{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_60468/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_60468","id":"gutenberg_60468","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60468","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Yezidis"],"text":"Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and\npunctuation remains unchanged.\n\nThe precise location of footnote 37 is speculative since it is not\nindicated in the original.\n\nAl-Bertuni is only mentioned once in the book, with an anchor to a\nfootnote which is not present. The anchor has not been included.\n\nThe first footnote to chapter VII has no anchor, nor any mention of the\napparent topic within the chapter so it has not been indexed.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_, and superscripts thus y^e.\n\n\n\n\nWORLD WORSHIPS SERIES\n\n\n HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY, in 4 Volumes. _By Andrew Stephenson_\n\n SEX WORSHIP AND SYMBOLISM OF PRIMITIVE RACES. _By Sanger Brown, II._\n\n DEVIL WORSHIP, THE SACRED BOOKS AND TRADITIONS OF THE YEZIDIZ. _By\n Isya Joseph._\n\n ZOROASTRIANISM AND JUDAISM. _By George William Carter._\n\n MESSIAHS: CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN. _By Wilson D. Wallis._\n\n THE DEEPER ASPECTS OF ROMAN EMPEROR-WORSHIP. _By Louis Matthews Sweet._\n\n\nRICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON\n\n\n[Illustration: THE SYMBOL OF THE DEVIL.]\n\n\n\n\n                             DEVIL WORSHIP\n\n                         THE SACRED BOOKS AND\n                           TRADITIONS OF THE\n                                YEZIDIZ\n\n                                  BY\n\n                    ISYA JOSEPH, B.A., M.A., PH.D.\n\n                            [Illustration]\n\n                                BOSTON\n                           RICHARD G. BADGER\n                           THE GORHAM PRESS\n\n\n\n\n                 Copyright, 1919, by Richard G. Badger\n\n                          All rights reserved\n\n\n                  The Gorham Press, Boston, U.\u202fS.\u202fA.\n\n                 Made in the United States of America.\n\n\n\n\n             TO MY TEACHERS IN UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,\n               COLUMBIA, AND HARVARD UNIVERSITIES, THIS\n                   BOOK IS INSCRIBED WITH GRATITUDE\n                              AND ESTEEM\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  Chapter                                                           Page\n\n  INTRODUCTION\u2014THE ORIGIN OF THE MANUSCRIPT                           11\n\n  NOTES ON THE INTRODUCTION                                           22\n\n\n                    PART I. THE TRANSLATION OF THE\n                              ARABIC TEXT\n\n  PREFACE, IN THE NAME OF THE MOST COMPASSIONATE\n  GOD                                                                 29\n\n  I. AL-JILWAH\u2014THE REVELATION                                         30\n\n  II. MASHAF RES\u2014THE BLACK BOOK                                       36\n\n  III. APPENDIX TO PART I.                                            53\n\n  IV. THE POEM IN PRAISE OF \u0160EI\u1e2a \u2018ADI                                 70\n\n  V. THE PRINCIPAL PRAYER OF THE YEZIDIS                              73\n\n  VI. SEVEN CLASSES OF YEZIDIS                                        75\n\n  VII. THE ARTICLES OF FAITH                                          77\n\n  NOTES ON PART I.                                                    83\n\n\n                   PART II. THE CRITICAL DISCUSSION\n                              OF YEZIDISM\n\n  I. THE RELIGIOUS ORIGIN OF THE YEZIDIS                              89\n\n  I. The Yezidi Myth                                                  89\n\n  II. The Christian Tradition                                         96\n\n  III. The Speculative Theories of Western\n  Orientalists                                                       103\n\n  IV. The Dogmatic View of Mohammedan\n  Scholars and the Writer\u2019s Own Explanation                          118\n\n  Notes on Part I.                                                   138\n\n  II. THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN YEZIDISM                             145\n\n  I. The Yezidi View of God                                          145\n\n  II. The Deity of the Second Degree                                 147\n\n  1. Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs                                                     147\n\n  2. \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee                                                       158\n\n  3. Yezid                                                           166\n\n  Notes on Chapter II.                                               167\n\n  III. OTHER DEITIES AND FESTIVALS                                   169\n\n  I. The So-Called Seven Divinities                                  169\n\n  II. The Day of Sarsal or New Year                                  174\n\n  Notes on Chapter III.                                              177\n\n  IV. SACRAMENTS, RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES AND\n  SACERDOTAL SYSTEM                                                  178\n\n  I. Sacraments                                                      178\n\n  II. Some Other Religious Practices                                 180\n\n  III. The Sacerdotal Orders                                         182\n\n  Notes on Chapter IV.                                               185\n\n  V. THEIR CUSTOMS                                                   186\n\n  I. Marriage                                                        186\n\n  II. Funerals                                                       192\n\n  III. Nationality                                                   194\n\n  IV. Locality                                                       195\n\n  V. Dwellings                                                       197\n\n  VI. The Language                                                   198\n\n  VII. Occupation                                                    198\n\n  Notes on Chapter V.                                                200\n\n  VI. LIST OF THE YEZIDI TRIBES                                      201\n\n  The Tribes Across the River from Mosul                             201\n\n  The Tribes at Sinjar and Jezireh                                   202\n\n  The Tribes of Midyat Region                                        203\n\n  VII. PERSECUTION                                                   205\n\n  Notes on Chapter VII.                                              210\n\n\n  BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                       213\n\n  INDEX                                                              219\n\n\n\n\n                             DEVIL WORSHIP\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE MANUSCRIPT\n\n\nThe Arabic manuscript here translated was presented to me before I left\nMosul by my friend D\u00e2ud a\u1e63-\u1e62\u00e2\u00ee\u0121 as a memento of our friendship. \u1e2aaw\u00e2ja\na\u1e63-\u1e62\u00e2\u00ee\u0121 was a man of culture, in sympathy with western thought, and an\nintimate acquaintance of M.\u202fN. Siouffi, the vice-consul of the French\nRepublic in Mosul. From the first page of the manuscript it appears\nthat through some Yezidis he had access to their literature. I know he\nwas in close touch with many of them, especially with the family of\nMulla \u1e24aidar, which is the only Yezidi family that can read and guard\nthe sacred tradition of the sect.\n\nThe manuscript comprises a brief Introduction, the Sacred Books, and\nan Appendix. In the first, the compiler indicates the sources of his\ninformation and gives a sketch of the life of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, the chief\nsaint of the Yezidis.\n\nThe Sacred Books comprise _Kit\u00e2b al-Jilwah_ (Book of Revelation), and\n_Ma\u1e63\u1e25af R\u00ea\u0161_ (Black Book)\u2014so named because in it mention is made of the\ndescent of the Lord upon the Black Mountain (p. 32). _Al Jilwah_[1]\nis ascribed to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee himself, and would accordingly date from the\ntwelfth century A. D. It is divided into a brief introduction and\nfive short chapters. In each, \u2018Ad\u00ee is represented as the speaker. In\nthe Preface the \u0160ei\u1e2b says that he existed with Melek T\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs before\nthe creation of the world, and that he was sent by his god T\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs to\ninstruct the Yezidi sect in truth. In the first chapter he asserts his\nomnipresence and omnipotence; in the second he claims to have power\nto reward those who obey him and to punish those who disobey him; in\nthe third he declares that he possesses the treasures of the earth;\nin the fourth he warns his followers of the doctrines of those that\nare without; and in the fifth he bids them keep his commandments and\nobey his servants, who will communicate to them his teachings. The\n_Black Book_,[2] which perhaps dates from the thirteenth century, is\nlarger than the Book of Revelation, but is not divided into chapters.\nIt begins with the narrative of creation: God finishes his work in\nseven days\u2014Sunday to Saturday. In each day he creates an angel or\nking (_melek_). Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, who is created on Sunday, is made chief\nof all. After that Fahr-ad D\u00een creates the planets, man, and animals.\nThen follows a story about Adam and Eve, their temptation and quarrel;\nthe coming of the chief angels to the world to establish the Yezidi\nkingdom; the flood; the miraculous birth of Yez\u00eed bn Mu\u2018awiya; and\ncertain ordinances in regard to food, the New Year, and marriages.\n\nThe Appendix contains the following:\n\n 1. A collection of materials concerning the Yezidi belief and practice.\n\n 2. A poem in praise of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee.\n\n 3. The principal prayer of the Yezidis, in the Kurdish language.\n\n 4. A description of the Yezidi sacerdotal system.\n\n 5. A petition to the Ottoman government to exempt the sect from\n military service, presented in the year 1872 A.\u202fD.\n\nAn analysis of the texts shows that the material is taken from\ndifferent sources: part of it is clearly derived from the religious\nbooks of the sect; another part from a description of the beliefs\nand customs of the sect given by a member of it to an outsider; a\nthird, partly from observations by an outsider, partly from stories\nabout Yezidis current among their Christian neighbors. Unfortunately\nthe compiler does not specify whence each particular part of his\ninformation is obtained. On closer examination it is evident that part,\nat least, of the Arabic in hand is a translation from Syriac.\n\nThe Yezidis, frequently called \u201cDevil-Worshippers,\u201d are a small and\nobscure religious sect, numbering about 200,000.[3] They are scattered\nover a belt of territory three hundred miles wide, extending in length\nfrom the neighborhood of Aleppo in northern Syria to the Caucasus in\nsouthern Russia. The mass of them, however, are to be found in the\nmountains of northern and central Kurdistan and among the Sinjar Hills\nof Northern Mesopotamia.\n\nBy reason of their mysterious religion, the Devil-Worshipers have\nbeen an object of interest and investigation for several generations.\nOur chief firsthand sources of information in regard to the manners,\ncustoms, and practices of these people are: Sir Henry Layard, _Nineveh\nand its Remains_ (1849), _Nineveh and Babylon_ (1853); G.\u202fP. Badger,\n_The Nestorians and their Rituals_ (1852); my honored teacher, Rev.\nA.\u202fN. Andrus, veteran missionary of the A.\u202fB.\u202fC.\u202fF.M., resident in\nMardin, Mesopotamia, \u201cThe Yezidis,\u201d in the _Encyclopaedia of Missions_;\nP. Anastase, \u201cThe Yezidis,\u201d in the Arabic periodical, _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, Vol.\nII (1899); Professor A.\u202fV. Williams Jackson, of Columbia University,\n_Persia Past and Present_ (1906); \u201cThe Yezidis,\u201d in the _International\nEncyclopaedia, s.\u202fv._; also in _J A O S_, XXV, 178; M.\u202fN. Siouffi,\nin the _Journal Asiatique_, 1882 (vii^e s\u00e9rie, T. 20), p. 252, and\n1885 (viii^e s\u00e9rie, T. 5), p. 78. Siouffi was the first to discover\nand establish the historical character of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, about whom the\nscholars had been puzzled. He published an extract relating to \u2018Ad\u00ee\nfrom Ibn \u1e2aallik\u00e2n\u2019s _Wafaiy\u00e2t \u2018al-Ay\u00e2n_ (bibliographical work). Of the\nsecond-hand sources of information may be mentioned _Les Yezidis_, by\nJ. Menant (Paris, 1892), and the article by Victor Dingelstedt, \u201cThe\nYezidis,\u201d in the _Scottish Geographical Magazine_, Vol. XIV, pp. 259\nff.[4]\n\nIn addition to these descriptions, several manuscripts have come to\nlight of recent years which give a great deal of information about the\nbeliefs and customs of the Yezidis.\n\nTwo of these manuscripts are in the Biblioth\u00e8que Nationale, in Paris\n(_Fond Syriaque_, Nos. 306 and 325). A translation of the Arabic\n(Carshuni) texts in these manuscripts relative to the Yezidis was\npublished by Professor E.\u202fH. Browne in an appendix to O.\u202fH. Parry,\n_Six Months in a Syrian Monastery_, 1895. Professor Browne at that\ntime proposed to edit the Arabic text (see J.-B. Chabot, _Journal\nAsiatique_, 1896, ix^e s\u00e9rie, T. 7, p. 100); but so far as I can\nascertain this intention has not been carried out.\n\nThe manuscript translated by Browne, which according to Parry (_loc.\ncit._, p. 357) was written by a native of Mosul, seems to be closely\nrelated to that translated below. There are, however, some differences\nin contents and arrangement: my copy is divided into the Book of\nRevelation, the Black Book, and an Appendix; while Browne\u2019s embraces\nthe Book of Revelation which corresponds to that in my manuscript),\nand two other \u201cAccounts,\u201d the greater part of which is contained in\nthe Black Book of my text, and the rest in the Appendix. Further, in\nmy manuscript _Al-Jilwah_ immediately follows the Introduction; while\nin Browne\u2019s the discussion of the sacerdotal system, the petition to\nthe Ottoman government, and some other matters, are inserted between\nthe Introduction and _Al-Jilwah_. In Browne\u2019s, moreover, the Poem\nin Praise of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, and the Principal Prayer (in Kurdish) are\nabsent, while the petition to the Turkish government is briefer, and\nlacks articles iv and xiv. The text of this petition, in its original\nform, was published by Lidzbarski in _Z D M G_, LI, 592 ff., after a\nmanuscript in Berlin which was procured from \u0160ammas Eremia \u0160amir.\n\nTwo Syriac texts have also been printed. The first, edited and\ntranslated by J.-B. Chabot in the _Journal Asiatique_, 1896 (ix^e\ns\u00e9rie, T. 7), p. 100 ff., from the Paris manuscripts referred to above,\ncorresponds, with slight variations, to the second \u201cAccount,\u201d of Browne\n(Parry, _loc. cit._, pp. 380-87).\n\nThe second was published with an Italian translation, by Samuel Giamil,\nunder the title, _Monte Singar; Storia di un Popolo Ignoto_ (Rome,\n1900), from a manuscript copied for him in 1899 from an original in\nthe monastery of Rabban Hormizd. The author of this work, a Syrian\npriest, Isaac, lived for a long time among the Yezidis, and not only\nhad unusual opportunities of observation, but, as is evident from\nseveral anecdotes, possessed their confidence and esteem in a singular\ndegree. His work is in catechetical form: a youthful Yezidi inquirer\nquestions a teacher about the beliefs, traditions, and customs of his\npeople, and the answers contain the fullest exposition of these matters\nwe at present possess. Occasionally the author falls out of his role,\nand lets it appear that the questioner is no other than Priest Isaac\nhimself.\n\nThe work is divided into ten sections, which treat respectively of the\nworks of God and his abode (p. 3); the creation of Adam and Eve (p. 8);\nthe wonderful deeds of the god Yez\u00eed (p. 16); the Yezidi saints (p.\n27); the New-Year (p. 32); marriage customs (p. 46); death and burial\n(p. 53); the pilgrimage to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s shrine (p. 67); the festivals\nand assemblies at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee (p. 80); and the Yezidi kings (p. 87).\n\nApart from the _Kit\u00e2b al-Jilwah_, Priest Isaac\u2019s work is clearly the\nsource from which is derived most of the material in the Syriac and\nArabic manuscripts that have hitherto come to light.\n\nBeside the Arabic manuscript from D\u00e2ud a\u1e63-\u1e62\u00e2\u00ee\u1e21 which is translated\nbelow, I have in my possession two others, which were sent me by the\nRev. A.\u202fN. Andrus. The first of these written by \u0160ammas Eremia \u0160amir\n(designated in the notes hereafter as SS), seems to be a duplicate of\nthat from which Browne\u2019s translation was made. They agree in contents\nand arrangement, and in certain readings in which they differ from the\nother texts. At the close of SS the writer says that he compiled it\n(chiefly from _Al-Jilwah_) for the benefit of some of his friends who\nwished to acquaint themselves with the Yezidi religion.\n\nThe origin of the Yezidi sect has been the subject of much discussion,\nbut no satisfactory solution of the problem has as yet been reached.\nThere are those who assert that the Yezidis are the remains of the\nancient Manichaeans;[5] others entertain the view that the Yezidis were\noriginally Christians, whom progressive ignorance has brought into\ntheir present condition[6]\u2014some even going so far as to connect the\nname \u201cYezidi\u201d with \u201cJesus\u201d![7] Some think that the Yezidi sect takes\nits name from the Persian word _yazd_, \u2018god, or good spirit,\u2019 over\nagainst Ahriman, the evil principle;[8] while others associate it with\n_Yazd_ or _Yezid_, a town in central Persia, the inhabitants of which\nare chiefly Parsees.[9] Some finally maintain that the sect was founded\nby \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee.[10]\n\nThe Yezidis themselves had a curious legend connecting the name with\nthe Caliph Yez\u00eed bn Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya[11] (see p. 37).\n\nIn a dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in\nHarvard University I called attention to a statement of a\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee\nthe importance of which seems hitherto not to have been appreciated,\nbut which appears to me to give the most probable explanation of the\nname and of the original affinities of the sect. The passage is as\nfollows (_Kit\u00e2b al Milal wan-Nihal_, ed. Cureton, I, 101):\n\n The Yezidis are the followers of Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa, who kept friendship\n with the first Muhakkama, before the Azari\u1e33a; he separated himself\n from those who followed after them with the exception of the\n Abadiyah,[12] for with these he kept friendly. He believed that God\n would send an apostle from among the Persians, and would reveal\n to him a book that is already written in heaven, and would reveal\n the whole (book) to him at one time,[13] and as a result he would\n leave the religion of Mohammed, the Chosen One\u2014may God bless and\n save him!\u2014and follow the religion of the Sabians mentioned in the\n Koran.[14] (These are not the Sabians who are found in \u1e24ar\u00e2n and\n Wasit.[15]) But Yez\u00eed associated himself with the people of the Book\n who recognized the Chosen One as a prophet, even though they did not\n accept his (Mohammed\u2019s) religion. And he said that the followers of\n the ordinances are among those who agree with him; but that others are\n hiding the truth and give companions to God, and that every sin, small\n or great, is idolatry.[16]\n\nThe statement of A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee is so clear that it can bear no other\ninterpretation than that the Yezidis were the followers of Yez\u00eed bn\nUnaisa. He calls them his _\u00b4a\u1e63\u1e25\u00e2b_, that is, his followers, a term by\nwhich he designates the relation between a sect and its founder.[17]\nThe statement comes from the pen of one who is considered of the\nhighest authority among the Arab scholars on questions relating to\nphilosophical and religious sects.[18] This precise definition of the\nposition of Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa in the sectarian conflicts of the first\ncentury of Islam seems to show that he had exact information about him.\n\nThe prediction about the Persian prophet is quoted, almost in the same\nwords, by another great Mohammedan authority on religious sects, Ibn\n\u1e24azm, who lived a century before A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee. (The Egyptian edition\nof Ibn \u1e24azm, Vol. IV, p. 188, reads Zaid bn Abi _Ubaisa_; but that\nUnaisa should be restored is evident from the fact that Ibn \u1e24azm is at\npains to distinguish the author of this unorthodox prediction from the\nwell-known traditionist of the name\u2014e. g., Tabari, I, 135.[19]\n\nThe prophecy was perhaps preserved among the leaders of the Aba\u1e0diya,\nwith which sect Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa is associated. A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee\u2019s\nstatement, the significant part of which we have found also in Ibn \u1e24azm\nwas doubtless derived from an older written source.\n\nWho is intended by the coming Persian prophet\u2014if, indeed, any\nparticular individual is meant\u2014it is not possible to determine.\nKremer[20] cannot be right in identifying him with \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, for the\nsupposed prediction was in circulation a century or more before his\ntime. He is said to have been, not a Persian, but a Syrian from Baalbek\nor elsewhere in the West; and both in Arabic authors[21] and in his own\nwritings[22] he appears as a Moslem, a Sufi saint in good standing. The\nYezidis to this day await the appearance of the Persian prophet.[23]\n\nOn the basis of these scanty bits of fact, it appears that: The Yezidis\nwere originally a \u1e2aarijite[24] sub-sect, akin to the Abadiya, bearing\nthe name of their founder, Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa. Certain distinctive\n\u1e2aarijite peculiarities seem indeed to have outlived among them the\ncommon faith of Islam; such as the tolerant judgment of Jews and\nChristians; the condemnation of every sin as implicit idolatry. In\ntheir new seats in Kurdistan, whither they migrated about the end of\nthe fourteenth century[25] they were drawn into the movement of which\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee was in his life time the leader and after his death the\nsaint, and ended by making of him the incarnation of God in the present\nage.[26] With this they joined elements drawn from Christianity,[27]\nwith here and there a trace of Judaism, and with large survivals of the\npersistent old Semitic heathenism, many of which they share with their\nneighbors of all creeds.\n\nDifficult problems,[28] however, remain unsolved, especially the origin\nand nature of the worship of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs.[29] The certain thing is that\nthe actual religion of the Yezidis is a syncretism, to which Moslem,\nChristian (heretical, rather than orthodox), pagan, and perhaps also\nPersian religions have contributed.[30]\n\n\nNOTES ON THE INTRODUCTION\n\n [1] Al-Jilwah is said to have been written in 558 A.\u202fH., by \u0160ei\u1e2b\n Fa\u1e2br-ad-D\u00een, the secretary of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, at the dictation of the\n latter. The original copy, wrapped in linen and silk wrappings, is\n kept in the house of Mulla \u1e24aidar, of Baadrie. Twice a year the book\n is taken to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s shrine. (Letter from \u0160ammas Jeremia \u0160amir to\n Mr. A.\u202fN. Andrus, of Mardin, dated October 28, 1892.)\n\n [2] The Black Book is said to have been written by a certain \u1e24asan\n al-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee, in 743 A.\u202fH. The original copy is kept in the house of\n Kehyah (chief) \u2018Ali, of Kasr \u2018Az-ad-D\u00een, one hour west of Semale, a\n village east of Tigris. The book rests upon a throne, having over it a\n thin covering of red broadcloth, of linen, and other wrappings. Then\n is disclosed the binding, which is of wood.\n\n [3] The exact number of the Yezidis is unknown. See also Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de\n G\u00e9ographie de l\u2019Est, _Bulletin_, 1903, p. 284; Al Ma\u0161ri\u1e33, II, 834.\n\n [4] For a fuller account of the literature on the Yezidis, consult J.\n Menant, _Les Y\u00e9zidis_, and Paul Perdrizet, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie de\n l\u2019Est, _Bulletin_, 1903, pp. 281 ff.\n\n [5] Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie de l\u2019Est, _Bulletin_, 1903, p. 297.\n\n [6] Fraser, _Mesopotamia and Persia_, pp. 285, 287; Rich, _Residence\n in Kurdistan_, II, 69; _Al Ma\u0161ri\u1e33_, II, 396; Badger, _The Nestorians\n and their Rituals_, I, 111; Assemani, _Bibliotheca Orientalis_, III,\n 439.\n\n [7] Michel Febvre, _Theatre de la Turquie_, p. 364; Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de\n G\u00e9ographie de l\u2018Est, _Bulletin_, 1903, pp. 299, 301; cf. also J.\n Menant, _Les Y\u00e9zidis_, pp. 52, 86, 132.\n\n [8] Oppenheim, _Vom Mittelmeer zum persischen Golf_, 1900, II, 148;\n Victor Dingelstedt, _Scottish Geographical Magazine_, XIV, 295;\n Southgate, _A Tour through Armenia_, II, 317; A.\u202fV. Williams Jackson,\n \u201cYezidis,\u201d in the _New International Encyclopedia_, XVII, 939;\n Perdrizet, loc. cit., p. 299.\n\n [9] A.\u202fV. Williams Jackson, _Persia Past and Present_, p. 10, _New\n International Encyclopedia_, \u201cYezidis;\u201d Perdrizet, loc. cit.\n\n [10] Dingelstedt, loc. cit.; _Revue de l\u2019Orient Chr\u00e9tien_, I,\n \u201cKurdistan.\u201d\n\n [11] Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de G\u00e9ographie de l\u2019Est, loc. cit.; _Encyclopedia of\n Missions_, \u201cYezidis\u201d; A.\u202fV. Williams Jackson, loc. cit.\n\n [12] On these sects consult A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee, I, 86, 89, 100.\n\n [13] Not like Mohammed, to whom, according to Moslem belief, the Koran\n was revealed at intervals.\n\n [14] On the \u1e62abians of the Koran, see Bai\u1e0d\u00e2wi and Zama\u1e2b\u0161ari on _Suras_\n 2, 59; 5, 73; 22, 17.\n\n [15] On the \u1e62abians of \u1e24arr\u00e2n, see Fihrist, p. 190; on the \u1e62abians in\n general consult A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee, II, 203; on the location of \u1e24arr\u00e2n and\n Wasit, see Ya\u1e33\u00fbt, II, 331, and IV, 881.\n\n [16] To get more particular information in regard to Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa,\n I wrote to Mosul, Bagdad, and Cairo, the three centers of Mohammedan\n learning, and strange to say, none could throw any light on the\n subject.\n\n [17] Al-Hara\u1e6fiyah he describes as _A\u1e63\u1e25\u00e2b Al_-\u1e24are\u1e6d (I, 101),\n al-\u1e24afaziyah, A\u1e63\u1e25\u00e2b \u1e24afez (_ibid._), etc.\n\n [18] Ibn \u1e2aallik\u00e2n says: \u201cA\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee, a dogmatic theologian of the\n A\u0161arite sect, was distinguished as an Im\u00e2m and a doctor of the law. He\n displayed the highest abilities as a jurisconsult. The _Kit\u00e2b al-Milal\n wa-n-Nihal_ (this is the book in which A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee traces the Yezidi\n sect to Yez\u00eed bn Unaisa) is one of his works on scholastic theology.\n He remained without an equal in that branch of science.\u201d\n\n [19] It is to be noticed also that the name \u201cUnaisa\u201d is very common\n among the Arabs; cf. Ibn Sa\u2018ad (ed. Sachau), III, 254, 260, 264, 265,\n 281, 283, 287, 289; Musnad, VI, 434; Mishkat, 22, 724.\n\n [20] _Geschichte der herrschenden Ideen des Islams_, p. 195.\n\n [21] Ibn \u1e2aallik\u00e2n (Egyptian edit., A.\u202fH. 1310), I, 316; Mohammed\n al-\u2018Omari, al-Mau\u1e63ili, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee,\u201d quoted by M.\u202fN. Siouffi, _Journal\n asiatique_, 1885, 80; Ya\u1e33ut, IV, 374.\n\n [22] \u2018Iti\u1e33ad Ahl as-Sunna, \u201cBelief of the Sunnites,\u201d the Wa\u1e63aya,\n \u201cCounsels to the Califs\u201d; cf. C. Huart, _History of Arabic\n Literature_, p. 273.\n\n [23] See p. 61 of this book.\n\n [24] A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee regards them a \u1e2aarij\u00edte sub-sect.\n\n [25] Layard, _Nineveh and its Remains_, II, 254.\n\n [26] Mohammed al-\u2018Omari al-Mausili and Y\u00e2s\u00een al-\u1e2a\u00e2tib al-\u2018Omari\n al-Mau\u1e63ili, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee,\u201d quoted by M.\u202fN. Siouffi, _Journal asiatique_,\n S\u00e9rie viii, V (1885), 80.\n\n [27] George Warda, Bishop of Arbila, _Poems_, edited by Heinrich\n Hilgenfeld, Leipzig, 1904.\n\n [28] Such as their ceremonies at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee (Badger, _The Nestorians_,\n I, 117), which have obtained for them the name Chera\u1e21 Sonderan, \u201cThe\n Extinguishers of Light.\u201d Bar Hebraeus (_Chronicon Eccles._, ed.\n Abeloos-Lamy, I, 219) speaks of similar practices among what he\n calls \u201cBorborians,\u201d a branch of the Manichaeans, and calls them \u201cThe\n Extinguishers of Light.\u201d This name is applied to other eastern sects\n also; see _Abhandlungen f\u00fcr die Kunde des Morgenlandes_, V, 124.\n\n [29] Professor Jackson, of Columbia University, seems to trace it to\n the \u201cold devil-worship in Mazandaran\u201d (_J A O S_, XXV, 178). But it is\n not certain that the Yezidis believe in Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs as an evil spirit.\n In the history of religion the god of one people is the devil of\n another. Asura is a deity in the Rig Veda and an evil spirit only in\n later Brahman theology. In Islam the gods of heathenism are degraded\n into jinns, just as the gods of North Semitic heathenism are called\n \u0161e\u2018\u00eer\u00eem (hairy demons) in Lev. 17:7; or as the gods of Greece and Rome\n became devils to early Christians. See W.\u202fR. Smith, _Religion of the\n Semites_, p. 120; Fihrist, pp. 322, 326.\n\n Professor M. Lidzbarski (_Z D M G_, LI, 592), on the other hand,\n argues that \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is the god Tammuz. His contention is based on the\n assumption that the word \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs must embody the ancient god; that in\n Fihrist, 322, the god T\u00e2uz has a feast on the 15th of Tammuz (July);\n that in Kurdish, the language of the Yezidis, _m_ is frequently\n changed to _w_. This theory also is untenable, for one might guess at\n any ancient god. The exact form of the name \u201cTauz\u201d is uncertain (see\n Chwolsohn, _Die Ssabier_, II, 202); the statement that in Kurdish _m_\n is frequently changed to _w_ is not true, if one would set it up as\n a grammatical rule to explain such phenomena; the Kurdish-speaking\n people never pronounce Tammuz, \u201cTauz;\u201d and, finally, in the Yezidi\n conception of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs there are no traces of the notion held\n respecting Tammuz.\n\n [30] Such a state of affairs finds a historical parallel in other\n religions. Take, for example, Christianity. In it we find that the\n distinctive characteristics of the founder have been wrapped up\n in many foreign elements brought in by those who came from other\n religions.\n\n\n\n\n  PART I\n\n  THE TRANSLATION OF THE ARABIC TEXT\n\nPREFACE\n\n_In the Name of the Most Compassionate God!_\n\n\nWith the help of the Most High God, and under his direction, we write\nthe history of the Yezidis, their doctrines, and the mysteries of their\nreligion, as contained in their books, which reached our hand with\ntheir own knowledge and consent.\n\nIn the time of Al-Mu\u1e33tadir Billah, A.\u202fH. 295,[31] there lived\nMan\u1e63\u00fbr-al-\u1e24all\u00e2j,[32] the wool-carder, and \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Abd-al-\u1e33\u00e2dir of\nJ\u00eel\u00e2n.[33] At that time, too, there appeared a man by the name of \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Ad\u00ee, from the mountain of Hakkari,[34] originally from the region of\nAleppo or Baalbek. He came and dwelt in Mount Lali\u0161,[35] near the city\nof Mo\u1e63ul, about nine hours distant from it. Some say he was of the\npeople of \u1e24arr\u00e2n, and related to Marw\u00e2n ibn-al-\u1e24akam. His full name\nis \u0160araf ad-D\u00een Ab\u00fb-l-Fad\u00e2\u00eel, \u2018Ad\u00ee bn Mus\u00e2fir bn Ismael bn Mousa bn\nMarw\u00e2n bn Al-\u1e24asan bn Marw\u00e2n. He died A.\u202fH. 558 (A. D. 1162-63). His\ntomb is still visited; it is near Ba\u2018adrei, one of the villages of\nMo\u1e63ul, distant eleven hours. The Yezidis are the progeny of those who\nwere the _murids_ (disciples) of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. Some trace their origin to\nYezid,[36] others to \u1e24asan-Al-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee.[37]\n\n\nAL-JILWAH (THE REVELATION)\n\n\nBefore all creation this revelation was with Melek T\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, who sent\n\u2018Abd T\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs to this world that he might separate truth known to his\nparticular people. This was done, first of all, by means of oral\ntradition, and afterward by means of this book, Al-Jilwah, which the\noutsiders may neither read nor behold.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n\nI was, am now, and shall have no end. I exercise dominion over all\ncreatures and over the affairs of all who are under the protection\nof my image. I am ever present to help all who trust in me and call\nupon me in time of need. There is no place in the universe that knows\nnot my presence. I participate in all the affairs which those who are\nwithout call evil because their nature is not such as they approve.\nEvery age has its own manager, who directs affairs according to my\ndecrees. This office is changeable from generation to generation, that\nthe ruler of this world and his chiefs may discharge the duties of\ntheir respective offices every one in his own turn. I allow everyone\nto follow the dictates of his own nature, but he that opposes me will\nregret it sorely. No god has a right to interfere in my affairs, and\nI have made it an imperative rule that everyone shall refrain from\nworshiping all gods. All the books of those who are without are altered\nby them; and they have declined from them, although they were written\nby the prophets and the apostles. That there are interpolations is\nseen in the fact that each sect endeavors to prove that the others are\nwrong and to destroy their books. To me truth and falsehood are known.\nWhen temptation comes, I give my covenant to him that trusts in me.\nMoreover, I give counsel to the skilled directors, for I have appointed\nthem for periods that are known to me. I remember necessary affairs\nand execute them in due time. I teach and guide those who follow my\ninstruction. If anyone obey me and conform to my commandments, he shall\nhave joy, delight, and goodness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n\nI requite the descendants of Adam, and reward them with various rewards\nthat I alone know. Moreover, power and dominion over all that is on\nearth, both that which is above and that which is beneath, are in my\nhand. I do not allow friendly association with other people, nor do I\ndeprive them that are my own and that obey me of anything that is good\nfor them. I place my affairs in the hands of those whom I have tried\nand who are in accord with my desires. I appear in divers manners to\nthose who are faithful and under my command. I give and take away; I\nenrich and impoverish; I cause both happiness and misery. I do all\nthis in keeping with the characteristics of each epoch. And none has a\nright to interfere with my management of affairs. Those who oppose me\nI afflict with disease; but my own shall not die like the sons of Adam\nthat are without. None shall live in this world longer than the time\nset by me; and if I so desire, I send a person a second or a third time\ninto this world or into some other by the transmigration of souls.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n\nI lead to the straight path without a revealed book; I direct aright my\nbeloved and my chosen ones by unseen means. All my teachings are easily\napplicable to all times and all conditions. I punish in another world\nall who do contrary to my will. Now the sons of Adam do not know the\nstate of things that is to come. For this reason they fall into many\nerrors. The beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven, and the fish of\nthe sea are all under the control of my hands. All treasures and hidden\nthings are known to me; and as I desire, I take them from one and\nbestow them upon another. I reveal my wonders to those who seek them,\nand in due time my miracles to those who receive them from me. But\nthose who are without are my adversaries, hence they oppose me. Nor do\nthey know that such a course is against their own interests, for might,\nwealth, and riches are in my hand, and I bestow them upon every worthy\ndescendant of Adam. Thus the government of the worlds, the transition\nof generations, and the changes of their directors are determined by me\nfrom the beginning.