{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_63275/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_63275","id":"gutenberg_63275","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63275","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Category: Travel Writing","Iran -- Religion","Religions"],"text":"THE DABIST\u00c1N,\n\nOR\n\nSCHOOL OF MANNERS.\n\n\n\n\nMADAME VEUVE DONDEY-DUPR\u00c9,\n\nPrinter to the Asiatic Societies of London, Paris, and Calcutta,\n\n46, rue St-Louis, Paris.\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nDABIST\u00c1N,\n\nOR\n\nSCHOOL OF MANNERS,\n\n\nTRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL PERSIAN,\n\nWITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS,\n\nBY\n\nDAVID SHEA,\n\nOF THE ORIENTAL DEPARTMENT IN THE HONORABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY\u2019S\nCOLLEGE;\n\nAND\n\nANTHONY TROYER,\n\nMEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, OF\nCALCUTTA AND PARIS, AND OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF PARIS;\n\nEDITED, WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, BY THE LATTER.\n\n\nVOLUME I.\n\n\n\n\nPARIS:\n\nPRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.\n\nSOLD BY\n\nBENJAMIN DUPRAT, BOOKSELLER TO THE BIBLIOTH\u00c8QUE ROYALE,\n\n7, RUE DU CLOITRE SAINT-BENOIT.\n\nAND ALLEN AND CO., LEADENHALD-STREET, LONDON.\n\n1843.\n\n\n\n\nTO\n\nThe Memory\n\nOF\n\nTHE RIGHT HONORABLE\n\nTHE EARL OF MUNSTER,\n\n_Etc., etc., etc._\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n _Of the Preliminary Discourse_.\n\n\n Page\n\n PART I.\n\n Introduction.\n\n Section I.\u2015\u2015How the Dabist\u00e1n first became\n known\u2015\u2015its author\u2015\u2015the sources of\n his information iii\n\n II.\u2015\u2015Discussion on the Des\u00e1tir xix\n\n\n PART II.\n\n Synopsis of the dynasties, religions, sects, and\n philosophic opinions treated of in the Dabist\u00e1n.\n\n Section I.\u2015\u2015The first religion\u2015\u2015the dynasties of\n Mahabad, Abad Azar, Shai Abad, Shai\n Giliv, Shai Mahbad, and Yasan lxvi\n\n II.\u2015\u2015The Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and\n Sassanian dynasties\u2015\u2015their religious\n and political institutions lxxvii\n\n III.\u2015\u2015The religion of Zardusht, or\n Zoroaster lxxxiii\n\n IV.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Hindus cv\n\n V.\u2015\u2015Retrospect of the Persian and Indian\n religions cxx\n\n VI.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Tabitian (Tibetans) cxxv\n\n VII.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Jews _ibid._\n\n VIII.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Christians cxxvi\n\n IX.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Muselmans cxxviii\n\n X.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Sadakiahs cxli\n\n XI.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Roshenians cxlv\n\n XII.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Ilahiahs cxlvii\n\n XIII.\u2015\u2015The religion of the Philosophers cliii\n\n XIV.\u2015\u2015The religion of the S\u00fafis clxix\n\n XV.\u2015\u2015Recapitulation of the Contents of\n the Dabist\u00e1n _ibid._\n\n\n PART III.\n\n Conclusion.\n\n Section I.\u2015\u2015General appreciation of the Dabist\u00e1n\n and its author clxxix\n\n II.\u2015\u2015Notice concerning the printed edition,\n some manuscripts, and the\n translations of the Dabist\u00e1n clxxxviii\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n _Of the Dabist\u00e1n (vol. I.)_\n\n\n Page\n\n Introduction of the Author 1\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n Of the religion of the Parsian 4\n\n Section I.\u2015\u2015Tenets and ceremonies observed by the\n Sipasian and Parsian 5\n Description of the worship rendered to\n the seven planets, according to the\n Sipasian faith 35\n\n II.\u2015\u2015Description of the Sipasian sect 87\n\n III.\u2015\u2015The laws of the Paiman-i-Farhang and\n the Hirbed S\u00e1r 147\n Descriptions of the gradations of\n Paradise 150\n Description of the infernal regions 152\n\n IV.\u2015\u2015An account of the Jamshapian sect 193\n\n V.\u2015\u2015The Samradian sect 195\n\n VI.\u2015\u2015The tenets of the Khodaiyan 201\n\n VII.\u2015\u2015The system of the R\u00e1di\u00e1n _ibid._\n\n VIII.\u2015\u2015The Shidrangi\u00e1n creed 203\n\n IX.\u2015\u2015The P\u00e1ik\u00e1rian creed _ibid._\n\n X.\u2015\u2015The Mil\u00e1ni\u00e1n system 204\n\n XI.\u2015\u2015The system of the followers of Al\u00e1r 206\n\n XII.\u2015\u2015The Shidanian faith 207\n\n XIII.\u2015\u2015The system of the Akhshiy\u00e1n sect _ibid._\n\n XIV.\u2015\u2015The followers of Zardusht 211\n Account of the precepts given by Zardusht\n to the king and all mankind 260\n The Sad-der, or \u201cthe hundred gates\u201d of\n Zardusht 310\n Enumeration of some advantages which\n arise from the enigmatical forms of\n the precepts of Zardusht\u2019s followers 351\n Summary of the contents of the Mah-zend 353\n\n XV.\u2015\u2015An account of the tenets held by the\n followers of Mazdak 372\n\n\n\n\nPRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.\n\n\n\n\nPART I.\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\u00a7 I.\u2015\u2015HOW THE DABISTAN FIRST BECAME KNOWN\u2015\u2015ITS\nAUTHOR\u2015\u2015THE SOURCES OF HIS INFORMATION.\n\n\nIt is generally known that sir William Jones was the first who drew\nthe attention of Orientalists to the Dabist\u00e1n. This happened five\nyears after the beginning of a new era in Oriental literature, the\nfoundation of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta by that illustrious man.\nIt may not appear inopportune here to revive the grateful remembrance\nof one who acquired the uncontested merit of not only exciting in Asia\nand Europe a new ardor for Oriental studies, but also of directing\nthem to their great objects\u2015\u2015MAN and NATURE; and of endeavoring, by\nword and deed, to render the attainment of languages conducive to the\nrequired knowledge equally easy and attractive.\n\nHaving, very early in life, gained an European reputation as a scholar\nand elegant writer, sir William Jones embarked[1] for the Indian\nshores with vast projects, embracing, with the extension of science,\nthe general improvement of mankind.[2] Four months after his arrival\nin Calcutta,[3] he addressed as the first president of the Asiatic\nSociety, a small but select assembly, in which he found minds\nresponsive to his own noble sentiments. A rapid sketch of the first\nlabors of their incomparable leader, may not be irrelevant to our\nimmediate subject.\n\nIn his second anniversary discourse,[4] he proposed a general plan for\ninvestigating Asiatic learning, history, and institutions. In his\nthird discourse, he traced the line of investigation, which he\nfaithfully followed, as long as he lived in India, in his annual\npublic speeches: he determined to exhibit the prominent features of\nthe five principal nations of Asia\u2015\u2015the Indians, Arabs, Tartars,\nPersians, and Chinese. After having treated in the two following years\nof the Arabs and Tartars, he considered in his sixth discourse[5] the\nPersians, and declared that he had been induced by his earliest\ninvestigations to believe, and by his latest to conclude, that three\nprimitive races of men must have migrated originally from a central\ncountry, and that this country was _Iran_, commonly called Persia.\nExamining with particular care the traces of the most ancient\nlanguages and religions which had prevailed in this country, he\nrejoiced at \u201ca fortunate discovery, for which,\u201d he said, \u201che was first\nindebted to Mir Muhammed Hussain, one of the most intelligent\nMuselmans in India, and which has at once dissipated the cloud, and\ncast a gleam of light on the primeval history of Iran and of the human\nrace, of which he had long despaired, and which could hardly have\ndawned from any other quarter;\u201d this was, he declared, \u201cthe rare and\ninteresting tract on twelve different religions, entitled the\nDABISTAN.\u201d[6]\n\nSir William Jones read the Dabist\u00e1n for the first time in 1787. I\ncannot refrain from subjoining here the opinion upon this work, which\nhe communicated in a private letter, dated June, 1787, to J. Shore,\nesq. (afterwards lord Teignmouth); he says: \u201cThe greatest part of it\nwould be very interesting to a curious reader, but some of it cannot\nbe translated. It contains more recondite learning, more entertaining\nhistory, more beautiful specimens of poetry, more ingenuity and wit,\nmore indecency and blasphemy, than I ever saw collected in a single\nvolume;[7] the two last are not of the author\u2019s, but are introduced in\nthe chapters on the heretics and infidels of India.[8] On the whole,\nit is the most amusing and instructive book I ever read in\nPersian.\u201d[9]\n\nWe may suppose it was upon the recommendation of sir William Jones,\nthat Francis Gladwin, one of the most distinguished members of the new\nSociety, translated the first chapter of _The Dabist\u00e1n_, or \u201cSchool of\nManners,\u201d which title has been preserved from due regard to the\nmeritorious Orientalist, who first published the translation of a part\nof this work. The whole of it was printed in the year 1809, in\nCalcutta, and translations of some parts of it were published in _The\nAsiatic Researches_.[10] It is only at present, more than half a\ncentury after the first public notice of it by sir W. Jones, that the\nversion of the whole work appears, under the auspices and at the\nexpense of the Oriental Translation Committee of Great Britain and\nIreland.\n\nWho was the author of the Dabist\u00e1n?\u2015\u2015Sir William Jones thought it was\ncomposed by a Muhammedan traveller, a native of Kachmir, named\n_Mohsan_, but distinguished by the assumed surname of _F\u00e1n\u00ed_, \u201cthe\nPerishable.\u201d\n\nGladwin[11] calls him _Shaikh Muhammed Mohsin_, and says that, besides\nthe Dabist\u00e1n, he has left behind him a collection of poems, among\nwhich there is a moral essay, entitled _Masdur ul asas_, \u201cthe source\nof signs;\u201d he was of the philosophic sect of S\u00fafis, and patronised by\nthe imperial prince _Dara Shikoh_, whom he survived; among his\ndisciples in philosophy is reckoned _Muhammed Tahir_, surnamed\n_Ghawri_, whose poems are much admired in Hindostan. Mohsan\u2019s death is\nplaced in the year of the Hejira 1081 (A. D. 1670).\n\nWilliam Erskine,[12] in search of the true author of the Dabist\u00e1n,\ndiscovered no other account of Mohsan F\u00e1n\u00ed than that contained in the\n_Gul-i-R\u00e2ana_, \u201ccharming rose,\u201d of _Lachmi Naray\u00e1n_, who flourished in\nHyderabad about the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th\ncentury. This author informs us, under the article of Mohsan F\u00e1n\u00ed,\nthat \u201cMohs\u00e1n, a native of Kachmir, was a learned man and a respectable\npoet; a scholar of _Mulla Yakub_, S\u00fafi of Kachmir; and that, after\ncompleting his studies, he repaired to Delhi, to the court of the\nemperor _Shah Jehan_, by whom, in consequence of his great reputation\nand high acquirements, he was appointed _Sadder_, \u2018chief judge,\u2019 of\nAllahabad; that there he became a disciple of Shaikh _Mohib ulla_, an\neminent doctor of that city, who wrote the treatise entitled\n_Teswich_, \u2018the golden Mean.\u2019 Mohsan F\u00e1n\u00ed enjoyed this honorable\noffice till Shah Jeh\u00e2n subdued Balkh; at which time _Nazer Muhammed\nKhan_, the Wali, \u2018prince,\u2019 of Balkh, having effected his escape, all\nhis property was plundered. It happened that in his library there was\nfound a copy of Mohsan\u2019s Diw\u00e1n, or \u2018poetical Collection,\u2019 which\ncontained an ode in praise of the (fugitive) W\u00e1li. This gave such\noffence to the emperor, that the Sadder was disgraced and lost his\noffice, but was generously allowed a pension. He retired (as Lachmi\ninforms us) to his native country, where he passed the rest of his\ndays without any public employment, happy and respected. His house was\nfrequented by the most distinguished men of Kachmir, and among the\nrest by the governors of the province. He had lectures at his house,\nbeing accustomed to read to his audience the writings of certain\nauthors of eminence, on which he delivered moral and philosophical\ncomments. Several scholars of note, among whom were Taher Ghawri\n(before mentioned) and _Haji Aslem Salem_, issued from his school.\u201d He\ndied on the before mentioned date. \u201cIt is to be observed that Lachmi\ndoes not mention the Dabist\u00e1n as a production of Mohsan F\u00e1n\u00ed, though,\nhad he written it, it must have been his most remarkable work.\u201d\n\nErskine goes on to recapitulate some particulars mentioned in the\nDabist\u00e1n of the author\u2019s life, and concludes that it seems very\nimprobable that Mohsan F\u00e1n\u00ed and the author of the Dabist\u00e1n were the\nsame person. In this conclusion, and upon the same grounds, he\ncoincides with the learned Vans Kennedy.[13]\n\nErskine further quotes,[14] from a manuscript copy of the Dabist\u00e1n\nwhich he saw in the possession of Mulla Firuz, in Bombay, the\nfollowing marginal note annexed to the close of chapter XIV.: \u201cIn the\ncity of Daurse, a king of the Parsis, of the race of the imperial\nAnushirv\u00e1n, the Shet Dawer Hury\u00e1r, conversed with _Am\u00edr Zulfikar\nAli-al-Husaini_ (on whom be the grace of God!), whose poetical name\nwas Mobed Shah.\u201d This Zulfikar Ali, whoever he was, the Mulla supposes\nto be the author of the Dabist\u00e1n. Erskine judiciously subjoins: \u201cOn so\nslight an authority, I would not willingly set up an unknown author as\nthe compiler of that work; but it is to be remarked that many verses\nof Mobed\u2019s are quoted in the Dabist\u00e1n, and there is certainly reason\nto suspect that the poetical Mobed, whoever he may be, was the author\nof that compilation.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo this let it be added, that the author of the Dabist\u00e1n; in his\naccount of Mobed Serosh, says[15] that one Muhammed Mohsan, a man of\nlearning, told him that he had heard Mobed Serosh give three hundred\nand sixty proofs of the existence of God. This at least makes Muhammed\nMohsan, whoever he may be, a different person from the author of the\nDabist\u00e1n.\u201d\n\nI cannot omit adding the following notice annexed to the note quoted\nabove: \u201cBetween the printed copy and Mulla Firuz\u2019s manuscript before\nalluded to, a difference occurs in the very beginning of the work.\nAfter the poetical address to the Deity and the praise of the prophet,\nwith which the Dabist\u00e1n, like most other Muselman works, commences,\nthe manuscript reads: \u2018Mohsan Fani says,\u2019 and two moral couplets\nsucceed. In the printed copy, the words \u2018Mohsan Fani says,\u2019\u2015\u2015which\nshould occur between the last word of the first page and the first\nword of the second\u2015\u2015are omitted. As no account of the author is given\nin the beginning of the book, as is usual with Muselman writers, Mulla\nFiruz conjectures that a careless or ignorant reader may have\nconsidered the words \u2018Mohsan F\u00e1ni says\u2019 as forming the commencement of\nthe volume, and as containing the name of the author of the whole\nbook; whereas they merely indicate the author of the couplets that\nfollow, and would rather show that Mohsan Fani was not the writer of\nthe Dabist\u00e1n. This conjecture, I confess, appears to me at once\nextremely ingenious and very probable. A comparison of different\nmanuscripts might throw more light on the question.\u201d\n\nConcerning the opinion last stated, I can but remark, that in a\nmanuscript copy of the Dabist\u00e1n, which I procured from the library of\nthe king of Oude, and caused to be transcribed for me, the very same\nwords: \u201cMohsan Fani says,\u201d occur (as I have observed in vol. I. p. 6,\nnote 3), preceding a _raba\u00e2_, or quatrain, which begins:\n\n \u201cThe world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,\u201d etc. etc.\n\nThese lines seem well chosen as an introduction to the text itself,\nwhich begins by a summary of the whole work, exhibiting the titles of\nthe twelve chapters of which it is composed. As the two copies\nmentioned (the one found in Bombay, the other in Lucknow) contain the\nsame words, they can hardly be taken for an accidental addition of a\ncopyist. I found no remark upon this point in Mr. Shea\u2019s translation,\nwho had two manuscript copies to refer to. Whatever it be, it must\nstill remain undecided, whether Mohsan Fani was there named only as\nthe author of the next quatrain or of the whole book, although either\nhypothesis may not appear destitute of probability; nor can it be\nconsidered strange to admit that the name of Mohsan Fani was borne by\nmore than one individual. I shall be permitted to continue calling the\nauthor of the Dabist\u00e1n by the presumed name of Mohsan Fani.\n\nDropping this point, we shall now search for information upon his\nperson, character, and knowledge in the work itself. Is he really a\nnative of Kachmir, as here before stated?\n\nAlthough in the course of his book he makes frequent mention of\nKachmir, he never owns himself a native of that country. In one part\nof his narrative, he expressly alludes to another home. He begins the\nsecond chapter upon the religion of the Hindus (vol. II. p. 2) by\nthese words: \u201cAs inconstant fortune had torn away the author from the\nshores of Persia, and made him the associate of the believers in\ntransmigration and those who addressed their prayers to idols and\nimages, and worshipped demons * * * *.\u201d Now we know that Kachmir is\nconsidered as a very ancient seat, nay as the very cradle, of the\ndoctrine of transmigration, and of Hinduism in general, with all its\ntenets, rites, and customs; and that from the remotest times to the\npresent it was inhabited by numerous adherents of this faith; how\ncould the author, if a native of Kachmir, accuse inconstant fortune\nfor having made him elsewhere an associate of these very religionists\nwith whom, from his birth, he must have been accustomed to live? The\npassage just quoted leaves scarce a doubt that the shores of Persia,\nfrom which he bewails having been torn, were really his native country.\n\n\nWhen was he born?\n\nHe no where adduces the date of his birth; the earliest period of his\nlife which he mentions, is the year of the Hejira 1028 (A. D.\n1618):[16] in this year the Mobed Hush\u00edar brought the author to Balik\nN\u00e1tha, a great adept in the Yoga, or ascetic devotion, to receive the\nblessing of that holy man, who pronounced these words over him: \u201cThis\nboy shall acquire the knowledge of God.\u201d It is not stated in what\nplace this happened. The next earliest date is five years later, 1033\nof the Hejira (A. D. 1623).[17] He says that, in his infancy, he came\nwith his friends and relations from Patna to the capital Akbar-abad,\nand was carried in the arms of the Mobed Hush\u00edar to Chatur Vapah, a\nfamous ascetic of those days. The pious man rejoiced at it, and\nbestowed his blessing on the future writer of the Dabist\u00e1n; he taught\nhim the _mantra_, \u201cprayer,\u201d of the sun, and appointed one of his\ndisciples to remain with the boy until the age of manhood. We have\nhere a positive statement: in the year 1623 A. D., he was \u201cin his\ninfancy,\u201d and carried \u201cin the arms of his protector.\u201d Giving the\nwidest extension to these expressions, we can hardly think him to have\nbeen either much older or younger than seven or eight years: not much\nolder, for being in some way carried in the arms of the Mobed; nor\nmuch younger, having been taught a hymn to the sun, and he might have\nbeen a boy of three years when he received the first-mentioned\nblessing from Balik Natha. We may therefore suppose him to have been\nborn about the year 1615 of our era, in the tenth year of the reign of\nthe emperor Jehangir. We collect in his work fifty-three dates\nrelative to himself between the year 1618 and 1653. From 1627 to 1643,\nwe see him mostly in Kachmir and Lahore, travelling between these two\nplaces; in 1643, he was at the holy sepulchre, probably at Meshhad,\nwhich appears to be the furthermost town to the West which he reached;\nfrom 1634 to 1649, he dwelt in several towns of the Panjab and\nGuzerat; the next year he proceeded to Sikakul, the remotest town in\nthe East which he says he has visited; there he fell sick, and\nsojourned during 1653, at which epoch, if the year of his birth be\ncorrectly inferred, he had attained his thirty-eighth year. We have no\nother date of his death than that before stated: if he died in 1670,\nit was in the eleventh year of the reign of Aurengz\u00e9b, or Alemgir.\nMohsan Fani would therefore have passed his infancy, youth, and\nmanhood mostly in India, under the reigns of the three emperors,\nJehang\u00edr, Shah Jehan, and Aurengzeb.[18] It was the state of religion,\nprevailing in those days in Hindostan that he describes.\n\nFrom his earliest age he appears to have led an active life,\nfrequently changing his residence. Such a mode of life belongs to a\ntravelling merchant or philosopher, and in our author both qualities\nmight have been united, as is often the case in Asia. Mohsan Fani,\nduring his travels, collected the diversified and curious materials\nfor the Dabist\u00e1n; he observed with his own eyes the manners and\ncustoms of different nations and sects. He says himself at the\nconclusion of his work: \u201cAfter having much frequented the meetings of\nthe followers of the five before-said religions,\u201d Magians, Hindus,\nJews, Nazareans, and Muselmans, \u201cthe author wished and undertook to\nwrite this book; and whatever in this work, treating of the religions\nof different countries, is stated concerning the creed of different\nsects, has been taken from their books, and for the account of the\npersons belonging to any particular sect, the author\u2019s information was\nimparted to him by their adherents and sincere friends, and recorded\nliterally, so that no trace of partiality nor aversion might be\nperceived: in short, the writer of these pages performed no more than\nthe task of a translator.\u201d This declaration, even to a severe critic,\nmay appear satisfactory. Sir William Jones called him[19] a learned\nand accurate, a candid and ingenious author. A further appreciation of\nMohsan Fani\u2019s character is reserved for subsequent pages. We can,\nhowever, here state, that he sought the best means of information, and\ngives us what he had acquired not only from personal experience, which\nis always more or less confined; not only from oral instruction, which\nis too often imperfectly given and received; but also from an\nattentive perusal of the best works which he could procure upon the\nsubject of his investigation. Of the latter authorities which the\nauthor produces, some are known in Europe, and we may judge of the\ndegree of accuracy and intelligence with which he has made use of\nthem. Of others, nothing at all, or merely the name, is known. This is\ngenerally the case with works relative to the old Persian religion,\nwhich is the subject of the first chapter, divided into fifteen\nsections.\n\nThe authorities which he adduces for this chapter are as follow:\n\n 1. The _Amighistan_ (vol. I. pp. 15. 26. 42), without the name of\n its author.\n\n 2. The _Des\u00e1tir_ (vol. I. pp. 20. 21. 44. 65), an heaven-bestowed\n book.\n\n 3. The _Darai Sekander_ (vol. I. pp. 34. 360), composed by D\u00e1wir\n H\u00e1ryar.\n\n 4. The _Akhteristan_, \u201cregion of the stars\u201d (vol. I. pp. 35. 42).\n\n 5. The _Jashen Sadah_, \u201cthe festival of Sadah\u201d (the 16th night of\n January) (vol. I. pp. 72. 112).\n\n 6. The _S\u00e1rud-i-mastan_, \u201csong of the intoxicated\u201d (vol. I. p. 76.\n vol. II. p. 136): this and the preceding work composed by Mobed\n Hush\u00edar.\n\n 7. The _Jam-i-Kai Khusro_, \u201cthe cup of Kai Khusro,\u201d a commentary\n upon the poems of Azar Kaivan, composed by Mobed Khod Jai (vol.\n I. pp. 76. 84. 119.)\n\n 8. The _Sharistan-i-Danish wa Gulistan-i-binish_, \u201cthe pavilion of\n knowledge and rose-garden of vision\u201d (vol. I. p. 77. 89. 109),\n composed by Farzanah Bahram.\n\n 9. The _Zerdusht Afshar_ (vol. I. p. 77), work of the Mobed Serosh,\n who composed also:\n\n 10. _Nosh Daru_, \u201csweet medicine\u201d (vol. I. p. 114); and\n\n 11. The _Sagangubin_, \u201cdog\u2019s honey\u201d (vol. I. p. 114).\n\n 12. The _Bazm-gah-i-durvishan_, \u201cthe banquetting-room of the\n durvishes\u201d (vol. I. pp. 104. 108), without the name of the author.\n\n 13. The _Arzhang Mani_, \u201cthe gallery of Mani\u201d (vol. I. p. 131).\n\n 14. The _Tabrah-i-Mobedi_, \u201cthe sacerdotal kettle-drum\u201d (vol. I. p.\n 123), by Mobed Paristar.\n\n 15. The _Dadistan Aursah_ (vol. I. p. 131).\n\n 16. The _Am\u00edzesh-i-farhang_ (vol. I. p. 145), containing the\n institutes of the Abadiah durvishes.\n\n 17. The _M\u00edh\u00edn farush_ (vol. I. p. 244).\n\n 18. The _Testament of Jamshid to Abtin_ (vol. I. p. 195), compiled\n by Farhang Dost\u00far.\n\n 19. _Razabad_, composed by Sh\u00eddab.\n\n 20. The _S\u00e1ny\u00e1l_, a book of the Sipasians (vol. II. p. 136),\n containing an account of a particular sort of devotion.\n\n 21. The _Rama zastan_ of Zardusht (vol. I. p. 369 and vol. II. p.\n 136).\n\n 22. _Huz al Hayat_ (vol. II. p. 137), composed by Ambaret Kant.\n\n 23. The _Samrad Nameh_, by Kamkar (vol. I. p. 201).\n\nBesides other writings of Zertusht, in great number, which the author\nhas seen.\n\nThese works are most probably of a mystical nature, and belong to a\nparticular sect, but may contain, however, some interesting traditions\nor facts of ancient history. Of the twenty-three books just\nenumerated, a part of the third only is known to us, namely, that of\nthe Des\u00e1tir.\n\n\n [1] In April, 1783.\n\n [2] He landed at Calcutta in September, 1783.\n\n [3] In January, 1784.\n\n [4] Delivered in February, 1785.\n\n [5] In February, 1789.\n\n [6] The works of sir William Jones, with the life of the\n author, by lord Teignmouth, in 13 vols. Vol. III. p. 110.\n 1807.\n\n [7] I shall hereafter give some explanations upon this\n subject.\n\n [8] There appears in the printed edition no positive ground\n for the opinion above expressed; we find, however, frequent\n repetitions of the same subject, such as are not likely to\n belong to the same author; we know, besides, that additions\n and interpolations are but too common in all Oriental\n manuscripts.\n\n [9] The Persian text, with the translation of the first\n chapter, appeared in the two first numbers of the _New\n Asiatic Miscellany_. Calcutta, 1789. This English version\n was rendered into German by Dalberg, 1809.\n\n [10] These translations are mentioned in the notes of the\n present version.\n\n [11] New Asiatic Misc., p. 87.\n\n [12] Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol.\n II. p. 374.\n\n [13] Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol.\n II. pp. 243-244.\n\n [14] Ibid., pp. 375-376.\n\n [15] See the present Transl., vol. I. pp. 113-114. A mistake\n is here to be pointed out: at p. 114, l. 11, the name of\n Kaivan has been substituted for that of Mobed Serosh.\n\n [16] See vol. II. p. 137.\n\n [17] See vol. II. p. 145.\n\n [18] Jehang\u00edr reigned from 1605 to 1628.\n Shah Jehan \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015 1628 \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015 1659.\n Aurengzeb \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015 1659 \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015 1707.\n\n [19] The Works of sir W. Jones, vol. IV. pp. 16 and 105.\n\n\n\u00a7 II.\u2015\u2015DISCUSSION ON THE DESATIR.\n\nThis word was considered to be the Arabic plural of the original\nPersian word _dost\u00far_, signifying \u201ca note-book, pillar, canon, model,\nlearned man;\u201d but, according to the Persian grammar, its plural would\nbe _dostur\u00e1n_, or _dost\u00farha_, and not _des\u00e1tir_. From this Arabic form\nof the word an inference was drawn against the originality and\nantiquity of the Des\u00e1tir; but this of itself is not sufficient, as\nwill be shown.\n\nOther readings of the title are _Dast\u00e1nir_, in one passage,[20] and\n_Was\u00e1tir_[21] in two other places of Gladwin\u2019s Persian text, and the\nlast also in a passage of the printed edition.[22] The first is not\neasily accounted for, and is probably erroneous; but the second is\nfound in the index of the printed edition,[23] under the letter \u0648,\n_vau_, and explained: \u201cthe name of the book of Mahabad;\u201d it cannot\ntherefore be taken for a typographical error, and is the correct title\nof the book, as I now think, although I formerly[24] preferred reading\n_Des\u00e1tir_. It is derivable from the Sansrcit root \u0935\u093e\u0936\u094d _w\u00e1s_, \u201cto\nsound, to call,\u201d and therefore in the form of _was\u00e1tis_ or _was\u00e2tir_\n(the _r_ and _s_ being frequently substituted for the _visarga_) it\nsignifies \u201cspeech, oracle, precept, command.\u201d It is also in connection\nwith the old Persian word _wakshur_, \u201ca prophet.\u201d Considering the\nfrequent substitution in kindred languages of _ba_ for _va_, and _ba_\nfor _bha_, it may also be referred to the root \u092d\u093e\u0937 _bhasha_, \u201cto\nspeak,\u201d[25] which, with the prepositions _pari_ and _sam_, signifies\n\u201cto explain, expound, discourse.\u201d Hence we read in the Commentary of\nthe _Des\u00e1tir_ the ancient Persian word _bas\u00e1tir_[26] (not to be found\nin modern Persian vocabularies), which is there interpreted by\n\u201cspeculations,\u201d in the following passage: \u201cthe speculations (bas\u00e1tir)\nwhich I have written on the _des\u00e1tir_.\u201d\n\nI shall nevertheless keep, in the ensuing Dissertation, the title\nDes\u00e1tir, because it is generally adopted. Besides, in the Mahab\u00e1dian\ntext, the _vau_, \u0648, frequently occurs for the Persian _d\u00e1l_, \u062f, thus\nwe find \u0648\u0627\u062f\u0646, _w\u00e1den_, for \u062f\u0627\u062f\u0646, _d\u00e1den_, \u201cto give;\u201d and _w\u00e1rem_,\n\u0648\u0627\u0631\u0645, for _d\u00e1rem_, \u062f\u0627\u0631\u0645, \u201cI have;\u201d but I am aware that the two\nletters, so similar in their form, may be easily confounded with each\nother by the copyist or printer.\n\nThe extract from the Des\u00e1tir contained in the Dabist\u00e1n was thought\nworthy of the greatest attention by sir William Jones, as before\nmentioned; nay, appeared to him \u201can unexceptionable authority,\u201d before\na part of the Des\u00e1tir itself was published in Bombay, in the year\n1818, that is, twenty-four years after the death of that eminent man.\n\nThe author of the Dabist\u00e1n mentions the Des\u00e1tir as a work well known\namong the Sipasians, that is, the adherents of the most ancient\nreligion of Persia. According to his statement, the emperor Akbar\nconversed frequently with the fire-adorers of Guzerat; he also called\nfrom Persia a follower of Zerdusht, named _Ardeshir_, and invited\nfire-worshippers from Kirman to his court, and received their\nreligious books from that country; we may suppose the Des\u00e1tir was\namong them. So much is positive, that it is quoted in the _Sharistan\nchehar chemen_, a work composed by a celebrated doctor who lived under\nthe reigns of the emperors Akbar and Jehang\u00edr, and died A. D. 1624.