

The name of Zand-Avesta belongs, among the books published by Anquc-
til, exclusively to those the original of which is truly Zand ; these alone are
canonical; they are Gve in number, all theological, for the most part litur-
gical, namely: 1. the Isechne", " elevation of the soul, praise; devotion;"
called also the little Avesta ; 2. the Vispered, " the chiefs of the beings
" there named;" 3. the Vendidad, which is considered as the foundation
of the law (these three are called together the Vendidad Sadt, " to combat
" Ahriman"); 4. the Yeshts Sades, or " a collection of compositions and
'• of fragments, more or less ancient;" 5. the book Siroz, " thirty days,"
containing praises addressed to the Genius of each day: it is a sort of
liturgical calendar. These are the Zand-books existing in our days ; the
originals of them are said by the learned Foucher to have been composed
under the reign of Gushtasp, whom he places before the time assigned to
Darius Hystaspes, whilst Anquetil and other modern authors identify
under these names a king of Persia, who lived about the middle of the
sixth century before our era. We may reasonably believe that the Zand-
books were written at a time when the Zand was a living, nay the domi-
nant language, in those countries where these books first appeared; that
is, in Georgia, in Iran, and in Azerbijan. Now, if it be admitted that the
Zand was in these countries quite a dead language already, under the
Ashkanian dynasty of Persia (the Arsacides), the first of whom, Aghush,
began to reign 310 years B, C., it will follow, that the Zand-books were
written long before that time, that is, most likely at least, so early so the
sixth century before the Christian era.

Besides the original Zand-books, Anquetil translated also from the
modern Persian the Bun-Dehesh. This is a collection of treatises upon

15

226

When Zardusht had attained his seventh year,
Purtarush, the chief of the magicians, came along
with Duransanun to the child's abode ; and made

several points, ranged under 34 sections — a sort of encyclopaedia, theo-
logical, cosmological, historical, and political. This work is written in
P«hlvi, and believed to be the translation of a Zand original no more
to be found in India. It is the most ancient of the modern works of the
Parsees, and was written probably about the seventh century of our era.

What may confirm us in the opinion that these books, still in the hands
of the Parsees, are truly derived from much more ancient works is, that
their contents agree in a great number of principal points with the doc-
trine attributed to the Magi and to Zoroaster by ancient Greek authors, of
whom the later Parsees had certainly not the least knowledge, whilst
their Zand-books contain the names of the first and most ancient kings of
the Medes and Persians, and no other but those, of whom the Greeks
knew nothing. No king and no private person, after Gushtasp and
Zoroaster, are mentioned in the Zand-books.

Sixty years had elapsed since the publication of the Zand-A vesta by
Anquetil, when M. Eugene Burnouf undertook a revision and commen-
tary of that part of the Zand-works which the first had translated and
published, under the Pehlvi name of Iseshnt, and which, in Zand, is
entitled Yasna. Among the manuscripts which Anquetil had brought
from India was a Sanskrit translation, made towards the end of the fif-
teenth century by a Dostur called Neriosengh, probably from a Pehlvi
version of a Zand original. M. Eugene Burnouf, to give a better inter-
pretation of the Zand text, not only availed himself of the double trans-
lation, executed by Neriosengh and Anquetil, but also, independently of
both, applied the principles of comparative philology to the analysis of
many Zand-words, the true signification of which he fixed, and by various
judicious observations, interspersed in his commentary, threw light upon
the geography, history, and religion of ancient Persia. He published in
1833 the first volume of his work, under the title " Commentaire sur le
" Yasna;" he had before (1829) published the lithographed Zand text of
it in one folio volume. In 1836 appeared, at Bombay, a lithographed
edition of the same Zand text "—A. T.

227

so great a display of enchantments, terrific, and
fearful sights, that all the people fled out of the
house ; but Zardusht, through the aid of God,
felt no alarm and moved not, so that the magicians
went away filled wilh affright and disappointment.
After some time Zardusht became ill, at which news
all the magicians were greatly delighted ; their chief
Partarosh came, with enchantments and medicine
mixed up wilh mina, ' to Zardusht's pillow and said :
" The swallowing of this medicine will render thy
" body tranquil and deliver thee from pain." The
illuminated mind of Zardusht saw through the ma-
chination, and taking the medicine from him, poured
it on the ground,and at the same time telling him
about the mina mixed up with the portion, said:

" Shouldst thou in a different guise conceal thy violence,
" I can again recognise thee, 0 thou full of deceit!
" Thy description is furnished to me by that God
" Through ^vhose command the world is preserved."

The magicians consequently again returned back
mortified at the results of their wicked plot. They
say that in those times they accounted no system
superior to that of magic, and that the demon held
public intercourse with persons of that class so that
they obtained it from Iblis without the intervention
of enchantment.

" Mankind then praised the foul demon,
" As they now do the God of purity.'

1 Mina, semen virile.

228

Nay, Purshasp, the father of Zardusht, followed that
path; one day having invited Duransariin, Paran-
tanish, and many more magicians to a feast, he made
the suitable arrangements, and when the repast was
ended, he said to Parantariish, the chief of the magi-
cians : " Through the excellence of enchantment,
" whereby our hearts are gladdened and our necks
'< exalted, thy noble person at this period is the
' ' spiritual guide of all magicians." Zardusht, being
indignant at this speech, said to his father :
" Abandon this erroneous way, and turn to the faith
" of God: hell must finally be the abode of magi-
" cians and enchanters." These words greatly
incensed Purtariish, who replied: " Of what con-
" sequence art thou before thy father! The intel-
' ' ligent of the earth, and the great men of the habit-
" able world dare not address such insolence to me !
" Art thou not afraid of me? Dost thou not know
' * me? For this thy insolence I shall spread amongst
" mankind such calumnies and lies respecting thy
' * creed, that thou must remain in obscurity. What
** is thy power that, without courtesy, thou darest
" slight my dignity!

" May thy name be more degraded than that of all other men I
" May no desire of thy heart be ever accomplished !"

Zardusht replied : " O son of earth! the lie thou
" utterest respecting my creed will render thyself
* ' before God and man the butt of censure : in reta-

229

*' liation I shall tell nothing but truth concerning
' ' thee, and overpower thee by just arguments and
4' proofs.

" By order of the righteous God's messenger,
" I shall turn thy empire upside down."

All who were present, as well as the magicians,
remained in astonishment at such a stripling's great
intellect, so that Parantariish left the house and has-
tened home, covered with confusion and disgrace :
that night he fell sick, and his people also being
attacked by illness at the same time, were hurried
along with him to the house of retribution. !

When the honored age of Zardusht had reached
the fifteenth year, he attached not his heart to this
place of sojourn, neither did he set any value on the
world or its concerns : but fleeing away from wrath
and the pleasures of sense, he with pious fear la-
bored night and day in the service of God; wherever
he found any one hungry, thirsty, naked, or help-
less, he bestowed on them food, raiment, and the
needful supplies; his piety and sincerity were con-
sequently renowned amongst all people, although he
withdrew from the public gaze.

When he had reached the age of thirty , he directed
his face towards Iran, in company with several men

1 The quarrel between Zartusht and his father, and the death of -the
head magician, as well as what preceded— these facts are related nearly
in the same manner in the Zerd. Nam,, ch. 12-15.— A. T.

230

and women and some of his own relations ; in the
course of this journey, they came to a large expanse
of water, on which there was not a boat to be found : '
as it is not meet for women to expose their persons,
particularly before strangers, he became anxious
about the means of taking them over in the pre-
sence of their fellow travellers ; he therefore poured
out his distress before the God of justice, entreating
from him a passage over that wide expanse of water ;
after which, by the order of the Almighty, he crossed
over, with his companions and relations, in such
guise that the soles of their feet only were moistened
by the water ; finally, in the end of Isfandarmaz, 2 on
the day of Anirdn, which is the last day of every
solar month, he reached the confines of Iran. At
that period the people of Iran held a great festival
at which were assembled both high and low, and
therefore Zartusht took his course to that quarter.
At night, whilst alone in some halting place, through
his enlightened spirit he beheld, in a vision, a mighty
army 3 advancing from Bactria, or the West, which
from hostile motives blocked up his road on every
side; in the same place he beheld another army
coming from Nimroz, or " mid day," and when both

1 Anquetil du Perron states that this expanse of water was the river
Araxes (t. 1. 2. P. p. 19).

2 The month of February, the last month of the year.— A. T.

3 Anquetil du Perron, quoting the Zerd. Nam., c. 18, says, an army of
serpents, perhaps tribes of Nagas, which came from the North.— A. T.

231

armies came to close quarters with the sword, the
Bactrian or Western troops were put to the rout.
The examiner of the vision thus interpreted it:
" When Zardushl, having been taken into the pre-
" sence of God, should discover all the mysteries of
" creation, that afterwards, on his return from
u heaven, to promulgate the Dinbahi, or ' true
" £ faith,' the Divs and Magicians, having found
" out his intentions, would with all expedition make
' ' war against him . Mizumah, l the angel who attends
" the servants of God, on learning this will promote
"' the better faith, and in consequence the Asia va
" zand will be read with a loud voice, and through
"• this the demons and magicians shall be dispersed
u and flee away." On the interpretation of the
dream, he hastened to the festival, inspired with
great delight.

When he had returned from the banqueting-
place, he set out about the middle of Ardibihist,* on
the Dimihr, the fifteenth day of every solar month ,
and came to a deep, broad, and extensive water,
named Ddbati,*in the Astawasta ; there recommending

1 Mediomah, cousin to / ir.lu-.ht, the first who embraced the law; he
meditated on it profoundly, published and practised it: he confers hap-
piness on cities.— D. S.

'2 April, the second month of the year.— A. T.

3 Dabati, the name given, in Parsi works, to the Caspian sea.— D. S.

Anquelil du Peron says (t. 1.2. P. p. 21) that he passed the Cyrus on
his way to the Caspian sea.— A. T.

himself to the Lord, he stepped into the water, which
at first rose up to the calf of his legs, then to his
knees, waist, and finally to his neck ; which event
was thus interpreted ; ' ' the division of the water
(e into these four portions signifies, that in nine
" thousand years the Dinbahi, ' the true faith,' shall
4< be four times renewed ; the first time by the agency
" of Zardusht, who was sent to promulgate the Bah-
" din; the second by Hushidar •; the third by Hushi-
' ' darmdh ; and the fourth by Sarsdsh ; all four de-
** scendants from Zardusht."

When the prophet had gained the opposite shore.,
he washed his person as pure as his soul, and put-
ting on undefiled garments, engaged in prayer. !
That very day, Bahman, the mightiest of the angels,
(whom the Muhammedans call Jabriel) came robed
in light to Zardusht, and having asked his name,

1 Anquetil du Peron says here, quoting H. Lord, that Zardusht retired
to the mountains for consulting the Supreme Being, and adds in a note
that, according to the Vendidad, it was upon the mount Alborz that he
consulted Hormuzd (t. 1. 2. P. p. 22). The geographical situation of
this mountain has been indicated in the note at p. 22; but by the religion
of theParsees it is placed in the supernatural world, to which Zoroaster was
transported, as related above. The sacred Alborz is the first of mountains ;
it attained its first elevation in fifteen years, and took eight hundred years
to complete its growth ; it rose up from the middle of the earth to the
region of the first light, the delightful abode of Mithra, of whom hereafter;
the sun and the moon depart from and return to this mountain every
day (see ZenA-Av., t II. pp. 206, 207, 214, 357, 361, 364, and else-
where).—A. T.

253

said : " What dost thou most desire in this world?"
Zardusht having answered, " I have no desire but
'* that of pleasing God ; my heart seeks after nothing
" but righteousness; and my belief is that thou wilt
" guide me to do what is good :" then Bahram re-
plied : * ' Arise ! that thou mayest appear before
' c God ; entreat from his Majesty whatever thou
" desirest, from his bounty he will return thee a
** profitable answer." Zardusht then arose, and
according to Bahrain's order shut his eyes for an
instant ; on opening them he found himself in the
bright empyreal, where he Jjeheld an assemblage
through whose einilgence his shadow became visible :
from that assemblage to the next, was a distance of
twenty-four paces ; and also another assemblage of
beings formed of light waited on by virgins of para-
dise. The angels gathered around Zardusht and
warmly greeted him, pointing him out to each other,
until the honored son of Espintaman ! came before
God, to whom with joyous heart and trembling
body he addressed the prayers of supplication. It
is necessary to observe here, that the Bdhidinian,
*' believers of the eternal doctrine," unanimously
maintain that Bahman assumed the human figure,
and that Zardusht ascended to the heavens in his

1 See note, p. 215. Zardusht is called the son of Espintaman. The
edition of Calcutta reads Askiman ; the manuscript of Oude, Askalaman.
-A. T.

254

elemental body ; but, according to the creed of the
intelligent Abadian, the matter is thus stated : " By
" the coming of Bahman in the human form and
u his speaking like a mortal, is meant that the true
" essence of man is uncompounded and simple, not
*' a body nor any thing material ; and that, under
" such a quality, that is, uncompoundedness, he
" manifested himself to Zardusht ; and his saying
" ' close thy eyes,' is figurative, and implies the
" eradication of the attachments and darkness of
" the elemental body; when he thus became a sim-
" pie uncompounded existence, he arrived at the
" heavens styled the ' eternal empyrean;' the first
" company of angels signifies the souls on high,
" and the second, the existence of the celestial intel-
' ' ligences ; the interrogatories addressed to him by
" the angels imply, that when the soul leaves the
u upper world, it descends into this lower abode to
" encounter wanderings and calamity; but when,
" by the attractive influence of Bahman and through
" the energy of intelligence, it returns on high, the
" angels feel delight on the occasion. He next
" ascended to the world of simple uncompounded
" beings, and came near God; the delight experi-
" enced by Zardusht signifies, the freedom from
" alarm and fear enjoyed in that pure world; and
" his bodily tremor is emblematic of the effulgence
" of the divine Majesty." He then asked of the God of

255

justice: " Which of ihy servants on earth is supe-
" rior to the rest?" God thus answered : " T heright-
" eous professor of righteousness; secondly, he who
" to righteousness joins generosity and liberality,
" walking unceasingly in the way of righteousness
' ' and withdrawing from evil ; thirdly, he who is
" friendly to fire and water, to all living and ani-
" mated beings; for man, by the knowledge and
" practice of this precept, delivers himself from hell
" and attains to union with the eternal paradise.
" O, Zardusht ! whichever of my servants in this
61 transitory sojourn of existence practises oppres-
" sion and cruelty towards my creatures, and averts
" his head from obedience to my commands, repeat
" thou to such this warning: that unless he desist
u from rebellion, he shall dwell in hell to all eter-
* ' nity . " Zardusht again asked : " O most just God,
" impart to me the names of the Amshdsfands, i that
" is, of the angels the most acceptable in thy pre-
"- sence ; gladden me by their names and sight;
" cause me to hear their discourse ; and graciously
44 enable me to discern the impious Afyriman,2 who

1 The Amshasfands are the six first celestial spirits after Ormuzd.
Their name is derived from the Zand-words emeshe, " immortal," and
sspente, " excellent, perfect." — A. T.

2 It is generally acknowledged that Ahriman was the author of evil,
opposed to Ormuzd, the creator and promoter of every good ; but different
opinions are entertained upon the origin of these two mighty beings.
According to the most ancient doctrine, both were the productions of a

256

" turns not to good through his evil nature; give
'* me power to behold the good and evil of this
" world, and its termination; the effect of the
4 ' revolving sphere, with the successive production
" of modes or the reappearance of things." When
he had thus laid before the Almighty the secret
wishes of his heart, he received this answer : " I am

primordial cause, which is called Zaruam akarent, " the boundless time."
The Zand-books, as well as Shahristani and the Ulemi Islam, make Ahri-
man anterior to Ormuzd, that is to say, in plain language, " the evil was
" before the good." These two were, however, not distinguished from
each other before Ahriman had become jealous of Ormuzd, for which he
was condemned by the great creator Time to dwell in the abode of dark-
ness for twelve thousand years. It was then only that Ormuzd saw with
horror his deformed and frightful adversary, and to oppose the effects of
his eiistence created, within three thousand years, a celestial region and
a celestial people. Ahriman, long time ignorant of what was preparing
against him, had scarce perceived the light of Ormuzd, when he ran to
destroy it, but, amazed at its beauty, fled back to hell, where he hastened
to produce a host of evil beings. In vain did Ormuzd offer reconcilia-
tion to Ahriman, and even a partnership in the priesthood of the bound-
less time ; the fiend rejected all terms of peace, and war began to rage
between them (see ZenA-Av., t. II. pp. 345, 347. )

According to the books of the Parsees and of the Muhammedans who
give an account of their doctrine, Ahriman is bad by nature: nor do the
more ancient Zand-books say that he ever was good; yet the explanation
given about this mysterious being can but involve contradictions in more
than one respect. He alone is able to resist Ormuzd, of whom his exist-
ence is entirely independent ; he is the king of the beings which he has
created, and which Ormuzd cannot annihilate ; nor can the latter prevent
the effects of the power by which his enemy destroys the people of the
just, and banishes the moral good from the earth.

An account of Ahriman's origin, somewhat different from this, will be
seen hereafter in the Dabistan.— A. T.

257

"the author of good ; the benevolent and the bene-
" ficent; 1 neither do evil, nor enjoin it to be com-
" mitted. I consent not to wickedness, neither do
" I bring calamity on my creatures : evil and wick-
" edness belong exclusively to Ahriman. It is,
" however, incumbent on me to keep in hell to all
" eternity the troops of Ahriman in reward for
' * their deeds : the ignorant only assert that I am the
" author of evil."1 The Almighty then made Zar-
dusht acquainted with the celestial revolutions and
the motions of the stars, and their good and evil
influences ; he also showed him paradise filled with
light, angelic nymphs, palaces, and Amshdsfands ;
communicating to him at the same time the know-
ledge of all mysteries, and teaching him all sciences,
so that he knew every thing from the commence-
ment of existence to the end of time; he likewise
showed him Ahriman in the gloom of hell, who, on
beholding Zardusht cried aloud : " Turn away from
" the faith of God, that thou mayest obtain all thy
" desires in this world. "u

1 These sentiments agree singularly with' the following passage of Plato :

Tuv f«v ayatJwv aXAov ou<Jtva atTiareov, TOJV <?£ xaxwv aXX' a-rra <?£t £y)Tftv TOC

acTtoc, aX'/ov TOV GEOV ( De Republica). " The author of good is God
" alone; but the author of evil any thing else rather than God."— A. T.

2 According to the Zardusht-nameh quoted by Anquetil (t. I. 2. P.
p. 24) Zardusht delivered from hell a person who had done good and evil.
This person, believe some Parsees, was Jamshid who, towards the end of his
life, wished to be adored as a God. Others say it was Gersh-asp, a famous
warrior, who suffered in hell for having struck the sacred fire.— A. T.

238

When the Lord had thus instructed Zardusht, he
beheld a mountain of flaming fire, which at the com-
mand of God he traversed without any injury to his
person ; they next poured molten brass on his guile-
less, silver-like bosom, and not a single hair of his
body was touched ; they next opened his stomach,
and taking out all the intestines again replaced
them, on which the wound immediately closed
without leaving a vestige of the incision behind.
The just God then said to Zardusht: ** Thou hast
" passed over the mountain of fire, and hadst thy
" stomach rent open ; therefore tell mankind who-
** ever turns away from the Dinbahi, ' pure faith,'
" and passes over to Ahriman, in the same manner
" shall the blood of his body be poured out; he
" shall dwell in the fire, and never attain to the joys
" of paradise. Again, the molten brass, which on
" contact with thy breast became congealed like ice,
** causing thee no injury, is a sign that the nation,
*' at the suggestion of Ahriman, will turn away from
" the faith; and also that when the Dinbahi shall be
" promulgated in the world, the high Mobed shall
" gird his loins to give them battle.

The heart of mankind was harassed with doubt,
However thou knowest this brass was but a sign ;
It is therefore meet that Azarbad, the son of Mar-asfand,
Should impart to each individual counsel of every kind ;
This molten brass he should pour on his breast,
From which no injury shall result to him.

239

" So that, on beholding this miracle, all mankind
u with heart and soul will follow the right true
" road."

After this, Zardusht asked of the God of justice:
' * In what manner shall thy worshippers celebrate
'* thy praise and what is to be their Kiblah?" The
Lord answered : et Tell all mankind that every bright
" and luminous object is the effulgence of my light;
" at the time of worshipping me, Jet them turn to
'* that side, in order that Ahriman may flee from
" them ; in the world there is no existence superior
" to light, out of which I have created paradise, the
" angelic nymphs, and all that is pleasant, whilst
6t hell was produced out of darkness.

" Wherever thou art, and in -whichever of the two abodes,
" Dost thou not perceive that either place is formed out of my light?"

Having thus taught Zardusht the Avesta and the
Zand, he said to him : ' * Recite this celebrated vo-
" lume to king Gushtasp, that through it he may
** obtain wisdom; tell him also to attain a perfect
' ' knowledge of me ; no one should ever call me the
" worker of injustice ; command the Mobeds and all
" mankind to separate themselves from demons and
** magicians."

" Zardusht then enlarged on the praises of the Almighty Lord."

When the prophet's desires and purpose had been
thus completely attained, he was met on his return

240

by the Amshasfand Bahman, the protector and chief
of the sheep, who said to him : 4t To thee I deliver
'4 the sheep and all herds ; tell the Mobeds, sages,
' l and all men to guard them well ; prohibit them
'* from putting to death calf, lamb, young sheep,
• 4 or any other quadruped , as men derive great bene-
44 fits from them:

" We must never be guilty of excess in slaughter."

44 I received these flocks from the Almighty, and
' 4 now accept them from me ; account not my words
44 as unimportant, but inculcate obedience to them
" on young and old :" on which Zardusht accepted
the trust. The Mobed Sarush used to say: 44 The
'4 Yezdanians maintain that, when Bahman forbade
44 the killing of young quadrupeds, he well knew it
44 to be equally wrong to slay the old ; first, because
44 in their youth, although they rendered many ser-
<4 vices, they received no wages for their labor ; and
i4 secondly, in old age they produce young animals;
44 consequently, where Zardusht in some passages
44 holds it lawful to slay animals, but without com-
' 4 mitting excess ; by the precept is meant, the expul-
44 sion of animal qualities from our existence ; and
44 by avoiding excess is meant, that we should gra-
44 dually banish all vile propensities from ourselves,
£4 such as eating to excess, which is an animal qua-
" lity, but which cannot be discontinued at once; it

241

" therefore becomes necessary to lessen the quantity
" of food gradually, as stated by us under the head
" of the Sdhi Keshdn."
After Bahman, the Amshasfand Ardebihist ' coming

' o

forward, said to Zardusht : "0 accepted of God !
" bear from me this message to king Gushtasp, and
" say to him : ' To thee have I delivered whatever
" ( relates to fire. Let there be suitable places of
'* ' great splendor in every city for the general wor-
* * ' ship ; appoint stated times and Hirbuds, or ' mi-
u ' nisters' for the purpose of adoration ; because
" * that light is an emanation of the divine efful-
" * gence. Dost thou not perceive how every thing
*' * stands in need of fire, which requires only wood
44 * from the human race?'

" Its body apprehends not death nor the decrepitude of age,
" When thou layest wood within the influence of its sphere.

" Such is its property to indicate the truth, that
" if thou burn perfumes it diffuses fragrance among
" the assembled people: from unpleasant odors a
" correspondent effect ensues ; it also banishes the
" affliction of cold. As fully as God hath delivered
41 it to me, do I now give it in charge to thee ! Who-

1 Ardibehest ( see pp. 61 . 62. ) presides over the second month of the year,
and the 3d, 8th, 15th, and 23d day of the mon'h ; he is pure, beneflcent,
endowed by Ormuzd with great and holy eyes ; he grants health, and
eloquence to men, productions to the earth, and grandeur to the world;
he drives away the Divs and all evils (Zend-Av., II, pp. 69. 153. IS'}.
159. 316. and elsewhere).— A. T.

16

242

" ever turns away from my counsel and advice be-
" comes the captive of hell, and incurs the displea-
" sure of God."

When Zardusht had departed from Bahman, the
Amshasfand Shahrwar came forward and said to him :
" On thy arrival from the upper to the lower world,
" tell men to furbish and polish up their arms, and
" always to keep them .in good order and readiness;
" in the day of battle let them not quit their posts,
" but display heroic exertion and not resign their
" post to any other."

Asfanddrmaz then coming forward, after many
benedictions said to Zardusht: " This is the com-
" mand of the Almighty to mankind, let them keep
" the earth pure, and remove blood, pollution, and
" dead bodies to some uncultivated place.

" Among princes, that sovereign is by far the best

•' Who eierts himself to improve the face of the earth."

When Zardusht had departed thence, Khurddd
advanced, and with benedictions thus addressed
him : " To thy charge I assign all waters of running
" streams, rivers, water- courses, rivulets, wells,
' ' and all besides ; say thou to mankind :

" Through water is the body of every creature maintained in life;
" Through it the face of every tract and region is kept in bloom.

" Let them keep dead bodies far removed from it,
" and let them not defile it with blood or any dead

243

*' carcass, as the food dressed with such water fur-
" nishes an unwholesome repast."

Murddd next came forward and said to Zardusht :
* ' Let not men heedlessly destroy the vegetable pro-
" ductions of the earth or pluck them from their
' ' place :

" As these form the delight of both man and beast.

11 Also, O prophet of God ! send Mobeds around the
" whole country, and appoint a wise person in
' * every city to communicate these tidings to all men :
* ' let them understand the Avesta, and bind around
" their waist the zone, which is a sign of the pure
* ' faith and constancy in it, and let them endeavor to
* ' keep the four substances (elements) undefiled :

" Out of the four elements has the body of every animal
" Been composed by the supreme and just Lord:
" It is therefore necessary to keep them undefiled,
" Accounting them among the choice blessings of God."

It is to be remembered that the conference of all
these angels with Zardusht was a revelation and
message from God; but there was a more transcen-
dent dignity in this fact, that the Almighty himself
addressed Zardusht without the intervention of
angels, and imparted to him the mysteries of all
that exists. *

1 Zoroaster, according to the concurring account of several authors,
retired from the world and lived in a cavern of the mountain Alborz, or
in the mountains of Balkhan. According to the Rauzat us Sufa ( Shea's

244

Zardusht having thus obtained from God the accu-
rate knowledge of all mysteries, drew near this ele-
mental world, whilst the magicians and demons,
with a dreadful host, blocked up his road; after
which the chief enchanter and the head of the de-
mons and his host thus addressed Zardusht : "Keep
'* the Avesta and Zand concealed; thy incantation,
" fraud, and artifice make no impression on us: if
'* thou knowest us, thou wilt turn away from such
" practices." On hearing this, Zardusht recited
aloud one chapter of the Avesta and Zand; when
these sounds reached the demons, they hid them-
selves under ground, and the magicians trembled;
a part of the enchanters died on the spot, and the
remainder implored for mercy.

The Mobed Surush, the Yezdanian, has been heard
to say : " It is recorded in the treatise of Mihin Fa-
rush that, according to the doctors of the pure faith,
when Zardusht had thus obtained the victory over
the demons, and was proceeding to an interview
with the great king Gushtasp, there happened to be
two oppressive and infidel kings in his road ; these
Zardusht invited to adopt the pure faith and turn
away from their evil practices ; but they heeded not

transl. , p. 286 ) it was in the mountains near Ardebil, a city of Azarbijan
(the ancient Media). This cavern is said to have been consecrated by him
to Mithra. Pliny states (H. N. 1. xi. c. 42), the prophet lived 20 years in
deserts, upon cheese so tempered that he should not feel the effects of age.
This was probably before he appeared at the court of Gushtasp.— A. T.

245

his words, he therefore prayed to God, and there
began to blow a mighty wind, which lifted up these
two kings on high and kept them suspended in the
air; the people who came around were astonished
on beholding this sight ; the birds also from every
quarter of the sky flocked around the two kings, and
with beaks and talons tore off their flesh until their
bones fell to the ground. l

Zaratusht, the son of Bahram, says, that when
Zardusht after his victory arrived at the court of
the great king Gushtasp, he called on the name
God, and then sought access to the sovereign.2 He
beheld the first rank, composed of the grandees and
champions of Iran and other regions, standing
around ; and above these two ranks of sages, philo-
sophers, and learned men, who took precedence of
each other in proportion to their knowledge, for this
great king was exceedingly attached to men of sci-
ence ; he next beheld the monarch of the world
seated on a lofty throne, and his brows encircled
with a costly crown : on which Zardusht in elo-
quent language recited the praises of the king.

Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, of the Yaz-

1 This miracle is not recorded in Anquetil's life of Zoroaster. — A. T.

2 Not receiving immediate access to the king, the prophet split the
upper part of the apartment where Gushtasp was, and descended through
the opening (Anquet., Vie de Zoroastre, p. 29). This was in the year
849 B. C. (ibidem), after the 30th year of Gushtasp's reign (Hyde, p. 323) .
-A. T.

246

danian sect, relates thus in the Shdristdn: " The doc-
" tors of the pure faith say, that when Zardusht
" entered into king Gushtasp's assembly, he held
* ' in his hand a blazing fire which caused him no
' ' injury ; he then transferred that fire to the
" king's hands, which in like manner remained
' ' unhurt ; he afterwards gave it into the hands of
1 ' others and still no trace of burning appeared ; he
' ' next lay down, and ordered molten brass to be
" poured on his bosom four different times: al-
" though the molten metal came on his breast, no
" bodily injury resulted from it."1 Zaratusht, the
son of Bahram, adds: The sovereign of Iran having
thus ascertained the dignity of the prophet of the
human race, addressed him with terms of earnest
affection, and ordering a chair to be brought, placed
him in front of the royal throne, above the two
ranks of the philosophers. Zardusht, agreeably to
the king's command, having taken this seat, mani-
fested to all the assembly the precious diamonds of
his intellectual stores. The sages and eminent men
of the exterior circles on his right and left entered
on the path of controversy, but were finally refuted,

. * To these miracles add that related in the Shah nameh naser, quoted
by Hyde (p. 324) : Zoroaster planted before the king's palace a cypress-
tree, which in a few days grew to the height and thickness of ten rasons
(measure undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a summer-
palace.— A. T.

247

one after another. They say that on this day thirty
of the sages seated on his right, being unable to with-
stand the arguments of Zardusht, bore testimony to
his knowledge and truth ; and in like manner thirty
of the wise men on his left were overpowered and
convinced. When such sages, who had not their
equals in the seven climates, had been thus confuted,
the illustrious prince called the prophet of the Lord
into his presence, and for further conviction ques-
tioned him on various sciences and the traditions of
old ; and having received conclusive answers on all
these points he was struck with amazement. The
great king therefore assigned to the prophet of the
just Lord a dwelling adjacent to his own palace,
and the philosophers departed home with afflicted
hearts. During the whole night they read over
books with each other, and concerted with each other
how they might, the following morning, conduct the
argument and controversy with Zardusht ; whilst
the prophet of the Lord on coming to his house,
according to his custom, desisted not until morning
from acts of worship and praise. The following
day, when Zardusht and the philosophers assembled
around the king, whatever the sages advanced
which was not strictly conformable to truth, Zar-
dusht produced a hundred arguments, both theo-r
retical and practical, to invalidate the assertion ;
and if they demanded a proof of whatever he him-

248

self advanced, he adduced a hundred convincing
demonstrations. Gushtasp accordingly increased
the dignity of the Lord's prophet, and inquired his
name, lineage, and native city ; to which questions
Zardusht returned the meet answer, and said : " O
" great king, to-morrow is the day of Hormuz, or
' * the first of the month ; command the chiefs of the
'* * military to assemble and all the philosophers to
" appear, that I may reduce all to silence, as I have
" done this assembly, and give answers which will
' ' dumbfound them ; after which I shall execute the
" commission with which I am entrusted."

Gushtasp issued the requisite order, and they all
returned home with this agreement. Zardusht,
from inclination and habit, continued in supplication
to the Lord ; and the wise men said to each other :
" This stranger has twice degraded us wise men,
" taken away our reputation, and obtained favor
" with the king:" they therefore conferred with
each other how they could most effectually oppose
Zardusht and refute his arguments.

" With this understanding each retired to his own abode,

" And through anxiety not one of them slept all that night."

On the third day, the nobles, doctors, and wise men
assembled around the king, and Zardusht also ad-
vanced into the company : although the sages and
learned men had mutually combined to confound
him by argument, they were all finally refuted.

249

When the philosophers were no longer able to utter
a word, the superior personages gave place to Zar-
dusht, on which the prophet of the Lord loosed his
tongue and said to Gushtasp : " I am the envoy of
" the Lord the Creator of the heavens, earth, and
4 ' stars ; the disinterested bestower of daily food to
1 ' his servant : he who has brought thee from non-
** existence into being and made kings thy servants,
" has sent me to thee." Then taking the Avesta
and Zand out of a case, he added: " This volume
4 ' God has given to me, and sent me forth to the
" human race with the commandments named
' ' Astawazand, which require implicit obedience ; it
44 thou wilt conform to the commands of God, in
44 like manner as he has made thee sovereign of the
" world, he will also make thee eternally happy in
44 futurity and paradise; but if thou avert the head
" from his command, thou incurrest the displeasure
" of the just God; the foundation of thy greatness
4' shall be rent, and thou shall finally become a
" denizen of hell.

" Adopt no line of conduct through the suggestion of a Div.
" From this time forward listen to my commands."

The great king replied : " What proof dost thou
" adduce, and what miracle dost thou perform?
44 exhibit them, that I may instantly diffuse thy
14 faith over all the world." Zardusht said : "One
44 of my decisive proofs and miraculous works is

250

" this volume, on once listening to which thou
' * shalt never more behold demon or magician : this
" volume contains the mysteries of both worlds,
' ' and clearly expounds the revolutions of the stars :
' ' there is no being in existence an account of which
"is not found in this book." The king then
commanded: " Read me a section of this heavenly
" volume." Zardusht having read one chapter,
Gushtasp not feeling a full conviction, said to him :
" Thou hast urged a bold suit; but precipitancy in
4 * such an affair is by no means proper ; I shall
4 * devote some days to exploring the nature of the
' ' Zand-Avesta : but in the mean time come thou hither
" as usual." Zardusht then

" Returned to the house assigned him by the king."

The enraged philosophers also came out and took
counsel with each other about slaying Zardusht.
The following morning, when Zardusht left the
house to go to the king's palace, he delivered the
•key of his apartment to the king's porter; but the
philosophers so deluded this man, that he gave up
the key secretly to them ; on which they opened the
door of the prophet's apartment, and having put
into bags unclean things which they had collected,
such as blood, hair, a cat's head, a dog's head, dead
men's bones and the like, placed them under his
pillow, and having locked the door, gave the key
back to the porter, previously obliging him to swear

251

to keep the matter altogether secret ; after this they
went to the palace, where they beheld Zardusht
seated near the king, who was engaged in reading
the Zand-Avesta,

" Lost in amazement at the characters and words."

The philosophers said : t( The Zand-Avesta is alto-
" gelher magic, and this man is a wizard, who by
**• force of spells has produced an impression on thy
4 ' heart, in order to bring evil and confusion all
" over the world; but be not thou the wizard's
" ally." On hearing this, Gushtasp ordered per-
sons to repair to Zardusht's house and make a
careful examination ; they went and immediately
brought before the king whatever they found in the
house, whether eatables, carpets, dresses, clothes-
bags, etc., all which they opened in the king's pre-
sence ; on this, the talons, hair, and such like im-
purities, which had been hidden there by the philo-
sophers, were exposed to view. The king was
greatly enraged, and said to Zardusht : " This is thy
" magic practice." The prophet of the Lord being
quite astonished, replied : " I have no knowledge of
* ' these things ; let his majesty inquire the particu-
" lars from the porter." The porter on being sum-
moned, said : " Zardusht closed his door, and not
" even wind had access to it." The king became
quite indignant and said to Zardusht: " They have
' ' not brought these sacks from heaven and hid them

252

" under the pillow." In his rage he threw away
the Avesta-Zand, and sent Zardusht in chains to
prison : there was also a porter appointed to give
him a fixed allowance and keep strict watch. Zar-
dusht remained in chains both day and night, the
porter bringing him daily a loaf of bread and a
pitcher of water ; and one whole week passed in that
manner.

They relate that Gushtasp had a royal steed called
the ' ' Black Charger," which the great king mounted
on the day of battle :

" When, mounted on this charger's back, he advanced to the fight,
" The result of the combat terminated in victory."

One morning at dawn, the master of the horse
beheld the Black Charger without fore or hind feet,
which he saw were drawn up into his belly ; in great
haste he announced this event to the sovereign of
the world. Gushtasp in great affliction hurried to
the stable, summoning thither the veterinary sur-
geons, physicians, and learned men, all of whom
exerted themselves in remedies and applications
without any benefit resulting from their exertions.
Through grief the king partook not of food that
day, and the military were sorely afflicted. Zar-
dusht, who in consequence of the general mourning
had not received his allowance before evening,
became hungry ; when the evening had passed, the
porter came and brought the provisions, stating at

the same time what had befallen the Black Charger ;

o '

on this the prophet of the Lord said to him : " To-
' * morrow tell the king that I can set this affair to
" rights." The next morning the porter conveyed
the prophet's message to the king, on which orders
were given to bring Zardusht into the royal pre-
sence. This favorable intelligence having been
communicated to Zardusht, the prophet entered into
a warm bath, and after ablution, on appearing before
the king, he uttered benedictions on the sovereign
of the world. Gushtasp then assigned him a place
near himself, and having explained the state of the
horse, added :

" If thou be truly a prophet sent from the Lord,

" Thou canst easily restore this horse to perfect health."

Zardusht replied : " If thou wilt, O king, engage to
" perform four things, thou shalt again behold the
" charger's fore and hind legs." The king said :
" I accept the conditions : what is the first?" Zar-
dusht replied : * * Let us all repair to the Black
66 Charger's bed. " On arriving there he said to the
king : * * Make thy heart and tongue of one accord :
" utter with thy tongue and repeat with thy heart,
" that without doubt, suspicion, or equivocation, I
" am a prophet and apostle sent from God." The
king having agreed to this, the prophet of the Lord
addressed his petitions to the God of justice, and
then rubbing with his hand the horse's right fore-

254

foot, it straightway came out, on which the king and
the soldiery loudly applauded the holy man.

After this, he said to the king : ' ' Command the
u heroic Isfendiar to enter into a covenant with me
" that he will gird up his loins to promulgate the
*' faith of the Lord." The prince was not averse,
and entered into a solemn engagement ; on which
the apostle prayed to the Lord until the right hind
leg came out.

He then said to the great king : " Send an Usta-
* ' war and an Amin along with me to the great queen
* ' Kitdbtin, in order that she may enter into the true
" faith." The king having assented, Zardusht on
coming into the king's golden apartment thus ad-
dressed queen Kitabiin: <* Mighty princess ! the Lord
* * has expressly selected thee to share the couch of
* ' Gushtasp and to be the mother of Isfendiar. I am
" the Lord's prophet sent by him to the king :
u therefore adopt the pure faith." On this the
great queen with heart and soul attached herself in
sincerity to the prophet : after which Zardusht
prayed, so that the other hind leg came out.

He then said to the king : ' ' Now send for the
" porter ; it is proper to inquire of him who it was
" that conveyed this stuff of magical preparation to
" my house." The king summoned the chamber-
lain and questioned him in a threatening tone, say-
ing : {l If thou wilt confess the truth, thou saves!

255

" thy life; but otherwise, thou shalt have thy head
*' under thy feet." The treacherous chamberlain
implored pardon, and related all the particulars of
the bribery and delusion practised by the philoso-
phers' friends. Gushtasp was exceedingly indig-
nant, and ordered the four philosophers to be
hanged. Zardusht then recited the prayers taught
him by the Almighty, so that the other forefoot
came out, and the swift charger stood on his legs.
The sovereign of Iran kissed the prophet's head and
face, and leading him to the throne, seated him near
himself; he also requested pardon for his sin and
gave back the prophet's goods. '

The doctors of the pure faith also record, that
king Lohrasp and Zerir, brother to Gushtasp hav-
ing fallen into so violent a malady, that the phy-
sicians in despair desisted from all attendance on
them, but having been restored to health through
the prayers of Zardusht, they adopted the pure
faith.2 '

Zaratusht the son of Bahram relates: One day

1 All those particulars about Zoroaster's imprisonment, ami about his
release after the cure effected by him upon the king's charger are, with
little variation, related in the Shah-nameh noser (see Hyde, 325, 327),
and in the Zerdusht ndmah (Anq. du Peron, t. I, 2. P. p. 323-327).
—A. T.

2 This cure of Lohrasp is touched upon by Anquetil in his life of Zoro-
aster (p. 53), but not that of Zerir; Hyde mentions neither; but the
conversion of king Lohrasp and of his relations is generally admitted.
—A. T.

256

Zardusht, having come into the king's presence, he
thus addressed the prophet of the Lord : ** I desire
*' to obtain four things from God ; it is therefore
' ' meet that the prophet should request them :
" first, that I should behold my own state in the
u next world ; secondly, that in the time of conflict
" no blow should make any impression on me, so
" that I may be able to diffuse the true faith;
" thirdly, that I may know thoroughly the myste-
" ries of good and evil in this world ; fourthly, that
' ' until the day of judgment my spirit may remain
" united to my body." Zardusht replied : " I will
* ' entreat the Lord to grant these four wishes :

But it is necessary that out of these four wishes

Thou shouldst implore one only for thyself:

Choose three wishes for three different persons:

That 1 may entreat them from the righteous Creator ;

He will not confer on any one person these four gifts,

Because that person might say : ' I am the supreme Creator.' "

The king having agreed to this, Zaratusht at the
time of evening prayer went to his house, repeated
the praises of the Almighty, entreating from him the
accomplishment of the king's desires, and lay down
in the act of adoration : in this state God showed him
in a vision that the king's petition was granted. At
dawn of day the king was seated on his throne ;
Zardusht appeared in the royal presence and came
to his place ; in a moment after, the king's chamber-
lain entering in great trepidation, said : " There are

257

" four terror-striking, awe-inspiring horsemen at
** l he door:

" Never before have I beheld horsemen of such a kind."

The king asked of Zardusht: " Who are these per-
" sons?" but he had scarcely done speaking before
all the four horsemen dressed in green, completely
armed, of majestic port, drew near the throne ; these
four cavaliers were of the number of those angels
who are nearest the just God, and are of the great
Amshasfands, namely, Bahman, l Ardibahist, 2 Azark-
hurdad, 3 and Azargushtdsp, 4 who thus addressed the
king : " We are angels and the envoys of God. The
" Dispenser of justice thus declares: * Zardusht is
" ' my prophet, whom I have sent to all the inha-
" * bitants of the earth ; attend well to him ; if thou
" ' devote thyself to his way, thou art delivered
" ' from hell. Never inflict pain on him ; and
" * when thou obtainest thy desires, avert not thy
" ' head from his commands.'

King Gushtasp, although in magnanimity im-
movable as mount Alburz, yet through the majesty

1 See p. 149. note. 2 See pp. 61. 62. 241. note.

3 See pp. 61. 62. Khordad is the sixth Amschaspand ; he presides over
the third month of the year and the sixth day of the month; he is a chief of
years, months, days, and of time in general ; he grants and aids intelli-
gence; he causes pure water to run through the world if man lives
holily; he is taken for water itself; he gives what is sweet to eat (Zanrf-
4 vesta, 1. 2. P. pp. 81.103. II. pp. 69. 97.153 157. and elsewhere).— A. T.

4 See pp. 61. 62. The name of the angel is simply Azar.

17

258

of the angels and their awful presence, fell senseless
from his throne : on recovering himself he thus
addressed the righteous Lord :

" I am the lowest of all thy servants,

" And have girt up my loins to execute thy orders."

When the Amshasfands heard this answer, they
departed ; and the military, on learning this won-
derful occurrence, were all assembled : the king also,
trembling all over, apologized to Zardusht :

" Thy command sits upon my soul;

" My spirit is like the son of the Lord ;

" My body, soul, and wealth are all to thee devoted,

" By order of the just and glorious Creator."

The prophet of the Lord replied : * ' May good
' ' tidings ever attend thee ! I have entreated from
" the Almighty the completion of thy desires, and
" my prayer has been granted." Zardusht then
ordered that for the purpose of the Yashtan-i-da-
run, l that is, " the recitation and breathing out of
'* prayer," they should make ready in an inner

1 Tasht, a Zand word, may be referred to the Sanskrit pr5T ishtva,
the participle of 51^ yaj, " to venerate."

The Damn is an office celebrated particularly for the sake of a king,
or of the Dostur of Dosturs, in honor of celestial beings of different
names and classes (Zend-Av., t. II. p. 73). Darun is also a little cake
in the shape of a crown piece, which the priest offers to the Ized-Dah-
man, who blesses the creatures, the just man, and having received from
the hands of the Serosh the souls of the just, conducts them to heaven
(ibid , 1. 1. 2. pp. 86. 172). -A. T.

259

apartment wine, sweet perfumes, milk, and a pome-
granate; and over these he performed Yasht, or " the
" recitation of prayers," in a low voice, out of the
Avesta and Zand ; after this ceremony they gave
Gushtasp some of the hallowed wine, on the mere
tasting of which he became insensible and rose not
up for three days : in that interval his spirit ascended
to heaven, and there beheld the celestial nymphs,
their palaces, progeny, and attendants ; the blessings
of paradise; the different gradations of rank among
the virtuous, and the grade reserved for himself.

The prophet next presented to Bishutan ' some of
that hallo wed milk, on drinking of which he was
delivered from the pangs of death and obtained eter-
nal life. Some of the Yezdanian doctors hold, that
by eternal life is implied the knowledge of one's own
essence and soul, which never admit of decay ; milk
is also mentioned, as it constitutes the food of chil-
dren, and science is the food of spirit; on which
account they have likened science to consecrated
milk. He next gave Jamasp* some of the hallowed
perfume, through the efficacy of which universal
science shed its lustre on his heart ; so that, from
that very day of his existence, whatever was to come
to pass until the day of judgment was clearly com-

1 Bishutan, according to some authors was the brother, according to
the Shah-nameh, a confidential friend, of Isfendiar.— A. T.

2 Jamasp, the brother and minister of Gushlasp.— A. T.

260

prehended by him in all its details. He then gavo
one grain of the hallowed pomegranate to Isfendiar,
who on eating it instantly became brazen-bodied,
and his frame grew so hard that no blow could make
an impression on it.

When the great king awoke from his vision, he
broke out into praise and adoration ; after which he
called for Zardusht, to whom he related what he had
witnessed, and commanded all men to receive the
pure faith ; then, being seated on his throne, he
ordered the prophet of the Lord to recite some sec-
tions of the Zand in his presence. On hearing the
Avesta, the demons fled and concealed themselves
under the earth. The great king next commanded
that in every city the Mobeds should attend to the
observance of fire, erecting domes over it, and keep-
ing slated festivals and limes.

ACCOUNT OF THE PRECEPTS GIVEN BY ZARDUSHT TO

THE KING AND TO ALL MANKIND. — The prophet Zar-

dusht, having read to the king some sections con-
cerning the greatness and majesty of the Almighty,
said to him : " As thou hast adopted the ways of
" God, the joy of paradise is to be thy portion ; bui
"he who abandons that way is hurried off to hell
" by Ahriman, who feels delighted, and on making
" the capture says to his victim: ' Because thou
" * hast abandoned the ways of God, therelbre art

261

« thou fallen into hell.' But the just God is libe-

ral to his servants, and has sent me to them,

' saying : ' Communicate my covenant to all created

' beings, that they may abandon their perverse

' ways.' I am his prophet, sent to thee that thou

' mayst guide mankind to the right road ; as the

l (i nal result of persevering in the way of God is the

attainment of paradise; and the retribution of

devotedness to Ahriman is hell. He moreover

commanded me: ' Say thou to mankind, if ye

' adopt the pure faith, then shall paradise be your

' place; but if ye receive it not, you follow the

' institutes of Ahriman, and hell shall be your

' abode. ' The several demonstrations of Zar-

dusht and his wondrous works are to you an

abundant proof of the truth of his faith. Know

also that at first he sought the world; but finally

regarded wife, children, and relations as strangers

to himself; he has moreover attained to such per-

feet faith, that the king and the mendicant are

the same in his sight. He has enjoined me no-

thing more than this: neither has he given me

permission to be your intercessor or to entreat

from him remission of your sins: for protection

extended to the evil doer is itself criminal, and

the chastisement of evil deeds is true religion: he

enojined me also to entertain hope of his favor

from mv words and deeds."

262

" Look to your acts and words, for they produce their sure effect,
" The same seed that people sow, such the harvest they shall reap."

It is also expressly stated in the glorious Koran
to the same purport : ' " On the very day when the
" spirit (Gabriel) and the angels shall be ranged in
** their order, nobody shall speak except him to
** whom the Merciful will permit it, and who will say
" nothing but what is just." In another place it is
declared : 2 " Truly thou canst not direct whomso-
' ' ever thou lovest ; but God will direct whomsoever
' ' he pleases." It is also recorded in the traditions,
that the asylum of prophecy (on whom be blessings !)
said to the beautiful Fatima: " O Fatima! fear no-
" thing, for thou art the prophet's daughter,- per-
*' form good works ! again I say, perform good
" works!" He also proposed this additional proof!
" Not one of the eminent, eloquent, learned, or wise
' * men of the world can produce a composition which
1 ' in the least resembles the volume I have sent down ;
*' if they are able let them declare it ; but as they are
" unable, let them confess that this is the voice of
" God: a similar statement has also been made in
' ' the divine words of the Koran : ' produce ye a
" * chapter resembling it.' Again of the many
" prophets who appeared on earth, all were igno-

« Chapt. LXXVIII. v. 38.
2 Chapt. XXVIII. v. 56.

265

" rant of future events except Zardusht, who, in
" the Zend-Avesta, clearly expounded whatever was
*' to come to pass until the day of judgment, whe-
" ther good or evil.

• " Concerning kings inspired by truth, religion, and justice,
" There are minute details if thou wilt call them to mind:
• The names of all he has consigned to lasting fame,
" Their every act and deed, whether just or unjust alike."

Moreover no prophet, save Zardusht, bestowed in
the presence of God benedictions on the military
class whose hearts were rightly affected towards him .

" To the follower of his faith he said, if to the true believers
" Thou doest good, then good shall result to thee."

But above all he has said : " God has commanded
" me : * Say thou to mankind they are not to abide
" * in hell 'for ever; when their sins are expiated,
" ' they are delivered out of it.' '

It is generally reported that Zardusht was of
Azarbadgdn1 or Tabruz; but those who are not Beh-
dinians, or " true believers," assert, and the writer
of this work has also heard from the Mobed Torru of
Busdwdri, in Gujurat, that the birth-place and dis-

1 According to Abulfeda, quoted by Hyde (p. 313), Zoroaster was born
in £*.l or A~»tt, in Armf or Armia, the most western town of Azar-

bijan (the Media of the Greeks), in theGordian mountains, which accounts
for the surname of Median, or Persian, or Pcrso-Median, which different
authors have given to him. Other historians affirm that he fame from
Palestina.— A. T.

264

tinguished ancestors of the prophet belong to the
city of Rai. l

A Mobed has transcribed as follows from the Avesta
and Zand, 2 when the Amshasfand Bahman, pursuant
to God's command, had borne the prophet Zardusht
to heaven, he thus entreated of the Almighty :
" Close the door of death against me : let that be
" my miracle." But the righteous Lord replied:
" If I close the gates of death against thee, thou
" wilt not be satisfied; nay, thou wouldst entreat
" death from me." He then gave Zardusht some-
thing like honey, on tasting of which he became
insensible ; like one in a profound sleep has visions,
he became acquainted with the mysteries of exist-?
ence, clearly perceiving the good and evil of what-
ever is in being; nay, he knew the number of hairs
on the sheep, and the sum of the leaves on a tree.
When his senses were restored, the Almighty asked
him: " What hast thou seen?" He answered:

1 Raf is the most northern town of the province Jebal, or Irak Ajem,
the country of the ancient Parthians.— A. T. • -

2 Anquetil says (Zend-Av , 2 P. p. xviii.) : " The Bahman Yesht Pehlvi,
" rather the epitome than the translation of the true Bahman Zand, may
" be called the Apocalypse of the Parsees. It presents, in the form of a
" prophecy, an abridged history of the empire and of the religion of the
" Persians, from Gushtasp to the end of the world." That part of the
Dabistan which follows, said to be transcribed from the Zand Avesta by
a Mobed, may be presumed to be taken from the true Bahman Yesht Zand;
still these prophecies are undoubtedly compositions of later times inter-
polated in the original works.— A. T.

265

" O supreme ruler ! I beheld in hell, along with
" Ahriman, many wealthy persons who had been
* ' ungrateful in this world ; and I found in the su-
" preme paradise many persons, rich in gold and
" silver, who had worshipped the Lord and been
" grateful to him. I moreover saw in hell many
" who were eminent for wealth, but who were
" childless; and many an indigent Durvesh, the
" father of many children, in the enjoyment of
" paradise. I saw moreover a tree with seven
" branches,1 the shadow of which extended far
** and wide ; one branch of gold, the second of sil-
" ver, the third of copper, the fourth of brass, the
" fifth of tin (or lead), the sixth of steel, the seventh
" of mixed iron." The Lord then said to his pro-

1 It is mentioned in the Situd gher (the 2nd Nosk of the Zend-Avesta)
that Zoroaster, having demanded immortality, Ormuzd showed him a tree
of four branches : the first of gold, this indicated the reign of Gusbtasp ;
the second of silver, that of ArdeshirBabegan ; the third of brass, that of
Nushirvan, and the troubles excited by Mazdak ; the fourth of iron mixed
with other metals, the destruction of the Persian empire. According to
the Bahman Jesht Zand, Ormuzd refusing a second demand of immor-
tality made by Zoroaster, pours into his hands a few drops of water, after
the drinking of which he is during seven days and nights filled with
divine intelligence, and sees all that passes upon the seven kechvars, or
" districts of the earth." He sees a second tree, having seven branches of
metal, which indicate seven epochas and the events belonging to them;
the first branch, which is of gold, designates the reign of Gushtasp.
Zoroaster then no more desires immortality. Ormuzd announces to him,
moreover, the war which Arjasp will make upon Gushtasp.— (Zend- Av.,
l. I. 2. P. note, pp. xviii. xix) —A. T.

266

phet : ' * The tree with seven branches is the series
44 of events in the world, in which agitation arises
4 * from seven sources through the revolution of the
44 spheres; the first or golden branch typifies the
" way and attraction by which thou hast come to
44 my presence and attained the prophet's office;
' ' the second or silver branch signifies that the great
44 sovereign of the age shall receive thy system of
44 faith, and that the demons shall hide themselves
4 i in dismay ; the third or copper branch is the period
" of the Ashkanian kings.

" He who is not a true believer

" Holds in abhorrence the pure in faith.

" The great stock of fortune shall at this time

" Be torn piecemeal and scattered all over the world."

44 The fourth, or the branch of brass, typifies the
44 reign of Ardashir, the son of Sassan, who shall
44 adorn the universe with the true faith and reesta-
4 ' blish the pure institutes ; the people will embrace
*' the faith through the force of demonstration :
44 they will pour molten copper and brass on the
Ct breast of Arzabad, and his person shall receive
44 no injury. The fifth, or leaden branch is the
4t reign of Bahram Gor, during which mankind will
44 enjoy repose.

" When mankind are in the enjoyment of happiness,

" Ahriman is grieved beforehand at this prosperous state."