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n\nI will not give my rights to other gods. I have allowed the creation\nof four substances, four times, and four corners; because they are\nnecessary things for creatures. The books of Jews, Christians, and\nMoslems, as of those who are without, accept in a sense, i.\u202fe., so\nfar as they agree with, and conform to, my statutes. Whatsoever is\ncontrary to these they have altered; do not accept it. Three things\nare against me, and I hate three things. But those who keep my secrets\nshall receive the fulfilment of my promises. Those who suffer for my\nsake I will surely reward in one of the worlds. It is my desire that\nall my followers shall unite in a bond of unity, lest those who are\nwithout prevail against them. Now, then, all ye who have followed my\ncommandments and my teachings, reject all the teachings and sayings of\nsuch as are without. I have not taught these teachings, nor do they\nproceed from me. Do not mention my name nor my attributes, lest ye\nregret it; for ye do not know what those who are without may do.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n\nO ye that have believed in me, honor my symbol and my image, for they\nremind you of me. Observe my laws and statutes. Obey my servants and\nlisten to whatever they may dictate to you of the hidden things.\nReceive that that is dictated, and do not carry it before those who are\nwithout, Jews, Christians, Moslems, and others; for they know not the\nnature of my teaching. Do not give them your books, lest they alter\nthem without your knowledge. Learn by heart the greater part of them,\nlest they be altered.\n\nThus endeth the book of Al-Jilwah, which is followed by the book of\nMa\u1e63\u1e25af Re\u0161, i.\u202fe., the Black Book.\n\n\nMASHAF RE\u0160 (THE BLACK BOOK)\n\nIn the beginning God created the White Pearl out of his most precious\nessence. He also created a bird named Angar. He placed the White\nPearl on the back of the bird, and dwelt on it for forty thousand\nyears. On the first day, Sunday, God created Melek Anzaz\u00eel, and he is\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs-Melek, the chief of all. On Monday he created Melek Dard\u00e2el, and\nhe is \u0160ei\u1e2b \u1e24asan. Tuesday he created Melek Israfel, and he is \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u0160ams (ad-D\u00een). Wednesday he created Melek Mi\u1e2b\u00e2el, and he is \u0160ei\u1e2b Ab\u00fb\nBakr. Thursday he created Melek Azr\u00e2el, and he is Sajad-ad-D\u00een. Friday\nhe created Melek \u0160emn\u00e2el, and he is Na\u1e63ir-ad-D\u00een. Saturday he created\nMelek Nur\u00e2el, and he is Yadin (Fa\u1e2br-ad-D\u00een). And he made Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs\nruler over all.[38]\n\nAfter this God made the form of the seven heavens, the earth, the sun,\nand the moon. But Fa\u1e2br-ad-D\u00een created man and the animals, and birds\nand beasts. He put them all in pockets of cloth, and came out of the\nPearl accompanied by the Angels. Then he shouted at the Pearl with a\nloud voice. Thereupon the White Pearl broke up into four pieces, and\nfrom its midst came out the water which became an ocean. The world\nwas round, and was not divided. Then he created Gabriel and the image\nof the bird. He sent Gabriel to set the four corners. He also made a\nvessel and descended in it for thirty thousand years. After this he\ncame and dwelt in Mount Lali\u0161. Then he cried out at the world, and the\nsea became solidified and the land appeared, but it began to shake.\nAt this time he commanded Gabriel to bring two pieces of the White\nPearl; one he placed beneath the earth, the other stayed at the gate\nof heaven. He then placed in them the sun and the moon; and from the\nscattered pieces of the White Pearl he created the stars which he hung\nin heaven as ornaments. He also created fruit-bearing trees and plants\nand mountains for ornaments to the earth. He created the throne over\nthe carpet.[39] Then the Great God said: \u201cO Angels, I will create Adam\nand Eve; and from the essence of Adam shall proceed \u0160ehar bn Jebr,\nand of him a separate community shall appear upon the earth, that of\nAzaz\u00eel, i.\u202fe., that of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, which is the sect of the Yezidis.\nThen he sent \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee bn Mus\u00e2fir from the land of Syria, and he came\n(and dwelt in Mount) Lali\u0161. Then the Lord came down to the Black\nMountain. Shouting, he created thirty thousand Meleks, and divided them\ninto three divisions. They worshiped him for forty thousand years, when\nhe delivered them to Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs who went up with them to heaven. At\nthis time the Lord came down to the Holy Land (al-\u1e33uds), and commanded\nGabriel to bring earth from the four corners of the world, earth, air,\nfire, and water. He created it and put in it the spirit of his own\npower, and called it Adam.\n\nThen he commanded Gabriel to escort Adam into Paradise, and to tell\nhim that he could eat from all the trees but not of wheat.[40] Here\nAdam remained for a hundred years. Thereupon, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs asked God\nhow Adam could multiply and have descendants if he were forbidden to\neat of the grain. God answered, \u201cI have put the whole matter into thy\nhands.\u201d Thereupon Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs visited Adam and said \u201cHave you eaten\nof the grain?\u201d He answered, \u201cNo, God forbade me.\u201d Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs replied\nand said, \u201cEat of the grain and all shall go better with thee.\u201d Then\nAdam ate of the grain and immediately his belly was inflated. But Melek\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs drove him out of the garden, and leaving him, ascended into\nheaven. Now Adam was troubled because his belly was inflated, for he\nhad no outlet. God therefore sent a bird to him which pecked at his\nanus and made an outlet, and Adam was relieved.\n\nNow Gabriel was away from Adam for a hundred years. And Adam was sad\nand weeping. Then God commanded Gabriel to create Eve from under the\nleft shoulder of Adam. Now it came to pass, after the creation of Eve\nand of all the animals, that Adam and Eve quarreled over the question\nwhether the human race should be descended from him or her, for each\nwished to be the sole begetter of the race. This quarrel originated\nin their observation of the fact that among animals both the male and\nthe female were factors in the production of their respective species.\nAfter a long discussion Adam and Eve agreed on this: each should cast\nhis seed into a jar, close it, and seal it with his own seal, and\nwait for nine months. When they opened the jars at the completion of\nthis period, they found in Adam\u2019s jar two children, male and female.\nNow from these two our sect, the Yezidis, are descended. In Eve\u2019s\njar they found naught but rotten worms emitting a foul odor. And God\ncaused nipples to grow for Adam that he might suckle the children that\nproceeded from his jar. This is the reason why man has nipples.\n\nAfter this Adam knew Eve, and she bore two children, male and female;\nand from these the Jews, the Christians, the Moslems, and other nations\nand sects are descended. But our first fathers are \u0160eth, Noah, and\nEnosh, the righteous ones, who were descended from Adam only.\n\nIt came to pass that trouble arose between a man and his wife,\nresulting from the denial on the part of the woman that the man was\nher husband. The man persisted in his claim that she was his wife.\nThe trouble between the two was settled, however, through one of the\nrighteous men of our sect, who decreed that at every wedding a drum and\na pipe should be played as a testimony to the fact that such a man and\nsuch a woman were married legally.\n\nThen Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs came down to earth for our sect (i. e., the Yezidis),\nthe created ones, and appointed kings for us, besides the kings of\nancient Assyria, Nisroch, who is Na\u0161ir-ad-D\u00een; Kamush, who is Melek\nFa\u1e2br-ad-D\u00een, and Art\u00e2m\u00ees, who is Melek \u0160ams-(ad-)D\u00een. After this we had\ntwo kings, \u0160abur (Sapor) First (224-272 A. D.) and Second (309-379),\nwho reigned one hundred and fifty years; and our amirs down to the\npresent day have been descended from their seed. But we hated four\nkings.\n\nBefore Christ came into this world our religion was paganism. King\nAhab was from among us. And the god of Ahab was called Beelzebub.\nNowadays we call him Pir Bub. We had a king in Babylon, whose name was\nBa\u1e2btna\u1e63ar; another in Persia, whose name was A\u1e25\u0161ura\u0161; and still another\nin Constantinople, whose name was Agri\u1e33\u00e2lus. The Jews, the Christians,\nthe Moslems, and even the Persians, fought us; but they failed to\nsubdue us, for in the strength of the Lord we prevailed against them.\nHe teaches us the first and last science. And one of his teachings is:\n\nBefore heaven and earth existed, God was on the sea, as we\nformerly wrote you. He made himself a vessel and traveled in it in\n_kunsiniyat_[41] of the seas, thus enjoying himself in himself. He then\ncreated the White Pearl and ruled over it for forty years. Afterward,\ngrowing angry at the Pearl, he kicked it; and it was a great surprise\nto see the mountains formed out of its cry; the hills out of its\nwonders; the heavens out of its smoke. Then God ascended to heaven,\nsolidified it, established it without pillars. He then spat upon the\nground, and taking a pen in hand, began to write a narrative of all the\ncreation.\n\nIn the beginning he created six gods from himself and from his light,\nand their creation was as one lights a light from another light. And\nGod said, \u201cNow I have created the heavens; let some one of you go up\nand create something therein.\u201d Thereupon the second god ascended and\ncreated the sun; the third, the moon; the fourth, the vault of heaven;\nthe fifth, the _far\u1e21_ (i. e., the morning star); the sixth, paradise;\nthe seventh, hell. We have already told you that after this they\ncreated Adam and Eve.\n\nAnd know that besides the flood of Noah, there was another flood in\nthis world. Now our sect, the Yezidis, are descended from Na\u2018umi, an\nhonored person, king of peace. We call him Melek Miran. The other\nsects are descended from Ham, who despised his father. The ship rested\nat a village called \u2018Ain Sifni,[42] distant from Mosul about five\nparasangs. The cause of the first flood was the mockery of those who\nwere without, Jews, Christians, Moslems, and others descended from\nAdam and Eve. We, on the other hand, are descended from Adam only, as\nalready indicated. This second flood came upon our sect, the Yezidis.\nAs the water rose and the ship floated, it came above Mount Sinjar,[43]\nwhere it ran aground and was pierced by a rock. The serpent twisted\nitself like a cake and stopped the hole. Then the ship moved on and\nrested on Mount Judie.\n\nNow the species of the serpent increased, and began to bite man and\nanimal. It was finally caught and burned, and from its ashes fleas were\ncreated. From the time of the flood until now are seven thousand years.\nIn every thousand years one of the seven gods descends to establish\nrules, statutes, and laws, after which he returns to his abode. While\nbelow, he sojourns with us, for we have every kind of holy places. This\nlast time the god dwelt among us longer than any of the other gods\nwho came before him. He confirmed the saints. He spoke in the Kurdish\nlanguage. He also illuminated Mohammed, the prophet of the Ishmaelites,\nwho had a servant named Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya. When God saw that Mohammed was not\nupright before him, he afflicted him with a headache. The prophet then\nasked his servant to shave his head, for Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya knew how to shave.\nHe shaved his master in haste, and with some difficulty. As a result,\nhe cut his head and made it bleed. Fearing that the blood might drop\nto the ground, Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya licked it with his tongue. Whereupon Mohammed\nasked, \u201cWhat are you doing, Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya?\u201d He replied, \u201cI licked thy blood\nwith my tongue, for I feared that it might drop to the ground.\u201d Then\nMohammed said to him, \u201cYou have sinned, O Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya, you shall draw a\nnation after you. You shall oppose my sect.\u201d Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya answered and\nsaid, \u201cThen I will not enter the world; I will not marry.\u201d\n\nIt came to pass that after some time God sent scorpions upon Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya,\nwhich bit him, causing his face to break out with poison. Physicians\nurged him to marry lest he die. Hearing this, he consented. They\nbrought him an old woman, eighty years of age, in order that no\nchild might be born. Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya knew his wife, and in the morning she\nappeared a woman of twenty-five, by the power of the great God. And\nshe conceived and bore our god Yezid. But the foreign sects, ignorant\nof this fact, say that our god came from heaven, dispised and driven\nout by the great God. For this reason they blaspheme him. In this they\nhave erred. But we, the Yezidi sect, believe this not, for we know that\nhe is one of the above-mentioned seven gods. We know the form of his\nperson and his image. It is the form of a cock which we possess. None\nof us is allowed to utter his name, nor anything that resembles it,\nsuch as _\u0161eit\u00e2n_ (Satan), _\u1e33ait\u00e2n_ (cord), _\u0161ar_ (evil), _\u0161at_ (river),\nand the like. Nor do we pronounce _mal\u2018\u00fbn_ (accursed), or _la\u2018anat_\n(curse), or _na\u2018al_[44] (horseshoe), or any word that has a similar\nsound. All these are forbidden us out of respect for him. So _\u1e2bass_\n(lettuce) is debarred. We do not eat it, for it sounds like the name\nof our prophetess \u1e2aassiah. Fish is prohibited, in honor of Jonah the\nprophet. Likewise deer, for deer are the sheep of one of our prophets.\nThe peacock is forbidden to our \u0160ei\u1e2b and his disciples, for the sake of\nour \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. Squash also is debarred. It is forbidden to pass water while\nstanding, or to dress up while sitting down, or to go to the toilet\nroom, or to take a bath according to the custom of the people.[45]\nWhosoever does contrary to this is an infidel. Now the other sects,\nJews, Christians, Moslems, and others, know not these things, because\nthey dislike Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. He, therefore, does not teach them, nor does\nhe visit them. But he dwelt among us; he delivered to us the doctrines,\nthe rules, and the traditions, all of which have become an inheritance,\nhanded down from father to son. After this, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs returned to\nheaven.\n\nOne of the seven gods made the _sanja\u1e33s_[46] (standards) and gave them\nto Solomon the wise. After his death our kings received them. And when\nour god, the barbarian Yez\u00eed, was born, he received these _sanja\u1e33s_\nwith great reverence, and bestowed them upon our sect. Moreover, he\ncomposed two songs in the Kurdish language to be sung before the\n_sanja\u1e33as_ in this language, which is the most ancient and acceptable\none. The meaning of the song is this:\n\n  Hallelujah to the jealous God.\n\nAs they sing it, they march before the _sanja\u1e33s_ with timbrels and\npipes. These _sanja\u1e33s_ remain with our emir, who sits on the throne of\nYez\u00eed. When these are sent away, the _\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_ assemble with the emir,\nand the great general, the \u0161ei\u1e2b, who is the representative of \u0160ei\u1e2b\nNasir-ad-D\u00een, i.\u202fe., Nisroch, god of the ancient Assyrians.[47] They\nvisit the _sanja\u1e33s_. Then they send each _sanja\u1e33_ in care of a _\u1e33aww\u00e2l_\nto its own place; one to \u1e2aalataneye, one to Aleppo, one to Russia,\nand one to Sinjar. These _sanja\u1e33s_ are given to four _\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_ by\ncontract. Before they are sent, they are brought to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s tomb,\nwhere they are baptized amid great singing and dancing. After this\neach of the contractors takes a load of dust from \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s tomb. He\nfashions it into small balls, each about the size of a gall nut, and\ncarries them along with the _sanja\u1e33s_ to give them away as blessings.\nWhen he approaches a town, he sends a crier before him to prepare the\npeople to accept the _\u1e33aww\u00e2l_ and his _sanja\u1e33_ with respect and honor.\nAll turn out in fine clothes, carrying incense. The women shout, and\nall together sing joyful songs. The _\u1e33aww\u00e2l_ is entertained by the\npeople with whom he stops. The rest give him silver presents, everyone\naccording to his means.\n\nBesides these four _sanja\u1e33s_, there are three others, seven in all.\nThese three are kept in a sacred place for purposes of healing. Two\nof them, however, remain with \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, and the third remains in the\nvillage of Ba\u1e25azanie, which is distant from Mosul about four hours.\nEvery four months these _\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_ travel about. One of them must\ntravel in the province of the emir. They travel in a fixed order,\ndiffering each year. Every time he goes out, the traveler must cleanse\nhimself with water made sour with _summa\u1e33_ (sumac) and anoint himself\nwith an oil. He must also light a lamp at each idol that has a chamber.\nThis is the law that pertains to the _sanja\u1e33s_.\n\nThe first day of our new year is called the _Ser\u1e63\u00e2lie_, i.\u202fe., the\nbeginning of a year. It falls on the Wednesday of the first week\nin April.[48] On that day there must be meat in every family. The\nwealthy must slaughter a lamb or an ox; the poor must kill a chicken\nor something else. These should be cooked on the night, the morning\nof which is Wednesday, New Year\u2019s day. With the break of day the food\nshould be blessed. On the first day of the year alms should be given at\ntombs where the souls of the dead lie.\n\nNow the girls, large and small, are to gather from the fields flowers\nof every kind that have a reddish color. They are to make them into\nbundles, and, after keeping them three days, they are to hang them\non the doors[49] as a sign of the baptism of the people living in\nthe houses. In the morning all doors will be seen well decorated\nwith red lilies. But women are to feed the poor and needy who pass\nby and have no food; this is to be done at the graves. But as to the\n_\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_, they are to go around the tombs with timbrels, singing in\nthe Kurdish language. For so doing they are entitled to money. On the\nabove-mentioned day of _Ser\u1e63\u00e2lie_ no instruments of joy are to be\nplayed, because God is sitting on the throne (arranging decrees for\nthe year),[50] and commanding all the wise and the neighbors to come to\nhim. And when he tells them that he will come down to earth with song\nand praise, all arise and rejoice before him and throw upon each the\nsquash of the feast. Then God seals them with his own seal. And the\ngreat God gives a sealed decision to the god who is to come down. He,\nmoreover, grants him power to do all things according to his own will.\nGod prefers doing good and charity to fasting and praying. The worship\nof any idol, such as Seyed-ad-D\u00een or \u0160ei\u1e2b \u0160ams is better than fasting.\nSome layman is to give a banquet to a _k\u00f4chak_ after the fasting of the\nlatter forty days, whether it be in summer or in winter. If he (the\n_k\u00f4chak_) says this entertainment is an alms given to the _sanja\u1e33_,\nthen he is not released from his fasting. When it comes to pass that\nthe yearly tithe-gatherer finds that the people have not fully paid\ntheir tithes, he whips them till they become sick, and some even die.\nThe people are to give the _k\u00f4chaks_ money to fight the Roman army, and\nthus save the sect (Yezidis) from the wrath of the man of the year.\n\nEvery Friday a load of gifts is to be brought as an offering to an\nidol. At that time, a servant is to call the people aloud from the\nroof of a _k\u00f4chak\u2019s_ house, saying, it is the call of the prophet to a\nfeast. All are to listen reverently and respectfully; and, on hearing\nit, every one is to kiss the ground and the stone on which he happens\nto lean.\n\nIt is our law that no _\u1e33aww\u00e2l_ shall pass a razor over his face. Our\nlaw regarding marriage is that at the time of the wedding a loaf of\nbread shall be taken from the house of a _k\u00f4chak_ and be divided\nbetween the bride and the bridegroom, each to eat one-half. They may,\nhowever, eat some dust from \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s tomb instead of the bread for\na blessing. Marriage in the month of April is forbidden, for it is\nthe first month of the year. This rule, however, does not apply to\n_\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_; they may marry during this month. No layman is allowed to\nmarry a _k\u00f4chak\u2019s_ daughter. Everyone is to take a wife from his own\nclass. But our emir may have for a wife any one whom he pleases to\nlove. A layman may marry between the ages of ten and eighty; he may\ntake for a wife one woman after another for a period of one year. On\nher way to the house of the bridegroom, a bride must visit the shrine\nof every idol she may happen to pass; even if she pass a Christian\nchurch, she must do the same. On her arrival at the bridegroom\u2019s house,\nhe must hit her with a small stone in token of the fact that she must\nbe under his authority. Moreover, a loaf of bread must be broken over\nher head as a sign to her that she must love the poor and needy. No\nYezidi may sleep with his wife on the night the morning of which is\nWednesday, and the night the morning of which is Friday. Whosoever does\ncontrary to this commandment is an infidel. If a man steal the wife\nof his neighbor, or his own former wife, or her sister or mother, he\nis not obliged to give her dowry, for she is the booty of his hand.\nDaughters may not inherit their father\u2019s wealth. A young lady may be\nsold as an acre of land is sold. If she refuses to be married, then she\nmust redeem herself by paying her father a sum of money earned by her\nservice and the labor of her hand.\n\nHere ends Kit\u00e2b Re\u0161, which is followed by several stories, some of\nwhich are told secretly, some openly.\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO PART I\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX TO PART I\n\n\nThey say our hearts are our books, and our \u0161ei\u1e2bs tell us everything\nfrom the second Adam until now and the future. When they notice the sun\nrise, they kiss the place where the rays first fall; they do the same\nat sunset, where its rays last fall. Likewise they kiss the spot where\nthe moon first casts its rays and where it last casts them. They think,\nmoreover, that by the multiplication of presents to \u0161ei\u1e2bs and idols\nthey keep troubles and afflictions away.\n\nThere is a great difference among the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_, they contradict one\nanother. Some say, \u201cMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs appears to me and reveals to me many\nrevelations.\u201d Others say, \u201cWe appear to people in many different ways.\u201d\nSome believe that Christ is \u0160ei\u1e2b \u0160ams himself. They say that they have\nhad prophets in all times; the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ are the prophets. One of the\n_\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ says in one of his prophecies: \u201cI was in Jonah\u2019s ship, where\na lot was cast in my presence. It fell on Jonah; and he was thrown into\nthe sea, where he remained forty days and nights.\u201d Another said: \u201cI was\nsitting with the great God, who said, \u2018I hope the time will come when\nI shall send Christ to the world.\u2019 I said to him, \u2018Yes.\u2019 Then he sent\nhim. After making a sign in the sun, Christ came down to the earth.\u201d He\nappeared to our sect only, and made for us seven circles, which are\nat \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. Now he appeared to us because we observe the necessary\norder, which the other sects do not observe. Their origin and race\nare unknown; ours are known. We are emirs and sons of emirs; we are\n\u0161ei\u1e2bs and sons of \u0161ei\u1e2bs; we are _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ and sons of _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_, etc.\nBut Christians and Moslems make priests and mullas for themselves out\nof those who had none of their kindred in those offices before, and\nnever will have afterward. We are better than they. We are allowed to\ndrink wine; our young men also may desire it when they, in company with\nwomen, engage in religious dancing and playing. Some of the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_\nand \u0161ei\u1e2bs, however, are not allowed to drink it. When one is about\nto die, he is visited by a _\u1e33\u00f4chak_, who places a bit of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s\ndust in his mouth. Before he is buried his face is anointed with it.\nMoreover, the dung of sheep is placed on his tomb. Finally, food is\noffered on behalf of the dead. The _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ pray for the dead at the\ngraves, for which service they are paid. They tell the relatives of the\ndead what they see in dreams and visions, and the condition of their\ndead, whether they have been translated to the human or to the animal\nrace. Some people hide silver or gold coins that they plan to take out\nin case they are born the second time in this world. Some believe that\nthe spirits of many righteous persons travel in the air. Those spirits\nmake revelations to the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_, who are acquainted with the world\nof mysteries and secrets. Life and death are in their hands. Hence\nthe fate of the people depends on the gratitude and honor which they\nshow the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_. According to Yezidis, hell has no existence. It\nwas created in the time of the first Adam, they say, when our father,\nIbr\u00ee\u1e33 al-A\u1e63far, was born.[51] By reason of his generosity and noble\ndeeds, Ibr\u00ee\u1e33 had many friends. Now, when he viewed hell he became\nvery sad. He had a small _ba\u1e33b\u00fb\u1e33 a\u1e63far_,[52] into which, as he kept\nweeping his tears fell. In seven years it was filled. He then cast it\ninto hell, and all its fires were put out that mankind might not be\ntortured. This incident relates to one of the noble deeds of our first\nfather, Ibr\u00ee\u1e33 al-A\u1e63far. They have many more such upright men of noble\ndeeds. Such an one is Mohammed Ra\u0161\u00e2n, whose resting place is behind the\nmount of \u0160ei\u1e2b Mattie.[53] He (Ra\u0161\u00e2n) is exceedingly strong, so that\nthe most sacred oaths are sworn by him. If any one becomes sick, he\ntakes refuge in making vows to _\u1e2basin_, i.\u202fe., pillars of idols. Now\nthere is a place of religious pilgrimage which is called Sitt Naf\u00eesah.\nThis place is a mulberry tree in the village of Ba\u2018a\u0161\u00ee\u1e33a. Another such\nplace is called \u2018Abdi Ra\u0161\u00e2n, and is in the village of \u1e33arabek. A third\nplace of pilgrimage is in the village Ba\u1e25zanie, which is called \u0160ei\u1e2b\nBak\u00fb. Nearby is a spring, and beside this is a mulberry tree. Whoever\nis afflicted with fever, goes to that tree, hangs on its branches a\npiece of cloth from his clothes, and casts bread in the spring for the\nfish. All this he does that he may be cured. They entertain the belief\nthat whoever unties or shakes off one of the shreds of cloth will\ncatch the disease with which the man was afflicted when he hung it up.\nThere are many such trees in the village of Ba\u2018a\u0161\u00ee\u1e33a, and in some other\nplaces. There is also a spring of water, called in the common language\n\u2018Ain a\u1e63-\u1e62afra (Yellow Spring). The Yezidis call it Kan\u00ee-Zarr.[54] In\nthis swim those who are afflicted with the disease of _ab\u00fb-\u1e63afar_\n(jaundice). But those who are troubled with dropsy go for cure to the\nhouse of the Pir that lives in the village of Man Re\u0161.\n\nWhen they assemble at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s, no one is allowed to cook anything.\nEveryone is to eat from \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s table. As to the _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_, every\none of them sits on a stone, as one sits in prayer. To them the laity\ngo, seeking succor. They give them money while making their petition,\nand vow to the stone on which the _\u1e33\u00f4chak_ sits, sheep and oxen,\neveryone according to his means. Now, at the New Year the places are\ngiven in contract. When they assemble at the New Year, they dance\nand play with instruments of joy. Before eating the _kabd\u00fb\u0161_, i.\u202fe.,\nthe vowed ox, they swim in the water of Zamzam, a spring coming from\nbeneath the temple of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. Then they eat in haste, snatching meat\nfrom the pot like fanatics, so that their hands are frequently burned.\nThis practice is in accordance with their rules. After eating, they\ngo up the mountain, shooting with their guns, and then return to \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Ad\u00ee. Everyone of them takes a little dust and preserves it for the\ntimes of wedding and death. They wear entwined girdles which they call\nthe ties of the back (belt). They baptize these and the _sanja\u1e33s_ with\nthe water of Zamzam. He who is called Jawi\u0161[55] wears a stole which is\nwoven from the hair of a goat. It is nine spans in length and around it\nare _sans\u00fbls_ (tinsels).\n\nWhen the gathering comes to an end, they collect the money from the\n_\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ and the contractors, and bring it to the emir. After everyone\nhas taken according to his rank, the remainder goes to the emir.\n\nThey have another gathering which takes place at the feast of\nAl-Hij\u00e2jj. At this pilgrimage they go up to the mountain which is\ncalled Jabal al-\u2018Araf\u00e2t.[56] After remaining there an hour, they hasten\ntoward \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. He who arrives there before his companions is praised\nmuch. Hence everyone tries to excel. The one who succeeds receives\nabundant blessings.\n\nThey still have another assembly. This is called \u201cthe road of the\n_\u1e33\u00f4chaks_,\u201d when each, putting a rope around his neck, goes up the\nmountain. After collecting wood they bring it to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, carrying\nit on their backs. The wood is used for heating purposes and for the\nemir\u2019s cooking.\n\nDuring these assemblies the _sanja\u1e33s_ are passed around. In the first\nplace they are washed with water made sour with sumac in order to\nbe cleansed from their rust. The water is given away in drinks for\npurposes of blessing. In return money is taken. In the second place,\nthe _\u1e33\u00f4chaks_ go around with the _sanja\u1e33s_ to collect money.\n\nIn their preaching, the \u0161ei\u1e2bs tell the people that all kings have\ncome from their descent, such as Nisroch,[57] who is Nasr-ad-D\u00een, and\nKamu\u0161 who is Fa\u1e2br-ad-D\u00een, and Art\u00e2m\u00ees, who is \u0160ams-ad-D\u00een, and many\nothers, as Shabur and Yoram; and many royal names of the ancient kings,\ntogether with their own (Yezidi) kings, are from their seed. The sign\nof the Yezidi is that he wears a shirt with a round bosom. It differs\nfrom that of the other people, the bosom of whose shirts are open all\nthe way down.\n\nThere is one occasion when no Yezidi will swear falsely, viz., when\none draws a circle on the ground, and tells him that this circle\nbelongs to \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs-Melek, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, and Yez\u00eed, and _baryshaba\u1e33ei_. He\nplaces him in the middle of the circle, and then tells him that Melek\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs and all those who were mentioned above will not intercede for\nhim after his death, and that the shirt of the Jewish Nasim[58] be on\nhis neck, and that the hand of Nasim be on his neck and eye, and that\nNasim be his brother for the next world, and let him be to him for a\n\u0161ei\u1e2b and a _pir_ if he does not tell the truth. Then if he swears to\ntell the truth, he cannot conceal anything. For an oath made under such\nconditions is considered greater than that made in the name of God, and\neven than that made in the name of one of their prophets.\n\nThey fast three days in a year from morning till evening. The fast\nfalls in December, according to the oriental calendar. They have no\nprayer[59] except what is mentioned above, such as that referring to\nthe sun and the moon, and asking help from \u0161ei\u1e2bs and holy places\nwhen they say, \u201cO \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, O \u0160ei\u1e2b Sams,\u201d and the like. They are all\nforbidden to teach their children anything, with the exception of two\nstanzas which they teach their children out of necessity and because it\nis traditional.\n\nA story is told about them by reliable people. Once when \u0160ei\u1e2b Na\u1e63ir was\npreaching in a village at Mount Sinjar, there was a Christian mason\nin the audience who, seeing the house filled with people, thought\nthey were going to pray. He then pretended to take a nap, that he\nmight amuse himself with what he should hear. He knew the Kurdish\nlanguage. When the Christian seemed to be asleep, but was really awake\nand listening, \u0160ei\u1e2b Na\u1e63ir began to preach saying: \u201cOnce the great God\nappeared to me in vision. He was angry at Jesus because of a dispute\nwith him. He therefore caught him and imprisoned him in a den which\nhad no water. Before the mouth of the den he placed a great stone.\nJesus remained in the den a long time, calling upon the prophets and\nthe saints for help and asking their aid. Every one whose succor Jesus\nasked went to beg the great God to release him. But God did not grant\ntheir requests. Jesus therefore remained in a sorrowful state, knowing\nnot what to do.\u201d After this the preacher remained silent for a quarter\nof an hour, and thus a great silence prevailed in the house. Then he\nwent on to say: \u201cO poor Jesus, why are you so forgotten, so neglected?\nDo you not know that all the prophets and all the saints have no favor\nwith the great God unto Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs? Why have you forgotten him and\nhave not called upon him?\u201d Saying this, the preacher again remained\nsilent as before. Afterward he again continued: \u201cJesus remained in the\nden till one day when he happened to remember Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. He then\nsought his aid, praying, \u2018O Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, I have been in this den for\nsome time. I am imprisoned; I have sought the help of all the saints,\nand none of them could deliver me. Now, save me from this den.\u2019 When\nMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs heard this, he descended from heaven to earth quicker than\nthe twinkling of an eye, removed the stone from the top of the den, and\nsaid to Jesus, \u2018Come up, behold I have brought thee out.\u2019 Then both\nwent up to heaven. When the great God saw Jesus, he said to him, \u2018O\nJesus, who brought thee out of the den? Who brought thee here without\nmy permission?\u2019 Jesus answered and said, \u2018Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs brought me out\nof the den and up here.\u2019 Then God said, \u2018Had it been another, I would\nhave punished him, but Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is much beloved by me; remain here\nfor the sake of my honor.\u2019 So Jesus remained in heaven.\u201d The preacher\nadded, \u201cNotice that those who are without do not like Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs.\nKnow ye that in the resurrection he will not like them either, and he\nwill not intercede for them. But, as for us, he will put us all in a\ntray, carry us upon his head, and take us into heaven, while we are in\nthe tray on his head.\u201d When the congregation heard this, they rose up,\nkissed his clothes and feet, and received his blessing.\n\nNow the views of the Yezidis regarding the birth of Christ and the\nexplanation of the name of the Apostle Peter, are found in one of their\nstories, which runs thus: \u201cVerily Mary the Virgin mother of Jesus,\nbegat Jesus in a manner unlike the rest of women. She begat him from\nher right side,[60] between her clothes and her body. At that time the\nJews had a custom that, if a woman gave birth, all her relatives and\nneighbors would bring her presents. The women would call, carrying\nin their right hand a plate of fruits which were to be found in that\nseason, and in the left hand they would carry a stone. This custom\nwas a very ancient one. Therefore when Mary the Virgin gave birth to\nJesus, the wife of Jonah, who is the mother of Peter, came to her; and,\naccording to the custom, carried a plate of fruit in her right hand and\na stone in her left. As she entered and gave Mary the plate, behold,\nthe stone which was in her left hand begat a male. She called his name\nSimon Cifa, that is, son of the stone. Christians do not know these\nthings as we do.