\nThe compiler of the Burhani Kati, a Persian Dictionary, to be compared\nto the Arabic _Kamus_, or \u201csea of language,\u201d quotes and explains a\ngreat number of obsolete words and philosophic terms upon the\nauthority of the Des\u00e1tir: this evidently proves the great esteem in\nwhich this work was held. Let it be considered that a dictionary is\nnot destined for the use of a sect merely, but of the whole nation\nthat speaks the language, and this is the Persian, considered, even by\nthe Arabs, as the second language in the world and in paradise.[27]\n\nIt is to be regretted that Mohsan Fani did not relate where and how he\nhimself became acquainted with the Des\u00e1tir. I see no sufficient ground\nfor the supposition of Silvestre de Sacy[28] and an anonymous\ncritic,[29] that the author of the Dabist\u00e1n never saw the Des\u00e1tir. So\nmuch is certain, that the account which he gives of the Mahab\u00e1dian\nreligion coincides in every material point with that which is\ncontained in that part of the sacred book which was edited in Bombay\nby _Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus_.[30]\n\nThis editor says in his preface (p. vi): \u201cThe Des\u00e1tir is known to have\nexisted for many years, and has frequently been referred to by Persian\nwriters, though, as it was regarded as the sacred volume of a\nparticular sect, it seems to have been guarded with that jealous care\nand that incommunicative spirit, that have particularly distinguished\nthe religious sects of the East. We can only fairly expect, therefore,\nthat the contents should be known to the followers of the sect.\u201d Mulla\nFiruz employs here evidently the term _sect_ with respect to the\ndominant religion of the Muhammedan conquerors, whose violent and\npowerful intolerance reduced the still faithful followers of the\nancient national religion to undergo the fate of a persecuted sect.\nBut we shall see that the doctrine of the Des\u00e1tir is justly entitled\nto a much higher pretension than to be that of an obscure sect.\n\nWhatever it be, Mulla Firuz possessed the only manuscript of the work\nthen known in Bombay. It was purchased at Isfahan by his father Kaus,\nabout the year 1778, from a bookseller, who sold it under the title of\na Gueber book. Brought to Bombay, it attracted the particular\nattention of Mr. Duncan, then governor of Bombay, to such a degree,\nthat he began an English translation of the work, which was\ninterrupted by his return to England. The final completion of the\nversion was owing to the great encouragement which sir John Malcolm\ngave Mulla Firuz in consequence of the high opinion which sir William\nJones had publicly expressed of the Dabist\u00e1n, the author of which drew\nhis account of the ancient Persian dynasties and religions chiefly\nfrom the Des\u00e1tir. There is an interval of one hundred and thirty-three\nyears[31] between the composition of the Dabist\u00e1n and the fortuitous\npurchase of the manuscript copy of the Des\u00e1tir, by Kaus in Isfahan; as\nit would be assuming to much to suppose that the latter is the same\nfrom which Mohsan Fani drew his information, we can but admit that the\nagreement of both, in the most material points, affords a confirmation\nof each respective text.\n\nThe great Orientalist Silvestre de Sacy, on reviewing the Des\u00e1tir,[32]\nsays: \u201cWe are in a manner frightened by the multitude and gravity of\nthe questions which we shall have to solve, or at least to discuss;\nfor every thing is here a problem: What is the age of the book? Who is\nits author? Is it the work of several persons; or the divers parts of\nwhich it is composed, are they written by one and the same author,\nalthough attributed to different individuals, who succeeded each other\nat long intervals? The language in which it was written, was it, at\nany epoch, that of the inhabitants of Persia, or of any of the\ncountries comprised in the empire of Iran? Or is it nothing but a\nfactitious language, invented to support an imposture? At what epoch\nwere made the Persian translation accompanying the original text, and\nthe commentary joined to this translation? Who is the author of the\none and the other? Are not this translation and this commentary\nthemselves pseudonymous and apocryphal books; or may not the whole be\nthe work of an impostor of the latter centuries? All these questions\npresent themselves in a crowd to my mind; and if some of them appear\nto be easily answered, others offer more than common difficulties.\u201d\n\nWell may a person, even with far greater pretensions than mine can be,\nhesitate to attempt the discussion of a subject which _frightened_ the\nillustrious Silvestre de Sacy; but as the Des\u00e1tir is one of the\nprincipal sources from which the author of the Dabist\u00e1n drew his\naccount of the Persian religion and its divers sects\u2015\u2015a considerable\npart of his work\u2015\u2015I cannot dispense with presenting the subject in the\nstate in which the discussions hitherto published, by very respectable\ncritics, have left it. If I venture to offer a few remarks of my own\nupon it, it is only in the hope of provoking further elucidations by\nphilologers who shall examine the Mahabadian text itself, and by\narguments drawn from its fundamentals decide the important\nquestion\u2015\u2015whether we shall have one language more or less to count\namong the relics of antiquity?\n\nInstead of following the order in which the questions are stated\nabove, I will begin by that which appears to me the most important,\nnamely: \u201cthe language in which the Des\u00e1tir is written, is it nothing\nbut a factitious language invented to support an imposture?\u201d\n\nThe forgery of a language, so bold an imposture, renders any other\nfraud probable; through a false medium no truth can be expected, nor\neven sought. But, in order to guard against the preconception of a\nforgery having taken place, a preconception the existence of which\nmay, with too good a foundation, be apprehended, I shall first\nexamine, as a general thesis, whether the invention of a language, by\none individual or by a few individuals, is in itself probable and\ncredible. I shall only adduce those principles which have received the\nsanction of great philologers, among whom it may be sufficient to name\nbaron William Humboldt, and claim the reader\u2019s indulgence, if, in\nendeavoring to be clear, I should not have sufficiently avoided trite\nobservations.\n\nTracing languages up to their first origin, it has been found that\nthey are derived from sounds expressive of feelings; these are\npreserved in the roots, from which, in the progressive development of\nthe faculty of speech, verbs, nouns, and the whole language, are\nformed. In every speech, even in the most simple one, the individual\nfeeling has a connection with the common nature of mankind; speech is\nnot a work of reflection: it is an instinctive creation. The\ninfallible presence of the word required on every occasion is\ncertainly not a mere act of memory; no human memory would be capable\nof furnishing it, if man did not possess in himself instinctively the\nkey, not only for the formation of words, but also for a continued\nprocess of association: upon this the whole system of human language\nis founded. By entering into the very substance of existing languages,\nit appears evident that they are intellectual creations, which do not\nat all pass from one individual to others, but can only emerge from\nthe coexisting self-activity of all.\n\n \u201c\u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 That one the names of things contrived,\n And that from him their knowledge all derived,\n \u2018Tis fond to think.\u201d[33]\n\nAs long as the language lives in the mouth of a nation, the words are\na progressive production and reproduction of the faculty to form\nwords. In this manner only can we explain, without having recourse to\na supernatural cause, how millions of men can agree to use the same\nwords for every object, the same locution for every feeling.\n\nLanguage in general is the sensible exterior vestment of thought; it\nis the product of the intelligence, and the expression of the\ncharacter of mankind; in particular it may be considered as the\nexterior manifestation of the genius of nations: their language is\ntheir genius, and their genius is their language. We see of what use\nthe investigation of idioms may be in tracing the affinities of\nnations. History and geography must be taken as guides in the\nresearches upon tongues; but these researches would be futile, if\nlanguages were the irregular product of hazard. No: profound feeling\nand immediate clearness of vivid intuition act with wonderful\nregularity, and follow an unerring analogy. The genesis of languages\nmay be assimilated to that of works of genius\u2015\u2015I mean, of that\ncreative faculty which gives rules to an art. Thus is it the language\nwhich dictates the grammar. Moreover, the utmost perfection of which\nan idiom is susceptible is a line like that of beauty, which, once\nattained, can never be surpassed. This was the case with some ancient\ntongues. Since that time, mankind appear to have lost a faculty or a\ntalent, inasmuch as they are no more actuated by that urgency of keen\nfeeling which was the very principle of the high perfection of those\nlanguages.\n\nComparative philology, a new science, sprung up within the last thirty\nyears, but already grown to an unforeseen perfection, has fixed the\nprinciples by which the affinities of languages may be known, even\namong the apparently irregular disparities which various circumstances\nand revolutions of the different nations have created. This would have\nbeen impossible, if there did not exist a fundamental philosophy of\nlanguage, however concealed, and a certain consistency, even in the\nseemingly most irregular modification of dialect, for instance, in\nthat of pronunciation. But, even the permutation of letters in\ndifferent and the most rude dialects, has its rules, and follows,\nwithin its own compass, a spontaneous analogy, such as is\nindispensable for the easy and common practice of a society more or\nless numerous. Thus sounds, grammatical forms, and even graphical\nsigns of language have been subjected to analysis and comparison; the\nsignificant radical letters have been distinguished from the merely\naccidental letters, and a distinction has been established between\nwhat is fundamental, and what is merely historical and accidental.\n\nFrom these considerations I conclude:\n\n First\u2015\u2015That the forgery of a language is in itself highly improbable;\n\n Secondly\u2015\u2015That, if it had been attempted, comparative philology is\n perfectly capable of detecting it.\n\nTaking a large historical view of this subject, we cannot suppress the\nfollowing reflection: The formation of mighty and civilized states\nbeing admitted, even by our strictest chronologers, to have taken\nplace at least twenty-five centuries before our era, it can but appear\nextraordinary, even after taking in account violent revolutions, that\nof so multitudinous and great existences, only such scanty documents\nshould have come down to us. But, strange to say, whenever a testimony\nhas escaped the destruction of time, instead of being greeted with a\nbenevolent although discerning curiosity, the unexpected stranger is\napproached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice is stifled with severe\nrebukes, his credentials discarded with scorn, and by a predetermined\nand stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is repelled into\nthe tomb of oblivion.\n\nI am aware that all dialectical arguments which have been or may be\nalleged against the probability of forging a language, would be of no\navail against well-proved facts, that languages have been forged, and\nthat works, written in them, exist. We may remember the example\nadduced by Richardson[34] of a language, as he said, \u201csufficiently\noriginal, copious, and regular to impose upon persons of very\nextensive learning,\u201d forged by Psalmanazar. This was the assumed name\nof a an individual, whom the eminent Orientalist calls a Jew, but who,\nborn in 1679, in Languedoc or in Provence, of Christian parents,\nreceived a Christian, nay theological education, as good as his first\ninstructors, Franciscans, Jesuits, and Dominicans could bestow. This\nextraordinary person threw himself at a very early age into a career\nof adventures, in the course of which, at the age of seventeen years,\nhe fell upon the wild project of passing for a native of the island of\nFormosa, first as one who had been converted to Christianity, then, as\nstill a pagan, he let himself be baptized by a Scotch minister, by\nwhom he was recommended to an English bishop; the latter, in his pious\nillusion, promoted at once the interests of the convertor, and the\nfraud of the neophyte.[35] This adventurer who was bold enough, while\non the continent, to set about inventing a new character and language,\na grammar, and a division of the year into twenty months, published in\nLondon, although not twenty years old, a translation of the catechism\ninto his forged language of Formosa, and a history of the island with\nhis own alphabetical writing, which read from right to left\u2015\u2015a gross\nfiction the temporary success of which evinces the then prevailing\nignorance in history, geography, and philology. But pious zeal and\nfanaticism had changed a scientific discussion into a religious\nquarrel, and for too long a time rendered vain the objections of a few\ntruly learned and clear-sighted men; until the impostor, either\nincapable of supporting longer his pretensions or urged by his\nconscience, avowed the deception, and at last became a truly learned\ngood and estimable man.[36] We see this example badly supports the\ncause of forged languages.\n\nIn 1805, M. Rousseau, since consul-general of France at Aleppo, found\nin a private library at Baghdad a dictionary of a language which is\ndesignated by the name of _Bal\u00e1ibalan_, interpreted \u201che who vivifies,\u201d\nand written in Arabic characters called _Neshki_; it was explained in\nArabic, Persian, and Turkish. The unknown author of the dictionary\ncomposed it for the intelligence of mysterious and occult sciences,\nwritten in that language. The highly learned Silvestre de Sacy had\nscarce been informed of this discovery, when he sought and found in\nthe Royal Library, at Paris, the same dictionary, and with his usual\ndiligence and sagacity published a short but lucid Notice of it.[37]\nWhat he said therein was sufficient for giving an idea of the manner\nin which this language participates in the grammatical forms of\nArabic, Persian, and Turkish. Silvestre de Sacy, as well as M.\nRousseau, have left it uncertain whether the language be dead or\nliving; by whom and at what period it was formed, and what authors\nhave made use of it. The former adds, that some works written in\nBal\u00e1ibalan are likely to be found in the hands of the S\u00fafis of Persia.\n\nThis language deserves perhaps a further examination. All that is\npositive in the just-adduced statement of the two great Orientalists\nmay be said of any other language, which is not original but composed,\nas for instance the English or the Dutch, of more than one idiom. We\ncan but admit that, at all times an association of men for a\nparticular purpose, a school of art, science, and profession may have,\nhas, and even must have, a particular phraseology. Any modification of\nancient, or production of new, ideas, will create a modified or a new\nlanguage; any powerful influence of particular circumstances will\nproduce a similar effect; this is a spontaneous reproduction, and not\nthe intentional forgery of a language.\n\nSuch a forgery, even if it could remain undetected, which it cannot in\nour times, would but furnish a curious proof of human ingenuity, to\nwhich no bounds can be assigned; but the true and sole object of a\nlanguage could never be attained by it; because, never would a great\nnumber of independent men be disposed, nor could they be forced, to\nadopt the vocabulary, grammar, and locutions of a single man, and\nappropriate them to themselves for the perpetual expression of their\ninmost mind, and for the exchange of their mutual feelings and\nideas.[38] To effect this, is a miracle ascribed to the Divinity, and\nwith justice; being the evident result of the Heaven-bestowed faculty\nof speech, one of the perpetual miracles of the world.\n\nOf this a prophet must avail himself who announces to the world the\nimportant intelligence of a heavenly revelation. The great purpose of\nhis sacred mission implies the widest possible proclamation of his\ndoctrine in a language generally intelligible, which a forged language\nnever can be. If, as was surmised,[39] the Des\u00e1tir be set up as a\nrival to the Koran, it must have been written in a national language\nfor a nation; the Persians owned as theirs the _Mahabadian_ religion,\nthe identical one which history, although not under the same name,\nattributes to them in remote ages, as will result from an examination\nof the doctrine itself.\n\nConsidering the knowledge required, and the difficulties to be\novercome in forging a language in such a manner as to impose, even for\na time, upon the credulity of others, we shall conclude that nothing\nless than direct proof is requisite for establishing such a forgery as\na real fact. Now, what arguments have been set forth for declaring the\nlanguage of the Des\u00e1tir to be nothing else than \u201can artificial idiom\ninvented to support an imposture?\u201d\n\nSilvestre de Sacy says:[40] \u201cIt is difficult indeed, not to perceive\nthat the multiplied relations which exist between the _Asm\u00e1ni_,\n\u2018heavenly,\u2019 and Persian languages are the result of a systematic\noperation, and not _the effect of hazard_, nor _that of time, which\nproceeds with less regularity in the alterations to which language is\nsubjected_.\u201d\n\nI must apologise for here interrupting this celebrated author, for the\npurpose of referring to what nobody better than himself has\nestablished as a peremptory condition of existence for any language,\nand what he certainly never meant to deny, but may perhaps here be\nsupposed to forget\u2015\u2015namely, that a language is not \u201cthe effect of\nhazard,\u201d and although \u201cnot the result of systematic combination,\u201d yet,\nas an instinctive creation, shows surprising regularity, and that an\nevident rule predominates in the alterations which time produces in\nlanguages.\n\nSilvestre de Sacy proceeds: \u201cThe grammar of the Mahabadian language is\nevidently, for the whole etymological part, and even (which is\nsingularly striking) in what concerns the anomalous verbs, traced from\n(_calqu\u00e9e sur_) the Persian grammar, and as to the radical words, if\nthere be many of them the origin of which is unknown, there is also a\ngreat number of them in which the Persian root, more or less altered,\nmay be recognised without any effort.\u201d\n\nErskine examined, without the least communication with the French\ncritic, the Mahabadian language, and says:[41] \u201cIn its grammar it\napproaches very nearly to the modern Persian, as well in the\ninflection of the nouns and verbs, as in its syntax.\u201d Norris[42] takes\nthe very same view of it.\n\nThese highly respectable critics published their judgment upon the\nMahabadian language before the comparison of several languages with\nthe Sanscrit and between each other had been made by able philologers,\ncreators of the new science of comparative philology. According to the\nlatter, the proofs of the real affinity of language, that is, the\nproofs that two languages belong to the same family, are to be\nprincipally and can be properly deduced, from their grammatical\nsystem. Thus, for instance, the forms of the Greek and Latin languages\nare in several parts nearly identical with the Sanscrit, the first\nbearing a greater resemblance in one respect, the latter in another;\nthe Greek verbs in _mi_, the Latin declension of some nouns appear, to\nuse the expression of the illustrious author, \u201ctraced from each other\n(_calqu\u00e9s l\u2019un sur l\u2019autre_).\u201d These two languages seem to have\ndivided between them the whole system of the ancient grammar, which is\nmost perfectly preserved in the Sanscrit. This language itself is\nprobably, with the two mentioned, derived from a more ancient\nlanguage; we meet in them three sisters recognised by their striking\nlikeness. This, although more or less weakened and even obliterated in\nsome features, remains upon the whole still perceptible in a long\nseries of their relations: I mean in all those languages which are\ndistinguished by the name of _Indo-germanic_, to which the Persian\nbelongs.\n\nBut, in deciding upon the affinity of languages, not only the\ngrammatical forms are to be examined, but also the system of sounds is\nto be studied, and the words must be considered in their roots and\nderivations. The three critics mentioned agree that the language of\nthe Des\u00e1tir is very similar to the Persian or Deri, not only in\ngrammar, but also in etymology; a great number of the verbal and\nnominal roots are the same in both. This similarity would, according\nto comparative philology, lead to the conclusion that either the one\nis derived from the other, or that both proceed from a common parent;\nbut nothing hitherto here alleged can justify the supposition of\ninvention, forgery, or fabrication of the so-called Mahabadian\nlanguage.\n\nWe continue to quote the strictures of Silvestre de Sacy: \u201cThere is\nhowever a yet stronger proof of the systematic operation which\nproduced the factitious idiom. This proof I derive from the perfect\nand constant identity which prevails between the Persian phraseology\nand that of the Mahabadian idiom. The one and the other are, whenever\nthe translation does not degenerate into paraphrase or commentary,\nwhich frequently happens, traced from each other (_calqu\u00e9s l\u2019un sur\nl\u2019autre_) in such a manner that each phrase, in both, has always the\nsame number of words, and these words are always arranged in the same\norder. For producing such a result, we must admit two idioms, the\ngrammar of which should be perfectly alike, as weil with respect to\nthe etymological part as to the syntax, and their respective\ndictionaries offering precisely the same number of words, whether\nnouns, verbs, or particles: which would suppose two nations, having\nprecisely the same number of ideas, whether absolute or relative, and\nconceiving but the same kind and the same number of relations.\u201d\n\nIf what we have already stated be not unfounded, the last quoted\nparagraph, which the author calls \u201ca yet stronger proof of the\nsystematic operations which produced the factitious idiom\u201d must be\nacknowledged not to have the weight which he would attribute to it. If\nthe Mahabadian and Persian be languages related to each other, \u201ca\nperfect and constant identity of phraseology between them both,\u201d if\neven so great as it is said to be, is not only possible, but may be\nfairly expected in the avowed translation of the Des\u00e1tir into Persian.\nSuch identity is most religiously aimed at in versions of a sacred\ntext. Need I adduce modern examples of translations which, in point of\nphraseological conformity with their original, may vie with the\nPersian version of the Mahabadian text? The supposition that two\nnations have the same number of ideas, absolute or relative, is far\nfrom being absurd: it is really the fact with all nations who are upon\nthe same level of civilisation; but the present question is of the\nwritings of the same nation, which, possessing at all times a sort of\ngovernment and religion fundamentally the same, might easily count an\nobsolete language of its own among the monuments of its antiquity.\n\nOn that account, we cannot see what the former arguments of the critic\ngain in strength by the addition: \u201cthat the perfect identity of\nconception falls in a very great part upon abstract and metaphysical\nideas, in which such a coincidence is infinitely more difficult than\nwhen the question is only of objects and relations perceptible to the\nsenses.\u201d\u2015\u2015A great similarity is remarked in all forms of thinking.\nLittle chance of being contradicted can be incurred in saying, that\nthe fundamental ideas of metaphysics are common to all mankind, and\ninherent in human reason. The encyclopedian contents of the Dabist\u00e1n,\nconcerning the opinions of so many nations, would furnish a new proof\nof it, were this generally acknowledged fact in need of any further\nsupport.\n\nSilvestre de Sacy acknowledges that the Asm\u00e1ni language contains a\ngreat number of radical words, the origin of which is not known.\nErskine says:[43] \u201cIt is certainly singular that the language in which\nthe Des\u00e1tir is written, like that in which the Zend-Avesta is\ncomposed, is no where else to be met with. It is not derived from the\nZend, the Pehlevi, the Sanscrit, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, or any\nother known language.\u201d * * * * * * The basis of the language, and the\ngreat majority of words in it, belong to no known tongue. It is a\nmixture of Persian and Indian words. A few Arabic words occur.\u201d\nNorris[44] also found that a great part of the language appears to\nhave little resemblance to any other that was ever spoken. A judgment,\nso expressed, might induce an impartial mind to ascribe originality to\nat least a part of the Asm\u00e1ni language; which would naturally render\nthe other part less liable to suspicion, inasmuch as it would have\nbeen not less difficult to execute, but less easy to conceal, a\npartial than a total forgery. Nevertheless it so happens that the\ndissimilarity from any other, as well as the similarity to one\nparticular idiom, are both equally turned against the genuineness of\nthe language in question: where dissimilarity exists, there is\nabsolute forgery\u2015\u2015where similarity, an awkward disguise!\n\nErskine continues: \u201cThe Persian system it is unnecessary to\nparticularise; but it is worthy of attention that, among the words of\nIndian origin, not only are many Sanscrit, which might happen in a\nwork of a remote age, but several belong to the colloquial language of\nHindust\u00e1n: this is suspicious, and seems to mark a much more recent\norigin. Many words indeed occur in the Des\u00e1tir that are common to the\nSanscrit and to the vulgar Indian languages (the author quotes\nthirty-four of them); many others might be pointed out. But the most\nremarkable class of words is that which belongs to the pure Hindi;\nsuch I imagine are the word _shet_, \u2018respectable,\u2019 prefixed to the\nnames of prophets and others (twenty-four are adduced). Whatever may\nbe thought of the words of Persian descent, it is not probable that\nthose from the Hindustan\u00ed are of a very remote age; they may perhaps\nbe regarded as considerably posterior to the settlement of the\nMuselmans in India.\u201d\n\nStrongly supported by the opinion of respectable philologers, I do not\nhesitate to draw a quite contrary conclusion from the facts stated by\nErskine. It should be remembered that, in the popular or vulgar\ndialects are often found remains of ancient tongues, namely, roots of\nwords, locutions, nay rules of grammar which have become obsolete, or\ndisappeared in the cultivated idioms derived from the same original\nlanguage. It was not without reason that the illustrious William\nHumboldt recommended to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and\nIreland,[45] to examine, on behalf of general Oriental philology, the\ndifferent provincial dialects of India. Even the gibberish of gypsies\nis not to be neglected for that purpose.[46]\n\nThus, if we are not greatly mistaken, the very arguments alleged to\nshow that the Mahabadian language is an invention or forgery, lead\nrather to a contrary conclusion. Duly sensible of the great weight of\nauthority which opposes the result of my inquiry, I sought an\nexplanation of the severe judgment passed upon the Des\u00e1tir, and\nventure to surmise that it was occasioned by the certainly extravagant\nclaim to a heavenly origin and incredible antiquity which has been\nattached to this work. Such pretensions, taken in too serious a light,\ncan but hurt a fixed, if not religious, belief. Every nation\nacknowledges but one heavenly book, and rejects every other. Hence\narises a very natural, and even respectable pre-conception against all\nthat appears without the limits traced by religion, or mere early\nhabit and adopted system. Thus a severe censure is provoked. To\nannihilate at once the impertinent pretension to a divine origin, all\nthat ingenuity can suggest is brought forward to prove the book to be\na fraudulent forgery; to strip it of the awful dignity of antiquity,\nit must by any means be represented as the work of yesterday. But\nerror is not fraud, and may be as ancient as mankind itself; because\ncredulous, a man is not the forger of a document. If the Mahabadian\nlanguage is not that primitive idiom from which the Sanscrit, the\nZend, and other languages are derived, it does not follow that it is\n\u201ca mere jargon, fabricated with no great address to support a\nreligious or philosophical imposture;\u201d[47] if it was not spoken in\nIran long before the establishment of the P\u00e9shdadian monarchy, it does\nnot follow \u201cthat it has at no time belonged to any tribe or nation on\nthe face of the earth.\u201d\n\nHowever I may appear inclined in favor of the Des\u00e1tir, I shall avoid\nincurring the blame of unfair concealment by adding to the names of\nthe great critics above quoted, adverse to this work, the great one of\nWilliam von Schlegel. I must avow it; the celebrated author declares\nthe Des\u00e1tir,[48] intimately connected with the Dabist\u00e1n, to be \u201ca\nforgery still more refined (than that of the Brahman who deceived\nWilford),[49] and written in a pretended ancient language, but\nfabricated at pleasure.\u201d As he, however, presents no arguments of his\nown, but only appeals in a note to the articles written by Silvestre\nde Sacy and Erskine, there is no occasion here for a further\nobservation concerning this question. As to von Schlegel\u2019s opinion\nupon the Dabist\u00e1n, I reserve some remarks upon it for another place.