44 The sixth branch, or that of steel, is the reign of
44 Nushirwan, through whose equity the aged world

267

" shall be restored to youth; and although Mazdak
*' of corrupt heart shall pursue his designs, yet will
"he be unable to do any injury to the pure faith.
" The seventh branch, or that of mixed iron, is
" emblematic of the time when the period of a thou-
" sand years verges to its end,1 and the royal dig-
" nity falls to Mazdakin, and no respect remains to
" the pure faith; then a people clothed in black,
" oppressors of the poor, without title, reputation,
' ' or merit, friends to tumult and wickedness, fraudu-
" lent, hypocritical, and deceitful, bitter of heart
' ' like aloes, with honied tongue, traitors to bread
" and salt, ungrateful, speakers of falsehood, alike
' * building the most magnificent mansions and fond
" of ruined caravansarais, seeking the ways of hell,
" having conspired together will destroy the fire-
" temples, and turn to themselves the spirit of the
" inhabitants of Iran. The sons and daughters of
" the nobles shall fall into their hands, and the

1 The author of theBahman Yasht (ibid., Notices, p. xix) describes in
copious details the woes which are to afflict the world, during the
influence of the iron branch:, he speaks of the march of armies, of phy-
sical convulsions, of the diminished productions of nature, of the con-
quests made by Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Chinese, and Christians. All this
misery is to end on the arrival of king Bahrain Varjavand, who is to
re-establish the ancient Persian empire: by the successive mission of the
three sons of Zoroaster, who are to convert the world and confirm their
divine mission by working miracles. Sosiosh is to restore purity to the
world : during this prophet's millennium the resurrection is to take
place.— D. S.

268

c* children of the virtuous and mighty become their
'4 attendants : nay, this race shall make a covenant-
' ' breaker king over them :

" That person among them obtains both power and rank,
" Whose career is directed to the production of misery.

'* When this millennium comes to a termination, the
' ' clouds shall mostly appear unattended by rain ;
" the rains not fall in their season; heats predomi-
*' nate ; the water of rivers be lessened ; few cows
" or sheep be left remaining ; and men despicable
" in figure, small of stature, weak in form, shall
" then be met with. ,

" The speed of the horse and the rider shall suffer diminutiou,

" And no productive energy remain in the bosom of the sown field."

" Men shall gird the sacred zone in secrecy, and
" drag on a dishonored existence, forgetting alto-
" gether the Nduroz and the festival of Farvardin. '

1 The Nduroz, is the first day of the year, a great festival, the in-
stitution of which is ascribed to the earliest times. It lasts six days,
beginning on the day of Ormuzd of the month Farvardin (March) ; this
is the little Na'u'ros, and it ends on the day of Khordad (an Am-
shasfand who presides over the sixth day of the month), called the
great Nduroz. It was on this day, they relate, that Ormuzd created
the world and what it contains; that Kaiomers triumphed over Eshem,
the demon of envy, wrath, and violence, the enemy of Serdsh, and the
most powerful of the Divs ; that Mashia and Mashiana, the first man and
woman, came forth from the earth, and that several great events of the
ancient history of the Persians took place, such as Gushtasp's embracing
Xoroaster's faith: it is finally on that day that the general resurrection
is to follow (Zend-Av.. t. II. p. 874.) -A. T.

269

" The tnoulh of Safandarmuz shall be opened wide,

" And the hidden treasures cast forth and exposed to view."

" An evil-disposed rapacious host of Turks shall
" come to Iran, and force away the crown and_
" throne from its chieftains. O, Zardusht! com-
" municate these tidings to the Mobeds, that they
" may impart them to the people." Zardusht re-
plied : " How shall the professors of the true faith
" be able to perform their worship?' to which this
answer was given : " When the second millennium
" commences, mankind shall behold more calamity
" than was witnessed in the times of Zohak and
" Afrasiab ; and when that period is terminated,
" there will not be found any one of the least merit
" among the professors of the true faith.

" From every quarter they shall prepare to assail Iran,
" With their chargers' hoofs they shall lay it waste."

Zardusht said : " 0 righteous Ormuzd ! after so
" much toil, abridgment of life and long-protracted
' * suffering shall not the professors of the true faith
" find some intercessor; and how can discomfiture
' * overtake those clothed in black vestments ?" The
Almighty answered thus : " Pain is not to last for
" ever ; when the black ensign is displayed, a host
" arrayed in red vestments and helmets shall come
" forth from the formidable room; and the land of
' ' Khorasan be desolate by flood and vapor j the
" earth shall tremble and the cultivated fields be

270

" laid waste; Turk, Riimite, and Arab encounter

* * each other ; and the borders of Turan be made a
" wilderness by Turks, Persians, and Hindoos ; the
" sacred fire be borne to Dushkhargar, or ' the
" * mountainous region;' and, through invasions,
" Iran become one scene of desolation." The pro-
phet then said : " O, Lord ! however short the dura-
4 ' tion of this people may be, they will surely destroy
" life; how then shall these wicked be extermi-
" nated?" To which he received this answer :
' ' The standard of an army arises out of Khorasan ,
' ' and then Hoshidar is separated from his mother ;
' * when he arrives at the age of thirty, he will follow
" the ancient mode of faith, and become sovereign
" of Hindustan and China ; he shall have a son of
" the Kaianian race, named Bahram and entitled
" Hamawand, but whom his nation will call Sha-
' ' pur : on the birth of that illustrious child, the stars

* * shall drop down from heaven ; and his father pass
* ' away from this world in the month of Aban and the
' * day of Baud. ' When this son has attained twenty -
" one years of age, he shall march in every direction
" with a numerous host, and proceeding with his
" troops to Balkh and Bokhara, advance into Iran

1 The" month of Aban is the month of October, and the angel of that
name, who is the Ized of the water, presides over the tenth day of the
month.

Baud is the twenty-second day of the month.— A. T.

271

" with the armies of India and China. A man
1 ' professing the good faith in the mountain region
" will then exert himself, and bringing up an army
" from Khorasan and Sistan, come to the aid of
" Iran:

" From Kisliti Duwal, Roome, and Firingstan,

" From demons clothed in black, like piebald wolves."

" Three mighty battles shall then ensue, which will
' * render Persia the land of mourning ; after which
' ' will arise an exalted avenging prince who shall ob-
' ' tain the victory. In thpse days a thousand women
*' shall not be able to find one man; and if they
" should perchance behold one, they shall be filled
" with astonishment. When those times are come
" to an end, I shall send Serosh towards Jerusalem
" and summon Bishutan, who will issue forth with
*' a company of one hundred and fifty virtuous men,
" and duly perform Yasht, or * prayer/ on which
*' Ahriman will engage in battle with them ; but, on
4 i hearing the sound of the Hadokht and the Ashtawa-
" zand, the partizans of Ahriman shall flee out of
" Iran. A prince, Bahram by name, shall then
" ascend the throne, bring back the sacred fire, and
** restore the institutions of ancient times, and the
' ' seed of the wicked shall then be exterminated :
" finally, when Bishutan beholds every thing duly
" arranged, he will return with royal pomp to his
" own palace."

272

The Mobed Azar Khirad relates in his book that the
Zand contains twenty-one Nosks, or " parts," every
Nosk having a particular name in Zand and Parsi
according to the following list : ' Yathd, Ita, Ahu,

1 This list is incorrect ; it should begin by stating that the Nosks arc
twenty-one in number, according to the number of words in the Yatha
ahu virio— but the ignorance of the transcriber has converted the three
first words of a short prayer into the three first Nosks of the Zend-
Avesta.*— D. S.

According to several Parsee doctors, seven of these Nosks, or frather
na'skas, treated of the first principle, of the origin of beings, of the
history of the human race, etc. ; seven treated of morals and of civil
and religious duties ; and seven of medicine and astronomy. The Pehlvi
books and some Persian works mention three other Nosks, which are to
complete the Avesta at the end of this world (Zand-Av., t. I. 1. P.
p. 479).

Here follows a list of the Nosks according to a translation made by
Anquetil from the Persian Ravaet of Kamah Berch ( see Me'moires de
I'Acad. des Inscript. et des B.-L., t. xxxviii. p. 239-254.) I have abridged
the explanation of each Nosk ; the contents of several of them are much
alike, and the miscellaneous matters in them all confusedly stated.

I. — The first Nosk, called Setud-yesht, " Nosk of prayer or praise," has
33 chapters.

II.— The second, named Setud-gher, "Nosk of prayer and praise," has
22 chapters, and treats of the purity of actions, of collections for
the poor, of the concord which is to subsist between relations.

III.— Vehest Mantsre, " heavenly word," has 22 chapters. It discourses
on faith, on the strict observation of the law, and on the propensi-
ties of the heart. Mention is made of the qualities of Zardusht, and
of the pure people and pure actions which have existed before him.

IV. — Bagh, " happiness, light, or garden," in 21 chapters, states the
substance and the true meaning of the law, God's commands with
respect to obedience, fidelity, justice, purity of actions, the means
of guarding against Satan, and of going into the other world.

275

Wiria, Alartmh, Nadar, which they call in Arabic
Btifastdl, and in Parsi Favalmasihan. This Nosk
treats of the stars, constellations, order of the

V.—Do'azdah Hamast, the twelve Hamasts, that is, " means or things
" produced at the same time.". This book, in 32 chapters, speaks
of the bad people of the upper and nether world, of the nature of all
beings, of the whole creation of God, of the resurrection, of the
bridge Chinavad, and of the fate after death.

VI. — Nader, " the excellent, the rare." This book of 35 chapters is
assigned to astronomy, to the influences of the stars upon the actions
of men; it corresponds with the Arabic work Buftal (Bufasta'l); its
Persian name is Favameshian (Favai'mast'han) ; that is, by means
of this science future events are known.

VII.— Pajem means perhaps " small animal, or retribution." This book,
in 22 chapters, gives an account of quadrupeds; of actions permitted
or not; what animals may be killed or eat, what not; what may
be killed for the use of the Gahanbars, that is, the six festivals in
the year instituted in commemoration of the first creation of the
world in 365 days; and about regulations relative to these festivals,
to meritorious acts and gifts.

VIII.— Reteshtai, " the Nosk of warriors or of chiefs." The subjects of
this book form 50 chapters, 13 of which only have survived the
time of Alexander; they are: the orders of the king, the obedience
of the subjects, the conduct of the judges, the foundation of towns,
and the various things and animals created by God.

IX.— Beresht, " execution of orders, or supremacy." This book, of 60
chapters, 12 of which only remain after Alexander, treats of kings
and judges ; of the reciprocal relations of the governors and the
governed ; of the occupations prescribed to the different classes and
professions of men ; of useful knowledge; of the vices of men ; and
such like things.

X.— Kesesrob, perhaps " agreeable word." This book, at first of 60 chap-
ters, of 15 only after Alexander's conquest, discourses upon the soul,
science, intellect, natural and acquired ; upon morality, and the
consequences of its being observed or violated.

18

274

heavens, the aspects, the good and evil influences of
the heavenly hodies, and such like topics. The
other Nosks are : the Ashdd, Chid, Hashu, Wanka-

\\.-Veshtasp, Veshap, once of 60, but after Alexander of 10 chapters
only, contains an eulogy upon the government of Veshtasp (Gusht-
asp), upon his having adopted, observed, and propagated Zar-
dusht's laws.

XII.— Ehesht, " brick, or little lance, or agriculture." This book, in
22 chapters, discusses six subjects relative to religion, policy, morals,
cultivation, political economy, and administration of justice. In
the fifth part are stated the four venerable classes of men, which
are the kings and chiefs, the warriors, the cultivators, and the
tradesmen.

XIII.— Sefand, " excellent," inculcates in 60 chapters the observation of
moral and religious duties, and the faith in the miracles of Zardusht.

XIV.— Jeresht, " he does;" this book, of 22 chapters, treats of the birth
and the destination of man.

XV. — Baghantast, " the Yesht of the fortunate," contains in 17 chapters
the praise of God, of the angels, and of the man who approaches
God and is thankful for the benefits which he receives from above.

XVI.— Niaram means, perhaps, " I do not seek my advantage." This
book, of 54 chapters, teaches the good employ of one's fortune, and
the advantages of a good behaviour towards God and men.

XVII.— Asparam, may signify " the ties, the book by excellence, the
'• dawn, the heaven, perfect, plant, leaf." It treats in 64 chapters
of the Nerengs, that is, of the powers, faculties in different accepta-
tions; here of the powers of good actions, and of liturgical cere-
monies.

XVIII. — Davaserujed, " he who offers the extreme expedient, or who
" speaks of it," of 65 chapters, shows the knowledge of men and
animals; how the latter are to be taken care of; how travellers and
captives are to be treated.

XIX.— Askaram, " 1 discover, explain, make known, teach publicly," i»

275

wish, Wazda, Mankahu, Sitanu, Nan, Ankahish, Marzdi,
Khashar, Machd, Ahrd, Aydm, Darkubiu and Astardm :
all the sciences are contained in the Zand, but some
are mentioned enigmatically and by way of allusion.
At present there are four teen, complete Nosks pos-
sessed by the Dostiirs of Karman, the other seven
being incomplete, as through the wars and dissen-
sions which prevailed in Iran some of the Nosks

53 chapters, explains the obligation, the best establishment and
limitation of laws and regulations.

XX.— Vendidad, " given for the repulsion of the Dtvs," of 22 chapters,
forbids all sorts of bad, impure, and violent actions.

XXL— Hadokht, " the powerful Has," that is, " words of phrases of the
" Avesta," in 30 chapters, exhibits the manner of always performing
many miracles, pure works, and admirable things.

Of all these Nosks, not one, except the Vendidad, has been preserved
complete, and the names of three only, namely, the Setud-yesht, the Ven-
didad, and the Hadokht, are mentioned in the different Zand-books still
extant. This shows that, at different times, changes in the forms of the
written liturgy have taken place, and that the names, superscriptions,
and divisions of the writings have been arbitrarily treated by different
Dosturs, without any change in the contents.

The names of the Nosks given by Hyde (343, 345), partly from the dic-
tionary Farhang Ichangiri, partly from other sources not mentioned, are
not correct nor rightly explained.

Three additional Nosks are to be brought into the world by three post-
humous sons of Zoroaster. See in a subsequent note their miraculous
origin and actions.

The Persian text of another Notice upon the Nosks, somewhat more
complete than that published by Anquetil in Roman letters, has been
edited by Messrs. Julius Mohl and Olshausen, of Kiel (see Fragmens rela-
tifs a la Religion de Zoroastre, extraits des manuscrits persons de la
Bibliotheque du Roi, 1829). -A. T.

276

have disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the
greatest researches, the Nosks have come into their
hands in a defective state.

Zaratusht Bahram, the son of Pazhdu, relates
that, at the time of the promulgation of the pure
faith in Iran, there lived in India a sage of profound
learning, named Jangranghdchah, l whose pupil Jam-
asp* had been during many years, a circumstance
which procured him great distinction. On being
informed of Gushtasp's conversion, he wrote an
epistle to the great king, to dissuade him from the
profession of the pure faith. By the king's com-
mand, this sage came to Iran to hold a disputation
with Zardusht, who said to him: " Listen to one
' * Nosk of this Asta which I have received from God,

1 Ul j-)MU " Sankara .acharya," upon whose age different opinions

are entertained.

2 According to another tradition Gushtasp himself had travelled in
tndia, and had been instructed by the Brahmans. In the Desatir (English
transl., Comment, pp. 183, 186), we read that, when Sekander conquered
Iran, Sasan, the son of Darab, went to India, where he practised the
worship of Yezdan in a cavern, and where he died. He left a son named
Jivanasp, who is known as the second Sasan, equal to his father, and who
took his abode in Kabulistan. Ardeshir (the son of another Sasan, of the
Kayanian race, a relative of the Saint), admonished by a dream, went to
Kabulislan, and by his entreaties prevailed upon the second Sasan to fol-
low him to Istakhar, where Ardeshir erected, for the habitation of the
saint, an immense monastery adorned with figures of the stars, and having
fire-temples on its different sides. These and other traditions afford the
inference that, in early times, a religious intercourse had taken place
between India and Persia.— A. T.

277

** and attend to its interpretation." Upon this, at
the illustrious prophet's command, one of his dis-
ciples read a Nosk in which God said thus to Zar-
dusht: "On the promulgation of the pure faith, there
" shall come from Hindustan a wise man, named
" Jangmnghdchah, who will ask thee questions, after
" such and such guise, the answers to which are
" after this manner, thus answering all his ques-
" tions:

" By this same Nosk his condition was improved,

'• And the answer to each question was correctly given."

When he heard the solutions of his questions he
fell from his chair, and on recovering his senses
adopted the pure faith. The prophet Sasan the
Fifth, in his select commentary on the Dasdtir and
the interpretation of the code of Zardusht, relates,
that when Isfendiar had promulgated the pure faith,
the eminent sages of Greece dispatched a learned
man, named Niydtus, ' to interrogate the prophet of

1 In the Desaiir (English translat., p. 120) the Greek philosopher is
called Tu'tianush. We are at a loss even to guess at the Greek to
whom these names may be applied. We may however remember that
St. Clement of Alexandria places Pythagoras about the 62nd Olympiad,
or about 528 years B. C., and says that he was a zealous follower of Zoro-
aster, and had consulted the Magi. Jamblicus, in his life of Pythagoras
(cap. 4) states, that this philosopher was taken prisoner by Cambyses and
carried to Babylon, where, in his intercourse with the Magi, he was
instructed in their modes of worship, perhaps by Zoroaster himself, if
Zabratus and Nazaratus. mentioned as his instructors by Diogenes and
Alexander, can be identified with the Persian prophet. Now, the long

278

the Lord concerning the exact nature of his tenets.
Gushtasp, having assigned him an audience on a
most auspicious day. this distinguished Greek, on

reign of Lohrasp (of 120 years) is supposed by some chronologers to com-
prehend the reigns of Cambyses and of Smerdis. Upon this uncertain
chronological ground, Pythagoras may be placed in the times of Gusht-
asp, to whom, as was before said, Foucher with others assigns an epocha
more remote than that of Darius Hystaspes of the Greeks. It is known
that Alexander, by the conquest of Persia, accomplished, to a certain
degree and for a certain time, his glorious project to connect the East
with the West ; an open intercourse took place between the Asiatics and
the Greeks, whose language was widely spread in Asia. The Macedonian
conqueror is there generally believed to have been the son of Darab
(Darius), and the brother of Bahman Isfendiar. He received, says the
Desatir (p. 123), from the hands of his Persian spouse Pari-dokht Ros-
henak (Parysatis Roxana), " the bright daughter of the fairy," a book
of Zardusht addressed to him, and forming a part of the Desatir. Alex-
ander ordered the Persian books to be translated into Greek, called
the Nurakhi language, in the Desatir, in which is also said (p. 124):
" Hence the sect of Internal Illumination will arise among the Nu-
" rakhis, as well as that of Reason." To this passage the Com-
mentary subjoins : " The sect of Gushtaspians of Iran and Yunan is
" a medium between the Illuminated and the Rationalist. When
" Sekander came to Iran, he found that the Gushtaspians of Iran
' ' were the better and wiser ; and he found that they had such power
" that, when they pleased, they left the body, which they treated as
" a garment. And besides them he saw another class of men in Iran,
"who, by means of reason and meditation (nurnu'd) discovered the
" real nature of things as they actually exist; and there was no such
" class of men in Yunan. Having collected all their books, he translated
" them into the Yunani and Rumi tongues. He then gave his prime
" minister (Dostur) and teacher the title of the chief Mobe"d and Sage,
" and made him the head of the Nirniidis. From this time forward the
" sect of Rationalists prevailed among the Yunanis and Rumis." Alex-
ander's prime minister is supposed by the Asiatics to have been Aristotle;
we k'now that this philosopher had an accurate knowledge of Zoroaster's

279

beholding the face of Zardusht, said : " From this
" face, knowledge, sagacity, and science are manifest
' ' as the properties of a mind so formed ; and this
' ' is not the physiognomy of one who utters false-
" hoods." He then asked him concerning the mo-
ment, day, month, and year of his birth, which being
communicated by Zardusht, Niyatiis observed :
" Under such a horoscope, a person of weak intel-
" lects cannot be born." He next questioned him
concerning his food, sleep, and mode of life, which
being also explained, Niyatiis added : " From this
" rule of life he cannot be an impostor." The pro-
phet of the Lord then said to him : " Keep in thy
* ' heart whatever thou desirest to inquire about, and
" utter it not with thy tongue; as the Almighty has
" acquainted me with it, and for my sake has sent
" me his word in this chapter relative to these mat-
" ters." On this, one of the prophet's disciples
read to Niyatiis, out of a single chapter, all that was
laid up in the noble envoy's breast, and whatever he

doctrine. Although the history, religion, and science of the Asiatics have
certainly not been neglected by the inquisitive Greeks, Alexander's com-
panions, among whom was Callisthenes, a relation of Aristotle, yet we
find in the western histories no particular notice corroborating the
account just quoted of the Desatir. Unfortunately we may be more
positive about the destruction of ancient monumental works in Persia by
the son of Philip; it is for having burnt the Nosks that he is said by
the Persians to be burning in hell (see Anquetil, vol. II. p. 338).
—A. T.

280

was commissioned to enquire about, at the desire of
the eminent men of Greece.

The Fifth Sasan, in like manner, relates that when
the report of Jangranghachah's having adopted the
faith was published abroad, a sage, by name Bydsd, '

T, " Vyasa," a sage of that name occurs in the chapter upon the
Hindus and elsewhere.

In the Desatir, published at Bombay, there is " the book of Shet the
prophet Zirtu'sht" (Engl. transl., pp. 116-145), in which the interview
between Hertusha'd, son of Hereofetmad (Zartu'sht), the Yiinan philo-
sopher and the Indian sages is related.

Here ends the principal part of the historical account which the Dabistan
gives of Zoroaster's life. I shall add, according to Anquetil (Zend-Av.,
t. I. 2. P. pp. 60-62), a summary account of its principal events in chro-
nological order.

Anquetil supposes Zoroaster born 589 years B. C. At the age of 30
years he goes to Iran, through which country he only passes. He disap-
pears then to the eyes of the Persians during ten years. His followers
say that he was transported before the throne of God. It was in this
interval of time that he terminated several works which he had perhaps
already begun upon mount Alborz, or in Chaldaea. The mountains af-
forded him retirement. The twenty years which he is said to have passed
in the deserts were, probably, from his twentieth to his fortieth year.

At this age he appeared before Gushtasp, in Balkh, and at this very
time Hystaspes, father of Darius, may have reigned in Bactria. Zoroaster
performed miracles during ten years: this is the period of his mission.
After his first miracles, his reputation having spread afar, Changraghachah
came to meet him. This Brahman treats him in his letter to Gushtasp as
a young man, and well might an old man, such as Changraghachah was,
have so called a man of forty years. It is also to this time that Anquetil
refers what is said about the cypress-tree which Zoroaster planted before
the Atesh-gadah, or the fire-temple, of Kichmar in Khorassan. Isfcndiar
was then very young, because about twenty-eight years later his elder
son was not yet married ; and Darius, 540 years B. C., might have been
ten years old.

281

came from India to Iran ; and the sages of every
country being assembled, pursuant to the great
king's command, Biyasa thus addressed the prophet

At the age of sixty-five years, Zoroaster delivered in Babylon lessons of
philosophy, and counted Pythagoras among his disciples ; Cambyses,
according to the Greeks, filled then the throne of Persia. Three years
afterwards, the legislator returned from Chaldaea for establishing the
worship of the cypress, which lasted eight years. Persia had then acknow-
ledged Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as king.

After these eight years, Zoroaster advised the war against Turan. He
was very old. The Shahnamah calls him ptr, " old." Gushtasp, victo-
rious over the Turanians, heaps every honor upon him, and he dies, some
time after, at the age of seventy-seven years, in the interval of time
which elapsed between the expedition of Gushtasp and the invasion of
the Turanians. Bahman, the eldest son of Isfendiar, was able to carry
arms, and Darius, 512 B. C., might have been thirty-eight years old.

As to the posterity of Zoroaster— he had been successively married to
three wives. With the first he had one son and three daughters; with the
second two sons ; it is not certain whether he had any offspring with his
third wife, called Hud, the niece of Jamasp — the Zand-books however
say, that she brought him three sons, who are to appear about the end of
the world.— A. T.

According to Zand and Parsee writings, the birth and actions of these
sons will be equally miraculous. Zoroaster, having visited Hu6 three
times on her going to bathe, the germs remained in the water. The Izeds
(or genii) Nerioseng and Anahid were charged with their custody, until
the period when three virgins bathing in the same water, should receive
these germs in succession, and bring into the world the three sons
of Zoroaster.

The first is named Oshederba'mi. He is to appear at the commencement
of the last millennium of the world, and to arrest the sun's course during
ten days and nights ; and as Zoroaster converted one of the four portions
of the human race, he is to convert the second to the law, and give them
the 22nd Nosk.

The second posthumous son is Oshelerma'h. He is to appear four
hundred years after Oshederbami, and to arrest the sun's course during

of the Lord in the presence of all : *'.O, Zardusht!
' * in consequence of thy answers and unfolding of
" mysteries to the wise Jangranghachah, thou art
" accounted a true prophet. I have besides heard
" of innumerable miracles performed by thee. Know
" that I also, in my own country, am reckoned as
*' one who is unequalled both in the theoretical
" and practical sciences. I now hope that thou
" wilt disclose the secrets which I have kept pent
" up in my bosom, and have never in any manner
" transferred from the page of my heart to the lip:
" some people tell us that the genii impart know-
* ' ledge of this kind to the worshippers of Ahriman :
" however if thou canst unfold all these secrets, I
* ' shall turn to thy faith. " The prophet of the Lord
said : " Long before thy arrival, the God of purity
" made all known to me." He then recited a Sim-
nad, " chapter," which the Lord had sent down on
those subjects ; in which was specified whatever
was in Byasa's heart, with the answer attached to
it ; after which Byasa listened to the word of God,
and having made profession of the pure faith, re-
ten days and nights ; he is also to bring the 23fd Nosk of the law, and to
convert the third portion of the human race.

The third is named Sosiosh. He shall appear at the end of ages,
arrest the sun's course during thirty days and nights, bring the 24th
Nosk of the law, and the whole world is to embrace the faith of Zoroaster:
after this comes on the resurrection.— (Zend.-Av , 1. 1. 2. P. pp. 45, 46).
D. S.

285

turned to Hindustan. It is to be remarked that the
two Simnad which contain the answers to the emi-
nent envoy of the Greeks and the sage Byasa do not
form a part of the Astawazand, but constitute a
portion of the Desatir, ' or of the celestial volume, in
the language of which a chapter is styled a Simnad.
Moreover, Zaratusht Bahram thus relates con-
cerning the account of heaven and hell given by
Ardaivirdf. 2 It is recorded that, when the power of
Ardeshir Babagan was firmly established, he assem-
bled around him forty thousand virtuous Mobeds
and Dustars, out of which number he selected four
thousand ; of those thus selected he set apart four
hundred, who knew by heart the greater part of the
Asta ; of these four hundred he again chose out forty
learned doctors ; and from these he selected seven
unblemished sages, equally free from mortal and ve-
nial sins, whom he thus addressed : " Let whichever
" of you is able divest himself of body, and bring us
" intelligence concerning heaven and hell." These
righteous men made answer : " For such a purpose

1 In the Desatir (English transl. p. 126; he is called Biras —A. T.

2 Ardai Viraf or Arda Viraf or Virasp, also simply called Viraf or
Virasp, was, about the year 200 of our era, one of the most zealous fol-
lowers and defenders of Zoroaster's religion, which, under Alexander the
Great and the other kings of Persia, had lost its first authority (see Hyde,
pp. 278, 279). Arda Viraf is mentioned in one of the Yeshts Sades, or
prayers called Dup Nereng, which are recited when perfumes are thrown
into the fire (Zend-Av , t. II, p. 53).— A. T.

284

" there is required a man who from the age of seven
" upwards has not committed sin." After which
these sages selected from amongst them one, named
Ardai Virdf, ' whom they knew to be possessed of
this excellence, and, accompanied by the great king,
they all repaired to Azar Khurddd, which was a fire-
temple ; having there prepared a golden throne for
Ardai Virdf, the forty thousand professors of the
faith performed Yazash, that is, recited prayers ac-
cording to the prescribed mode. Ardaiviraf, having
drunk a cup of hallowed wine which he received
from the Dustur, lay down on his couch and did not
arise before the expiration of a week ; his spirit,
through the efficacy of the divine word, having been
separated from the body, those six Dusturs all the
while standing around his pillow. On the eighth
day Ardai, arising from sleep, ordered a scribe to be
brought, who should commit to writing all his

1 In the Shah nameh Nasvr it is stated, in the life of Ardashir Babegan
(see Hyde, p.280j that this king, abolishing several regulations of Alexander
the Great, granted toleration to followers of the faith professed by Gusbt-
asp, and wishing to re-establish Zoroaster's religion, demanded from its
Mobeds miracles, which they performed. The king, satisfied by these
proofs, not only adopted their tenets himself, but obliged all others to
do the same. Tn the life of Shapur it is said, in the book quoted, that,
when Ardashir was inaugurated in the government, he demanded from
the chiefs of the Magi miracles, after the performance of which Ardai
Viraf, during a whole week, supporting by arguments the truth of bis
religion, brought also forward all that relates to hell and heaven. Some
believed ; others doubted or denied : the number of the last was 80,000.
—A. T.