\u201d\n\nThey have a story explaining the word heretic. It is this: When the\ngreat God created the heavens, he put all the keys of the treasuries\nand the mansions there in the hands of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, and commanded him\nnot to open a certain mansion. But he, without the knowledge of God,\nopened the house and found a piece of paper on which was written, \u201cThou\nshalt worship thy God alone, and him alone shalt thou serve.\u201d He kept\nthe paper with him and allowed no one else to know about it. Then God\ncreated an iron ring and hung it in the air between the heaven and the\nearth. Afterward he created Adam the first. Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs refused to\nworship Adam when God commanded him to do so. He showed the written\npaper which he took from the mansion and said, \u201cSee what is written\nhere.\u201d Then the great God said, \u201cIt may be that you have opened the\nmansion which I forbade you to open.\u201d He answered, \u201cYes.\u201d Then God\nsaid to him, \u201cYou are a heretic, because you have disobeyed me and\ntransgressed my commandment.\u201d\n\nFrom this we know that God speaks in the Kurdish language, that is from\nthe meaning of this saying, \u201cGo into the iron ring which I, thy God,\nhave made for whosoever does contrary to my commandment and disobeys\nme.\u201d\n\nWhen one criticizes such a story as this by saying that God drove Melek\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs from heaven and sent him to hell because of his pride before God\nthe most high, they do not admit that such is the case. They answer:\n\u201cIs it possible that one of us in his anger should drive out his child\nfrom his house and let him wait until the next day before bringing\nhim back? Of course not. Similar is the relation of the great God to\nMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. Verily he loves him exceedingly. You do not understand the\nbooks which you read. The Gospel says, \u2018No one ascended up to heaven\nbut he who came down from heaven.\u2019 No one came down from heaven but\nMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs and Christ. From this we know that the great God has been\nreconciled to Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, who went up to heaven, just as God came\ndown from heaven and went up again.\u201d\n\nThe following is a story told of a _k\u00f4chak_: It is related that at one\ntime there was no rain in the village of Ba\u2018a\u0161\u00ee\u1e33a. In this village\nthere was a Yezidi whose name was K\u00f4chak Ber\u00fb. There were also some\nsaints and men of vision dwelling there. They (people) gathered to ask\nBer\u00fb to see about the rain. He told them, \u201cWait till tomorrow that I\nmay see about it.\u201d They came to him on the next day and said, \u201cWhat\nhave you done concerning the question of rain? We are exceedingly\nalarmed by reason of its being withheld.\u201d He answered: \u201cI went up to\nheaven last night and entered into the divan where the great God, \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Ad\u00ee, and some other \u0161ei\u1e2bs and righteous men were sitting. The priest\nIsaac was sitting beside God. The great God said to me, \u2018What do you\nwant, O K\u00f4chak Ber\u00fb; why have you come here?\u2019 I said to him, \u2018My lord,\nthis year the rain has been withheld from us till now, and all thy\nservants are poor and needy. We beseech thee to send us rain as thy\nwont.\u2019 He remained silent and answered me not. I repeated the speech\ntwice and thrice, beseeching him. Then I turned to the \u0161ei\u1e2bs who sat\nthere, asking their help and intercession. The great God answered me,\n\u2018Go away until we think it over.\u2019 I came down and do not know what took\nplace after I descended from heaven. You may go to the priest Isaac and\nask him what was said after I came down.\u201d They went to the priest and\ntold him the story, and asked him what was said after K\u00f4chak Ber\u00fb came\ndown. This priest Isaac was a great joker. He answered them, \u201cAfter\nthe _k\u00f4chak_ came down, I begged God for rain on your behalf. It was\nagreed that after six or seven days he would send it.\u201d They waited\naccordingly, and by a strange coincidence, at the end of the period it\nrained like a flood for some time. Seeing this, the people believed in\nwhat they were told, and honored the priest Isaac, looking upon him as\none of the saints, and thinking that he must have Yezidi blood in him.\nFor more than twenty years this story has been told as one of the tales\nof their saints.\n\nOnce \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee bn Mus\u00e2fir and his _murids_ were entertained by God in\nheaven. When they arrived, they did not find straw for their animals.\nTherefore \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee ordered his _murids_ to carry straw from his\nthreshing floor on the earth. As it was being transported, some fell on\nthe way, and has remained as a sign in heaven unto our day. It is known\nas the road of the straw man.\n\nThey think that prayer is in the heart; therefore they do not teach\ntheir children about it. And in their book neither is there any rule\nregarding prayer, nor is prayer considered a religious obligation.\n\nSome assert that at one time \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, in company with \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Abd-al-\u1e33\u00e2dir, made a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he remained four\nyears. After his absence Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs appeared to them (the two \u0161ei\u1e2bs)\nin his symbol. He dictated some rules to them and taught them many\nthings. Then he was hidden from them. Four years later \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\nreturned from Mecca; but they refused him and would not accept him.\nThey asserted that he had died or ascended to heaven. He remained\nwith them, but was without his former respect. When the time of his\ndeath came, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs appeared to them and declared, \u201cThis is \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Ad\u00ee himself, honor him.\u201d Then they honored him and buried him with\ndue veneration, and made his tomb a place of pilgrimage. In their\nestimation it is a more excellent spot than Mecca. Everyone is under\nobligation to visit it once a year at least; and, in addition to this,\nthey give a sum of money through the \u0161ei\u1e2bs to obtain satisfaction\n(that \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee may be pleased with them). Whoever does this not is\ndisobedient.\n\nMoreover, it is said that the reason why the pilgrimage to his tomb\nis regarded as excellent by us and by God is that in the resurrection\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee will carry in a tray all the Yezidis upon his head and take\nthem into paradise, without requiring them to give account or answer.\nTherefore they regard the pilgrimage to his tomb as a religious duty\ngreater than the pilgrimage to Mecca.\n\nThere are some domes, huts, around the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. They\nare there for the purpose of receiving blessings from the tomb.\nAnd they are all attributed to the great \u0160ei\u1e2bs, as the hut of\n\u2018Abd-al-\u1e33\u00e2dir-al-J\u00eel\u00e2n\u00ee;[61] the hut of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u1e33ad\u00eeb-al-B\u00e2n; the hut of\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u0160ams-ad-D\u00een; the hut of \u0160ei\u1e2b Man\u1e63\u00fbr-al-\u1e24all\u00e2j, and the hut of \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u1e2aasan-al-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee. There are also some other huts. Each hut has a banner\nmade of calico. It is a sign of conquest and victory.\n\nEating of deer\u2019s meat is forbidden them, they say, because the\ndeer\u2019s eyes resemble the eyes of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. Verily his virtues are\nwell-known and his praiseworthy qualities are traditions handed down\nfrom generation to generation. He was the first to accept the Yezidi\nreligion. He gave them the rules of the religious sect and founded\nthe office of the \u1e63ei\u1e2b. In addition to this, he was renowned for his\ndevotion and religious exercise. From Mount Lali\u0161, he used to hear\nthe preaching of \u2018Abd-al-\u1e33\u00e2dir-al-J\u00eel\u00e2ni in Bagdad. He used to draw a\ncircle on the ground and say to the religious ones, \u201cWhosoever wants to\nhear the preaching of Al-J\u00eel\u00e2n\u00ee, let him enter within this circle.\u201d The\nfollowing custom, which we have, began with him: If we wish to swear to\nanyone, a \u1e63ei\u1e2b draws a circle, and he who is to take an oath, enters\ninto it.\n\nAt one time, passing by a garden, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee asked about lettuce; and,\nas no one answered, he said, \u201cHuss\u201d (hush). For this reason lettuce is\nforbidden and not eaten.\n\nAs regards fasting, they say about the month of Rama\u1e0d\u00e2n that it was\ndumb and deaf. Therefore, when God commanded the Moslems to fast, he\nlikewise commanded the Yezidis, saying to them in the Kurdish language,\n\u201c_sese_,\u201d meaning \u201cthree.\u201d The Mohammedans did not understand it;\nthey took it for \u201c_se_,\u201d \u201cthirty.\u201d For this reason, they (Yezidis)\nfast three days. Moreover, they believe there are eating, drinking,\nand other earthly pleasures in the next world.[62] Some hold that the\nrule of heaven is in God\u2019s hands, but the rule of the earth is in \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s hands. Being exceedingly beloved by God, he bestowed upon him\naccording to \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s desire.\n\nThey believe in the transmigration of souls. This is evinced by the\nfact that when the soul of Man\u1e63\u00fbr-al-\u1e24all\u00e2j parted from his body when\nthe Caliph of Bagdad killed him and cast his head into the water,\nhis soul floated on the water. By a wonderful chance and a strange\nhappening, the sister of the said Man\u1e63\u00fbr went to fill her jar. The soul\nof her brother entered it. Without knowing what had happened, she came\nwith it to the house. Being tired, she felt thirsty and drank from the\njar. At that moment the soul of her brother entered her, but she did\nnot perceive it until she became pregnant. She gave birth to a son who\nresembled \u0160ei\u1e2b Man\u1e63\u00fbr himself. He became her brother according to birth\nand her son according to imputation. The reason why they do not use\ndrinking-vessels which have narrow mouths, or a net-like cover, is that\nwhen one drinks water from them they make a sound. When the head of\n\u0160ei\u1e2b Man\u1e63\u00fbr was thrown into the water it gurgled. In his honor they do\nnot use the small jars with narrow necks.\n\nThey assert that they expect a prophet who will come from Persia to\nannul the law of Mohammed and abrogate Islam. They believe that there\nare seven gods, and that each god administers the universe for ten\nthousand years; and that one of these gods is Lasiferos, the chief of\nthe fallen angels, who bears also the name Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. They make him\na graven image after the form of a cock[63] and worship it. They play\nthe tambourine and dance before it to make it rejoice with them. They\n(_\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_) travel within the Yezidis\u2019 villages to collect money, at\nwhich time they take it into the houses that it may bless and honor\nthem. Some say that \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee is a deity; others that he is like a\nVizier to God. To him all things are referred. This is Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs\nage. The ruling and administrative power is in his hands until the\nthousandth year. When the time comes to an end he will deliver the\npower to the next god to rule and administer until another thousand\nyears shall be ended, and so on until the seventh god. And yet there is\naccord and love among these gods, and none is jealous of the one who\nmay rule and administer the world for a period of ten thousand years.\nThey have a book named Al Jilwah that they ascribe to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, and\nthey suffer no one who is not one of them to read it.\n\nMention is made in some of their books that the First Cause is the\nSupreme God, who before he created this world, was enjoying himself\nover the seas;[64] and in his hand was a great White Pearl, with which\nhe was playing. Then he resolved to cast it into the sea, and when he\ndid so this world came into being.\n\nMoreover, they think themselves not to be of the same seed from which\nthe rest of mankind sprung, but that they are begotten of the son\nof Adam, who was born to Adam of his spittle. For this reason they\nimagine themselves nobler and more pleasing to the gods than others.\n\nThey say they have taken fasting and sacrifice from Islam; baptism\nfrom Christians; prohibition of foods from the Jews; their way of\nworship from the idolaters; dissimulation of doctrine from the Rafi\u1e0dis\n(Shi\u2018ites); human sacrifice and transmigration from the pre-Islamic\npaganism of the Arabs and from the Sabians. They say that when the\nspirit of man goes forth from his body, it enters into another man if\nit be just; but if unjust, into an animal.\n\n\n\n\nTHE POEM IN PRAISE OF \u0160EI\u1e2a \u2018AD\u00ce\n\n_Peace Be unto Him_\n\n\n    My understanding surrounds the truth of things,\n    And my truth is mixed up in me,\n    And the truth of my descent is set forth by itself,\n    And when it was known it was altogether in me.\n    And all that are in the universe are under me,\n    And all the habitable parts and deserts,\n    And everything created is under me,\n    And I am the ruling power preceding all that exists.\n    And I am he that spoke a true saying,\n    And I am the just judge and the ruler of the earth.\n    And I am he that men worship in my glory,\n    Coming to me and kissing my feet.\n    And I am he that spread over the heavens their height.\n    And I am he that cried in the beginning.\n    And I am he that of myself revealeth all things,\n    And I am he to whom came the book of good tidings\n    From my Lord, who burneth the mountains.\n    And I am he to whom all created men come\n    In obedience to kiss my feet.\n    I bring forth fruit from the first juice of early youth\n    By my presence, and turn toward me my disciples.\n    And before this light the darkness of the morning cleared away.\n    I guide him that asketh for guidance.\n    I am he that caused Adam to dwell in Paradise\n    And Nimrod to inhabit a hot burning fire.\n    And I am he that guided A\u1e25med the Just,\n    And let him into my path and way.\n    And I am he unto whom all creatures\n    Come for my good purposes and gifts.\n    And I am he that visited all the heights,\n    And goodness and charity proceed from my mercy.\n    And I am he that made all hearts to fear\n    My purpose, and they magnify the majesty and power of my awfulness.\n    And I am he to whom the destroying lion came\n    Raging, and I shouted against him and he became stone.\n    And I am he to whom the serpent came,\n    And by my will I made him dust.\n    And I am he that struck the rock and made it tremble,\n    And made to burst from its sides the sweetest of waters.[65]\n    And I am he that sent down the certain truth;\n    For me is the book that comforteth the oppressed.\n    And I am he that judged justly,\n    And when I judged it was my right\n    And I am he that made the springs[65] to give water,\n    Sweeter and pleasanter than all waters.\n    And I am he that caused it to appear in my mercy,\n    And by my power I called it the pure.\n    And I am he to whom the Lord of heaven hath said,\n    Thou art the just Judge and Ruler of the earth.\n    And I am he that disclosed some of my wonders,\n    And some of my virtues are manifested in that which exists.\n    And I am he that caused the mountains to bow,\n    To move under me and at my will.[66]\n    And I am he before whose majesty the wild beasts cried;\n    They turned to me worshiping, and kissed my feet.\n    And I am \u2018Ad\u00ee a\u0161-\u0160\u00e2m\u00ee, the son of Mus\u00e2fir.\n    Verily the All-Merciful has assigned unto me names,\n    The heavenly throne, and the seat, and the (seven) heavens,\n      and the earth.\n    In the secret of my knowledge there is no God but me.\n    These things are subservient to my power.\n    O mine enemies, why do you deny me?\n    O men, deny me not, but submit.\n    In the day of judgment you will be happy in meeting me.\n    Who dies in my love, I will cast him\n    In the midst of Paradise, by my will and pleasure;\n    But he that dies unmindful of me\n    Will be thrown into torture in misery and affliction.\n    I say I am the only one and the exalted;\n    I create and make rich those whom I will.\n    Praise it to myself, for all things are by my will.\n    And the universe is lighted by some of my gifts.\n    I am the king that magnifies himself,\n    And all the riches of creation are at my bidding.\n    I have made known unto you, O people, some of my ways.\n    Who desireth me must forsake the world.\n    And I can also speak the true saying,\n    And the garden on high is for those who do my pleasure.\n    I sought the truth and became a confirming truth;\n    And by the like truth shall they, like myself, possess the\n      highest place.\n\n\n\n\nTHE PRINCIPAL PRAYER OF THE YEZIDIS\n\n\n    Amen, Amen, Amen!\n    Through the intermediation of \u0160ams-ad-D\u00een,\n    Fa\u1e2br ad-D\u00een, Na\u1e63ir-ad-D\u00een,\n    Sajad ad-D\u00een, \u0160ei\u1e2b Sin (\u1e24usein),\n    \u0160ei\u1e2b Bakr, \u1e33\u00e2dir ar-Ra\u1e25m\u00e2n.\n    Lord, thou art gracious, thou art merciful;\n    Thou art God, king of kings and lands,\n    King of joy and happiness,\n    King of good possession (eternal life).\n    From eternity thou art eternal.\n    Thou art the seat of luck (happiness) and life;\n    Thou art lord of grace and good luck.\n    Thou art king of jinns and human beings,\n    King of the holy men (saints),\n    Lord of terror and praise,\n    The abode of religious duty and praise,\n    Worthy of praise and thanks.\n    Lord! Protector in journeys,\n    Sovereign of the moon and of the darkness,\n    God of the sun and of the fire,\n    God of the great throne,\n    Lord of goodness.\n    Lord! No one knows how thou art.\n    Thou hast no beauty; thou hast no height.\n    Thou hast no going forth; thou hast no number.\n    Lord! Judge of kings and beggars,\n    Judge of society and of the world,\n    Thou hast revealed the repentance of Adam.\n    Lord, thou hast no house; thou hast no money;\n    Thou hast no wings, hast no feathers;\n    Thou hast no voice, thou hast no color.\n    Thou hast made us lucky and satisfied.\n    Thou hast created Jesus and Mary.\n    Lord, thou art gracious,\n    Merciful, faithful.\n    Thou art Lord; I am nothingness.\n    I am a fallen sinner,\n    A sinner by thee remembered.\n    Thou hast led us out of darkness into light.\n    Lord! My sin and my guilt,\n    Take them and remove them.\n    O God, O God, O God, Amen!\n\n\n\n\nSEVEN CLASSES OF YEZIDIS\n\n\nThey are divided into seven classes, and each class has functions\npeculiar to itself that cannot be discharged by any of the other\nclasses. They are:\n\n1. \u0160ei\u1e2b. He is the servant of the tomb, and a descendant of Imam \u1e24asan\nal-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee. No one can give a legal decision or sign any document except\nthe \u0161ei\u1e2b who is the servant of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2019s tomb. He has a sign by which\nhe is distinguished from others. The sign is a belt which he puts on\nhis body, and net-like gloves, which resemble the halters of camels. If\nhe goes among his people, they bow down and pay him their respects. The\n\u0161ei\u1e2bs sell a place in paradise to anyone who wishes to pay money.\n\n2. Emir. The emirship specifically belongs to the descendants of\nYez\u00eed. They have a genealogical tree, preserved from their fathers and\nforefathers, which goes up to Yez\u00eed himself. The emirs have charge of\nthe temporal and governmental affairs, and have the right to say, \u201cDo\nthis and do not that.\u201d\n\n3. \u1e33aww\u00e2l. He has charge of tambourines and flutes and religious hymns.\n\n4. P\u00eer. To him appertain the conduct of fasts, the breaking of fasts,\nand hair-dressing.\n\n5. K\u00f4chak. To him appertain the duties of religious instruction, and\nsepulture, and interpretation of dreams, i.\u202fe., prophecy.\n\n6. Fa\u1e33\u00eer. To him appertain the duties of instruction of boys and girls\nin playing on the tambourines, in dancing and religious pleasure. He\nserves \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee.\n\n7. Mulla. To him appertain the duties of instructing children. He\nguards the books and the mysteries of religion and attends to the\naffairs of the sect.\n\n\n\n\nARTICLES OF FAITH\n\n\nAt one time (A. H. 1289; A.\u202fD. 1872), the Ottoman power wanted to draft\nfrom among them an army instead of taking the tax which was its due.\nThey presented to the government all the rules that prevented them from\ncomplying. These all pertain to religion and are moral obligations upon\nthem. They are as follows:\n\n\n ARTICLE I\n\n According to our Yezidi religion every member of our sect, whether big\n or little, girl or woman, must visit Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs three times a year,\n that is, first, from the beginning to the last of the month of April,\n Roman calendar; secondly, from the beginning to the end of the month\n of September; thirdly, from the beginning to the end of the month\n of November. If anyone visit not the image of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, he is an\n infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE II\n\n If any member of our sect, big or little, visit not his highness \u0160ei\u1e2b\n \u2018Ad\u00ee bn Mus\u00e2fir\u2014may God sanctify his mysteries! once a year, i.\u202fe.,\n from the fifteenth to the twentieth of the month of September, Roman\n calendar, he is an infidel according to our religion.\n\n\n ARTICLE III\n\n Every member of our sect must visit the place of the sunrise every day\n when it appears, and there should not be Moslem, nor Christian, nor\n any one else in that place. If any one do this not, he is an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE IV\n\n Every member of our sect must daily kiss the hand of his brother, his\n brother of the next world, namely, the servant of the Mahdi, and the\n hand of his \u0161ei\u1e2b or _p\u00eer_. If any one do this not, he is regarded as\n an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE V\n\n According to our religion it is something intolerable when the Moslem\n in the morning begins to say in prayer, God forbid! \u201cI take refuge in\n God, etc.\u201d[67] If any one of us hear it, he must kill the one who says\n it and kill himself; otherwise he becomes an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE VI\n\n When one of our sect is on the point of death, if there be no brother\n of the next world and his \u0161ei\u1e2b, or his _p\u00eer_ and one of the _\u1e33aww\u00e2ls_\n with him to say three sayings over him, viz., \u201cO servant of Melek\n \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, whose ways are high, you must die in the religion of the one we\n worship, who is Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, whose ways are high, and do not die in\n any other religion than his. And if some one should come and say to\n you something from the Mohammedan religion, or Christian religion, or\n Jewish religion, or some other religion, do not believe him, and do\n not follow him. And if you believe and follow another religion than\n that of the one we worship, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, you shall die an infidel,\u201d he\n becomes an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE VII\n\n We have something called the blessing of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, that is, the dust\n of the tomb \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\u2014may God sanctify his mystery! Every member\n of our sect must have some of it with him in his pocket and eat of\n it every morning. And if he eat not of it intentionally, he is an\n infidel. Likewise at the time of death, if he possess not some of that\n dust intentionally, he dies an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE VIII\n\n Regarding our fasting, if any one of our sect wish to fast, he must\n fast in his own place, not in another. For while fasting he must go\n every morning to the house of his \u0161eih and his _p\u00eer_, and there he\n must begin to fast; and when he breaks his fast, likewise, he must go\n to the house of his \u0161eih and his _p\u00eer_, and there break the fast by\n drinking the holy wine of the \u0161eih or the _p\u00eer_. And if he drink not\n two or three glasses of that wine, his fasting is not acceptable, and\n he becomes an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE IX\n\n If one of our sect go to another place and remain there as much as one\n year, and afterward return to his place, then his wife is forbidden\n him, and none of us will give him a wife. If anyone give him a wife,\n that one is an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE X\n\n Regarding our dress, as we have mentioned in the fourth Article that\n every one of our sect has a brother for the next world, he has also\n a sister for the next world.[68] Therefore if any one of us make for\n himself a new shirt, it is necessary that his sister for the next\n world should open its neck band, i.\u202fe., the neck band of that shirt,\n with her hand. And if she open it not with her hand, and he wear it,\n then he is an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE XI\n\n If some one of our sect make a shirt or a new dress, he cannot wear it\n without baptizing it in the blessed water which is to be found at the\n shrine of his highness \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee, may God sanctify his mystery! If he\n wear it, he is an infidel.\n\n\n ARTICLE XII\n\n We may not wear a light black dress at all. We may not comb our heads\n with the comb of a Moslem or a Christian or a Jew or any other. Nor\n may we shave our heads with the razor used by any other than ourselves\n (Yezidis), except it be washed in the blessed water which is to be\n found at the shrine of his highness \u0160eih \u2018Ad\u00ee. Then it is lawful for\n us to shave our heads. But if we shave our heads without the razor\n having been washed in that water, we become infidels.\n\n\n ARTICLE XIII\n\n No Yezidi may enter the water-closet of a Moslem, or take a bath at a\n Moslem\u2019s house, or eat with a Moslem\u2019s spoon or drink from a Moslem\u2019s\n cup, from a cup used by any one of another sect. If he does, he is an\n infidel.[69]\n\n\n ARTICLE XIV\n\n Concerning food, there is a great difference between us and the other\n sects. We do not eat meat or fish, squash, _bamia_ (okra), _fasulia_\n (beans), cabbage, or lettuce. We cannot even dwell in the place where\n lettuce is sown.[70]\n\n\nFor these and other reasons, we cannot enter the military service, etc.\n\nThe names of those who affixed their signatures:\n\n  THE HEAD OF THE YEZIDI SECT, THE EMIR OF\n     \u0160EI\u1e2a\u00c2N, \u1e24USEIN.\n  THE RELIGIOUS \u0160EI\u1e2a OF THE YEZIDI SECT OF THE\n     DISTRICT OF \u0160EI\u1e2a\u00c2N, \u0160EI\u1e2a NA\u1e62IR.\n  THE CHIEF OF THE VILLAGE OF MAM RE\u0160\u00c2N,\n     P\u00ceR SULEIM\u00c2N.\n\n  THE VILLAGE CHIEF OF MUSK\u00c2N, MURAD.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e24AT\u00c2RAH, AYY\u00dbB.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  BEIB\u00c2N, \u1e24USEIN.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  DAH\u1e32AN, \u1e24ASSAN.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e24UZR\u00c2N, NU\u2018M\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  B\u00c2KASRA, \u2018ALI.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  B\u00c2\u2018A\u0160\u00ce\u1e32A, JAM\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e24\u00d4\u0160\u00c2BA, ILIAS.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  KREPA\u1e24IN, SA\u0120D.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e32AB\u00c2REH, K\u00d4CHAK.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  KAS\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  SIN\u00c2, \u2018ABD\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u2018AIN SIFNI, GURG\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e32ASR-\u2018_I_ZZ-AD-D\u00ceN.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  \u1e2aEIR\u00d4.\n   \u201c     \u201c      \u201c   \u201c  KIBERT\u00d4, \u1e6c\u00c2HIR.\n  AND OTHERS.\n\nThese are they whose names were in the petition above mentioned, and\nfrom which we copied a few things.\n\nThe result was that when they presented this petition, they were\nexempted from military service, but they paid a tax in money as did the\nChristians.\n\n\nNOTES ON PART I\n\n\n [31] A.\u202fH. 295 (A. D. 807-8). This is the date of Al-Mu\u1e33tadir\u2019s\n accession, who reigned till A.\u202fH. 320 (A. D. 932); cf. W. Muir, _The\n Caliphate_, p. 559.\n\n [32] The life of Man\u1e63\u00fbr-al-\u1e24all\u00e2j is given in Fihrist (ed. Fl\u00fcgel), p.\n 190.\n\n [33] The life of \u2018Abd-al-\u1e33\u00e2dir of J\u00eel\u00e2n is given in Jami\u2019s _Nafa\u1e25at_\n (ed. Lee), p. 584.\n\n [34] The Hakkari country is a dependency of Mosul, and inhabited\n by Kurds and Nestorians; cf. p. 104. Ibn \u1e2aau\u1e33al, K\u00eet\u00e2b al-Mas\u00e2lik\n wal-Mam\u00e2lik (ed. M. J. De Goeje), pp. 143 f.\n\n [35] Ya\u1e33\u00fbt, IV, 373, calls it Laile\u0161 and says that \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee lived\n there.\n\n [36] Presumably Yez\u00eed bn Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya, the second caliph in the Omayyid\n dynasty, who reigned, A.\u202fD. 680-83; cf. W. Muir, _The Caliphate_, p.\n 327.\n\n [37] The life of \u1e24asan al-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee is given in Ibn \u1e2aallik\u00e2n. He is not\n to be identified with \u1e24asan al-Ba\u1e63r\u00ee (died 110 A.\u202fH., who, according\n to Mohammedan tradition, first pointed the Koran text, with the\n assistance of Ya\u1e25y\u00e2 bn Yamar.\n\n [38] In Menant\u2019s _Yzidis_, 48, the names of these seven angels are\n somewhat differently given. According to Mohammedan tradition Zazil or\n Azazil was the original name of the devil.\n\n [39] By the \u201cthrone\u201d here is meant the throne of God, and by the\n \u201ccarpet\u201d the earth; cf. Sura 60: 131.\n\n [40] According to Moslem belief, wheat was the forbidden fruit; see\n Bai\u1e0d\u00e2wi on Sura, ii, 33.\n\n [41] Kunsiniyat is an obscure term.\n\n [42] \u2018Ain Sifni is about five miles from Ba\u2018adrie; cf. Layard,\n _Nineveh_, I, 272.\n\n [43] Ya\u1e33\u00fbt (III, 158) mentions a similar tradition.\n\n [44] These are indications of Mohammedan influence and censorship, for\n no Yezidi will ever write in his sacred book such words as \u0160eit\u00e2n,\n \u0160ar, etc.\n\n [45] That is, those of other religions.\n\n [46] Sanja\u1e33 is a Turkish word, meaning banner; it is the name by which\n the Yezidis generally designate the sacred image of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs.\n\n [47] See note 27.\n\n [48] The Harranian New Year fell on the first day of April, and on the\n sixth day they slaughtered an ox and ate it; cf. Fihrist, 322.\n\n [49] A similar practice is found among the Parsees of India, who\n hang a string of leaves across the entrances to their houses at the\n beginning of every New Year.\n\n [50] According to Babylonian mythology, human destiny was decreed\n on the New Year\u2019s day and sealed on the tenth day; cf. the _Hibbert\n Journal_, V, January, 1907. And according to Talmud (Mi\u0161na, Ro\u0161\n ha\u0161ana, I:2), New Year\u2019s is the most important judgment day, on which\n all creatures pass for judgment before the Creator. On this day three\n books are opened, wherein the fate of the wicked, the righteous, and\n those of the intermediate class are recorded. Hence prayer and works\n of repentance are performed at the New Year from the first to the\n tenth days, that an unfavorable decision might be averted; cf. _Jewish\n Encyclopedia_, \u201cPenitential Day.\u201d R. Akiba says: \u201cOn New Year day all\n men are judged; and the decree is sealed on the Day of Atonement;\u201d cf.\n _ibid._, \u201cDay of Judgement.\u201d\n\n [51] Ibr\u00ee\u1e33 al-A\u1e63far means \u201cthe yellow pitcher.\u201d\n\n [52] Bakb\u00fb\u1e33 is a pitcher with a narrow spout.\n\n [53] Mar Mattie is a Syrian monastery about seven hours\u2019 ride east\n of Mosul, generally known by the name of \u0160ei\u1e2b Mattie, in accordance\n with the general custom of sheltering a Christian saint beneath a\n Moslem title. Elijah is known as Al-\u1e2auder, \u201cthe green one.\u201d Aphrates\n was bishop of \u0160ei\u1e2b Mattie. The church of this monastery is a large\n building, chiefly interesting as containing the tomb of the great\n Bar Hebraeus, known as Abu-l-Faraj, who was ordained at Tripolis,\n and became in 1246 A.\u202fD. Metropolitan of Mosul. He lies buried, with\n his brother Barsom, in the \u201cBeth \u1e33adi\u0161eh\u201d (sanctuary) of the church,\n and over them is placed the inscription: \u201cThis is the grave of Mar\n Gregorias, and of Mar Barsome his brother, the children of the Hebrew,\n on Mount Elpep\u201d (the Syriac name for Jabal Ma\u1e33l\u00fbb).\n\n [54] _Kani_ in Kurdish means a spring; _zarr_, yellow. In Kurdish,\n as in Persian, the adjective usually follows the modified noun; cf.\n Tartibi Jadid, Ta\u2018alimi Faresi, _The New Method for Teaching Persian_\n (in the Turkish language, ed. Kasbar, Constantinople, A.\u202fH. 1312), p.\n 18.\n\n [55] Jaw\u00ee\u0161 is a Turkish word, signifying a sergeant.\n\n [56] This ceremony, as well as the names \u2018Arafat, Zamzam, etc., seems\n to be a mere copy of the Meccah Pilgrimage. \u2018Araf\u00e2t, \u201cThe Mount of\n Recognition,\u201d is situated twelve miles from Mecca, a place where the\n pilgrims stay on the ninth day of the day of the pilgrimage, and\n recite the midday and afternoon prayer. The Mohammedan legend says,\n that when our first parents forfeited heaven for eating wheat, they\n were cast down from the Paradise, Adam fell on the Isle of Ceylon,\n and Eve near Jiddah (the port of Mecca) in Arabia; and that, after\n separation of 200 years, Adam was conducted by the Angel Gabriel to a\n mountain near Mecca, where he found and knew his wife, the mountain\n being then named \u2018Arafat, \u201cRecognition.\u201d\n\n [57] The god Nisroch of Scripture, II Kings 19:37; Isa. 37: 38.\n\n [58] A superstitious name signifying an ill omen.\n\n [59] That is, public prayers like those of the Mohammedans and of the\n Christians; cf. Al Ma\u0161rik, II, 313.\n\n [60] The text has \u201cher hand.\u201d\n\n [61] While the Yezidis venerate \u2018Abd al-\u1e33\u00e2dir of J\u00eel\u00e2n, the Nusairis\n curse him; cf. _J A O S_, VIII, 274.\n\n [62] This belief is taken from Mohammedanism.\n\n [63] The Arabs worshiped a deity under the form of a _nasr_ (eagle),\n A\u0161-\u0160ahrast\u00e2n\u00ee, II, 434; Ya\u1e33ut, IV, 780; _The Syriac Doctrine of Addai_\n (ed. George Philips), p. 24.\n\n [64] Cf. Gen. I: 2, and the Babylonian Creation Epic.\n\n [65] That is the spring of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee.\n\n [66] The reference is to Jabal Ma\u1e33l\u00fbb, which, according to the Yezidi\n belief, moved from its place near Lali\u0161 to enable every Yezidi,\n wherever he may be, to direct his morning prayers toward the tomb of\n \u2018Ad\u00ee.\n\n [67] The Moslem begins his prayer by cursing the devil.\n\n [68] That is a person of the same faith, a Yezidi.\n\n [69] A Nu\u1e63airi, on the contrary, may become a Mohammedan with a\n Mohammedan, a Christian with a Christian, and a Jew with a Jew; cf. _J\n A O S_, VII, 298.\n\n [70] The Sabians did not eat purslane, garlic, beans, cauliflower,\n cabbage, and lentils; cf. Bar. Hebraeus, At-T\u00e2r\u00ee\u1e2b, ed. A. \u1e62al\u1e25ani,\n Beirut, 1890, 266.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\nTHE CRITICAL DISCUSSION OF YEZIDISM\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nTHE RELIGIOUS ORIGIN OF THE YEZIDIS\n\n\nThe origin of the devil-worshippers has been the subject of much\ncontroversy; but aside from an expression of views, no satisfactory\nsolution of the problem has as yet been reached. The different\ntheories which have been advanced may be classified under four general\nheads: The Myth of the Yezidis themselves; the tradition of Eastern\nChristians; the dogmatic idea of the Mohammedan scholars; and the\nspeculative theory of the western orientalists.