\n\nGeneral arguments, opposed to general objections, may produce\npersuasion, but are not sufficient for establishing the positive truth\nconcerning a subject in question. It is necessary to dive into the\nMahabadian language itself for adequate proofs of its genuineness. I\nmight have justly hesitated to undertake this task, but found it\nalready most ably achieved by baron von Hammer,[50] in whom we do not\nknow which we ought to admire most, his vast store of Oriental\nerudition, or the indefatigable activity, with which he diffuses, in\nan unceasing series of useful works, the various information derived\nnot only from the study of the dead letter in books, but also from\nconverse with the living spirit of the actual Eastern world. This\nsagacious reviewer of the Des\u00e1tir, examining its language, finds\nproofs of its authenticity in the nature of its structure and the\nsyllables of its formation, which, when compared to the modern pure\nPersian or Der\u00ed, have the same relation to it as the Gothic to the\nEnglish; the old Persian and the old Germanic idioms exhibit in the\nprogress of improvement such a wonderful concordance and analogy as\ncan by no means be the result of an ingenious combination, nor that of\na lucky accidental coincidence. Thus, the language of the Des\u00e1tir has\nsyllables of declension affixed to pronouns, which coincide with those\nof the Gothic and Low German, but are not recognisable in the modern\nform of the Persian pronouns. This is also the case with some forms of\nnumerical and other words. The Mahabadian language contains also a\ngood number of Germanic radicals which cannot be attributed to the\nwell-known affinity of the German and the modern Persian, because they\nare no more to be found in the latter, but solely in the Des\u00e1tir. This\nhas besides many English, Greek, and Latin words, a series of which\nbaron von Hammer exhibits, and\u2015\u2015which ought to be duly noticed\u2015\u2015a\nconsiderable number of Mahabadian words, belonging also to the\nlanguages enumerated, are sought in vain in any Persian dictionary of\nour days! Surely, an accidental coincidence of an invented factitious\nlanguage, with Greek, Latin, and Germanic forms would be by far a\ngreater and more inexplicable miracle, than the great regularity of\nthis ancient sacred idiom of Persia, and its conformity with the\nmodern Deri. It is nevertheless from the latter that the forgery is\nchiefly inferred.\n\nMoreover, the acute philologer, analysing the Mahabadian language by\nitself, points out its essential elements and component parts, that\nis, syllables of derivation, formation, and inflexion. Thus he adduces\nas syllables of derivation certain vowels, or consonants preceded by\ncertain vowels; he shows certain recurring terminations to be\nsyllables of formation for substantives, adjectives, and verbs; he\nsets forth particular forms of verbs, and remarkable expressions. All\nthis he supports by numerous examples taken from the text of the\nDes\u00e1tir. Such a process enabled him to rectify in some places the\nPersian translation of the Mahabadian text.\n\nI can but repeat that my only object here is to present the question\nin the same state that I found it; and am far from contesting, nay,\nreadily admit, the possibility of arguments which may lead to a\ncontrary conclusion. Until such are produced, although not presuming\nto decide, I may be permitted to believe that the language of the\nDes\u00e1tir is no forgery; I may range myself on the side of the\ncelebrated Orientalist mentioned, who, ten years after the date of his\nreview of the Des\u00e1tir (ten years which, with him, are a luminous path\nof ever-increasing knowledge), had not changed his opinion upon the\nlanguage of the Des\u00e1tir, and assigns to it[51] a place among the\nAsiatic dialects; according to him, as it is more nearly related to\nthe new Persian than to the Zand and the Pehlevi, it may be considered\nas a new intermediate ring in the hermetic chain which connects the\nGermanic idioms with the old Asiatic languages; it is perhaps the most\nancient dialect of the Deri,[52] spoken, if not in Fars, yet in the\nnorth-eastern countries of the Persian empire, to wit, in Sogd and\nBamian. When it ceased to be spoken, like several other languages of\nby-gone ages, the Mahab\u00e1dian was preserved perhaps in a single book,\nor fragment of a book, similar in its solitude to the Hebrew Bible, or\nthe Persian Zend-Avesta.\n\n\nAt what epoch was the Des\u00e1tir written?\n\nThe epoch assigned to it, according to different views, is the\nsixth[53] or the seventh[54] century of our era, even the later time\nof the Seljucides, who reigned from A. D. 1037 to 1193. The latter\nepoch is adopted as the earliest assignable, by Silvestre de Sacy, who\nalleges two reasons for his opinion: the one is his belief that the\nnew Persian language, in which the Des\u00e1tir was translated and\ncommented by the fabricator of the original or Mahabadian text did not\nexist earlier; the second reason refers to some parts of the contents\nof the Des\u00e1tir. I shall touch upon both these questions.\n\nIt is useless to discuss what can never be ascertained, who the author\nof the Des\u00e1tir was. But this work would be unintelligible without the\nPersian translation and commentary. Silvestre de Sacy asks: \u201cAre not\nthis translation and this commentary, themselves pseudonymous and\napocryphal books, and is not the whole, perhaps, the work of an\nimpostor of the last century?\u201d In answering this, I shall be guided by\nthe baron von Hammer, who wrote his review of the Des\u00e1tir before he\nhad seen that of the _Journal des Savans_, but, after having perused\nthe latter, declared that he had nothing to change in his opinion.\nAlthough the commentator, to whom the honor of being the inventor of\nthe Mahabadian language is ascribed, follows in the main the ancient\ntext word for word, and substitutes commonly a new for the obsolete\nform of the term, yet frequent instances occur (some of which baron\nvon Hammer adduces) which prove that the interpreter did not clearly\nunderstand the old text, but in place of the true meaning gave his own\narbitrary interpretation. The proper names even are not always the\nsame. Besides\u2015\u2015and this is most important\u2015\u2015the doctrines contained in\nthe Des\u00e1tir and in the Commentary differ from each other. In the books\nof the first Mahabadian kings we find the fundamental ideas of the\nOriental philosophy, such as it was before its migration from Asia to\nEurope; but in the commentary we perceive the development of the\nAristotelian scholastic, such as it formed itself among the Asiatics,\nwhen they had, by means of translations, become acquainted with the\nStagirite. We shall revert to this subject hereafter. Whatever it\nbe\u2015\u2015the discrepancies between the original text and the\ninterpretation, as they would certainly have been avoided by the\nauthor of both, prove that they are the works of two different\npersons, probably with the interval of a few centuries between them.\n\nThe Persian translator and commentator is said to be the fifth Sassan,\nwho lived in the time of the Persian king Khusro-Parviz, a\ncontemporary of the Roman emperor Heraclius, and died only nine years\nbefore the destruction of the ancient Persian monarchy, or in the year\n643 of our era. It must be presumed that the five Sassans, the first\nof whom was a contemporary of Alexander, 323 years before Christ, were\nnot held to be immediate successors to each other, but only in the\nsame line of descent; otherwise an interval of 946 years, from\nAlexander to Parviz, comprehending the reign of thirty-one Arsacides\nand twenty-two Sassanian princes, would be given to no more than five\nindividuals, which absurdity ought not to be attributed to the\ncommentary of the Des\u00e1tir. In general, so common is it with Asiatics\nto deal with names of celebrity as if they were generic names, that it\nis very frequently impossible to be positive about the true author of\na work. There appears in the present case nothing to prevent us from\nplacing the translator and commentator of the Des\u00e1tir (whether a\nSassan or not) in the seventh century of our era.\n\nThe translation and commentary of the Des\u00e1tir are written in what the\nbest judges consider as very pure Persian, though ancient, without any\nmixture whatever of words of Arabic or Chaldean origin, and\nconformable to the grammatical system of modern Persian. But when was\nthe latter formed?\u2015\u2015As the opinion upon this epoch involves that upon\nthe age of the composition itself, I shall be permitted to take a\nrather extensive historical view of this part of the question.\n\nSetting aside the Mahabadian kings mentioned in the Des\u00e1tir and\nDabist\u00e1n, we know that Gilshah, Hoshang, Jamshid (true Persian names)\nare proclaimed by all Orientalists as founders of the Persian empire\nand builders of renowned cities in very remote times. This empire\ncomprised in its vast extent different nations, speaking three\nprincipal languages, the Zand, Pehlevi, and Parsi. Among these nations\nwere the _Pers\u00e6_, \u201cPersians,\u201d properly and distinctively so called. We\nare informed by Herodotus[55] that there were different races of\nPers\u00e6, of whom he enumerates eleven. Those who inhabited originally\n_Fars_, _Farsistan_, _Persis_,[56] a country double the extent of\nEngland, and gave their name to the whole empire, certainly spoke\ntheir own idiom, the _Parsi_ or _Farsi_. A national language may vary\nin its forms, but never can be destroyed as long as any part of the\nnation exits; can we doubt that the Persians who, once the masters of\nAsia, although afterwards shorn of their power, never ceased to be\nindependent and formidable, preserved their language to our days?\n\nWe may consider as remains of the oldest Persian language, the proper\nand other names of persons, places and things mentioned by the most\nancient historians; now, a number of such words, which occur in the\nHebrew Bible,[57] in Herodotus, and other Greek authors, are much\nbetter explained from modern Persian than from Zand and Pehlevi. In\nthe Armenian language exist words common to the Persian, none common\nto the Pehlevi;[58] therefore, in very remote times Persian and not\nPehlevi was the dominant idiom of the Iranian nations with whom the\nArmenians were in relation. More positive information is reserved for\nposterity, when the cuneiform inscriptions upon the monumental rocks\nand ruins, to be found in all directions within the greatest part of\nAsia, shall be deciphered by future philologers, not perhaps\npossessing greater talent, but better means of information from\nall-revealing time than those of our days, who have already\nsuccessfully begun the great work\u2015\u2015Grotefend, Rask, St. Martin,\nBurnouf, Lassen, etc.\n\nLet us now take a hasty review of a few principal epochs of the\nPersian empire, with respect to language, beginning only from that\nnearest the time, in which Persia was seen and described by Herodotus,\nCtesias, and Xenophon, not without reference to the then existing\nnational historical records. Khosru (Cyrus) the Persian King, placed\nby the Occidentals in the seventh century before our era,[59] having\nwrested the sceptre from the hands of the Medes, who spoke Pehlevi,\nnaturally produced the ascendancy of his national idiom. This did not\nsink under his immediate successors, Lohrasp and Gushtasp. Although\nunder the reign of the latter, who received Zardusht at his court in\nthe sixth century B. C.,[60] the Zand might have had great currency,\nyet it certainly declined after Gushtasp, as his grandson Bahman, the\nson of Isfendiar, favored the cultivation of the Parsi.[61] This\nlanguage was perfected in Baktria (the original name of which country\nis _B\u00e1khter_, \u201cEast,\u201d an old Persian word) and in the neighboring\nTransoxiana; there the towns _Bamian_, the Thebes of the East, and\n_Balkh_, built by Lohrasp and sanctified by Gushtasp\u2019s famous Pyr\u00e6um,\nbesides _Merv_ and _Bokh\u00e1ra_, were great seats of Persian arts and\nsciences. The Parsi, thus refined, was dominant in all the royal\nresidences, which changed according to seasons and circumstances; it\nwas spoken at the court of the Second _Dara_ (Darius Codomanus), and\nsounds in his own name and that of his daughters _Sit\u00e1ra_ (Statira),\n\u201cstar,\u201d and _Roshana_ (Roxana), \u201csplendor,\u201d whom the unfortunate king\nresigned with his empire to Alexander.[62] This conqueror, intoxicated\nwith power, endeavored to exterminate the Mobeds, the guardians of the\nnational religion and science; he slew many, but dispersed only the\nmajority. From the death of Alexander (323 B. C.) to the reign of\nArdeshir Babegan (Artaxerxes), the founder of the Sassanian dynasty\n(200 A. D.), a period of more than five centuries is almost a blank in\nthe Persian history; but when the last-mentioned king, the regenerator\nof the ancient Iranian monarchy, wishing to restore its laws and\nliterature, convoked the Mobeds, he found forty thousand of them\nbefore the gate of the fire-temple of Barpa.[63] Ammianus Marcellinus,\nin the fourth century of our era attests, that the title of king was\nin _Deri_, \u201ccourt-language,\u201d yet the Pehlevi was spoken concurrently\nwith it during the reigns of the first twelve Sassanian princes, until\nit was proscribed by a formal edict of the thirteenth of them, _Bahram\ngor_, in our fifth century. Nushirvan and Parviz, in the sixth\ncentury, were both celebrated for the protection which they granted to\narts and sciences. We have on record a school of physic, poetry,\nrhetoric, dialectics, and abstract sciences, flourishing at Gandi\nsapor, a town in Khorasan: the Persian must have then been highly\ncultivated. We are now in the times of Muhammed; were they not\n_Persian_, those Tales, the charm of which, whether in the original or\nin the translation, was such, that the Arabian legislator, to\ncounteract it, summoned up the power of his high-sounding\nheaven-inspired eloquence, and wrote a part of the Koran against them?\nIf he himself had not named the Deri as the purest dialect of the\nPersian, what other language could we believe he admired for its\nextreme softness so much as to say, that the Almighty used it when he\nwished to address the angels in a tone of mildness and beneficence,\nwhilst he reserved the Arabic for command?[64] Such a fact, or such a\ntradition, presupposes a refined, and therefore long-spoken language.\nAfter Muhammed\u2019s death, his fanatic successors attempted to bury under\nthe ruins of the Persian empire even the memory of its ancient\nreligion and language\u2015\u2015but they did not succeed: the sacred fire was\nsaved and preserved beyond the Oxus; it was rekindled in Baktria, that\nancient hearth of Persian splendor; there poetry and eloquence\nrevived, but could not raise their voices until princes of Persian\norigin became lieutenants of the Mohammedan khalifs. It was under\nNasr, son of Ahmed the Samanian, in the beginning of our tenth\ncentury, that RUDIGI rose, the first celebrated new Persian poet, but\nhe found, he did not create the language, more than Homer created\nGreek, Dante Italian, or Spenser English. A great author, in whom the\ngenius of his nation is concentrated, does no more than aptly collect\ninto a whole the idiom which exists every where in parts, and elicit\nits pre-existing resources. Thus under his pen the language can appear\nto spring up with all its beauties\u2015\u2015as Minerva, equipped in armour,\nsprung forth from the head of Jupiter.\n\nSuch being the historical indications relative to the Persian\nlanguage, we cannot participate in the doubts of Silvestre de Sacy,\nnor find Erskine[65] just in disdaining even to make a comment upon\nthe credibility of the hypothesis \u201cthat the Persian language was\ncompletely formed in the age of the latter Sassanians.\u201d It would be\nrather a matter of wonder that the Parsi, related to the most ancient\nand most cultivated language in the world, should not have been much\nsooner fitted for the harmonious lays of Ferdusi!\u2015\u2015a matter of wonder\nindeed, that the Persians, who taught the Arabs so much of their\nreligion\u2015\u2015heaven and hell, should have remained behind them in the\nrefinement of their idiom!\u2015\u2015that they, who could scoff at the _Tazis_\nas eaters of lizards, should not have possessed, in the seventh\ncentury, a language to contend with that people, who themselves\npossessed celebrated poets long before Muhammed![66]\n\nIt is for ever regrettable that overpowering Muhammedism should have\nspoiled the original admirable simplicity of one of the softest\nlanguages in the world, by the intrusion of the sonorous but harsher\nwords of Arabic, and imposed upon us the heavy tax of learning two\nlanguages for understanding one; but, as the translation of the\nDes\u00e1tir is free from words of an Arabic or Chaldean origin, should we\nnot fairly conclude, that it was executed before the Muhammedan\nconquest of Persia? So did Norris, and so Erskine\u2015\u2015I can but\nthink\u2015\u2015would have done, if his judgment and penetration, usually so\nright and acute, had not been prepossessed by the idea of an\nimposture, which he had assumed as proved or self-evident, whilst this\nwas the very point of contestation. Thus, \u201cthe very freedom from words\nof foreign growth, which the learned natives consider as a mark of\nauthenticity, appeared to him the proof of an artificial and\nfabricated style.\u201d\n\nIf even there are some Arabic words to be found in the text and the\ntranslation of the Des\u00e1tir, this affords no fair inference that these\nworks had not been composed before the Arabs conquered Persia, because\nthose words might have come from Pehlevi, in which there is a mixture\nof Arabic, and there are also Persian words in the Koran; most\nnaturally, as there subsisted from times immemorial relations between\nPersia and Arabia.\n\nWhat I have said will, if I am not mistaken, sufficiently justify the\nconclusion, that the Persian idiom could in the seventh century have\nattained the regularity and form of the present Persian, such at\nleast, as it appears in the Commentary of the Des\u00e1tir, not without a\nvery perceptible tincture of obsoleteness.\n\nI need scarce remark that the title _asm\u00e1ni_, \u201cheavenly,\u201d belongs\nexclusively to the superstitious admiration with which the Des\u00e1tir is\nviewed. Nor are its fifteen books to be taken for sacred works of so\nmany prophets who succeeded each other after such long intervals of\ntime; yet nothing prevents us, as I hope to show, from believing some\nparts of them very ancient. Neither are these of the same antiquity.\nThus, prophecies which are certainly interpolations made after the\nevents, occur in them, not otherwise than in the Indian Pur\u00e1nas, the\nfundamental parts of which are nevertheless now admitted to be as\nancient as the Vedas themselves. We find in the two last books of the\nDes\u00e1tir are mentioned: the contest between the Abbasides and the\ndescendants of Ali; the adoption of Muhammedism by almost the totality\nof Iran; inimical sects, and the power of the Turcomans superseding\nthat of the Arabs; the latter parts must certainly have been composed\nafter the taking of Bagd\u00e1d by Hulogu in 1258 of our era. The fifteenth\nbook of the Des\u00e1tir is probably apocryphal.\n\nAs to the doctrine of the Des\u00e1tir, Erskine says:[67] \u201cI consider that\nthe whole of the peculiar doctrines, ascribed to Mahabad and Hoshang,\nis borrowed from the mystical doctrines of the Persian S\u00fafis, and from\nthe ascetic tenets and practices of the Yogis and Sanyasis, of India\nwho drew many of their opinions from the Vedanta-school.\u201d But this\ninvolves the great historical question, concerning the origin of\nS\u00fafism and the whole Indian philosophy, which is by some (not without\nfoundation) believed to have been spread throughout a great part of\nAsia. It is quite gratuitous, I may say, to regard them \u201cas having had\nno existence before the time of Azar Kaivan[68] and his disciples in\nthe reigns of Akbar and Jehanguir, and as having been devised and\nreduced into form between 200 and 300 years ago in the school of\nSipasi-philosophers.\u201d Nor can I admit as better founded the following\ninsinuations of the same ingenious critic: \u201cNor shall I inquire\nwhether many of the acute metaphysical remarks that abound in the\ncommentary and the general style of argument which it employs have not\nrather proceeded from the schoolmen of the West, than directly from\nthe Oriental or Aristotelian philosophy.\u201d To this may be answered: It\nis highly problematic, whether the translator of the Des\u00e1tir ever knew\nany schoolman of the West, but it is certain that he, as an Asiatic\nand a Persian, knew the Oriental philosophy, the fundamentals of which\nwere preserved in the first books of the Des\u00e1tir, as we have already\nsaid; but the commentator could but participate in the modification,\nwhich the ancient doctrine had undergone in his age, after its return\nfrom the West to the East, in translations of Greek philosophical\nworks into Asiatic languages. Thus, in the Des\u00e1tir and its\ncommentary\u2015\u2015I borrow the words of baron von Hammer:\u2015\u2015\u201cWe see already\ngerminating the double seed of reason and light, from which sprung up\nthe double tree of rational and ideal philosophy,\u201d[69] which spread\nits ramifications over the whole world, and lives and flourishes even\nin our times.\n\nThe commentator was no ordinary man: living, as we may believe, in the\nfirst half of the seventh century, he possessed the sciences of his\nlearned age; flourishing under the reign of king Khosru Parviz, who\nprofessed the ancient Persian religion in his letter to a Roman\nemperor of the East,[70] and tore to pieces Muhammed\u2019s written\ninvitation to adopt Islam[71]; in this yet unshaken state of national\nindependence, the fifth Sassan preserved pure his creed and style from\nthe influence of the Arabian prophet. The translator and commentator\nof the Des\u00e1tir says of himself:[72] \u201cI too have written a celebrated\nbook under the name of _Do giti_, \u2018the two worlds\u2019, full of admirable\nwisdom, which I have derived from the most exalted intelligence, and\nin the eminent book of the famous prophet, the King of Kings, Jemshid,\nthere is a great deal, concerning the unity which only distinguished\nAsceties (_Hertasp_) can comprehend, and on the subject of this\ntranscendant knowledge I have also composed a great volume _Pert\u00fa\nest\u00e1n_, \u2018the mansion of light,\u2019 which I have adorned by evidence\ndeduced from reason, and by texts from the _Des\u00e1tir_ and _Avesta_, so\nthat _the soul of every man_ may derive pleasure from it. And it is\none of the books of the secrets of the great God.\u201d\n\nThis is a most important declaration. The commentator considered the\nDes\u00e1tir and the Avesta as sources of delight TO ALL MEN. And he was\nright. The doctrine of the former work now under consideration is\nfound every where, not denied either by the ancients or moderns; it is\nthe property of mankind. As such, \u201c_it does not belong to any\nparticular tribe or nation_:\u201d in which point, although in quite\nanother sense, we agree with Erskine, but we may dissent from the\nlearned author, when he taxes it to be \u201ca religious or philosophical\nimposture, which needed the support of a fabricated language.\u201d After\ncareful examination, I must conscientiously declare, I discover no\nimposture aimed at by any artifice; there was no secret to be\nconcealed; nothing to be disguised; the Mahabadian religion is as open\nas its temple, the vault of heaven, and as clear as the lights,\nflaming in their ethereal attitudes; its book is a sort of catechism\nof Asiatic religion; its prayer a litany of Oriental devotion, in\nwhich any man may join his voice.\n\nThus have I endeavored, to the best of my power, to exhibit faithfully\nwhat has hitherto been alleged for and against the authenticity of the\nbook, which is one of the principal authorities of the Dabist\u00e1n. If\nthe author of this latter work was, as the often-quoted ingenuous\nauthor supposes, \u201cin strict intimacy with the sects of enthusiasts by\nwhom the Des\u00e1tir was venerated, and whose rule it was,\u201d we may so much\nthe more rely upon the truth of his account concerning such a\nreligious association. If he professed the new religion, which the\nemperor Akbar had endeavored to found, as this was a revival of the\nancient Persian religion, we may reasonably presume, that he would\nhave searched, and brought to light writings concerning it which were\nconcealed, neglected, or little known; he would have cautiously\nscrutinized the authenticity of the documents, and conscientiously\nrespected the sacred sources of that faith, which, after a careful\nexamination of all others, deserved his preference; nothing justifies\nthe supposition, that he would forge any thing himself, or\ncountenance, or not be able to detect, the forgery of others. However\nthis be, Mohsan Fani\u2019s character will be best known by the perusal of\nhis work; after a rapid synopsis of its contents, to which I will now\nproceed, I shall be permitted to point out, as briefly as possible,\nsome of the merits and defects conspicuous in his composition.\n\n\n [20] See note, vol. I. p. 20.\n\n [21] Ibid., p. 44.\n\n [22] Calcutta edition, p. 30, line 6.\n\n [23] See vol. I. p. 534.\n\n [24] _Ibid._, p. 65.\n\n [25] M. Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf, to whose most valuable judgment I\n had the pleasure to submit the question, prefers the\n derivation from _bh\u00e1sh_, because this word in Zend would be\n _w\u00e2sh_, as the Zend _w_ represents exactly the Sanscrit\n _bh_, which aspiration did not exist in the ancient idiom of\n Bactrian Asia. This sagacious philologer hinted at a\n comparison with the Persian _usta_, or _awesta_, upon which\n in a subsequent note.\n\n [26] See the Persian text of the Das\u00e1tir, p. 377.\n\n [27] _Tableau de l\u2019Empire ottoman_, by M. d\u2019Ohson, t. II. p.\n 70.\n\n [28] _Journal des Savans_, _f\u00e9vrier_ 1821, p. 74. The\n Persian passage which de Sacy quotes, and in which there is\n _Dest\u00e1nir_ for _Das\u00e1tir_, is taken from the text published\n by Gladwin, and not from the printed Calcutta edition.\n\n [29] See Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British\n India and its Dependencies, vol. VIII., from July to Dec.\n 1819, p. 357.\n\n [30] The _Des\u00e1tir_, or sacred writings of the ancient\n Persian prophets in the original tongue; with the ancient\n Persian version, and commentary of the fifth Sasan;\n published by Mulla Firuz Bin-i-Kaus. Bombay, 1818. Mulla\n Firuz is supposed to possess the only copy of the Des\u00e1tir\n extant. He allowed sir John Malcolm to take a copy of it,\n which, by some accident, was lost by Doctor Leyden\u2015\u2015(See\n Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, pp. 342 and 349).\n\n [31] Mohsan Fani marks the time of his composing the\n Dabistan (vol. II. p. 50) to be the year of the Hejira 1055\n (A. D. 1645).\n\n [32] See _Journal des Savans_, No. for January, 1821, p. 16.\n\n [33] Lucretius, book V., Transl. of Dr. Creech:\n \u201c\u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 putare aliquem tum nomina distribuisse\n Rebus, et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima\n Desipere est.\u201d\n\n [34] Richardson\u2019s Dictionary, preface, lxvii.\n\n [35] This man, who never told his true name, was from the\n age of fifteen to seventeen a private teacher\u2015\u2015then passed\n for an Irishman\u2015\u2015went to Rome as a pilgrim with a habit\n stolen from before an altar where it was lying as a votive\n offering of another pilgrim\u2015\u2015wandered about in Germany,\n Brabant, Flanders\u2015\u2015indolent, abject, shameless, covered with\n vermin and sores\u2015\u2015entered the military service of Holland,\n which he left to become waiter in a coffee-house in\n Aix-la-Chapelle\u2015\u2015enlisted in the troops of the elector of\n Cologne. He acted all these parts, with those\n above-mentioned, before he was baptised under the name of\n George, by a Scotch clergyman, and, having learned English,\n passed over to England to be protected by Compton, the\n lord-bishop of London. At the expense of the latter, he\n studied at Oxford\u2015\u2015became a preceptor\u2015\u2015chaplain of a\n regiment\u2015\u2015fell back into indolence, and lived upon\n alms.\u2015\u2015(See A New and General Dictionary, London, 1798, vol.\n XII; and _Vie de plusieurs Personnages c\u00e9l\u00e8bres des Temps\n anciens et modernes, par C. A. Walckenaer, membre de\n l\u2019Institut, tome II._ 1830.)\n\n [36] This change took place in his thirty-second year\u2015\u2015he\n learned Hebrew and became an honest man, esteemed by Samuel\n Johnson; he wrote eleven articles in a well-known work, the\n Universal History, and his own Life at the age of\n seventy-three years; the latter work was published after his\n death, which happened in his eighty-fourth year, in 1763.\n\n [37] See _Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits_, vol. IX. pp.\n 365-396.\n\n [38] I am here applying to the forger of a language what\n Lucretius, in continuation of his above quoted verses (p.\n xxx), urges against the belief that a single individual\n could ever have been the inventor of human speech.\n\n [39] By Norris, _Asiatic Journal_, vol. IX., November, 1820,\n p. 430.\n\n [40] _Journal des Savans_, February, 1821, pp. 69-70.\n\n [41] See Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, vol. II.: \u201cOn\n the Authenticity of the Des\u00e1tir, with remarks on the Account\n of the Mahabadi Religion contained in the Dabistan,\u201d by\n William Erskine, esq., p. 360.\n\n [42] The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British\n India and its Dependencies, Novemb. 1820, p. 421 _et seq._\n\n [43] The work quoted, p. 360.\n\n [44] The Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 421 _et seq._\n\n [45] An Essay on the best means of ascertaining the\n affinities of Oriental languages, by baron W. Humboldt, in\n the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great\n Britain and Ireland, vol. II. part I. p. 213.\n\n [46] Colonel Harriot on the Oriental Origin of the Gypsies.\n _Ibid._, 518.\n\n [47] Erskine, _loco cit._, p. 372.\n\n [48] See _R\u00e9flexions sur l\u2019\u00c9tude des Langues asiatiques,\n adress\u00e9es \u00e0 sir James Mackintosh_. Bonn, 1832, pp. 51-52.\n\n [49] See Asiatic Researches, vol. VIII. Lond. ed. 8. p. 254.\n\n [50] See _Heidelberger Jahrb\u00fccher der Literatar Vom J\u00e4nner\n te Juni 1823_, N\u1d52\u02e2 6. 12. 13. 18. 20.\n\n [51] See _Journal asiatique, tome XII. juillet 1833_, pp.\n 24-26.\n\n [52] _Ibidem_, pp. 20-21. Deri was spoken on the other side\n of the Oxus, and at the foot of the Paropamisus in Balkh,\n Meru, in the Badakhshan, in Bokhara and Bamian. The Pehlevi\n was used in Media proper, in the towns of Rai, Hamadan,\n Ispahan, Nehawend, and Tabriz, the capital of Azar\n b\u00edj\u00e1n.\u2015\u2015Beside the Deri and Pehlevi, Persian dictionaries\n reckon five other dialects, altogether twelve dialects, of\n ancient and modern Persian.\n\n [53] _Tholuck_. _Sufismus, sive Theosophia Pantheistica_, p.\n 111.\n\n [54] Norris, Asiatic Journal, November, 1820, p. 430.\n\n [55] Clio, lib. I.\n\n [56] In the Bible it is called Paras, or Faras, and reckoned\n as extensive as Great and Little Armenia, or as Hungary,\n Transylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia together.\u2015\u2015(See\n _Gatterer\u2019s Weltgeschichte II^{ter} Theil, Seite 9_.)\n\n [57] In the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.\n\n [58] See _Observations sur les Monumens historiques de\n l\u2019ancienne Perse, par \u00c9tienne Quatrem\u00e8re_. _Journal des\n Savans_, _juin et juillet_ 1840, pp. 347-348.