285

words; and he thus spoke: ' " When I fell asleep,
" Sirushi, who is called also SurtishAshu, or Ashu sim-
' ' ply, or ' the Angel of paradise,' came near. Having
" made my salam, I explained the motives of my
" coming to the other world. He took my hand and
' ' said : ' Ascend three steps.' I obeyed, and arrived
" at the Chanyud Pul, or ' the straight bridge of judg-
" ment' (the sarat of the Muhammedans). The
" accompanying Angel pointed me out the road,
" when I beheld a bridge finer than a hair and
" sharper than a razor, and strong, and its length
" was seven-and-thirty rasam, or cords*2 I beheld

1 The Revelations of Ardai Viraf are said to have been originally written
in Zand. There exists a Viraf nameh in Pehlvi, probably of the fourth
century of our era; works of this name are found in modern Persian in
prose and in verse. Anquetil mentions a Viraf nameh in verse, composed
A. D. 1532, by Kaiis, Herbed of Nausari, and another by Zardusht, son
of Bahrain (Zend-Av., t. I. 2. P. not. pp. ix. x. xxx. xxxii). Translations
of this work have also been made into Sanskrit and the Hindu language
of Gu/erat. An English translation of the Ardai- Viraf Nameh, by T. A.
Pope, appeared in 1816. The translator says in his preface C p. xiii) :
that the Revelations of Ardai Viraf appear to be the same work that is
mentioned by Richardson as the work of Ardeshir Babegan, which having
been improved by Nushirvan the Just, in the sixth century, was sent by
him to all the governors of provinces, as the invariable rule of their
conduct. Pope examined for his work three versions in the modern Per-
sian: the first in prose, by Nushirvan Kermani; the second in verse, by
Zardusht Biram (Bahram) ; the third in prose, by the same (ibid., p. xiv)
-A. T.

- >r- 1, rasan is a linear measure, the exact value of which could
not be ascertained. According to common belief of the Muhammedans,
this bridge appears of different shapes; to the good, a straight and plea-
sant road of thirty-seven fathoms in breadth ; but to the wicked it is

286

" a spirit just parted from the body in a state of
" tranquillity ; on its arrival at the bridge of judg-
" ment, a fragrant gale came from mid-day or the
** east, out of which issued forth a beautiful nymph-
" like form, the like of which I never Before beheld.
" The spirit asked her : ' Who art thou of such
" ' surpassing beauty?' She replied : ' I am the
" ' personification of thy good deeds.' '

' ' I then saw Mihr Ized, ' at whose side were stand-

like the edge of a sword, on which they totter and fall into the abyss
below. According to the translation of Pope (p. 11), when Ardai Viraf
found himself close to the bridge, it appeared to him to be a broad and
good road. — A. T.

1 Mihr Ized is the same as Mithra. He is the most active champion
against Ahriman and the host of evil genii ; he has one thousand ears
and ten thousand eyes; a club, a bow, arrows, and a golden poniard in
his hand ; he traverses the space between heaven and earth ; he gives
light, that is the sun, to the earth ; he directs the course of water, and
blesses mankind with progeny and the fruits of the field : the earth
receives from him its warriors and virtuous kings ; he watches over the
law, and maintains the harmony of the world. After death, he not only
grants protection against the attacks of the impure spirits, but assigns
heaven to the souls of the just. It is there that he appears in the celes-
tial assembly of holy Fervers surrounding the throne of Ormuzd (seeZend-
Av., t. II. pp. 204. 205. 222. 223. 256. and in other places).

Mithra is by some authors identified with Ormuzd himself, and with
the sun; but it results from Anquetil's investigations that, in the religion
of the Persians, he is distinct from both and subordinate to Ormuzd.

He occupies a much higher rank in the religious system of the Chal-
daeans and the Arabs, who first venerated Mithra. It is now established
beyond any doubt, by a good number of authentic monuments, that in
later times the religion and worship of Mithra has been greatly developed
in dogmas, symbols, and a system of mysteries relating to cosmology,

287

' ' ing Rash Rast l and Sarmh hed holding a balance
" in his hand, and angels assembled around them.
' ' Now Mihr Ized is the angel whose province it is to
*' number and estimate people in regard to rewards
' ' and punishments. Rash is his minister of justice
* ' and the lord of equity ; and Sariish is the lord of
*' messages and the master of announcements. To
*' these I made my salam which they returned, and
" I passed over the bridge.2 Several spirits then

astronomy, and physiology: in the first centuries of the Christian era,
this religion appears to have been spread, not only over Asia, but also
over a great part of Europe. This subject has been very learnedly treated
at great length in modern works of too great celebrity to require men-
tioning here.— A. T.

1 Rashne'-rast, an Ized, who presides over the 18th day of the month ;
he is the Ized of righteousness, which he bestows ; he sees every thing
from afar, destroys the thief and the violent, and takes care of the earth;
it is he to whom Ormuzd has given a thousand forces and ten thousand
eyes, and who weighs the actions of men upon the bridge which sepa-
rates the earih from heaven.— (Zend-Av., t. I. 2. P. pp. 82. 131. ; II. pp.
218. 219. 223).— A. T.

2 In Pope's translation of the Viraf-nameh we find (pp. 13-15) what
follows: " When Ser6sh Ized laid hold of my arm, we proceeded to the
" top of the bridge, one side of which appeared in full splendor of light
" and the other in total darkness, when I heard a strong and extraordi-
" nary noise which, on looking forwards, I perceived to come from a
" dog, that was chained with a collar and chain of gold, near the light
" side of the bridge.— I asked the angels: ' Why is the dog here?' — to
" which Serdsh Izad replied: ' He makes this noise to frighten Ahriman,
" and keeps watch here to prevent his approach; his name is Zering
" Goash (Cerberus ?) and the devils shake at his voice ; and any soul that
" has, during its residence in the lower world, hurt or ill used or de-
" stroyed any of these animals, is prevented by Zering Goash from pro-
" ceeding any further across the bridge; and, Ardai Viraf, when you

288

' * appeared who addressed me affectionately ; Bah-
" man next appeared and said to me : * Come on,
' ' ' that I may show thee the Gah-4-zarin (or golden
" place, which is the same as the celestial throne).
" I proceeded with him to a beautiful throne, where
" I beheld the spirit before mentioned, whose deeds
" were personified by a beauteous form, with the
" Ashwan, or ' pure spirits,' and' the inhabitants of
" paradise around him, with the spirits of his rela-
' ' tions rejoicing as on the arrival of a long-absent
" traveller from his abode ; then Bahman took his
" hand and brought him to a place worthy of him.
" When I had proceeded a little onwards, I beheld
" a lofty portico, where by order of Surush I ad-
" dressed my prayers towards the place of God, and
' ' my sight became darkened through the effulgence
te of light. Surush again brought me back to the
' ' bridge of judgment, around which I beheld a num-
•" ber of persons standing with folded hands. 1
" asked: ' Who are those persons?' Surush an-

" return again to the world, as one of the first duties, enjoin the taking
" care of these animals." According to the Vendidad Sadd (Zend-Av., t.
1. 2. P. p. 418), the souls, strong and holy, who have done good works, shall,
at their passage over the bridge Chanivad, be protected by the dog of the
herds. On that account the Persian kings had (see Brissonii de Reg.
Pers. princip. libri tres, 1. I. p. 157) at their table a particular meal
prepared for the dog. The Parsees in our days have great regard for
dogs. Immense numbers of these animals are fed by those people,
though not admitted into their houses. — A. T.

289

" severed : * These are the weak in faith, who remain
% ' ' in this state until the day of judgment : if they
*' * possessed an additional particle of virtue, equal
" * in weight to one of the hairs of the eyelash,
** ' they would be relieved from this calamity.' I
** then beheld another assemblage like unto shining
" stars. Surush said: ' This is the Satra Payah,1
" * (or the sphere of the fixed stars) ; in these are a

I" ' people who with all their wealth observed not
* ' ' the Giti Kharid 2 (the purchase of the other world)
" * and the Nau Roz (or the festival of the new
" ' year.)' He next brought me to the Mdh Pay ah
** (or lunar sphere), where I beheld spirits resplen
u dent as the moon. The angel said : ' this Mdh

1* ' ' Pdyah is also one erf the spheres of paradise, in
" ' which are those who have performed every kind
" ' of meritorious act and deed, except observing
" ' the Nau Roz.' He then conducted me to the
" Khurshid Pdyah (or solar sphere) where I beheld

1 Printed copy reads iA» oj, tir pa'yah.

- The Giti Kharid is called the gift of two rupees, which a man is
obliged to give once in his life to a Mobed or a priest, in order that he
may perform, during five or eight days, a religious ceremony for the
sake of the donor, who is purified by it. This purification is substituted
for another more eipensive rite, called the Nauz6di, which a Parsee is
bound to perform when fifteen years old, and which, on the part of the
Neopliyte, requires a considerable knowledge of religious doctrine, pray-
ers, and ceremonies. He who during his life has not made Yesht, nor the
(iiti Kharid, nor the present of a dress to the Pure, shall, after the resur-
rection, appear naked (Zend-Av., t. !I. pp. 34. 553. 554).— A. T.

ID

290

44 spirits exceedingly bright, radiant as the sun.
" The angel said: * In the solar sphere are the
4 ' * persons who have observed the Giti Kharid and
.'.' ' the Nau Roz.' At his command, I then ad-
44 dressed my prayers to the Warakt and Khurah-4-
44 Yazdan, or ' light of the Almighty:' perception
" and intellect, through the effects of terror and
4 ' overpowering awe, began to flee from me ; a voice,
4 4 however, from which I obtained renovated energy,
' * came to my hearing : there was then some oil '
" given me to drink out of a golden cup : I partook
" of it and found it of an incomparable taste : they
* c told me that it was the food of the people of para-
' ' dise. I next beheld Ardi Behest, 2 to whom I made
*' my salam. He said to me: * Place on the sacred
44 * fire wood free from moisture.' Surush then
" bore me off to Kurutaman, or ' paradise,'3 in the
*c light of which J became bewildered in astonish-

1 The Parsees mention in their books a very agreeable oil, called
Mediozerem, which is the beverage of the blessed in heaven, and it is,
they say, from the name of this oil that one of the six yearly festivals
sacred to the memory of the creation is called Ga'hamber Mediozerem
Zend-Av., t. II. p. 394. note).— A. T.

According to the Ardai Viraf Nameh, translated by Pope. Lond., 1810
(p. 22) Ardai received a lozenge to eat, which buried in oblivion all that
had passed in the other world, and turned his thoughts to God alone.
-D. S.

2 Ardibehest, see p. 241, note.

3 In the manuscript GarJishman ; in the Ardai Viraf Nameh, Geroos-
inan.- D. S.

291

c' ment : I knew none of ihe precious stones of
** which it was composed. The angels, by the com-
*' mand of the Almighty, took me round every part
*' of it. I next came to a place where I beheld an
•" illustrious assemblage enveloped in Khurah, that
"' is, * radiance and pomp.' Surmh Ashir said:
" * These are the spirits of the munificent and noble-
" * minded.' After this I saw a great multitude in
' ' all magnificence. Suriish explained to me :
*' * These are the spirits of all who have observed
" ' the I$au Roz.' Next them I beheld an assem-
*' blage in the enjoyment of all magnificence and
* ' happiness. Suriish observed : * These are the spi-
*' * rits of just princes.' After this I beheld blessed
4 ' spirits in boundless joy and power. Surush ex-
** plained: * These are the Dustiirs and Mobeds :
" * my duty is to convey that class to this honor.'
" I next beheld a company of women rejoicing in
" the midst of great pomp. Surush Ashii and
" Ardibahest observed : ' These are the spirits of
44 ' women who wrere obedient to their husbands.'
' ' I then beheld a multitude of majestic and beautiful
' k persons, seated along with angels. Suriish said :
44 ' this class consists of Hirbuds and Mobeds, the
" * attendants on fire-temples, and the observers of
' ' ' the Yasht and Yazisht of the Amshasfands. ' A fter
" these I saw an armed assemblage in a slate of the
" ' highest joy. Surush informed me : ' These are

292

" ' the spirits of the champions Who fought in the
" * ways of God, maintaining their country and the
" * husbandmen in a state of prosperity and Iran-
'* * quillity.' I next beheld a great assemblage in
" the enjoyment of all delight and gladness. Su-
' ' riish observed : * These are the spirits of the slay-
' ' * ers of the Khurdstdr (or noxious animals). ' ' After
" this, I witnessed a people given up to sporting
' ' and happiness. Surush observed : ' These are the
41 ' spirits of the husbandmen, over whom Safdndar-
" ' muz is set ; he consequently presides over this
" ' class, as they have propitiated him by their
' ' ' acts.' I next beheld a great company surrounded
' ' by all the appliances of enjoyment. Surush said :
" ' These are the spirits of shepherds/ After this,
" 1 beheld great numbers in a state of repose and
4 ' joy, and the elemental principles of paradise stand-
' ' ing before them . Surush observed : ' These are
" * the heads of families, friends to building, who
u ' have improved the world by gardens and waler-
*' * courses, and held the elements in reverence.'
" I next came to another class, endowed with pro-
'* phet-like radiance, of whom Suriish remarked :
' ' * These are the spirits of Jddongois.' Byfdddng&s
" is meant one who solicits money from the wealthy

1 We might almost imagine this tenet as the origin of accounting tlie
(Jrocian Hercules a God, from this ancient testimony of veneration for the
destroyers of lions, hydras, elc — D. S.

293

' ' lo promote the way of the Lord, and who expends
'* it on noble foundations and holy indigent per-
" sons.

(t What can I say concerning the black-eyed
" nymphs— the palaces, offspring, and attendants
" —the drinks and viands?— any thing like which
" I know not of in this elemental world.1

" After this Suriish and Ardibehest, taking me

1 The Viraf-namch, a sort of Persian " Divina Commedia," contains,
in Pope's translation, a description much more detailed than here,
and even prolix, of Viraf's journey in the other world. We there read of
seven heavens, namely: tiie Hame&tan, the Sitar-payah, the Mah-payah,
the Khordad-payah, the Geru'shman. the Azar Ro'shni, and the Ana
Gurra Roshm. In the last (pp. 38-39^, in the centre of a building, on
a throne was seated Zartusht, and by his side were standing his three
sons, named Assad Avaster, Ozvar tu'r, and Khurshid chehdr ; attend-
ing on the prophet were Jemshid and other kings, among whom was
Gushtasp and some sages, not without Changragacha, the converted
Brahman. These seven heavens have been very ingeniously referred by
M. Felix Lajard (see Memoirs sur les deux bas-reliefs mithriaquss qui
ont ttt decouverls en Transylvanie, pp. 49 et seq.) to a passage which Ori-
genes has preserved to us, from a treatise of Celsus against the Christians.
This philosopher, speaking of certain mysteries among the Persians, men-
tions seven doors, which are of lead, tin, brass, iron, mixed metal, silver,
and gold, corresponding in their order to the heavenly bodies, Saturn,
Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, the moon, and the sun; above the last is
an eighth door, most likely the heavenly Alborz, " the region of the prirn-
" ordial light (see note, p. 232)." We learn from the Boun-Dehesh, the
Zardusht-nameh, and other works, that the ascension of the souls was
effected through the five planets which, in the mysterious ladder of
r.elsus, are placed before the moon and the sun, who himself rests upon
mount Alborz. M. F. Lajard makes use with great sagacity of the passage
of Celsus, in support of his explanation of the millmacal monuments
which are the subjects of his learned Memoir. — A. T.

294

il out of paradise, bore me off to behold the pun-
44 ishmenls inflicted on those in hell. First of all,
" I beheld a black and gloomy river of fetid water,
44 with weeping multitudes falling in and drowning.
4 4 Suriish said : 4 This water is collected from the
4f 4 tears shed by relatives on the death of a person;
44 4 and those who, are drowning are they whose
" 4 relatives, after their death, break out into
i4 4 mourning, weeping, and tears/ I next pro-
44 ceeded towards the bridge of judgment, where I
" beheld a spirit rent from the body, and mourning
4< for its separation : there arose a fetid gale, out of
4' which issued a gloomy figure, with red eye-balls,
" hooked nose, hideous lips, teeth like columns, a
44 head like the kettle of a minaret,1 long talons,
44 spear-like fangs, snaky locks, and vomiting out
4' smoke. The alarmed spirit having asked, ' \Vho
" 4 art thou?' he answered, ' I am the personifica-
i4 4 tion of thy acts and deeds/ On saying this, he
44 threw his hands around the spirit's neck, so that
44 his lamentations came to the bridge of judgment,
44 which is sharper than a razor : on this the spirit
44 having gone a little way with great difficulty, at
44 last fell into the infernal regions. I then followed
44 him, accompanied by Siirushand Ardibehest : our
44 road lay through snow, ice, storms, intense cold,

1 In which food is given to the poor. — A. T.

295

* ' mephitic exhalations, and obscurity, along a region
' ' full of pits : into these I looked, and there beheld
" countless myriads of spirits suffering tortures.
" They all wailed bitterly, and the darkness was so
" thick that one was unable to perceive the other, or
"• to distinguish his lamentation: three days such
" punishment is equal to nine thousand years, and
" the same calculation applies to the other pits, in
" all of which were serpents, scorpions, stinging
" and noxious creatures : whatever spirit falls into
4t them

" Was stung by one and torn by another.
" Was bit by this, and pierced by that."

" Suriish having taken me below, I there beheld a
" spirit with a human head and serpent-like body,
' ' surrounded by many demons who were applying
' 4 the torture to his feet, and smiting him in every
" direction with hatchets, daggers, and maces,
4' whilst noxious creatures were biting him on all
* * sides. Suriish observed : ' This was a man of vile
" ' passions.' I next saw a woman who held in her
" hand a cup filled with blood and corrupted mal-
41 ter ; demons kept striking her with clubs and
'* spears until she swallowed the nauseous draught,
* ' on which they instantly replaced a similar bowl
4 ' in her hands. Suriish remarked : • ' This woman,
" ' whilst laboring under periodical illness, ap-
t; * proached the elements of fire and water.' I

296

" then beheld a man wailing piteously, whose head
4 ' they were scalping with a poniard : Suriish said :
*' ' This was a shedder of innocent blood.' I next
44 saw a man who was forced to swallow blood and
" corrupted matter, with which they were continu-
" ally supplying him. The demons in the mean
" time tortured him, and placed a heavy mountain
" on his breast : Suriish stated this to be' The spirit
44 ' of a dissolute man, who seduced the wives of
*' ' other men.' After this, I beheld a spirit weeping
4< through hunger and thirst; so intense was his
' ' craving, that he drank his own blood and devoured
" his own flesh. Suriish staled : ' This is the spirit
' ' 4 of one who observed not the Bdj l when partaking
" * of food,' " (Baj is a rite practised by orthodox
Parsees before meat, as has been explained under1
the head of banquet) " ' and who on the day of
" * Aban2 partook of water, fruit, and bread, so that
44 ' the angels Khurddd and Murddd were displeased
" 4 with him.' I next beheld a woman suspended
44 by her breasts and noxious creatures falling on
4 4 her. Suriish said : * this is a woman who deserted
44 ' her husband and went after another man.' I

1 Baj, or Yaj, signifies in general religious silence, or an inarticulate
murmuring of prayers. This is practised before eating, and is to be
followed by an inviolable silence during the repast. See Hyde, p. 3o2,
and Anquetil du Peron, II. p. 598.

2 Aban is the Ized of water, and presides over the tenth day of the
month. Anq. du Per., I. 2. P. p. 132; II. 318. 328.— A. T.

297

** then saw a great multitude of spirits, furiously
** assailed by rapacious animals and noxious crea-
" tures. Sunish stated thus: ' These are persons
" ' who adopted not the Kashti1 or sacred cincture as
4 ' ' worn by professors of the excellent faith.' I next
" beheld a woman hung up, with her tongue pro-
t( truding from the hind part of the neck. Suriish
' ' observed : ' This is a woman who obeyed not her
' ' ' husband, and replied to him with harsh answers
** ' and opposition.' I then saw a man eating with
" a ladle the most noxious things, of which if he
" took loo small a portion, demons smote him with
'* wooden clubs. Suriish observed: 4 this is the
' ' ' spirit of one who betrayed his trust. ' I after this

1 Kashti is a girdle commonly of wool or of camel's hair, consisting of
seventy-two threads, to go at least twice round the body, say, about ten
feet in length. The breadth depends upon the thickness of the threads.
It is tied about the sadere, which is a sort of white shirt, worn immedi-
ately upon the skin, with short sleeves, open above and commonly not
passing the hips. This girdle was worn by the Parsees from lime imme-
morial. They pretend that Jemshid, being instructed by Horn, the primi-
tive legislator, invented the Kashti. Before the time of Zoroaster, it was
worn indifferently as a scarf, or wrapped round the head. The monu-
ments of Persepolis exhibit persons wearing the Kashti, Not to wear it
in the fifteenth year is a great sin ; the day on which it is taken for the
first time is a festival, and daily prayers are prescribed before putting it
on, and frequent ceremonies are connected with it (Zend-4v., t. II. pp.
529). Nothing can be right or good that is done without the Kashti :
" ungirt, unblessed" (Hyde, p 376). We have here a striking example
how a custom originally suggested by simple convenience, to be girt, or
to be ready, accingerc se, acquires by religious prescription an importance
far beyond its intended use and purpose.— A. T.

• 298

" beheld a man hung up, surrounded by seventy
•' demons, who were lashing him with serpents
" instead of scourges; and meanwhile the serpents
'* kept gnawing his flesh with their fangs. Sunish
" Ashii said : ' This is a king who extorted money
'• ' from his subjects by torture.' I next beheld a
" man with wide-opened mouth and protruding
** tongue,

" With serpents and scorpions covered all over,

" The one lacerating with fangs, the others lashing with their tails.

** Suriish said: ' This was a tale-bearer, who by his
" 4 lies caused dissension and strife among inan-
" ' kind.' After this I saw a man, every ligature
' * and joint of whose body they were tearing asunder.
* * Suriish said : ' This person has slain many fbur-
" * footed animals.' 1 next beheld a man exposed
' ' to body-rending torture, concerning whom Suriish
" said : * This was a wealthy, avaricious man, who
' * ' employed not his riches for the useful purposes
" ' of either world.' 1 then saw a person to whom
' ' were offered all sorts of noxious creatures, whilst
4 ' one foot was free from all kind of suffering. Su-
" rush said concerning him : * This is the spirit of a
" ' negligent person, who did not in the least attend
" * to the concerns of the world or the world to
" ' come. As he once passed along the road, he
" ' observed a goat tied up in such a manner that it
" ' was unable to get at its food : with that foot he

299

" * tossed the forage towards the animal, in recom-
•* * pense of which good act that foot is exempt from
' ' ' suffering.' I next beheld a person whose tongue
** was laid on a stone, and demons kept beating it
" with another. Concerning him Surush observed :
" ' This person was an habitual slanderer and liar,
" * through whose words people fell into mischief.'
4 * I then saw a woman whose breasts the demons
" were grinding under a millstone. About her
' ' Surush observed : * This woman produced abor lion
" ' by means of drugs.' I next beheld a man in
" whose seven members worms had fixed them-
' ' selves. Concerning him Surush said : * This per-
" * son gave false witness for money, and derived
'* * his support from that resource.' After this I
** saw a man devouring the flesh of a corpse and
" drinking human gore. Surush observed : * This
" ' is the spirit of one who amassed wealth by un-
" * lawful means. ' I afterwards beheld a greal
4 ' multitude with pallid faces, fetid bodies, and limbs
" covered with worms. About these Sariish Ashii
" observed : * These are hypocrites of satanic quali-
" ' ties, whose hearts were not in accordance with
" ' their words, and who led astray the professors of
'* * the excellent faith, divesting themselves of all
" ' respect for religion and morality.' 1 next saw
4' a man the members of whose body hell-hounds
" were rending asunder. Concerning him Surush

500

* * said : * This man was in the habit of slaughtering
** water and land dogs.' I next beheld a woman
• ' hurled into snow and smitten by the guardians of
'* fire. About her Surush said : ' When this woman
' * ' combed herself, her hairs fell into the fire.' After
" this I beheld another woman tearing oil with a
" poniard the flesh of her own body and devouring
" it. Surush said : * This is an enchantress who used
' ( ' to fascinate men. ' Next her I saw a man whom
" the demons forced by blows to swallow blood,
" corrupted matter, and human flesh. Concerning
" him Surush said : ' This man was in the habit of
* ' ' casting dead bodies, corrupted matter, nails, and
" ' hair into h're and water.' I afterwards beheld a
*' person devouring the flesh and skin of a dead
' * body. Surush said : ' This person defrauded the
" ' labourers of their hire.' I next beheld a man
" with a mountain on his back, whom with his
" load they forced through terror into the midst of
' * snows and ice. Surush observed : * This was an
** ' adulterer, who took the wife from her husband. '
" I afterwards saw a number of ill-fated persons up
" to their necks in ice and snow, before each of
" whom was a cup filled with gore, and hair, and
" impurities, which, through terror of blows and
" clubs, they were obliged to swallow. Surush ob-
" served : ' These are persons who used warm batli-
" ' ing along with the Batardecn(or the enemies of the

501

" ' faith) washing their bodies and heads in such
44 ' unclean and polluted baths.' I then beheld «i
" person groaning under the weight of a mountain*
" Concerning him Suriish said: ' This man laid
" ' heavy taxes on the people, established evil ordi-
" ' nances, and oppressed mankind.' Next him I
" beheld one digging up a mountain with his fingers
" and nails, whilst the superintendent kept smiting
" him with a viper. Suriish said : ' This is a man
** ' who by violence seized on the lands of others :'

" As long as this earth and place continue, to exist,

1 • So long, by way of retribution, shall this spirit be thus employed.

" I afterwards saw a man the flesh of whose shoul-
" ders and body they were scraping off with a comb
'* of iron. Concerning him Suriish said : ' This man
" ' was an egregious violator of promises and
" * breaker of engagements.' I then beheld a great
44 multitude whose hands and feet they were smit-
44 ing with bludgeons, iron maces, and such like.
44 Concerning these Suriish observed: ' This class
" ' is composed of promise -breakers and theviola-
44 ' tors of covenants, who maintained friendship
44 4 with Darwands,1 or those hostile to the faith.'

1 Danvands, the production of Ahriman : this word means : 1. the
Darong, or " evil spirits, who appear under the human form;" 2. the
worshippers of Ahriman ; 3. the spirits of the damned. After the resur-
rection, they shall be anew precipitated into hell, to be punished there
during three days and nights ; after which the great and small mountains

502

" Sunish, Ashii,and Ardibehest then led me from
" that abode of misery to Girutuman, ' the seat of
" ' supreme bliss,' or ' paradise on high/ which is
" called ' the heaven of heavens.' On beholding
" the light and splendor of the* righteous Lord, I
'* became entranced, and this spirit-reviving voice
" reached my ears : ' Through thy virtuous words
" ' and actions, which have been conformable to
" * the excellent faith, joined to the co-operation
" ' and energy of intellect, though hast resisted all
" ' the demons which infest the body, and hast
" ' therefore attained to this rank.' Suriish then
" taking me by the hand, said: ' Communicate to
" ' mankind all thou hast heard.' He next took
" me down to paradise, where several spirits re-
" ceived me and said : ' Reveal these mysteries to
" ' our relations, that they may beware of sin.' I
6(1 next came to the lunar mansion, where they ad-
" dressed me in the same manner. I afterwards
" reached the starry mansion with the same two
" companions, and here also the spirits advanced
* ' to receive me, saying : ' Counsel our relations to
44 * make Yasht and Yazisht (to pray in a low mur-
' ' ' muring tone at meal-time) and to cleave firmly to
** * the festival of the NauRoz, and the girding of

of the earth shall be dissolved and flow over its surface in rivers of metal ;
the Durwands will be forced to pass through this molten ocean, and being
thus purified from all sin. become eternally blessed. — D. S.