\n\n\nI\n\nTHE YEZIDI MYTH\n\nThe Myth of the Yezidis concerning their origin may be derived from\nthree different sources: from their sacred book, from the appendix of\nthe manuscript, and from actual conversation of travellers with them\nor with natives dwelling among them. One noticeable fact is that this\ntradition assumes the religion of the sect as existing long before\nthe time of their chief saint, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee. Al-Jilwah begins with the\nstatement that Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs sent his servant, _i. e._, the Yezidis, that\nthey might not go astray. Starting from this assumption, the writer of\nthe revealed book goes on to trace the origin of the \u201celect\u201d to the\nvery beginning of human history. He asserts that from the start God\ncreated them as a peculiar people of \u2018Azazil, _i. e._, Melek-\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. In\nthe main, this idea finds expression in the oral traditions. But here\nwe have a mass of material so clouded by superstition and ignorance\nthat it is next to impossible to come to any conclusion as to the\nhistory of this interesting people. One point the myth repeatedly\nemphasizes, as an explanation of the origin of the sect, is that it\nwas descended from Adam alone; while the other sects were descended\nfrom Adam and Eve. For this reason, the same tradition implies, the\nYezidis are nobler than the others. But how they have come to be such\nunique descendants is a question not easily answered. One account\nhas it that when Adam and Eve disputed as to the generation of the\nhuman race, each claiming to be the sole begetter of the race, they\nfinally agreed to put their seed in separate jars and seal them with\ntheir own seals. After nine months they opened the jars, and in Adam\u2019s\njar they found two children, a male and a female. From these two\nthe Yezidis were descended. Another explanation is that from Adam\u2019s\nessence was born \u0160eher bn Jebr, of whom nothing is known; and of\nhim, a separate community, which is the sect of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. We have,\nmoreover, the tradition that the Yezidis are descendants of a son born\nto Adam of his spittle. Now whether this son be identical with \u0160eher\nbn Jebr is not certain. Writing in one of the oriental periodicals,\nan eastern scholar quotes a Yezidi \u0161ei\u1e2b in a statement which seems\nto corroborate the tradition that the Yezidis are a noble progeny of\nAdam; but the quotation differs from the instance previously cited in\nstating that the quarrel which took place between Adam and Eve led to\ntheir separation to places distant from each other a journey of forty\ndays.[71] There, it is said, Adam miraculously gave birth to a son.\nDistressed by this incident, Eve asked God that she might find favor in\nher husband\u2019s eyes by giving birth to a child. Thereupon, it continues,\nshe begot a very pretty daughter. Attracted by her beauty, Adam married\nher to his son. Now, the Yezidis, we are told, are the blessed seed of\nthese two children.[72]\n\nNot only when the tradition, tracing the origin of the Yezidis as a\nrace, asserts that, as a religious body, they come from a very ancient\ntime; but also when it speaks of them as a nation, it points out their\nantiquity. On this latter, as well as on the former point, their book\nand their oral tradition agree. The Yezidis are said to have sprung\nfrom a noble personage, the King of Peace, whose name was Na-\u2018umi, but\nwhom they now call Melek-Miran.[73] The rest of mankind, however, are\nfrom the seed of Ham, who mocked his father. Whom they signified by\nNa-\u2018umi or Miran it is hard to say; but it is likely that they regard\nhim as one of the other two sons of Noah. They claim also that the\nancient Assyrian kings were members of their race, and that some of\nthe Persian, Roman and Jewish kings were appointed for them by Melek\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. They likewise seem to trace their origin to the prophets and\nother personages of the Old Testament; as Seth, Enoch, Noah, etc. Their\nreligion furthermore, they assert, antedates Christ.[74]\n\nThere is still another tradition that traces the devil-worshippers to\na different origin. I refer to the statement which Masehaf Re\u0161 makes\nregarding Mu\u2018awiya, Mohammed\u2019s servant.[75] Mu\u2018awiya was asked by\nhis master to shave his head. While performing the duty, he cut the\nprophet\u2019s scalp, and began to lick the bleeding spot. When he was told\nthat this act would result in his giving birth to a nation which would\noppose the followers of his master, Mu\u2018awiya declared that he would\nnot marry. He was afterwards, however, bitten by a serpent, and was\ntold that he would die unless he married. He therefore consented to\nmarry, but chose an old woman in order not to have children. But she\nmiraculously became a young woman of twenty-five. And from her the God\nYezid was born. The story, of course, is a myth, and it is of such a\nnature that no historic fact can be derived from it. It is further\ncomplicated by the fact that this Yezid is identified with Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs;\nand, in another myth, is represented in form as being half angel and\nhalf man and as remaining a bachelor long after the marriage of Adam.\nHe was, however, finally possessed of a desire to marry, and, unable\nto marry a mortal\u2019s daughter, being himself half angel, sought the\nassistance of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, who presented to him an \u1e25ouri, and from this\nunion there sprang a pious people, the Yezidis.\n\nBut the devil-worshippers have still another story, which goes to show\nthat Yezid bn Mu\u2018awiya is not their founder. This myth asserts that\nthey are the progeny of Adam\u2019s son who was married to Eve\u2019s daughter;\nthat the descendants continued worshipping God and Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs without\nbringing a foreign element into their religion; and that, at first, the\nsect did not bear the name Yezidis, which, in their own opinion, is\na comparatively new appellative. As to how they came to be called by\nthis new name, it is explained that when, in the course of time, some\ncorruption entered the Yezidi religion, there arose a certain Calif by\nthe name of Yezid who wrought miracles. Since then, his followers have\nbeen called Yezidis. This Yezid, it is said, is the son of Mu\u2018awiya\nbn Sufian, and his mother was of Christian origin. To accomplish his\ndesire, bn Mu\u2018awiya went to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, who was a learned and devout\nbut cunning person, and had instituted a religious innovation. Yezid,\nthe tradition continues, learned \u2018Adi\u2019s religion and taught it to his\nfollowers; and, from that time on, the sect came to be called after\nhim.[76] But while some, considering this legend as authoritative,\nvenerate the man bearing the name, others deny all connection with\nhim.[77]\n\nThe testimony of some travellers offers another explanation of the\norigin of the sect in question, an account which has perhaps more\nhistorical significance than the preceding theories. It is stated that\nthe Yezidis have a tradition to the effect that they came from Ba\u1e63rah\nand from the country watered by the lower part of the Euphrates; that\nafter their emigration they first settled in Syria, and subsequently\ntook possession of the Sinjar Hill and the district now inhabited\nin Kurdistan. As to the date of their settlement in Mesopotamia, no\npositive information can be obtained. Some scholars infer that it took\nplace about the time of Tamerlane, toward the end of the fourteenth\ncentury.[78] It is related that the devil-worshippers hold that, among\ntheir own number, the ancient name for God is Azd, and from it the name\nof the sect is derived;[79] that the conviction that they are Yezidis,\n_i. e._, God\u2019s people, has been their consolation and comfort through\nthe ages in their tribulations;[80] and that they have taken many\nreligious observances from different bodies\u2014Mohammedans, Christians,\nJews, Pagan Arabs, Shiites, and Sabaians.\n\nBesides these different explanations of the origin of the\ndevil-worshippers as descendants of Adam, of Yezid bn Mu\u2018awiya, as\nbeing of the colony from the north, as taking their name from Azd, God,\nthere is another account. I refer to a myth which is current among the\npeople of Seistan, an eastern province of Persia, where there are a\nconsiderable number of these Shaitan parasts (devil worshippers):\n\n\u201cIn former times there existed a prophet named \u1e24analalah, whose life\nwas prolonged to the measure of a thousand years. He was their ruler\nand benefactor; and as by his agency, their flocks gave birth to lambs\nand kids miraculously once a week, though ignorant of the use of money,\nthey, with much gratitude to him, procured all the comforts of life.\nAt length, however, he died, and was succeeded by his son, whom \u0160atan,\npresuming on his inexperience, tempted to sin by entering a large\nmulberry tree, when he addressed the successor of \u1e24analalah, and called\non him to worship the prince of darkness. Astonished, yet unshaken,\nthe youth resisted the temptation. But the miracle proved too much\nfor the constancy of his flock, who now began to turn to the worship\nof the devil. The young prophet, enraged at this, seized an axe and a\nsaw, and prepared to cut down the tree. He was arrested in this by the\nappearance of a human being, who exclaimed, \u2018Rash boy, desist! Turn to\nme and let us wrestle for the victory. If you conquer, then fell the\ntree.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe prophet contended and vanquished his opponent, who, however,\nbought his own safety and that of the tree by the promise of a large\nweekly treasure. After seven days the holy victor again visited the\ntree to claim the gold or fell it to the ground; but Satan persuaded\nhim to hazard another struggle on the promise that, if he conquered\nagain, the amount should be doubled. This second encounter proved fatal\nto the youth. He was put to death by his spiritual antagonist, and the\nresult confirmed the tribes over whom he had ruled in their worship of\nthe tree and its tutelary demon.\u201d[81]\n\nAccording to this legend, the \u0160atan parasts are the victims of their\nyoung prophet who, as long as he was actuated by a disinterested zeal\nfor religion, was victorious over the principle of evil; but failed as\nsoon as that zeal gave place to a sordid cupidity for earthly treasure.\n\nI have dwelt upon the superstitious theories of the Yezidis themselves\nregarding their religious origin, not because these theories have an\nimportance in themselves, but because of their bearing upon the views\nadvanced by modern scholars. The scholars have based their theories on\nsome of these conflicting stories without sufficient criticism. I shall\ndwell upon this more at length later on.\n\n\nII\n\nTHE CHRISTIAN TRADITION\n\nBut the myth of the Yezidis is not the only account that attempts to\ntrace their religious origin; the eastern Christians have a tradition\nthat gives a different interpretation. It is to the effect that the\npeople in question were originally Christians, but that ignorance\nbrought them into their present condition. The tradition runs that\nthe shrine of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi was formerly a Nestorian monastery which was\nnoted for the devotion of its monks, but that these were tempted by the\ndevil and left their convent. The Church of the Monastery was dedicated\nto St. Thaddeus or Addai,[82] one of the seventy-two disciples who,\nafter the ascension of our Lord, was sent to King Abgar of Edessa. It\nis said that the temple of \u2018Adi has a conventicle resembling that at\nJerusalem.[83] The story of how the cloister was deserted is as follows:\n\nOn a great feast day, while the hermits bearing the cross went in\nprocession around the church, they saw, hanging on a tree, a piece of\npaper with this inscription: \u201cO ye devout monks! Let it be known to you\nthat God has forgiven all your sins, great and small; cease to undergo\nreligious exercises; leave your hermitage; disperse, marry and rear\nchildren. Peace be unto you!\u201d On the second day they observed the same\nthing, and were led to dispute among themselves whether this were a\ndevice of God or of a devil. When on the third day the same incident\nwas repeated, they agreed to leave the abbey and follow what seemed to\nthem a divine order. \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, the legend goes on, had foretold to the\nYezidis of that district that the monks of this monastery would desert\ntheir place, would become Yezidis, would marry and beget children; that\nhe would die during that time; and that he wishes his followers to pull\ndown the altar of the church in that priory and bury him there. Shortly\nafter the fulfilment of his prophecy, the \u0160ei\u1e2b died, and was entombed\nin the place of the altar. And since that time, it is asserted, the\nspot has become the sanctuary of the devil-worshippers. In support of\nthis statement, it is argued, that there was a Syriac inscription in\nthe temple mentioning the name of the founder of the monastery and\nthe patriarch in whose time it was built; that some of the Yezidis\nthemselves bear testimony to this fact, and say they have removed the\nwriting from its former place and have hidden it at the entrance to\n\u2018Adi\u2019s temple, a spot the whereabouts of which only a few of them know.\nThe reason why this record is hidden, it is explained, is the fear that\nthe Nestorians may see it and reclaim the church.[84]\n\nSuch is the eastern Christian\u2019s tradition relative to the origin of the\nYezidis. It is, of course, merely a legend; but its character is such\nas to require careful examination and critical study. It may embody a\nmeasure of truth that will indirectly throw some light on the subject\nin hand.\n\nOne noticeable thing regarding this current view is that it is not a\nrecent invention; else it might be said to be the creation of ignorance\nat a time far removed from the event which it records. Assemani,\nhimself an oriental of distinguished scholarship, in that part of\nhis book wherein he treats of the religion of Mesopotamia, according\nto the natives of the country, says that the Yezidis were at one\ntime Christians, who, however, in the course of time, had forgotten\nthe fundamental principles of their faith.[85] This statement is\nincorporated in the writings of all western orientals that have\ntravelled in the East.[86]\n\nAnother thing worthy of notice is that the Christians should have such\na sacred regard for his tradition as to hand it down to posterity at\nthe risk of their own reputation. Certainly the Christians are not\ncherishing this theory with any expectation of receiving honor by\nassuming relation with the Yezidis. The devil-worshippers are utterly\ndespised by all their neighbors. Nor do they do it out of love, that\nthey may arouse the sympathy of the dominating race for this degraded\npeople. Oriental Christians themselves despise the Yezidi sect. They\nwould not, and could not, help them. There must then be some truth in a\nlegend that leads the church to regard a despised people as having been\nat one time co-religionists.\n\nWere the antiquity of the tradition, and the unfavorable result which\nits entertainment causes, the only two reasons for its consideration,\nwe might just as well dismiss it. But there are other things which\ngo to point out some historic facts underlying the current theory.\nOne such fact is that the family name of the Yezidis around Mosul is\nDaseni, plur Dawasen. The Christians and the Mohammedans know them by\nthis name, and they themselves also use it, and say it is the ancient\nname of their race, existing from time immemorial.[87] Now Daseni,\nor Dasaniyat, was the name of a Nestorian Diocese, the disappearance\nof which is simultaneous with the appearance of the Yezidis in these\nplaces.[88]\n\nIt is stated, moreover, that all the people of Sinjar were formerly\nChristians, belonging to the ancient Syriac Church and having a very\nprominent diocese, which was called the diocese of \u0160aki, _i. e._,\nSinjar; and that the diocese continued to exist till the middle of\nthe eighteenth century: What goes to verify this tradition is that,\nat present, there is a library at Jabal Sinjar, under the control of\nthe Yezidis, that consists of ancient Syriac books. They are kept in a\nsmall room guarded by a Yezidi. On Sunday and Friday of every week they\nburn incense and light lamps in honor of the manuscripts; and once a\nmonth they take them out in the sun to dust and to preserve them from\ndestruction by dampness. After the door is locked, the key is kept by\nthe \u0160ei\u1e2b, besides whom and his son no one else is allowed to touch the\nbooks. What is more interesting, the people of Sinjar say they have\ninherited the library from their forefathers, who were Christians.[89]\nIt is pointed out, furthermore, that the names of the principal towns\nof the Yezidis are Syriac. Ba\u2018\u0161ika comes from \u201cthe house of the falsely\naccused, or oppressed\u201d; Ba\u2018adrie from \u201cthe place of help or refuge\u201d;\nBa\u1e25zanie from \u201cthe house of visions or inspiration\u201d; Tal\u1e25as from \u201cthe\nhill of suffering,\u201d where many Christians were martyred by Persians.\nThese are a few of many Yezidi villages having Syriac names.\n\nThe Yezidis have religious practices which are to be found only in\nthe Christian Church. I mean the rites of baptism and the Eucharist.\nIt is true that the use of water as a rite is practised by other\nnon-Christian sects, such as the Mandeans; but it is argued that this\nordinance as observed by the Yezidis is so similar to that of the\nChristians that its origin is to be traced back to Christianity, rather\nthan to any other system. Like their neighbors, the Dawaseni must if\npossible baptize their children at the earliest age. In performing\nthe rite, the \u0160ei\u1e2b, like the Christian priest, puts his hand upon the\nchild\u2019s head. In regard to the sacrament of the Lord\u2019s supper, it is\nstrictly Christian in character. The Yezidis call the cup the cup of\nIsa (Jesus); and when a couple marry, they go to a Christian town to\npartake of Al-\u1e33iddas (the Eucharist) from the hand of a priest, a\ncustom which prevails among eastern Christians. What requires special\nnote is that this practice is observed where the Yezidi influence is\nnot very strong, a fact which seems to indicate that the Apostate\nNasara, who lived remote from strongly Yezidising influences, were able\nto retain some of their originally much favored practices, and vice\nversa.[90]\n\nFinally, the Dawaseni entertain great reverence for Christianity and\nthe Christian saints. They respect the churches and tombs of the\nChristians, and kiss the doors and walls when they enter them; but\nthey never visit a Mohammedan mosque. In the Black Book a statement\nis made that on her way to the house of her bridegroom, a bride\nshould visit the temple of every idol she passes by, even if it be a\nChristian Church.[91] They have also professed reverence for \u2018Isa\n(Jesus). They affect more attachment to An-Na\u1e63ara than to Mohammedans.\nSuch a religious affinity cannot be fully accounted for on any other\nground than that of their sincere respect for Christianity, a feeling\nwhich clearly indicates that these people must at one time have had\na very close connection with Christianity. This intimate relation\ncannot be explained by their ignorance, or by kindred experiences, as\nsome scholars seem to think.[92] It is true the Christians have been\nco-sufferers with them; both have lived for generations under the same\nyoke of bondage and oppression and under similar circumstances. But\nthis alone could not create sympathy between them. Such an assumption\ncannot be verified by the facts collected through our observation of\nthe Yezidis\u2019 character as a religious body. They are sincere in their\nbeliefs, and never compromise in religious matters. History has shown\nagain and again that they have suffered martyrdom for their faith,\nin which they have been as sincere and unshaken as have been the\nheroes of any religion. No matter how uneducated they may be, they\nare not hypocrites in their faith. The theory is also refuted by our\nunderstanding of the nature of the affinity in question between the\nYezidis and the Christians. It is not a matter of sympathy but of\nreligion. They believe in some forms of Christianity; and when they\nvisit a church, they want to exercise their faith and not to express\ntheir sympathy. What is more, the eastern Christians have no sympathy\nfor the devil worshippers, at least, not more than they have for any\nother religious body. Such an affinity is wanting between the Jews\nand the Christians or the Yezidis, yet they all live under the same\nconditions.\n\nI am not here advocating the theory, or implying, that the Yezidi sect\nis a corrupt form of Christianity, but am simply aiming to show that\nif the similarity of a certain religion with another in some phases\nbe taken as a ground for the explanation of its origin, the Christian\ntradition can be regarded as a more probable theory to account for the\nrise of Yezidism than any other view: And, hence, to point out, what\nseems to me to be the best position, that the explanation must be found\nultimately in some historical document which will give us a reasonable\nclew in the tracing of the sect in question to its founder.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE SPECULATIVE THEORIES OF WESTERN ORIENTALISTS\n\n\nThus far we have been dealing with the different theories regarding\nthe origin of the Yezidis held in the East: the myth of the\ndevil-worshippers themselves, the Christian tradition. Now we turn\nour attention to the West, which also has expressed itself on this\nsubject. The degree of interest shown in this particular case, however,\ndiffers with different nationalities. The English-speaking scholars\ncome first; next come the French; then the Russians; and finally the\nItalians. The German scholars seem to be interested mainly in certain\nwords and festive events. And, in the discussion of these, they go\nso far in their unbounded speculation that one cannot tell whether\nthe people they deal with are the Yezidis in question, Assyrians,\nBabylonians, Canaanites, Greeks, Romans or Jews. The German writers do\nnot seem to be interested so much in the problem of the origin of this\npeople as a sect, unless they regard the question as settled on the\nground of the Yezidis\u2019 own statement that they are the descendants of\nYezid bn Mu\u2018awiya.\n\nTo tell the truth, the rise of the interest in the inquiry about the\nfounder of this sect on a scientific basis, is due, without question,\nto the scholarship of the West. And any solution of the problem (and\nit does not matter who does the work), in the last analysis, must be\naccredited to the influences emanating from these scholars and these\nscholars only. Nevertheless modern orientalists have been far from\napproaching the solution of the question. This may be due in part to\nthe extreme interest which they have taken in the matter, an interest\nwhich led them to accept the phenomena without critical examination.\nBut the inductive study of their respective writings tends to show that\nthis is due to their method of procedure rather than to anything else.\nThey have employed the philosophical and not the historical method.[93]\nI do not mean to deny the value of such a course of investigation in\nquestions pertaining to religion, but what I do mean to say is that\nthe method of the scholars in question is almost purely speculative,\nand they do not seem to appeal to historical facts in support of their\nassumptions. The inevitable consequence has been, therefore, that in\ntheir theories there exists an uncertainty and indefiniteness that\npuzzles the student of history.\n\nAnother fact which the inductive study of the views of the western\nscholars reveals is that their theories are nothing more nor less\nthan the expression of the Yezidis\u2019 tradition in terms of modern\nscholarship, without, however, the showing of reasons for so doing.\nThis fact will be proved presently when we shall examine their\nrespective writings.\n\nWestern orientalists are divided into three schools of opinion on the\nquestion of the religious origin of the Yezidis. There are those who\nhold that the sect takes its rise from Yezid bn Mu\u2018awiya. This view\nis advocated by a modern writer, who says, \u201cThe Arabs who accepted\nMohammed called those who did not Al-jahaleen, _i. e._, the ignorant\nones. Among the latter was Yezid bn Mu\u2018awiya who refused to accompany\nMu\u2018awiya, his father, as an attendant upon his person. Many of the\nignorant ones rallied around Yezid, and he became the nucleus of the\nsect that appropriated his name. The Yezidis possess a genealogical\ntree by means of which they trace their religious origin back to\nhim.\u201d[94]\n\nNow, the ground for this assertion, the writer does not give; he is\nentirely silent as to the source of his information. It is evident,\ntherefore, that he is regarding the superstitious theory of the Yezidis\nas a fact without making any reflection upon it. He also seems to\nbe confusing this Yezid with his uncle of the same name, who, with\nMu\u2018awiya his brother came in company with their father Abu Sofian, to\nMohammed to receive presents from the Prophet. But the Arab historians\ntell us that not only Abu Sofian and each of his two sons received a\nhundred camels but that they were each presented with forty ounces of\nsilver.[95]\n\nThen, too, many scholars deny that the name Yezidis is the original\nappellation. Some assert it was put upon them by the Mohammedans as\na term of reproach.[96] Others maintain that the sect adopted the\nname Yezid, son of Mu\u2018awiya to secure toleration at the hands of the\nMohammedans.[97] But the scholar quoted may entertain the view of those\nwho say that the Yezidis are really the followers of Ibn Mu\u2018awiya;\nbut that they deny it for fear of persecution on the part of Shiites.\nThese latter hate Yezid, because he murdered \u2018Ali\u2019s son, Husein, who is\nregarded by them as their true Imam. This inference is founded on the\ntheory that the Mohammedans of Persia consider the people in question\nas descendants of the Calif whose name is odious to them.[98] But it is\nnot certain that the followers of \u2018Ali entertain such a view regarding\nthe origin of the Yezidis. And, if they do, they have no historical\nfacts to justify them in their opinion. Their hatred of the sect can be\nbetter explained on the basis of the relation of the devil-worshippers\nto Yezid bn Unaisa. For he was one of those who most bitterly hated\n\u2018Ali; see pp. 121, 122, 128 of this book.\n\nFurthermore, the theory of this school is neutralized by the fact that\nnone of the Arab historians mentions the son of the first Calif in the\nOmayyid dynasty as a founder of any heretical sect. On the contrary,\nthey all agree that he was not only a Mohammedan but a successor of the\nprophet, being the second calif in the Omayyid dynasty. Ibn \u1e2aallikan\nmentions his name two or three times, and says that his works were\ncollected. He says nothing, however, as to his founding any religious\nschism.\n\nThere is still another school among the western orientalists. I mean\nthose who hold that the religion of the devil-worshippers is of Persian\norigin. They are of two wings. There are those who take their method\nof procedure from the name Yezid or Yazd. They argue that this term in\nPersian, Yazd (pla Yazd\u0101n), Avestan Yezata, \u2018worthy of worship\u2019, means\nGod, or good spirit, over against Ahriman, the evil principle. Hence,\nthe name Yezid, according to them, indicates the people that believe\nin this good god. To the objection that the Yezidis worship the evil\nspirit, answer is made that Yezid Ferfer is the name of the attendant\nof the evil spirit among the Parsees.[99] Others believe that the\nword \u201cYezid\u201d signifies God. It indicates in the plural the observers\nof superstitious doctrines as may be seen by the idol Yezid, which\nthe Bishop of Nagham overthrew.[100] Still others say that in the\ntradition of these people Yezid must have been an abbreviated form of\nAez-da-Khuda, that is, created of God. In support of this theory, it is\nclaimed that in reality the Yezidis worship God and not the devil. It\nis thought by many, too, that the Yezidis derive their name from Yazd,\nor Yezid, a name of a town in Central Persia, of which the Parsees form\nthe principal part of the inhabitants.[101]\n\nThe other wing of the second school attempts to trace the origin of\nthe devil-worshippers to a Persian source on the basis of certain\nresemblances between the two religions. Conspicuous among the\nrepresentatives of this school is Professor A.\u202fV. Jackson, of Columbia\nUniversity. This distinguished scholar is considered an eminent\nauthority on Iranian religions, and particularly an eye-witness\nauthority on the Yezidi question. His views, therefore, not only\ndeserve careful consideration, but they demand their full share in\nsolving such an important problem as the one under discussion. I have\npreferred his discussion of this theory to that of others because he\nhas expressed himself clearly and consistently and without rendering\nhimself liable to misapprehension on the part of the reader. Briefly\nstated, Dr. Jackson\u2019s position is as follows: \u201cThe Yezidis may actually\nshow some surviving traces of old devil-worship in Mazandaran, which\nZoroaster anathematized so bitterly,\u201d and \u201csome old reminiscences\nof common Iranian faith.\u201d To verify this hypothesis, he proceeds to\npoint out many instances. One example he cites is that \u201cthe Yezidis\nare shocked if one spits upon the earth, because they interpret this\nas an insult to the devil.\u201d He traces this abhorrence to \u201cZoroastrian\nprescription, forbidding the earth in any way to be defiled.\u201d \u201cThe\nDaevayasna or devil-worshippers in Avesta,\u201d he goes on to say, \u201cmay\nindirectly have had a kindred notion, _i. e._, not mentioning the name\nof Satan.\u201d Moreover this American critic is informed that the Yezidis\n\u201cbelieve in a father primeval, that lived before Adam, and did not\nfall into sin.\u201d And this information leads him to think that such a\nnotion helps \u201cthe Zoroastrian student to recognize at once a far-off\nreminiscence of Avestan Gaya-Mashai, the Iranian Adam and Eve.\u201d[101]\n\nOne noticeable thing in favor of the two schools is that their method\nis strictly scientific, in the modern sense of the term. It is a\nposteriori and not a priori; it is inductive. Yet however scientific\ntheir method may seem to be their conclusions cannot be accepted\nas final. For the inductive method, according to the great French\nscientist, Poincar\u00e9, cannot give us exact knowledge because its\nexperiments do not cover all the instances in a given case. There\ncan be only a partial verification. There will always remain some\nphenomena that cannot be brought within the sphere of a particular\nobservation.[102] Now, this is exactly the case in the subject under\nconsideration. Only in some phases does the Yezidi religion resemble\nthat of the old Persians. There are other beliefs which do not come\nunder this category, and which seem to bear the traces of some other\nreligions. What are we to do with these?[103] The advocates of the\ntheory in question admit that such is the case, but they assert that\n\u201cthe resemblances of the Yezidi religion to Christianity and Islam are\naccidental\u201d; that \u201cowing to the residence of the Yezidis among the\nMohammedans, the sect naturally has much in common with Islam.\u201d[104]\nBut why are the resemblances to Iranism not to be accounted for in\nthe same way as those to other religions? Why may not equally strong\ninference be made from the likeness to Christianity? And what is\nthe basis of such a discrimination? On these questions we are left\nentirely in the dark. Now, it is this lack of ground for their method\nof procedure that leads one to seek the solution of the problem on some\nother verifiable hypothesis.\n\nThere is still another school among the western orientalists. I refer\nto those who maintain that the Yezidi sect was founded by \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi.\nA modern writer who holds this theory, after critically reviewing the\nviews held by the different scholars, proceeds to advance his own idea.\nTo emphasize it, and leave no room for further criticism, he claims\nthat the theory has been \u201cgenerally\u201d accepted. To quote:\n\n\u201cIt is generally agreed upon that the sect of the Yezidis was founded\nby \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi. He is a historical personage, but it is exceedingly\ndifficult, and almost impossible, to establish any historical facts out\nof the mist of very fantastic stories current about him.\u201d[105]\n\nHe supports his notion by an appeal to an Arab author, Kasi Ahmad\nibn-\u1e2aallikan, from whom, according to this writer, an extract relating\nto \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi was published by one who for years was a resident of\nthe city of Mosul.[106] This statement that Ibn \u1e2aallikan gives the\nbiography of \u2018Adi is a fact that cannot be questioned; but that \u2018Adi\nfounded the Yezidi sect is a theory that is by no means \u201cgenerally\nagreed upon.\u201d Nor can it be substantiated. To justify this position,\nlet me quote in full what the Arab biographer and two other Mohammedan\nscholars have to say on the problem.\n\n1 What Ibn \u1e2aallikan has to say on \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi:\n\n\u201cThe \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi Ibn Masafir Al-Hakkari was an ascetic, celebrated for\nthe holiness of his life, and the founder of a religious order called\nafter him Al-\u2018Adawiah. His reputation spread to distant countries,\nand the number of his followers increased to a great multitude. Their\nbelief in his sanctity was so excessive that, in saying their prayers,\nthey took him for their \u1e33ibla; and imagined that in the next life they\nwould have in him their most precious treasure and their best support.\nBefore this, he had as a disciple a great number of eminent \u0161ei\u1e2bs and\nmen remarkable for their holiness. He then retired from the world and\nfixed his residence among the mountains of the Hakkari, near Mosul,\nwhere he built a cell (or a monastery) and gained the favor of the\npeople in that country to a degree unexampled in the history of the\nanchorites. It is said that the place of his birth was a village called\nBait Far, situated in the province of Baalbek, and that the house in\nwhich he was born is still visited (as a place of sanctity). He died\nA. H. 557 (A. D. 1162), or as some say A. H. 555, in the town where\nhe resided (in the Hakkari region). He was interred in the monastery\nthat he had erected. His tomb is much frequented, being considered\nby his followers one of the most sacred spots to which a pilgrimage\ncan be made. His descendants continue to wear the same distinctive\nattire as he did and to walk in his footsteps. The confidence placed\nin their merits is equal to that formerly shown to their ancestor,\nand like him they are treated with profound respect. Abu Ibarakat\nibn Al-Mustawfi notices the \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi in his history of Arbela, and\nplaces him in the list of those persons who visited that city. Muzaffar\nAd-Din, the sovereign of Arbela, said that when a boy he saw the \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Adi at Mosul. According to him, he was a man of medium size and tawny\ncomplexion; he related also many circumstances indicative of his great\nsanctity. The \u0161ei\u1e2b died at the age of ninety years.\u201d[107]\n\n2 What Mohammed-Amin-Al-\u2018Omari has to say on \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi:\n\n\u201cThey say that the \u0161ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi was one of the inhabitants of Ba\u2018albek;\nthat he transported himself to Mosul, and from thence to Jabal La\u0161, a\ndependency of this city (Mosul), where he resided until his death. They\nalso say that he was from \u1e24awran, and that his lineage goes back as\nfar as Marwan bn al-\u1e24akam, also that he is \u0160araf ad Din Abou\u00b4l Fa\u1e0dail\n\u2018Adi bn Masafir bn Isma\u2018il bn Mousa bn Marwan bn al \u1e24asan bn Marwan bn\nMohammed bn Marwan bn al \u1e24akam, who died in the year 558. His grave,\nwhich is well known, is the object of pious pilgrimages.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod tried him by a calamity, to wit, the appearance of a sect of\napostates, called the Yezidis, because they claim to be descended\nfrom Yezid. They adore the sun and render worship to the devil. The\nfollowing are some of the precepts of their faith that I found in a\nsmall tract made by one of the inhabitants of Aleppo, who knows their\nreligion:\n\nI. Adultery becomes lawful when committed by (mutual) consent.\n\nII. They pretend that when the day of judgment comes, the \u0161ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\nwill put them into a wooden basin which he will place on his head\nin order to cause them to enter into Paradise while uttering these\ncontemptuous words: \u2018I do this (or, I make them do this) by compelling\nGod or in spite of him.\u2019\n\nIII. The visit which they pay to the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi is for them a\npilgrimage which the devotees accomplished no matter how far distant\nthe country is that they inhabit, and without being concerned about the\nexpenses that the journey carries with it.