\n\n [59] The Orientals place him in the tenth century B. C.\n\n [60] According to Richardson (see the preface of his Dict.,\n p. vi), the Farsi was peculiarly cultivated by the great and\n learned, above 1200 years before the Muhammedan era, _i. e._\n above 600 years B. C., which epoch is commonly assigned to\n Gushtasp\u2019s reign.\n\n [61] See Hammer\u2019s _Sch\u00f6ne Redek\u00fcnste Persiens, Seite 3 et\n seq._\n\n [62] Strabo, who flourished in the beginning of the\n Christian era, and drew his information mostly from the\n historians of Alexander, refers probably to the time of the\n Macedonian conquest, when he says (xv. 2, \u00a7 8, fol. 724,\n edit. Cas.): that the Medians, Persians, Arians, Baktrians,\n and Sogdians spoke almost the same language. This probably\n was that of the then leading nation, the Persian.\n\n [63] Hammer, _loc. cit._, p. 7.\n\n [64] Works of sir W. Jones, vol. V. p. 426, Transactions of\n the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. II. p. 297.\n\n [65] _Loco cit._, p. 363.\n\n [66] See the preface to the most valuable work _Le Divan\n d\u2019Amro\u2019lkais_, par le baron Mac Guckin de Slane, Paris,\n 1837, pp. viii and ix. The learned author confirms that\n celebrated Arabian poems existed before the introduction of\n the Muhammedan religion, which, for a certain time, averted\n the Arabs from the cultivation of poetry and history. We\n shall here add (which would have been more appropriately\n placed in the note upon Amro\u2019lKais, in vol. III p. 65, and\n will correct the same) that this poet (see _loc. cit._, p.\n xvi _et seq._) flourished at an epoch anterior to Muhammed,\n and died probably before the birth of that extraordinary man.\n\n [67] _Loco citato_, p. 372.\n\n [68] See vol. I. pp. 87 _et seq._\n\n [69] _Heidelberger Jahrb\u00fccher, loc. cit. Seite_ 313.\n\n [70] The Dabist\u00e1n (see Pers. text, Calcutta edit., p. 69,\n and English transl., vol. I. p. 145) quotes verses\n containing this profession, addressed by Khosru Parviz to a\n Roman emperor, whose name, however, is not mentioned. During\n the reign of this Persian king, two emperors ruled in the\n East, namely, Mauritius, whose daughter Parviz married,\n and Heraclius, by whom he was defeated towards the end of\n his life. I found it probable, but had no authority to\n assert (see vol. I. p. 145, note 2), that the above-stated\n profession was made to Mauritius; but those verses by\n themselves deserve attention, as they establish the adherence\n of Parviz to the religion of Hoshang, in contradiction to\n several historians, according to whom he adopted Christianity:\n this assertion seems founded upon his great attachment to\n the celebrated _Mary_, or _Chir\u00edn_, his Christian wife, and\n daughter of a Christian emperor, the said Mauritius.\n\n [71] Muhammed, when informed of the ignominious reception\n which the Persian king gave to his letter and ambassador,\n said: \u201cGod will tear his empire, as he tore my letter, to\n pieces.\u201d\u2015\u2015(Herbelot.)\n\n [72] The Des\u00e1tir, p. 99.\n\n\n\n\nPART II.\n\nSYNOPSIS OF THE DYNASTIES, RELIGIONS, SECTS, AND PHILOSOPHIC OPINIONS,\nTREATED OF IN THE DABISTAN.\n\n\n\u00a7 I.\u2015\u2015THE FIRST RELIGION\u2015\u2015THE DYNASTIES OF MAHABAD, ABAD AZAR, SHAI\nABAD, SHAI GILIV, SHAI MAHBUL, AND YASAN.\n\nMohsan Fani exhibits the remarkable notions, dogmas, customs, and\nceremonies of twelve religions, and their various sects, without\ngiving more of their origin and genesis than the names of their\nfounders. The very first principle of all religion is referred, by\nsome, to a primitive Divine revelation; by others, to a natural\npropensity of the human mind to superstition. However this may be,\nhistory confirms the suggestions of psychology, that admiration was\none of the principal sources of religious feelings; how should man not\nbe struck with the glories of the sky? Therefore, the adoration of\nstars was one of the most ancient religions. It needed no prophet: it\nis \u201c_the poetry of heaven_,\u201d imprinted in eternal characters of fire\nupon the ethereal expanse. Prometheus, enumerating the benefits which\nhe bestowed upon untutored barbarians, says:[73]\n\n \u201c\u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 At random all their works\n Till I instructed them to mark the stars,\n Their rising, and, a harder science yet,\n Their setting.\u201d[74]\n\nAccording to all traditions, astronomy was one of the first sciences\ncultivated by men.[75] The stars not only occasioned the institution,\nbut also served to announce the regular return, of religious feasts;\nthus they became, as called by Plato, \u201cthe instruments of time,\u201d men\nwere at once induced and taught by religion to count months and years.\nAstronomy, in her feast-calendars, consecrated upon an altar the first\nfruits of her labors.\n\nUpon the star-paved path of heaven man was conducted to the sanctuary\nof the supreme Being. In general, the first feeling of \u201cthe Divine (\u03c4\u03bf\n\u03b8\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bf\u03bd),\u201d seizing the human mind with its own supernatural power,\nelevated it at once above the material concerns of the nether world;\nthus, sublime ideas of the Deity, the universe, and the immortality of\nthe soul preceded the invention of many arts and sciences relative to\nthe comforts of social life. This is confirmed by the account,\ncontained in the Dabist\u00e1n, of the most ancient religion of the\nPersians, which is founded upon transcendental ideas of the Divinity:\n\u201cExcept God himself, who can comprehend his origin? Entity, unity,\nidentity are inseparable properties of this original essence, and are\nnot adventitious to Him.\u201d So the Des\u00e1tir, with which the Dabist\u00e1n\ngenerally so fully agrees, that we can scarce doubt that the author of\nthe latter had the former before his eyes.\n\nNo sooner has man acquired the consciousness of mental freedom, than\nhe endeavors to expand beyond himself the first vague feeling of the\nDivine; not satisfied to admire all exterior marvel, he desires to\nunderstand and to name its interior moving cause: this is something\nimmaterial; it is a soul, such as acts in himself. Among the ancient\nIranians, the \u201cfirst creation of the existence-bestowing bounty\u201d was\nthe intellectual principle, called _Azad Bahman_, \u201cthe first\nintelligence;\u201d he is also the first angel; from him other spirits or\nangels proceed. Every star, every heavenly sphere has its particular\nintelligence and spirit or angel. In the lower region, each of the\nfour elements owns its particular guardian; vegetables, minerals,\nanimals have their protecting angels; the conservative angel of\nmankind is _Farun Faro Vakshur_. It is not without reason, that this\nreligion was called \u201cthe religion of light.\u201d As the supreme Being\n\n \u201cSow\u2019d with stars the heav\u2019n thick as the field.\u201d[76]\n\nSo also he peopled the vast extent with the \u201csons of light, the\nempyreal host of angels,\u201d who not only moved and governed the\ncelestial orbs, but also descended into the elemental regions to\ndirect, promote, and protect his creation. Not a drop of dew fell\nwithout an angel. The Hindus and Greeks animated universal nature; the\nPersians imparadized the whole creation by making it the abode of\nangels. Hence demonology in all its extent. But, \u201c_among_ the most\nresplendent, powerful, and glorious of the servants who are free from\ninferior bodies and matter, there is none God\u2019s enemy or rival, or\ndisobedient, or cast down, or annihilated.\u201d This important passage of\nthe Des\u00e1tir[77] I shall have occasion to refer to hereafter.\n\nHuman souls are eternal and infinite; they come from above, and are\nspirits of the upper spheres. If distinguished for knowledge and\nsanctity, while on earth, they return above, are united with the sun,\nand become empyreal sovereigns; but if the proportion of their good\nworks bore a closer affinity to any other star, they become lords of\nthe place assigned to that star; their stations are in conformity with\nthe degrees of their virtue; perfect men attain the beatific vision of\nthe light of lights, and the cherubine hosts of the supreme Lord. Vice\nand depravity, on the contrary, separate souls from the primitive\nsource of light, and chain them to the abode of the elements: they\nbecome evil spirits. The imperfectly good migrate from one body to\nanother, until, by the efficacy of good words and actions, they are\nfinally emancipated from matter, and gain a higher rank. The\nthoroughly-depraved descend from the human form to animal bodies, to\nvegetable, and even to mineral substances.\n\nSo far we see the well-known dogma of transmigration ingeniously\ncombined with the Sidereal religion. Here is exhibited a singular\nsystem of heavenly dominion, maintained by every star, whether fixed\nor planetary, during periods of many thousand years. A fixed star\nbegins the revolution, and reigns alone, the king of the cycle, during\na millenium, after which, each of the fixed and planetary stars\nbecomes its partner or prime-minister for a thousand years; the last\nof all is the moon, for a millenium. Then the sovereignty of the first\nking devolves to the star which was its first associate. This second\nking goes through the same course as the first, until this becomes for\na thousand years his partner, and then his period is also past. The\nsame is the course of all other stars. When the moon shall have been\nking, and all stars associated with it and its reign too past, then\none great period shall be accomplished. The state of the revolving\nworld recommences, the human beings, animals, vegetables, and\nminerals, which existed during the first cycle, are restored to their\nformer language, acts, dispositions, species, and appearances; the\nworld is renovated, that is to say, forms, similar to those which\npassed away, reappear. This system, copied from the Des\u00e1tir,[78]\nexpresses nothing else but the general vague idea of long heavenly\nrevolutions, and periodical renovations of the same order of things in\nthe nether world.\n\nThe Dabist\u00e1n[79] adds a mode of computing as peculiar to the followers\nof the ancient faith: they call one revolution of the regent Saturn a\nday; thirty such days one month; twelve such months one year; a\nmillion of such years one _fard_; a million fard one _vard_; a million\nvard one _mard_; a million vard one _jad_; three thousand jads one\n_vad_; and two thousand v\u00e1d one _z\u00e1d_. To these I must subjoin\n_salam_, _shamar_, _aspar_, _radah_, _aradah_, _raz_, _araz_,\n_biaraz_, that is, eight members of a geometric progression, the first\nof which is 100,000, and the coefficient 100. But these years are\nrevolutions, called _farsals_, of thirty common years each. There are\nbesides farsals of Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the moon, a day of each\nbeing the time of their respective revolution.\n\nI thought it necessary to repeat these extravagant numbers, because it\nis by them that the reigns of the first ancient dynasties are\nmeasured.[80] The first earthly ruler of the present cycle, who with\nhis wife survived the great period to become the first ancestor of a\nnew innumerable population, was _Mahabada_. This name seems of\nSanscrit derivation.[81] In his reign we find traced the first\nground-lines of all human societies; agriculture and the arts of life\nare invented; villages and cities organised; four classes of society\nestablished\u2015\u2015priests, warriors, agriculturists, and tradesmen. The\nnames of these classes are in the Dabist\u00e1n much like those of the four\nHindu _castes_, but the Des\u00e1tir and the Shahnamah have other\ndenominations, belonging to an ancient Persian dialect,[82] for these\ndivisions, which originated in the indispensable wants of a rising\nsociety. This institution connects itself with the principles of\nsocial morality: men are bound to each other by the laws of justice\nand mutual kindness, which is extended even to all innoxious\ncreatures. To Mahabad the _Des\u00e1tir_ was sent, a celestial code, and\nhis faith was maintained through the whole series of his fourteen\nsuccessors; the number of whom reminds us of the fourteen Indian\nManus; they are said to have reigned six hundred and six trillions of\nyears.\n\nTo the Mahabadians succeeded _Abad Azar_, who soon withdrew from\ngovernment, and devoted himself to solitude and piety. After him, the\nhitherto fortunate state of society changed into war, confusion, and\nanarchy. His son, _Jai Afram_, was called to the throne, and restored\npeace and order in the world, giving his name to a new dynasty. After\nthis, four other princely families are named, that of _Shai Abad_,\n_Shai Giliv_, _Shai Mahbul_, and _Yasan_.[83] I shall not count the\nmany millions of years during which they ruled; all that is said of\ntheir reigns appears nothing but a repetition of the first; a period\nof peace, order, and happiness is followed by war, disorder, and\nmisery, until a revolution renews the state of things. Such traditions\nof a progress and regress in virtue and happiness, and of repeated\nchanges from one condition to another, are not destitute of general\ntruth. The moral is not, more than the physical world, exempt from\nrevolutions. These, although their date cannot be determined, have\nleft behind them undeniable traces, and without a reference to them,\nwe could not explain so much of the strangeness, incoherence, and\nheterogeneity in the history of men and nature.\n\nThus I have slightly sketched the principal features of the religion\nwhich prevailed among the first Persian dynasties; these, not\nmentioned in other historical books, are we know peculiar to the\nDes\u00e1tir and Dabist\u00e1n, which appeared to sir W. Jones an\nunexceptionable authority for believing the Iranian monarchy \u201cthe\noldest in the world.\u201d Upon this, W. Erskine remarked:[84] \u201cShall I be\nforgiven for saying, that the history of letters seems to me scarcely\nto afford an instance of a more perverted judgment on historical\nevidence?\u201d Silvestre de Sacy[85] too \u201cbanishes among the most absurd\nfables the dynasties of the Mahabadians, and of their successors,\nwhich sir William Jones, and after him some other Orientalists, have\ntoo hastily adopted, and of which they would to-day blush, since their\ntitles have been produced.\u201d More recently, William von Schlegel[86]\nsaid: \u201cIt would be useless to conceal to the public that that learned\nman, endowed with talents so rare, was totally deficient in historical\ncriticism:\u201d This was inferred, because he had admitted, and used in\nsome of his considerations, as genuine, a forgery of Wilford\u2019s Pandit.\nBesides, \u201che received without diffidence, and even welcomed with\nenthusiasm, the traditions contained in the Dabist\u00e1n, a modern Persian\nbook, written with _the intention to claim for Persia the pre-eminence\nover India with respect to the antiquity of religious revelations_.\u201d\n\nAs to \u201cthe intention\u201d mentioned, I hope to be able to justify Mohsan\nFani. With respect to the Mahabadian dynasties\u2015\u2015the light recently\nacquired upon the ancient history of Persia, reflect rather favorably\nupon that part of sir William Jones\u2019s opinion, that this country, in\nits wide extent, was once the original seat of many nations now\nsettled in distant regions. So much, at least, may be considered as\nestablished: 1. that the limits of history are to be removed further\nback than those before fixed; 2. that in the earliest times primitive\nnations, related by language to each other, had their origin in the\ncommon elevated country of central Asia, and that the Iranians and\nIndians were once united before their migration into Iran and\nIndia.[87] This great fact presents itself, as it were, upon the\nborder of a vast abyss of unknown times.\n\nFor these a measure was sought. Hence we meet with extravagant, but\nperpetually recurring chronological statements. The Mahabadian ages\nare neither better nor worse, as to accuracy, than the Indian yugs,\nthe Chaldean,[88] or other periods. In order to reduce them to their\ntrue value, we must consider them as nothing else than expressions of\nthe ideas which the ancients entertained of the antiquity of the world\nand human society, in which they cannot be easily refuted, and at\nleast are not absurd. Such ideas originated, when man, curious after\nhis past, had long ceased to be a listless barbarian; but the earliest\ncivilisation is a late product of slow-working time, the memory of\nwhich could have been preserved only by monuments. The most ancient of\nthese however are but recent in our historical knowledge, the limits\nof which are far from being those of antiquity. The duration of\nante-historical empires, in printless but extensive spaces of times,\nescapes research and computation. As men, however, bear with\nimpatience vague and loose ideas, the Persians, as well as other\nnations, determined the past by numbers formed from the multiplication\nof some astronomical periods known in early times, as has been\nobserved:[89] this appears to me at once the whole truth and falsehood\nof those statements. In the utter impossibility to reconcile the\ndiscordant data of different nations, we must content ourselves to\ntake up the general ideas and facts in which they all agree, whilst in\nthe particulars they all differ. Thus, in laying down maps of\ncountries little known, we are satisfied with tracing the general\ndirection of some rivers and mountains, and abstain from topographical\ndetails.\n\n\n [73] \u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03bc\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u03c5\u03c2 \u03b4\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u03c9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2,\n \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u1f04\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u03b3\u03bd\u03ce\u03bc\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c0\u1fb6\u03bd\n \u1f1c\u03c0\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd, \u1f14\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b5 \u03b4\u03ae \u03c3\u03c6\u03b9\u03bd \u1f00\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03bb\u1f70\u03c2 \u1f10\u03b3\u1f7c\n \u0391\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bd \u1f14\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03be\u03b1, \u03c4\u03ac\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b5 \u03b4\u03c5\u03c3\u03ba\u03c1\u03af\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u03b4\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2.\n (v. 457-459).\n\n [74] Transl. by Dr. Potter.\n\n [75] Hyde, who did not know the Dabist\u00e1n, says (p. 188):\n that a year, or calendar, of Median invention was introduced\n in Persia, before Jamshid, that is, according to Ferdusi\u2019s\n not irrational chronology, earlier than 3429 before our era.\n\n [76] Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost, b. VII. v. 358.\n\n [77] The book of Shet Shai Kiliv, v. 59. p. 56.\n\n [78] Bombay edit. Engl. transl., pp. 19. 20.\n\n [79] Vol. I. p. 14. The Bombay Des\u00e1tir does not mention the\n revolution of Saturn, and states differently the value of\n fard, mard, etc., etc.\n\n [80] It is known that in India, and perhaps all over Asia,\n the number of ciphers not followed by a significative\n number, is indifferent, and indicates nothing else but\n magnitude. Thus the Hindus, to determine positively\n hundreds, thousands, etc., affix the required figure at the\n end: for instance, to determine 100 rupees to be given, they\n write 101.\n\n [81] The word is perhaps a form of the Sanscrit _Mah\u00e1bodhi_,\n \u201ca great deified teacher.\u201d In the Burhani Kati we find six\n significations attributed to the word _Abad_; these are: 1.\n cultivated; 2. praise and prayer; 3. exclamation of praise;\n 4. the name of the Kaba; 5. the name of the first Persian\n prophet; 6. good and beauteous.\n\n [82] See vol. I. pp. 19-20.\n\n [83] I have (see vol. I. p. 26, note 1) derived this name\n from the Sanscrit _yas_, \u201cglory, honor.\u201d In Burhan Katii it\n is interpreted by \u201cwhat is convenient.\u201d\n\n [84] _Loco cit._, p. 342.\n\n [85] _Journ. des Savans, f\u00e9vrier 1821_, p. 69.\n\n [86] See _R\u00e9flexions sur l\u2019\u00c9tude des Langues orientales_,\n _loc. cit._, p. 51.\n\n [87] See the development of these ideas in _Erdkunde von\n Carl Ritter_, _VIII^{ter} Theil_; _III^{ter} Buch_, _West-asien\n Seiten_ 105-109, with reference to _E. Burnouf Comment. sur\n le Yacna_, pp. 461, 563.\n\n [88] We may be here permitted to call to mind the eras of\n the Chaldeans, who, according to Berosus, Epigenes, Diodorus\n of Sicily, Abydenus counted 490,000, 720,000, 473,000,\n 463,763 years. They are said to have exhibited, before\n Alexander\u2019s conquest in Asia, historical annals for 150,000\n years.\n\n [89] See p. lxvii.\n\n\n\u00a7 II.\u2015\u2015THE PESHDADIAN, KAYANIAN, ASHKANIAN, AND\nSASSANIAN DYNASTIES\u2015\u2015THEIR RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL\nINSTITUTIONS.\n\nAfter the four dynasties mentioned follows the _Gilshanian_, monarchy,\nfounded by _Gilshah_, or _Kayomers_, \u201cthe king or form of earth.\u201d[90]\nWe are now upon well-known ground, and hear familiar names of four\nraces: the _P\u00e9shdadian_, _Kayanian_, _Ashkaniun_, and _Sassanian_, to\nwhich, altogether, the Dabist\u00e1n attributes a period of 6024 years,\ndiffering considerably from that of other Asiatic chronologers.[91]\n\nSir William Jones was right when he declared,[92] that \u201cthe annals of\nthe _P\u00e9shdadi_ (or Assyrian) race must be obscure and fabulous; those\nof the Kay\u00e1n\u00ed family, or the Medes and Persians, heroic and poetic:\u201d\nannals gathered from oral traditions can be but such as the great\nOrientalist characterises those of the mentioned dynasties. But it was\nin his younger years, before he had enlarged his views upon the\nhistory of mankind, that he fixed the origin of the Persian monarchy\nso late as 890 years before our era;[93] afterwards, in India, he\nrefuted his former notions, and ranged more freely in the expanded\nfields of antiquity. I shall add that Ferdusi places the beginning of\nGilshah\u2019s reign 3529 years before Christ, an epoch which receives\nsynchronical confirmation from our daily-increasing knowledge of the\nantiquity of China, India, Assyria, Egypt, and other states.\n\nThe fundamental religion remains the same: a celestial volume called\n_Payman-i-farhang_, in perfect accord with the Mahabadian code, is\ntransmitted to Kayomers. So the Dabist\u00e1n: but, in the Des\u00e1tir, the\nfour books ascribed to the first four Mahabadian prophet-kings contain\nthe purest deism, and although the foundation of astrolatry and\ndemonolatry may be perceived in the cosmology of the first book, yet\nthese did not form a positive worship, which develops itself in the\nseven planetary books of the seven subsequent Persian kings, to wit:\n_Kayomers_, _Siamok_, _Hushang_, _Tahm\u00faras_, _Jamshid_, _Feridun_, and\n_Menocheher_. Under these monarchs, a particular worship was rendered\nto the seven planets, as to mediators between God and men; the\ndescription of the forms under which they have been adored, is not, to\nmy knowledge, found in any other book but the Dabist\u00e1n.\n\nSuperstition is certainly as ancient as human nature itself; it is\nimpossible to fix the epoch at which particular opinions and practices\noriginated, such as the eighty-four sitting-postures at prayer; the\nsuppression of the breath for the abstraction of thought; the mystical\nand fantastical notions upon vision and revelation; and particularly\nthe belief that a man may attain the faculty to quit and to reassume\nhis body, or to consider it as a loose garment, which he may put off\nat pleasure for ascending to the world of light, and on his return be\nreunited with the material elements. All these matters are considered\nas very ancient.\n\nWe find in the Dabist\u00e1n a curious account of Persian sects under\ndifferent names, such as _Abadians_, _Azur-H\u00fashangians_,\n_Jamshaspians_, _Samradians_, _Khodaiyans_, _Radians_, _Shidrangians_,\n_Paikarians_, _Milanians_, _Alarians_, _Shidabians_, _Akshiyans_. The\nfounders of these sects are placed so far back as the reigns of\nJamshid and Zohak. Individuals professing the particular creed of each\nof these sects were living in the time of the author of the Dabist\u00e1n,\nwho was personally acquainted with several of them, and imparts the\ninformation which he had himself received from their lips. He gives\nwith particular care an account of the before-mentioned Azar\nKaivan,[94] the chief of the later _Abad\u00edans_ and _Azar-Hushangians_.\nThe doctrine of these sectaries contained peculiar notions about God\u2019s\nnature and attributes, and the world; the latter was to some an\nillusion; God himself but an idea. To others, God was every thing, to\nbe served alone without a mediator between him and mankind;\nthe heavens and the stars were his companions. God was the\nsun\u2015\u2015fire\u2015\u2015air\u2015\u2015water\u2015\u2015earth; he was the essence of the elements: from\nevery one of these divine principles the heavens, stars, and the whole\nworld proceeded. These were some of the fundamental principles of\ntheir metaphysical religion.\n\nTheir morality appears to have consisted in the acknowledgment of all\nnatural virtues; piety, justice, charity, sobriety; wine and strong\ndrinks were forbidden; above all a tenderness towards all living\ncreatures was recommended; and the severity against those who slew\ninnoxious animals was carried to such an excess, than even sons\npunished their fathers with death, and fathers their sons, for the\nslaughter of a sheep or an elk.[95]\n\nTheir political constitution appears from the earliest time to have\nbeen that of an absolute monarchy: this is the curse attached to\nAsiatics. The king was to be of a noble descent, and bound to\nacknowledge the _Farhang-Abad_, \u201ccode of Abad.\u201d All dignities,\nmilitary and civil, were hereditary from father to son. The royal\ncourt and inner apartments appear to have been regulated in much the\nsame manner as they are still in Asia; his cup-bearers and familiar\nservants, as well as those of his sons, and other nobles, were always\nfemales.\n\nThe interior administration of cities and villages is sufficiently\ndetailed in the Dabist\u00e1n. An active police was established, with\nnumerous spies and secret reporters, for the security of government.\nWe are glad to find in such early times hospitals for the relief of\nthe suffering, and caravansaras for the convenience of travellers.\nMoreover, post-stations of horses and messengers were distributed for\nthe rapid communication of news, from all sides of the vast empire, to\nthe monarch.[96]\n\nNot a little care was bestowed upon the discipline and continual\nexercise of numerous armies. The military chiefs were distinguished by\nthe magnificent decorations of their persons, horses, and arms, in\nwhich they prided themselves. They were bound to treat their soldiers\nkindly, nay, obliged to produce certificates, from their subordinates,\nof having behaved well towards them. An order of battle was\nprescribed, in which they were to encounter the enemy; no plunder\nafter victory was permitted; they never slew, nor treated with\nviolence, a man who had thrown down his arms and asked for quarter.\n\nHistory may well be referred to religion, which is an ancient\nintellectual monument, living in the human soul from generation to\ngeneration. I have hitherto marked two religious periods: the first,\nthat of the _Des\u00e1tir_, through the Mahabadian dynasty; the second,\nthat of _Paiman-\u00ed-Farhang_, prevailing during the P\u00e9sh-dadi-race until\nthe middle of the Kayanian reign; I now come to the third.\n\n\n [90] The first word is pure Persian; the other may be\n derived from the Sanscrit _kaya_, \u201cbody, form,\u201d and _mrita_,\n \u201cearth.\u201d\n\n [91] See vol. I. p. 31, note 1.\n\n [92] His Works, vol. III. the sixth Anniversary Discourse,\n p. 108.\n\n [93] _Ibid._, vol. XII. p. 399.\n\n [94] See page 63.\n\n [95] See vol. I. pp. 181. 184.\n\n [96] _Parasang_, _Farsang_, even in our days a Persian word,\n is found and determined as a lineal measure of distances in\n Herodotus, lib. II. V. and VI.\n\n\n\u00a7 III.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF ZARDUSHT, OR ZOROASTER.\n\nAll religions are said to have deviated from their primitive\nsimplicity and purity, as men advanced in knowledge and civilisation.\nThis is true but in a restricted and distinctive sense, and may be\nexplained, even without yielding to our habit of considering that\nwhich is more remote and less known as holier than that which is\nnearer and better examined. Thus, we may admit that the impressions\nmade upon men in the first stage of expanding reason are stronger and\nmore vivid, the less they are distracted by simultaneous and\ncorrelative associations; one great idea is enough to fill their whole\nmind, and admits of no rival, of no commixture with any thing else;\ncuriosity, versatility, luxuriancy of intellect are not yet known;\nconstancy is a necessity in a small compass of ideas. We have already\ntouched[97] upon the powerful effect which the early perception of the\n_Divine_ produced upon man: but he soon circumscribed what was too\nvast or his comprehension in a perceptible object\u2015\u2015heaven, sun, fire,\nto which he offered his adoration; he wanted a visible type or image\nof the invisible Divinity; but, his means of formation being at first\nvery confined, he contented himself with the most simple\nrepresentation: he had a symbol, an idol in a grove or cavern, but not\nyet a Pantheon. Simplicity may be a mere restriction to one object or\nto few objects; purity, nothing else but homogeneity in good or bad,\ntrue or false; we shall not confound them with rationality, which may\nsubsist with multiplicity and mixture. Thus, the adoration of one\ndeified man, one great serpent, one huge stone, is by no means more\nrational than the worship of numerous generations of gods, the\ningenious personification sof multiform nature, ever acknowledged as\nthe genuine offspring of the happy marriage between intellect and\nimagination. In the absence of arts and riches, worship is rude and\ndestitute of showy accessories. Afterwards, the development of the\nunderstanding widens the field of reasoning, the fertility of which\nmay be attested more by the shoot of weeds than by the growth of\nfruits: error prevails over truth; the increase of manifold resources\nfacilitates and prompts superfetation of exterior religion. Besides,\nthe impressions, by which the first legislator attached his followers\nto his doctrine, are effaced by time; the first traditions, obscured,\nconfused, and altered; faith is weakened, and an opening made for\nchange in belief, practice, and morals. A change, merely as such, is\nconsidered as a corruption by the adherents of the old creed. Finally,\nrevolutions, interior and exterior, deteriorate or destroy religion\nand civilisation.