505

" ' the cincture; had we observed these rites, we
" ' should not have remained in this mansion, but
44 * gone on to Paradise/ It appears to follow from
4 ' what has been stated, that the starry mansion or
" zodiacal sphere is below that of the moon; the
44 Yezdanians however say, that the starry mansion
44 signifies the mansion of the spirits who below the
" lunar sphere are not exempted from sufferings,
44 but are attached to the bodies of the virtuous by
" means of the zodiacal signs. '

'* I next came to ChinawadPul (the bridge of judg-
44 ment) where many spirits thus addressed me:
" * Tell men to leave sons behind them in the
44 ' world, or otherwise they must, like us, remain
44 * here.' "

" We behold paradise in distant perspective,
" But are far removed from its enjoyment.

14 Another company of spirits said : ' Let not men
44 * look at the wife or mate of another ; and let
" * them hold up none to suspicion: otherwise they
44 * must remain here like us, until our injured
u * enemy comes hither from the world: if he be
44 ' propitiated, we may be delivered.'

i In this sentence D. Shea found the manuscripts and the printed copy
to differ greatly, but the manuscript of Oude agrees with the latter,
which therefore the editor thinks himself justified in following, although
there must remain a doubt about the author's meaning having been per-
fectly eipressed.—A. T.

304

" Sunish aud Ardibehest then brought me to the
" lower world and bade me adieu."'

When the scribe had written down all the words
of Ardi Viraf, he read them over to the great king,
who thereupon duly promulgated the excellent faith,
and sent Mobeds to all the borders of Iran.

After (the death of Ardashir) appeared the Mobed
Azarbad, 2 the son ofMarasfand (whose lineage by the

1 The account of Ardai Viraf 's vision of the other world can but remind
us of what Plato relates ( Respubl., t. x) of Hero, the son of Arme-
nius, a Pamphilian by origin: viz., when this man had been killed in
battle, and when, on the tenth day, the dead bodies were in a state of de-
composition, he alone was preserved and carried home to be buried, and
on the twelfth day, being placed upon the funeral pyre, he gave signs of
life, and, resuscitated, he related what be had seen in the other world.
Upon this we may reflect, that the name of Arda, which occurs as a part of

many Persian names, may be referred to the Sanskrit 3TS tirdha, " ele-
vated;" Ardashir is perhaps 33 f§T^: urdhasiras, " elevated head;
3^r u'rddara, signifies " a hero, a champion ; from 3^r u'rja, to be

strong : which would give nearly the sense of Plato's a/xipou TO-J av<Jpo?,
" of the strong man," as he characterises Hero. This observation gains
perhaps some relief, by connecting it with a passage of St. Clement of
Alexandria (Strom. I. V. sect. xiv. ), in which he interprets by Zoroaster
the name of Hero, and quotes a passage from a work in which this sup-
posed Zoroaster relates of himself what Plato states of Hero. The work
mentioned by St. Clement, much known in the first centuries of our era,
might have been composed by a Neo-platonic who transposed the fable
from Hero to Zoroaster. Hero, certainly not Zoroaster, may with more
probability be assimilated to one of his zealous followers, Ardai Viraf,
who lived in the second century of our era.— A. T.

2 According to the concurrent testimony of Persian records, Azarbad,
the son of Maresfand, was the thirtieth descendant from Zoroaster.

305

father ascended to the prophet Zardusht, and by
his mother to king Gushtasp), from whom king
Shapur(the son of Ardeshir) and the military having
demanded a miracle in proof of the faith, the forty
thousand wise men were again assembled. l Azar.-
bad, having performed his ablutions, lay down before
this great assemblage, whereupon they poured nine

Twenty-nine generations, at four to a century, make 725 years ; to this
add forty for the probable age of Azarbad at the time of his assuming
the prophetic mission: if from the siim 765 we Subtract 240, that is, the
epocha of king Shapiir, under •whom Azarbad lived, there will remain
525, the time of Zoroaster before Christ. Four generations are here
assigned to a century, because, according to Zoroaster's law, marriage
is an act of religion, and children are the steps or ladders for ascend-
ing to heaven: the observance of this precept must have tended to
multiply the generations in the legislator's family (Rauzet-us Safa, Shea's
transl., p. 280).

The following quotation from the Shah-nameh naser (Hyde, p. 280)
may here find place, in addition to my note, p. 284 : " When king
Shapiir heard of the great uncertainty still prevailing among a consider-
able number of men about the truth of Zoroaster's religion, he demanded
a solution of the great question from the principal priests, among whom
Azarbad rose and offered to satisfy him : " I will," said he, further
" develop Ardai Viraf's account of hell and heaven, and sit naked
" from head to foot, whilst eighteen pounds of melted brass are poured
" upon my body; if the least particle of it be hurt, the prophet's words
" are false; they are true, if 1 receive not the least injury." No harm
ensued to him from the trial made upon his person, and all believed.
-A. T.

1 The reading of the manuscript and printed copy is exceedingly
defective in this passage : it has been restored according to historical
notices: Pope's translation has (p. 99) " forty thousand souls have
" seceded from our holy faith," instead of " the forty thousand wise
" men were again assembled." — D. S.

20

500

mans of melted brass upon his bared breast, but,
through the divine glory, his person received no
injury. On beholding this, all those who before
had been unbelievers, embraced the faith. From
the time of Azarbad the Dustiirs of all succeeding
kings were of his lineage. '

The professors of the excellent faith and the
Moslem historians agree, that in Kashmir or Kash-
mar,2 a place celebrated for female beauty, a depen-
dency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress3

1 The Viraf nameh terminates by these words : " The Masdian religion
" became more firmly established than ever,and continued in all its purity
" until the Mahomedan conquest dispersed its votaries, and forced those
" who persevered in it to abandon the tombs of their ancestors, and to
" fly for refuge to distant countries. A small number fled to, and were
" kindly received on, the shores of western India, and the present Parsees
" of Bombay and Surat are their descendants." That is to say, it was a
short time after Yezdejerd's death that, persecuted by the Muhammedans,
a number of Persians, to preserve their ancient religion, fled to Kohistan,
from whence after a century they descended toOrmuz on the Persian gulf,
and after a stay there of fifteen years landed at Diu on the Indian coast.
Nineteen years later they established themselves in the Guzerat; thence,
after the lapse of three hundred years, they dispersed to the north and south
of Surat. They had been five centuries in India when they fought with
the Indians against the Muhammedans, and were again obliged to fly
before the enemies oi their faith. They maintained themselves, however,
in different places of the province of Aurungabad. Having gradually
increased in numbers to about 150,000 families (in 1816), they live dis-
persed in villages from Diu to Bombay, in which place about 24,000 of
them reside (Zend Av., t. I. 1. P. p. cccxviii ; and Pope's Engl. transl. of
the Viraf-nameh, p. 118).— A. T.

2 Kashmar, Kislimar is the name of a town in the country of Tirshez,
in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, p. 332).

3 Upon the cypress, see notes pp. 236, 280. According to the Ferhang

507

planted by Zardusht for king Gushtasp, ihe like of
which was never seen before or since, for beauty,
height, or straightness: mention of this tree having
been made at the court of Mutawakkal l when he was
engaged in building the Sarman rai, or Samarah"2
palace in the Jaafriyah , 3 the Khalif felt a great desire
to behold it : and as it was not in his power to go to
Khorasan, he wrote to Abdallah Tdhir Zavalimin,
" possessor of happiness," to have the tree cut
down, fastened on rollers, and sent to Baghdad.
When intelligence of this came to the people of the
district and the inhabitants of Khorasan, they assem-
bled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with
tears and lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of
general desolation. The professors of the excellent
faith offered the governor fifty thousand dinars to
spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the

Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted two cypress-trees; one
in the town just mentioned, and the other in the town of Faru'mad, or
Feru'yad, or Ferdi'd, which is in the country of Tus. The Magi believe,
he planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him from
paradise.— A. T.

1 He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began to reign in the
year of the Hejira 232, A. D. 846.— A. T.

2 Samarah is a town in Chaldsea, from which the Samaritan Jews have
their name, and which was for some time the seat of the Musejinan em-
pire (Herbelot).— A. T.

3 Jaafriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called from its builder,
Jdfar, the original name of the khalif who assumed the title of Mata-
vakhel al Allah, " he who confides in God."— A. T.

508

cypress was felled, il caused great detriment to the
buildings and water-courses of the country ; the
birds of different kinds which had built their nests
on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to
darken the air, screaming out in agony with various
tones of distress : the very oxen, sheep, and other
animals which reposed under its sheltering shade,
commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was
i mpossible to listen to them . The expense of convey-
ing the trunk to Baghdad was five hundred thousand
dinars ; the very branches loaded one thousand and
three hundred camels. When the tree had reached
one station from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same
night, Mutawakkal the Abasside was cut in pieces by
his own guards, ' so that he never beheld the tree.
Some Muhainmedan writers state the circumference
of the trunk at twenty-seven tdzidynah, each a cubit
and a quarter long, and also that fourteen hundred
and fifty years had elapsed from the time of its being
planted to the year 252 of the Hejirah (846, A. D.) ,2

1 He had then reigned fourteen years and two months. The Turks were
excited to murder hiirl by his own son Montassar, in the town of Mak-
huriah, on the very spot where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by
his son Shiruyah (Siroes) — (Herbelot). — A. T.

2 According to the above statement, the tree would have been planted
f>04 years before our era, that is, about the time of Gushtasp, king of
Persia, if the years above stated be taken for solar years; but if for
lunar (that is for only 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of
the cypress would be o62 years B. C., and 548, if the compulation be
referred to the end of Mutawakhal's life.— A. T.

The Behdmians say thatZardusht brought with him
from paradise a branch which he planted at the gate
of the fire temple of Kashmir, and which grew up
into this tree : but some sages maintain that, accord-
ing to the intelligent, this tradition signifies : 1. that
there is in vegetables a simple uncompounded soul ;
and 2. that paradise is the world of beings of that
class. Some Yezdanians say that Zardusht prayed
the superintending lord of cypress-trees, whom they
call Azrawdn, to nourish carefully the offspring of
this shoot. They also relate, on the authority of a
holy Hakim , " doctor,*1 who said: " I saw the Lord
" of the cypress, and he declared : * I have given
" ' orders to slay Mutawakkal for the crime of.cut-
" - ting down this tree.' ' Muhamrqed Kuli Salim
also says :

" No person wishes to see his own nursling enfeebled.

" Water and fire are ever at enmity with chips and leaves."

The Behdinians maintain that Ahriman is the pro-
duction of Time; and that the angels, heavens, and
stars (always) were, and will (for ever) be : but that
the three kingdoms of nature are a creation. Also
that the period of the present creation is twelve
thousand years, a.t the expiration of which comes
the resurrection, when God will raise up all man-
kind and render this elemental world a glorious

1 Hakim Alirlas, in the tex', may he a proper name.— A. T.

310

paradise, and annihilate Ahriman, his worshippers,
and hell itself. The Dustiir Shah Zadah says, in
the volume of the Sad Der, or " the hundred gates," '
the excellent faith has been received from the pro-
phet Zardusht, the son of Purshasp, the son of
Khajarasp, the son of Hujjiis, the son of Asfanta-
man : on him the Almighty graciously bestowed the
Avesta and Zand, and through divine knowledge he
comprehended all things from eternity to infinity.
This is the hundred-gated city constructed from the
world of truth, that is, the celestial volume.

" The mighty, through means of the Asta, Zand, and Pazand,

" Have constructed on its outside a hundred gates.

" Behold what a system of belief Zardusht has introduced,

" In which a hundred gates give admission to his city of Faith."

GATE THE FIRST is the belief and acknowledgment
of Zardusht's prophetic character; for when the
spirit on the fourth night (after quitting the body)

1 The Sad-der naser (in prose) is an abridgment of practical and cere-
monial theology, called Sad-der, or " one hundred doors," because the
hundred chapters of which it is composed are like so many doors leading
to heaven. Some Parsees think that the original was written in Pehlvi.
It is positively said in the beginning of this treatise that it has been drawn
from.lhe law: which proves that it makes no part of the Zend-Avesta
(Zend-Av., t. I. 2. P. Notices, pp. xxix. xxx).

fe The Sad-der nazem (in verse) was versified by a Persian called Shah-
mard, the son of Malek Shah, and terminated in the month of Isfender-
mad (February; of the year 864 from the installation of Yezdejerd, 1495
A. D., and brought from Kirman to India by the Dustiir Pashutan Daji.
This work has been translated into Latin by the learned Hyde (ibid,,
p. xxxiv). The Dabistan gives only a short abstract of it.— A. T.

311

comes to the bridge of Chinavad, where Mihr Ized
and Rash Ized take account of its actions, in the Kir-
fah, or " good deeds " exceed the sins by one hair's
point, they bear the spirit off to paradise, but always
on the condition of having professed the faith of
Zardusht.

GATE THE SECOND. It is necessary to be ever vigi-
lant, and always looking on a trifling sin as one of
magnitude, to flee far from it; because, if the virtu-
ous deeds exceed the sinful acts by even the point of
one of the hairs of the eye-lashes, the spirit goes to
paradise; but should the contrary be the case, it
descends to hell.

GATE THE THIRD. The pursuits of a man should be
of a virtuous tendency; because, whilst thus engaged,
if he be overpowered by robbers or foes, he shall
receive fourfold in paradise ; but if he be slain in any
vain pursuit, it is the retribution due to his acts,
and hell is his abode.

GATE THE FOURTH. A man must not despair of
God's mercy; for Zardusht says: " 1 beheld one
" whose body, with the exception of one foot, was
" entirely in hell; but that foot was outside. The
" Lord said : ' This person, who ruled over thirty-
" ' three cities, never performed good deeds; but
" ' having one day observed a sheep lied up at a

" * distance from her food, he with this foot pushed
" * the grass near her.' "'

GATE THE FIFTH. Let all men exert themselves to
observe the rites of Yasht, ' and the Nail Roz, 2 and if
they cannot themselves perform these duties, let
them purchase the agency of another.

GATE THE SIXTH. Let men know that the me-
ritorious works are six in number: 1. the ob-
servance of the Gahambara, or * ' six periods of crea-
" tion ;" 2. that of the Favardigan, or " five supple-
" mentary days of the year," with that of Yashtan,
*' or praying in a low murmuring voice at meals;"
3. propitiating the spirits of thy father, mother, and
other relations ; 4. offering up supplications to the
sun three times every day ; 5. offering up prayers to.
the moon three times every month, that is, the
beginning, middle, and last day of the moon ; 6.
offering up supplications in due form every year.

1 See p. 298, where the same tale occurs.

2 Yasht (see note, p. 258) signifies with the Parsees in general prayers
accompanied by efficacious benedictions, but is here used to imply the
panegyrics of several celestial spirits, in which are enumerated their prin-
cipal attributes and their relation to Ormuzd and his 'productions, as
distributors of the blessings which this secondary principle spreads over
nature, and as declared enemies of Ahriman and his ministers. According
to the Parsees, each Amshasfand and Ized had a peculiar Yasht; but
of all these compositions there only remain in the Zand eighteen which
are authentic, and a small part of the Yasht of Bahman. — D. S.

2 Upon the Naii Roz, see note, p. 268.

315

GATE THE SEVENTH. When sneezing conies on,
repeat the entire of the forms called Ita ahu virio, l
and the Ashem Vuhu.

GATE THE EIGHTH. Be obedient to the Dustiirs
and give them one-tenth of thy wealth ; as that is a
most meritorious work, or Kir f ah. *

1 These are two short forms of prayer, like our collects, which are fre-
quently repeated in the Parsee litanies. The Ita ahu virio, as translated
by Anq. du Peron, runs thus : " It is the desire of Ormuzd that the chief
*' of the law should perform pure and holy works: Bahman bestows abun-
" dance on him who acts with holiness in this world. 0, Ormu/d ! thou
" establishes! as king whoever consoles and nourishes the poor." The
Ashem Vuhu thus: " Abundance and paradise are reserved for him
" who is just and pure: he is truly pure who is holy and performs holy
" works."— D. S.

2 Kirfah means: 1. a good work; 2. a merit which absolves from sin.
The author of the Dabistan has so abridged this Der that it is deemed
proper to give it at length according to Hyde's translation : " It is mani-
" fest, from the principles of religion, that we must concede due autho-
" rity to the Dustur and must not deviate from his commands, as he is
•• the ornament and splendor of the faith. Although thy good works
" may be countless as the leaves of the trees, the grains of sand, the
" drops of rain, or the stars in the heavens, thou canst gain nothing by
" them, unless they be acceptable in the sight of the Dustur-: if he be
" not content with thee, thou shall have no praise in this world: there-
" fore, my son, thou shall pay to the Dustur who teaches thee the tithe
" of all thou possesses! (wealth and property of every kind, gold and
" silver). Therefore thou, who desirest to enjoy paradise to all eternity,
" pay tithes to the Dustur; for if he be satisfied with thee, know that
" paradise is thine; but if he be not content with thee, thou canst derive
" no portion of benefit from thy good works ; thy soul shall not find its
" way to paradise; thou shall have no place along with angels; thy soul
" can never be delivered from the fiends of hell, which is to be thy
" eternal abode: but pay the tithes, and the Dusliirs will be pleased with

514

GATE THE NINTH. A person should avoid all prac-
tices not sanctioned by the laws of nature, and must
look on them as accursed : let all those found guilty
of such deeds be put to death. This description of
criminals are equally guilty with the usurper Zohak,
and Alkus,1 and Sariirak,2 and Afrasiab, and Tur-
baraturas. 3

GATE THE TENTH. It is incumbent on every man and
woman to tie on the Kashti. 4 By Kashti is meant
a woollen cincture girded round the waist, in which
they make four knots : the first to signify the unity
of God ; the second, the certainty of the faith ; the
third, that Zardusht was the prophet of God ; the
fourth to imply, " that I will to the utmost of my
" power ever do what is good."

GATE THE ELEVENTH. Keep the fire burning, and
let it not consume any thing impure.

" thee, and thy soul shall get to paradise without delay. Truly the Dus-
" liirs know the religion of all men, understand all things, and deliver
" all (faithful) men."— D. S.

1 Hyde (p. 454) has " Malkus, whose enchantments brought on the
" deluge."

2 Saru'regh, according to Hyde (ibid.', "by whom (in the time of Sam)
" the world suffered oppression and injury."

3 " Tu'r-Bra'tur (otherwise Turi-Iira (rush or tresh), that villanuus
" and obscene man, who destroyed Zardusht in that religion which he
" supported by his zeal." - (Hyde, ibid.}. This name is perhaps a varia-
tion of Para'nta'rush (see p. 228).— A. T.

4 Sec note, p. 297.

515

GATE THE TWELFTH. Let not the shroud of the de-
ceased be new, but let it be clean and old.

GATE THE THIRTEENTH. The good man gives joy to
the spirits of his father and mother, by celebrating
the Damn miezd1 and the Afernujdn,* or " funereal

1 The terms Miezd and Damn require some farther illustration: the
following is from the Zend-Avesta, vol. II. p. 534. The Miezd, that is,
meats previously blessed and then eaten, either during or after the ser-
vice; flowers, fruits, especially pomegranates and dates; rice, fragrant
seeds, and perfumes; milk ; the* small cakes called Darun ; the branches
of the Horn and its juice, called Perahom; the roots of trees, particularly
the pomegranate tree. The roots are cut, the milk, and in general all these
offerings, are prepared with ceremonies described at great length in the
Ravaets, or " ritual treatises." These offerings, and the sacred imple-
ments, which are twenty-sii in number, constitute the thirty-three objects
as specified by Zoroaster in the latter part of the first Ha of the Izechne",
vol. I. P. II. p. 87: " I invoke and laud all the mighty, the pure Dusturs
" who have thirty-three objects around and near the Havan (the vase for
" holding the Perahom) : they are pure, according to the ordinance of
" Zaradusht, who was instructed by the Supreme Lord himself." The
Daruns are small cakes of unleavened bread, nearly the form and thick-
ness of a crown piece : there are two or four of these offered, according to
the nature of the service. The Darun on which they place a little dressed
meat is called Darun FusesU, or " offered bread." — D. S.

2 The Afirgans, or Afernigans, are the prayers and benedictions recited
during the Gahanbar or the last ten days of the year, and on the anni-
versary of deceased parents or relations : but the service on the third
night after the decease is not to be neglected, as in that case the soul of
the deceased would remain without protection until the resurrection.
On the third night, at the Oshen Gah, or midnight, there arc four ser-
vices; one for each of the angels, Rashin Rast, Ram l/;ui, and Surush ,
the fourth in honor of the Fcrouers of holy personages. In this last ser-
vice are recited nine Karde"s, or portions of the Vispared, and four dresses,
fruits, and cheese are laid by for the officiating priest, along with the
Darun.

516

" repasts." The Darun is a prayer recited in praise
of the Almighty and of Azar : when they breathe out
prayers in a murmuring tone over viands, they are

The word Vispered admits of two meanings: 1. " the knowledge of
" every thing," Vispti Khirad;" 2. " all the chiefs," Visp6 Rad. The
latter meaning seems more analogous to the Vispered, as it begins by
invoking the chiefs of all beings— such as the first of the heavens, the
first of the earth, the first of aquatic creatures, etc. Zoroaster is sup-
posed to have repeated to the Brahmin Chinge'gratch this Vispered, which
begins thus: " 1 invoke and laud the first of the heavens, the first of the
" earth, the first of aquatic beings, the first of terrestrial beings, the first
" of brilliant and intelligent beings, the holy, pure, and great Chinge-
" gratchas;" and it ends with " 1 invoke and laud the bull exalted on
" high, who makes the herbage to grow in abundance; this bull, the
" pure gift, who has given (being) to the pure man." The Vispered is
divided into twenty-seven Kardds, or " sections," and probably fojmed
part of the Baghantast of the fifteenth Nosk of the Avesta. It is recited
by day, as well as the Izeshneh (Yazishnah), and with a Barsom, or " bun-
" die, of thirty-five branches of trees.

Izeshne (Yazishnah) means a prayer setting forth the greatness of the
personage thus addressed. It is composed of seventy-two Ha, which lh«
Parsees divide into two parts: the first part contains twenty-seven Ha,
addressed to Ormuzd and his creation; the second contains prayers ad-
dressed to the Supreme Being ; it speaks of man, of his wants, of the se-
veral genii charged to protect him, etc. The word Ha, which signifies a
portion of the Izeshne", is derived from the Zend Haetim, or Hatarim,
portions. From Hataum is also formed "Had," which signifies " measure,
" limit." The Izeshne* probably formed part of the Setud-yesht, the
first Nosk of the Avesta, or of the Setud-gher, the second Nosk. The
Izeshne* is performed at the Gahlfavan, or " sunrise;" when, recited by
itself without other prayers, the Izeshndh Sadah is read with the same
ceremonies as the Vendidad Sadeh, excepting that the Barsom, or
" sacred bundle of twigs" [see hereafter, p. 319], consists then of only
twenty-three branches. The Vendidad and Vispered cannot be recited
without the Izeshne', and the Barsom for these two offices consists of
thirty five branches.

517

said lo be Yeshtah; Afrinigan also means one of the
twenty Nosks of the Zand.

GATE THE FOURTEENTH. Let them repeat the Ita
Ahu three times over the collected nail-parings, and
having each time drawn a circular line around them,
let earth be poured on them with the shears, or let
them be taken to some mountain. !

GATE THE FIFTEENTH. Whatever pleasing object
meets the true believer's sight, he repeats over it
the name of Godi

GATE THE SIXTEENTH. In the house of a pregnant
woman keep the fire in without ceasing ; and when
the child is born, let not the lamp be extinguished
during three days and nights.

They say that, on the birth of the prophet Zar-
dusht, there came fifty demons with the design of
slaying him ; but they were unable to do him any
injury as there was a fire kept up in the house.

GATE THE SEVENTEENTH. On arising from sleep,

The term Sdde means " pure," or the text without a translation.

The two works, the Izeshne" and Vispered, joined to the Vendidad, the
twentieth Nosk of the Avesta, form the Vendidad Sade', which the Mobeds
are obliged to recite every day, commencing at the Gdh Oshen, or " mid-
" night," or before day-break, so that it may be finished before sunrise.

Purifications, ordinances, marriages, in short all the ceremonies of the
law, depend on the due celebration of this office.— D. S.

1 Lest demons or wizards should take them away and use them in
their enchantments.— D. S.

318

bind the Kashli, without doing which enter upon no
pursuit whatever.

GATE THE EIGHTEENTH. Let the tooth-pick, after
having been used, be concealed in a wall.

GATE THE NINETEENTH. They give their son and
daughter in marriage at an early period; as the per-
son who has no son cannot pass over the bridge of
Chinavad; let whoeveris in that state adopts some
one ; if he should not find it feasible, it will then be
incumbent on his relations and the Dustiir to fix on
a son for him.

GATE THE TWENTIETH. They esteem husbandry the
best of all professions, and regard the husbandman
with respect and honor.

GATE THE TWENTY-FIRST. It is meet to give good
viands to the professors of the pure faith.

GATE THE TWENTY- SECOND. At the time of eating
bread it is necessary to perform Fa/:' and at the

1 Upon Vaj, see note, p. 2%.

In this translation, the reading of the manuscript has been followed as
being the most simple : there seems however something omitted. Annexed
is the form of prayer recited in Vaj, which means mental recitation: it is
taken from Anquetil du Perron :

THE PRAYERS RECITED BY PARSEES BEFORE MEAT.

Ethaaad avirmede — " Ormuzd is king: now I make Izeshne" to Or-
" muzd the giver of pure flocks, the giver of pure waters, of pure trees,
" the giver of light, of earth, and of every kind of good." This is to be
recited once.

519
*

lime of Maizad and Afrinigdn to keep the lips closed ;
the true believer repeats the entire of the Esha dad
avizmidi three times, and then eats bread; and when
he washes his mouth, he repeats Ashem Vuhu four
times, and the Ita ahu virio twice. It is to be re-
marked, that Wdj or Vdj is the Barsom, 2 which con-
sists of small twigs of the same length, without
knots, taken from the pomegranate, tamarisk, or

Eshem Trihu.—" Abundance and paradise are reserved for the just and
" undefiled person ; he who does heavenly and pure works." To be
recited three times.

PRAYERS AFTER MEAT.

Ethu ahu Virio. — " It is the desire of Ormuzd that the chief ( of the
" law ) should perform pure and holy works. Bahman gives (abundance)
" to him who acts with holiness in the world. 0 Ormu/d ! thou esta-
" blishest as king whoever comforts and nourishes the poor." To be
repeated twice.

Eshem vuhu.—" Abundance and paradise, etc." To be repeated once.

Ehmarestchi. — " Mayest thou remain always effulgent with light !
" may thy body be always in good condition! may thy body ever in-
" crease ! may thy body be ever victorious! may thy desires, when accom-
" plished, ever render thee happy ! mayest thou always have distinguished
" children! mayest thou live for ever! for length of time! for length of
" years! and mayest thou be received for ever into the celestial abodes
" of the holj% all radiant with light and happiness! enjoy a thousand
" healths, ten thousand healths."

Eereba mezada.— This form of prayer shall be quoted hereafter.

Eshem Vuhu.— " Abundance and paradise, etc." To be repeated
once.

The commentator on this gate has evidently confounded Vaj or Vaz
with the Barsum; this mistake is not to be attributed to the author of
the Dabistan.— D. S.

2 Strabo, observes Anquetil (Zand-Avesta, p. 532), alludes to the Bar-
som, where he says of the Magi: T?.; SI a-™^ irotowTat iro)vv pa&Jwv

320

Hum; these they cut with a Barsomchin, or knife with
an iron handle. Having first washed the knife care-
fully, they recite the appointed prayers, after which,
having cut oil' the Barsom with the Barsomchin,
they wash the Barsomdan^ or Barsom-holder, into
which they put these small twigs. At the time of
worship, whilst reading the Zand, and during ablu-
tion or eating, they hold in their hand a few of
these twigs, according to the number required in
each of these actions.

GATE THE TWENTY-THIRD, The wealthy man be-
stows alms on the indigent Durvesh ; he also prac-
tises Jadongoi, which consists in this, whatever dona-
tions the Behdi'nians make to the fire-temples, or to
deserving objects, are by that person caused to be
expended in the manner desired.