\u201d[108]\n\n3 What Yasin Al-Hatib-al-Omari-Al-Mausili has to say on \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi:\n\n\u201cIn this year 557 died the saint and the pious devotee \u2018Adi bn Musafir,\nwho performed miracles. His death took place in the city Hakkariya,\none of the dependencies of Mosul. His origin is from Ba\u2018albek, which\nhe left in order to come to Mosul, that he might consecrate himself to\nGod. He passed a solitary life on the mountains and in caverns where\nlions and other wild beasts visited him often.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is said that he was descended from the family of Omayyids, and\nthis is the lineage which he attributed to himself: \u2018Adi bn Musafir bn\nIsma\u2018il bn Mousa bn Marwan bn al-\u1e24asan bn Marwan bn al-\u1e24akam bn Al-\u2018Ass\nbn Omayya.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe was versed in the knowledge of the divine law. God tried him by a\ncalamity by raising the Yezidis, who pretended that this \u0161ei\u1e2b is God,\nand who have made his tomb the object of their pilgrimage. They arrive\nthere every year at the sound of drums in order to give themselves to\ngames and debauchery.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Christians of the land, and especially the partisans of the\nNestorians are far from having the same opinion of the \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi as\nhave the Moslems or the Yezidis. The following passage which one reads\nin a Chaldean manuscript entitled \u2018Awarda\u2019[109] and which I saw some\ntime ago in the Church of Karmalis,[110] proves this sufficiently. This\nis the translation of the passage which I have extracted from a song\ncomposed by a bishop of Arbil, in honor of Rabban Hormuzd[111] and\nother saints, and in which the author makes mention of \u2018Adi in these\nterms:\n\n\u201c\u2018Great misfortunes have followed, falling upon us; a formidable enemy\ncame to torment us. He was a descendant of Hagar, the slave of our\nmother. This enemy who made our life unfortunate was a Mohammedan,\ncalled \u2018Adi. He deceived us by vile tricks, and has finished by taking\npossession of our riches and of our convent, which he consecrated to\nthings that are illicit (to have a strange worship). An innumerable\nmultitude of Mussulmen have attached themselves to him and have\nvowed to him a blind submission. The renown of his name, which is\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, has spread down to our days in all the cities of all the\ncountries.\u2019\u201d[112]\n\nThese are the accounts which we have of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi in his relation to\nthe Yezidis, and they deserve our special attention. For not only\nare the writers scholars of the highest authority, but they are to a\ncertain extent eye-witness authorities. The last two are from the city\nof Mosul, which is the only city in the Mohammedan world whose widely\nspreading scholarship has acquired for it the name \u201cDar-al-\u2018Ulum,\u201d\n_i. e._, the home of sciences. Moreover, they come from a family\nwhose members are known as \u2018Olama, highly intellectual, broad-minded\nMohammedan gentlemen. While at Mosul, I had the honor of calling often\non \u1e24asan Efendi al \u2018Omari, and especially on Suleiman Efendi al \u2018Omari.\nIbn \u1e2aallikan as a trustworthy biographer needs no further introduction\nthan the mere mentioning of his name. What adds to his reputation as a\nscholar is the fact that, being a resident of Arbila in the province of\nMosul, he had at his command firsthand information.\n\nAnother noteworthy fact is that all three of these scholars agree in\ntheir account of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, in their tracing of his genealogy, in\ndescribing him as the most perfect model of hermits, in praising him\nfor his manner of life, which they regard as a life of holiness. They\nagree also in their definition of the common people\u2019s attitude toward\nthe \u0160ei\u1e2b: that he was deified and that his tomb has been made the\nobject of pilgrimage. And finally they are silent about his supposed\nfounding of the sect in question. There is no intimation that he was a\nheretic, or that he established such a schism. To be sure, Ibn \u1e2aallikan\nmakes mention of a religious order which was called after the \u0160ei\u1e2b\u2019s\nname, but he designates them as \u2018Adawia and not as Yezidis. This might\nhave been such an order as the Brotherhood of Assanusi, called after\nMohammed ibn \u2018Ali as-Sanusi, or as many other orders of dervishes and\n\u0161ei\u1e2bs of mystical type, that have taken rise from time to time in the\nreligious history of Islam. The other two speak of the appearance of\nthe Yezidis, but they look at the incident as a calamity to the \u0161ei\u1e2b\nbecause they deified him and worshipped at his tomb. Their remarks\ntend to show that the Yezidi sect were known as such before the time\nof \u2018Adi; that their appellation was based on the pretension that they\nwere descendants of Yesid; that they were apostates from Islam; that\nthey were some of those who were attached to \u2018Adi by reason of his wide\nreputation as a saint, and were led by their ignorance to take him for\na god; and that they were worshippers of the sun and the devil. It is\ninconceivable to us, if we apply the principles of modern criticism to\nwhat we know of the character of the Mohammedan historians, that they\nshould write the life of one who is responsible for the rise of a sect,\nthe foundation of whose religion is the devil, and not curse him and\nthe devil with him a hundred million times.\n\nSuch are the theories that have been advanced in the discussion\nrelating to the religious origin of the Yezidi sect, and we have found\nnot only that they are far from reaching the solution of the problem,\nbut also that the method that they employ does not seem to be the\nproper one for solving such a question. The tradition of the Yezidis\nthat they are descended from Yezid bn Mu\u2018Awiya which has been accepted\nas the fact by some western scholars is only a myth, without historical\njustification. As to the Christian tradition, all that can tell us is\nthat some Yezidis might have been at one time Christians; but as to who\nwas the founder of the sect it gives us no light. Likewise, all that\nwe can learn from the theory advocated by the second school is that\nsome phases of the Persian religion might have survived with that of\nthe devil-worshippers. We may admit, I think, that some Yezidis are\nPersian in their origin. But as to who was the originator of their\nreligion this theory helps us not a whit. So also we have found that\nthe relation of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi to this sect is not that of a founder. He is\nonly one of many whom their ignorance led to class as deities.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE DOGMATIC VIEW OF MOHAMMEDAN SCHOLARS\n\n\nWhile the Yezidi myth regards the sect as descendants of Adam, of\nYezid bn Mu awiya, or of a colony from the north, while the Christian\ntradition of the East traces them to a Christian origin, while among\nthe western orientalists some say that they were founded by Yezid bn\nMu awiya, others that they are of Persian origin, etc., the Mohammedan\ndogmatics, on the other hand, assert that they are _Murtaddoon_, that\nis, apostates from Islam. To understand the significance of this term,\nI must mention the several words used for those who are considered as\ninfidels according to Mohammedan theology. _Kafir_ is one who hides\nor denies the truth; _Mushrik_ is one who ascribes companions to God;\n_Mulhid_ is one who has deviated from the truth; _Zandik_ is one who\nasserts his belief in the doctrine of dualism; _Munafik_ is one who\nsecretly disbelieves in the mission of Mohammed; _Dahri_ is an atheist;\n_Watani_ is a pagan or idolator; and finally _Murtadd_ is one who\napostasizes from Islam. The Yezidis are put in the category of those\nwho, after once accepting the religion of Islam, later rejected it.\n\nOne author, of those to whose writings I had access, in an\nexplicit statement regards these people as apostates. I refer to\nAmin-al-\u2018Omari-al Mausili (of Mosul). After praising \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi,\nthe Mosulian goes on to say, \u201cGod tried him (_i. e._, \u2018Adi) by a\ncalamity, to wit, the appearance of Al-Murtaddoon, called the Yezidis\nbecause they pretended to have been descended from Yezid.[113]\nAnother Mohammedan scholar that mentions these people is Yasin\nAl-\u1e2aatib-al-\u2018Omari-al Mausili. Writing on \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, and praising him\nas the former writer does, he says, \u201cHe was versed in the knowledge of\nthe divine law. God tried him by a calamity by raising up the Yezidis,\nwho pretend that this \u0160ei\u1e2b is God, and who have made his tomb the\nobject of their pilgrimage.[114]\n\nWhile these authors throw some light on the subject that the sect in\nquestion derives its appellation from a historic person, they leave us\nentirely in the dark as to who that person was, as the Arab historians\nmention many prominent men who bore the name Yezid.\n\nThis obscurity regarding the person of the founder of the sect is made\nclear by one whose work is equally, if not more, authoritative than\nthat of any other Mohammedan scholar on matters pertaining to religious\nand philosophical sects. This authority is Mohammed A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani.\nHe is the only Mohammedan writer that I could reach that, in a clear\nlanguage, traces this most interesting sect to its founder.\n\n\u201cThe Yezidis are the followers of Yezid bn Unaisa, who [said that\nhe] kept friendship with the first Muhakkama before the Azari\u1e33a, and\nhe separated himself from those who followed after them with the\nexception of Al-Aba\u1e0dia, for with these he kept friendship. He believed\nthat God would send an apostle from among the Persians and would reveal\nto him a book that is already written in heaven, and would reveal the\nwhole (book) to him at one time,[115] and as a result he would leave\nthe law of Mohammed, the Chosen One, may God bless and save him!\u2014and\nfollow the religion of the Sabians mentioned in the Koran. But these\nare not the Sabians who are found in \u1e24aran and Wasit. But Yezid kept\nfriendship with the people of the book who recognized the Chosen\nOne as a prophet, even though they did not accept his (Mohammed\u2019s)\nreligion. And he said that the followers of the ordinances are among\nthose who agree with him; but that others are hiding the truth and give\ncompanions to God and that every sin, small or great, is idolatry.\u201d[116]\n\nIt is clear, then, that A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani finds the religious origin of\nthis interesting people in the person of Yezid bn Unaisa. He calls them\nhis _Ase\u1e25ab_, _i. e._, his followers, a term by which he designates the\nrelation between a sect and its originator. Al-\u1e24ara\u1e6fiyah he describes\nas \u201cAse\u1e25ab al-\u1e24are\u1e6f,\u201d and \u201cAl \u1e24afeziyah Ase\u1e25ab Hafez,\u201d and so on. We\nare to understand, therefore, that to the knowledge of the writer, bn\nUnaisa is the founder of the Yezidi sect, which took its name from him.\n\nMohammed A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani states also, in a logical way, the theological\nviews of the head of the Yezidis. Yezid, he says, is on the positive\nside, in sympathy with the first Mu\u1e25akkamah before the Azari\u1e33a.\nNow, the first Muhakkamah is an appellative applied to the Muslim\nschismatics called Al-\u1e2aawarij, because they disallowed the judgment of\nthe Hakaman, _i. e._, the two judges, namely \u2018Abd Mousa al-A\u0161-\u2018Aree\nand Am ibn-al-\u2018As; and said that judgment belongs only to God. And\nAl-Azari\u1e33a were a heretical Muslim sect called Al-\u1e2aawarij or \u1e24eroriyah,\nso named in relation to Nafi\u2018 ibn-Al-Azra\u1e33. They asserted that \u2018Ali\ncommitted an act of infidelity by submitting his case to arbitration,\nand that the slaying of him by Ibn Muljama was just; and they declare\nthat the companions (of the Prophet) were guilty of infidelity. Yezid\nmoreover, is said to have been in sympathy with Al-Aba\u1e0diyah, a sect\nfounded by \u2018Abd-Allah ibn Ibad, who taught that if a man commits a\nkabirah or great sin he is an infidel and not a believer.\n\nIt is evident, therefore, that according to this exposition the Yezid\nin question was one of Al-\u1e2aawarij, and their principle is expressly\nattributed to him: every sin, small or great, is idolatry. According\nto this it might be inferred that the Yezidis were originally a\n\u1e2aarijite sub-sect. They still hold to the \u1e2aarijite principle. (Cf.\ntheir position to the Ottoman Government, pp. 71-74). As we said some\nMohammedan writers other than Ashahr-Astani also (pp. 118-119) regard\nthem as apostate Moslems, A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani himself classes them with the\nMoslem heretics. Now Al-\u1e2aawarij were the first to rebel against \u2018Ali at\n\u1e24aroora, a certain suburb of Al-Koofa, from which it is distant two\nmiles. They are called also Al-\u1e24eroriyah, because they first assembled\nthere and accepted the doctrine that government belongs only to God.\nAnd one sect of Al-\u1e2aawarij was An-N\u00e2\u1e63ibiyah who made it a matter of\nreligious obligation to bear a violent hatred to \u2018Ali. Such is the\nplace of bn Unaisa among the Moslem heretics, but this is only one side\nof his religious system.[117]\n\nThere is another side to Yezid\u2019s doctrine. He held that God would\nsend an apostle from Persia, to whom he would reveal a book already\nwritten in heaven. This apostle was to be an opponent of the prophet\nof Islam in that he would leave Mohammed\u2019s religion and follow that of\nthe \u1e62abians mentioned in the Koran. These are referred to by Mohammed,\ntogether with the Christians and the Jews, in three different places in\nthe Book. One such reference is in Surah 2, 59: \u201cThey who believe as\nwell as Jews, Christians and Sabeans, whoever believeth in God and in\nthe Last Day, and do that which is right, shall have their reward with\ntheir Lord.\u201d\n\n Surah 5, 73, also:\n\n \u201cThey who believe as well as Jews, Christians and Sabeans, whoever of\n them believe in God and the Last Day, and do what is right, on them\n shall no fear come; neither shall they be put to grief.\u201d\n\n And Surah 22, 17:\n\n \u201cThey who believe as well as Jews, Sabeans and Christians and the\n Magians, and those who join gods with God, verily God shall decide\n between them on the Day of Resurrection.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn these passages Mohammed seems to regard the Sabians of the Koran as\nbelievers in the true God and in the resurrection. And in Surah 22,\n17, he seems to distinguish them from Magians and polytheists. Hence,\nwe are to infer that the Apostle of whom Yezid bn Unaisa says that he\nwill come from the land of the \u00b4Ajam (Persian), will identify himself\nwith the religion of the \u1e62abians. This implies that he will believe in\nthe true God and in the Day of Resurrection. But from some Arab writers\nwe learn more of these \u1e62abian beliefs than the Prophet of Islam has\nmentioned. According to some the \u1e62abians were a sect of unbelievers who\nworshipped the stars secretly, and openly professed to be Christians.\nAccording to others, they were of the religion of \u1e62abi, the son of\nSeth, the son of Adam; while others said they resembled the Christians,\nexcept that their _\u1e33iblah_ was toward the South, from whence the wind\nblows. In the _Kam\u00fbs_ it is said that they were of the religion of\nNoah. Al-Bai\u1e0dawi says that some assert that they were worshippers\nof angels, and that others say that they are the worshippers of\nstars. Al-Bertuni calls the Manichaeans of Samar\u1e33and Sabians. Bar\nHebraeus[118] asserts that the religion of the Sabians is the same as\nthat of the ancient Chaldeans. In commenting on Surah 2, 59, Zama\u1e2b\u0161ari\n(Al-Ke\u0161\u0161af) says that the name \u1e62abian comes from a root meaning one\nwho has departed from one religion to another religion, and that the\n\u1e62abians were those who departed from Judaism and Christianity and\nworshipped angels. On this same verse, \u0160ams Ad-Din Mohammed Al-\u1e24arrani\n(Jami Al-Bijan fi Tafsir Al-Koran) says: \u201cThe \u1e62abians, _i. e._, those\nwho departed from one religion to another religion, stood between the\nMagians and the Jews and the Christians without having any revealed\nreligion of their own. According to some they were people of the Book;\naccording to others they were worshippers of angels; while others\nsay, they believed in one God but followed no Prophet.\u201d This same\ncommentator on Surah 5, 73, says: \u201cThe \u1e62abians were a Christian sect;\nsome say that they were worshippers of angels; others assert that they\nworshipped God alone, but had no revealed religion.\u201d On this same\nverse Zama\u1e2b\u0161ari remarks, \u201cThe \u1e62abians were those who departed from all\nreligions.\u201d\n\nNow what Mohammed A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani really means by the \u1e62abians of the\nKoran, I am unable to state. In his general discussion of \u1e62abianism\nhowever (vol. 2, pp. 201-250), he seems to speak of two main \u1e62abian\nsects. He refers to one together with the ancient philosophers; and\ndeclares that the \u1e62abians followed rational ordinances and judgments\nwhich originally they may have derived from some prophetic authority,\nbut that they denied all prophecy. The philosophers followed their own\ndevices and took their system from no prophetic source. The authority\nwe are quoting calls this sect \u201cthe original \u1e62abian sect,\u201d and\nsays that it followed Seth and Enoch. In another place (vol. 1, p.\n24) he writes, \u201cThe Jews and the Christians follow a revealed Book;\nthe Magians and the Manich\u00e6ans, a like Book; the original \u1e62abian\nsect, ordinances and judgments, but accepts no Book; the original\nphilosophers, the atheists, the star-worshippers, the idol-worshippers,\nand the Brahmans believe in none of these.\u201d\n\nThe other main \u1e62abian sect is mentioned together with the Jews, the\nChristians, and the Moslems. The difference between these religious\nbodies, according to A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani, is that \u201cthe \u1e62abians do not follow\nthe Law (of God) or Islam; the Christians and the Jews believe in\nthese, but do not accept the Law (religion) of Mohammed; while the\nMoslems believe in them all.\n\nA\u0161-\u0160ahrastani, moreover, derives the name \u1e62abian (p. 203) from a root\nmeaning one who turns aside, deviates; and declares that the \u1e62abians\nwere those who turned aside from the statutes of God, and deviated from\nthe path of the prophets. He seems to regard the notion that man is\nincapable of approaching God, and that therefore he is in constant need\nof intercessors and mediators, as a controlling idea in \u1e62abianism. This\nbelief, the writer points out, has manifested itself in three different\nforms: in the veneration of angels among what he calls the followers of\nangels; the adoration of stars among the followers of stars; and in the\nworship of idols among the followers of idols, heathens (pp. 203, 244).\nThe last two, we are told, are polytheists, and referred to in the\nKoranic statement:\n\n(\u201cWhen Abraham said to his father, Azar, \u2018Dost thou take idols\nfor gods?\u2019\u2014Surah 6, 74. Said he\u2014Abraham\u2014\u2018Do ye serve what ye hew\nout?\u2019\u2014Surah 37, 93. When he\u2014Abraham\u2014said to his father, \u2018Oh my sir!\nwhy dost thou worship what can neither hear nor see nor avail thee\naught?\u2019\u2014Surah 19, 43.\u201d)\n\nAnd in the following references:\n\n(\u201cAnd when the night overshadowed him he saw a star and said, \u2018This is\nmy Lord.\u2019 And when he saw the moon beginning to rise he said, \u2018This is\nmy Lord.\u2019 And when he saw the sun beginning to rise he said, \u2018This is\nmy Lord, this is greatest of all.\u2019\u201d)\u2014Surah 6, 76, 77, 78.\n\nBut Mohammed A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani makes mention of another \u1e62abian sect which\nhe names Al-\u1e2aarb\u00e2niyah (pp. 248-250). Its distinctive feature, he says,\nis the belief that the Creator indwelleth in other beings. They held\nthat God is one in his essence, but many in his appearances. He dwells\nin the seven planets, and in the earthly beings that are rational,\ngood, and excellent in righteousness. Human body is his temple; he may\nabide within it and live and move as a man. He is too good, we read,\nto create anything evil. God is the source of good, and evil is either\nan accidental and necessary thing, or related to the evil source.\nThey believed also, our authority informs us, in the transmigration\nof souls, and taught that the Resurrection of which the prophets had\nspoken was only the end of one generation and the beginning of another\nhere on earth. This doctrine, the Mohammedan critics affirm, is alluded\nto in the passages:\n\n(\u201cDoes he promise you that when ye are dead, and have become dust and\nbones, that then ye will be brought forth? Away, away with what ye are\npromised,\u2014there is only our life in the world! We die and we live and\nwe shall not be raised.\u201d)\u2014Surah 23, 37-39.\n\nNow I cannot say which of the \u1e62abian sects are those that \u201care\nmentioned in the Koran,\u201d which Yezid bn Unaisa says, the Persian\nApostle will follow; nor can I say which are those that \u201care found\nin \u1e24arran and Wasit.\u201d One thing, however, is clear: according to\nA\u0161-\u0160ahrastani the \u1e62abians of the Koran differ in their faith from\nthose of \u1e24arran. The \u1e24arranians were remnants of the old heathen of\nMesopotamia; they were polytheistic, and star-worship had the chief\nplace in their religion, as in the worship of the older Babylonian and\nSyrian faiths. They were regarded as such by the Mohammedans, so that\nunder Al-Mam\u00fbn, they sheltered themselves under the name, \u1e62abians, that\nthey might be entitled to the toleration which the \u1e62abians of the Koran\nhave because they were considered among the people of the Book.[119]\nAnother thing to be noticed is that there is a close resemblance\nbetween the belief of the \u1e62abian sect which A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani calls\nAl-\u1e2aarb\u00e2niyah and that of the Yezidi sect.\n\nSuch is, in the main, the religion of the Persian Apostle and is\nlogically the religion of Yezid bn Unaisa which announces the coming\nof such a messenger. We may conclude, therefore, that the founder\nof the Yezidi sect believed in God and in the Day of Resurrection;\nthat he, perhaps, honored the angels and the stars, and that he was\nneither polytheistic nor a true believer in the Prophet of Islam. This\nlast point is referred to also explicitly in the statement quoted,\nthat Yezid associated himself with those of the people of the Book\nwho recognized Mohammed as a prophet though they did not become his\nfollowers. This is the negative aspect, so to speak, of bn Unaisa\u2019s\nreligious views. He is also said to have claimed that the followers of\nthe ordinances[120] agreed with him. This statement tends to indicate\nthat he might have accepted some phases of the Muslim faith. And the\nfact that he belonged to _Al-\u1e2aawarij_ implies that he was one of those\nwho were \u201ccondemning and rejecting \u2018Ali for his scandalous crime of\nparleying with Mu\u2018awiya, the first of the Omayyid line, and submitting\nhis claims to arbitration.\u201d Such are in brief the fundamental elements\nin the religious system of one who may be held responsible for the rise\nof the sect in question.\n\nThere can be no doubt, it seems to me, that the Yezidis are the\nfollowers of Yezid bn Unaisa. The statement of our authority, Mohammed\nA\u0161-\u0160ahrastani (see pp. 119-120), is so clear that it can bear no\nother interpretation. And what is far more important, it comes from\nthe pen of one who is considered of the highest authority among the\nArab scholars on questions relating to philosophical and religious\nsects. In his bibliographical work Ibn \u1e2aallikan speaks of his profound\nscholarship in the highest terms: \u201cA\u0161-\u0160ahrastani, a dogmatic theologian\nof the \u2018A\u0161arite sect, was distinguished as an Imam and a doctor of the\nlaw. He displayed the highest abilities as a jurisconsult. The Kitab\nal-Milal wa n-Ni\u1e25al (treatise on religions and sects) is one of his\nworks on scholastic theology. He remained without an equal in that\nbranch of science.\u201d Now, Mohammed A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani (A. H. 467-549) A. D.\n1074-1133 was a contemporary of \u2018Adi (A. H. 465-555) A. D. 1072-1162,\nyet he makes no allusion to him when he refers to the rise of this\nmost interesting sect; nor does he make mention of any other supposed\nfounder except the one he records. For these reasons I accept the\nhistorical assertion of this distinguished author.\n\nI am of the opinion, therefore, that the Yezidis received their name\nfrom Yezid bn Unaisa, their founder as a kharijite sub sect in the\nearly period of Islam; that, attracted by \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s reputation, they\njoined his movement and took him for their chief religious teacher;\nthat in the early history of the sect and of \u2018Adi many Christians,\nPersians, and Moslems united with it; and that large survivals or\nabsorptions of pagan beliefs or customs are to be found in modern\nYezidism. In other words the actual religion of the Yezidis is\nsyncretism in which it is easy to recognize Yezidi, Christian, Moslem,\nespecially sufism and pagan elements.\n\nLike the master they believe in the true God and in the Resurrection,\nhonor the angels and the stars, disbelieve in the mission of Mohammed\nand ignore \u2018Ali, regard every sin, small or great, as idolatry or\ninfidelity, and expect the appearance of a prophet from Persia. The\nfact of their connection with such a religious leader explains the\nreason why they are hated by both the Sunnites and the Shiites. The\nfollowers of bn My\u2018awiya can only be despised by the latter; but the\nbeliever such a heretical one as the son of Unaisa are necessarily\ncondemned by the former also. For he was, as I have already stated,\nanti-Mohammed and anti-\u2018Ali. And it is worth remembering also that the\nfourth Calif is more honored among the Moslems of Persia than his son\n\u1e24usein is; and consequently any contemptuous attitude toward the father\nwill give rise to more bitter feeling on the part of his followers than\nthe murder of the son would occasion.\n\nThere is one question, however, which does not appear to be very\neasy to answer; namely, how the Yezidis came to trace their origin\nto Yezid bn Mu\u2018awiya and not to Yezid bn Unaisa. Three explanations\nmay be given. One is that their ignorance led them to mistake the\nformer for the latter, as they have identified many of their \u0161ei\u1e2bs\nwith angels and deities. Among ignorant people, as these are, without\nrecord and without any one who can read, the occasion of such an\nerror is not strange. Another answer is that they intentionally made\nthe identification in order to escape the persecution of the Sunnites,\namong whom most of them lived. Though specious, this idea is not\ntenable, for it is not their habit to deny their origin for the sake of\nsafety. Even in that case, they would still be hated by the Shiites.\nThe third theory is that they have a notion that they are descended\nfrom a noble personage, and the second Calif being such a personage,\ntheir ignorance led them to take him for their founder. And the\nidentity of the two names, of course, helped much toward the formation\nof the legend.\n\nIt is to be noticed that the religion of this Yezid contained, from\nits inception, a fundamental doctrine which appealed to the pagans of\nPersia more than it did to Al-jahaleen of Arabia. In its very structure\nit insulted the latter country by despising its prophet. On the other\nhand, it expressed its sympathy with a prophet from Persia and with his\nreligion. This declaration magnified Persia and its inhabitants and\ngave them pre\u00ebminence, thereby making an impression on the attitude\nof the people toward Yezidism. Therefore they looked on it not as\na foreign but as a native cult. The entertaining of such a view,\nconsequently, led many fire, or devil-worshippers and the followers of\nZoroastrianism to embrace the new religion (Al-ma\u0161rik, vol. 2, p. 35).\nAnd if the predicted teacher arose, we can imagine the great success\nwhich he must have had among his countrymen. This fact not only\naccounts for the existence of traces of old Persian religion, but it\ngives the reason why the Kurdish predominates over the Arab element in\nYezidism.\n\nThe new sect appears to have existed as a very loose organization after\nthe death of its founder: this looseness put them in a condition to\nfollow any one who would exhibit some qualifications for leadership.\nTherefore, when they heard about \u2018Adi they naturally flocked to him.\nAnd it is very likely that, entertaining the idea of a coming prophet\nas they still do, they might have thought him the promised one. What\nmight have added to the confirmation of this notion was his fame as a\nsaint, to whom a number of miracles were attributed. Even the lions\nand the serpents which lived in his neighborhood and paid him frequent\nvisits were endowed, it is said, with supernatural sweetness.\n\nFrom what we know of \u2018Adi\u2019s movement, we have sufficient reason to\nconclude that many Moslems and Christians followed him. The historians\nof both faiths bear witness to the fact that \u2018Adi\u2019s reputation was\nwidespread, and that people of every condition followed him (see pp.\n111-115). The Nestorian bishop of Arbela, whom Yasin Al-\u2018Omari quotes\n(see p. 114), asserts that innumerable multitudes flocked to him,\ndeplores the situation of the Christian church resulting from this\nuprising, and complains of the possession by the \u0160ei\u1e2b of a monastery\nbelonging to his denomination. Moreover, as has been shown, there\nexist among the Yezidis certain Moslem and Christian practices which\ncannot be accounted for on any other ground, since, so far as we know\ntheir character, they make no compromise in matters of religion.\n\nNot only Yezidi, Persian, Moslem, and Christian elements are to be\nfound in modern Yezidism, but there are many remains of the old pagan\nreligions which find expression in the devil-worshippers of to-day.\nSuch is the notion of the sacredness of the number seven, an idea which\nbelongs to the common stock of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia.\nThe Yezidis have seven sanjaks, each has seven burners; their cosmogony\nshows that God created seven angels or gods; their principal prayer\nis the appeal to God through seven \u0161ei\u1e2bs; the sceptre engraved on the\nfront of the temple of their great saint has seven branches. This\nreminds us at once of the \u1e62abians who adored seven gods or angels\nwho directed the course of seven planets; the seven days of the week\nwere dedicated to their respective deities. Moreover, we note in the\nBabylonian-Assyrian poem, the seven gates through which I\u0161tar descended\nto the land without return. Likewise, the number seven played an\nimportant part in the religious system of Israel.\n\nFurther, like the \u1e24arranians, the modern _\u0160atan-parast_ worship the\nsun and the moon at their rising and setting. The sun was worshipped\nalso in Canaan, I Sam. 6: 9. The horses of the sun were worshipped\nin the temple at Jerusalem, II Kings 25: 5, 11. The worship of the\nhost of heaven (the sun, the moon, the planets), were found in Judea.\nIn Babylon, there were at least two shrines to sun-god \u0160amas, one at\nSippar, and the other at Larsa.\n\nOther survivals of the ancient religions found in Yezidism are the\nworship of birds (see p. 150); the special importance attached to the\nNew Year because of its bearing on individual welfare by reason of the\ngood or evil decision of the gods rendered them (see pp. 46, 174); and\nthe belief in occurrences of nuptials in the heavens (see p. 174).\n\nMoreover, many religious beliefs of the Pre-Islamic Arabs survive among\nthe modern Yezidis. Such is the belief in sacred wells in connection\nwith sanctuaries found in all parts of the Semitic region, the most\nconspicuous of which is that of Mecca. Gifts were cast into this holy\nwater of Zamzam, as they were cast into the sacred wells of other\nplaces. When the grandfather of Mohammed \u2018Abd Al-Muttalib cleaned out\nthe well, he found two golden gazelles and a number of swords. The\nwater of such holy springs was believed to possess healing power, and\nwas carried home by pilgrims, as the water of Zamzam now is (Ya\u1e33ut I,\n434).[121] An impure person, furthermore, dared not approach the sacred\nwaters. A woman in her uncleanness was afraid for her children\u2019s sake\nto bathe in the holy water at the sanctuary of Dusares. According to\nIbn Hi\u0161am \u201cA woman who adopts Islam breaks with the heathen god by\npurifying herself in this pool.\u201d This was taken to mean that her act\nwas a breach of the ritual of the spot. And all the pilgrims changed\ntheir clothes when they entered the sacred precinct.[122]\n\nAnother common heathen practice in the time of Al-jahliya was the\nworship of holy trees. According to Tabari there was a date-palm tree\nat Nejran. It was adored at an annual feast, when it was hung all\naround with fine clothes and women\u2019s ornaments. A similar tree to\nwhich the people of Mecca resorted annually, and hung upon it weapons,\ngarments, ostriches\u2019 eggs, and other things, is spoken of in the\ntradition of the prophet under the name of \u201cdhat anwat,\u201d or \u201ctree to\nhang things on.\u201d[123] The Goddess Al-\u2018Ozza was believed to reside in a\ntree. According to Ya\u1e33ut (III, 261), the tree at Hadaibiya, mentioned\nin the Koran (sura XLVIII, 18) was visited by pilgrims who expected to\nderive a blessing from it, till it was cut down by the Calif Omar lest\nit should be worshipped like Al-Lat and Al-\u2018Ozza. It was considered\ndeadly to pluck a twig from such sacred trees.\n\nThe prevalence of stone-worship is another sign of paganism existing\nbefore Islam, and noteworthy is the theory advanced by the Mohammedan\nwriters to account for its origin. According to Ibn Hi\u0161am[124] the\nbeginning of this idolatry was that \u201cthe Meccans when their land\nbecame too narrow for them spread abroad over the country, and all took\nstones from their sanctuary, the Kaaba, out of reverence for their\ntemple, and they set them up whenever they formed a settlement; and\nthey walked around them as they used to go about the Holy House. This\nled them at last to worship every stone that pleased their fancy.\u201d\n\nIt is to be noticed, furthermore, that poly-demonism, _i. e._, the\nbelief in divine powers, in spirits, is the most characteristic feature\nof the old nomad religions. Many traces of this belief have been\npreserved in the Old Testament, and also in the popular religion of\nthe Syria and Palestine of to-day. There are many instances in the Old\nTestament of the belief in divine powers inhabiting springs, trees,\nstones. We may refer to the sacred wells at \u1e33ade\u0161 (Gen. 14: 7) and at\nBeer\u0161eba (Gen. 21, 28, 30, 31); to the sacred oracular tree at Shekem\n(Gen. 12, 6; Deut. 11, 3); to the sacred stone of Bethel, which gave\nthe place its name, as it is called \u201ca house of God\u201d (Gen. 28, 22).[125]\n\nNow, the traces of all these religious beliefs are found in modern\nYezidism. In connection with the temple of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, there is a sacred\nspring, and there are similar ones in different parts of the Yezidi\ndistricts. The water of these springs is held to have healing power,\nand is carried by pilgrims to their homes. In these pools, especially\nin that of \u2018Adi\u2019s, the Yezidis cast coins, jewelry, and other presents,\nwhich, they think, the chief saint takes from time to time; and to this\nday no one may enter the holy valley with its sacred fountain, unless\nhe first purify his body and clothes.[126] The devil-worshippers adore,\nlikewise, sacred trees. They make pilgrimages to them, hang things\non them, and entertain the belief that whoever unties or shakes off a\nshred of cloth will be afflicted with disease. Again, the Yezidis kiss\nthe stones that satisfy their imagination, and make vows to them (see\npp. 41, 50). Nor is this all. The shouting of the Yezidi pilgrims, as\nthey reach the sacred territory, and the noisy ceremony of their \u1e25ajj,\nwith its dancing[127] and its excitement\u2014a rite which has brought\nagainst them all sorts of accusations[128]\u2014are nothing but the remnants\nof Pre-Islamic paganism.[129]\n\nSuch, then, are the steps which the religion of Yezid took before it\ncame to shape itself into its present form. It is made up of five\ndifferent elements, pagan, that contributed by the founder, Persian,\nMohammedan, and Christian. Does not such a state of affairs find\na historical parallel in some other religions? Take, for example,\nChristianity. In it we find that the distinctive characteristics of the\nfounder have been wrapped up in many foreign elements brought in by\nthose who came from other religions.\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER I\n\n [71] This may be traced to the Mohammedan myth that when the primal\n pair fell from their estate of bliss in the heavenly Paradise, Adam\n landed on a mountain in Ceylon and Eve fell at Jiddah, on the western\n coast of Arabia. After a hundred years of wandering, they met near\n Meccah, and here Allah constructed for them a tabernacle, on the site\n of the present Kaaba. S.