\n\nThese reflexions, with the explanation previously given as to the\nvarious notions of which the religions in Asia were composed, will\nclearly show that, in the course of ages, a reform of astrolatry,\npyrolatry, and idolatry, the branches of Sab\u00e6ism and Mezdaism, became\ndesirable; and _Zardusht_, or _Zoroaster_, appeared.\n\nIn the notes placed at the bottom of the pages containing Mohsan\nFani\u2019s account of Zoroaster,[98] will be found some of the principal\nresults of the investigations which have been made in Europe\nrespecting this legislator. The name of Zoroaster was applied by some\nto the founder of Magism, or Sab\u00e6ism; we know also, that he has been\nidentified with many other prophets under different names, among whom\nis _Abraham_, called \u201cthe great Zardusht,\u201d and _Hom_, of so extensive\na celebrity, that his name is mentioned by Strabo as predecessor of\nZoroaster. No wonder that the name of the latter occurs in more or\nless remote times. According to the Dabist\u00e1n, he was born in Rai, a\ntown in the province of Jebal, or Irak Ajem, the country of the\nancient Parthians, and appeared as a reformer of religion, under the\nreign of _Gushtasp_, the fifth king of the Kayanian dynasty, by the\nOccidental historians generally identified with _Darius Hystaspes_.\nAlthough variously stated, this period is less subject to\nchronological difficulties than are many others; for, as Eastern and\nWestern historians agree in the epoch of Alexander\u2019s death (321 B.\nC.), we may from this, as from a fixed point, remount upwards to\nGushtasp; we find, according to some Orientals, five reigns in 228\nyears,[99] and therefore that of the said king, beginning 549 years\nbefore our era, whilst, according to the Occidentals, there are ten\nreigns within 200 years, from Alexander\u2019s conquest of Persia to Darius\nHystaspes, whose reign commences in 521 A. D. The discrepancy of\ntwenty-eight years is far from being unexampled, even in more known\nperiods, and may in this case be most easily and plausibly\nadjusted.[100]\n\nAccording to a wide-spread tradition, to which I shall have occasion\nto return, Gushtasp was instructed by Brahmans; pursuant to the\nDabist\u00e1n, his brother Jamasp was the pupil of the Indian\n_Jangran-ghachah_ (Sankara acharya)[101]. This sage, as soon as he\nheard of Gushtasp\u2019s listening to Zoroaster, wrote an epistle to\ndissuade the king from the adoption of the new creed; an interview\ntook place at Balkh between the Persian and Indian sages, and the\nlatter abandoned his religion upon hearing a _nosk_, or chapter of the\n_Zand-Avesta_.[102] This is the name of the work attributed to\nZoroaster himself, a part of which was brought to Europe, in the year\n1761, by Anquetil du Perron.\n\nThe author of the Dabist\u00e1n mentions the Zand-Avesta, and declares the\n_Mah-Zand_ to be a portion of the Des\u00e1tir, and the Zand books in\ngeneral conformable to the Mahabadian code. The fifth Sassan, the\ntranslator and commentator of the Des\u00e1tir, in a passage\nabove-quoted,[103] joins this work to the Avesta, and is said in the\nDabist\u00e1n to have made a translation of the code of Zardusht.\n\nGreat was the sensation caused among the learned of Europe at the\nfirst appearance of the works attributed to Zoroaster, published in\nFrench by Anquetil du Perron, in 1771. In a note of this volume[104]\nwill be found the names of the principal authors who declared\nthemselves for or against the authenticity of the Zoroastrian books.\nAmong those who combated it, sir William Jones was most conspicuous.\nSeventy years have since elapsed, and a learned controversy may now be\nconsidered as settled, nay, entirely forgotten, in the course of a\nmost eventful historical period. Nevertheless, the Des\u00e1tir is so\nclosely connected with the Zand-Avesta, that so much having been said\nof the one, the other should not be lightly discarded. The value and\nimportance of the Dabist\u00e1n rest chiefly upon the support of the two\ndocuments mentioned; on that account I may hope to be pardoned if I\nhere venture to repeat whatever facts and arguments appear to me to\nhave some bearing upon this work. But it was sir William Jones who\nthen roused the whole learned public into lively attention, and, I\ndare presume, that the subject may by itself at all times excite\nconsiderable interest.\n\nI shall quote the very words of lord Teignmouth concerning the French\nauthor before mentioned:[105] \u201cAnquetil had published in three quarto\nvolumes an account of his travels in India, the life of Zoroaster, and\nsome supposed works of that philosopher. To this publication he\nprefixed a Discourse, in which he treated the university of Oxford,\nand some of its learned members and friends of Mr. Jones, with\nridicule and disrespect. From the perusal of his works, Mr. Jones was\nlittle disposed to agree with Monsieur du Perron in the boasted\nimportance of his communication; he was disgusted with his vanity and\npetulance, and particularly offended by his illiberal attack upon the\nuniversity, which he respected, and upon the persons whom he esteemed\nand admired. The letter which he addressed to M. du Perron was\nanonymous; it was written with great force, and expresses his\nindignation and contempt with a degree of asperity which the judgment\nof maturer years would have disapproved.\u201d[106]\n\nThe letter alluded to contains most severe remarks, not only upon the\nZand-Avesta, but also upon Oriental studies in general: these are\nblows so much more sensible to Orientalists, as they come from a\nfriendly and most revered hand. Such was the ardor of a susceptible\nmind under the impression of having to vindicate the honor of his\nfriends, that he forgot for a moment the wreath which he had already\nwon in the career of Oriental literature; he had already composed his\ncommentary upon Asiatic poetry, and translated from the original\nPersian the Life of Nadir-shah; he had then no presentiment of the\nglory which he was destined to acquire by collecting, under the Indian\nheaven, the lore of antique Asia. As his French letter, written in a\nvery spirited and brilliant style, can never be read without causing a\ngreat impression, I shall be permitted to borrow from the writings of\nthis celebrated author himself some reflexions, which I think\nnecessary for placing in a right point of view Oriental studies in\ngeneral, and in particular the contents of the Dabist\u00e1n, inasmuch as\nthese are in some parts founded upon the Zand-Avesta, and in other\npoints of a nature similar to that so much ridiculed in that ingenious\nsatire.\n\nIf it were true, that Anquetil was wrong \u201cto affront death for\nprocuring us useless lights\u2015\u2015if the writings of Zoroaster are a\ncollection of galimatia\u2015\u2015if enlightened Europe had no need of his\nZand-Avesta, which he has translated to no purpose, and upon which he\nuselessly spent eighteen years, a time which ought to have been\nprecious to him\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u201d[107] then any similar attempts which have been or\nshall be made to procure, in Asia, and to publish ancient historical\ndocuments, are equally ridiculous and blamable. It is certainly not\nthe founder of a new era in Oriental literature whom we hear in these\nwords. Nobody knew better than he that, in Asia, the cradle of\nmankind, we must search for the most ancient documents to restore the\nlost history of mankind; and if all endeavors were to prove vain and\nuseless, still the merit of having attempted the attainment of a most\nlaudable purpose would remain. It is not unimportant to fix the limits\nwhich researches can reach, and beyond which nothing is to be gained;\nmen are benefitted and enriched at once by the saving of time and\ntrouble which preceding attempts teach; and by all the acquisitions\nwhich better directions render possible in a new and more profitable\ncareer. Should the bold navigators who strive to arrive at the pole\nnever attain their aim, still would their endeavors be worthy of\npraise; the smallest fragment of a rock, the slightest shoot of a\nplant, plucked off in the desert of eternal ice, in latitude\neighty-eight, would at home be regarded with lively interest, and\nnavigation have not a little gained in aid of other more fortunate\nundertakings.\n\nBut, who can like to read \u201cpuerile details, disgusting descriptions,\nbarbarous words\u2015\u2015Zoroaster could not have written such\nnonsense\u2015\u2015either he had no common sense, or he wrote not the book\nwhich Anquetil attributed to him.\u201d[108]\n\nAs much has been and may be said of the books attributed to other\nAsiatic legislators, who were nevertheless revered as sacred during\nmany ages by numerous nations. Until we properly understand the\nignorance and habitual ideas of Asiatics, we shall always remain\nignorant of what is proverbially called _the wisdom of the East_. To\nappreciate the just value of the ancient codes of laws, we ought to\nrepresent to ourselves the primitive children of the earth, as\nPrometheus describes them:\n\n \u201cThey saw, indeed, they heard; but what avail\u2019d\n Or sight, or sense of hearing, all things rolling,\n Like the unreal imagery of dreams,\n In wild confusion mix\u2019d! The lightsome wall\n Of finer masonry, the rafter\u2019d roof\n They knew not; but, like ants still buried, delved\n Deep in the earth, and scoop\u2019d their sunless caves.\n Unmark\u2019d the seasons chang\u2019d, the biting winter,\n The flow\u2019r-perfumed spring, the ripening summer,\n Fertile of fruits.\u201d[109]\n\nIt will then be felt how important it was to break the savage under\nthe yoke of seemingly puerile practices and customs. In a state which\nwas not unaptly called \u201cthe infancy of man,\u201d it was by no means absurd\nto ensure health by dietetical prescriptions, cleanliness by\nobligatory ablutions, and decency with convenience by a regulated\ndress; the _koshti_, \u201cthe girdle,\u201d of Zoroaster was then not so\nunmeaning as it now appears to us. It was necessary to educate the\nmoral sense by appropriate images, and to occupy conveniently, by\nfables, symbols, and mythical accounts, the first active faculty of\nthe soul, imagination. Although those men who, as legislators, were\nelevated above their barbarous age, could in many points but partake\nin the general imbecility and ignorance of an infant state of society,\nthey have nevertheless, among seemingly childish and absurd precepts,\npromulgated most luminous truths, better than which none have hitherto\nbeen known, even at the most advanced degree of civilisation. Any\ninformation above the common understanding of the age is justly called\n\u201ca revelation,\u201d and every nation has received some from their\nprophets, by which we have all benefited.[110] We, the youngest sons\nof science, ought to keep a grateful and reverential remembrance of\nour elder brothers. Let it be a subject of regret that, by the\nmaintenance of ancient institutions much longer than was required for\ntheir intended purpose, the intellectual growth of many Asiatic\nnations was stopped; thus they now appear made for their laws, whilst\ntheir laws were once made for them. After these and similar\nreflexions, we shall view Zoroaster\u2019s hundred gates, and the remains\nof his twenty-one nosks, as venerable monuments of an antique\ncivilisation, which ought never to be profaned by derision.\n\nUpon the Zand language, in which Zoroaster\u2019s laws were written, I\nrefer to the great philologers of our days, who have examined\nit\u2015\u2015Rask,[111] Bopp, Burnouf, Lassen, and others: it is one of the\nmost important conquests made in arch\u00e6ology and philology, and this we\nowe to Anquetil. When Jones[112] treated with such severity the\npublication of this French author, he could not foresee that he should\none day call forth to notoriety the Dabist\u00e1n, which rests in great\npart upon the authority of the Des\u00e1tir, and these very books to which\nhe refused all authenticity. Mohsan Fani, one hundred and twenty years\nbefore Anquetil, derived his information probably from other copies of\nZoroaster\u2019s works, and knew nothing of Western authors, yet his\nstatements agree with what the latter, before and after our era\nrelated, and most particularly with what the French discoverer\npublished of that ancient philosopher. Can it be supposed that all\nthese men of different nations, whose statements have thus coincided\nduring the lapse of more than two thousand years, have \u201cimposed upon\nthemselves, or been imposed upon by others concerning the pretended\nlaws of a pretended legislator?\u201d Anquetil deserved a better name than\nthat of \u201ca French adventurer, who translated the books ascribed to\nZoroaster, from the translation of a certain gypsy at Surat, and his\nboldness in sending them abroad as genuine\u201d[113] was not unsupported\nby judgment. If there was some folly and foppery to deride in a young\nman, who spoke of his _lilly-rosy cheeks and elegant figure_, there\nwas no \u201c_imposture_\u201d to detect, and too much acerbity shewn in\nretorting thoughtless indiscretions, exaggerated into \u201c_invectives_.\u201d\n\nSir William Jones, when he published the strictures which his\nantagonist, from pride or moderation, never answered, was but in his\ntwenty-fourth year and under the influence of youthful ardor. Eighteen\nyears after, in a discourse, addressed to the Asiatic Society of\nCalcutta, in 1789, he spoke with more moderation of Anquetil as\n\u201chaving had the merit of undertaking a voyage to India in his earliest\nyouth with no other view than to recover the writings of Zoroaster.\u201d\nThe illustrious president of that Society was not in the position to\nappreciate Anquetil\u2019s whole character, and died too soon to become\nacquainted with the brilliant reputation which the youthful voyager\nacquired in his maturer years as a learned member of the French\nAcademy of Letters, both in his own country and abroad.[114]\n\nThe Dabist\u00e1n informs us, that the Zand-books are of two kinds: the\none, perspicuous and without enigmatical forms of speech, is called\nthe _Mah-Zand_, \u201cgreat Zand;\u201d the second, abounding in enigmatic or\nfigurative language, is entitled _Kah-Zand_, \u201clittle Zand.\u201d The first,\nin most points speculative and practical, agrees with the Des\u00e1tir; the\nsecond is intended to prevent philosophy falling into the hands of the\nignorant, to whom an enigmatical veil is offered, whilst the sages\nknow the true purport of the pure doctrine. To king Gushtasp, his\nbrother Jamasp, his son Isfendiar, and to Bahman, the son of the\nlatter, were attributed the interpretations of Zoroaster\u2019s religious\nsystem, and many ingenious parables which, for their moral sense, may\nbe reckoned among the best specimens of this kind of popular\ninstruction.\n\nThis true statement, contained in the Dabistan,[115] corrects the\nassertion of sir William Jones,[116] that Mohsan Fani affirms \u201cthe\nwork of Zartusht to \u201chave been lost.\u201d The learned Orientalist\nevidently confounds the _Mah-zand_, which is said to be a portion of\nthe Des\u00e1tir, with the work of Zartusht. The writer of the Dabist\u00e1n\nenumerates[117] the twenty-one _nosks_ or books, of which the Zand was\ncomposed; he says:[117] \u201cAt present there are fourteen complete nosks,\npossessed by the Dosturs of Karman; the other seven being incomplete,\nas, through the wars and dissensions which prevailed in Iran some of\nthe nosks have disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the greatest\nresearches, the nosks have come into their hands in a defective\nstate.\u201d We find it expressly declared in the Dabist\u00e1n, on the\nauthority[118] of the Dostur who wrote the volume of the _Sad dur_,\n\u201cthe hundred gates,\u201d that \u201cthe excellent faith has been received from\nthe prophet Zartusht.\u201d In a particular section, intitled _Enumeration\nof some advantages which arise from the enigmatical forms of the\nprecepts of Zartusht\u2019s followers_, Mohsan not only adduces examples of\nZartushtian allegories, but subjoins his own interpretations of them;\nyet he never _affirms_, nor even insinuates \u201cthe place of Zoroaster\u2019s\nlost works to have been supplied by a recent compilation.\u201d Nor can we\nassent to the view, which sir W. Jones takes of the modern literature\nof the Mobeds, \u201cfor whom,\u201d he says,[119] \u201cas they continued to profess\namong themselves the religion of their forefathers, it became\nexpedient to supply the last or mutilated works of their legislator by\nnew compositions, partly from their imperfect recollection, and partly\nfrom such moral and religious knowledge as they gleaned, most probably\namong the Christians with whom they had an intercourse.\u201d\n\nTo settle our judgment upon this subject, we ought to recollect, that\nlanguages and precepts may be transmitted from generation to\ngeneration by oral instruction, which indeed was once the only\npossible mode during a long period of time. It was then that memory\nwas so much stronger, as, destitute of all artificial assistance, it\ndepended solely upon itself. We bought the advantage of writing by\nresigning somewhat of memorial energy; this was the evil, which,\naccording to Plato, Thamus, the Egyptian king, predicted to Theut, the\ninventor of writing. However this may be, it will appear founded upon\nreason and history, that religious creeds, which had once been the\nproperty of nations, are not easily eradicated by any force, or\nforgotten under any circumstances; they become living streams of ideas\nand sentiments, which run uninterruptedly through the ever-renewed\nraces of man, even when these separate from a parent stock. Hence we\nfind, in countries and among nations the most remote from each other,\nso many notions and customs, the origin of which is lost in the night\nof time. Shall I mention the Jews, who, throughout the whole world,\nrepeat to-day the same words which they learned more than thirty-three\ncenturies ago? With regard to the Guebres\u2015\u2015sir W. Jones might have\nsafely granted a little more confidence to his friend Bahman, his\nPersian reader, who always named with reverence Zartusht, whose\nreligion he professed, in common with many so called Guebres. For\nthese it was not necessary \u201cto preserve Zoroastrian books, in sheets\nof lead or copper, at the bottom of wells near Yezd:\u201d[120] this fact,\nwhich Bahman used to assert, shows the particular care which had once\nbeen taken to guard these sacred documents, the veneration for which\nmost naturally prevented any falsification of their known contents.\n\nWe are confirmed, by the author of the Dabist\u00e1n, that Zoroaster did\nnot change the fundamentals of the ancient religion; only the dualism\nof the principles, good and bad, not existing, as I have remarked[121]\nin the Mahabadian religion, was either then first introduced, or only\nfurther developed; besides, we see the cycle of 12,000 years fixed,\nand divided into four periods of 3000 years each; we hear the promise\nof a Saviour to restore the empire of God promulgated, and the\ndestruction of the world by fire announced: this is at the same time\nthe epoch of the general resurrection, which is one of the most\nremarkable dogmas of the Zoroastrian religion.\n\nAlthough this be not destitute of religious observances, yet we find\nscarce any painful austerity recommended. The twenty-fifth gate of\nZoroaster contains the remarkable precept: \u201cKnow that in thy faith\nthere is no fasting except that of avoiding sin: in which sense thou\nmust fast the whole year.\u201d[122] The ancient Mahabadian religion,\nalthough adulterated before, during, and after Zoroaster\u2019s life, seems\nto have never lost its grave character and solemnity. In the\nZand-books known to us, no trace of temples, altars, or religious\nsymbols exist. Herodotus knew of none; the fire-places were upon a\ndesert place, or upon mountains; the fire upon the ground. Upon the\nPersian monuments which time has spared, upon the walls of the\nthousand-pillared palace of Isfahan, and upon those of the Royal tombs\nwe see no idols, but priests and kings, performing the sacrifice of\nfire before their _fervers_, \u201cideals of virtue and sanctity,\u201d and\nother actions rather of a political than religious character. The\npyr\u00e6a, round and concave, represented the vault of heaven. Nevertheles\nother accounts permit us to believe, that, by association with other\nnations; most likely by the introduction of sculpture, architecture,\nand painting; and, as the Dabist\u00e1n expressly says, by the use of\nsymbolical language: a superstitious worship of sacred places and\nsymbolic images gained a great ascendancy.\n\nThis religion prevailed during the times of the Kayanian kings from\nGushtasp to Dara the Second, during more than two centuries. After the\nconquest of Persia by Alexander, a political and religious revolution\ntook place in this country, and extended to Greece, where, according\nto the commentary of the Des\u00e1tir, the creed of the _Gushaspians_ was\nintroduced. This is declared to be a medium between the _Illuminated_\nand the _Rationalists_, perhaps the same which the Dabist\u00e1n calls the\nfaith of the _Beh-dinians_, \u201cprofessors of the better religion.\u201d So\nmuch is avowed by Philo, Plinius, and others\u2015\u2015and we have reason to\nlay stress upon this avowal\u2015\u2015that at one time the so called barbarians\nwere reckoned to be more wise and virtuous than the Greeks. During the\nAshkanian dynasty (from the third century B. C. to the end of the\nsecond after our era), the people conformed to the _Kah-zand_, that\nis, yielded to the superstition, which the figurative language was apt\nto suggest. Ardeshir, the first Sassanian, in the beginning of the\nthird century A. D.; endeavored to re-establish the ancient religion;\nbut, after his reign of forty years, the Kah-zand took and kept the\nascendancy, until the Persian empire fell before the overwhelming\npower of the Muhammedans. The Mah-zand was lost during the domination\nof the intolerant invaders, Greeks, Arabs, and Turks; the Kah-zand\nstill remains in some of its parts, whilst many others were lost in\nthe successive disorders of the state.\n\nThe fifteenth and last section of the first chapter treats of\n_Mazdak_, who lived in the fifth century of our era. We are informed\nof the existence of a book, called _Desnak_, which the author of the\nDabist\u00e1n saw, and which contains the doctrine of this reformer. This\nwas nothing else than the Zoroastrian system about the two principles,\n_Yezed_, \u201cGod\u201d or \u201clight,\u201d and _Ahriman_, \u201cagent of evil\u201d or\n\u201cdarkness,\u201d with a few peculiarities which did not destroy the\nfundamental principles of the original religion. But, it was the\nethical part of his doctrine which at first caused a great revolution,\nand at last the destruction of the teacher and his numerous disciples,\nMazdak bade all men to be partners in riches and women, just as they\nare of fire, water, and grass; private property was not to exist; each\nman to enjoy or to endure, in his turn, the good and bad lots of this\nworld. To this strange doctrine may be perhaps applied the saying of a\ngreat bishop (Bossuet): that \u201cevery error is but an abuse of some\ntruth.\u201d To prevent an excessive inequality of fortunes in society was\nthe object towards which celebrated ancient legislators tended, and\nfor which frequently wishes were expressed, reforms projected, and\npolitico-philosophical romances[123] composed by well-meaning and\nrespectable persons. It is therefore to a natural, but dangerous\npropensity of the human mind, that we ought to refer Mazdak\u2019s bold and\nfor some time too successful attempt, as well as all the doctrines of\nthe same tendency, which before and after him were and will henceforth\nbe proposed.\n\nI have now terminated the general review of what the first chapter of\nthe Dabist\u00e1n, and the first volume of the English translation contain,\nconcerning the most ancient dynasties, religions, and political\ninstitutions of Persia.\n\n\n [97] See page 70.\n\n [98] See vol. I. p. 211 _et seq._\n\n [99] See sir John Malcolm\u2019s History of Persia. Ferdusi\n counts 304 years from Alexander\u2019s death to the beginning of\n Gushtasp\u2019s reign; but he assigns to the latter 120, and 112\n to that of his successor _Bahman Arjer_, or _Ardishir diraz_\n (Artaxerxes longimanus). These two reigns might have\n comprised those of several others not mentioned by Ferdusi.\n\n [100] The duration of the whole Kayanian dynasty is stated\n by the Orientals (see vol. I. p. 31, note 1 of this work) to\n be 704 years in 10 reigns; according to Occidental\n historians, it is only 380 years in 18 reigns. The first\n statement is evidently erroneous as to the small number of\n kings, but it is not decided that it is equally so as to the\n duration of the whole dynasty. The error is more likely to\n be in the list of the kings than in the whole period of\n their reigns. May I be permitted to refer to my discussion\n upon the chronology of the _Rajatarangini_ (vol. II. p. 387)?\n\n [101] Sir William Jones says (Works, vol. III. p. 128): \u201cIt\n was he (Zoroaster)\u2015\u2015not as Ammianus asserts, his protector,\n Gushtasp\u2015\u2015who travelled in India, that he might receive\n information from the Brahmans in theology and ethics.\u201d This\n is not to be found in the edition of Calcutta, nor in the\n manuscript of the Dabist\u00e1n which D. Shea and myself have\n seen.\n\n [102] Mr. Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf, when he communicated to me his\n opinion upon the derivation of the word _Was\u00e1tir_ (see\n p. xxii), adverted incidentally to that of the term\n _Zand-Avesta_, interpreted sometimes \u201cthe _Zand_ and the\n _Usta_,\u201d and said, that these words are found in perhaps a\n single passage of the books of Zoroaster, to wit, _huzanth\n vacha vaidhya cha_. These two words are applied to _mantras_\n (prayers), and seem to signify \u201cwhich will give life,\u201d or\n \u201cwhich are salutary to towns and nations,\u201d and \u201cwhich are\n learned.\u201d We recognise the Sanscrit _sujantu_ and _vidya_.\n\n [103] See page 66.\n\n [104] See vol. I. p. 223.\n\n [105] See Memoirs of the life, writings, and correspondence\n of sir W. Jones, in his Works, vol. I. p. 190, 8vo., ed.,\n 1807.\n\n [106] See works of sir W. J. vol. X. p. 403 _et seq._\n\n [107] See Works of Sir W. J., vol. X. p. 403 _et seq._\n\n [108] See works of sir W. J. pp. 413. 432. 437.\n\n [109] De Potter\u2019s Transl. of \u00c6schylus, Prometheus chained.\n In the Greek origin. v. 447-456.\n\n [110] Voltaire, whose genius sir W. Jones knew how to\n appreciate, said: \u201cGlorifions-nous de ce que les v\u00e9rit\u00e9s les\n plus importantes sont devenues des lieux communs pour les\n Europ\u00e9ens, mais ne nous en moquons pas, et sachons avoir\n quelque reconnaissance pour les anciens legislateurs qui\n nous les ont, les premiers, appris.\u201d\n\n [111] See Transact. of the R. A. S. of Great Brit. and\n Irel., vol. III. part I. p. 524 _et seq._ _Remarks on the\n Zand language and the Zand-Avesta._ This able tract is\n chiefly a comment upon Erskine\u2019s Memoir _On the sacred book\n and religion of the Parsis_, in the Transact. of the Lit.\n Soc. of Bombay, vol. II. p. 295.\n\n [112] Sir W. J. says (see his Works, vol. III. p. 116) that,\n according to his conviction, the dialect of the Guebrs,\n which they pretend to be that of Zertusht, of which Bahman,\n a Guebr and his Persian reader, gave him a variety of\n written specimens, is a late invention of their priests.\n What language does he mean? certainly not that of the\n Zand-Avesta, of which he speaks in particular, and states\n (_ibid._, p. 118) \u201cthe language of the Zand was at least a\n dialect of the Sanscrit, approaching, perhaps, as nearly to\n it as the Pr\u00e1crit, or other popular idioms, which we know to\n have been spoken in India two thousand years ago.\u201d\n\n [113] Sir W. J.\u2019s Works, vol. V. pp. 414-415.\n\n [114] Anquetil composed a number of Memoirs, read to the\n French Institut and preserved in their printed records. He\n published, in 1771, three quarto volumes upon his voyages\n to, in, and from India, and the Works of Zoroaster; in 1798,\n _L\u2019Inde en rapport avec l\u2019Europe; in 1799, La Legislation\n orientale, ou le despotisme consid\u00e9r\u00e9 dans la Turquie, la\n Perse et l\u2019Indostane_. An epistle which he placed before his\n Latin translation of _Dara Shuko\u2019s Persian Upanishad_, and\n addressed to the Brahmans of India, contained, as it were,\n his religious and political testament. He declares his\n nourishment to have been reduced, like that of an abstemious\n ascetic, living, even in winter, without fire; and sleeping\n in a bed without feathers or sheets. His juvenile boast of\n \u201cpersonal beauty\u201d was expiated by total neglect of his body,\n left \u201cwith linen unchanged and unwashed;\u201d his aspirations to\n \u201ca vast extent of learning\u201d had subsided into patient and\n most persevering studies. But, disdaining to accept gifts\n and pensions, even from government, he preserved his\n absolute liberty, and blessed his poverty, \u201cas the salvation\n of his soul and body, the rampart of morality and of\n religion; a friend of all men; victorious over the\n allurements of the world\u201d he tended towards the Supreme\n Being. Well may virtues so rare efface other human failings\n of Anquetil du Perron. He died, in his seventy-fourth year,\n in 1805.\u2015\u2015(See _Histoire et M\u00e9moires de l\u2019Institut royal de\n France. Classe d\u2019Histoire et de Litt\u00e9rature anciennes_, tome\n III. 1818.)\n\n [115] See Transl., vol. I. pp. 351-353.\n\n [116] Works, vol. III. p. 115.\n\n [117] Transl. vol. I. p. 275.\n\n [118] _Ibid._, p. 310.\n\n [119] _Loco cit._, p. 117.\n\n [120] Yezd, in central Persia, is the ancient Isatich\u00e6 of\n Ptolemy. It is celebrated on account of the fire-worship of\n _Yezdan_ (or Ormuzd, as light), there practised, and as the\n last asylum of the adherents to Zoroaster\u2019s religion, who\n fled before the Muhammedans. From thence thefire-worshippers\n sought a refuge in India, and settled in Diu, Bombay, and in\n the higher valleys of the Indus and the Ganges.\n\n [121] See vol. I. p. 71.\n\n [122] See vol. I. p. 321.\n\n [123] For instance, the _Utopia_ of Thomas Moore, the\n _Oceana_ of Harrington, the _Leviathan_ of Hobbes, etc., etc.\n\n\n\u00a7 IV.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS.\n\nThe theatre upon which the author of the Dabist\u00e1n begins history from\nthe remotest times, is Persia, without limitation of its extent,\nprobably including Chald\u00e6a. From thence he passes to India, he says\nlittle of any other country; nothing at all of Egypt. The delta of\nthis most fertile land, as an alluvial formation of the great river\nNile, was necessarily posterior to the existence of inland regions;\nstill its claims to antiquity are very high and not unsupported, to a\ncertain extent, by the best written testimonies and architectural\nmonuments. If I here refer in a cursory manner to its eras,[124] it is\nto strengthen what was above remarked concerning the general belief of\nthe great age of the world. The ancient religion of Egypt, although\nconnected and conformable in many points with other Asiatic religions,\nis never alluded to by the author of the Dabist\u00e1n, probably because in\nhis time the Egyptians had lost even the memory of their ancient\nhistory, which very little attracted the curiosity of their masters,\nthe Muhammedans, except perhaps by the medium of the Bible of the\nJews, often quoted in their Koran.