GATE THE TWENTY-FOURTH. Beware of sin, parti-
cularly the day on which thou eatest flesh, as flesh-
meat is the nutriment of Ahriman. If, after par-
taking of meat thou committest sin, whatever sins
the animal has committed in this world shall be
imputed to thee: for example, the kick of the horse,
and the goring of the ox with his horns.

piptxiWv XETTTUV <j£<7f/.v)v xaT/xovTE;1 " They make their prayers a long time,
" holding a bundle of slender twigs of tamarisk in their hands" (Geog.,
lib. XV. p. 733).— D. S.
1 See pp. 292-3.

321

GATE THE TWENTY-FIFTH. Know that in thy faith
there is no fasting, except that of avoiding sin : ' in
which sense thou must fast the whole year, and not
remain hungry from morn until night, and slyle
that fasting. Thou must endeavor to keep thy mem-
bers free from sin, and there will be then no occa-
sion to keep the lips closed against meat and drink ;
but it is altogether necessary to keep them closed
against uttering any evil speech.

GATE THE TWENTY-SIXTH. As soon as a child is
born let them cause it to taste milk.

GATE THE TWENTY- SEVENTH. When going to bed,
repeat the forms which commence with the Ita •, that
is, repeat to the end the ltd Ahu Viriyo, the Eshim
Vahu, etc., etc. ; repenting of thy sins of sight and
hearing, known and unknown, committed or medi-
tated, and imploring forgiveness; also, when thou

1 Anquetil du Perron says (Zend-Avesta, t. II. p. 601): " Of all the
" religions known, that of the Parsis is perhaps the only one in which
" fasting be neither meritorious nor even permitted. The Parsi, on the
" contrary, believes to honor Ormuzd by nourishing himself well: be-
" cause the body, fresh and vigorous, renders the soul stronger against
" the bad genii; because the man, feeling less want, reads the word with
" more attention, and feels more courage for performing good works .
" consequently several celestial spirits are especially charged with watch-
" ing over the welfare of man: Rameshne", Kharom, Khordad, and Amer-
" dad give abundance and pleasures to him, and it is the last of the Izeds
" mentioned who produces in the fruits the taste and flavor which lead
•' men to apply them to that use for which Ormuzd has created them."
— A. T.

21

322

turnest from one side to the other, repeat the whole
of the Eshim.

GATE THE TWENTY-EIGHTH. When thou enterest
into a covenant either with one of the pure faith or
an unbeliever (Durwand), break it not, but maintain
it inviolate.

GATE THE TWENTY-NINTH. When the believer's son
attains the age of fifteen, the father appoints a Dus-
liir for his guidance, without whose direction and
counsel he does nothing; for no goofl work is accept-
able to God, unless the Dustiir be satisfied ; he truly
possesses such dignity in the sight of God, that he
can remit one-third of any person's sins. Note,
that the title of Dustiir is given to a spiritual director,
or one skilled in the faith of Zaratusht.

GATE THE THIRTIETH. When any undertaking oc-
curs, and thou knowest not whether engaging in it
be good or sinful, desist, and defer the enterprise
until thou hast consulted the Dustiir.

GATE THE THIRTY-FIRST. The believer undertakes
nothing on his own experience merely, without
previously investigating its nature through his Dus-
tiir, his relation, and the experience of the intel-
ligent.

GATE THE THIRTY- SECOND. Whoever studies the
Avesta must learn to read it in the exact words : he

525

must also meditate on it continually ; for should it
depart from his memory, he is guilty of sin. In
ancient times, whoever had learned the A vesta and
forgotten it, was not permitted to join the congrega-
tion, until he had again made himself master of it :
nay, they threw bread before him as they would to
dogs.

GATE THE THIRTY-THIRD. It behoves a man to be
liberal, showing favor to the Arzan, or deserving
objects, for this only is profitable.

GATE THE THIRTY-FOURTH. The religious pour not
out water at night, particularly towards the Wakhtar,
or " east ;" but should it be indispensable, the be-
liever, at the lime of throwing it out, repeats the
form of words commencing with the /to, as far as
enjoined. Neither does he draw water from the
well at night ; but when there is an inevitable neces-
sity for it, he recites the formula of the Ita, as en-
joined in their books. They seldom drink water at
night ; but if it be unavoidably necessary to drink,
they fetch water from the well: moreover, they
never pour out much water.

GATE THE THIRTY-FIFTH. When they eat bread,
they lay by three morsels for the dogs, and never
ill use these animals.

GATE THE THIRTY-SIXTH. When a cdck crows out

524

of season, they kill him not, but bring another to
his aid, for the fowl having seen a Darji (demon) or
some approaching calamity, gives notice of it. '

GATE THE THIRTY-SEVENTH. If in any place a person
who is destitute of fear should deposit a Nisa, or
" carcase'' under ground, expose and bring it forth.

GATE THE THIRTY-EIGHTH. It is by no means meet
to slay animals in profusion, as every hair of theirs
will in the other world be as a sword to the de-
stroyer's body : but the slaughter of sheep is by far
the most criminal ; for they are of the Sardah, * or
" primary genus." This prohibition includes the
goat, the kid, and the lamb ; the cow and the horse ;
also the crowing cock, which during that time is as
a drum : nay, it is equally improper to slay the
cock which crows not ; but should it be indis-
pensably necessary to kill him, it will be proper to
tie his head (lhal is, to perform the rite of Yashtan

over his head).3

>

1 The cock is an animal held in great esteem by the Parsees, who are
enjoined to ki-ep one in their houses ; Bahram (Mars) appears under this
form (Zend-Avesta, t. II. pp. 290. 602). The cock is called a Persian bird,
and, according to Athenseus, cocks came first from Persia (see Hyde,
p. 412).— A. T.

2 In the fifth period of eighty days were created the 282 Sardah, or
genera of birds and animals, viz. : HO of birds and 172 of animals (Hyde,
Rel. Vet. Pers., p. 164).— D. S.

3 According to Hyde's translation of the Sad-der (p. 471): caput ejus
expiare oportet, " an expiation is to be performed over his head." — A. T.

525

GATE THE THIRTY-NINTH. When thou art about to
wash the lace, join thy lips, and recite once the for-
mula of the Ashim Vuhu as far as is prescribed ; then
wash thy face; and when thou shavest, recite the
prayer of the Kimna' and Mazda l as far as the ap-
pointed place.

GATE THE FORTIETH. Whoever performs Barash-
nom2 must be good in word and deed, for otherwise

1 Mezda or Maz-dao, in Zand, according to Rask, means " God;" Boh-
len and Mr. Bopp believe that this word is of the same family as the Sans-
krit mahat, " great ;" M. Eugene Burnouf, in a learned discussion, justi-
fies the interpretation " multiscius " given of this word by Neriosengh
(see Commentaire sur le Yacna, pp. 70-77).— A. T.

The form of prayer called Kimna va Mazda is probably the same as
the Kereba Mazda (Zend-Avesta, t. II. p. 6), which is as follows : " Grant,
"0 Ormuzd, that rny good works may efface my sins; grant joy and
" content to my purified soul! give me a share in all the good works and
" holy words of the seven regions of the earth ! May the earth enlarge
" itself! may the rivers extend their courses! may the sun ever, rise OH
" high! may such be the portion of the pure in life, according to the
" wishes which I make."— D. S.

2 For yarshanom, which is in the manuscripts and in the edition of Cal-
cutta, read Barashnom. This is the name of one of the four sorts of puri-
fications prescribed to the Parsees ; that called the Barashnom of nine
nights, is believed the most efficacious. It is performed in a garden or
in a retired place, where a piece of ground 90 feet in length and 16 fee1
in breadth is chosen for it, and, after having been cleaned and surrounded
by a narrow ditch and a hedge, covered with sand. Therein, after the
celebration of ceremonies during one or three days, a Mobed traces a
number of furrows or trenches, called Keishs, and forms several heaps of
stones according to prescribed rules; he prepares a beverage of ox's urine
and water mixed with other sacred liquids : this the person to be purified
drinks in sacred vases, then enters into the Keishs, accompanied by

326

he is deserving of death. Whoever comes to the
age of fifteen and performs not this rite, renders
whatever he lays his hand on impure like himself.
Note, that Barashnom signifies the purification of
one's self by prayer.

GATE THE FORTY-FIRST. On the arrival of the Far-
vardigan, the believer performs the Dariin Yezd,
Yazish, and Afrin during ten days. The Farvardigan
are five damsels which spin, weave, and sew celes-
tial garments : their names are Ahnavad, Ashnavad,
Isfmtamad, Kukhashatar, VaMimhpmh. 4 Farvardi-

Mobeds and a dog ; there he strips, and receives on his body wine poured
over him, and washes himself with that given him by theMobed. During
prayers recited by the purificator and himself, he passes over several heaps
of stones, his right hand on his head and his left upon the dog, and is
then rubbed with dust ; in his progress over other heaps of stones, he
washes himself several times with water. This done, the purified person
goes out of the trenches, and performs other ablutions with water before
he dresses and puts on the Koshti, or " girdle." The individual who
takes the Barashnom remains separated from other men during nine
days, and at the end of the third, sixth, and ninth night, he washes him-
self with a prescribed quantity of wine and water, and is subject to other
ceremonies. This is a very short abstract of the ceremonies practised in
our days ; in the Vendidad Sadd, other very minute particulars and
prayers are given for the performance of purification, the usages of which
have in the course of time undergone some changes. See a completely
detailed account of these rites of purification in Anquetil's elaborate
work, Zend-Avesta, t. I. 2. P. pp. 353-36Y, and t. If. pp. 545-548, with a
plan of the place upon which the Barashnom is performed.— A. T.

1 According to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190), the name of the five sup-
plementary days of the Persian year of 360 days are as follows : Ahnavad,
Ashnavad, Isfendamad or Maz, Vahshat or Vahasl, and Hashunesh or
Hashtuvish (see also p. 62. n.).— A. T.

327

gan1 is the name of the five supplementary or inter-
calary days of the Persian year. When the spi-
rit quits this world it is naked ; but whoever has
duly performed the Farvardigan obtains from them
royal robes and celestial ornaments.

According to the Yezdanian, these five damsels
signify wisdom, heroism, continence, justice, and
intellect ; 2 and in other passages they call them the
five senses.

GATE THE FORTY-SECOND. The true believer must
beware of associating with those of a different faith;
let him not drink out of the same cup with them.
If an unbeliever pollute a cup made of brass, it must

1 According to Anquetil (Zend-Avesta, IT. p. 575) the name of the Gve
supplementary days is Farvardians, that is, " the days of the Fervers of
" the law :" on these days, as the Persians believe, the souls of the blessed
and those of the damned come to visit their relations, who receive them
with the greatest magnificence in their houses, purified and adorned for

the occasion.
In the composition of the name Farvardigan, appears to have entered

the word Gabs, which denotes also the Epagomenes, and five female Izeds,
or angels, who have formed, and preserve, the bodies, and are occupied
in heaven to weave garments for the just (Zand-Avesta, I. 2. P. p. 221).
-A. T.

2 It may be recollected that, during the. short period of the French
Republic, the year was of twelve months, each of thirty days, with the
addition of five supplementary days, called by some Sansculotides ; these
were festivals, consecrated, the 1st, to Virtue; the 2nd, to Genius; the
3rd, to Labour ; the 4th, to Opinion ; and the 5th, to Recompense ;

: every fourth or leap-year, there >vas a 6th day, devoted to the Revolution.
-A. T.

328

be washed three times: but if it be of earth, it can-
not become pure.

GATE THE FORTY-THIRD. Keep up the tire in thy
house, and at night light it up.

GATE THE FORTY-FOURTH. Shew honor to thy in-
structor, father, and mother; as otherwise in this
world distress shall be thy portion ; and in the
next, hell.

GATE THE FORTY-FIFTH. A woman, in herperiodi-
cal illness, must not direct her eyes to the heaven
or the stars ; to running water or a Mindashu ; that
is, a pure or celestial man. She is to drink water
out of any vessel except one of earth. When she
eats bread, her hand is to be folded in the sleeve of
her dress, and she is to wear a veil on her head.

GATE THE FORTY-SIXTH. Refrain from Hamiyal,
which means calumny, treachery, and adultery :
for if the woman's husband forgive not the adulterer,
he cannot, whatever may be his good works, behold
the face of paradise.

GATE THE FORTY-SEVENTH. The believer must slay
the Khardstdr, or " noxious creatures." Of these
it is most meritorious to destroy water-frogs, ser-
pents, scorpions, flies, and ants. According to the

1 The manuscript reads: " Let her eat bread at night, having wrapped
" up the hand in her sleeve and over that a towel."— D. S.

329

tenets professed by the true believers, that is, the
Yazddnidn and Abadidn, it is a meritorious work to
destroy any creature which is injurious to animal
life or oppressive to the animal creation : but the
destruction of any creature which is not injurious
to animal life, is not only improper, but the unjust
oppressor draws down retribution on himself. The
Yezdanian maintain, that whenever in ancient re-
cords the slaughter of a harmless animal is men-
tioned, the expression is used in an enigmatical
sense.

GATE THE FORTY-EIGHTH. It is not proper to walk
barefooted.

GATE THE FORTY-NINTH. Repent without ceasing :
for unless attention be paid to this, thy sin accu-
mulates every year, and becomes more aggra-
vated. If, which God forbid! thou commit a sin,
go before the Dustiir ; and if thou find him not, to
the Hirbud (or minister attending on the sacred
fire) ; and if thou meet him not, repair to some pro-
fessor of the pure faith ; and if thou find not such a
one, declare thy repentance before the majesty of
the great light. In like manner, at the moment of
departing from this world, let a man declare his
contrition, and if he be unable, let his son, relative,
or those present, perform this rite of penance at
that time.

550

GATE THE FIFTIETH. When a son or daughter
attains the age of fifteen, it becomes necessary to bind
the sacred cincture about the waist, as this forms
the bond of duty.

GATE THE FIFTY-FIRST. If a child should die, from
the first day of its decease during a space of seven
years, " without the expression of grief, recite the
" Dariin of its angel." On the fourth night after
its decease, it is necessary to recite with Yasht, the
Danin, or prayer of the angel Suriish. Note, Yasht
is the name given to one of the twenty-one Nosks
of the Zand, ' which is recited for the souls of the
deceased : this they also repeat in the Gahanbars :
Nosk also signifies a part or section.

GATE THE FIFTY-SECOND. When thou placest on the
fire a cauldron for dressing food, it must be of a
large size, and two thirds of it without water, so
that when it boils, the water may not fall over on
the fire.

GATE THE FIFTY-THIRD. 2 When they remove fire

1 Yasht is not found among the names of the Nosks enumerated in the
note, pp. 272-273.— A. T.

2 Every city and village must have the tree called Adera'n, or Adera'n
Shah, or " the chief of fires." Ader is the Pa-zend of Atere", which signi-
fies fire; which word, in Parsee writings, means the several fires which
showed themselves to mankind under different forms, and also their
presiding genii ; whilst Atesh signifies the common fire. When a kitchen
fire has been used three times, the Parsees arc bound to take it to the

331

from one place to another, they lay it apart for a
short time, until its place becomes cool ; having
taken care not to leave it heated, they bear the fire
to its destined place.

GATE THE FIFTY-FOURTH. ' The true believers wash
the face every morning with theAb-l-zur, or " water
" of power," and afterwards with pure water.2
After this they recite the formula of the Kimna va
Mazda,* and then wash the hands; this rite they call
Pavaj ; but if they wash not the hands in iheAb-i-zur ,
their recitation is not accepted.

Aderan : the other fires must be taken thither on the expiration of seven
days, on the day of Ader and those of his co-operating genii. The fire
Aderan itself is taken once every year, or at least every three years, to the
fire Behram, which is the result of one -thousand and one fires, taken from
fifteen different kinds of fire. In .strictness there should be an Ader
Behram in every province, and according to some Dusturs, in every city.
On the expiration of a certain period, they take the ashes of the Berham,
Aderan, and other fires into the fields, and strew them over the cultivated
grounds. It requires a ceremonial of thirty days to prepare the Behram
fire (Zend-Avesta, t. II. p. 531).— D. S.

1 The Parsees use for their purifications seven things : plain water ;
Padiav water; water of power, or ab-i-zu'r (according to Hyde, golden
water) Yeshti water ; earth ; Noreng gomez, or ox's urine ; and Noreng
gomez yeshta. They must take care to have the plain water and the
earth free from all kind of impurity.— D. S.

2 Padiav means " what renders or is rendered (pure) like water." To
impart this quality to water, the officiating priest puts it in a large vase,
out of which he fills a smaller vessel ; he afterwards pours out some of the
water three times from the smaller into the larger vessel, accompanying
each act with certain forms of prayer, on which the water becomes
Padiav.— D. S.

3 See note, p. 325.

352

GATE THE FIFTY-FIFTH. The faithful instruct their
sons in the knowledge of religion, and hold in high
honor the Kirbud who teaches them.

GATE THE FIFTY-SIXTH. On the return of the day
of Khurddd in the month of Farvardi'n (the 6th of
March), they collect in one place a portion of all
the fruits they can find. The true believers then
continue to offer them up and to pray over them,
repeating the praises of the Lord, in order that their
condition may be improved that year ; as on this day
the angels give nutriment to mankind. When any
one has thus prayed, the Amshaspand Khurdad
makes intercession for him : this prayer is synony-
mous with Khusnuman. l

GATE THE FIFTY-SEVENTH. Whenever any one sets
out on a journey, he must celebrate once the Darun
Yeshtd. In ancient times, when they set out on an
excursion of even twelve parasangs, they performed
the same ceremony. *

1 According to Anquetil Du Perron, Khushnuman signifies one who is
pleased or favorable : this name is given to a short prayer, or collect,
which contains the principal attributes of the being to whom it is ad-
dressed: there are two kinds of it, the greater and the less: in the
former, after every attribute they repeat: " I offer thee Izechne"," or
" I praise and magnify thee;" in the latter form this is only repeated
after the enumeration of all the attributes —D. S.

2 See note, p. 315, Hyde translates Darun yeshten, by " expiatory
" banquet:" but according to Anquelil (Zend-Avesta, t. I. 2. P. p. 237)
the Darun Yeshte" is a Tarsi office, which begins thus:

555

GATE THE FIFTY-EIGHTH. II' any one have not a
son, let him adopt one ; and let the adopted son
regard him as a father.

GATE THE FIFTY-NINTH. Whoever has performed
the rites of Yasht and Naii-Roz, cannot immediately
after celebrate the Dariin Yeshte : he first prays men-
tally to Ormuzd, and eats bread ; and then performs
the rites of mental prayer and the Damn.

GATE THE SIXTIETH. It is improper, whilst in an
erect posture, to make water; it is therefore neces-
sary to sit down (stoop) and force it to some dis-
tance, repeating the Avesta mentally. The religious
man is then to advance three paces, and repeat once

" With the Barsom raised over the Zrir, I address in prayer the great
" Ormuzd, brilliant in light and glory; also the Amshaspands; and thee,
" 0 Fire ! son of Ormuzd !

" I address in prayer the wood and the perfumes!
•' . . . . thee, 0 Fire, son of Ormuzd!
" . • . the pure, the chiefs who walk in dignity in this

world !

" I make Khushnuman; I address my prayer to Ormuzd, to the Am-
" shaspands, to the pure Suriish, to the Fire of Ormuzd, the great, the
" the exalted, the holy!
" I pray to the holy, pure, and great Vendidad given to Zoroaster!

" Gabs.

" . . . Gahanbars, or the six periods of

creation. —
" . . . Years and laud them."

Damn yeshtt also signifies " Festival Dartins," or banquets preceded
by the recitation of the Izeshne\ the Vendidad, and the Daruu, for which
the officiating priest receives a new dress. This bears out Hyde's trans-
lation.—D. S.

554

the formula of the Yethd dhu viriyo and theEshem Fa/m,
as far as prescribed. On coming out, he is to repeat
the Eshem once ; the formula of the Homoctanne
twice ; that of the Hokhshdthrotemdd three times, and
that of the Yethd, etc., four times; and to repeat to
the end the formula of the Etha aad iezmede. l

GATE THE SIXTY-FIRST. Slay not the Hujjah or
weasel, for it is the destroyer of serpents.

GATE THE SIXTY-SECOND. Kill not the water-dog,
or otter, but if thou perceive him far out of the
water, take him back to his river. 2

1 The forms Jetha abu viriyo, Eshem Vehu, and Jetha aiid Jezmide"
have been given under GATE 22. —The Homoctenaum is a short prayer :
V To think with purity, to act with purity, to perform and execute it,
" to teach others the same, such is my undertaking. I teach the same to
" men: may it turn to my good!" The Hockhshe"thr<kemae : " The king
" who is pure and elevated as I am, I will give him his desires; of him

" I, Ormuzd the holy and heavenly, will take peculiar care. " The

printed copy reads for Je*tha aad Jezmdde, the words ^JuUjj ^V /**^

„&! Ijoj. But as one manuscript reads Jetha aad Jezme"de> it has been
retained. The Hemoctaum and Hokhshethro'tema^ are also conjectural,
as the two manuscripts and printed copy present different readings. In
the latter these are read Homesham and Hochastar.— D. S.

2 In the Vendidad Sade" (Zend-Avesta, 1. 1. 2. P. p. 386) we find : " The
" world is engendered from water; and at present there are in the water
" two primeval aquatic dogs and thousands of their females which produce
" by copulation thousands of their species. To smite these aquatic dogs
" causes all good things to be parched up; from that city or place shall
" depart all that is sweet to the taste: wholesome viands, health, longe-
" vity, abundance, rain, the source of good, the profusion of temporal
" blessings; also whatever grows on the earth, such as grain and pastur-
age."—D. S.

355

GATE THE SIXTY-THIRD. The believer performs
during his life the rites which ensure his salvation :
the propitiation of the Ized Suriish is a sacred duty;
it is therefore advisable that every person should
perform it duly in his own life-time. '

GATE THE SIXTY-FOURTH. When any one departs
from this world, the survivors during three days
propitiate Suriish, light a fire for the deceased, and
recite the Avesta : as the spirit of the deceased re-
mains there three days, it is therefore necessary to
offer up three Dariins to Suriish Ized . On the fourth
night, recite one of them to propitiate Rash and
Astad (the angels of the 18th and 26th days of every
month) ; another for that of the other heavenly
beings ; along with the fourth Danin produce com-
plete dresses, the best and most splendid in thy
power. These they style Ashuddd, or heaven-be-
stowed.2

1 In page 564, Zend-Avesta, t. II. we find: " The Parsees who are
" desirous of leading happy lives, and of having children who do them
" honor, must employ four priests to repeat the Izeshne" during three
" consecutive days and nights: this rite is called the Zindeh Ravan, or
" ' verifier of the soul (at the moment of death).' "

Suriish, or Suriish Ized, performs a most important part in Parsee
mythology (see note, p. 7). — D. S.

2 According to Anquetil du Perron, the following are some of the cere-
monies practised on such occasions. On the approaching departure of
the soul from the body, they perform the Sag-did (the dog-saw) by pre-
senting a dog before the dying person, and that the animal may be
induced to look at him, they throw some bits of bread or meat near the
person. Without doubt Bardesanes, in Euseb. prcep. Evan, lib., p. 277,

336

GATE THE SIXTY-FIFTH. Women are not enjoined
to perform any of these Niyayish, except that they
should go three times into their husband's presence,
and inquire what his wishes may be. They must
never, either by night or day, avert the face from
their husband's command : which obedience on
their part is serving God. '

alludes to this custom where he says: " All the Medes expose the dying,
" whilst yet breathing, to dogs which have been carefully trained for that
" purpose;" and in like manner (Euseb. prcep. Evang., 1. I. p. 11-12),
where he says: "Among the Hyrcanians and Caspians, some exposed per-
" sons whilst yet alive to birds of prey and dogs; others only the de-
" ceased: hut the Bactrians exposed old people whilst yet alive to dogs."
(See hereafter the note to GATE 77. )

The Parsees believe that, immediately after death, the soul, like a feeble
new-born infant, flutters during the first day around the place where the
person died ; on the second, around the Keshe, or place in the Dakhnu1
where the body is deposited : and on the third around the Dakhme" or
Pars! burying-place ; on the fourth, near the bridge of Chinavad, where he
is interrogated by Mithra and Rashne* Rast, who also weigh his actions.
During the three first days, they celebrate the Sunish Yasht, the Surush
Darun, the Patet Mokhtat (of souls), and the Surush Afergan. Patet sig-
nifies a general confession of all sins a person may have committed.
Afergans and Afrins are prayers in the form of thanksgivings accompa-
nied with supplications and benedictions. On the third night, at the
Gah Oshen, they celebrate four Daruns : the first in honor of Rashne" Rast ;
the second of Raon Ized ; the third of Surush, with six Daruns, three
large and three small ; and the fourth in honor of the Ferouers of the
Saints: with this last they place four dresses, along with fruits and cheese,
all of which are for the officiating priest.— D. S.

1 The Niyayish is an humble and submissive form of prayer, of which
there are five, addressed to five Izeds, and containing their panegyrics :
the sun, Mithra, the moon, the female Ardouisur, and the fire Behram.
Amongst the attributes of Ardouisur are: making females prolific, pure,
giving them h;ippy child-births, supplying milk, etc. The great Vorookeshe

537

GATE THE SIXTY-SIXTH. The pure faith springs
from this belief, that God has delivered us .from
affliction (in the world to come): and should cir-
cumstances occur to any believer which would neces-
sarily lead him to apostatize from the true faith, let
all exert themselves to the utmost to aid him, so that
he may remain unshaken in the true religion.

GATE THE SIXTY-SEVENTH. Believers never utter a
falsehood, although through it they might attain to
worldly eminence.

GATE THE SIXTY-EIGHTH. They make truth their
profession, and remain free from the degradation of

Goyastah (or Gogestah).1

GATE THE SIXTY-NINTH. The believers beware of
any intercourse with a courtesan or unchaste wo-

makes every thing grow and exist in those places where it flows, and
whither it bears the element of water, from the source Ardouisur of a
thousand channels and a thousand arms, each of which extends to a
journey of forty days as performed by a well-mounted horseman.— D. S.
1 According to Hyde's version Gojestah, or Gosakhtah, became tho
devil, because he lapsed from the truth and lessened it. When he saw
he had to contend against the truih, he fell prostrate in astonishment
during a thousand years, and dared not venture to approach the world,
but remained groaning and trembling in his own place. I cannot find
this tradition in the Zend-Avesta, according to which, Bomasp is the
demon of falsehood. On the authority of GATE 91, I prefer reading Gok-
hastah to Kusastah, or " the broken." Hyde (p. 180) mentions that the
Indo-Persians reckon Gegjesta Ghanaminu the immediate minister of
Ahriman. — D S.

22

538

man, also of voluntary degradation (connivance)
and adultery. For when a libertine engages in
improper correspondence with a woman, she be-
comes an abomination to her husband ; and if, after
proof of her misconduct, the husband resume his
intimacy with such a wife, he then becomes a R&spi,
or utterly contemptible.

GATE THE SEVENTIETH. If any one steal property
to the amount of one direm, they take from the
thief two direms, cut off the lobes of his ears, in-
flict on him ten blows of a stick, and dismiss him
after one hour's imprisonment. Should he a second
time commit a similar act, and steal to the amount
of a direm, they make him refund two, cut off his
ears, inflict twenty blows, and detain him in prison
two hours : should he after that steal three direms
or two dangs, they cut off his right hand; and if he
steal five hundred direms, they put him to death.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FIRST. Beware of open and
secret sin : abstain from bad sights and thoughts.
Offer up thy grateful prayers to the Lord, the most
just and pure Ormuzd, the supreme and adorable
God, who thus declared to his prophet Zardusht :
" Hold it not meet to do unto others what thou
" wouldst not have done to thyself: do that unto
" the people which, when done to thyself, proves
" not disagreeable to thyself."

539

GATE THE SEVENTY-SECOND. Direct the Hirbud to
sanctify for thee an oblation or Dariin once every
day : if not he, then thyself. It is to be observed
that Yazish has the sense of Yashtan ; also that Darun
(the first letter with Zemma) means a prayer in praise
of the Lord and of fire, which being recited by the
professors of the pure faith, they breathe over the
viands ; whatever has been thus breathed over they
call Yashtah : for Yashtan signifies the reciting of a
prayer.