\u202fM. Zwemer, _Arabia_, p. 17; A\u0161-\u0160ahrastani,\n II, 430.\n\n [72] Anistase: _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. 2, p. 33.\n\n [73] Cf. p. 35.\n\n [74] Cf. p. 34.\n\n [75] Cf. p. 37.\n\n [76] _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. 2, p. 33.\n\n [77] Scottish Geog. Mag., vol. 14, p. 295.\n\n [78] Layard: _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. 11, p. 254.\n\n [79] Layard: _Nineveh and Babylon_, p. 94.\n\n [80] S.\u202fG.\u202fM., vol. 14, p. 300.\n\n [81] Fraser: _Mesopotamia and Persia_, p. 287.\n\n [82] Fraser: Ibid., p. 147.\n\n [83] Rich: _Residence in Kurdistan_, vol. II, p. 69.\n\n [84] _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 396.\n\n [85] Ibid, vol. III, p. 493.\n\n [86] Fraser: Ibid; Rich, ibid.\n\n [87] Badger: _Nestorians and Their Rituals_, vol. I, p. 111; Fraser,\n ibid., p. 285.\n\n [88] _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, ibid, p. 36.\n\n \u2018Abdi\u0161\u016d was at one time bishop of Sinjar; cf. Fardaisa de \u2018Eden, ed.\n by B. Carda\u1e25i, Beirut, 1889, p.\u202f5.\n\n [89] Ibid, pp. 56, 110, 832.\n\n [90] Ibid. This rite is practiced by the Yezidis of \u1e2aalitiyeh, a\n dependency of Diarbeker, where the Yezidis are few in number.\n\n [91] Southgate: _A Tour Through Armenia_, etc., vol. II, p. 179.\n\n [92] See p. 42 of this book. Badger, ibid, p. 128.\n\n [93] I mean by the philosophical method the attempt to prove certain\n assumption by theorizing, and by the historical method the endeavor to\n verify a theory by obtaining data from historical sources. The former\n method is based on speculation; the latter on historical inquiry.\n\n [94] The Enc. of Mission, p. 797. In his letter to me of date August\n 6, 1907, the Rev. A.\u202fN. Andrus, of Mardin, says: \u201cThe Yezidis may be\n related in religious cult with the Guebres of India.\u201d\n\n [95] Muir: _Life of Mohammed_, vol. IV, p. 151.\n\n [96] Fraser: ibid, p. 205.\n\n [97] Badger, ibid, p. 129.\n\n [98] S.\u202fG.\u202fM., vol. 14.\n\n [99] Eugene Bore: _Dict. des Religions_, T. IV, _Art. Yezidis_,\n Southgate, ibid, p. 317.\n\n [100] Fraser, ibid, p. 289.\n\n [101] Jackson: _Persia, Past and Present_, p. 10; J.\u202fA. O.\u202fS., 25, p.\n 178, New Int. Enc. \u201cYezidis.\u201d\n\n [102] H. Poincar\u00e9: _Science and Hypothesis_. Trans., G.\u202fB. Halsted, p.\n 5 seq.\n\n [103] The fact that the importance of the method of comparative\n religion has been generally recognized in the scientific world\n has led to the danger of rushing into the other extreme of paying\n attention exclusively to points of similarity and resemblance, and of\n entirely disregarding, or at any rate thrusting into the background as\n unimportant that which is dissimilar.\n\n [104] Southgate, ibid, p. 317; Jackson, J.\u202fA.\u202fO.\u202fS., vol. XXV, p. 171.\n\n [105] Victor Dingelstedt, S.\u202fG.\u202fM., vol. XIV, p. 295.\n\n [106] Siouffi, who was for about twenty years a French vice-consul in\n Mosul.\n\n [107] Ibn \u1e2aallikan, vol. I, p. 316.\n\n [108] Manhal Al-Uliya wa Ma\u0161rab-ul-A\u1e63fia, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi,\u201d quoted by M.\u202fN.\n Siouffi, Journal Asiatique, 1885, p. 80.\n\n [109] Warda, \u201cthe rose,\u201d is the name of a collection of hymns composed\n by George Warda (1224 A.\u202fD.), Bishop of Arbila; cf. Bar Hebraeus,\n Chron. Eccl., vol. II, p. 402. Warda is one of the most conspicuous\n writers of hymns in the thirteenth century which was the age of song\n with the Nestorian church. His poems have entered so largely into the\n use of the Nestorian church that one of their service books is to this\n day called the Warda; Badger, _The Nestorians_, vol. II, p. 25. Some\n of his hymns speak of the calamities of the years 1224-1227. A few\n specimens are given by Carda\u1e25i in _Liber Thesauri_, p. 51. Badger has\n translated one in his _Nestorians_, vol. II, pp. 51-57. Warda\u2019s poems\n have been edited by Heinrich Hilgenfeld, _Ausgew\u00e4hlte Ges\u00e4nge des\n Giworgis Warda von Arbil_, Leipzig, 1904, and by Manna, Mosul, 1901.\n\n [110] The village Karmalis is about twelve miles distant from Mosul,\n and is inhabited by Chaldeans, that is, Romanized Nestorians.\n\n [111] Rabban Hormuzd is a Chaldean monastery at Alko\u0161, a village about\n twenty miles north of Mosul.\n\n [112] Al-Der-Al-Makn\u2018un fi-l-Miater Al-Ma\u1e0diyat min Al-\u1e33erun, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b\n \u2018Adi,\u201d quoted by M.\u202fN. Siouffi, Journal Asiatique, 1885, p. 81.\n\n Ya\u1e33ut (vol. IV, p. 374) also regards \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi an orthodox Mohammedan;\n \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi bn Musafir A\u0161-\u0160afe\u2018e, \u0161ei\u1e2b of the Kurds and their Imam.\u201d\n \u2018Adi\u2019s orthodoxy is seen also in his writing. He wrote \u2018Iti\u1e33ad\n Ahl Al-Sunna \u201cBelief of the Sunnites,\u201d the Wasaya \u201cConsuls to the\n Cailifs,\u201d and two odds both of them mystic in their conception. They\n are all preserved in the Berlin Library; cf. Clement Huart, _History\n of Arabic Literature_, p. 273.\n\n [113] Manhal-al-Uliya wa Ma\u0161rab ul A\u1e63fiya, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi,\u201d quoted by\n M.\u202fN. Siouffi, Journal Asiatique, 1885, p. 80.\n\n [114] Al-Der-Al-Makn\u2018un fi-l-Miater Al-Ma\u1e0diyat min Al-\u1e33er\u00fbn, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b\n \u2018Adi,\u201d quoted by M.\u202fN. Siouffi, Journal Asiatique, 1885, p. 81.\n\n [115] Contrary to Mohammed to whom, according to Moslem belief, the\n Koran was revealed at intervals.\n\n [116] Kitab Al-Milal wa n-Nihal, vol. I, p. 101 seq.\n\n \u1e24arran was a city in the north of Mesopotamia, and southeast of\n Edessa, at the junction of the Damascus road with the highway from\n Nineveh to Carchamish. The moon-god had a temple in \u1e24arran, which\n enjoyed a high reputation as a place of pilgrimage. The city retained\n its importance down to the time of the Arab ascendency, but it is now\n in ruins. Ya\u1e33ut (vol. II, p. 331) says: \u201cIt was the home of \u1e62abians;\n that is, the \u1e24arranians who are mentioned by the authors of Kutub\n Al-Milal wa n-Nihal.\u201d As to Wasit this same Ya\u1e33ut (vol. IV, p. 881)\n mentions about twenty different places bearing this name. The most\n prominent one is that built by Al-Hajjaj in 83 A.\u202fH. It is called\n Wasit \u201cthe intermediate\u201d because it was situated midway between Kufa\n and Basrah. Another place Ya\u1e33ut (p. 889) mentions is Wasit ul-Ra\u1e33\u1e33at,\n a town on the western side of the Euphrates, and about two days\u2019\n journey from \u1e24arran. Perhaps this is the Wasit that A\u0161-\u0160ahrastan\u00ee\n means.\n\n [117] On these sects, see A\u0161-\u0160ahrastan\u00ee, ibid, vol. II, pp. 85, 87,\n 89, 100 (42). His history, ed. Sachau, Leipzig, 1878, p. 207.\n\n [118] At-Tarih, ed. Alton Salhan\u00ee, Be\u00eerut, p. 266.\n\n [119] Fihrist, p. 320. The Arabs used to call the Prophet A\u1e63-\u1e63abi,\n because he departed from the religion of the Koreish to Al-Islam; cf.\n Al-Ke\u0161\u0161af on Surah XXII, 17.\n\n [120] Hudud, pl. of Hadad, restrictive ordinances, or statutes, of God\n respecting things lawful and things unlawful. The Hudud of God are of\n two kinds: First, those ordinances respecting eatables, drinkables,\n marriage, etc., what are lawful thereof and what are unlawful.\n Second, castigations, or punishments, prescribed, or appointed, to\n be inflicted upon him who does that which he has been forbidden to\n do. The first kind are called Hudud because they denote limits which\n God has forbidden to transgress; the second, because they prevent\n one\u2019s committing again those acts for which they are appointed as\n punishments, or because the limits thereof are determined. See Lane\u2019s\n Arabic Dictionary in Loco.\n\n [121] Cf. also W.\u202fR. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, p. 167, and\n D.\u202fB. Stade\u2019s _Biblische Theologie des Alten Testaments_, pp. 111 and\n 290.\n\n [122] R. Smith, ibid, p. 49; cf. Ex. 3: 5, \u201cAnd he said, Draw not nigh\n hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon\n thou standest is holy ground\u201d; and Josh. 5: 15, \u201cAnd the captain of\n the Lord\u2019s host said unto Joshua: Loose thy shoe from off thy feet,\n for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.\u201d\n\n In idolatrous days the Arabs did not wear any clothing in making\n the circuit of the Kaaba. In Islam, the orthodox way is as follows:\n Arrived within a short distance of Mecca, the pilgrims put off their\n ordinary clothing and assume the garb of a hajjee. Sandals may be worn\n but not shoes, and the head must be left uncovered. In Mandeanism,\n each person as he or she enters the Mi\u0161kana, or tabernacle, disrobes,\n and bathes in the little circular reservoir. On emerging from the\n water, each one robes him or herself in the rasta, the ceremonial\n white garment.\u2014_The London Standard_, Oct. 19, 1894. Prayer Meeting of\n the Starworshippers.\n\n [123] Cf. R. Smith, ibid, p. 185, and Stade, ibid, p. 111 seq.\n\n [124] Weil\u2019s translation, p. 39.\n\n [125] Cf. R. Smith, ibid, pp. 203-212; S.\u202fI. Curtiss\u2019 _Primitive\n Semitic Religion To-day_, pp. 84-89; Stade, ibid, p. 114, seq.; see\n also II Sam. 5: 24, and John 5: 2, 3.\n\n The original idea might have been that the waters, the stones, and\n the trees themselves were divinities. In Jud. 5: 21, we have the\n statement: \u201cThe river Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the\n river Kishon.\u201d Now Kais was the name of an Arabian god in Pre-Islamic\n time. In Num. 5: 17 seq., an accused woman is tested by a sacred\n water. In Deut. 32: 4, \u201cHe is the rock,\u201d \u201crock\u201d is as much a term for\n God as El, or elohim; cf. verses 15, 18, 30, 31; II Sam. 23: 3. In Ps.\n 18: 2, the word rock is used of God, \u201cthe Lord is my rock.\u201d Jacob took\n the stone which he had put under his head as a pillow, and raised it\n up as a pillar, poured oil upon it and called it the \u201chouse of God,\u201d\n Gen. 28: 18, 19, 22. \u201cThe sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry\n trees\u201d (II Sam. 5: 24), for which David was to wait, was nothing less\n than the divine voice speaking to David in accordance with ancient\n conceptions.\n\n [126] Layard: _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. I, p. 280.\n\n [127] Dancing might have been also a religious ceremony in the\n Pre-Kanaanitic religion of Israel.\n\n [128] The people in the East are under the impression that the\n Yezidis violate the law of morality during their festivals. According\n to Hurgronje (vol. 2, pp. 61-64), immorality is practised also in\n the sacred mosque of Mecca. This practice may be a survival of the\n institution of Kadeshes, who offered themselves in honor of the Deity\n in the sacred places where license usually prevailed during the\n festivals (Gen. 38: 21, and Deut. 23: 18).\n\n [129] Cf. R.\u202fW. Smith, ibid, p. 432.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTHE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN YEZIDISM\n\n\nAlthough comparatively few in number, ignorant, and practically without\na literature of any sort, the followers of Yezid are not without\ndefinitely formulated doctrines of faith which bind them together as\na sect, and distinguish them from every other religious body. They\ncherish two fundamental beliefs. They believe in a deity of the first\ndegree, God; and in a deity of the second degree, who, they seem to\nthink, is composed of three persons in one, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi and\nYezid.[130]\n\n\nI\n\nTHE YEZIDI VIEW OF GOD\n\nIt is not easy to discover whether the conception of God, which exists\nto-day among the Yezidis, however shadowy, has come from Mohammedan or\nChristian sources, or whether it comes from that primitive stage where\nthe worship of God and of inferior deities exists side by side. One\nthing, however, is apparent, and that is that the Yezidi notion of God\ndoes not seem to be influenced by any \u201cpositive religion\u201d which traces\nits origin to the teachings of a great religious founder, who spoke as\nthe organ of a divine revelation, and deliberately departed from the\ntraditional religion. The Yezidis\u2019 idea of God is rather an image left\non their mind than the result of any reflection. Hence, simple as it\nis, this conception is not so easy to define. The notion, so prominent\nin Greek philosophy, of God as an existence absolute and complete in\nhimself, unchangeable, outside of time and space, etc., is unknown\nin Yezidi theology. So also the theocratic conception of Jehovah in\nJudaism is foreign to the dogma of this sect. Not even the Mohammedan\nidea of God as an absolute ruler, and the distinctive notion which the\nChristians have of God as Christ-like in character, are to be found in\nthe religion of the devil-worshippers. And we have accustomed ourselves\nto think of the Supreme Being in these conventional terms. There is\none element, however, which may be traced to Judaism, Christianity\nand Islam, namely, the belief in a personal God. But Yezidism holds\nthat this deity is only the creator of the universe and not its\nsustainer. Its maintenance, according to this system, is left to the\nseven gods. Another element which may be said to be a remnant of some\nother religions is the idea of a transcendent God. But in this point,\nas in the other, the notion of transcendentalism in the religion of\nthe devil-worshippers is not of the same degree as that of the other\nreligions. The former conceives of the Almighty as retiring far away,\nand as having nothing to do with the affairs of the world, except\nonce a year, on New Year\u2019s day, when he sits on his throne, calls the\ngods unto him, and delivers the power into the hands of the god who\nis to descend to the earth. To sum up, the Yezidis\u2019 conception of a\npersonal God is transcendental and static of the extreme type. In this\nit resembles somewhat the Platonic idea of the absolute. They call God\nin the Kurdish Khuda, and believe that he manifested himself in three\ndifferent forms; in the form of a bird, Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs; in the form of an\nold man, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi; and in the form of a young man, Yezid. They do not\nseem to offer him a direct prayer or sacrifice.\n\n\nII\n\nTHE DEITY OF THE SECOND DEGREE\n\n\n1. MELEK \u1e6c\u00c2\u00b4\u00dbS\n\nA distinguished modern scholar (see the printed text, p. 80, lines\n12-35) argues that \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is the god Tammuz. His argument is that the\nword \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs must embody an ancient god, but owing to the obscurity in\nwhich the origin of Yezidism and the being of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs are wrapped,\nit is very difficult to say which god is meant. And to determine this,\nhe assumes that the term does not come from the Arabic word \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs,\nbut was occasioned by some \u201cfolk-etymology,\u201d and that we must look,\ntherefore, for some god-name which resembles the word \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. Taking\nthis as a starting point, the critic calls attention to the fact that\nin Fihrist, p. 322, l. 27f, which treats of the feasts and gods of the\n\u1e24arranians, we read that the god Tauz had a feast in middle of Tammuz.\nHe infers from this that the god Tauz is identical with Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs.\nAnd to the question who this god Tauz is, he answers it is Tammuz. To\njustify his explanation, the writer contends that the Yezidis speak in\nKurdish, and according to Justi\u2019s _Kurdische Grammatik_, p. 82ff, the\nchange of meem to waw in this language is frequent.[131]\n\nHowever plausible this process may seem to be, philologically it\ncannot here yield a satisfactory conclusion. For it is based on wrong\npremises. It is not true that the word \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs signifies an ancient\ndeity. It denotes the devil and nothing else. This is so clear to\nthe Yezidis, or to anyone acquainted with their religion, as to\nleave no need for further discussion. And to question the religious\nconsciousness of a sect is to engage in pure speculation. Likewise,\nthe method of determining this supposed god by the name of some deity\nresembling it is objectionable. There are many such names. One might\nalso infer that the sect worship Christ under the form of the devil.\nThis theory has actually been advanced.\u2014_Theatre de la Turquie_,\n364. The statement that in Kurdish the letter meem is changed to waw\nfrequently is untenable, if one would set it up as a grammatical rule\nto explain such phenomena. What is more, the Kurds pronounce the\nname tammuz, and nothing else, unless some one has a physiological\ndifficulty which will not permit him to close his lips, so that instead\nof saying tammuz, he would mutter taouz. The following are a few of\nmany instances to show that meem is not changed to waw in Kurdish,\neven in words of Arabic origin: \u2018Amelie \u1e63ali\u1e25 (good works), zamanie\na\u1e2berat (the last day), the well of Zamsam, Mohammed, and Mustafa (the\nchosen one), when applied to the prophet, Melek (king), when applied to\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. Further the assumption that \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs does not come from the Arabic\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is unverifiable. Unquestionably the attempt to trace this term\nto tauz, then to Tammuz, was suggested to Professor Lidzbarski by the\nfact that ammuz was the name of an ancient Babylonian god, and that\nAbu Sayyid Wahb ibn Ibrahim, quoted by an-Nedim, an Arab author of the\ntenth century, states that the god Tauz has a feast in his honor on the\nfifteenth of Tammuz (_Fihrist_, p. 322). But according to the author of\n\u201c_Die Sabier und Sabismus_\u201d (p. 202) the original form of this word is\nunknown.\n\nNot only the inference which identifies \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs with Tammuz is based on\nwrong premises; but, in the Yezidi conception of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, there are\nno traces of the notion which is held respecting Tammuz. The latter\nwas originally a sun-god, and son of Ea and the goddess Sirdu, and\nthe bridegroom of the goddess I\u0161tar. The legendary poems of Babylonia\ndescribed him as a shepherd, cut off in the beauty of youth, or slain\nby the boar\u2019s tusk in winter, and mourned for long and vainly by the\ngoddess I\u0161tar. The god Tammuz made his way to Canaan, Cyprus, and\nthence to Greece. \u201cHe had ceased to be the young and beautiful sun-god,\nand had become the representative of the vegetation of spring, growing\nby the side of the canals of Babylonia, but parched and destroyed by\nthe fierce heat of the summer. Hence in Babylonia his funeral festival\ncame to be observed in the month of June, and in Palestine two months\nlater. Tammuz had changed his character in passing from country to\ncountry, but the idea of him as a slain god, and of his festival as\nthe idealization of human sorrow, a kind of \u201cAll Souls Day,\u201d was never\naltered wherever he was adored.\u201d[132] Such beliefs are not found in the\nYezidi view of their King Peacock. On the contrary his festival is for\nthem the occasion of joy and pleasure.\n\nI conclude, then, that \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is the Arabic word meaning peacock, just\nas Melek is the Arabic word meaning king or angel. The sect write it,\npronounce it, and believe it to be so. The faith of the sect finds\nexpression in the fact that they represent their angel Azazil in the\nform of the peacock.\n\nIt seems to me that the real question is not what Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is, but\nhow the devil-god came to be symbolized by the image of a bird. This\nquestion finds an answer in the fact that the worship of a bird appears\nto have been the most ancient of idolatry. It is condemned especially\nin Deut. 4: 16, 17: \u201cLest ye corrupt yourselves and make a graven\nimage, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of any winged fowl\nthat flieth in the air.\u201d And Layard, in his _Nineveh and Its Remains_,\nvol. II, p. 462, gives the sketch of a bird from one of the slabs dug\nup at Nimrud. He remarks that the Iyuges, or sacred birds, belonged to\nthe Babylonian and probably also to the Assyrian religion. They were\na kind of demons, who exercised a peculiar influence over mankind,\nresembling the feroher of Zoroastrianism. The oracles attributed to\nZoroaster describe them as powers anointed by God.\n\nTheir images, made of gold, were in the palace of the king of\nBabylonia. According to Philostratus they were connected with magic.\nIn Palestine the dove was sacred for the Phoenicians and Philistines.\nThe Jews brought accusation against the Samaritans that they were\nworshippers of the dove. Sacred doves were found also at Mecca. Nasar\n(eagle) was a deity of the tribe of \u1e24amyar.[133]\n\nA question suggesting itself is how the Yezidi god came to be\ndesignated by the form of a peacock. This bird is a native of Ceylon,\nand not of Mesopotamia or Kurdistan where the Yezidis live.[134] The\nanswer may be found in the Muslim tradition[135] that when the first\nparents forfeited heaven for eating wheat, they were cast down upon\nearth. Eve descended upon \u2018Arafat; Adam at Ceylon; the peacock at\nGabul, and Satan at Bilbays. In this myth the devil and the peacock\nare figured as sharing the same penalty at the same time. According to\nSurah 2, 28-31, the crime of the former was pride, but nothing is said\nabout the guilt of the latter. We learn, however, from other sources,\nthat the bird in question is thought of as a symbol of pride. In his\narticle \u201cPeacock,\u201d in the Enc. Brit., vol. 18, p. 443, Professor A.\nNewton says: \u201cThe bird is well known as the proverbial personification\nof pride. It is seldom kept in large numbers for it has a bad\nreputation for doing mischief in gardens.\u201d Hence we may infer that the\nnotion of the peacock as a symbol of pride together with the Koranic\nidea of Satan\u2019s sin led to the formation of the myth; that this story\nwas current among the followers of Yezid bn Unaisa; and that, under the\ninfluence of the devil-worshippers of Persia the old tradition lost\nits original significance, and came to be understood to represent the\npeacock as a symbol of the god-devil.\n\nAmong the three branches of the deity in the second degree, Melek\n\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs holds an important place in the theology of the Yezidis. The\nlanguage used in his praise is so elevated that one is led to think\nthat he is identical with God. Some scholars deny this theory on the\nground that the principal prayer of these people is directed to God\nand no mention is made of King Peacock. Hence they contend also that\nno direct worship is offered to the latter deity.[136] It seems to\nme that such a contention is not justifiable. In the first place,\nthe people themselves confess their loyalty to the chief angels.\nMoreover, the expression in this prayer, \u201cThou hast neither feather,\nnor wings, nor arms, nor voice\u201d (see p. 74) is more applicable to the\nsymbol Peacock than to God. There can be no doubt, I think, that in\nthe conception of the sect \u2018Azazil appears to be identical with God.\nThis fact finds definite expression in the Book of Jilwah. In Chapter\nI he is represented as being from eternity to eternity, as having\nabsolute control of the world, as being omnipresent and omnipotent and\nunchangeable. In Chapter II he is said to appear in divers manners to\nthe faithful ones; and life and death are determined by him. And in\nChapter III he is declared to be the source of revelation. While this\nis true, there are other phrases which refer to \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs as being inferior\nto the great God, but superior to all other gods. He was created, and\nis under the command of God; but he is made the chief of all.\n\nIt is not quite easy to understand the underlying idea in worshipping\nthe devil. Some[137] explain this by supposing he is so bad that he\nrequires constant propitiation; otherwise he will take revenge and\ncause great misery. For this reason, it is claimed,[138] they do\nnot worship God, because he is so good that he cannot but forgive.\nThis is the usual interpretation, and it is confirmed by the nature\nof the religious service rendered. It seems to partake much more of\na propitiatory than of a eucharistic character, not as the natural\nexpression of love but of fear. This reminds us at once of the\nBabylonian religion. According to this religion, when any misfortune\novertook the worshippers, they regarded it as a sign that their deity\nwas angry, and had therefore left them to their own resources or had\nbecome their enemy. To be thus deserted was accounted a calamity\nbecause of the innumerable dangers to which the soul was exposed from\nthe action of the powers seen and unseen. So that as a matter of\nprecaution, it was well to maintain a propitiatory attitude. Hence\nthe great object of worship was to secure and retain the somewhat\ncapricious favor of the deity.[139] This is in accord with the natural\nfeeling of man in his primitive state, which leads him rather to dread\npunishment for his sin than to be thankful for blessings received.\n\nOthers[140] hold that the Devil-worshippers believe that their Lord is\na fallen angel, now suffering a temporary punishment for his rebellion\nagainst the divine will because he deceived Adam, or because he did not\nrecognize the superiority of Adam as commanded by God. But it is not\nfor man to interfere in the relations of God with his angels, whether\nthey be fallen or not; on the contrary man\u2019s duty is to venerate them\nall alike. The great God will be finally reconciled to \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, and will\nrestore him to his high place in the celestial hierarchy.\n\nStill others[141] assert that the sect does not believe in an evil\nspirit but as a true divinity. This theory is not generally accepted,\nbut seems more probable than the preceding ones. For there is nothing\nin the sacred book to indicate that Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs is an evil spirit or\na fallen angel. On the contrary the charge that he was rejected and\ndriven from heaven is repudiated. The mentioning of his name is looked\nupon as an insult to and blasphemy against him because it is based, the\nYezidis think, on the assumption that he is degraded. Finally, he is\ndeclared to be one of the seven gods, who is now ruling the world for a\nperiod of 10,000 years.\n\nIt is interesting to note that, in the history of religion, the god of\none people is the devil of another. In the Avesta, the evil spirits are\ncalled daeva (Persian Div); the Aryans of India, in common with the\nRomans, Celts, and Slavs gave the name of dev (devin, divine, divny)\nto their good or god-like spirits. Asura is a deity in the Rig Veda,\nand an evil spirit only in later Brahman theology. Zoroaster thought\nthat the beings whom his opponents worshipped as gods, under the name\nof daeva, were in reality powers by whom mankind are unwittingly led to\ntheir destruction. \u201cIn Islam the gods of heathenism are degraded into\njinn, just as the gods of north semitic heathenism are called \u0161\u0115irim\n(hairy demons) in Lev. 17: 7, or as the gods of Greece and Rome became\ndevils to the early Christians.\u201d[142]\n\nThe Yezidis\u2019 veneration for the devil in their assemblies is paid to\nhis symbol, the sanja\u1e33. It is the figure of a peacock with a swelling\nbreast, diminutive head, and widespread tail. The body is full but\nthe tail is flat and fluted. This figure is fixed on the top of a\ncandlestick around which two lamps are placed, one above the other,\nand containing seven burners. The stand has a bag, and is taken to\npieces when carried from place to place. Close by the stand they put\nwater jugs filled with water, to be drunk as a charm by the sick and\nafflicted. They set the sanja\u1e33 at the end of a room and cover it with a\ncloth. Underneath is a plate to receive the contributions. The \u1e33awwal\n(sacred musician) kisses the corner of the cloth when he uncovers\nMelek-\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs. At a given signal, all arise, then each approaches the\nsanja\u1e33, bows before it and puts his contribution into the plate. On\nreturning to their places, they bow to the image several times and\nstrike their breasts as a token of their desire to propitiate the evil\nprinciple.\n\nThe Yezidis have seven sanja\u1e33s, but the Fari\u1e33 (Lieut.-Gen. of the\nTurkish Army), who tried to convert them to Mohammedanism in 1892,\ntook five of them. Some deny, however, that they were real ones; they\nsay they were imitations. Each sanja\u1e33 is given a special place in the\nEmir\u2019s palace, where it is furnished with a small brazen bed and a\nvessel in the form of a mortar placed before it. They burn candles and\nincense before it day and night. Each sanja\u1e33 is assigned a special\ndistrict, the name of which is written on a piece of paper and placed\non its shoulder. On the shoulder of the first the district of \u0160ei\u1e2ban,\nwhich comprises the villages around Mosul, is indicated; on the second\nJabal Sinjar; in the third the district of \u1e2aalitiyah, which is one of\nthe dependencies of Diarbeker; on the fourth the district of \u1e2aawariyah,\n_i. e._, the Koc\u1e25ers; on the fifth the district of Malliah, the\nvillages around Aleppo; on the sixth the district of Sar\u1e25idar, which\nis in Russia; and the seventh remains at the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi.\n\nWhen sent from village to village of its respective district, a sanja\u1e33\nis put in a hagibah[143] (saddle-bag) and carried on a horse that\nbelongs to a pir (religious teacher). On nearing a certain place, a\nmessenger is sent to announce in Kurdish \u201cSanja\u1e33 hat,\u201d \u201cthe Sanja\u1e33 has\ncome.\u201d Then all the people don their fineries and go out to welcome\nit with tambourines. As the representative of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs reaches the\ntown, the pir cries out in Kurdish language, \u201cSanja\u1e33 mevan ki sawa?\u201d\n(literally: \u201cWhose guest shall the sanja\u1e33 be?\u201d). On hearing this, each\nperson makes a bid for the privilege of entertaining it. Finally he who\nbids the highest receives the image. At that moment the accompanying\npir takes the hagibah off the horse\u2019s back and hangs it on the neck of\nthe person who is to keep the symbol of the devil over night.\n\nThe Yezidis say, that in spite of the frequent wars and massacres to\nwhich the sect has been exposed, and the plunder and murder of the\npriests during their journeys, no Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs has ever fallen into the\nhands of the Mohammedans. When a \u1e33awwal sees danger ahead of him, he\nburies the Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs and afterwards comes himself, or sends some one\nto dig up the brazen peacock, and carries it forward in safety.\n\nBesides revering the devil by adoring his symbol, the Yezidis venerate\nhim by speaking with great respect of his name. They refer to him as\nMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, King Peacock, or Melek al-\u1e33awwat, the Mighty King. They\nnever mention his name; and any allusion to it by others so irritates\nand vexes them that they put to death persons who have intentionally\noutraged their feelings by its use. They carefully avoid every\nexpression that resembles in sound the name of Satan. In speaking of\nshatt (river) they use the common Kurdish word Ave, or the Arabic ma\n(water). In speaking of the Euphrates, they call it Ave \u2018Azim, or ma\nal-kabir, _i. e._, the great river, or simply al-Frat.\n\n\n2. \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ad\u00ee\n\nNext to the devil in rank comes \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi. But he is not the historical\nperson whose biography is given by the Mohammedan authors. He is\nidentified with deity and looked upon as a second person in a divine\ntrinity. He is sent by Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs to teach and to warn his chosen\npeople lest they go astray. He is conceived to be everywhere, to be\ngreater than Christ; and, like Melek-\u1e62edek, has neither father nor\nmother. He has not died and will never die. In verse ten of the poems\nin his praise, he is distinctly said to be the only God. His name\nis associated with all the myth that human imagination can possibly\ncreate about a deity. To express the Yezidi dogma in terms of Christian\nformula, \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi is the Holy Spirit, who dwells in their prophets,\nwho are called kochaks. He also reveals to them truth and the\nmysteries of heaven.\n\nThe entertaining of such views has led some modern critics to think\n\u2018Adi the good and Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs the evil principle. In the poem (30-32),\nhe is represented as the good deity and the source of all good. Others\nidentify him with Adde or Adi, a disciple of Manes or Mani. Still\nothers regard his name as one of the names of the deity. In this\ncase, his tomb is a myth and the prefix \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b\u201d is added to deceive\nthe Mohammedans, and thus to prevent them from desecrating the sacred\nshrine, just as the Christians call Mar Mattie, Sheikh Mattie, and the\nconvent of Mar Behnan, \u1e2buder Elias.[144] But the most ingenious theory\nis that advanced by the Rev. G.\u202fP. Badger. He queries whether the\nYezidi \u2018Adi be not cognate with the Hebrew Ad, the two first letters\nin the original of Adonai, the Lord, and its compounds, Adonijah,\nAdonibezek. The writer is aware, however, that \u201cThis derivative is open\nto objection on the ground that the Yezidis write the word with \u2018ain\nand not with alif.\u201d But he explains: \u201cThey write so only in Arabic,\nof which they know but very little, and not in their own language\n(Kurdish) in which they do not write it at all. Moreover, they may have\nassimilated the mode of expressing the title of their deity in bygone\ndays to that of \u2018Adi, one of the descendants of the Merawian Califs,\nwith whom, from fear of being persecuted by the Mohammedans, they\nsometimes identified him.\u201d Having thus expounded his own view, this\nEnglish scholar proceeds to repudiate the suggestion that \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi \u201cis\nthe same Adi,\u201d one of the disciples of Mani, since there is no proof,\naccording to him, that Mani himself was deified by his followers.\n\nSo far as the application of the method of comparative philology is\nconcerned, Badger\u2019s theory is more reasonable and tenable than that of\nLidzbarski, who, by the same method, attempts to identify Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs\nwith Tammuz. Nevertheless, the inference of the former is beyond any\npossible justification. For such a starting-point is misleading when\nit is not supported by historical proof. A failure to support it thus\ncannot be regarded as other than deficiency in treatment. Now, while\none may be misguided by the Yezidi myth surrounding the personality\nof \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, the critical mind can find much in it to aid him in his\nefforts to discover the true identity of the man. In verse fifty of\nhis poem, for our critic draws his conclusions in the light of this\npoem, the \u0160ei\u1e2b receives his authority from God who is his lord; in\nverse fifty-seven he is a man, \u2018Adi of Damascus, son of Musafir; in\nverse eighty he declares that the high place which he had attained is\nattainable by all who, like him, shall find the truth. To justify my\ncriticism, I need only ask the reader to recall the description by the\nMohammedan biographers of the person in question.\n\nThe Yezidis offer their worship to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, usually when they\nassemble at his shrine. This is his tomb within a temple. The latter\nlies in a narrow valley which has only one outlet, as the rock rises\non all sides except where a small stream forces its way into a large\nvalley beyond. The tomb stands in a courtyard, and is surrounded by a\nfew buildings in which the guardians and the servants of the sanctuary\nlive. In the vicinity are scattered a number of shacks, each named\nafter a \u0161ei\u1e2b, and supposed to be his tomb. Toward sunset these sacred\nplaces are illuminated by burning sesame oil lamps, putting one at the\nentrance to each tomb in token of their respect; the light lasts but a\nshort time. There are also a few edifices, each belonging to a Yezidi\ndistrict, in which the pilgrims reside during the time of the feast; so\nthat each portion of the valley is known by the name of the country of\nthose who resort thither. On the lintel of the doorway of the temple,\nvarious symbols are engraved,\u2014a lion, a snake, a hatchet, a man and\na comb.