[125]\n\nI cannot here omit briefly noticing the various opinions of several\nlearned men concerning the comparative antiquity of the Magi, the\nEgyptian priests, and the Hindu philosophers. Aristotle[126] believed\nthe Magi more ancient than the Egyptians; Diodorus of Sicily[127]\nbelieved the Hindus to have never sent nor received colonies, and\ninvented every art and science; Lucian, Philostratus[128], and\nEusebius[129] granted anteriority in philosophy to the Hindus over the\nEgyptians. In our times the learned abb\u00e9 Mignot established in three\nMemoirs[130], that the Hindus owed nothing to the Egyptians, and\ntraced the true communications of the former with several nations of\nAsia and Europe. But sir W. Jones declared in 1785[131], as not\nill-grounded, the opinion that Ethiopia and Hindostan were peopled or\ncolonized by the same extraordinary race, or that the Ethiopians of\nMeroe were the same people as the Hindus. His opinion was reproduced\nunder different forms by Hennel, Wilford, Forbes, Carwithen, among the\nEnglish, and adopted by L. Langles among the French. I need not dwell\nupon this opinion, as the grounds upon which it rested are now\nconsidered as entirely destroyed. Sir W. Jones himself seems to have\nabandoned it in 1789,[132] as the Dabist\u00e1n appeared to him to furnish\nan unexceptionable evidence, that the Iranian monarchy must have been\nthe oldest in the world, although, he added, it will remain dubious to\nwhich of the three stocks, Hindu, Arabian, or Tartar, the first kings\nof Iran belonged; or whether they sprang from a fourth race, distinct\nfrom any of the others; He further states, that no country but Persia\nseems likely to have sent forth colonies to all the kingdoms of Asia,\nand that the three races (Indians, Arabs, Tartars) migrated from Iran\nas from their common country, \u201cthe true centre of population, of\nknowledge, of languages, and of arts; which, instead of travelling\nwestward only, as it has been fancifully supposed, or eastward, as\nmight with equal reason have been asserted, were expanded in all\ndirections to all the regions of the world, in which the Hindu race\nhad settled under various denominations.\u201d\n\nThe second chapter of the Dabist\u00e1n describes, in twelve sections, the\nreligious systems and customs of the Hindus. It is a detailed account,\ngiven by a Persian who, as traveller and resident in India during\nabout thirty years, had the best opportunities to collect right\ninformation; he shows himself acquainted with the canonical books of\nthis nation; he quotes their Pur\u00e1nas, and other works less known.[133]\n\nThe Hindus are, among all nations, most particularly distinguished by\na decided turn for metaphysics, which even tinctured the radicals of\ntheir language; they have labored more than others to solve, exhaust,\ncomprehend, what is insolvible, inexhaustible, incomprehensible. To\ngive a general notion of their metaphysical theology, I do not say to\nrender it intelligible, would require an extensive treatise. We will\nnow give a few characteristic and leading features of their systems as\nindicated in the Dabist\u00e1n.\n\nSome of their theological philosophers made incredible efforts to\nsteer clear of anthropomorphism in their conceptions of the Divinity:\ntheir Brahm, in the neuter gender, has no symbol, nor image, nor\ntemple; they generally profess the great principle of _emanation of\nall existences from a common but unknown source_. God is the producer\nof the beginning and end, exhibiting himself in the mirror of pure\nspace. Creation is held to have proceeded from pure space and time.\nOther Hindu philosophers establish: 1. a primary, subtile, universal\nsubstance, undergoing modification through its own energy. This they\ncall _Mula Prakritti_, \u201crudimental nature,\u201d no production but the root\nof all, involving, 2. _seven principles_, which are productions and\nproductive (that is, intellect, egotism, and five subtile elements);\nfrom these seven proceed: 3. _sixteen productions_ (to wit, eleven\norgans and five gross elements); to these just mentioned twenty-four\n(namely, Nature, seven principles and sixteen productions); add, 4.\n_the soul_, which is neither a production, nor productive, and you\nhave the _twenty-five physical and metaphysical categories_ of the\nSankhya philosophy.[134] This strikes us as a very specious methodical\narrangement of an abstruse matter, which is not thereby in any degree\nrendered more intelligible.\n\nWe seem to understand something more when, as in the Vedenta\nphilosophy, it is said of the truly-existing Being (God):[135] \u201cthat\nhe has exhibited the \u201cworld and the heavens in the field of existence,\nbut has nothing like an odor of being, nor taken a color of reality;\nand this manifestation is called _M\u00e1ya_ that is, \u2018the Magic of God,\u2019\nbecause the universe is his playful deceit, and he is the bestower of\nimitative existence, himself the unity of reality. With this pure\nsubstance, like an imitative actor, he passes every moment into\nanother form. He, manifesting his being and unity in three persons,\nseparate from each other, formed the universe. The connexion of the\nspirits with the holy Being is like the connexion of the billows with\nthe ocean, or that of sparks with fire.\u201d This is pure idealism; but\nman will spontaneously break through the shadowy illusion, and grasp\nat some reality; the trinity of the Hindus became _creation_,\n_preservation__, and _destruction_ (or renovation), the history of\nnature before their eyes.\n\nI shall here remark, without attempting to explain, the striking\ncontrast in the religion of the same nation between the most subtile\nmetaphysic theology and the grossest idolatry. In the latter, the\nsymbolical representation prevails; it is known, that in its\nimmoderate use they have entirely abandoned the normal proportions of\nthe human form, and by the multiplication of members banished all\nfitness and beauty. Their plastic and graphic typification of an\nall-mighty, all-bestowing, and all-resuming God, with its three, four,\nfive heads, so many and more arms, is repulsive; in their poetry he\nfrightens us with innumerable mouths, eyes, breasts, arms, and legs,\ngrinding between his teeth the generations of men, who precipitate\nthemselves into his mouth like rivers into the ocean, or flies into\nfire.[136]\n\nThe psychology of the Hindus is not less abstruse than the rest of\ntheir metaphysics. We have already mentioned the soul among the\ntwenty-five categories as neither a production nor productive. The\nIndian philosophers distinguish spirit and soul, that is, a rational\nsoul and a mere sensitive principle. The first is supposed enveloped\nwith a subtile, shadowy form of the most delicate material ether. Some\nhold the soul to be incased in three sheaths, the intellectual, the\nmental, and the organic or vital sheath.[137] According to different\nviews the vital spirit is _M\u00e1ya_ herself, or an emanation of M\u00e1y\u00e1, in\nany case the illusive manifestation of the universe.\n\nThis ingenuous conception seems to have taken deep and complete\npossession of the Hindus; it dominates in their most subtile\nabstractions, and embodies itself in a thousand forms to their vivid\nand luxuriant imagination. The _Saktians_, a sect wedded to sensual\nmaterialism, represent M\u00e1y\u00e1 as a _Sakt\u00ed_ or energy of Siva; she is\n\u201cthe mother of the universe;\u201d \u201cnon-entity finds no access to this\ncreator, the garment of perishableness does not sit right upon the\nbody of this fascinating empress; the dust of nothingness does not\nmove round the circle of her dominion; the real beings and the\naccidental creatures of the nether world are equally enamoured and\nintoxicated with desire before her.\u201d Above the six circles, into which\nthe Hindus divide the human body, is \u201cthe window of life, and the\npassage of the soul, which is the top and middle of the head, and in\nthat place is the _flower of the back_ of one thousand leaves: this is\nthe residence of the glorious divinity, that is, of the\nworld-deceiving queen, and in this beautiful site reposes her origin.\nWith the splendor of one hundred thousand world-illuminating suns, she\nwears, at the time of rising, manifold odoriferous herbs and various\nflowers upon her head, and around her neck: her resplendent body is\npenetrated with perfumes of divers precious ingredients, such as musk,\nsafran, sandal, and amber, and bedecked with magnificent garments; in\nthis manner, she is to be represented.\u201d[138] Thus we see the poetical\nimagination of the Hindus, playing, as it were, with abstruseness,\nmaterializing what is spiritual, and spiritualizing what is material.\n\nCharacteristic of and peculiar to the Hindus, are their conceptions\nrelative to the states of the embodied soul, which are chiefly three:\n\u201c_waking_, _dreaming_, and _profound sleep_.\u201d[138] In these three\nconditions the soul is imprisoned, but it may, by virtue and sanctity,\nbreak the net of illusion, that is, acquire the consciousness of the\nillusion which captivates it, and know that, even when awake, man is\ndreaming: this is the triumph of his perfection.\n\nSuch, and other notions, in their development and application, form a\nsystem of metaphysics, in which excess and abuse of refined\nspeculations lose themselves in obscurity, contradiction, and\nabsurdity.\n\nAmong the Indian sectaries appear the _Charvak_, who, rejecting the\npopular religion, follow their own system of philosophic opinions.\n\nOf _Buddha_ and the _Buddhists_, we are disappointed to find so little\nin the Dabist\u00e1n, except the important information that Vichnu, in\norder to destroy the demons and evil genii, the agents of night,\nassumed the avat\u00e1r of Buddha when ten years only of the Dwaparyug\nremained, that is, 3112 years before Christ. In the section on the\ntenets held by the followers of Buddha, these religionists are called\n_Jatis_ or _Yatis_, a great number of whom are corn-traders and get\ntheir livelihood as servants; they are divided in several classes, and\ndo not believe the incarnations of the deity; as to the rest, they\nhave tenets and customs in common with other Indian sects, only\ndistinguishing themselves by a great aversion to Brahmans, and an\nextreme care of not hurting animal life.\n\nIn the whole account, which the Dabist\u00e1n gives of the various sects\nand doctrines of the Hindus, we can but remark a frequent confusion of\nIndian with Muhammedan notions and stories. Indeed, this work having\nbeen written in India at a time when, after a sojourn of more than\nseven centuries, about twenty millions of Muselmans appeared, as it\nwere, lost in the midst of one hundred millions of Hindus, we cannot\nwonder that a mutual assimilation in opinions and customs took place\namong individuals of both religions. A remarkable instance of it\npresents itself in the person of _Kabir_, renowned in his time for\nsanctity. After his death, both the Hindus and Muhammedans claimed his\ncorpse for funeral honors; monuments erected to him by each party\nexist in our days, with the proverbial precept which originated from\nthis event:\n\n \u201cLive so as to be claimed after death to be burnt by Hindus,\n and to be buried by Muslims.\u201d\n\nThe Indian Yogis, Sany\u00e1sis, and Vairagis are perpetually confounded\nwith Muhammedan Durvishes, and Sufis, of whom hereafter.\n\nWe do not fail to meet with many traces of the ancient Persian\nastrolatry and pyrolatry among the Indians. Mohsan mentions the\n_Surya-makhan_ (_Sauras_), \u201cworshippers of the sun,\u201d and periphrases,\nas addressed to that luminary, a Sanscrit prayer, which seems to be\none of those called _gay\u00e1tri_, the holiest verses of the Vedas, kept\nas mysterious by the Brahmans, and pronounced with the deepest sense\nof concentrated devotion. In our days, more than one _gay\u00e1tri_ has\nbeen made known.[139] We cannot doubt that (according to the\npoet)[140]\u2015\u2015\n\n \u201cThat vast source of liquid light, the ethereal sun, which\n perpetually laves heaven with ever-renewed brightness,\u201d\n\nwas, from the remotest times, the object of adoration in India. The\nDabist\u00e1n mentions also the _Chandra-bakhtra_, \u201cworshippers of the\nmoon.\u201d Even in our days we find the veneration for the sun, the\nplanets, and fire, openly practised by the Hindus. The worshippers of\nthe latter elements called _Sagn\u00edkas_, are very numerous at\nBenares;[141] they keep many _agni-hotras_, \u201cburnt-offerings,\u201d\ncontinually blazing; they kindle, with two pieces of sacred wood,\ncalled _s\u00e1mi_, a fire, never extinguished during their lives, for the\nperformance of solemn sacrifices, their nuptial ceremonies, the\nobsequies of departed ancestors, and their own funeral pile. There are\nbesides particular worshippers of the wind, water, earth, and the\nthree kingdoms of nature. The latter are called _Tripujas_,\n\u201ctrinitarians.\u201d We find also _Manushya-bhakta_, \u201cworshippers of\nmankind,\u201d who recognise the being of God in man, and believe nothing\nto be more perfect than mankind; like _Channing_, a famous American\npreacher of our days. In short, the worship of personified nature, in\nits utmost extent, is most evident in what we know of the Vedas, and\nnever ceased to be the general religion of the Hindus.\n\nNot without interest will be read in the Dabist\u00e1n the account of\n_Nanak_,[142] the founder of the Sikh religion and domination. He is\nthere represented as having been, in a former age, _Janaka_, sovereign\nof Mithila, and father of Sit\u00e1, the wife of Rama. The revolution\neffected by Nanak, in the middle of the sixteenth century, proves that\nthe Hindus are not quite so unchangeable in religion and customs as is\ngenerally believed. It is however to be remarked, that the Panj-ab,\nthe country of the Sikhs, was always considered by the Brahmans as the\nseat of heterodoxy (probably Buddhism), and blamed for irregularity of\nmanners. Mohsan\u2019s account will be found to add confirmation and a few\nparticulars to that given of Nanak, from the best sources\u2015\u2015the\ngenerals sir John Malcolm, and John Briggs.\n\nWhat will appear most valuable in this work is the description of\nvarious usages, some of which have never been described elsewhere. The\nmost ancient customs are brought to recollection. Thus, we find\nstated, on the authority of Maha bharat, that widows could formerly\ntake other husbands\u2015\u2015married women, with the consent of their\nhusbands, maintain intercourse with other men\u2015\u2015several individuals, of\nthe same race and religion, espouse one wife among them;\u2015\u2015in ancient\ntimes there existed no such practice as appropriation of husband and\nwife; every woman being allowed to cohabit with whomsoever she liked;\nconjugal fidelity was only in later times made a duty. Much of what he\ndescribes may be seen, even in our days, in India, where all the\ndegrees of civilisation which the Hindus ever attained, from the\nlowest to the highest, occur here and there within a small compass of\ncountry. So constant are they in good and bad! The whole of antiquity\nis still living in India, and Herodotus stands confirmed in what\nappeared most incredible in his narrative by the testimonies of Mohsan\nF\u00e1ni, the reverend abbe Dubois,[143] Ward, and others. The Persian\nauthor intersperses his account with anecdotes which characterise in\nthe most lively manner individuals, sects, and tribes. If now and then\nwe must avert our eyes from disgusting scenes of human degradation,\nmore frequently we admire man, even in his errors, for the power and\ncommand of the mental over the physical part of his nature. The naked\nYogi, who inflicts the most cruel tortures upon himself, wants but a\nbetter motive for being justly extolled as a hero of fortitude; death\nappears to him an habitual companion, into whose arms he sinks without\nfear; overpowered by malady, he buries himself alive.\n\nWe may be astonished at the number of unbelievers among the Hindus of\nwhom we read, and at the licentiousness of their opinions, expressed\nwith a strength which we should think carried to excess.[144] We\nperceive also that, in contradiction to common belief, in the midst of\nthe seventeenth century, when the Dabist\u00e1n was composed (1645 A. D.) a\nnumerous class of Indians assumed the name of Muselmans, but it must\nbe remarked, that the Hindus neither endeavor to make, nor easily\nadmit, proselytes: because their religion depends much less upon\ncreed, in which they are latitudinarians, than upon the fixed customs\nof their castes, the character of which, being derived from birth,\ncannot be transferred to strangers.[145] We shall see hereafter in\nwhat manner Hindus and Muhammedans may be confounded with each other.\n\nSo much of India being known in our days, we have the facility of\ntrying the veracity and correctness of the Dabist\u00e1n concerning this\ncountry. Its account will be found, I dare say, rather incomplete in\nthe small compass in which so extensive a subject was inclosed, but\nnot inaccurate in the greatest part of its various statements. Sir W.\nJones[146] bears Mohsan Fani the testimony, \u201cthat his information\nconcerning the Hindus is wonderfully correct.\u201d Let us compare the\naccount given by him with all that has been published about India by\nthe best instructed Europeans before the foundation of the Asiatic\nSociety of Bengal, and we shall regret that the Dabist\u00e1n was brought\ninto notice so late. Whatever it be, the particular views of a\nPersian, through a medium of education, religion, and custom, so\ndifferent from that through which we consider India, can but interest\nus by their novelty, and by themselves add something to our\ninformation about the character of Asiatics.\n\n\n [124] According to Manetho, a high-priest of Heliopolis, the\n Egyptians counted 53,525 years; they saw twice the sun set\n where he now rises\u2015\u2015they saw (as well as the Chaldeans) the\n ecliptic perpendicular upon the equator before 39,710 years.\n Herodotus (lib. II) attributes to them, more moderately,\n 15,882 historical years.\n\n [125] The history of Joseph, Pharaoh, Moses in Egypt, is\n often referred to by Muhammed and his followers; they state\n that the Egyptian king professed a religion unlike that\n mentioned by Greek authors, with whom the Bible also\n disagrees. In general, monotheism is adverse to the\n examination of polytheistical systems, and seldom accurate\n in the representation of their tenets.\n\n [126] Quoted by Diogenes Laertius, _Pr\u0153m._, p. 6.\n\n [127] Lib. II. p. 113. edit. Wossel.\n\n [128] Vita Apol. c. 6.\n\n [129] _Chron. lib. post._, n. 400.\n\n [130] _M\u00e9moires de Litt\u00e9rature de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie royale des\n Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres_, tome XXXI.\n\n [131] Works, vol. III. p. 41.\n\n [132] Ibid., pp. 111. 134.\n\n [133] Such is the Jog-Vasishta, mentioned (vol. II. pp. 28\n and 256) as a very ancient book. Sir W. Jones calls it one\n of the finest compositions on the philosophy of the Vedanta\n school; it contains the instructions of the great Vasishta\n to his pupil Rama. Lord Teignmouth says, that several\n Persian versions of this work exist, and quotes some\n passages of them, which, compared with the original\n Sanscrit, were found substantially accurate.\n\n [134] See the detailed table of it, vol. II. p. 122.\n\n [135] Vol. II. pp. 91-92.\n\n [136] See _Bhagavad-gita_, vv. 16. 23. 28. 29. Schlegel\u2019s ed.\n\n [137] vol. II. p. 24.\n\n [138] See vol. II. pp. 150-151.\n\n [139] That which sir W. Jones quotes (see Works, vol. XIII.\n p. 367) is, perhaps, most to be depended upon.\n\n [140] Lucretius, V. v. 282:\n Largus item liquidi fons luminis, \u00e6thereus sol,\n Irrigat assidu\u00e8 c\u0153lum candore recenti.\n\n [141] Sir W. J., Works, vol. III. p. 127.\n\n [142] Vol. II. pp. 246-288.\n\n [143] See _M\u0153urs, Institutions et C\u00e9r\u00e9monies des Peuples de\n l\u2019Inde; par M. l\u2019abb\u00e9 J. A. Dubois, ci-devant missionnaire\n dans le Meissour_. Paris, 1825. This work was first\n published in the English language, London, 1816. It had been\n translated from the author\u2019s French manuscript, which lord\n William Bentinck, governor of Madras, purchased on the\n account of the East India Company, in 1807. This composition\n received the approbation of major Wilks, resident of\n Maissour, sir James Mackintosh, and William Erskine, Esq.;\n to which I am happy to add the most decisive judgment of the\n honorably-known Brahman, Ram Mohun Roy, whom I often heard\n say: \u201cThe European who best knew the Hindus, and gave the\n most faithful account of them, was the abb\u00e9 Dubois.\u201d\n\n [144] See vol. II. p. 201.\n\n [145] The celebrated Ram Mohun Roy had abandoned all the\n tenets, but remained as much as possible attached to the\n customs, of his Brahminical caste.\n\n [146] His Works, vol. IV. p. 16.\n\n\n\u00a7 V.\u2015\u2015RETROSPECT OF THE PERSIAN AND INDIAN RELIGIONS.\n\nI have endeavored to trace the most remarkable features of Persian and\nIndian religions from among those which are contained in the Dabist\u00e1n.\nIn them we recognise resemblances, and, in more than one point, even\ncoincidences, which appear not merely taken from each other in the\ncourse of time, but rather originally inwoven in the respective\ninstitutions. This may be explained, partly by the general probability\nthat nations, passing through the same stages of civilisation, might\nagree in several parts of religion, politics, and philosophy, and\nchiefly by the fact, now generally admitted among the learned,[147]\nthat in very remote times, a union of all the Arian nations, among\nwhom the Persians and Indians are counted, existed in the common\nregions of central Asia. Sir W. Jones[148] goes so far as to say: \u201cWe\ncannot doubt that the book of Mahabad, or Manu, written in a celestial\ndialect, means the Veda.\u201d William von Schlegel most ingeniously\nsurmises,[149] \u201cthat the name of _Zand_ may be but a corruption of the\nSanscrit word _chhandas_, one of the most usual names of the Vedas.\u201d\nThe fourteen Mahabadians are to him: \u201cNothing else but the fourteen\nManus, past and future, of the Brahmanical mythology.\u201d[150] Thus we\nshould have to thank Mohsan Fani for a confirmation of the\nabove-stated historical fact; the _Mahabadians_ were nothing else but\n_Mahabodhis_, in good Sanscrit, \u201cgreat deified teachers;\u201d he would\nhave placed them, as did lately Burnouf, Lassen, and Charles Ritter,\nsomewhere on the highlands of Iran, and he _invented_ nothing.\n\nFrom the ante-historical dynasties descending to later times, let us\nconsider that, according to respectable traditions,[151] there existed\nfriendly and hostile relations between Iran and Persia in the time of\nthe Iranian king _Feridun_, 1729 years before our era: he reconducted\nwith an army a fugitive Indian prince, and rendered India tributary.\nTwo other invasions took place under the Persian monarch\n_Manucheher_,[152] after which the Indians recovered their liberty.\nUnder Kai Kobad[153] flourished Rustum, who ruled, beside other\ncountries, Sejistan and Kabul, conquered the Panj-\u00e1b, and carried war\ninto the bosom of Arya varta. This country was also attacked by\nAfrasiab, a Turan prince,[154] then possessor of Persia. Ferdusi\u2019s\nShah-namah indicates expeditions of Feramurs, a son of Rustum, to\nIndia, under the reign of Kai Khosr\u00fa. We arrive at the epoch of\nGushtasp, who ordered the Indus to be explored, and although he had\nnot, as Herodotus asserts,[155] conquered the Indians, he entertained\nreligious relations with that nation. After Alexander\u2019s conquest of\nPersia, Sassan, the son of Dara, retired to Hind, where, devoted to\nthe service of God, he died.[156] After a very obscure period of\nPersian history, Ardeshir, directed by a dream, brought an offspring\nof Sassan from Kabulistan to Istakhar. We cannot doubt that at all\ntimes a communication was open between Iran and India, where Bahram\nGor married an Indian princess, and whence Nushirvan received a\ncelebrated book and the game of chess. In our seventh century, the\nMuhammedan Arabians, driven by the spirit of conquest, turned their\narms towards India, but stopped on the borders of the Indus. It was\nreserved to Muhammedan Moghuls, mixed with Persians, to establish in\nthe midst of India an empire which, after eight hundred years,\ndisjoined by various disorders, fell into the hands of the English.\n\nThis rapid sketch is perhaps sufficient to explain any mixture,\nfusion, and resemblance of Persian and Indian doctrines and\ninstitutions, if even we were not disposed to seek their fountain-head\nin the sacred gloom of the remotest antiquity. Whatever it be, in any\ncase, it will no more be said, that the Dabist\u00e1n was written \u201cwith\nthe intention to claim for Persia the pre-eminence over India,\nconcerning the antiquity of religious revelations.\u201d[157] In fact,\nMohsan Fani never explicitly alludes to a comparative antiquity\nbetween the Persians and Indians, and implicitly acknowledges the\nanteriority of the Indian religion over the Zoroastrian, in a part of\nPersia at least, by relating that Gushtasp was converted from the\nformer to the latter by Zardusht, by whom also the Indian sage,\n_Sankhara atcharya_, was vanquished.\n\nAfter a more accurate examination, the resemblance between the said\nreligions will be found to exist certainly in particular principles\nand tenets, but not at all in the general character or the spirit of\nthese religious systems. Nothing can be more dissimilar than the\nausterity of Mezdaism and the luxuriancy of Hinduism in the\ndevelopment of their respective dogmas, and particularly in their\nworship, as was already observed.[158] We cannot however deny, that\nnot a little of the similarity in the account of different religions\nbelongs to the author of the Dabist\u00e1n, who most naturally confounded\nthe ideas of his own with those of more ancient times, and used\nexpressions proper to his particular creed when speaking of that of\nothers. Thus he employs very often the term _angels_ for that of\ndivinities, and carries the mania of allegorising, so peculiar to the\nlater Muhammedan S\u00fafis, into his description of the Indian mythology.\nThis sort of substitution, or these anachronisms of expression, are to\nbe remarked in the narrative of other authors, praised for general\ncorrectness and veracity; I can here so much the more readily call to\nmind similar inaccuracies in the accounts which Greek historians, and\nin particular the philosophic Xenophon, gave of Persia, as I may add,\nthat in many points they agree with our Mohsan Fani.\n\n\n [147] See above, p. 76.\n\n [148] His Works, vol. IV. p. 105.\n\n [149] _Loco cit._, p. 69.\n\n [150] _Ibid._, p. 51. Among the Persians is even found\n _Behesht-i-Gang_, and _Gang-diz_, \u201cthe Paradise,\u201d and \u201cthe\n castle of Ganga\u201d (Hyde, p. 170).\u2015\u2015Mr. Julius Mohl says\n (_Journal asiatique, mars_ 1841, p. 281): \u201cZohac is the\n representative of a Semitical dynasty, which in Persia took\n place of the _Indian_ dynasty, and overthrew the entirely\n _Brahmanical_ institutions of Jamshid.\u201d We see the opinion\n that Hinduism once resided in Iran daily gaining ground.\n\n [151] The History of Hindostan, etc., by Alex. Dow, 1768, t.\n I. p. 12 _et seq._ The same, by J. Briggs, 1829. Introd.,\n ch. p. xiv. _et seq._\n\n [152] The Mandauces of Ctesias and of Moses of Chorene. He\n reigned, according to Ferdusi, B. C., from 1229-1109;\n according to our chronogers, from 730-715.\n\n [153] The Arphaxad of the Hebrews; the Dejoces of Herodotus;\n the Ars\u00e6us of Ctesias; he is placed B. C. 1075 by the\n Orientals; 696 years by the Occidentals.\n\n [154] All kings of Turan were called Afrasi\u00e1b.\n\n [155] Lib. IV.\n\n [156] See _The Des\u00e1tir_, Engl. trans., p. 185.\n\n [157] See before, p. 75.\n\n [158] See page 102.\n\n\n\u00a7 VI.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE TABITIAN (TIBETANS).\n\nThe third chapter of the Dabist\u00e1n treats of the religion of the _Kera\nTabit\u00e1n_ (Tibitans). The author says that he received his information\nfrom a learned man of this sect by means of an interpreter, who did\nnot always satisfy his inquiries; the little he says appears to belong\nto a class of Buddhistic Hinduism, and not to be destitute of truth.\n\n\n\u00a7 VII.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE JEWS.\n\nThen follows, in the fourth chapter, a short account of the religion\nof the Yahuds or Jews. The author derived his notion from a Rabbin\nconverted to Muhammedism, and states nothing which was not really\nprofessed by one of the Jewish sects, which, in his summary narration,\nhe does not distinguish. He gives a Persian translation of the first\nfive chapters, and a part of the sixth chapter of the Genesis from the\nHebrew original; a comparison of it with several other translations\nknown in Europe, proves its general accuracy; I thought it not\naltother unimportant to point out the few variations which occur.\n\n\n\u00a7 VIII.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE CHRISTIANS.\n\nIt is not without great interest that an European Christian will\nperuse the fifth chapter, in which a Persian treats of the religion of\nthe _Tarsas_, that is, \u201cChristians.\u201d Mohsan Fani declares, that he saw\nseveral learned Christians, such as the Padre _Francis_,[159] highly\nesteemed by the Portuguese in Goa and in Surat. We can scarce doubt,\nthat it was from that father, or some other Roman Catholic missionary,\nthat he received his information; as he portrays particularly the\nRoman Catholic doctrine, of which, in my opinion, he exhibits a more\nfaithful idea than that which a great number of Protestants entertain,\nand are wont to express.\n\nEvery Christian may be satisfied with the picture of his religion,\nwhich, although contracted in a small compass, is nevertheless\nfaithfully drawn by a foreign but impartial hand. Mohsan Fani, in\nseventeen pages of our translation, states only a few circumstances of\nthe life of Jesus Christ, and a few dogmas relative to him as son of\nGod, and the second person of the holy Trinity. In the account of\nseven sacraments, the eucharist is characterised in a manner which\nwill not fail to attract attention.[160] Scarce any rites or\nceremonies are mentioned; the greatest part of the statement relates\nto the moral precepts of Christianity, which presents an advantageous\ncontrast with the many absurd and superstitious duties, with which\nother religions are encumbered. Thus, we find confirmed in the\nDabist\u00e1n that the Pentateuch of the Jews and the Gospel of the\nChristians were both sufficiently familiar to Muhammedans who had any\npretension to learning.