GATE THE SEVENTY-THIRD. Let women perform the
rites of oblation in the month of Aban (the 8th
month), so that they may be purified from their
illness and attain paradise.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FOURTH. Beware of committing
adultery ; for when the wife of a stranger has been
four times visited by a strange man, she becomes
accursed to her husband : to put such a woman to
death is more meritorious than slaying beasts of
prey.

GATE THE SEVENTY-FIFTH. A woman during her
illness is not to look at the fire, to sit in water, be-
hold the sun, or hold conversation with a man.
Two women, during their illness, are not to sleep
in the same bed, or look up to heaven. Women in
this state are to drink out of leaden vessels, and not
to lay their (bare) hands on bread. The drinking-

540

vessel is to be half-filled with water, and not filled
up to the brim. They are to fold their hand in the
sleeve of their mantle and then lay hold of the vessel :
they must not sit in the sun. On the birth of a
child, the infant is to undergo ablution along with
the mother.

GATE THE SEVENTY-SIXTH. A fire is not to be lighted
in a situation exposed to the sun's rays : also place
not over the fire any thing through the interstices of
which the sun may shine. But before the time of
Mah Abad it was held praiseworthy to light a fire
in face of the great luminary for the purpose of
making fumigations.

GATE THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH. They show the Nisa
or dead body to a dog, at the moment the person
gives up the soul : ' and again when they convey it
to the burial-place. When removing the body, the

1 According to an ancient custom which is observed even in our days,
the mouth of a dying Parsl is applied to that of a dog, who is to receive
the man's last breath. This custom may have occasioned the belief that
the Persians let dogs devour their sick and dying. So says Herodotus
(I. 111.) ; Strabo (1. XI.) names the Bactrians and Sogdians as feeding for
this purpose certain dogs, whom they call " buriers of the dead ;" Cicero
(Tusc., 1. XLV) mentions the same of the Hyrcanians. Certainly, dif-
ferent customs prevailed in different times among the numerous nations
who inhabited the vast empire of Persia: hence may be explained the
various and sometimes contradictory accounts of ancient authors whose
afGrmation, denial, and silence, with respect to a particular fact, may
however, in many instances, with equal truth but with due restriction,
be applied to particular places and epochs. —A. T.

541

bearers fasten their hands together with a cord, so
that it comes to all their hands and keeps them close
to each other ; they bear the body along in perfect
silence ; and if the deceased be a woman advanced
in her pregnancy, there are then four bearers in-
stead of two. According to the precepts of Mah
Abad, if the woman be pregnant, they are to extract
the foetus and bring it up : the same holds good re-
specting all animals. Finally, when the professors
of the pure faith have conveyed the corpse to the
Dad Gah, or " place for depositing the dead," the
bearers wash themselves and put on fresh gar-
ments.

GATE THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH. It is necessary to be-
ware of (contact with) the wooden frame on which
the dead body has been carried or washed ; also of
that on which any one has been hung ; or one
touched by a woman during her illness.

GATE THE SEVENTY-NINTH. If, during a malady, the
physician prescribe the eating of any dead animal,
let the patient comply without repugnance and par-
take of it.

GATE THE EIGHTIETH. A dead body is not to be
committed to water or fire. '

1 The Parsis. from the most ancient to our times, neither bury nor burn
their dead, but expose them to be devoured by birds and wild beasts.
They fear to pollute the earth and the fire, which they hold sacred. It

542

GATE THE EIGHTY-FIRST. If any one force a pro-
fessor of the pure faith to partake of the flesh of a
dead body, or even throw it at him, he must per-
form the Barashnom and recite the Patet Iran. Note :
that is, he must repent, and implore pardon, and
exert himself in good works, that he may escape
going to hell.1

GATE THE EIGHTY-SECOND. If any animal partake
of a dead body, it continues unclean during a whole
year.2

GATE THE EIGHTY-THIRD. Nothing should be given
(to the unworthy) unless through dread of the op-
pressor : that is, if believers apprehend not danger
from the sinner, and do not entertain alarm at his
power of doing them injury, they are not to give
him any thing.

GATE THE EIGHTY-FOURTH. In the morning, on
arising from sleep, rub thy hands with something,
then thrice wash thy face, thy arms from the wrist

is, however, well established that they built formerly very magnificent
sepulchres for kings and eminent men, to whom probably the privilege of
such monumental graves was confined.— A. T.

1 The readings in the manuscript and printed copy are both erroneous;
therefore Yarshanom, Pituft Irash, and Tipat Barash have, on the autho-
rity of Anquetil Du PerroH, been changed into Barashnom, and Patet
Iran.

2 Among the animals, cows, sheep, and fowls are particularly specified.
— D. S.

545

to the elbow, and thy foot as far as the leg ; reciting
the Avesta at the same time. If the believer cannot
find water, he is then permitted to use dust.

GATE THE EIGHTY-FFFTH. When the husbandman
introduces water for the irrigation of his own fields,
he carefully observes that there be not a dead body
in the stream.

GATE THE EIGHTY-SIXTH. A woman after parturi-
tion must during forty days beware of using vessels
of wood or earth, and is not to cross the threshold of
the house. She is then to wash her head : during
all this time her husband is not to approach her.

GATE THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH. If a woman be deli-
vered of a dead child previous to four months' gesta-
tion, as it is without a soul, it is not to be regarded
as a dead body ; but should this occur after the term
of four months, it is then to be looked on as a dead
body, and to be conveyed to burial with the usual
ceremonies.

GATE THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH. When a death occurs,
the people of the house and the relatives of the
deceased are to abstain from meat during three days.

GATE THE EIGHTY-NINTH. It is incumbent on the
professors of the true faith to be liberal, generous,
and munificent ; for God hath declared : " Paradise
" is the abode of the liberal.'

544

GATE THE NINETIETH. Reciting the Eshem Vehu '
is attended with countless merits : it is necessary to
do this at the time of eating bread, of going to sleep,
at midnight, on turning from one side to the other,
and at the time of rising up in the morning.

GATE THE NINETY-FIRST. You must not put off the
good work of to-day until the morrow, for God de-
clared thus to Zardusht : " Putting off the duties of
" this day until the following, brings with it cause
u of regret. 0 Zardusht ! no one in the world is
u superior to thee in my sight. For thy sake I have
" even created it ;2 and princes earnestly desire to
" diffuse the true faith in thy life-lime. From the
" age of Kaiomars to thine, three thousand years
' ' have elapsed ; 3 and from thee to the resurrection
" is a period of three thousand years : thus I have
" created thee in the middle, as that point is most
" worthy of admiration. Moreover I have ren-
" dered obedient to thee king Gushtasp, the wisest

1 For Eshem Vehu, see GATE 22.

'•* The same is said of Mohammed, see note, p. 3.

3 If the epoch of Kaiomars be adopted according to Ferdusi, 3529
B. C., that of Zoroaster would be =529 years before our era. In the
Mojmel al Tavarikh (IVth chapter, upon the chronology of the philoso-
phers and some kings of Rum) it is stated that, since Zoroaster appeared,
1700 years had elapsed to the time of the author, who wrote in the year
1530 of theHejira, or A. D. 1126; therefore Zoroaster would have lived
574 years B. C. If the 1700 years be taken for lunar years, the epoch
would answer to 522 before the Christian era.— A. T.

545

' ' and most prudent sovereign of the age ; whose
" eminence arises from science and perfect morals,
' ' not merely from high birth and lineage. I have
" also given thee a volume such as the Avesta, and
" in like manner a perspicuous commentary on it.
" Expect not thai, after thou hast passed away,
" others will perform good works for thee. Know
" that Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly ap-
" pointed two demons, named Tardiness and Pro-
" crastination, for putting off the performance of
" good works to a remote and future period."

GATE THE NINETY-SECOND. Whatever is polluted by
a dead body must be purified by Pdvydb water ac-
cording to this rule : gold once ; silver twice ; tin
and copper thrice ; steel four times ; stone six times;
earthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away.
Pdvydb signifies to wash with certain forms of
prayer. '

GATE THE NINETY-THIRD. Shew vigilant attention
to the fire of Adar Behrdm, and to his attendant (ge-
nii); light up the fire every night and cast perfumes
into it.

Note : Var (Adar) Behram2 is the name of the

1 For Pdvydb, or according to Anquetil du Perron, Padiav water,
see GATE 54. This word may perhaps be derived from the Sanskrit
<T pu, " to purify ;" TfsfsT pavitra, " pure ; " qfoM pavitram, " wa-
" ter, rain, cleansing in general, a sacrificial implement."— A. T.

2 For Adar Behram, or the fire of Behram, sec note on GATE 53. In-

546

angel, the lord of victory, and the bestower of
triumph, '

GATE THE NINETY-FOURTH. The Gdhdmbars, which
are six in number, must be observed, because the
Almighty created the world in six periods or limes,
the commencement of each period having a particu-
lar name; in order to celebrate each of which com-
mencements, they pass five days in festivity and re-
joicing. According to the statement in the Zand,
the righteous Hormuzd created the whole world in
the space of one year.

The .first Gdhdmbar is called Miduyzamm, as on the
day Khur (the llth of the month) Ardibehisht, God
commenced the creation of the heavens, which was
terminated in forty-five days.

The second Gdhambdr, called Midyushaham, began on
the day of Khur, in the old month of Tir , in sixty

stead of Var Behram and Var Behram of the manuscript, and Varcharam
of the edit, of Calcutta, Adar Behram has been adopted on Hyde's au-
thority.—D. S.

1 Bahrain is the most active of the Izeds, the king of all the beings;
with a celestial body, receiving his glory and splendor from Ormuzd,
he presides over the 20th day of the month ; he bestows health and vic-
tory, and combats the Divs. He appears under the form of a young man
of fifteen years, and under those of different animals ; that of a cock has
already been mentioned (see note, p. 324) ; he appears besides as a bull,
a horse, a camel, a ram, a he-goat, a Iamb. He is also identified with
the planet Mars, and acts a great part in the ancient history of Persia.
See Zand-Avesla, t. 1. 2. P. pp. 83. 86. 91 ; t. 11. pp. 98. 287. 289. 290.
294. 321. 356. and in other places.— A. T.

347

days from which God completed the creation of the
waters.

The third Gahambar j Pitishahim, commences on the
day of Aslitdd (the 26th ) of the old Shahrivdr, in se-
venty-five days from which God terminated the crea-
tion of the earth.

The fourth Gdhambdr, called Ayad sahrim, begins on
the Ashtdd of the old month of Mihr, in thirty days
from which the creation of all plants and trees was
completed.

The fifth Gahamhar, named Mldydrim, begins on the
Miher of the old month Ardi (November) ; God created
from this day, in eighty days, all the animals.

The sixth Gahambar, Hamshpata mihdim, ! beginning
on the day of Ahnavad, the first of the five intercalary
or surreptitious days, reckoning from which the Al-
mighty terminated the creation of the human race
in seventy-five days. Tradition thus ascribes to
Jemshid the origin of the festival of the Gahambar.

1 The Calcutta edition reads Pimasidim; the above agrees nearly
with the name given by Anquetil, which is Hamespethme'dem. The other
names of the Gahambars, according to the spelling of that author, are,
from the first to the fifth, as follow: Mediozerem Medi'oshem, Peteschem,
E'iathrem, and Mddtarem. The statement relative to these six festivals,
as contained in the Afrfn of the Gahambar Zend-Avesta, t. II. pp. 82-
87) coincides with that of the Dabistan. Ormuzd himself holds out
remunerations to those who rightly celebrate each of these days, and
condign punishments to those who neglect the prescribed observances.
-A. T.

348

In the Sad-Ddr we find it recorded, that the demon
one day came to Jemshid's palace, and the king, as
usual, sent him to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger.
The demon having devoured all that was there, and
also swallowed up whatever they brought him be-
side, was still unsatisfied. On beholding this, Jem-
shid cried out to the Lord, and the most righteous
God sent the angel Behram (or Jabrael) to say thus
to the king : " Slaughter the red ox, on which pour
*' vinegar, rue, and garlic ; take it when boiled out
" of the cauldron, and serve it up to the demon."
When they had done thus, the demon having tasted
one morsel of it, fled and disappeared, from which
day they instituted the festival of the Gdhambdr.

The Abadiyan say, with respect to the creation,
that the actions of God are not circumscribed by
time. It must however be acknowledged that Jem-
shid first established this festival. In the first Ga-
hambar, Jemshid, by the command of the Almighty.,
began to depict on the ceiling of his palace the repre-
sentation of the heavens, which undertaking was
finished in forty-five days. Secondly, on the Khur
of Tir he was commanded by the Lord to introduce
water into his palace, gardens, city, and cultivated
grounds, which work was completed in the course
of sixty days. Thirdly, on the Ashtdd of Shahrivdr,
by order of the Almighty (whose name be glorified !)
he cleared the surface of the grounds and palace,

549

and embellished them exceedingly ; he levelled the
place of exercise in front of his palace, built houses,
and laid out in due order the city and its streets • all
which was completed in seventy-five days. Fourthly,
on the Ashtdd of Mihr, he began to ascertain the pro-
perties of all vegetable productions, and completed
the embellishment of his garden, and terminated
the entire in thirty days. He next, on the day of
Mihr in the month of Dai, collected all species of
animals in his garden and assigned their suitable
employments to each : to. the ox and the ass to carry
burdens ; to the horse to serve for riding, and so
forth ; which arrangements were completed in se-
venty days. Lastly, on the day of Ahnavad, he sum-
moned mankind to appear in his presence, and as-
signed them their respective occupations ; the details
of which were finished in the course of seventy days.
He then proclaimed : ' ' The Lord has created all
" these things through me ;" and commanded five
days to be set apart for rejoicing at the beginning
of each Gahambar. As to the tradition of the de-
mon's appearing and eating up whatever he found,
it is thus explained : by the demon is meant, the
depraved sensual appetite, which loves to eat, sleep,
shed blood, and such like, and is never satiated with
such pursuits ; but when the spiritual Jemshid
prayed to the Lord, the Jabriel of intellect came
with this divine communication : " Slay the sensual

350

" appetite (which is typified by the ox), that is,
" indulgent not in the excesses it demands ; next
' ' apply to the cauldron of the body the vinegar of
" abstinence, the garlic of reflection, and the rue
** of silence ; then serve up a portion of this food to
" the Satan-like propensities, that the demon may
" flee away." On doing this, he was delivered
from the presence of the evil one. Such was the
enigma propounded to the people by Zardusht re-
specting the Gahambar, and such the solution of it
as given by the Abadian professors, who have inter-
preted in a similar manner the whole of Zardusht's
discourses, which were couched under this enig-
matical form.

GATE THE NINETY-FIFTH. When any one does good
to another, the latter should not forget his benefac-
tor's goodness.

GATE THE NINETY-SIXTH. The believers make Ni-
ydyish to the sun three times every day : they also
perform the same to the moon and to fire.

GATE THE NINETY-SEVENTH. They weep not after
the deceased, as the tears thus shed are collected
and form a barrier before the bridge of Chinavad, or
" of judgment," and prevent the deceased from
passing : but, on reading the Vasta and Zend, they
can pass over. '

1 In the Ardi Virafnameh we read, lhat the river of hell, most black

351

GATE THE NINETY-EIGHTH. Whoever comes into the
presence of the Dustiirs, Mobeds, or Kirbuds, listens
to what they say, and rejects it not although pain-
ful to him.

GATE THE NINETY-NINTH. The professor of the true
religion ought to understand thoroughly the cha-
racters of the Avesta and the Zend.

GATE THE HUNDREDTH. The Mobeds must not in-
struct a stranger in the Pehlevi language; for the
Lord commanded Zardusht, saying : ' ' Teach this
'* science to thy children."

ENUMERATION OP SOME ADVANTAGES WHICH ARISE FROM
THE ENIGMATICAL FORMS OF THE PRECEPTS OF ZARDUSHT's
FOLLOWERS. — The substance of the venerable Zar-
dusht's precepts is contained in enigmas and par-
ables, because with the mass of society, fabulous
narrations, though revolting to reason, excite
stronger impressions. In the next place, if it were
proposed to communicate to an ignorant person the
idea of the existence of the necessarily existing God,
independent of cause, he could not understand the

and frigid, is made of the tears of those who mourn for the dead; to the
surviving friends silence and pious mussitation in remembering the
merits of the dead arc recommended.— A. T.

552

proposition ; and if we speak to him concerning ihe
uncompoundedness of intelligences, the immateri-
ality of souls, the excellence of the sphere and stars,
he becomes overwhelmed in perplexity and amaze-
ment ; being utterly unable to comprehend spiritual
delights or tortures, or discover the exact truth ;
whilst the precepts enforced by the figurative expres-
sions of the law come within the understanding of
high and low, so that they are profited thereby,
and the explanation of the law is attended with a
good reputation both in this world and the next.
The select few undoubtedly comprehend the nature
of certainty, religious abstraction, and philosophy,
although the vulgar, in general, hold these in abhor-
rence : it therefore becomes necessary to clothe the
maxims of philosophy in the vestments of law, in
order that all classes of society may derive their
appropriate advantages from that source : these
observations being premised, it is to be remarked,
that some Yazdanian professors express themselves
after this manner :— The book of the Zend is of two
kinds ; the one perspicuous and without enigmatical
forms of speech, which they call the Mah Zand, or
" Great Zand ;" the second, abounding in enigma-
tical and figurative forms of speech, is called the
Kah Zand, or " Little Zand." The Mah Zand con-
tained the precepts of the law promulgated by the
venerable Mahabad, such as the volume of Azar

353

Sassan, and the Mah Zand was lost during the do-
mination of strangers, particularly the Turks and
Greeks : the Kah Zand still remained, but much of
it was also lost in other subsequent invasions.

SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MAH ZEND. — It
entitles the supreme Lord, Aharmuz, and acknow-
ledges the existence, immateriality, and uncom-
poundedness of his essence; accounting Bahmdn the
Great, the first-created being, who is also called
Farvardin the Great, and looked upon and styled
pure and uncompounded ; from him was derived
Ardibehesht the Great, along with the sublime soul
and body of the empyrean heaven ; from Ardibehesht
the Great proceeded Khurddd the Great ; from him
Tir the Great ; from him Murddd the Great ; from him
Shahrivar the Great ; from him Mihr the Great ; from
him Abdn the Great ; from him Azar the Great ; and
from him Dai the Great ; these are the lords of the
heavens, and after Farvardin the Great, are accounted
as the months as well as the heavens collectively.
In all other points, speculative and practical, such
as the protection of harmless creatures and the de-
struction of noxious animals, it agrees with the Da-
sdtir. During the Ashkanian dynasty, the people
conformed to the Kah Zend, but as Ardeshir was
obedient to the second Sasan, he, in compliance
with the Dasdtir and Mah Zend, studiously avoided

23

354

the destruction of harmless animals : for the Mah
Zand is a portion of the Dasdtir. After him, others
adopted the Kah Zand. But Nushirvan, under the
guidance of the contemporary Azar Sasdn, although
conforming to the Dasdtir and Mah Zand, was during
the whole of his life innocent of the crime of slaying
harmless animals ; his successors however followed
the precepts of the Kah Zend, until the fifth Sasan, '
having uttered imprecations against the people of
Iran, they became the victims of privation and
wretchedness.

The professors of the Abadian faith say that Ahri-
man was produced by Time : they also say that the
angels and the heavens have existed, exist, and will
continue to exist. 2 Moreover the belief of the Azar

1 See note, p. 105.

2 Nothing existed before the first principle began the work of creation ;
this principle is called in the Bun-Dehesh Zaruamakarend, " thebound-
'• less time;" that is, " sine extremitatibus anterioribus el posteriori-
" bus." Distinct from it is " the long time," which is said to be created
by God, and not " self-existing" as the first. Among the productions
of this first principle, some are " self-creating," such as Ormuzd and Ahri-
man (see note, pp. 235-236) ; others act only upon what exists already ,
such as the three substances— the primordial light, the primordial water,
and the primordial fire. This is the doctrine expressed in Zand, Pehlvi,
and the most ancient Persian books. The above statement about the
eternal existence of the heavens seems therefore not in accordance with
it. The Abadians or the Kaiomarsiaiis acknowledged the good principle
under the name of Yezdan, and the bad principle under that of Ahriman ;
but they believed that the first only was from eternity, and not the last;
or in other terms, that light only was eternal and darkness created. The

355

Hushenyidns or Yazdanidnsis, that although the laith
of Zardusht prevailed universally from the time of
Gushtasp to that of Yezdejird, yet that the different
intervening princes glossed it over and made it agree
with the Azar Hushengidn or Mahabadidn system, so
as never to sanction the destruction of animal life ;
and as they held the words of Zardusht to be figura-
tive, they never put them in practice literally when
they contradicted the Azar Hushengidn faith, but
invariably glossed them over.

cosmogony of this sect was the same as that related in the Bun-Dehesh,
or as that of Zoroaster; it is briefly as follows: The primordial bull was
the principle of all irrational creatures as well as of the human race.
According to the Izeshni and the Bun-Dehesh, the primitive man came
forth from the side of the bull ; he was called in Zand gaya mereta, and
in Pehlvi gayo mard; a word compounded of gaya, " bull or life," and
of m&rcta, " mortal," or " man;" hence came Gayomars, or Kaiomars,
the name of a most ancient Persian king (see note, p. 29) . From the seed
of Gayomard sprung a tree which was shaped like two men, and the fruit
of which comprised ten different species of men; from these two bodies
came the twins Meshia and Meshiane*, man and woman, the ancestors of
mankind. Although created for happiness, they were seduced by Ahri-
man, and averted from the adoration of Ormuzd; they wandered in the
wilderness, were addicted to hunting, clad in skins of animals, and their
posterity peopled the earth.

But Ormuzd did not forsake his creatures. In order to emancipate
them from the rule of Ahriman, he destined to them his word, the law of
Zartusht, who always existed, but his feruer, that is, " the ideal of his
" perfection," was to be produced by Zardusht's fire.

He was to be preceded by Horn, the first apostle of the law, whom Jem-
shid followed. This king and prophet erected but few fire-temples ;
mankind venerated the elements and the stars, not without a number of
evil genii, and a gross superstition began to prevail. For opposing this
and renewing the primitive law, Zardusht appeared. — A. T.

356

This statement proves that Ardeshir Babegan and
the other Sasanian princes showed great reverence
to the Azar Sasanian family and paid them implicit
obedience, as being truly the ministers and wor-
shippers of the Lord ; they besides accounted them
as the legitimate sovereigns, regarding themselves
merely as their lieutenants : in short, when the Azar
Sasdnidm ceased to reign, they exercised the go-
vernment in their stead. However the Azar Sasd-
nldns followed no faith except that of Mahabad, re-
ceiving no other without the requisite glosses, and
attaching no esteem whatever to the external import
of Zardusht's precepts : that is, regarding his words
as true, but holding their external import as figura-
tive. The Behdinians also maintain that such was
the system adopted by the kings of old, particularly
by Ddra, Ddrdb, Bahmdn, Isfendidr, and Lohrdsp.

The present seems the proper time for stating
some of the enigmatical sayings ascribed to the
Magians or followers of Zardusht, as philosophy is
guarded by such expressions from falling into the
hands of the ignorant, whilst the sages thereby
attain their object.

It is well known that according to their system
the world had two creators, Yazdan (the Lord), and
Ahriman : but the Lord having entertained this evil
thought, " Perhaps an antagonist may rise up to
" oppose me," Ahriman wras produced from that

357

thought. ' In some places it is mentioned that God
was alone, and gloom having come over him, he
entertained an evil suspicion, on which Ahriman
was produced. They say that Ahriman, who was
outside the world, on looking through a small aper-
ture, and beholding the Lord surrounded with glory
and majesty, bore him envy and raised up wicked-
ness and corruption. God then created the angels
to be his host, and with them fought against Ahri-
man ; but being unable to destroy him, they made
peace with each other on this condition ; that Ahri-
man should remain in the world during a definite
period ; and on his departure it should become the
abode of unalloyed good . a

1 It appears quite conformable with true psychology to derive the origin
of the evil spirit from jealousy, as was said in the note at p. 236, or from
apprehension, doubt, suspicion, or envy, as above. — A. T.

2 According to the Bonn Dehesh (Zend-Avesta, t. II. pp. 347-3-48),
Ormuzd will during three thousand years move alone; during three other
thousand years, his operations will be blended with those of his adver-
sary; the subsequent three thousand years will belong to Ahriman; and
in the last three, completing the period of twelve thousand years, the
author of evil shall disappear; and at the resurrection of the dead and
the renewal of the bodies — previous to which event are to appear the three
posthumous sons of Zoroaster (see note, pp. 281-282) — the world shall
be without evil during all ages.

The ultimate fate of Ahriman is stated in the Vendidad Sade" Izeshnd
and Vispered, as follows (Zend-Avesta, t. I. 2. P. p. 169) : " That unjust,
" that impure being, who is a Div but in his thoughts; that dark king
" of the Darwands, who understands nothing but evil ; he shall, at the
" resurrection, recite the Avesta, and not only himself practise the law

358

Jamasp, the venerable sage, says thus : " It is to
4 ' be remarked that * world ' is a metaphorical ex-
" pression for body; and ' God,' for the aspiration
* ' of the spirit ; ' Ahriman, ' for the physical tempe-
' ' rament ; ' the evil thought, ' the habitual bias of the
' ' soul to material objects ; by ' the wickedness and
' * ' corruption of Ahriman, and his war, ' are implied
" the domination of the sensual passions over spirit;
" and what they said of ' the terrestrial world,' means
" the same ; by ' the creation of angels,' the existence
u of praiseworthy qualities and perseverance in pure
" morals, with the subjugation of the senses by
" means of religious austerities, for the senses con-
" stitute the gratuitous foes of the heart; by 'peace,'
" is signified the impossibility of expelling by one
" effort the evil propensities which are the armies of
£' Iblis ; that is, excess and extravagance are to be
'* avoided^ and the path of moderation followed;
" the circumstance of ' Ahriman s remaining in the
"• ' world for a definite period,' means the ascendancy
" and supremacy of the bodily passions, particularly
' * in early years, and before arriving at mature reflec-
' * tion, and even during other periods of this mortal

" of Ormuzd, but establish it even in the habitations of the Darwands."
Moreover it is said (Zend-Avesta, t II. pp. 415-416), that Ahriman, that
lying serpent, shall at the end of ages be purified by fire, as well as the
earth be freed from the dark abode of hell; Ormuzd and Ahriman, accom-
panied by all the good and evil genii, shall sing the praises of the author
of all good."— A. T.

359

" life, in certain constitutions ; ' the departure ofAhri-
" ' man from the world' implies voluntary death, or
*' religious austerities, or compulsory death, which
' ' is the natural decease ; when the soul has by such
41 means been emancipated, it finds itself adorned
14 with perfections and attains to its particular
" sphere or bliss without alloy."

They have said : " Darkness besieged Light and
' l imprisoned it ; on which event the angels having
"• come to the assistance of Light, Darkness de-
' ' manded help from Ahriman, ils source ; but the
" angels having overcome the prince of Dark-
* ' ness, gave him a respite until the appointed hour
tv and the predestined death." As to Darkness
having arisen from the evil thought of Light, the
venerable sage Jamasp says : * ' The interpretation
' ' of this tradition is the same as that of the pre-
41 ceding ; as thus : The soul is a precious substance,
" formed from light; its darkness, the bodily pas-
sions; its confinement and imprisonment, the
" dominion of the passions over that luminous
" essence, which drag down the souls of the wicked
' • to the desolation of the lower world ; the assist-
1 * ance of angels, is the obtaining of grace and power
" through elevation of mind, proceeding from illu-
' ' mination from on high , and the ascent of the spirit
1 ' to the world of intellect ; delay or respite implies
" the continuance of the passions until the period of

360

11 natural death; and the corrupt thought the bias
" of the soul to material objects."

Da war Haryar, the author of the Ddrdi Sekandur,
having once questioned the author concerning the
enigmatical meanings attached to the words God
and Ahriman, received this answer : " Light is the
*' same as existence, and darkness signifies non-ex-
' * istence ; God is therefore light or existence, and
" Ahriman is darkness or non-existence. When it
4 ' is said that Ahriman is opposed to God, the mean-
' ' ing is, that God is existence, the opposite to which
' * is non-existence.