[145] Their mystical meaning is unknown. They are regarded as\nmere ornaments placed there at the request of those who furnished money\nfor building the temple. The interior of the temple is made up of an\noblong apartment which is divided into three compartments, and a large\nhall in the centre which is divided by a row of columns; and arches\nsupport the roof. To the right of the entrance are a platform, and a\nspring of water coming from the rock. The latter is regarded with great\nveneration, and is believed to be derived from the holy well of Zamzam\nat Mecca. It is used for the baptism of children and for other sacred\npurposes. Close by there are two small apartments in which are tombs\nof the saints and of some inferior personage. In the principal halls a\nfew lamps are usually burning, and at sunset lights are scattered over\nthe walls.\n\nThe tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi lies in the inner room, which is dimly lighted.\nThe tomb has a large square cover, upon which is written Ayat al-Kursi,\nthat is, the verse of the throne, which is the 256th verse of\nsurat-al-Ba\u1e33arah, or Chapter II of the Koran.\n\n\u201cGod. There is no God but He, the Living, the Abiding. Neither slumber\nnor sleep seizeth Him. To Him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and\nwhatsoever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him but by\nHis own permission? He knoweth what has been before them and what shall\nbe after them; yet naught of His knowledge do they comprehend, save\nwhat he willeth to reveal. His throne reacheth over the heavens and the\nearth, and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not. He is the High, the\nGreat.\u201d\n\nIt is related (in the Mishkat, Book IV, 1. 19, Part III) that \u2018Ali\nheard Mohammed say in the pulpit, \u201cThat person who repeats the Ayat\nal-Kursi after every prayer shall in no wise be prevented from entering\ninto Paradise, except by life; and whoever says it when he goes to his\nbedchamber will be kept by God in safety together with his house and\nthe house of his neighbor.\u201d \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi might have been in the habit of\nrepeating this verse; and this, perhaps, led to its inscription on the\ntomb.\n\nIn the center of the inner room, close by the tomb, there is a square\nplaster case, in which are small balls of clay taken from the tomb.\nThese are sold or distributed to the pilgrims, and regarded as sacred\nrelics, useful against disease and evil spirits. It is said that there\nare three hundred and sixty lamps in the shrine of \u2018Adi, which are lit\nevery night. The whole valley in which the shrine lies is held sacred.\nNo impure thing is permitted within its holy bounds. No other than the\nhigh priest and the chiefs of the sect are buried near the tomb. Many\npilgrims take off their shoes on approaching it, and go barefooted as\nlong as they remain in its vicinity.\n\nSuch is the sanctuary of \u2018Adi, where they offer him their homage. Their\nworship may be divided into two kinds, direct and indirect. The former\nconsists of traditional hymns sung by the \u1e33awwals, the sacred musicians\nof the sect. They are chanted to the sound of flutes and tambourines.\nThe tunes are monotonous and generally loud and harsh. The latter kind\nconsists in celebrating their religious rites with great rejoicing on\nthe feast day of their great saint. And their \u1e33ubla, the place to which\nthey look while performing their holy ceremonies, is that part of the\nheaven in which the sun rises.\n\nThe great feast of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi is held yearly on April fifteenth to\ntwentieth, Roman calendar, when the Yezidis from all their districts\ncome to attend the festival celebration. Before entering the valley,\nmen and women perform their ablutions, for no one can enter the sacred\nvalley without having first purified his body and his clothes. The\npeople of the villages are gathered and start together, forming a\nlong procession, preceded by musicians, who play the tambourine and\nthe pipe. They load the donkeys with necessary carpets and domestic\nutensils. While marching they discharge their guns into the air and\nsing their war cry. As soon as they see the tower of the tomb, they all\ntogether discharge their arms.\n\nThe \u0161ei\u1e2bs and the principal members of the priesthood are dressed in\npure white linen, and all are venerable men with long beards. Only the\nchief and the \u1e33awwals and two of the order of the priesthood enter the\ninner court of the temple, and they always go in barefooted. They start\nan hour after sunset.[146] The ceremony begins with the exhibition of\nthe holy symbol of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs to the priests. No stranger is allowed\nto witness this ceremony or to know the nature of it. This being done,\nthey begin the rite. The \u1e33awwals stand against the wall on one side of\nthe court and commence a chant. Some play on the flute, others on the\ntambourine; and they follow the measure with their voices. The \u0161ei\u1e2bs\nand the chiefs form a procession, walking two by two; the chief priest\nwalks ahead. A fa\u1e33ir holds in one hand a lighted torch, and in another\na large vessel of oil, from which he pours into the lamp from time\nto time. All are in white apparel except the fa\u1e33irs, who are dressed\nin black. As they walk in a circle, they sing in honor of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi.\nAfterward, they sing in honor of \u2018Isa (Jesus). As they proceed the\nexcitement increases, the chants quicken, the tambourines are beaten\nmore frequently, the fa\u1e33irs move faster, the women make tahlil with\na great shouting, and the ceremony comes to an end with great noise\nand excitement. When the chanting is ended, those who were marching\nin procession kiss, as they pass by, the right side of the temple\nentrance, where the serpent is figured on the wall. Then the emir\nstands at this entrance to receive the homage of the \u0161ei\u1e2bs and elders\nwho kiss his hand. Afterward all that are present give one another the\nkiss of peace.[147] After the ceremony the young men and women dance in\nthe outer court until early in the morning.\n\nIn the morning the \u0161ei\u1e2bs and the \u1e33awwals offer a short prayer in the\ntemple without any ceremony and some kiss the holy places in the\nvicinity. When they end, they take the green[148] cover of the tomb\nof \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi and march with it around the outer court with music.\nThe people rush to them and reverently kiss the corner of the cloth,\noffering money.\n\nAfter taking the cover back to its place, the chiefs and priests sit\naround the inner court. Kochaks at this time bring food and call the\npeople to eat of the hospitality of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi.[149] After they have\nfinished their meal, a collection is taken for the support of the\ntemple and tomb of their saint. All people that come to the annual\nfestival bring dishes as offerings to their living \u0161ei\u1e2b. After he has\nindicated his acceptance of them by tasting, these are given to the\nservants of the sanctuary. When the feast comes to an end, the people\nreturn to their several abodes.\n\n\n(3.) YEZID\n\nThe third essential element in the religion of the devil-worshippers\nis the belief that their sect has taken its origin from Yezid, whom\nfrequently they call God and regard as their ancestral father, to whom\nthey trace their descent. No other worship is offered him. He is given,\nhowever, a place of honor in the court of the temple, where, on one\nside, there is the inscription \u201cMelek Yezid, the mercy of God be upon\nhim\u201d; on the other side \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, the mercy of God be upon him.\u201d In\nthe corner of this court a lamp is kept burning all night in honor of\nthe two.\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER II\n\n [130] P. Anastase: _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 151; Bedrus Efendi\n Ar-Ri\u1e0dwani, his letter to A.\u202fN. Andrus, April 22, 1887.\n\n [131] Lidzbarski, Z.\u202fD.\u202fM.\u202fG., vol. LI, p. 592; he is followed by\n Makas, _Kurdische Studien_, p. 35.\n\n [132] See \u201cTammuz\u201d in Jastrow\u2019s Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, and\n Cheney\u2019s Dictionary of the Bible.\n\n [133] R.\u202fW. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 219; A\u0161-\u0160ahrastan\u00ee,\n vol. II, p. 434. Ya\u1e33ut (vol. IV, p. 780) says: Originally nasr was\n worshipped by the people of Noah, and from them was brought to the\n tribe of \u1e24amyar. According to the Syriac doctrine of Addai (Ed. George\n Philips, p. 24) the people of Edessa worshipped \u201cthe eagle as the\n Arabians.\u201d\n\n [134] So far as I am aware no writer on the Yezidis has ever raised\n this question.\n\n [135] Hughes: _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 21.\n\n [136] Victor _Dingelstedt_, SGM, vol. XIV.\n\n [137] Badger: _The Nestorians_, vol. I, p. 125; Layard, Nineveh, vol.\n I, p. 297.\n\n [138] P. Anastase: _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 152.\n\n [139] The Hibbert Journal, vol. V, No. 2, Jan., 1907, p. 337.\n\n [140] Layard: Ibid; _Victor Dingelstedt_, Ibid, p. 299.\n\n [141] Dingelstedt: Ibid.\n\n [142] R.\u202fW. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 120; Fihrist, p. 322,\n 326, calls the gods of the \u1e24arranians devils.\n\n [143] _Hagibah_ is a Turkish word, meaning a saddleback.\n\n [144] Badger: Ibid, p. 247. (137) Ibid, p. 112.\n\n Mr. Badger seems to contend that the Kurdish-speaking people do not\n pronounce the letter \u2018ain. This is not true, the Kurds pronounce\n this letter as well as other gutturals. They sometimes even change\n the Arabic Alif to \u2018ain. This is to be said, however, that in some\n localities the \u2018ain is pronounced alif, just as the \u1e33af is changed to\n alif, but this is not confined to the Kurds, such changes are made by\n the Arabic-and the Syriac-speaking people also.\n\n [145] The figures of the bull and of the serpent, or of the bull and\n of the lion were placed at the right and left of the palaces of the\n Assyrian kings to protect their path. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p.\n 162; Nineveh, vol. II, p. 315; B.\u202fF. Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian\n Literature, pp. 139, 148, 153. The lion was both an ornament and\n support in the throne of Solomon, Layard, Nineveh, vol. II, p. 301.\n The hatchet was among the weapons of those who fought in chariots, and\n carried in the quiver, with the arrows and short angular bow, Nineveh,\n vol. II, p. 343.\n\n [146] The Mandeans, the star-worshippers, also begin their rasta\n ceremony after the sunset, and continue it through the night.\u2014_London\n Standard_, October 19, 1894, Al-Muta\u1e33tataf, 23, 88.\n\n [147] The kiss of the peace is a regular part of the church service in\n the East.\n\n [148] In Mohammedanism, green is the color of \u0161ei\u1e2bs.\n\n [149] This is a communal meal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nOTHER DEITIES AND FESTIVALS\n\n\nI\n\nTHE SO-CALLED SEVEN DIVINITIES\n\nBesides their great saint, the Yezidis believe in seven other \u0161ei\u1e2bs\nthrough whose intermediation they invoke God. These are also deified\nand assigned places of honor at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s side. In their case as in\nthat of their chief, the tradition has led some critics to believe\nthat they are archangels; others, different attributes of God; and\nstill others, the seven Amshaps of Zoroaster, or immortal spirits of\nthe Avesta. The last conjecture is made by Victor Dingelstadt.[150]\nCholsohn goes a step further in making the assertion, \u201cDer Tempel des\nsheikh Shams ist ohne allen Zweifel ein Sonnentempel der so gebaut\nist, dass die ernsten Strahlen der Sonne so h\u00e4ufig als m\u00f6glich auf ihn\nfallen.\u201d The ground for this positive statement is, we are told \u201cLayard\nberichtet.\u201d[151] Now, the English scholar seems to base his contention\non the fact that the building is called the sanctuary of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u0160ams;\nthat the herd of white oxen which are slain on great festivals at \u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Adi\u2019s are dedicated to \u0160ams; \u201cthat the dedication of the bull to the\nsun\u201d was generally recognized in the religious system of the ancients,\nwhich probably originated in Assyria; and that the Yezidis may have\nunconsciously preserved a myth of their ancestors.[152] To my mind the\nground for such a view is the apriori assumption that the religion of\nthe devil-worshippers is the remnant of an ancient cult, and that every\nphenomenon in it is to be regarded, therefore, a survival of the past\nsystem. For certain reasons I hold that such is not the case.\n\nOne reason, as Badger rightly remarks, the Yezidis so designate the\nplace for the sake of brevity, is the entablature over the doorway\nrecords the name in full, \u201cSheikh Shams Ali Beg and Faris.\u201d Two persons\nare mentioned in the inscription.[153] In like manner, the word \u0160ams\nfrequently enters into the construction of Mohammedan names. The most\ncelebrated one that bore this name was \u0160ams ud-Din of Tabriz, the\nfriend and spiritual guide of Jalal ad-Din, who flourished during the\nfirst half of the 13th century of our era.\n\nMoreover, round about the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi are many such abandoned\nshrines, each of which is dedicated to a similar deified \u0161ei\u1e2b. Many of\nthese \u0161ei\u1e2bs are known to be historical personages. Take for example,\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Abd al-\u1e33adir of Gilan. He is \u0160ei\u1e2b Mu\u1e25iyy ud Din \u2018Abd al \u1e33adir of\nGilan in Persia, the founder of the \u1e33adiri order of dervishes. He was\nborn in A. H. 471 (A. D. 1078-9) and died A. H. 516 (A. D. 1164-5).\nSo also \u0160ei\u1e2b \u1e33a\u1e0dib al-Ban. He was from Mosul, and was a contemporary\nof \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi. In giving the life of Mu\u1e25i ad Din a\u0161-\u0160harnozuri, Ibn\n\u1e2aallikan (v. 2,651) says, \u201cHis corpse was removed to a mausoleum built\nfor its reception outside the Maidan Gate of Mosul, near the tomb of\n\u1e33adib al-Ban, the celebrated worker of miracles.\u201d Further, Man\u1e63ur\nal-\u1e24allaj was a celebrated mystic, revered as a saint by the more\nadvanced sufis. He was put to death with great cruelty at Bagdad in A.\nH. 309 (A. D. 921-2) on a charge of heresy and blasphemy, because he\nhad said in one of his ecstacies, \u201cAna-l-\u1e24a\u1e33\u1e33, I am the truth, God.\u201d\nAll biographers of sufi saints speak of him with admiration.\n\nThere are still others who are mentioned even among the seven \u0161ei\u1e2bs\nenumerated in the principal prayer. \u0160ei\u1e2b \u1e24asan (written also \u0160ei\u1e2bisin)\nwas from Ba\u1e63rah. He was a celebrated theologian and died in A. D. 728.\nHis life is given by Ibn \u1e2aallikan. He was noted for self-mortification,\nfear of God and devotion. And Fa\u1e2br ad-Din is ibn Abd Allah Mohammed Ibn\nAmar al-\u1e24u\u1e63ain Ibn al-\u1e24asan, Ibn \u2018Ali Al-Taim al-Bakri al-Taberstani\nar-kai-zi (native of Kai in Tabarestan), surnamed Fa\u1e2br ad-Din (glory\nof faith). He was a doctor of the Shafite sect, a pearl of his age, a\nman without a peer. He surpassed all his contemporaries in scholastic\ntheology, and preached both in Arabic and Persian. He would draw floods\nof tears from his eyes. His virtues and merits were boundless. He was\nborn at Kai, 25th of Ramadan, A. H. 544 (A. D. 1150), and died at\n\u1e24erat, the first of Shawal, A. H. 606 (March A. D. 1210). (See ibn\n\u1e2aallikan in loco.)\n\nIn the light of these facts, I conclude, then, that those who cannot\nbe identified\u2014for many bear the same name, and we do not know which is\nwhich\u2014are also historical personages.\n\nThis is what I mean by the statement that in order to yield\nsatisfactory results the inductive method must be supported by\nhistorical investigations.\n\nIn a question like this, however, the philosophical method also, when\ncarried on critically, may yield a satisfactory result. Accordingly,\nobservations should be made in the sphere of religious consciousness.\nNow one of the characteristics of the human mind is the tendency\nto defy man. This is shown in the titles which men gave to their\nsuperiors. In the Tell-al-Amarna tablets, we find various kinglets\nof Syria, in writing to the king of Egypt, address him as \u201cmy gods\u201d\n(ilani-ia). Thus Abimilki of Tyre writes: \u201cTo my lord, the king, my\nson, my god.\u201d What is more, a superhuman character is attributed to\nthe dead. This appears from the attitude which the primitive mind\nentertained towards the deceased. At first, the relation to the dead\nwas hostile, hence their spirits were feared. Gradually, the relation\nbecame familiar, so that their association was sought and sacrifices\nand gifts were offered to them. They came to be looked upon as elohim,\nwho knew the future events. Thus we find that in the Old Testament,\nworship was offered to the dead, and that the tombs of ancestors and\nheroes frequently appear as places of worship, as, _e. g._, the grave\nof Miriam at Kadish (Num. 26: 1). Even to-day tombs of saints are\ncommon in Arabia, and thousands of people visit them annually to ask\nthe intercession of the saints. Likewise, the Nu\u1e63airiyeh of Syria have\ndeified \u2018Ali, the Drus their chief Hakim, the Babis their Beha, and the\nChristians their saints.[154] We cannot, therefore, be surprised that\nthe Yezidis have deified their \u0161ei\u1e2bs and heroes. They have only shown\nthat common trait of the mind\u2014the tendency to deify man.\n\nIt is to be noticed, further, that in the historical development of\nreligions we find that when the stage of the mere belief in spirits is\npast, individual deities stand out from the great mass of the spirits,\nand these are plainly imagined to be personal gods, such as Astarte and\nBa\u2018al by the side of Hadad and Aschirat.[155] Now this is practically\nwhat we find in the evolution of modern Yezidism. Out of many \u0161ei\u1e2bs and\nmurids, seven, next to \u0161ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, stand out as individual divinities.\n\nYearly festivals in honor of these \u0161ei\u1e2bs are commemorated in April at\ndifferent villages with the same rites as those observed at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s\ntomb. Lamps are nightly lighted and left to burn in the shacks called\nafter the names of their respective \u0161ei\u1e2bs; and in those to which a room\nis attached, \u1e33awwals assemble at sunset every Tuesday and Thursday,\nwhen they burn incense over each tomb; and after watching a short\ntime, and smoking their pipes, they return home.\n\nAn interesting festival is that of \u0160ei\u1e2b Mohammed, celebrated by the\npeople of Ba\u2018\u0161i\u1e33a, where his tomb exists. They say that they are\nsolemnizing the nuptials of \u0160ei\u1e2b Mohammed, whom they believe to be\nmarried once a year. The men and women dance together while the\n\u1e33awwals play on their flutes and tambourines. They bring Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs\nin procession from Ba\u1e25azanie to Ba\u2018\u0161i\u1e33a amid rejoicing and sound of\nmusic. Two pirs precede the bearer of the sacred peacock, carrying in\ntheir hands lighted candles which they move to and fro. As they pass\nalong the bystanders bow in adoration and, immersing their hands in the\nsmoke, perfume with it their arms and faces. They carry the image of\nMelek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs to the house of the one who is the highest bidder for the\nhonor of entertaining it. Here it remains two days, during which all\nprofane festivals are suspended and visits are paid to it.\n\n\nII\n\nTHE DAY OF SARSAL\n\nIn addition to the festivals mentioned above is the one observed on\nNew Year\u2019s day, the first Wednesday in April. On this day, the Yezidis\nsay, no drums are to be beaten, for God sits on the throne, holding a\nconference at which he decrees the events of the year. They also stick\nwild scarlet anemones to the entrance of their houses. The refraining\nfrom the sound of instruments of pleasure on the part of orientals\nsignifies a state of contrition. Hence, it is very likely that the\nYezidis entertain the view that on this day God is decreeing their\ndestiny for the coming year; that they must now, therefore, adjust\ntheir relation to him with sincere sorrow for sin. If this is so, the\nsignificance of the hanging of the flowers at the entrance of their\nhouses can be taken as intended to propitiate the Evil Principle,\nand to ward off calamity during the coming year. Such a belief has a\nparallel in many religions. According to Babylonian mythology human\ndestiny was decreed on New Year\u2019s day and sealed on the tenth day\nthereafter. It was therefore necessary to placate the deity, or at\nleast to make sure of one\u2019s relation to him, before this particular\nday. The New Year period was held, therefore, to be of special\nimportance because of the bearing on individual welfare by reason of\nthe good or the evil decision of the gods. Our modern custom of wishing\nour friends a Happy New Year has perhaps some connection with this\nidea.[156]\n\nThe Day of Atonement (Lev. 23: 27; 25: 29) had a most important place\nin the Jewish ecclesiastical year. This was the occasion of a thorough\npurification of the whole nation and of every individual member thereof\nin their relation to Yahweh. It was designed to deepen afresh the\nnational and individual sense of sin and dread of the judgment of God.\nAccording to Talmud (Mi\u0161na, Ro\u0161 ha\u0161ana, vol. I, 2) Ro\u0161 ha\u0161ana is the\nmost important judgment day, on which all creatures pass for judgment\nbefore the Creator. On this day, three books are opened wherein the\nfate of the wicked, the righteous and those of the intermediate class\nare recorded. Hence prayer and works of repentance are performed on the\nNew Year from the first to the tenth that an unfavorable decision might\nbe averted (Jewish Ency., art. Penitential Day). R. Akiba says: \u201cOn New\nYear Day all men are judged; and the degree is sealed on the Day of\nAtonement (Ibid, art. Day of Judgment).\n\nMoreover, the red lilies of the doors of the Yezidis remind us at\nonce of the blood sprinkled on the doorposts of the dwellings of the\nIsraelites in Egypt as a sign for the Destroying Angel to pass over.\nThis notion is found also in a similar practice among the Parsees of\nIndia, who hang a string of leaves across the entrances to their houses\nat the beginning of every new year.\n\nIn the light of what has been said, the Yezidis\u2019 idea in giving food\nto the poor at the grave on the day of Sarsal (New Year day), is to\npropitiate God on behalf of the dead, who are, according to their\nbelief, reincarnated in some form or other.[157]\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER III\n\n [150] S.\u202fG.\u202fM., ibid.\n\n [151] _Die Sabien_, I, 296.\n\n [152] _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. II, p. 239.\n\n [153] _Nestorians and Their Rituals_, vol. I, p. 117.\n\n [154] S.\u202fJ. Curtis: _Primitive Semitic Religion To-day_, p. 96;\n J.\u202fA.\u202fO.\u202fS., vol. 8, 223.\n\n [155] Cf. Marti\u2019s _Die Religion des A.\u202fT._, pp. 28-29.\n\n [156] The Hibbert Journal, ibid.\n\n [157] For different interpretation of the Yezidi New Year, see\n Brockelmann in Z.\u202fD.\u202fM.\u202fG., vol. 55, p. 388.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nSACRAMENTS, RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES AND SACERDOTAL SYSTEM\n\n\nI\n\nSACRAMENTS\n\nCircumcision, the Eucharist and baptism are the three religious rites\nadministered by the followers of Yezid. The first rite is optional. But\nwith baptism the case is different; it is a matter of obligation. When\na child is born near enough to the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi to be taken there\nwithout great inconvenience or danger, it should be baptized as early\nas possible after birth. The \u1e33awwals in their periodical visitations\ncarry a bottle or skin filled with holy water to baptize those children\nwho cannot be brought to the shrine. The mode of baptism is as follows:\nA \u0161ei\u1e2b carries the baby into the water, takes off his clothes, and\nimmerses him three times. After the second time, putting his hand on\nthe child\u2019s head, he mutters, \u201cHol hola soultanie Azid, tou bouia ber\u1e2be\nAzid, saraka rea Azid.\u201d (\u201cHol hola![158] Yezid is a sultan. Thou hast\nbecome a lamb of Yezid; thou mayest be a martyr for the religion of\nYezid.\u201d) The parents are not admitted to the domed shack of the spring;\nthey remain outside. The \u0161ei\u1e2b is paid for his services by the father\nof the child. If the baby be a male, the gift must be more valuable\nthan if it be a female.\n\nWithin twenty days from the time of baptism, a male child is\ncircumcised. To perform the rite, two \u0161ei\u1e2bs are employed. One holds the\nchild in his lap, the other performs the operation. Before starting,\nhe asks the child to say: \u201cAs ber\u1e2be Azide Sarum.\u201d (\u201cI am the lamb of\nilluminating Yezid.\u201d) If he be too small to repeat, the \u0161ei\u1e2b who holds\nhim repeats the sentence for him. All this is done in the presence of\nthe parents, the relatives and the friends, amid rejoicing with the\nsound of the flute and the tambourine. When the ceremony is ended, the\nfather of the child entertains all those present for seven successive\ndays, during which period they dance, sing and eat the food sent to\nthem by the friends and neighbors of the circumcised child. When this\ncomes to an end, the two \u0161ei\u1e2bs are presented with gifts. Then every one\nreturns home. The reason why they observe the two rites, they say, is\nthat if one does not work the other may, and neither is harmful.\n\nAs to the Eucharist,[159] its observance is local. It is usually\nadministered by the Yezidis of a place called \u1e2aalitiyeh, a dependency\nof Diarbeker. It is observed in the following manner: They sit around\na table. The chief among them holding a cup of wine, asks in Kurdish,\n\u201cAve Chia.\u201d (\u201cWhat is this?\u201d) Then he himself answers, \u201cAve Kasie\n\u2018Isaya.\u201d (\u201cThis is the cup of Jesus.\u201d) He continues, \u201cAve \u2018Isa naf\nrounishtiya.\u201d (\u201cJesus is sitting and present in it.\u201d) Having first\npartaken himself, he passes the cup around. The last person drinks all\nthat is left in the cup.\n\nThere is another sacrament among the Yezidis. I refer to the rite of\nrepentance. When persons quarrel, the guilty one, covering his face\nwith his hands, betakes himself to the most venerable \u0161ei\u1e2b to confess\nhis sin. The latter, giving the penitent instructions, enjoins him to\nkiss the hands of his enemy and those of the members of the priesthood.\nThis having been done, if still no reconciliation be effected, the\noffending person, whoever he may be, must undergo again the same\nexercises. When peace is established, the penitent one slaughters a\nsheep and offers wine to the reconciled one and the clerical body. This\nrite of repentance, however, is not obligatory.[160]\n\n\nII\n\nSOME OTHER RELIGIOUS PRACTICES\n\nFasting is one of the religious observances. It is kept for three\nsuccessive days in the month of December, when they profess to\ncommemorate the death of Yezid. Some observe also the forty days\u2019 fast\nin the spring of the year, when the Eastern Christians celebrate the\nmemory of Christ\u2019s abstinence from food at the time of his temptation\nin the wilderness. One person in a family may fast for the rest. During\nthis period fasters abstain from animal food. The chief \u0161ei\u1e2b fasts\nrigidly one month in the year, eating only once in twenty-four hours\nand immediately after sunset.\n\nPrayer is not considered a religious duty. They never pray; they do not\neven have a form of prayer, and acknowledge that they do not pray. It\nis said that when \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi came from Mecca, he told his followers in\none of his sermons: \u201cGod commanded me to tell you that there is no need\nof prayer; believe in the power of Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs and ye shall be saved.\u201c\nThey have, however, what is called morning recital, which the devout\namong them mutters in Kurdish as he rises up from his bed. It is as\nfollows:\n\n\u201d_Chand-il-manhatie sobayaka ro\u0161h halatie. Hatna mesarmen dou jaladie,\nmeskino raba. Beda \u0161ade \u0161ada dina mine eik Allah melek \u0161eih-sin Habib\nAllah ma\u1e33lub al-mergie \u1e63ala\u1e25 ma\u1e33lub w-mergie al-jem\u00b4s \u1e63ala\u1e25 Al-bani\nma-ieh al-jem\u00b4sieh wal jot \u1e33uobaieh Kwa-\u0161amsi Tauris wal-Fahra-Dinn,\nwasheikho Pir. Kawata deira sor, hanpouteka deira chankulie wa-Kabri\nZaman wa-ahro douni, Amin._\u201d[161]\n\n\u201cHow often two executioners came upon me as the morning sun arose. O\npoor man, stand up and bear witness! Witness for my religion. God is\none; the angel \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi and upon his congregation; upon the great\nshack and the shack of \u0160ei\u1e2b Tauris and Fa\u1e2br ad-Din and to every \u0161ei\u1e2b\nand pir, and the power of Deir Zor and Deir Chankalie (two Christian\nmonasteries), and the grave of time (mysterious power), and the Last\nDay.\u201d\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE SACERDOTAL ORDERS\n\nThe hierarchical orders of the Yezidi sect are four. The head \u0161ei\u1e2b\nis the patriarch of the sect. He directs all the religious affairs\nof the community and leads them in their rites. He is also the\nprincipal interpreter of their religion, the chief spiritual judge, a\nsacred person, whose hearth is regarded as a sanctuary, only second\nin importance to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s temple, and whose will must be obeyed.\nHis powerful weapon is excommunication. He presides over a tribunal\ncomposed of ecclesiastical superiors, which has jurisdiction in\nreligious offences, in questions relating to marriage, and in disputes\nbetween the clergy. His charge is hereditary, in direct succession; but\nif his eldest son be considered unworthy, he may appoint another to\nsucceed him. He is said to be descended from \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, and is believed\nto be endowed with supernatural power for healing diseases, and for\nblessing cattle and crops. Twice a year he visits the neighboring\nvillages to collect contributions, and sends his \u1e33awwals to far\ndistant districts for the same purpose. Occasionally he takes part in\ncelebrating the marriage of persons of distinction in his community.\nHe is also at times solicited to preside over funeral rites, which are\ngenerally conducted by the \u1e33awwals and \u0161ei\u1e2bs. The chief \u0161ei\u1e2b wears a\nblack turban and white garments.\n\nBesides the head \u0161ei\u1e2b, the Yezidis have many other \u0161ei\u1e2bs. Each has\na parish to look after. Twice a year he visits his parishioners to\nreceive their free-will offerings. If a member of a congregation does\nnot satisfy his \u0161ei\u1e2b, he is anathematized by his spiritual leader, and\nno one will speak to him or eat with him. Every one of these \u0161ei\u1e2bs\nis supposed to possess a special power, such as the power to drive\nscorpions away by praying over water and sprinkling it in the corners\nof the house. They have one called \u0160ei\u1e2b Deklie, that is, \u0160ei\u1e2b of the\nCocks. His office is to go from village to village to collect chickens.\nSeveral of these \u0161ei\u1e2bs always reside at \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s.\n\nThe next in dignity are pirs, from the Persian meaning an old man. They\nwear red turbans and black garments. Then come the \u1e33awwals, from the\nArabic, meaning one who speaks fluently, an orator. And lastly, the\nfakirs, from the Arabic poor. These are the lowest order in the Yezidi\npriesthood. (For the different offices of the last three orders, (see\np. 69.)\n\nThe clergy of all ranks enjoy particular respect. Their persons\nand homes are held inviolate. They take precedence at public\ngatherings. And the \u0161ei\u1e2bs and pirs possess the much dreaded power of\nexcommunication.\n\nBesides the above, the Yezidis have a temporal chief, who is called\namir. His dignity is also hereditary and confined to one family. He\nis believed to be a descendant of Yezid. He exercises a secondary\nauthority over the Yezidis. He is a mediator between his sect and the\nTurkish government. He has the power to cut off any refractory member\nfrom the community. He has charge of fifty \u1e33awwals who try to collect\nfor him at their annual visits to each Yezidi district a certain amount\nof money. The money received by them is divided into two equal parts,\none of which goes to the support of the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, and the\nsecond part is divided, one-half being for the amir, the other half\nbeing shared equally by the \u1e33awwals.\n\nThe name of the present amir is \u2018Ali, and he resides in Ba\u2018adrie.\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER IV\n\n [158] Hol Hola is an interjection, or exclamation, expressing sudden\n emotion, excitement, or feeling, as \u201cOh!\u201d \u201cAlas!\u201d \u201cHurrah!\u201d \u201cHark!\u201d in\n English.\n\n [159] P. Anastase: _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 309.\n\n [160] Ibid, p. 311.\n\n [161] Ibid, p. 313.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nTHEIR CUSTOMS\n\n\nI\n\nMARRIAGE\n\nThe Yezidis are endogamic. They forbid union between the secular and\nthe religious classes, as also within certain degrees of relationship.\nA \u0161ei\u1e2b\u2019s son marries only a \u0161ei\u1e2b\u2019s daughter; so pirs\u2019 sons, pirs\u2019\ndaughters. A layman cannot marry a \u0161ei\u1e2b\u2019s or a pir\u2019s daughter, but he\nmay take for a wife a \u1e33awwal\u2019s or a kochak\u2019s daughter; and \u1e33awwals\u2019 or\nkochaks\u2019 sons may marry laymen\u2019s daughters. But if a layman marries a\n\u0161ei\u1e2b\u2019s or a pir\u2019s daughter, he must be killed. Marriage is for life,\nbut it is frequently dissolved, divorce being as easy to obtain among\nthem as among Moslems. When a man wants to get rid of his wife, he\nsimply lets her go. Polygamy is allowed, but usually confined to rich\nmen, who generally have two wives. The number of wives is limited to\nsix, except for the amir. A man must have money or cattle in order\nto be able to get married. The price is called \u1e33alam. A respectable\ngirl will not sell herself at a low price. Parents get rich if they\nhave several pretty girls; they are the father\u2019s property. The \u1e33alam,\ndowry, is usually thirty sheep or goats, or the price of them. The man\nmust give presents to the relatives of his bride, parents, brothers,\netc. If a couple love each other and cannot marry because the man has\nno money to pay his sweetheart\u2019s father, then they elope. They usually\nmake arrangements before elopement as to where they will stay for a few\nweeks to escape detection. Some strong men accompany them when they\nelope. The father of the girl with his relatives follow. If they catch\nthe fugitives, bloodshed may ensue. But if they succeed in escaping,\nthey return after some time and are then forgiven. According to a\nKurdish proverb everything is pardoned the brave.\n\nThe couple choose one another. The girl informs her mother that she\nloves so and so. The latter informs her husband. The father acquaints\nthe father of the young man with the fact. When they agree, and the\ndaughter is given to the young man, his kindred come to the house of\nthe bride\u2019s father on an appointed day, and give the girl a ring; then\nthey dance, rejoice all night, play, wrestle, and eat black raisins.\nAfter that the young couple are allowed to arrange nuptial meetings in\nthe company of a matron, who is presented with a gift.\n\nWhen the time of marriage comes, the family of the bridegroom invites\nthe relatives. Each takes with him a silk handkerchief as a present\nfor the bride. For three days they drink \u201c\u0103rak,\u201d sing and dance to the\nsound of flutes and drums at the house of the young man. After that,\nthe women, two by two, ride on horseback together, and likewise the\nmen. The men take with them their children, who ride behind them. In\nthis manner they go to the bride\u2019s house, discharging their guns as\nthey proceed. When they reach the house they all discharge their guns\ntogether. Hearing the sound, the father comes out and according to the\ncustom, asks the visitors what they want. They respond \u201cYour daughter,\u201d\nall answering at once. Then he goes in and tells his wife. After\nputting upon their daughter a scarlet \u1e2bailiyah (veil), which covers her\nfrom head to foot, they bring her out. Everyone of the children takes a\nspoon from the bride\u2019s house and sticks it in his turban. After being\nbrought to the house of the bridegroom, the bride is kept behind a\ncurtain in the corner of a darkened room for three days, and the young\nman is not allowed to see her during this period.\n\nOn the third day, the bridegroom is sought early in the morning, and\nled in triumph by his friends from house to house, receiving at each a\nsmall present. He is then placed within a circle of dancers, and the\nguests and bystanders wetting small coins stick them to his forehead.\nThe money is collected as it falls in an open handkerchief held by his\ncompanions. After this ceremony a number of the young men, who have\nattached themselves to the bridegroom, lock the most wealthy of their\ncompanions in a dark room until they are willing to pay a ransom for\ntheir release. The money thus taken is added to the dowry of the newly\nmarried couple.