\n\n\n [159] Probably a Portuguese. From him Mohsan Fani might have\n received the information (see vol. II. p. 307) that an image\n of St. Veronica is preserved in a town of Spain, probably\n within the year 1641, before it was known in India that\n Portugal had freed itself from the domination of Spain,\n which event took place on the 1st December, 1640. On that\n account, the father spoke of the peninsular sovereign as\n still possessor of both kingdoms, and, instead of calling\n him _king of Spain_, styled him _king of Portugal_, from\n fond partiality for his native country. This remark was\n suggested to me by the learned viscount of Santarem.\u2015\u2015(See\n vol. II. pp. 307. 308, note 1.)\n\n [160] See vol. II. p. 315. \u201cThe holiest of all the\n sacraments, as it presents the Lord Jesus under the form of\n bread, that it may become the power of the soul.\u201d This\n definition was most likely not that which Mohsan Fani heard\n from father Francis, but the intelligent Persian might have\n understood that a strong and lively representation of an\n object is equivalent to its _real presence_, which latter\n words must have been those used, as orthodox, by a Roman\n Catholic priest.\n\n\n\u00a7 IX.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE MUSELMANS.\n\nThe author of the Dabist\u00e1n, after having treated of the most ancient\nreligions, passes to the comparatively modern religious system of\nArabia. The Arabians, although frequently attacked, were never\nconquered by the Assyrians, Medians, Persians, or Romans; they\nmaintained their political independance, but could not avoid nor\nresist the religious influence of nations with whom they were, during\nages, in various relations. The ancient history of Arabia is lost,\nlike that of many other nations; so much is known of their oldest\nreligion, that it resembled that of the Persians and Hindus: it was\nthe Magism or Sab\u00e6ism; the stars were worshipped as idols from the\nremotest times; we read of antediluvian idols. At the time, which we\nnow consider, that is the seventh century of our era, all the then\nexisting religions seemed to be far remote from their original\nsimplicity and purity;[161] idolatry was dominant, and Monotheism\npreserved and positively professed only in Judaism and Christianity,\nalthough likewise corrupted by various kinds of superstition.\nFollowers of both these religions were settled in Arabia, to which\nregion the Jews fled from the cruel destruction of their country by\nthe Romans; and the Christians, on account of the persecutions and\ndisorders which had arisen in the Eastern church.\n\nWe see by what facts, circumstances, and notions Muhammed was acted\nupon, whilst nourishing his religious enthusiasm by solitary\ncontemplation in the cavern of mount Hara, to which he was wont to\nretire for one month in every year. In his fortieth year, at the same\nage at which Zoroaster began to teach 600 years before Christ\n(according to some chronologers), Muhammed, as many years after the\nMessiah, assumed the prophetic mission to reform the Arabians. He felt\nthe necessity of seizing some safe and essential dogmas in the chaos\nof Magian, Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian notions; broke all the\nfigures of planets in the temple of Mecca, and declared the most\nviolent war against all plastic, graven, and painted idols; he left\nundisturbed only the _black stone_, Saturn\u2019s emblem before, and at the\ntime when the Jewish traditions claimed it for Abraham, and even\ntransported it to heaven. Muhammed preferred the latter to the more\nancient superstition; as to the rest, he abhorred the prevailing\nidolatry of the Sabaians; and blamed the corruption of monotheism in\nthe Jews and Christians. He felt in himself the powerful spirit, and\nundertook to re-establish the _Touhid_, \u201cthe unity and spiritualism of\nGod;\u201d he preached with enthusiastic zeal the _Islam_, \u201cdevotedness und\nresignation to God.\u201d\n\nBut, in order to found and to expand the great and necessary truths,\nhe knew no other means, but to attach the believers to his own person,\nand to accustom them to blind obedience to his dictates; he\nproclaimed: \u201cThere is no God but God, and Muhammed is his prophet;\u201d he\ngave them the Koran, the only holy book, in which his precepts were as\nmany commands proclaimed under the penalty of eternal damnation. In\nthe Muhammedan all spontaneity is stifled; all desire, all attempt to\nbe self-convinced is interdicted; every thing becomes exterior, the\nreligious and civil Code but one.\n\nMuhammed seemed not to know that religion cannot be the gift, as it is\nnot the property, of any single man; it belongs to mankind. Any\nparticular creed lives only by its inherent force, independently of\nthe founder, who retires and leaves nothing behind him but his name as\na mere distinction from that of another religion. Every individual\naction is of little avail, if it does not proceed from the free and\npure impulse of the spirit, which must revive in all succeeding\ngenerations. This is acknowledged in the Dabist\u00e1n[162] by giving a\nvery philosophic explanation of the expression _prophetic seal_, or\n\u201cthe last of prophets:\u201d \u201cThat which is reared up by superior wisdom,\nrenders the prophet\u2019s knowledge vain, and takes his color; that is to\nsay: if one hundred thousand prophets like himself realise in\nthemselves the person of superior wisdom, they are possessors of the\nseal, the last prophets, because it is superior wisdom which is the\nseal, and they know themselves to be _effaced_, and superior wisdom\nexisting.\u201d Muhammed, although wise enough to connect himself with\nother prophets, his predecessors, pretended however to close the\nseries, and to be the last of prophets, or \u201cthe seal of prophetism.\u201d\n\nVain project! immediately after him violent contests arose,\n\n \u201cAnd discord, with a thousand various mouths.\u201d\n\nThirty years after his death his family was dispossessed of the\nKhalifat. This passed to the Moaviyahs, who, residing in Damascus,\nkept it during 90 years, and then ceded it to the Abbasides, who\nestablished their seat at Baghdad. The impulse and development of the\nIslam was overwhelming during the one hundred and twenty years after\nthe prophet\u2019s death; the mighty spirit of conquest had arisen and\nwas\u2015\u2015I shall not say irresistible\u2015\u2015but certainly badly resisted by the\nnations assailed. The Romans and Persians were then hard pressed\nthemselves; on the West by the Goths, on the East by the Huns:\u2015\u2015whilst\nthe Greeks had sunk into general luxury and degeneracy; all feebly\nsustained the attack of hardy and active men, whose native habit of\nrapine and devastation was then exalted and sanctified by the name of\nreligion, and continually invigorated by rich, splendid, and easy\nconquests. Thus, the khalifs, who were divided into two great lines,\nthe before-mentioned _Abbasides_ and the _Fatimites_, extended their\nempire within 600 years after Muhammed, not only over the greatest\npart of Asia, but also along the western shore of Africa, Egypt,\nSpain, and Sicily; threatening the rest of Europe.\n\nAfter the first labors, came rest, during which the genius of the\nArabs turned to persevering study, deep speculation, and noble\nambition: this was the scientific age of the Arabs, which began in the\nmiddle of our eighth century, and was most conspicuous in the old\nseats of learning, Babylonia, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and India. But in\nthe numerous schools rose violent schisms and bloody contests between\nphilosophy and religion. In the mean time the khalifs, by becoming\nworldly sovereigns, had lost their sacred character, and were in\ncontradiction with the principle of their origin. The crusades of the\nChristians, by reviving their martial energy, maintained for some time\nthe vacillating power of the Khalifs, but their vast and divided\nempire, assailed by Pagan nations, first in the West in 1211, and\nforty-seven years afterwards in the East, fell in 1258 of our era.\nMuhammedism however revived in the barbarous and energetic conquerors,\nTurks, Seljuks, Albanese, Kurds, Africans, who were drawn into its\ncircle; and science was again cultivated in Tunis, Bulgaria, and\nIndia.\n\nI thought necessary to draw this rapid historical sketch, because\nwithin its outlines is contained the account of the Muhammedan sects\nas given in the text of the Dabist\u00e1n.\n\nMohsan Fani himself lived in the age of general decline of\nMuhammedism. He exhibits in the sixth chapter the religion of his own\nnation: we may expect that he will be true and accurate. He divides\nthe chapter into two sections: the first treats of the creed of the\nSonnites; the second, of that of the Shi\u00e2hs. These are the two\nprincipal sects of the Muhammedans, but divided into a number of\nothers, exceeding that of seventy-three, which Muhammed himself has\nannounced, and consigned, all except one, to eternal damnation. This\none was that of the _sonnah_ \u201cthe traditional law,\u201d or _Jama\u00e2t_, \u201cthe\nassembly.\u201d The Dabist\u00e1n explains this religion in a manner which, to\nMuhammedans, might appear sufficiently clear, in spite of digressions\nand want of order in the arrangement of the matter; but an European\nreader will desire more light than is afforded in the text, and feel\nhimself perplexed to understand the meaning of frequent technical\nterms, and to connect the various notions disseminated in an unequal\nnarrative\u2015\u2015now too diffuse, now too contracted. The following are the\nprincipal features of the long account of Muhammedism contained in the\nDabist\u00e1n.\n\nImmediately after the promulgation of the Koran, which followed\nMuhammed\u2019s death, it became necessary to fix the meaning and to\ndetermine the bearing of its text. There was one theme in which all\nagreed: the grandeur, majesty, and beneficence of one supreme Being,\nthe Creator, ruler, and preserver of the world, which is the\neffulgence of his power. This is expressed in the Koran in such a\nstrain of sublimity as may unite men of all religions in one feeling\nof admiration. This excellence is an inheritance of the most ancient\nAsiatic religion. God can but be always the object of boundless\nadoration, but never that of human reasoning. Hence the Muhammedan\nsects disagreed about the attributes of God.\n\nThe residence assigned, although inconsistently with pure\nspiritualism, to the supreme Being was the ninth heaven; an eighth\nsphere formed the intermediate story between the uppermost heaven and\nseven other spheres, distributed among so many prophets, in the same\nmanner as, in the Des\u00e1tir, the seven prophet kings of the P\u00e9shdadian\ndynasty were joined to the seven planets which they, each one in\nparticular, venerated. Numberless angels, among whom four principal\nchiefs, fill the universe, and serve, in a thousand different ways,\nthe supreme Lord of creation. We recognisee the notions of the ancient\nPersian religion in this, and in the whole system of divine\ngovernment.\n\nAnother subject of violent and interminable dispute was God\u2019s action\nupon the nether world, principally upon mankind, or God\u2019s universal\nand eternal judgment, commonly called _predestination_. This subject\nwas greatly agitated by the _Matezalas_, _Kadarians_, _Jabarians_, and\nothers; they disputed\n\n \u201c_Of providence, foreknowledge. will, and fate,\n Fix\u2019d fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute,\n And found no end, in wand\u2019ring mazes lost._\u201d\n\nAlthough this subject appears to be connected with the Zoroastrian\ndoctrine of the two principles, \u201cgood and bad,\u201d yet it has never been\nagitated with so much violence in so many particular ways by any\nreligionists as by the Muhammedans.\n\nIt has already been observed that, according to tradition, the ancient\nPersian philosophy was carried in the reign of Alexander to Greece,\nand from thence, after having been recast in the mould of Greek\ngenius, returned in translations to its original country. We find it\nexpressly stated in the Dabist\u00e1n, that Plato and Aristotle were\nacknowledge as the founders of two principal schools of Muhammedan\nphilosophers, to wit, those of the _Hukma ashr\u00e1k\u00edn_, \u201cPlatonists,\u201d and\nthe _Hukma mash\u00e1y\u00edn_, \u201cAristotelian, or Peripatetics.\u201d To these add\nthe S\u00faf\u00ed\u2019s _matsher\u00e2in_, \u201corthodox Sufis,\u201d who took care not to\nmaintain any thing contrary to revelation, and exerted all their\nsagacity to reconcile passages of the Koran with sound philosophy.\nThis was the particular profession of the _Matkalmin_, \u201cscholastics.\u201d\nThese cede to no other philosophers the palm of mastering subtilties\nand acute distinctions. They had originally no other object but that\nof defending their creed against the heterodox philosophers. But they\nwent further, and attacked the Peripatetics themselves with the\nintention to substitute another philosophy for theirs. It may be here\nsufficient to call to mind the works of three most celebrated men,\n_Alfarabi_, _Ibn Sina_ (Avisenna), and _Ghazali_, whose works are\nreckoned to be the best specimens of Arabian and Muhammedan\nphilosophy.[163] They contain three essential parts of orthodox\ndogmatism: 1. _ontology_, _physiology_, and _psychology_; these\ntogether are called \u201cthe science of possible things;\u201d 2. _theology_,\nthat is, the discussion upon the existence, essence, and the\nattributes of God; as well as his relations with the world and man in\nparticular; 3. _the science of prophetism_, or \u201crevealed theology.\u201d\nAll these subjects are touched upon in the Dabist\u00e1n, but in a very\ndesultory manner. I shall add, that the author puts in evidence a sect\ncalled _Akhb\u00e1r\u00edn_, or \u201cdogmatic traditionists,\u201d who participate\ngreatly in the doctrine of the Matkalmin, and in his opinion are the\nmost approvable of all religious philosophers.\n\nThe contest for the khalifat between the family of Ali, Muhammed\u2019s\nson-in-law, and the three first khalifs, as well as the families of\nMoaviah and Abbas, a contest which began in the seventh century, and\nappears not yet terminated in our days\u2015\u2015this contest, so much more\nviolent as it was at once religious and political, occasioned the rise\nof a great number of sects. Much is found about Ali in the Dabist\u00e1n,\nand even an article of the Koran,[164] published no where else\nrelative to this great Muselman, which his adversaries are said to\nhave suppressed. The adherents of Ali are called _Shi\u00e2hs_.\n\nThe Persians, after being conquered by the Arabs, were compelled to\nadopt the Muhammedan religion, but they preserved a secret adherence\nto Magism, their ancient national creed, they were therefore easily\ndisposed to join any sect, which was more or less contrary to the\nstandard creed of their conquerors, and bore some slight conformity,\nor had the least connection with, their former religion. They became\nShi\u00e2hs.\n\nAmong these sectaries originated the particular office of _Im\u00e1m_,\nwhose power partook of something of a mysterious nature: the visible\npresence of an Im\u00e1m was not required; he could, although concealed, be\nacknowledged, direct and command his believers; his name was _Mahdi_,\n\u201cthe director.\u201d This opinion originated and was spread after the\nsudden disappearance of the seventh Im\u00e1m, called _Ism\u00e2il_. His\nfollowers, the Ism\u00e2ilahs, maintained that he was not dead; that he\nlived concealed, and directed the faithful by messages, sent by him,\nand brought by his deputies; that he would one day reappear, give the\nvictory to his adherents over all other sects, and unite the world in\none religion. More than one Mahdi was subsequently proclaimed in\ndifferent parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe\u2015\u2015always expected, never\nappearing\u2015\u2015so that it became a proverbial expression among the Arabs\nto denote tardiness: \u201c_as slow as a Mahdi_.\u201d We recognize in this an\nancient idea of Zoroaster: he too was to reappear in his sons at the\nend of 12,000 years; rather late,\u2015\u2015but mankind never tire of hope and\nexpectation.\n\nA creed, like that of the _Ism\u00e2ilahs_, because founded upon something\nmysterious, vague, and spiritual, was likely to branch out in most\nextraordinary conceptions and practices. The Dabist\u00e1n abounds with\ncurious details about them. Their doctrine bore the character of\nduplicity: one part was manifest, the other concealed. Their manner of\nmaking proselytes was not open; they acted in the dark. They first\ninduced the neophyte to doubt, then to despise his own creed, and at\nlast to exchange it for apparently more sublime truths, until, after\nhaving sufficiently emboldened his reasoning faculty, they enabled him\nto throw off every restraint of authority in religious matters. We see\nin the Dabist\u00e1n,[165] the degrees through which an Ism\u00e2ilah was to\npass until he believed in no religion at all.\n\nA most remarkable sect of the Ism\u00e2ilahs was that of the _Almutians_,\nso called from _Alamut_, a hill-fort in the Persian province of\n_Ghilan_. This fort was the seat of _Hassan_, a self-created Im\u00e1m, and\nbecame the capital of an empire, perhaps unique in the history of the\nworld.[166] An Im\u00e1m, called by Europeans \u201cthe old man of the\nmountain,\u201d without armies, or treasures, commanded the country around,\nand terrified a great part of Asia by a band of devoted adherents,\nwhom he sent about to propagate his religion, and to execute his\ncommands, which were frequently the murder of his enemies. The\nexecutioners were unknown save at the fatal moment of action; mighty\nkhalifs and sultans met with their murderers among their most intimate\nservants, or the guardians of their doors, in the midst of crowded\npublic places or in the solitude of their secret bed-chambers. The\n_Fedayis_, so were they called, devoted themselves not only to the\nsacred service of their Im\u00e1m, but hired their arm also for profane\nservice to foreign chiefs, such as the Christian crusaders. Among\nEuropeans, these Ism\u00e2ilahs were known under the name of _Assassins_,\nwhich well answered their infamous profession, but is better derived\nfrom _Hashishah_[167], a sort of hemp, from which they extracted an\nintoxicating beverage for their frequent use. During one hundred and\nsixty years the Ism\u00e2ilahs were the terror of the weak and the mighty,\nuntil they fell in one promiscuous slaughter, with the khalif of\nIsl\u00e1mism, under the swords of the ferocious invaders who, issuing from\nthe vast steppes of Tartary, fell upon the disordered empire of the\nMuhammedans.\n\nThe Ism\u00e2ilahs, and other sects connected with them, professed a great\nattachment to an Im\u00e1m, whose lineage was always traced up to Ali\nthrough a series of intermediate descendants; but it belonged to the\n_Ali-Ilahians_ to deify Ali himself, or to believe his having been an\nincarnation of God.\n\nAnother sect, the _Ulviahs_, also devoted to Ali, maintain that he was\nunited with the sun, that he is now the sun, and having also been the\nsun before, he was for some days only united to an elemental body.\nBoth these sects reject the Koran.\n\nHere terminates the review of the second volume of the English\nDabist\u00e1n.\n\n\n [161] See, in what sense, pp. 83-84.\n\n [162] See vol. III. pp. 202-203. See also _ibid._, p. 229\n and note 2.\n\n [163] See upon this subject a recent very ingenious work:\n _Essai sur les \u00c9coles philosophiques chez les Arabes, et\n notamment sur la doctrine d\u2019Algazzal\u00ed, par Auguste\n Schm\u00f6lders, docteur en philosophie_, Paris, 1842. Dedicated\n to M. Reinaud, member of the Institute of France, and\n professor of Arabic.\n\n [164] See vol. II. p. 368.\n\n [165] Vol. II. pp. 404-407.\n\n [166] See vol. II. p. 433 _et seq._\n\n [167] See _M\u00e9moires g\u00e9ographiques et historiques sur\n l\u2019\u00c9gypte et sur quelques contr\u00e9es voisines, par \u00c9tienne\n Quatrem\u00e8re_, vol. II. p. 504. 1811.\n\n\n\u00a7 X.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE SADIKIAHS.\n\nThe third volume of this work begins with the seventh chapter, upon\nthe religion of the _Sadikiahs_. It is generally known that, during\nthe life of Muhammed, another prophet, called Musaylima, arose in the\ncountry of Yam\u00e1ma, and dared offer to himself in a letter to the\nformer as a partner of his sacred mission, but was treated as a liar.\nHe had however gained a great number of followers, at the head of whom\nhe was defeated and himself slain in a bloody battle against Khaled, a\ngeneral of the first Khalif, the very same year as Muhammed\u2019s death.\nWe find in the Dabist\u00e1n, what appears less generally known, that\nMusaylima\u2019s sect, far from being entirely crushed after his fall,\nexisted under the name of _Sadikias_ in the seventeenth century of our\nera, and conformed to a second _Faruk_, or Koran, to which they\nattributed a divine origin, and a greater authority than to the\nfirst.[168]\n\nAnother account, not frequently met with, is contained in the eighth\nchapter of the Dabist\u00e1n, concerning _Vahed Mahmud_, who appeared in\nthe beginning of our thirteenth century, and is by his adherents\nplaced above Muhammed and Ali. Among his tenets and opinions is to be\nremarked that of an ascending refinement or perfection of elemental\nmatter, from the brute or mineral to that of a vegetable form; from\nthis to that of an animal body; and thence progressing to that of\nMahmud.[169] Further, the particular mode of transmigration of souls\nby means of food into which men, after their death, are changed; such\nfood, _in which intelligence and action may reside_, becomes\ncontinually the aliment and substance of new successive human beings.\nWe were not a little astonished to find these singular opinions\nagreeing with the information, which Milton\u2019s archangel Raphael\nimparts to Adam, the father of mankind.[170]\n\n \u201cO Adam, one Almighty is, from whom\n All things proceed, and up to him return,\n If not depraved from good, created all\n Such to perfection, one first matter all,\n Indued with various forms, various degrees\n Of substance, and in things that live, of life;\n But more refin\u2019d, more spirituous, and pure,\n As nearer to him plac\u2019d or nearer tending,\n Each in their several active spheres assign\u2019d,\n _Till body up to spirit work_, in bounds\n Proportioned to each kind. So from the root\n Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves\n More aery, last the bright consummate flower\n Spirits odorous breathes: _flow\u2019rs and their fruit,\n Man\u2019s nourishment, by gradual scale sublim\u2019d,\n To vital spirits aspire, to animal,\n To intellectual_; give both life and sense,\n Fancy and understanding; whence the soul\n Reason receives, and reason is her being,\n Discursive, or intuitive \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015.\u201d\n\nThis sort of hylozoism is more expanded in a particular system of\ncosmogony of the same Vahed,[171] according to which the materials of\nthe world existed from the very beginning, which signifies from the\nfirst appearance of _afrad_, \u201crudimental units.\u201d We can never think\nmeanly of this opinion, when we find it coinciding with that of\n_Leibnitz_ in our seventeenth century, contemporary of Mohsan Fani.\nAccording to the celebrated German philosopher,[172] there exists\nalready an entirely organical preformation in the seeds of the bodies\nwhich are born, and all souls had always pre-existed in some sort of\norganized body, and shall after death remain united with an organic\nwhole; because in the order of nature souls are not likely to exist\nentirely separated from any kind of body. In the eighteenth century\n_Bonnet_, a great physiologist, maintained,[173] that all was\npreformed from the beginning, nothing engendered; all organized bodies\nwere pre-existing in a very small compass in the germs, in which souls\nmay also pre-exist, these indestructible germs may sojourn in such or\nsuch a body until the moment of its decomposition, then pass, without\nthe least alteration, into another body, from this into a third, and\nso on; each of the germs incloses another imperishable germ, which\nwill be developed but in a future state of our planet, which is\ndestined to experience a new revolution.\n\nWe see here the very same ideas, without any mutual communication,\nentertained in the East and the West, in ancient and modern times.\n\nVahed Mahmud combines his cosmogony with periods of 8000 years, eight\nof which form a great cycle of 64,000 years, at the completion of\nwhich the world is renovated. This sect is said to have been widely\nspread in the world; in Persia the persecution of Shah Abbas forced\nthem to lie concealed.\n\n\n [168] Vol. III. p. 1-11.\n\n [169] The Druids, among the ancient Britons, believed the\n progressive ascent of the soul, beginning with the meanest\n insect, and arriving through various orders of existence at\n its human stage. The soul, according to its choice during\n terrestrial life, progressed, even after death, in good and\n happiness, or evil and misery; the virtuous could return to\n earth and become prophets among mankind: in which belief the\n ancient Britons agreed with the Indian Buddhists.\n\n [170] Paradise Lost, V. v. 470-488.\n\n [171] The Dabist\u00e1n, vol. III. p. 17.\n\n [172] See his _Th\u00e9odic\u00e9e, \u00e9dit. Amsterd. pr\u00e9face, pp._\n xxviii _et seq._\n\n [173] See _La Paling\u00e9n\u00e9sie philosophique, ou Id\u00e9es sur\n l\u2019\u00c9tat pass\u00e9 et sur l\u2019\u00c9tat futur des \u00catres vivans, par C.\n Bonnet, de diverses Acad\u00e9mies, Amsterd._ 1769, vol. I. pp.\n 170. 198. 201. 204, etc., etc.\n\n\n\u00a7 XI.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE ROSHENIANS.\n\nThe ninth chapter of the Dabist\u00e1n introduces to us _Mian B\u00e1yezid_,\nwho, born in the Panj\u00e1b, flourished in the middle of the sixteenth\ncentury under the reign of Humay\u00fan, the Emperor of India. At first a\nstrict observer of Muhammedism, he abandoned afterwards the exterior\npractices of this religion, and, devoting his mind to contemplation,\nassumed with the character of a saint the title of a \u201cmaster of\nlight;\u201d his followers were called _Roshenians_, or \u201cenlightened.\u201d His\nsayings, several of which are quoted in the Dabist\u00e1n, express sound\nreason, pure morality, and fervent piety. In the spirit of his nation\nand time, and for self-defence, he took up arms against the Moghuls.\nHis history and that of his sons is carried to the middle of the\nseventeenth century, the time of Mohsan Fani.\n\nMuhammed was the permanent type of a prophet, in whom the religious\nand political character were united. The first Khalifs were all\nmilitary chiefs and religious men; the Koran furnished the rules of\nforeign and internal policy, the final decision of every tribunal, the\ninciting exclamation to combat and carnage, and a prayer for every\noccasion. The founders of sects were frequently warriors, or, what in\nAsia is generally the same, highwaymen and plunderers of caravans;\nsuch was the just mentioned Miyan Bayezid, and many others. As\npossessors of empires, they preserved the austere habits of ascetics:\nthey carried a sabre and a rosary, counted their beads and gave order\nfor battle; emaciated by fasts, covered with a woollen mantle, sitting\nupon the bare ground, they disposed of empires and received the homage\nof millions of men.\n\nThe Mohammedans preserved their religion, as long as they were\nmilitant: because all states of mental excitement are apt to support\neach other. But, in solitary retirement, and in the precincts of\nschools, the doctrine of Muhammed was put to the test of reason: now\nbegan the struggle between religion and philosophy. Fearful to part at\nonce with early impressions and national feelings, attempts to\nreconcile faith and reason were made; religious philosophers had\nrecourse to allegory, in order to rationalize strange and absurd\ndogmas and practices; for the literal they substituted a mystical\nsense; under arbitrary acceptations and interpretations, the\nfoundation of the doctrine itself disappeared, or was confounded with\nsome old dogma renewed, if not one entirely invented: in short, the\nMuhammedan religion appeared to have survived itself; its presumed\nperiod of one thousand years was believed to be completed under the\nreign of Akbar.\n\n\n\u00a7 XII.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE ILAHIAHS.\n\nAkbar was the greatest among the Moghul emperors of India. He began in\nhis fourteenth year a reign environed by war and rebellion. After\nhaving vanquished all his enemies and established peace and security\naround him, he turned his attention to religion. He soon found it\nright to grant unlimited toleration to all religions in his empire.\nCalled the \u201cshade of God,\u201d he took the resolution to realise in\nhimself the otherwise vain title bestowed by slavish flattery upon all\nsovereigns of Asia, and to imitate, according to his faculties, him\nwho bestows the blessings of his merciful providence on all creatures\nwithout distinction. This he declared to his fanatic son Jehangir, who\ndid not conceal his discontent about the building of an Hindu temple\nin Benares: \u201cAre not,\u201d said Akbar, \u201cfive-sixths of all mankind either\nHindus or unbelievers? If I were actuated by motives similar to those\nwhich thou ownest, what would remain to me but to destroy them all?\u201d\n\nThe inquisitive emperor was acquainted with the religious history of\nthe Persian empire; he surrounded himself with men of all\nreligions\u2015\u2015Muhammedans of all sects, Hindus, Jews, and Christians, as\nwell as with philosophers free from superstition; he liked to question\nthem all, and to encourage public polemical discussions in his\npresence. The Sonnites and Shi\u00e2hs reviled reciprocally the chief\npersonages of their adherence, the three first khalifs and Ali;\nMuhammed himself was not more spared than his companions and\nsuccessors. The errors of their doctrine, the vices of their\ncharacter, and the irregularities of their conduct were freely\nexposed, severely blamed, and wittily ridiculed. If Muhammedism was\ntreated in such a manner, other religions could not claim more\nindulgence. The dramatic form, which Mohsan Fani gives to the\nreligious controversies, is certainly curious; we can scarce suppose\nhis having known the dialogues of Lucian, nor is it in the least\nprobable that a late French author ever saw the Dabist\u00e1n and took from\nthis book the idea of the twenty-first chapter of his celebrated work,\nentitled \u201cProblem of religious \u201ccontradictions.