They say that the creation and production of
diseases, serpents, scorpions, and such like is an
abominable act, originating with Ahriman, which
Jamasp thus explains : " It is evident that diseases,
' ' such as ignorance, folly, pride, negligence, noxious
" creatures, (such as) anger, lust, strong passions,
" concupiscence, calumny, envy, malignity, covet-
" ousness, treachery, fraud, and the like, arise not
" from spirit, but from the elemental constitution."
They have also said: " An angel is the agent of
" good, and Ahriman the agent of evil; and that
" God is exempt from both these acts; which the
fl celebrated sage Jamasp thus explains: — By angel
" is implied spirit and the agent of good; which, if
'* it overcome the senses, engages man in virtuous
u words and acts, which are styled ' good.' Ahri-

361

" man, or Satan, in this place means the desires in-
u herent in the constitution of the senses, which, on
*' obtaining the victory over spirit, attract it to-
" wards the pleasures of sense, thus making it for-
' * get its original abode ; which is denominated
'' ' evil :' and as the Almighty has given his creatures
" free will, neither are their good or evil deeds to be
*' imputed to him." This saying: That the soul of
him who has done evil, having determined on flight
through fear of divine wrath, plunges downwards,
is thus explained by the sage Jamasp : '' By * sin-
" ' ner' is understood one whose essence is defec-
*' live ; by ' descent,' turning away from the superior
" to corporeal attachments; by ' resolving on flight,'
" the strong desires of passion, through the sugges-
" tion of body, until the entire departure of divine
" grace."

Thus far extend the illustrations of the sage Jam-
asp. But that the scope of Zardusht is couched
under allegories agrees with the declaration made
by the great Bahman, the son of Isfendiar, the son
of king Gushtasp, who says : " Zardusht once said
" to me : ' My father and mother delivered me to
tf ' nurses, who dwelt in a place far remote from
'* * the city of my birth ; with these I remained many
a long year, until I quite forgot my father, mo-
ther, and native town. Suddenly this thought
came over my mind — Who are my parents,

Ct

362

' and where the place of my birth?— I struggled
' hard until I returned naked and hare the way by
' which I had come ; and having gained my house

* and beheld my father and mother, I returned
4 again to the place where my nurses dwelt. As
' the dress worn by the people of this country
' was on my person, I shall therefore remain

* here until this dress is worn out, and then de-

* part, in order that it may not be said— He was
1 unable to perform his office and has run away,
' leaving our despised garments.' '

Bahman, the son of Isfendiar, thus says : "All
that Zardusht uttered was enigmatical : the * city
' and native place' are the angelic world ; by ' father, '
is meant the primary intelligence ; and by ' mother,'
the universal soul ; ' the nurses,' this lower world
and junction with body ; ' forgetting the original
' abode, ' attachment to the elements of body ;
' recalling it to memory,' implies the struggle to-
wards that direction ; ' the arriving there,' means
religious austerities; ' the state of nakedness,' the
divesting one's self of bodily attachments ; ' the
' returning back to the nurses,' means resuming the
body ; ' that it may not be said that he was alarmed
' at the performance, of duty, and ran off, leaving his
' clothes behind ; I shall not therefore depart from
' hence, until these clothes be worn out ; — the per-
' formance of duty,' signifies the amassing of the

565

" capital of knowledge, true faith, and good works ;
t{ by * the clothes being worn out,' is implied the sepa-
* ' ration of the bodily members ; that is, I will re-
•' main here as long as the body lasts, and after its
" dissolution return to my native place."

Prince Isfendiar, the son of king Gushtasp, also
tells us : " Zardusht once said to me : 'A number
u * of persons once left their native place for the pur-
" ' pose of acquiring wealth, that on their return
' ' ' they might pass their time in pleasure and enjoy-
" ' ment. On arriving at the city of their destina-
" ' tion, some of them amassed wealth ; some de-
" * voted themselves to wandering about the place
4 ' ' and contemplating the beauties with which it
" ' abounded; whilst others remained altogether
" ' inactive. When the time of packing up came,
' ' ' the king of that people said— Depart from hence,
" ' that another set may arrive, and obtain their
" ' portion, as you have done. — On which all these
" ' people went out, some provided with stores for
' ' ' the journey ; some without any provision ; a few
" 'on horseback ; a multitude on foot ; a wide de-
" * sert lay before, and a toilsome road, through
" ' rocks and prickly thorns, devoid of cultivation,
tc * destitute of water and shade. Those who were
" ' on horseback and furnished with provisions
" ' passed over, and having reached their native
" ' city, gave themselves up to joy and gladness;

364

' those who were on foot, and had provided stores
' for the journey, after experiencing many ups
' and downs, at last, with extreme difficulty,
' reached their halting place, where they passed

* their time in a state of happiness proportioned
' to their gains, although, on instituting a com-
' parison between themselves and those inhabi-
' tants and dignified persons who had acquired
' opulence by commercial pursuits, they feel pangs
' of regret ; but those who came out of the city

* without any kind of conveyance or stores, and
' thinking that without supplies they could reach
' their native place, when they had gone some
' liltle distance, became wearied and unable to
' proceed through weakness, and fatigue from
' walking, want of provisions, the difficulties of

* the road, distress, the sun's overpowering heat,
' and the gloom of night ; they were forced by

* necessity to turn back to the city, where they
4 had been ; but other merchants had in the raean-
' time taken possession of the houses, dwellings,
' shops, and apartments which they formerly
' occupied : they were thus reduced to a state of
' destitution, and had no resource left but that of
' working for hire or turning mendicants, pur-
' suits which they adopted.' '

Isfendiar says : ** ' The city from which they departed

* for the purposes of commerce' is the angelic world ;

365

' ' ' that to which they came with the design of accumu-
" ' lating wealth' is the lower world; ' the houses,
44 ' shops, etc./ signify the human body; ' the people
' ' * of the city' are the animals, vegetables, and mine-
44 rals; * the king/ the elemental nature; ' what the
4 ' ' merchants have amassed ' are their words and deeds ;
44 ' what others have collected' is devotion without
44 knowledge; 4 the inactive' are those whose only
" pursuits were sleep, sensual gratification, etc. ;
4' 4 the exclamation of the king ' is Death, who expels
44 them from the mansions of body; 4 the deserts and
14 f mountains,' the extremes of heat and cold ; 4 the
" 4 equestrians are those who unite the speculative
<4 and practical; 4 the pedestrians, who were furnished
44 ' with some provisions' are those who adore God,
4< but neither knew themselves nor the Lord ; ' they
4 ' 4 who are without provisions or conveyance are those
t4 destitute of knowledge and good works, who
44 being unable to reach the angelic world, return in
44 despair to the elemental world, forfeiting the rank
44 they once possessed."
The sage Shah Nasir Khusran says on this head :

" When any one travels this road for that important purpose,
•• He takes at least a loaf of bread under his arm :
" How then canst thou, who hast no store, proceed up the mount,
" From the centre of darkness to the zenith of Saturn?"

In some other parables of Zardusht, which are
here noticed, he speaks thus : 44 When the travellers,

366

" in consequence of the want of stores and fatigue
" of walking, return back to the king's city, not
' ' finding their former beautiful mansions, they settle
" themselves in caverns or lanes, hiring themselves
" as labourers or subsisting on alms."

Esfendiar says : " By this is understood, that when
* ' they quit this mortal frame, they cannot reach the
" world on high, owing to their want of know-
" ledge and good works; being thus rejected, on
" their return to the elemental world, they cannot
" obtain human bodies, but are invested with the
" forms of the brute creation." As this parable
nearly resembles what has been heretofore men-
tioned, it is unnecessary to describe it more in
detail.

" When thou departest from the inn of the body, there is no other

" storehouse ;
" Why dost thou not therefore procure supplies for the road in this

" place of sojourn?"

Isfendiar also records : ' ' Zardusht once said :
'* ' Two persons of one house were partners, and
' ' ' were both possessed of great capital ; they said :
" ' — We have gained a sufficient stock of wealth
" * in the world, and live and dress in a manner
" ' suitable to our great riches ; we now only want
4 ' ' some beloved object, that our existence may be
" ' more blissful : therefore, to attain our desire, it
' ' * will be necessary to undertake a journey. They

367

" ' directed their course to a city, the inhabitants
" ' of which were famed for beauty and graceful-
" ' ness; on arriving there with the caravan, one
' 4 ' of the partners gave himself up to traversing the
' ' ' gardens, and was so absorbed in admiring the
" ' beauties of the city, that he attended to no
" * business whatever, whilst the other partner
" ' obtained a mistress of exquisite beauty. All of
" * a sudden the garden-door was closed.'

Isfendiar says " Zdid and Amru1 may serve as an
" example of the two friends ; ' the capital and stock,'
" the original world ; * the city of beauteous persons,'
' ' this world ; ' the desirable beloved object,' good works;
41 ' the rapacious animals, reptiles, and beasts' are
" anger, lust, excessive desire, hatred, envy, con-
" cupiscence, malignity, and avarice; ' the herbage
' ' ' and gardens ' are sloth and pride ; ' the garden-
" door,' the dakhmah (or sepulchral vault); * the
4 ' * urn,' the grave, or the place of burying the dead ;
" ' shutting the garden-door' the moment of death."

His reasons for enumerating the urn, dakhmah,
and grave are, that according to the faith of Azur
Hiishang, or Mahabad, they sometimes put the body
of the deceased into a jar of aqua-fortis, as among
them the body is deposited indifferently either in the
dakhmah or the jar : but the sepulchre is in use

1 Zaid and Amru are two names which grammarians use in giving an
example for any two individuals, such as may be said A. and B.— A. T.

568

among the people of Room, and the funeral pile
among those of Hindustan.

King Gushtasp also relates the following parable
of Zardusht : " A certain man delivered his son
4 ' to a preceptor, saying : ' Within such a time teach
44 * this boy the accomplishments necessary for a
44 ' courtier.' The boy, however, through a fond-
" ness for pleasure, sport, and amusements, was
" unwilling to give himself any trouble, and was
" slow in learning any thing; he however every
' ' day secretly brought from home sweetmeats and
14 agreeable objects, as his tutor had a great inclina-
44 lion for such enjoyments. When the preceptor's
44 time had passed in this manner, and his pupil had
44 become habituated to revelling, sensual pleasures,
44 and enjoyments, the tutor at last fell dangerously
' ' indisposed through these excesses, and laid him-
44 self down on the bed of death. His pupil well
" knew he had no other place left, and that he
44 must return to his parents, so that when his
*4 master fell sick, he became sensible of his own
44 state. Through dread of his father, shame of his
44 mother, the disgrace of ignorance, and a sense of
4< contrition, he went not near them, but pined in
44 melancholy and wandered about in obscurity."

This parable has been thus explained by Gusht-
asp : 4 4 4 The preceptor ' signifies the five senses ; ' the
4 * 'son,' the immortal spirit ; ' the father, ' the universal

369

" intelligence; ' the mother,' the universal soul; ' the
" 'sweetmeats and mistresses,' worldly enjoyments;
" * the indispensable necessity of the immortal spirit,' that
44 it should, through the senses and the common
** reflection which is their instructor, attain the
'c objects of intellect and amass provisions for its
44 return, so that it may become the associate of the
' ' only true king. If this purpose be not effected,
" it of course feels terror at the death of the body.
' ' When it has become thus biassed to sensual plea-
* * sures and devoid of all goodness, on being sepa-
4 ' rated from the body, although still possessed of
4 ' sufficient energy for mounting on high, yet through
44 shame and confusion, it feels no desire of arriving
'4 there and beholding its parents, soul and intel-
« lect."

The venerable Hiiryar once said to the author :
4 4 I have seen the following narrative in the Rama-
44 zastdn of Zardusht: 4 The prime minister to the
44 sovereign of the world had so many sons, that
4 4 their number surpassed all computation^ these he
" first sent to a place of education, where, along
" with the children of Rayas (cultivators), they
44 might attain knowledge. If the minister's sons
4 4 became intelligent, the Dustiir summoned them
44 to his presence, and enrolled them among the
4t king's confidential servants ; but if they remained
' 4 without science, they were not regarded as the

24

570

" Vizir's sons, but classed among the Rayas; were
" not permitted lo come into his presence; and
" were cut off from all share in their father's inhe-
*' ritance."

The author replied : " It occurs to me that, by
" ' the king of the world,' is meant the supreme God
" without equal; by ' vizir,' the primary intelli-
4 * gence ; and by ' the sons of the vizir, ' the souls
" endowed with reason ; by 4 school,' the elemental
" world, and the bodies formed of the elements;
" and by ' the children of the common people' the cor-
'( poreal senses and passions."

When the immortal spirits have acquired know-
ledge in this place of education, their father, tC Uni-
" versal Intelligence," brings them near himself,
and advances them to the rank of holding inter-
course with the Lord of Eternity : but the souls
which do not acquire knowledge in this school are
not allowed access to the world of uncompounded
beings, the abode of the Universal Intelligence, and
remain banished from the presence of the Creator of
the world ; so that they make no advance from the
material bodies of this abode of the elements, which
hold the rank of Rayas, but are excluded from all
share in the inheritance of the primary intelligence
or the acquisition of knowledge.

Zardusht has also said : "In the upper regions
" there exists a mighty ocean, from the vapors of

571

s< which a great mirage appears in this lower world:
" so that nothing save that illusion subsists here;
' * exacfl y as nothing besides that ocean exists in the
*' world on high."

The revered ruler of Hiiryar, having asked the
author the meaning of this parable, received this
answer : '* .' The mighty ocean' means the absolute
" essence and pure existence of God; ' the mirage'
" implies contingent existences, which in truth
" exist not, but appear to do so, through the
" inherent property of God's absolute existence;
" according to this view, he has said : ' From
" ' the vapors of that ocean has arisen the mir-
" ' age/ "

It is recorded in the books composed by Zar-
dusht's followers, and also in the ancient histories
of Iran, that at the period of Arjasp's second inva-
sion of Balkh, king Gushtasp was partaking of the
hospitality of Zal, in Sistan, and Isfendiar was a
prisoner in Dazh Gambadan ; and that Lohorasp,
notwithstanding the religious austerities he per-
formed through divine favor, laid aside the robes of
mortality in battle, after which the Turks took the
city. A Turk named Turbaratur, or Turbaraturhash,
having entered Zardusht's oratory, the prophet re-
ceived martyrdom by his sword. Zardusht, how-
ever, having thrown at him the rosary (ShumarAfin,
or I'dd Afrdz) which he held in his hand, there pro-

24*

572

ceeded from it such effulgent splendor, that its Ore
fell on Turburatur and consumed him. *

THE FIFTEENTH SECTION GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE
TENETS HELD BY THE FOLLOWERS OF MAZDAK. — Mazdak

* The author of the Dabistdn names no other famous teachers or
sectaries of Magism, after the death of Zoroaster, besides Ardai Viraf,
Azarbad, and Mazdak : he treats of this last in particular in the subse-
quent section, previously to which we cannot omit adverting to Mani or
Manes, whose name occurs in this book but once occasionally, as that of
a painter (see note, p. 205). He is however much more reputed as the
founder of a new doctrine, called from him Manichceism, which spread
its ramifications widely through the Christian world. According to
several authors, Mani was a Christian priest, and pretended to act the
part of Paraclet, the announced successor to Jesus Christ; according to
Khondemir, he endeavored to substitute himself for Mohammed, to
whom that prophecy respecting a Paraclet was applied by the Musel-
nians. However it be, Mani's Enghelion, or Gospel, has not been pre-
served, nor any other work written by himself; the books of his followers
too, such as could be found, were burnt. His religion is stated to have
been a mixture of Magism, Brahmanism or Buddhism, Judaism, and
Christianism; Shahristani, often quoted in this work, and Mohammed Ibn
el Nedim el Werrak, author of the Fehrist (a history of literature), agree
in representing his doctrine as a branch of Magism with some Christian-
ism ingrafted upon it.

The two points attributed to Mani by the commentator of the Desatir,
namely, the permission to kill harmless animals, and the prohibition of
seiual intercourse, belong rather to the ethical or practical, than to the
theological, part of his religion, which distinguished itself by particular
dogmas and opinions relative to the duality of principle, good and bad,
-light and darkness, involving other metaphysical questions. These, we
know, were common to other religions in all times. Before Manes, Chris-
tian sects combined the said principles with the dogmas of their religion :
so did the followers of Basilides, Marcion, Bardesanes, Valentius, and
others. These, as well as after them the disciples of Manes, happen to be
not seldom confounded with the Gnostics, which name was applied to dif-

373

was a holy and learned man, contemporary with
king Kobad; his religion was extensively diffused,
but he was at last put to death by the illustrious
Nushirvan ; his tenets were as follow : from the
commencement without beginning, the world had
two creators ; the agent of good, Yazdan, " God,"
or ''light;" and the agent of evil, Ahriman, or
" darkness." The supreme God is the author of
good, and from him proceeds nothing but good;
consequently, intelligences, souls, heavens, and
stars are his creation, in all which Ahriman has no
share whatever ; the elements and their combina-

ferent sectaries, chiefly Neo-platonics, from the earliest to later times of
Christianism. The Manichieans rejected the Old Testament entirely, and
partly the New, which they interpreted according to their opinion. They
disputed about the nature of Jesus, and modified Christian theology ; they
believed a region inhabited by God and the pure spirits, prior to the
creation ; a world, created of an eternal and self-existing matter ; ten
heavens and eight earths; two empires, the one of light and the other of
darkness; the last, ruled by the great Lord, called " matter;" demons
with material souls and bodies ; the soul no part of the divinty, but united
with the body to govern it ; two souls in every man ; the propagation of
souls ; a transmigration of souls into animals ; the stars, and every thing
in nature, even the stones, animated ; the rotundity of heaven and of
the earth ; antipodes ; and other theses too many to be all enumerated
in this place. They had besides particalar rites of worship, from which
the veneration of the sun, the moon, and other stars, was not ex-
cluded ; they were averse to matrimony, and generally austere in their
manners. See about this extensive subject the Mdmoires of the learned
Abbe" Foucher, in the Hist, de I'Acad. Royale des Insc. et Belles-Lett.,
t. xxix, and the work quoted, Hist. crit. de Manichte, b/Beausobre.
-A. T.

374

lions are, in like manner, the productions of the
Lord; the influence of fire imparts warmlh to those
stricken with cold ; the breathing of the winds gives
coolness and ease to those consumed by heat ; the
water satisfies those parched with thirst ; the earth
is the place of ambulation. In like manner, their
combinations, such as gold and silver among mine-
rals ; the fruit-bearing trees among vegetables ; the
ox, horse, sheep, and carnel, of animals ; the pious
and beneficent among mankind, are his creation : but
the consuming of animals by fire ; the destruction of
living creatures by the sultry simoom (wind) ; the
foundering of ships in floods ; the cutting bodies
asunder by iron, or their being pricked by thorns;
rapacious and noxious animals, such as lions, tigers,
scorpions, serpents, and the like, are all the works
of Ahriman ; and as he has no share in the empyreal
heaven, they style it Behisht ; but as he possesses a
joint authority in the elemental world, opposition
has consequently arisen, and no form subsisting in
it is possessed of permanent duration. For exam-
ple : the Almighty bestows life, and Ahriman puts
to death ; life is the creation of God, death that of
Ahriman ; God produced health, Ahriman, pain and
disease ; the Bestower of blessings created paradise,
Ahriman, hell ; the worship of the Lord is there-
fore most meet, as his kingdom is immense ; and
Ahriman has no power, except in the elemental

375

world ; in the next place, the spirit of every one
devoted to God ascends on high, but that of Ahri-
man's servants abides in hell. Wisdom therefore
requires the man of intelligence to separate himself
from the Ahrimans ; for although the author of evil
may afflict such a person, yet on being delivered
from the body, his soul ascends to Heaven, whither
Ahriman has not the power of coming.

In some parts of the Desnad, l Mazdak says :
" Existence arises from two principles or sources,
" Shidand Tar," i. e. : ' light' and ' darkness, 'which
he afterwards interprets to mean God and Ahriman.
He afterwards says : " The works of light result
*' from choice, but those of darkness from accident ;
" light is endued with knowledge and sensation,
" darkness is ignorant; the mixture of light and
" darkness is accidental, and the disengagement of
" light from darkness is also accidental, and not
" the result of choice; whatever is good in this
" world is an advantage emanating from light,
' ' whilst evil and corruption arise from darkness ;
' when the parts of light are separated from dark-
*' ness, the compound becomes dissolved, which
" means resurrection." Again, he says in the same
volume: " There are three roots, or principles :
" water, fire, and earth; when these are blended

1 Desnad, the volume which contains the doctrines of Mazdak.— D. S.

576

" together, the tendency to good or evil arising from
* ' their mixture is also accidental ; whatever results
" from their purest parts tends to good, and what-
" ever is derived from their grosser parts tends to
' ' evil. " He says in the same volume : ' ' God is seated
" on a throne in the world, the source of all things,
' ' just as kings are on the throne of sovereignty in the
" lower world. In his presence are the four ener-
" gies, namely, Bdzkushd, or l power of discrimina-
" * lion;' Ydddah, or ' power of memory,' Ddnd, or
*' ' faculty of comprehension;' and Surd, or ' glad-
' ' ' ness ;' in like manner as the affairs of royalty
" turn on four persons: " the Supreme Pontiff,
(t the principal Hirbud, the commander in chief of
t( the forces, and the master of the revels. And
' ' these four persons conduct the affairs of the world
" through the agency of seven others, inferior to
" them in rank, namely, chieftain, administrator,
" Banur^ Dairvdn (head of a monastery), agent,
'* Dostur, and slave; which seven characters com-
* ' prehend under them the twelve Rawdni, or ' or-
' ' ' bits ' of spirits, namely : the speaker, giver, taker,
" bearer, eater, runner, grazer, slayer, smiter,
" comer, goer, and abider. Whatever man unites
" in himself the four energies, the seven agents,

1 A word not in the dictionaries; if derivable from snTTT ba'na, " an

" arrow," it may signify "an archer, head-archer;" if from oj|U?i bam',
" speech," it may be " a speaker, an orator."— A. T.

577

" and the twelve qualities, becomes in this lower
'* world like a creator or protector, and is delivered
" from all kinds of embarrassment.'

It is also stated in the same volume : * ' Whatever
'k' is not according with the light and agrees with
" darkness, becomes wrath, destruction, and dis-
' ' cord. And whereas almost all contentions among
' ' mankind have been caused by riches and women ,
' * it is therefore necessary to emancipate the female
4 ' sex and have wealth in common : he therefore
" made all men partners in riches and women ; just
' ' as they are of fire, water, and grass, " In the same
volume we find: *' It is a great injustice that one
" man's wife should be altogether beautiful, whilst
" another's is quite the contrary ; it therefore be-
" comes imperative, on the score of justice and
" true religion, for a good man to resign his lovely
" wife for a short time to his neighbour, who has
* ' one both evil and ugly ; and also take to himself
" for a short time his neighbour's deformed con-
" sort."

Mazdak has also said: '* It is altogether repre-
" hensible and improper that one man should hold
" a distinguished rank, and another remain poor
" and destitute of resources: it is therefore incum-
' ' bent on the believer to divide his wealth with his
" coreligionist; and so taught the religion of Zar-
" dusht, that he should even send his wife to visit

578

" him, that he may not be deprived of female so-
' ' ciety. But if his coreligionist should prove unable
"to acquire wealth, or show proofs of extrava-
" gance, infatuation, or insanity, he is to be con-
" fined to the house, and measures adopted to pro-
" vide him with food, clothing, and all things requi-
" site: whoever assents not to these arrangements
" is consequently a follower of Ahriman's, and they
" get contributions from him by compulsion.

Farhdd, Shirdb, and Ayin Hoshpuydr adopted this
creed ; besides these, Muhammed Kali the Kurd,
Ismail Beg, the Georgian, and Ahmadai of Tiran (a
village near Ispahan) possessed this faith. From
them it has been ascertained, that the followers of
Mazdak do not at present assume the dress of Ge-
bers, but practise their religion secretly among the
Muhammedans. They also showed the author the
volume of Mazdak, called the Desnad, written in old
Persian, which Ayin Shakib, the grandfather of Ayin
Hosh, translated into popular Persian. Farhod was
a man of great intelligence, and assumed the name
of Muhammed Said Beg among the Muhammedans :
Shirab went under the name of Shir Muhammed, and
Ayin Bosh under that of Muhammed Akil; and as they
were eminent in their peculiar science, they pos-
sessed the volume called the Demdd. Such is the
detailed account of the Parsi systems, agreeably to
the promise made in the beginning of this work,

579

into which not a single one has been admitted which
has not either been taken from their own books, or
heard from the followers of the respective creeds,
as their enemies have, from hostile motives, falsely
ascribed to them various erroneous doctrines. !

1 This first chapter of the Dabistan, here finished, represents the Sabae-
isiniis, or the worship of the heavenly bodies, and the formation of
society by a race of kings, called the Mahabadians, who were succeeded
by the Pe"shdadians, and other known dynasties of the Persian kings.
We see laid down the principal features of Asiatic monarchies which
have been preserved from times immemorial to our days. The Dabistan,
it is true, blends the ideas of more recent epochs with those of the
highest antiquity, and introduces sects of later times, the origin of
which he traces back to the times of Abad, Hushang, and Zohak. It is
however clear, that a very ancient religion prevailed in Asia, consisting
of two principal points: the first was the adoration of the Creator of
all good, whose unity was acknowledged very early by the enlightened
class of men; the second point was the detestation of the author of all
physical and moral evil. This religion inculcated purity of thoughts,
words, and actions, and a tender regard for animal life; not without a
great number of liturgical rites, dietetical observances, and other regu-
lating customs in private and public. We may comprise under the
general name of " Magismus" the fourteen religions mentioned in this
chapter, the last but one of which, namely, that of Zardusht, appears to
have been but a new systematic arrangement, not without a partial
reform, of the old general religion of Asia, which has also been attri-
buted to a more ancient Znrdusht.

The duality of principle ( good and bad ) seems to come home to the
common feeling of mankind ; but it implies metaphysical questions
about the creation, anteriority, posteriority, derivation and duration of
light and darkness, about which the different sects are divided by their
dogmas and opinions. That of the Zardushtians derived from God light
and darkness, and considered the last as a shadow inseparable from the
body. Zardusht was a dualist, inasmuch as he adopted light and dark-
ness, as two eternal principles opposed to each other, and also inasmuch

580

as he taught two immediate authors of good and evil, who were inde-
pendent of, and absolutely contrary to, each other : but he was an unita-
rian, inasmuch as he subordinated these authors to the eternal decrees
of the Supreme Being, who to him was the only principle of the uni-
verse, with respect not only to its original creation, but also to all its
physical and moral accidents.

Although subdivided into sects, Zardusht's religion appears to have
been dominant, until the forcible introduction of Muhammedanism
among the Persians, and zealously supported by the preaching of four
wise men, called Sasan, who lived from 240 to 643 of the Christian era.

Here follow the principal epochs of the Zardushtian religion from the
time of Gushtasp to the end of the ancient Persian monarchy :

I. GUSHTASP . . .

II. ALEXANDER . .

ACCORDING TO FERDDSI.

from 652 to 505 B. C.
— 337 - 323 id.

III. ARDESHIR BABEGAN — 200 - 240 A. D.

IV. SHAPUR II. , , — 240 - 271 id.

V. BAHRAH, the son of

Hormuzd

VI. KOBAD

VII. KHOSRU PARVIS . .

VIII. YEZDEJERD .

272 - 276 id.
488 - 531 id.
591 - 628 id.
632 - 652 id.

Then lived Zardusht.

The First Sasan (Desatir,
pp. 185. 186).

Arda Viraf.

Arzabad, the son of Ma-
rasfand, Sasan II. (De-
sat, p. 188.)

Mani.

Sasan III. Mazdak.
The Fourth and
Fifth Sasan.

-A. T.

the

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

ERRATA.

P. 31 (note) last line. Instead of " He," read " Hushang." This part of
the note, to begin from " Hushang," ought to have been placed
higher up, at the beginning of the last paragraph, before " Jem-
" shid,"also called " Jemshar."

P. 57 (note) 1. 5. Instead of " assumed by," read " given to."

PARIS :

Printed by Madame V" DONDEY-DUPRE,
46, rue St-Louis, au Marais.