\n\nOn the evening of the third day the \u0161ei\u1e2b takes the bridegroom to the\nbride. Putting the hand of one in that of the other, and covering the\ncouple with a \u1e2bailiyah, he asks the bride, \u201cWho are you?\u201d \u201cI am the\ndaughter of so and so,\u201d responds she. Then he asks the bridegroom the\nsame question. After receiving an answer, the \u0161ei\u1e2b asks, \u201cWill you\ntake this young woman as a wife,\u201d and \u201cDo you want this young man as a\nhusband?\u201d After hearing each say \u201cYes,\u201d the \u0161ei\u1e2b marks their shoulders\nand foreheads with red ink, and hands them a stick. As each holds one\nend of it, he asks them to break it in the middle, leaving one-half in\nthe hand of each. Then the \u0161ei\u1e2b says, \u201cSo you remain one until death\nbreaks you asunder.\u201d\n\nWhen this is done, he takes the couple to a room and locks them in,\nwaiting at the door. After a while the bridegroom knocks at the door\nthree times. Understanding the signal, the priest discharges his gun,\nand all the bystanders outside follow his example. After shouting and\ndancing for some time, the \u0161ei\u1e2b sends them home. When they first meet,\nthe newly wedded husband strikes his young wife with a small stone as\na token of his superiority over her. For seven days, they stay at home\nand do no work. Now, if the husband dies first, the wife goes to her\nfather\u2019s house.\n\nWith the Yezidis, the family bonds are stronger than those of the\ntribe. The family proper consists of parents and their children,\nmarried, and unmarried, living in the same house. Respect for parents\nand elder persons is considered a virtue, as it is among all the\neastern people. The head of the family is the sole proprietor of\nthe possessions of the family, and holds full control over his wife\nand children, who are bound to obey him. Only personal objects and\ndress are the property of the wife. He can punish his wife and the\nchildren. If a son leaves his father\u2019s house, he is beyond the father\u2019s\nauthority, but not beyond his moral influence. A father is to maintain\nhis family, defend it, and answer charges brought against its members.\nNext to the father in authority stands the eldest son.\n\nWomen are inferior to men; married women must obey their husbands. They\nwork like men; they till the ground, take care of cattle, fight the\nenemy and are courageous and very independent. This enables the young\nwomen to choose their sweethearts and run away with them. They converse\nwith men freely. A woman does not conceal her face unless she is stared\nat, when she draws a corner of her mantle over her face.\n\nMarried women are dressed entirely in white, and their shirt is of\nthe same cut as the man\u2019s, with a white kerchief under their chin,\nand another over their heads, held by the \u2018agal or woollen cord of\nthe Bedouins. The girls wear white skirts and drawers, and over them\ncolored zabouns, long dresses open in front and confined at the\nwaist by a girdle ornamented with pieces of silver. They bind fancy\nkerchiefs around their heads and adorn themselves with coins as well\nas with glass and amber beads.\n\nThe men wear shirts closed up to the neck, and their religious law\nforbids them to wear the common eastern shirts open in front. Their\nshirt is the distinctive mark by which the Yezidi sect is recognized\nat once. They are clothed besides with loose trousers and cloaks, both\nof white, and with a black turban, from beneath which their hair falls\nin ringlets. They usually carry long rifles in their hands, pistols in\ntheir girdles, and a sword at their side.\n\nIn their physical characteristics they are like the Kurds, wild, rough,\nuncultured. They are muscular, active, and capable of bearing great\nhardship. In general, they are a fine, manly race: tall or of medium\nstature, with large chest; strong deep voice, audible afar; clear, keen\neye; frank and confident, or fierce and angry; nose of moderate length,\nand fairly small head. Their legs are rather short, but the soles of\ntheir feet are large. Their complexion is usually dark and their eyes\nare black. But there are different types. The predominant type is tall,\nwith black hair, fine regular nose, and bluish brown eyes. The rest\nare of shorter stature, with longer features; light, bright eyes; and\nlarge, irregular nose. The Yezidis sometime shave the hair off their\nhead, leaving only a long, thin forelock.\n\n\nII\n\nFUNERALS\n\nIf a young or well-known man dies, they make in his likeness a wooden\nform and clothe it in the dead man\u2019s clothes. Then the musicians play\nmourning tunes, while the relatives stand round the model. After\nwailing for a while, they walk in procession in a circle around the\nform, and now and then kneel down to receive a blessing from it. Those\nwho come to the scene, according to their custom, ask the parents of\nthe dead man, \u201cWhat have you?\u201d They reply, \u201cWe have the wedding of our\nson.\u201d They continue wailing for three days. Afterward they distribute\nfood on behalf of the dead. For a year they give a plate of food with\na loaf of bread daily to some person, thinking that thereby they are\nfeeding their own dead. On the seventh and fortieth day from the time\nof death, they visit the grave to mourn over their lost one. Now, if\nthe dead be a common man, he is not honored with such a ceremony. He is\nusually buried an hour or two after his death.\n\nThe funeral rites are simple. The body of the Yezidi, like that of a\nMohammedan, is washed in running water. After being laid on a flat\nboard, they dress him with his former clothes, close the openings in\nhis body with pieces of cotton, place the sacred clay of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi in\nhis mouth, on his face and forehead, under his shoulders and eyes,\nand on his stomach. This done, they carry the dead on the board to\nthe cemetery. The \u1e33awwals, burning incense, lead the procession; the\nimmediate relatives, especially the women, following, dressed in\nwhite and throwing dust over their heads, and accompanied by male and\nfemale friends and neighbors. If the dead be a man, they then dance,\nthe mother or the wife holding in one hand the sword or shield of the\ndead, and in the other, long locks cut from her own hair. They bury him\nwith his face turned toward the north star. Everyone present throws a\nlittle dust over the grave while saying, \u201cO man, thou wert dust and\nhast returned to dust to-day.\u201d Then the \u0161ei\u1e2b says, \u201cWhen we say, \u2018Let\nus rise and go home,\u2019 then the dead man will say, \u2018I will not go home\nwith the people.\u2019 And when he tries to get up, his head will strike the\nstone, when he will say, \u2018O, I am among the dead.\u2019\u201d When they return\nhome, the family slaughters oxen and sheep and gives meat to the poor.\nThe poor kill four or five sheep; the rich, a hundred. The kochaks\nprophesy of the dead, whether he will return to the earth or will go to\nanother world.\n\nThey hold that some will be eternally condemned, but that all will\nspend an expiatory period; and that the dead have communion with\nthe living, in which the good souls dwelling in the heavens make\nrevelations to their brethren on earth.\n\n\nIII\n\nNATIONALITY\n\nFour different theories have been advanced as to the race to which the\nYezidis belong. There are those who think them to be of Indo-European\norigin, for there is a type among them that has a white skin, a round\nskull, blue eyes and light hair. And there are those who suppose them\nto be Arabs on the ground that the color of skin of another type is\nbrown, their eyes are wide, their lips are thick and their hair is\ndark. The western writers, moreover, have in the past always taken them\nfor Kurds because of the close resemblance of the two in appearance\nand manners. In his \u201cLa Turquie d\u2019Asie,\u201d Vital Cunet says that though\nthe Yezidis have been taken for Kurds, they can no longer be regarded\nas such, for in many ways they resemble other nationalities. On the\nother hand Hormuzd Rassam, in his \u201cAsshur and the Land of Nimrud\u201d\nseems to agree with those who suppose them to be of Assyrian origin.\nHe bases this inference on the independent and martial spirit which\nthey possess, and their tendency to rebel against their oppressors,\nwhich, according to him, may be taken as an indication of ancestral\ninheritance.[162]\n\n\nIV\n\nLOCALITY\n\nThe Yezidis dwell principally in five districts, the most prominent\namong these being that of \u0160ei\u1e2ban. This term is the Persian plural of\n\u0161ei\u1e2b, an old man; and it signifies the country where \u0161ei\u1e2bs dwell. This\ndistrict lies northeast of Mosul, covering a wide area in which are\nmany villages. It is their Palestine. In it lies their Mecca, Lalish,\nwhere their sacred shrine, the tomb of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi, is. Lali\u0161h is the\ncentre of their national and religious life. It is situated in a deep,\npicturesque valley. Its slopes are covered with a dense wood, and at\nthe bottom of it runs the sacred water. Other notable places here are\nthe two adjoining villages, Ba\u2018a\u0161i\u1e33a and Ba\u1e25azanie, at the foot of the\nmountain of Rabban Hormuzd, a six hours\u2019 ride from Mosul. The former is\nthe center of the tombs of their \u0161ei\u1e2bs; the latter is their principal\nburial place, to which bodies are carried from all the various\ndistricts. It was formerly a Christian village with a monastery. And\nBa\u2018adrie, northeast of the City of Mosul, about ten hours\u2019 ride away,\nis the village where their amir resides. It is close to \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi\u2019s.\n\nNext in importance is Jabal Sinjar. The term \u201cSinjar\u201d is Persian,\nmeaning a bird, perhaps an eagle. It signifies that its inhabitants\nare, like the eagle, safe and cannot be caught.[163] Sinjar is about\nthree days\u2019 journey from Mosul. It is a solitary range, fifty miles\nlong and nine miles broad, rising in the midst of the desert. From\nits summit, the eye ranges on one side over the vast level wilderness\nstretching to the Euphrates, and on the other over the plain bounded\nby the Tigris and the lofty mountains of Kurdistan. Nisibin and Mardin\nare both visible in the distance. One can see the hills of Ba\u2018adrie and\n\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi. Among the sacred places of this district are two villages:\nAssofa, where two ziarahs are found, and distinguished from afar by\ntheir white spires, and Aldina, where one ziarah exists. In almost\nevery Sinjar village, there is to be found a covered water which they\nuse as a fortress during their fights with the Kurds or with the\nTurkish army. The devil-worshippers of this locality are commonly\ncalled Yezidis, while those of \u0160ei\u1e2ban are known both as Yezidis and\nDawaseni.\n\nAnother district is \u1e2aalitiyeh, which includes all the territory north\nand northeast of the Tigris in the province of Diarbeker. The Malliyeh\nregion includes all the territory west of the Euphrates and Aleppo.\nAnd the Sara\u1e25dar section includes the Caucasus in southern Russia.\nSome regard the Lepchos of India also as Yezidis, who, in the early\nappearance of the sect, went there to proselyte the Hindoos.[164]\n\n\nV\n\nDWELLINGS\n\nIn regard to their dwellings, the Yezidis are divided into two classes:\nAhl al-\u1e25a\u1e0dar, the people of the villages or cultivated land, and Ahl al\nWabar, the people of the tents. The villages are built of clay, stone\nor mud, and unburned brick. A village consists of about sixty houses. A\nhouse is divided into three principal rooms, opening one into another.\nThese are separated by a wall about six feet high, upon which are\nplaced wooden pillars supporting the ceiling. The roof rests on trunks\nof trees raised on rude stones in the centre chamber, which is open on\none side to the air. The sides of the room are honeycombed with small\nrecesses like pigeon-holes. The whole is plastered with white plaster,\nfancy designs in red being introduced here and there. The houses are\nkept neat and clean. They say that cleanliness is next to heaven.\n\nNow, the people of the tents are, like the Arab Bedouins, nomadic,\nhaving no houses and no permanent place of abode. They form but a small\nportion of the Yezidis, and are called Kotchar.\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE LANGUAGE\n\nThe language of the Yezidis, in common with the Kurds, is Kurdish,\nwhich belongs to the Iranian group of the Indo-European or\nIndo-Germanic stock. This Kurmanji possesses a number of dialects not\ndiffering much from one another, except the zaza dialect, which is\nspoken in eastern Mesopotamia by the Kurds, called Ali Alla. The main\ncharacteristic of the Kurmangi are the great brevity of its words and\nthe simplicity of its grammatical forms. It is fairly rich in vowels,\nand richer in deep guttural sounds. Though Kurdish is the general\nlanguage of the Yezidis, their religious mysteries are in Arabic. Both\nlanguages are spoken by those living in the Sinjar hills and in \u0160ei\u1e2ban.\n\n\nVII\n\nOCCUPATION\n\nGenerally speaking, the Yezidis are an industrious people, but they\ndo not engage in business. This is due to their belief that any\nform of business leads to cheating and lying, and hence to cursing\nMelek-\u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, _i. e._, the devil. Their usual occupation is agriculture\nand cattle-raising. The Yezidis of Sinjar, who constitute almost the\nentire population, raise fruit, such as figs and grapes; also almonds\nand nuts. Jabal Sinjar is famous for its figs. Those who live in the\nRussian territory, like the sweeper class of India, are mainly engaged\nin menial work. But those in the districts of Re\u1e0dwan and Midyat are\ngiven to housebreaking and highway robbery; they are the terror of\nthose regions.\n\nThe Yezidis seldom appear in the cities; and when they do they conceal\ntheir peculiarities as much as possible, for the Christians and\nMohammedans are wont to seek amusement at their expense. When they find\na Yezidi in their company, they draw a circle about him on the ground,\nfrom which he superstitiously believes he cannot get out, until some\none breaks it. They annoy him by crying out, Na\u2018lat \u0160aitan, _i. e._,\nSatan be cursed. Moreover, city people keep aloof from the habitations\nof these despised devil-worshippers. Accordingly the Yezidis have\nlittle intercourse with their neighbors.\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER V\n\n [162] In his letter to me, of date August 6, 1907, the Rev. A.\u202fN.\n Andrus, of Mardin, expresses the opinion that \u201cmany of the Yezidis\n around Sinjar might have come from Indian stock\u201d on the ground that\n \u201cthey are darker and more lithe than the Kurds around them.\u201d\n\n [163] P. Anastase: _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 831.\n\n [164] Cf. _Al-Ma\u0161rik_, vol. II, p. 734.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nLIST OF THE YEZIDI TRIBES\n\n(The materials were collected for me by A.\u202fN. Andrus, of Mardin)\n\n\nTHE TRIBES ACROSS THE RIVER FROM MOSUL\n\n1 The tribe named \u0160ei\u1e2ban lives in the mountains of Al-\u1e33\u00f4\u0161, and has\nsixteen villages. They are all under the orders of \u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Ali Beg Pa\u0161a,\nthe Amir, or chief of the Yezidis. This tribe can furnish 1,600 guns\nfor war. Said \u2018Ali Pa\u0161a has received from the Turkish government the\norder of Amir ul-Umara \u201cthe Amir of Amirs.\u201d He has a brother who has\nreceived the order of Miry Miran, \u201cthe Amirs of Amirs.\u201d He has a second\nbrother who has received the order of Romeli Beglar Begi, \u201cthe Beg of\nBegs.\u201d These three are all sons of the former Amir Husein Beg.\n\n2 The Den\u00f4di tribe lives in Dakoke district. It occupies fifteen\nvillages, and can bring 800 guns to war.\n\n3 The Howari tribe lives in the region of Za\u1e2bo. This tribe is nomadic,\nlives in tents, and can furnish 200 guns for war. It has two chiefs,\nBedri Sohr and Dar Bazi \u1e24usein. They are all shepherds.\n\n              THE TRIBES AT SINJAR AND JEZIREH DISTRICTS\n\n  Tribes.  Tents.    Villages.  Guns.  Population.  District.\n\n  Aldaghi                1       100      500       Sinjar\n  Bekura                 1       100      500\n  Chalka                 1       100      500\n  Dalka                  1       100      500\n  Fakir                  1       100      500\n  Gabara                 2       150      650\n  Haska                  1       200    1,000\n  Hubaba                 6       900    4,500\n  Jabri                  1        50      250\n  Jovana                 6       500    2,000\n  Kiran                  2       600    3,000\n  Menduka                2       300    1,500\n  Mihrka                 2       200    1,000\n  Sumoka                 6     1,200    6,000\n  Uleki                  1        70      350\n                        \u2014-     \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-\n                        34     4,570\n\n  Amoad       400      ...       400    2,000       Al\u1e33o\u0161\n  Dunadi      ...       15       800    4,800       Duhok\n  Havveri     100      ...       100      500       Za\u1e2bo\n  Shekan      ...       16     1,200    7,200       Al\u1e33o\u0161\n  Rashukan    150      ...       150      750       Jezireh\n  Samukie     ...        6       500    2,500       Midyat\n  Sohranie    ...       15       300    1,500\n              \u2014\u2014-       \u2014-     \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-   \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n  Grand total 650       86     8,020   42,000\n\n\n   THE TRIBES OF MIDYAT REGION, USUALLY CALLED JABAL TOR AL-\u2018ABEDIN\n                     (MOUNTAIN OF THE WORSHIPERS)\n\nThis region lies one day\u2019s journey east of Mardin. There are three\ntribes here.\n\n1 The tribe of \u0160emmike. This tribe inhabits six villages and can\nproduce, when needed, 500 guns.\n\n2 The tribe called So\u1e25rani. There are fifteen small villages to this\ntribe with 300 guns. These all have houses built of stone, and till the\nground.\n\n3 The tribe called Mamila. This tribe has seven villages:\n\nMazazah, Bajinne, Kochano, Keunos, Taka, Harobia, and Namirdani.\n\nMr. Andrus writes me that he has learned of this tribe from \u1e33as Samuel,\na Jacobite Syrian priest of Mazazeh near Midyat.\n\nThe tribe of Be\u0161reyeh, northwest of Jabal Al-Tor.\n\nThere was only one tribe in this district; it was called \u1e2aaltah. This\ntribe had five villages:\n\nRe\u1e0dwan, Dooshah, Sela\u1e2bar, Bimbarik, and \u1e62ool\u00e2n.\n\nOn account of the oppression of the government on the one hand, and of\nthe Kurdish tribes around them on the other, this tribe has moved to\nthe Sinjar Mountains.\n\nThe tribes around Weran \u0160ahr or Goran \u0160ahr, \u201cthe destroyed or the\nsunken city,\u201d because it was destroyed by earthquake or in war. This\ndistrict lies southwest of Mardin.\n\n1 The Denodi tribe. This is probably an offshoot of the Dahoke tribe of\nthe same name. It occupies three villages, and has \u1e24asan \u1e33anjo for the\nchief. He is now the right arm of Ibrahim Pa\u0161a of the \u1e24amideyeh army.\nThe three villages are Salmi, Payamlo and Desi.\n\n2 The tribe called \u0160er\u1e33i\u00e2n. This tribe has seven subdivisions:\n\na. Turnah lives in one village called Laulanji.\n\nb. \u1e33upan occupies four villages: (1) A\u1e2bmazut. (2) Nu\u1e33ti. (3) Al-A\u0161e\u1e2ban.\n(4) \u1e62hda Au\u1e63man.\n\nc. Beleki has six villages: (1) Sahda Nasu. (2) Mouzan \u0160ei\u1e2b Bersef. (3)\nMouzan Au\u1e63o. (4) Menk\u0161uri Minet. (5) Al-\u1e33aureyee. (6) Menmenik.\n\nd. Adi has three villages: (1) Tal \u1e6carik. (2) Karmi Apo \u2018Alo Re\u0161o. (3)\nKarmi Sim, u, Kor Kahiah. Sim means hoof; u, and; kor, blind; kahiah,\nhead man.\n\ne. Mardanah occupies two villages: (1) Hajj Zain. (2) \u1e33ara \u1e33uzeye.\n\nf. Malla \u1e33achar has one village: Malla \u1e33achar means the Malla flees.\n\ng. Maskan occupies two villages: Birj Baluji.\n\nh. Su\u1e25an has one village, Kafar Bali.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nPERSECUTION\n\n\nThe history of the Yezidis, like that of the Jews, has been one of\npersecution. The causes of their misfortune have been (1) the fact\nthat they are not regarded as the people of the Book; and with such\nthe Mohammedans have no treaty, no binding oath, as they do with the\nother non-Mohammedan bodies. For this reason they have to make choice\nbetween conversion and the sword, and it is unlawful even to take\ntaxes from them. Consequently they must accept the faith or be killed.\n(2) Their ceremonies have given rise among their neighbors to fables\nconfounding their practices with those of the Nu\u1e63airi of Syria and\nascribing to them certain midnight orgies, which obtained for them the\nname of chera\u1e21 sandera\u00f1, i.\u202fe., the extinguishers of light. (3) Their\ndetermined refusal to enter the military service. The Yezidis with the\nChristians have been exempt from the military service on the general\nlaw sanctioned by the Koran; namely, that none but true believers can\nserve in the armies of the state. But from time to time the Turkish\ngovernment has endeavored to raise recruits for the regular troops\namong the Yezidis on the ground that, being of no recognized infidel\nsect, they must be included like the Druses of Mount Lebanon among\nMohammedans. But they have resisted the orders, alleging that their\nreligious law absolutely forbids them to take the oath to which the\nTurkish soldiers are weekly subjected, to wear the blue color and\ncertain portions of the uniform, and to eat several articles of food\nthat are offered to the troops. Hence they have suffered severely at\nthe hands of the local authorities.\n\nOne of the most cruel persecutions which the Yezidis have suffered\nwas that brought upon them in the \u0160ei\u1e2ban district by the famous Beg\nRawmanduz in 1832, who had united most of the Kurdish tribes of the\nsurrounding mountains under his command. His cry was to crush the\nhateful sect of the devil-worshippers. The forces of \u2018Ali Beg, the\nthen amir of the Yezidis, were much inferior in number to those of the\nKurdish Beg. The latter (\u2018Ali Beg) was defeated, therefore, and fell\ninto the hands of his enemy, who put him to death. The people of \u0160ei\u1e2ban\nfled to Mosul. It was in the spring and the river had overflowed and\ncarried the bridge away. A few succeeded in crossing, but the greater\nmultitude of men, women and children were left on the opposite side\nand crowded on tal \u2018Armus. The hostile Beg followed and butchered them\nindiscriminately, showing no mercy, while the people of Mosul were\nwitnessing the horrible massacre from the other side of the stream and\nhearing the cry of the unfortunate for their help, unwilling to render\nany assistance. For the Christians were helpless and Mohammedans\nrejoiced to see the devil-worshippers exterminated. From this cruel\naction of the Beg of Rawmanduz, the mounds of Nineveh gained the name\n\u201cKuyunjik,\u201d _i. e._, \u201cthe slaughter of the sheep.\u201d\n\nSoon after this Suleiman Pa\u0161a of Bagdad sent a large army to Sinjar\nunder the command of Lutfee Effendi, who set fire to the Jabal Sinjar\nand caused all the inhabitants to flee. Then \u1e24afiz Pa\u0161a of Diarbeker\nattempted the subjugation of the Yezidis of Sinjar, on the ground that\nthey were plunderers. After meeting some resistance, he accomplished\nhis purpose in 1837, and appointed a Moslem to watch over them. At\nanother time Mohammed Ra\u0161id Pasha of Mosul attacked Sinjar. On both\noccasions there was a massacre. The Yezidis took refuge in caves, where\nthey were either suffocated by smoke or killed by the discharge of\ncannon. And thus the population was reduced by three-fourths. These\nand other similar injustices at the hands of the Pa\u0161as of Bagdad and\nMosul and the Kurdish chiefs led the Yezidis from time to time to send\na deputation to lay their grievances before the agents of the European\npowers, and they have even sent commissioners to the Sultan. They\nfinally succeeded in enlisting the interest of Lord Stratford in 1847\nto obtain at Constantinople a proper recognition of their religion and\nexemption from military service.\n\nBut the severest of all persecutions, to which I was an eye-witness,\nwas perhaps the one which the Yezidis of both \u0160ei\u1e2ban and Sinjar\nsuffered in 1892 at the hands of Fari\u1e33 \u2018Omar Pa\u0161a, Lieutenant-General\nof the Turkish Army. This Fari\u1e33 was sent in the summer of 1892 as a\nspecial commissioner by the Sultan to accomplish certain definite\nthings in the states of Mosul and Bagdad: to collect twenty years\u2019\nunpaid taxes; to induce the Bedouins to exchange their nomadic life for\nvillage life; to convert the Yezidis of \u0160ei\u1e2ban and Jabal Sinjar from\ntheir idolatry to the true faith. He was a harsh man in his manners\nand methods. He first invited some of their chiefs to Mosul. They\ncame and listened to what the new Pa\u0161a had to say. They met him when\nMijlis al-Edarah, council of the state, composed of \u2018Olama and a few\nChristians, was in session. In the presence of these noblemen he began\nto tell them that if they would give up their devil-worship, they would\nbe rewarded with high place and rank, and would please the great Allah.\nBut they answered not. When the Fari\u1e33 saw that his words failed to\npersuade them, he began to apply the weapon of cruelty. He cast them\ninto prison; some died; others fled; and a few, through the fear of\ntorture and painful death, pronounced al-\u0161eh\u00e2dah[165] with their lips\nbut not from their hearts. Then he sent an army to their villages,\nand commanded them to choose between Islam and the sword. \u2018Omar Beg,\nhis son, who was commanding the soldiers, directed them to slaughter\nthe men, and take captives the pretty women and girls and marry them.\nHe slew about five hundred men. Many became Moslems from fear, among\nthese Merza Beg, their civil chief.\n\nThen he placed mullas among them to teach the children the Muslim\nfaith, and ordered the newly converted Yezidis to pray five times every\nday and to perform all the religious rites. To make them continue to be\nMohammedans, he tore down their shrines, especially those at Ba\u1e25zanie\nand Baa\u0161i\u1e33a. Such events encouraged the Kurds to come down and add\ngreater cruelty to what was already done.\n\nBut amir \u2018Ali Beg, their chief in civil and religious affairs, after\nlong imprisonment and torture, did not change his religious belief.\nThat he might not be an example of firmness to the Yezidis, the Fari\u1e33\nbanished him with soldiers to Katamuni, a place near Constantinople.\n\nAs a consequence of these persecutions, the number of the Yezidis\nhas been considerably decreased. In the fifteenth century there\nwere 250,000. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were\n200,000. They are still declining and remaining under the clouds of\nmisconception, and are consequently objects of aversion and hatred. But\nthey console themselves with the idea that they suffer in the cause of\ntheir religious convictions.\n\n\nNOTES ON CHAPTER VII\n\n (Footnote not referenced in text. Cherog sonderan is Turkish; sonderan\n is the participle of the infinitive of to put out, and cherag,\n literally lamp, is the object of sonderan. In Turkish the object\n precedes the verb; cf. Yani sarfi Otamani \u201cthe New Turkish Grammar\u201d\n (in the Turkish language, ed. Ahmad Jaudat & Co., Constantinople, 1318\n A. H.), p. 77.)\n\n [165] Kalimatu, \u0161-\u0160eh\u00e2dah is as follows: \u201cI testify that there is no\n deity but God and that Mohammed is apostle of God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\nARABIC\n\nA manuscript containing the Sacred Book of the Yezidis and their\ntraditions.\n\nTwo other manuscripts containing the history of the Yezidis.\n\nA\u0161-\u0160ahrastani: Kitab Al-Milal wa, n-Ni\u1e25al (ed. Wm. Eureton, London,\nMDCCCXLIII, vol. 1, p. 101 seq).\n\nYasin Al-\u1e2aatib Al \u2018Omari Al-Mau\u1e63ili: Al Der al Makn\u00fbn fi-l-Mi\u00e2\u1e6fer\nAl-Ma\u1e0diyat min Al-\u1e33er\u00fbn, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b \u2018Adi.\u201d\n\nMohammed Al-\u2018Omari Mau\u1e63ili: Manhal-al-Uliya wa Masrab ul Asfiya, \u201c\u0160ei\u1e2b\n\u2018Adi.\u201d\n\nIbn \u1e2aallikan: Wafaiyat-el-\u2018Aiyan (Cairo A. H. 1310, A. D. 1894), vol.\n1, p. 316.\n\nFihrist: ed. Fl\u00fcgel: The Religion of \u1e24auran, p. 190 seq.\n\nYakout: Lali\u0161. Vol. IV, p. 373.\n\nAbu-l-\u1e33asim Ibn Hau\u1e33al: Kitab Al-Masalik Wal-Mamalik (ed. M.\u202fJ. De\nGoeje, 1873, Leyden) Hakkari, p. 144.\n\nAnistase: Al-Ma\u0161ri\u1e33, vol. II.\n\nTabari on Sabeans: The Sixth Session of the Oriental Congress. Leide,\n1883, pp. 300-340.\n\n\nSYRIAC\n\nA manuscript containing an abstract about the History of the Yezidis.\n\n\nKURDISH\n\nYezidis Songs and Prayers, in manuscript.\n\n\nTURKISH\n\nVital Cunet: Translation of _La Turquie d\u2019Asie_, Constantinople.\n\nTurkish Reader (Constantinople, A. H. 1318), Second Part, p. 20 seq.\n\n\nENGLISH\n\nG.\u202fP. Badger: _The Nestorians and Their Rituals_, vol. I.\n\nLayard: _Nineveh and Its Remains_, vol. II.\n\nLayard: _Nineveh and Babylon_.\n\nAinsworth: _Travels and Researches in Asia Minor_.\n\nH. Southgate: _A Tour Through Armenia, Persia, and Mesopotamia_, vol.\nII.\n\nJ.\u202fB. Fraser: _Mesopotamia and Persia_.\n\nG.\u202fJ. Rich: _Residence in Kurdistan_, vol. II, 1836.\n\nFletcher: _Notes From Nineveh_, 1850.\n\nF. Parrot: _Journey to Ararat_.\n\nJ.\u202fS. Buckingham: _Travels in Assyria, Media, and Persia_.\n\nF. Millingen: _Wild Life Among the Kurds_, 1870.\n\nHormuzd Rassam: _Asshur and the Land of Nimrod_.\n\nO.\u202fF. Pary: _Six Months in a Syrian Monastery_.\n\nF.\u202fD. Green: _The Armenian Crisis in Turkey_.\n\nA.\u202fV. Williams Jackson: _Persia, Past and Present_.\n\nA.\u202fV. Williams Jackson: J.\u202fA.\u202fO.\u202fS., 25, 178 seq.\n\nA.\u202fV. Williams Jackson: The Article, \u201cYezidis,\u201d in New Inter. Enc.,\nvol. 17, p. 939.\n\nVictor Dingelstedt: Scottish Geog. Mag., vol. 14, p. 295.\n\nAinsworth: _Transactions of the Ethnographical Society_, vol. 1, 1861.\n\nForbes: J.\u202fR.\u202fG. Sc., vol. LX, p. 409; _Account of Yezidis of Jabal\nSinjar_.\n\nTylor: Journal of Geographical Society, 1868.\n\nHextheusen: Transcaucasia: _Account of Yezidis in Russia_.\n\nAinsworth: _Travels and Researches in Asia Minor_, Ch. XXXI.\n\nTransactions of the Syro-Egyptian Society, 1855, the article, \u201cYezidis.\u201d\n\nA.\u202fN. Andrus: Missionary Ency. Art. \u201cYezidis.\u201d\n\nThe Independent, January 17, 1895.\n\nR. Gottheil: _Mandeans_ in J.\u202fU. Cycl.\n\nR. Gottheil: _Sabeans_ in J.\u202fU. Cycl.\n\nK. Kessler: _Mandeans_, Enc. Brit.\n\nE.\u202fH. Bunbury: _Sabeans_, Enc. Brit.\n\nT.\u202fH. Hughes: Muslim Sect, in Dict. of Islam.\n\n\nFRENCH\n\nJ. Menant: _Les Yezidis_.\n\nNiebuhr: _Voyage en Arabie_, 1776.\n\nOlivier: _Voyage dans l\u2019Empire Othoman_, T. 2, p. 342.\n\nErnest Chantre: _Le Tour du Monde, de Beyrouth \u00e0 Tiflis_, p. 184.\n\nMichel Febvre: _Theatre de la Turquie, Paris_, 1682.\n\nVital Cunet: _La Turquie d\u2019Asie_, p. 772.\n\nEugene Bore: Dict. des Religions, T. IV, Yezidis.\n\nEugene Bore: _Correspondence d\u2019Orient_, T. I, p. 401; T. II, pp. 188,\n272.\n\nSiouffi: Journal Asiatique, 1885, p. 78, and 1882, p. 252.\n\nJ.\u202fB. Chabot: Journal Asiatique, 1896, p. 100.\n\nM. Tcheraz: _Le Museon_, T. LX No. 2, p. 194.\n\nM. Garzoni: _Sylvestre de Sacy_, 1809, pp. 105, 191.\n\nE. Reclus: Nouvelle Geographie, T. LX, p. 432.\n\nSpiro: Bulletin Soc. Neuchatel Geog., Tome 12, p. 275.\n\nAnnales des Rois d\u2019Assyria, sall II, No. 39.\n\nRevue du Monde Musulman, August, 1908.\n\n\nGERMAN\n\nSchwolsohn: _Die Sabien_, vol. II, p. 201.\n\nHugo Makas: _Kurdische Studien_, p. 35.\n\nM. Lidzbarski: Z.\u202fD.\u202fM.\u202fG., vol. 51, p. 592.\n\nC. Brockelmann: Z.\u202fD.\u202fM.\u202fG., vol. 55, p. 388.\n\nC. Brockelmann: Z.\u202fA., vol. 16, p. 399.\n\nArchive fur Anthropologie, vol. 27, p.\u202f3.\n\nDas Ausland, 50 Jahrgang, No. 39 und 40 Stuttgart, 1886, p. 790.\n\n\nLATIN\n\nAssemani: _Bibliotheca Orientalis, Clementino-Vatican_, vol. III, p.\n493.\n\nT. Hyde: _Historia Religionis vetrum Persarum_, 1760.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n  Abadiya, 18, 20, 120, 121.\n\n  Ablution, 163.\n\n  Adam and Eve, 12, 17, 38, 39, 41, 42, 53, 54, 68, 70, 90, 93, 108, 151.\n\n  Adawiah, 111, 116.\n\n  \u2018Adi, 12, 14, 16, 21, 22, 29, 38, 45, 48, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 63, 64,\n    66, 67, 68, 71, 77, 79, 80, 90;\n    temple of, 95, 98, 111, 112, ff.; 136, 158, ff.; 160;\n    tomb of, 112, 113, 115, 116, 119, 160, ff.;\n    worship of, 160-163;\n    feast of, 163-166.\n\n  \u2018Ain Sifni, 41.\n\n  Al Jilwah, 11, 12, 14, 17, 22, 30, 36, 37, 68.\n\n  Al-Lat, 135.\n\n  Al-\u2018Ozza, 135.\n\n  Andrus, A.\u202fN., 14, 17, 22, 105, 139, 167, 200-201.\n\n  Angels, 37, 92, 93, 123, 124, 125, 128, 130, 133, 150, 152, 154, 169.\n\n  Apostle, 120, 122, 123, 127, 128.\n\n  Arafat, 57.\n\n  Ash-Shahrast\u00e2n\u00ee, 19, 24, 119, ff.; 123.\n\n  As-S\u00e2ig, 11, 17.\n\n  Assemani, 98.\n\n  Assyrians, 40, 45, 92, 170.\n\n\n  Ba\u2018adrie, 29, 100.\n\n  Ba\u00b4ashika, 56, 63, 100, 174.\n\n  Badger G.\u202fP., 158, ff., 170.\n\n  Bahazani, 45.\n\n  Baptism, 69, 100, ff.; 161, 178 ff.\n\n  Basra, 94, 171.\n\n  Bath, 80.\n\n  Birds, worship of, 134, 147, 150, ff.\n\n\n  Candles, 156.\n\n  Ceremonies, 137, 164, ff.\n\n  Cholsohn, 169.\n\n  Christ, 53, 61.\n\n  Circumcision, 178, ff.\n\n  Comb, 161.\n\n  Cosmogony, 133.\n\n  Creation, 36, 41, 68.\n\n\n  Dancing, 165, 179, 188.\n\n  Daseni, 99, 101.\n\n  Devil, 108, 113, 116, 117, 148, 155.\n\n  Devil worship, 108, 113, 116, 150, 151, 152, 153-158.\n\n  Devil Worshippers, see Yezidis.\n\n  Dewish, 116.\n\n  Dowry, 48, 186, ff.\n\n\n  Emir, 75, 156, 165, 183.\n\n  Eucharist, 178, 179-180.\n\n  Evil, 107, 154, 159, 163, 175.\n\n\n  Fahr-ad D\u00een, 12, 22, 37, 40, 58.\n\n  Fakir, 76, 164, ff.; 183.\n\n  Family, 189 ff.\n\n  Fasting, 58, 66, 69, 79, 180 ff.\n\n  Feasts, 57, 135, 148, 149, 150, 163-165,\n    festivals 173 ff.\n\n  Funeral, 192 ff.\n\n\n  Hatchet, 161.\n\n  Heaven, 60.\n\n  Hell, 54, 62.\n\n  Hierarchy, 182 ff.\n\n\n  Ibn Hazm, 19.\n\n  Ibn Khallik\u00e2n, 107, 111, 115, 116, 129.\n\n  Ibn Unaisa, Yezid, 17, 18, 19, 20, 107, 119, 120, 123, 127, 128-130.\n\n  Idol, 47, 48, 53, 55, 101, 107, 125.\n\n  Incense, 174, 193.\n\n  Iranian, 108-110.\n\n  Ishtar, 133, 149.\n\n  Islam, 110, 116, 118, 122, 128, 134.\n\n\n  Jackson, A.\u202fV., 25, 108 ff.\n\n  Jesus, 19, 59, 60, 61, 101, 102, 164, 180.\n\n\n  Kawwal, 45, 46, 48, 68, 75, 78, 156, 157, 164 ff., 173.\n\n  Khawarij, 121, 122, 128 ff.\n\n  Kissing, 165.\n\n  Kochak, 47, 48, 53-57, 63, 75, 159, 165.\n\n  Koran, 19, 120, 122-124, 127.\n\n  Kremer, 20.\n\n\n  Lalish, 29, 37, 38, 112.\n\n  Lamps, 162-164, 174.\n\n  Lettuce, 44, 64, 80.\n\n  Lidzbarski, 22, 149, 160.\n\n\n  Mary, 61.\n\n  Marriage, 40, 48, 186 ff.\n\n  Ma\u1e63\u1e25af Resh, 11, 12, 21, 22, 36, 49, 92.\n\n  Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs, 12, 21, 30, 36, 37, 38, 40, 53, 58, 60, 62, 64;\n    form of, 43, 44, 68, 77, 78, 90, 92.\n\n  Mohammed, 18, 42, 43, 67, 71, 92, 101, 106, 120, 122, 123, 125, 128,\n    130, 162.\n\n  Moon, 59, 126, 133 ff.\n\n  Mu\u2018\u00e2wiya, 18, 42, 43, 92, 93, 104, 105, 106, 128, 130.\n\n  Mulla Haidar, 11, 22, 78.\n\n  Musicians, 164, 175.\n\n\n  New Year, 46, 56, 174 ff.\n\n  Noah, flood of, 40-42.\n\n\n  Oath, 66.\n\n  Oil, 164.\n\n  Omari, 112, 113, 118.\n\n  Orientalists, 103 ff., 110.\n\n\n  Peacock, 43, 44, 68, 150-153, 155, 157.\n\n  Peter, 61.\n\n  Pilgrimage, 55, 65, 112, 114, 116, 119, 135 ff., 163.\n\n  Pir, 56, 58, 75, 78, 79, 157, 183.\n\n  Prayer, 165, 181.\n\n  Priests, 164;\n    Isaac, 16, 63, 64.\n\n  Prophets, 53, 58, 59;\n    from Persia, 67, 95, 120, 124 ff.; 130, 132, 158.\n\n\n  Sabians, 19, 69, 120, 122-128, 133.\n\n  Sacrament, 100 ff., 178.\n\n  Sacrifice, 69.\n\n  Sanjak, 44-47, 51, 133, 155 ff.\n\n  Scholars, 103 ff., 106, 110, 115, 129.\n\n  Serpent, 42, 71, 92, 161, 165, 168.\n\n  Shammas Eremia, 17, 22.\n\n  Shaving, 80.\n\n  Sheikh, 75, 78, 79, 164 ff., 168 ff., 183 ff.\n\n  Sheikh Mattie, 55, 85, 159.\n\n  Shirt, 79-80, 191 ff.\n\n  Sinjar, 42, 45, 59, 94, 100.\n\n  Siouffi, M.\u202fN., 11, 14, 24.\n\n  Springs, 56, 134, 136, 161.\n\n  Stars, 123, 125-128, 130.\n\n  Stone, kissing of, 47, 56;\n    worship of, 135-137.\n\n  Sun, kiss of, 53, 58;\n    worship of, 116, 126, 133 ff., 149, 170.\n\n  Syriac, 100.\n\n\n  Tahlil, 195.\n\n  Tamerlane, 94.\n\n  Tammuz, 147, ff.\n\n  Taus, see Melek \u1e6c\u00e2\u00b4\u00fbs.\n\n  Tax, 82;\n    Torch, 164.\n\n  Transmigration, 33, 67, 69.\n\n  Trees, 55, 56, 95, 135, ff.\n\n\n  Vow, 55, 56.\n\n\n  Wine, 54.\n\n  Woman, 190 ff.\n\n\n  Yezid, 12, 17, 43, 44, 75, 92, 93, 104, 105, 106, 107, 113, 130, 147,\n    166.\n\n  Yezidis, 11, 12;\n    number and locality of, 13-14, 22, 195 ff.;\n    manuscripts of, 14 ff.;\n    origin of, 17-20, 89, 90, ff., 103 ff., 129 ff.;\n    religion of, 21, 29, 38, 40, 43;\n    sign of, 58, 64;\n    myth of, 89;\n    nationality of, 194 ff.;\n    tradition of, 94;\n    dwellings of, 197 ff.;\n    language of, 198;\n    occupation of, 198 ff.;\n    tribes of, 201 ff.;\n    persecution of, 205 ff.\n\n  Yezidism, 103, 129, 131, 133, 134, 136, 145, ff.; 173.\n\n  Zamzam, 56-57, 134, 161.\n\n  Zoroaster, 108, 109, 131, 151, 155, 169.","title":"Devil worship : $b The sacred books and traditions of the Yezidiz","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":47760}