\u201d[174] The object aimed\nat by these three authors was the same; but their compositions differ\nfrom each other as much as the genius and character of the Greeks,\nFrench, and Persians, in whose language each of them respectively\nwrote. In whatsoever point Mohsan Fani may yield to the Greco-Syrian,\nor to the French author, he, certainly, I will venture to say, equals\nthem in force, boldness, and sincerity; and perhaps surpasses either\nin pointed application of truth. His objections are not vague attempts\nof witticism with the intention to ridicule: they are special and\nserious, directed to real and patent falsehood or prejudice; he does\nnot fence with imaginary shadowy adversaries, but he strikes a present\nand tangible foe; his style, never tainted by affectation, is plain\nand blunt, such as becomes a reformer combating popular superstition.\nThe controversies, the scene of which is placed before the throne, or\nrather tribunal, of Akbar, obtain the imperial sanction: Muhammedism\nis condemned.\n\nIndeed, the emperor abrogated several practices of that religion to\nwhich he had been devoted in his first years; he confined the\ncultivation of science, as taken from the Arabs, to astronomy,\ngeography, medicine, and philosophy, and wished to prevent the waste\nof life in futile and useless studies. At last, in the month of\nDecember, A. D. 1579, twenty-six years before his death, he\nsubstituted for the common profession of the Muhammedans the new:\n\u201c_There is no God but God, and Akbar his khalif_ (or deputy).\u201d He\nreceived from a great number of Amirs and distinguished persons the\nvoluntary agreement and consent to four conditions, namely, the\nsacrifice of property, life, reputation, and religion, by entering\ninto the new religious pact, called _Ilahi_, \u201cdivine.\u201d Moreover, he\nintroduced in lieu of the former, a new era, to begin from the death\nof his father Huinay\u00fan, that is from the year of the Hejira 963, (A.\nD. 1555): it was to be called _Ilahi_; the months were regulated\naccording to the mode of Ir\u00e1n, and fourteen festivals established in\nconcordance with those of Zoroaster\u2019s religion. It was to this ancient\nPersian creed, that he gave the preference, having been instructed in\nits sacred tenets and practices by a learned fire-worshipper who had\njoined him; and from books which were sent to him from Persia and\nKirm\u00e1n. He received the sacred fire, and committed it to the faithful\nhands of _Abu\u2019l fazil_, his confidential minister: the holy flames of\nZardusht blazed again upon the altars of _Aria_, and, after a\nseparation of many centuries, Persians and Indians were reunited in a\ncommon worship.\n\nAs a proof of Akbar\u2019s expansive mind, directed to all subjects which\nmay interest mankind, I shall mention his having sequestered a number\nof children, before they could speak, from all communition with the\nrest of society, in order to know whether they would form a language.\nAfter fourteen years of seclusion, it was found that they were dumb:\n\u201cwhich made it evident,\u201d says Mohsan Fani, \u201cthat language and letters\nare not natural to man\u2015\u2015that language is of a long date and the world\nvery ancient.\u201d[175]\n\nIn the third section of the tenth chapter, the author treats of the\ninfluences of the stars upon the nether world, a very ancient\nsuperstition, common to most nations. Every master of fame is said to\nhave worshipped particularly one of the stars; Akbar also received\ndivine commands with regard to them. We find, in a digression of this\nsection, curious historical details respecting the person of Jangis\nkhan, his adoration of the celestial bodies, epilepsy, and singular\nsuperstition of combs. The great conqueror addressed to his sons the\nmost earnest admonitions to remain faithful to the religion of the\nstars, to which their fortune was attached; but fifty-three years\nafter his death one of his successors and a great part of his nation\nembraced Muhammedism.\n\nThe fourth section of the tenth chapter contains important information\nupon the administration of India. Akbar was the first of the Moghul\nemperors who considered India as his native country, and directed his\nbest efforts to the amelioration of its condition. Exalted to the\nhighest rank, not only by his birth, but also by his personal\nacquirements; assisted, besides, by a train of devoted and enlightened\nservants, he could promise himself duration of the new religion, which\nhe had fondly labored to found. In vain: it disappeared with him.\nPrivate persons, camel-drivers, and robbers, emerging from obscurity,\nsuch as Muhammed, and others before and after that Arabian leader,\neffected more than an emperor, with every possible advantage united in\nand around his person! Human intellect was perhaps then satiated with\nreligion; its measure was full: it could not receive any more. In\nfact, after Muhammed a number of sects, but no new religion, arose: in\nthis sense he may, with some appearance of truth, be called the last\nof prophets, or the _Kh\u00e1tim_, \u201cthe seal of prophetism.\u201d\n\nAkbar died in 1605 A. D., eight or ten years before the birth of the\nauthor of the Dabist\u00e1n. The latter passed his youth and manhood in\nIndia, under the reigns of that emperor\u2019s son, Jehangir, and\ngrand-son, Shah Jehan, and great-grandson Aurengzeb; and was in\npersonal connection with the latter\u2019s brother, the religious\nDarashukoh. Mohsan Fani had therefore good opportunities to be\ninformed of the events of their days. The religion of the _Ilahiahs_\nis properly the last of which he treats; for what relates to the\nreligions of the philosophers and S\u00fafis, the subjects of the two last\nchapters, are rather selections of all creeds and opinions, than\nparticular religions. It will be remembered that sir W. Jones supposed\nthese two last chapters not to have been written by the author of the\nrest of the Dabist\u00e1n, which I dare neither affirm nor deny.[176]\n\n\n [174] _Les Ruines, ou M\u00e9ditations sur les R\u00e9volutions des\n Empires, par M. Volney, d\u00e9put\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019Assembl\u00e9e nationale de_\n 1789, _Paris_, 1791.\n\n [175] Thus, our author coincides with lord Monboddo, who\n showed that language is the slow product of necessity among\n men linked in society. See his work _Of the Origin and\n Progress of Language_, with the motto of Horace:\n\n \u201cMutum ac turpe pecus \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015\n Donec Verba quibus voces sensusque notarent\n Nominaque invenere.\u201d\n\n [176] See note, p. 6, n. 2.\n\n\n\u00a7 XIII.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE PHILOSOPHERS.\n\nIn the eleventh chapter, entitled \u201cOf the religion of the Wise,\u201d we\nfind it repeated that Philosophers were divided into two great\nclasses: \u201cthe Eastern and the Western.\u201d The first are the\n_Hushangians_, teachers of the Greeks until the time of Plato and\nAristotle; it is believed that their philosophy, modified and refined,\nreturned from Greece to Asia, and was received by the Muhammedan\nscholars to be adapted to their own creed. Then took place a singular\nmixture and confusion of Siderism, Judaism, Christianity, Muhammedism,\nand all sorts of philosophic opinions. The cosmology of the\nHushangians was preserved. Seven special prophets, Ism\u00e2il, Jesus,\nJoseph, Enoch, Aaron, Moses, and Abraham, inhabit the seven\nheavens,[177] to begin from that of the Moon, which is the lowest, and\nrising upwards. If, in general, ten spheres are assumed,[178] they are\nmade the dwellings of so many intelligences. These ideas, so ancient,\nas we have seen, were not disowned by eminent men in much later times.\nThe great Kepler, and after him Reaumur, believed that intelligences\nor souls directed the movements of celestial bodies. Philosophers,\nstruck with the marvellous order of nature, were adverse to admitting\nany mechanism\u2015\u2015the very name of which frightened them; they therefore\ncalled all occult powers souls or spirits. The same idea is adopted in\nmorality: whatever is praiseworthy is _angelic_, whatever blamable,\n_satanic_. _From goodness arises an angel; from badness, a Satan_: so\nsaid the prophet. Such simple and truth-like ideas were either\noriginally disguised under the vest of fiction; or existing traditions\nof various origin were afterwards more or less ingeniously interpreted\nas allegories. Thus, the ordinary names, expressions, tenets,\ntraditions, and practices of the Arabian prophet received symbolic,\nallegoric, mystic interpretations. The _Kabah_ (the square temple of\nMecca), the holy centre of a living, circumambulating world, becomes\nan emblem of the sun; its famous _black stone_, hollowed by the kisses\nof the pious, represents Venus, the bright star on the borders of\nheaven; _paradise_, its milk, honey, wine, _Tuba_ (tree of beatitude),\n_Hur_ and _Kasur_ (nymphs and palaces) allude to intellectual\ndelights; _hell_, its _Zakum_ (tree of nature), and torments, are\nexplained as unavoidable consequences of depravity. Such\ninterpretations of the Muhammedans seem often to be like their bridge\n_Sirat_, which connects heaven and hell, _sharp as a razor and thin as\na hair_. _Transmigration_, or rather reproduction, is admitted,\nalthough not easily reconciled with the resurrection of the same body.\n_The blasts of the trumpet_, and the whole scene of the resurrection\nlose their materialism in a sort of rational allegory. _The other\nworld_ is the destruction and renovation of nature at the completion\nand renewal of great periods of time, one of which comprised 360,000\nsolar years. _Resurrection_ is \u201cthe wakening from the sleep of\nheedlessness;\u201d whenever an intellect attained that degree of\nperfection, it has returned to its origin; it is restored to life;\nthis indubitably happens when nothing material exists: for, \u201cwhere\nthere is no body, there is no death.\u201d\n\nAfter having treated in this way the great dogmas of religion, the\nMuhammedan philosophers found it not more difficult to rationalise\nevery circumstance respecting their prophet, he who obeyed the voice\nof an invisible speaker. Did Muhammed really _split the moon_? Not in\nthe least\u2015\u2015splitting is penetrating from the exterior into the\ninterior; the fissure of the moon typifies nothing else but the\nrenunciation of the external for the internal, which is \u201cthe superior\nwisdom;\u201d who possessed it more than the prophet (the peace of God be\nwith him!) he, the master of the _lunar sphere_? This, with the\nOrientals, is the seat of human intelligence and perfection.[179] One\nof their greatest scholars, or as they say \u201cthe learned of the world,\u201d\nknown to us under the name of Avisenna, undertook to give a reasonable\naccount of Muhammed\u2019s _ascent to heaven_, and framed a wonderful\nromance of mystic spiritualism. He terminates by explaining how the\nprophet, after his return from such a journey, could find his\nbed-clothes still warm: \u201cHe had travelled with his mind, and when he\nhad completed his mental task, returned back to himself, and in less\nthan an eye\u2019s twinkling recovered his former state; whoever knows,\nunderstands why he went; and whoever knows not, looks in vain for an\nexplanation.\u201d\n\nWe may, not without interest, observe the natural process of the human\nmind in reviewing and reforming conceptions, the original form of\nwhich is not seldom entirely obliterated. The author of the Dabist\u00e1n\ndoes more than satiate the most inquisitive reader with allegoric, now\nand then very fanciful, interpretations, which he continues, not\nwithout repetitions of the same subjects, through the subsequent\nchapter, upon which I am about to touch. Mohsan Fani, here as\nelsewhere, fails not to adduce several philosophers of more ancient as\nwell as of his own times. Among the latter is _Hakim Kamran_, whose\nfree and sound opinions, about the origin of societies and the\nprophets regulating them, will be read with some interest; as will\nalso the account of the books which Kamran read and explained, whence\nthe state of literature of those times may be inferred.\n\n\n [177] See (vol. I. p. 293, note 1) the seven heavens under\n particular names, as given in the Viraf-namah, and the\n explanation of them. The seven prophets above-named are\n somewhat differently distributed by other authorities. See\n the notes to Avisenna\u2019s explanation of Muhammed\u2019s ascent to\n heaven (vol. III. pp. 186. 189). I shall subjoin the\n distribution of the seven prophet-kings, according to the\n Des\u00e1tir, and that of seven Jewish and Christian prophets,\n according to the notes just referred to:\n\n PLANETS: ACCORDING TO ACCORDING TO\n THE DESATIR. MUHAMMEDAN AUTHORITIES.\n\n Saturn, Inhabited by Gilshaw. Inhabited by Abraham.\n Jupiter, \u2015\u2015 Siamok. \u2015\u2015 Moses.\n Mars, \u2015\u2015 Hushang. \u2015\u2015 Aaron.\n The Sun, \u2015\u2015 Tahmuras. \u2015\u2015 Idris.\n Venus, \u2015\u2015 Jemshid. \u2015\u2015 Joseph.\n Mercury, \u2015\u2015 Feridun. \u2015\u2015 Jesus, St. John.\n The Moon, \u2015\u2015 Minocheher. \u2015\u2015 Adam.\n\n [178] See the Cosmology of the Des\u00e1tir, compared with that\n of the modern Orientals, vol. III. p. 143, note.\n\n [179] According to the Occidental fabulists (see Ariosto\u2019s\n _Orlando Furioso_, canto XXXIV), the moon holds, in a strait\n valley between two mountains, all that mortals lose here\n below: fame, tears and sighs of lovers, lost time, futile\n designs, vain desires, ancient crowns, all instruments of\n deceit, treaties, and conspiracies, works of false coiners\n and knaves, the good sense of every body, is there bottled;\n all is there except folly, which remains below, and never\n quits the earth:\n\n _Sol la Pazzia non v\u2019\u00e8 poca, n\u00e8 assai,\n Ch\u00e8 st\u00e0 quaggi\u00f9, n\u00e8 se ne parte mai._\n\n\n\u00a7 XIV.\u2015\u2015THE RELIGION OF THE SUFIS.\n\nWe arrive at the last chapter, \u201c_Upon the Sufis_;\u201d the most abstruse\nof the twelve, but to which we are well enough prepared by the\ncontents of the former.\n\nS\u00fafism, according to the Dabist\u00e1n, belongs to all religions; its\nadherents are known, under different names among the Hindus, Persians,\nand Arabians; it appears to be nothing else but the rationalism of any\nsort of doctrine. It could never be the religion of a whole nation; it\nremained confined to the precincts of schools and societies.\n\nIn the work before us we find it stated, that the belief of the pure\nS\u00fafis was the same as that of the Ashrakians (Platonists): we know\nwhat the Muhammedans have made of it. According to the Im\u00e1m Koshairi,\nquoted by J\u00e2mi,[180] the Muselmans, after Muhammed\u2019s death,\ndistinguished the eminent men among them by no other title but that of\n\u201cthe companions of God\u2019s apostle.\u201d These were, in the second\ngeneration, called _T\u00e1b\u00e1y\u00fan_, \u201cfollowers.\u201d Afterwards the Islamites\nwere divided into divers classes; those among them who particularly\ndevoted themselves to the practice of religion, were named \u201cservants\nof God,\u201d which name was, after the rise of numerous sects, claimed by\nsome from among all the different sectaries. It was then that the\nfollowers of the orthodox doctrine, in order to preserve the purity of\ntheir faith and the strength of their piety, assumed the name of\n_S\u00fafis_, which name became celebrated before the end of the second\ncentury of the Hejira, that is, before the year 815 of our era. We may\nbelieve one of the greatest scholars of Muhammedism, _Ghaz\u00e1li_, who\nranged himself among the S\u00fafis of his time towards the end of our\neleventh century, when he declares that in their society he found rest\nin believing one God, the prophet, and the last judgment: this is the\nfaith of the _orthodox S\u00fafis_.\n\nThe assumption of any particular name carries men, who so distinguish\nand separate themselves from their fellows, much further than they\nthemselves at first intended, particularly when the distinction and\nseparation are founded upon vague and indeterminate notions of\nmetaphysics. Under the impression, that there are secrets upon which\ntheir salvation depends, they will stretch reason and imagination to\npenetrate them. The S\u00fafis are divided, according to their own\nphraseology,[181] into three classes: \u201c_the attracted_, _the\ntravellers_,\u201d and \u201c_the attracted travellers_;\u201d the last of whom\ncombine the qualities of the two former. I will class them here, with\nrespect to their doctrine and manners, into five orders.\n\n1. The religious S\u00fafis, in general, are occupied with something beyond\nthe limits of our natural consciousness; they exercise to the utmost\ntheir inward organ or inner sense, and acquire a philosophic\nimagination\u2015\u2015\n\n \u201cThe vision and the faculty divine.\u201d[182]\n\nSuch was the prophetic gift of Muhammed, and as long as they adhere to\nhis sayings, they are _the orthodox S\u00fafis_, whom I have already\nmentioned.\n\n2. Another order endeavor to comprehend, to fix, and to explain the\nattributes of God; the holy object sanctifies their efforts;\nunattainable, it exalts their souls above themselves;\nincomprehensibility yields to the sacred power of self-intuition;\nmysterious darkness to celestial light; their intellect, no more\nterrestrial, \u201cknows its own sun and its own stars;\u201d[183] by continual\nmental excitement they produce in themselves (according to their own\nphraseology) a state of intoxication; in the full enjoyment of their\nliberty, they approach the Supreme Being, and finally fancy an\nintimate union with their Creator. These are the _mystic Sufis_.\n\nMan, to express his most fervent adoration of the Divinity, uses the\nexpressions by which he is wont to address the object of his most\ntender affections; he has but the fire of earth to kindle in sacrifice\nto heaven; and to elevate his soul to the Supreme Being, he makes\nwings of the most lively sentiments which he ever experienced, and can\nexcite in himself. The intensity of inward feeling breaks loose in\noutward demonstrations, gesture, song, and dance\u2015\u2015\n\n \u201cMystical dance, which yonder starry sphere\n Of planets, and of fix\u2019d, in all her wheels\n Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,\n Eccentric, intervolv\u2019d, yet regular,\n Then most, when most irregular they seem.\u201d[184]\n\nSuch in the poet\u2019s eye is the dance of angels, but less refined must\nbe that of mortals, and really one sort of it strangely contrasts with\nthe usually grave deportment of bearded ample-robed Muselmans, from\nMuhammed, who gave the example, down to the Durvishes of our days,\nwho, with frantic howls and vehement whirling motions, by ludicrous\nand unseemly exhibition, destroy the whole gravity of inward\nintention. Mohsan Fani adduces some instances of dancing, and quotes\nthroughout his work verses of mystical poetry upon Divine love, in\nglowing expressions belonging to profane passion. It is known how\nequivocal in their meaning they appear in the works of Jelal eddin\nRumi, S\u00e2di, Hafiz, and others.[185]\n\n3. It was not always vehement enthusiasm which was nourished in the\ncontemplation of one Supreme Being; mysticism, in S\u00fafis of a milder\ncharacter, became _quietism: he to whom all things are one, who\ndraweth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may enjoy\npeace and rest of spirit_. I have quoted the words of an English\nbishop, Jeremy Taylor, and might borrow similar passages from a more\nancient Christian bishop, Synesius,[186] for expressing a sort of\npurely _spiritual pantheism_. But there is another, which seems not to\nexclude materialism: the great cause from which the infinite series of\nall material and spiritual existences originates, is enveloped, as it\nwere, with the vest of the universe; never known as to its essence,\nbut always felt in its manifestations; it is\n\n \u201cAll in all, and all in every part.\u201d[187]\n\nIn short, God is all, and all is God. This appeared not more\nincomprehensible, but less complicated than any other system to the\n_pantheistical S\u00fafis_.\n\n4. After excessive efforts to transcend the limits of his nature, the\nphilosophic inquirer re-enters into himself, and coerces his futile\nattempts by the precept: \u201cKnow thyself.\u201d Having, as it were, recovered\nhimself, and feeling that every thing proceeds from the depth of his\nmind, he sees himself in every thing; heaven and earth are his own;\n\u201che demands from himself whatever he wishes;\u201d for he is every thing;\nhe finds the God whom he sought in himself, in his own heart, and\nsays, \u201cWho knows himself, knows God.\u201d This is religious psychology,\nthe creed of the _egotist class of S\u00fafis_.\n\nIt is a fact which appears incredible, but is too well attested for\nthe admission of a doubt, that S\u00fafis believed themselves to be gods,\nand adhered to their belief, amid torments, until death.[188] This\npsychological fact may be explained by considering that, according to\nS\u00fafism, God is nothing else but an idea of the highest perfection;\n_he_, says our author, _from whose sight both worlds vanished, who in\nthe steps of right faith arrived at the rank of perfect purity, from\ntruth to truth, became God_; that is, he became one with his own idea\nof perfection, which cannot be disputed to him; his divinity is an\nillusion, but nothing else to him is the world; it is all and nothing,\ndependent upon his own creation and annihilation.\n\nV. Transacting as it were directly with the Divine Being, the S\u00fafis\nthrow off the shackles of the positive religion; pious rebels, they\nneither fast nor make pilgrimages to the temple of Mecca, nay, they\nforget their prayers; for with God there is no other but the soundless\nlanguage of the heart. From excess of religion they have no religion\nat all. Thus is confirmed the trite saying that \u201cextremes meet.\u201d \u201c_The\nperfection of a man\u2019s state_,\u201d says Jami, \u201c_and the utmost degree to\nwhich saints may attain, is to be without an attribute, and without a\nmark_.\u201d The most fervent zeal sinks into the coldest indifference\nabout religion. The author of the Dabist\u00e1n declares positively,[189]\nthat \u201cwhoever says that the Muselmans are above the Christians, does\nnot know the true Being.\u201d But the whole creed of an _emancipated_\n(this is the name I give to one belonging to the fifth order of S\u00fafis)\nuniting in himself the egotist, pantheistic, and mystical S\u00fafi will be\nfound in the following verses of Jelal-eddin R\u00fami, before mentioned:\n\n [190]\u201cO Moslims! what is to be done? I do not know myself; I\n am neither Jew, nor Christian, nor Gueber, nor Moslim; I am\n not from the East nor from the West; nor from land nor sea;\n neither from the region of nature nor from that of heaven;\n not from Hind nor China; not from Bulgaria nor Irak, nor\n from the towns of Khorassan. I am neither water nor dust,\n wind nor fire; not from the highest nor deepest, neither\n self-existent nor created; I am not from the two worlds, no\n son of Adam, not from hell nor from heaven, nor paradise. He\n is the first, the last, the interior, the exterior; I know\n but him, Yahu! Yahu! Menhu! I looked up, and saw both worlds\n to be one; I see but one\u2015\u2015I seek but one\u2015\u2015I know but one. My\n station is without space, my mark without impression; it is\n not soul nor body; I am the soul of souls. If I had passed\n one single day without thee, I would repent to have lived\n one single hour. When one day the friend stretches out his\n hand to me in solitude, I tread the worlds under my feet,\n and open my hands. O Shams Tabrizi,[191] I am so intoxicated\n here that, except intoxication, no other remedy remains to\n me.\u201d\n\nWe know, by the preceding, what the S\u00fafi is not; we shall now learn\nwhat he is.\n\n \u201cO Moslims! I am intoxicated by love in the world. I am a\n believer\u2015\u2015an unbeliever\u2015\u2015a drunken monk; I am the Shaikhs\n Bayazid, Shubli, Juneid, Abu Hanifa, Shafei, Hanbeli; I the\n throne and tent of heaven, from the dust up to the Pleyads;\n I am whatever thou seest in separation and enjoyment; I am\n the distance of two bows-length[193] around the throne; I am\n the Gospel, the Psalter, the Koran; I am _Usa_ and\n _Lat_,[194] the cross, the _B\u00e1l_ and _Dagon_,[195] the\n K\u00e2bah, and the place of sacrifice. The world is divided into\n seventy-and-two sects, but there is but one God; the\n believer in him am I; I am the lie, the truth, the good, the\n evil, the hard and the soft, science, solitude, virtue,\n faith, the deepest pit of hell, the greatest torment of\n flames, the highest paradise, Huri, Risvan,[196] am I. What\n is the intent of this speech? Say it, O Shams Tabrizi! The\n intended meaning is: I am the soul of the world.\u201d\n\nAfter having sounded human nature in its depth, and viewed it in its\nvarious forms, the Muhammedan philosophers conceived a high idea of\nman in general, and call him _insan kamil_, \u201cthe perfect man.\u201d He is\nthe reunion of all the worlds, divine and naturaf, universal and\npartial; he the book, the pure, sublime, and venerable pages of which\nare not to be touched, nor can be comprehended, but by those who have\nthrown off the dark veils of ignorance. His soul is to his body what\nthe universal soul is to the great world, which bears the name of \u201cthe\ngreat man.\u201d\n\nSir William Jones refers,[197] for a particular detail of S\u00fafi\nmetaphysics and theology, to the Dabist\u00e1n. These are given with a\nparticular phraseology, for which it is not easy to find corresponding\nexpressions in any European language; and which I have endeavored, to\nthe best of my power, to explain in my notes. A particular\nsignification is attached even to the most common terms, such as\nstate, station, time, duration, existence, non-existence, possibility,\npresence, absence, testimony, sanctity, annihilation, etc., etc.\nBesides, we find particular divisions and classifications: different\nattributions and names of the Deity, the unity of which is to be\npreserved in all; the division of spirits, prophetism, true and false\nmiracles, revelation, inspiration; four sorts of mankind, as many of\nlife and death; seven degrees of contemplative life, in each of which\ndegrees the S\u00fafi sees a different color; four lights of God; four\nsorts of manifestations, the sign of which is annihilation, called\n\u201cthe science,\u201d or \u201cpositive knowledge.\u201d Further we meet with a\nmetempsychosis for the imperfect soul, and an _appearance_ for the\nperfect; even with a geography of the invisible, the land of shades in\nthe towns of _Jabilkha_, _Jabilsa_, and _Barzah_, etc., etc.; and, in\naddition, manifo I pinions of Asiatic philosophy.\n\nHere should be pointed out how Muhammedan or other S\u00fafis may be\nconfounded with the Hindu Yogis or Sany\u00e1sis, although in reality\ndistinguishable from each other. The Yajur veda, and other sacred\nbooks of the latter inculcate the precept that a man ought to acquire\nperfect indifference concerning the whole exterior world, and in all\nplaces to lay aside the notion of diversity. This is what a Yogi or\nSanyasi endeavors to attain: he quits every thing, house, wife,\nchildren, even his _caste_; the world has no more right upon him than\nhe upon the world. In this he agrees with the S\u00fafi; but the latter\ngenerally aspires to the divine gift of inspiration, prophetism,\nmystical enthusiasm, whilst the common state of a Yogi is that of\ncomplete impassiveness or torpor.\n\nIt is only towards the end of the Dabist\u00e1n that Mohsan Fani mentions\nparticularly the _Sabeans_, whose religion was, from the very\nbeginning of the work, treated of under different names of the ancient\nPersian religions, such as _Yezdanians_, Jamsaspians, etc., etc.\n\n\n [180] See _Journal des Savans, d\u00e9cembre 1821_, pp. 721, 722,\n _art. de Silvestre de Sacy_.\n\n [181] The _S\u00e1lik_, _Mejezub_, and _Mejezub Salik_. (See A\n Treatise on Sufism, or Muhammedan Mysticism, by lieutenant\n J. William Graham. In the Transact. of the Lit. Soc. of\n Bombay, vol. I. p. 99, 1811.\n\n [182] Wordsworth.\n\n [183] \u201c\u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 \u2015\u2015 Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt.\u201d\n _\u00c6neis_, c. VI. v. 641.\n\n [184] Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost, V., v. 620-624.\n\n [185] The two first give their name to the mystic and moral\n age; from 1203 to 1300; the third to that of the highest\n splendor of Persian lyrical poetry and rhetoric, from 1300\n to 1397 of our era.\u2015\u2015(See _Sch\u00f6ne Redek\u00fcnste Persiens Von\n Joseph Von Hammer, Wien_, 1818.)\n\n [186] He was born in Cyrene, in Africa, towards the end of\n our fourth century, and died, about 430, bishop of\n Ptolemais.\n\n [187] Cowley.\n\n [188] See vol. III. p. 291 n. 1.\n\n [189] See vol. III. pp. 123 n. 4; 293 n.\n\n [190] I follow the German translation of Baron von Hammer,\n _loco cit._, p. 189.\n\n [191] Shams-eddin Tabrisi, whom Jelal-eddin names at the end\n of nearly all his lyric poems, is said to have been the son\n of Khuand Ala-eddin, chief of the Assassins (Ism\u00e2ilahs). He\n gained a great celebrity as a S\u00fafi and a saint. From Tabriz,\n from which town he took his surname, he came to Konia; there\n Jelal-eddin chose him for his spiritual guide, and remained\n attached to him all his life, which terminated A. D. 1262.\n Shams-eddin survived him. The tombs of the master and\n disciple, near each other in Konia, are even in our days\n objects of veneration to pious Muselmans.\n\n [192] _Ibid._, p. 191,\n\n [193] The distance to which Muhammed approached God in\n heaven.\n\n [194] Two Arabian idols, the Dusares and Allitta of\n Herodotus.\n\n [195] Syrian deities.\n\n [196] The guardian of paradise.\n\n [197] In his Treatise on the mystical poetry of the Persians\n and Hindus: vol. IV. of his Works, p. 232.\n\n\n\u00a7 XV.\u2015\u2015RECAPITULATION OF THE CONTENTS OF THE DABISTAN.\n\nThus I have indicated the principal contents of the Dabist\u00e1n.\nConsidering the philosophic opinions touched upon, we may remark that\ntruth, although in different times and places variously colored,\nveiled, sometimes mutilated, often running into falsehood, is\nnevertheless widely diffused, inasmuch as it reappears in the\nconcurring declarations of the greatest thinkers of all times. Thus,\namong the notions of the Asiatics, we find implied the sense of the\n\u1f10\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03ad\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1 (_entelechia_) of Aristotle, this untranslatable word,[198]\nwhich however can but signify \u201csome continued and perennial\nmotion,[199] activity, moving force, perfection, principle of\nthings\u201d[200]\u2015\u2015we find _time_ and _space_, the necessary substrata of\nall our notions, as taught by the Kantians\u2015\u2015the want of substantial\nreality in the objects of senses, maintained by the sceptics in\ngeneral\u2015\u2015the prototypes and ideas of the Pythagoreans and\nPlatonists\u2015\u2015the necessary connections of all things of the Stoics\u2015\u2015the\natomic doctrine of Moschus, Leucippus, Democritus, Empedocles,\netc.\u2015\u2015the universality of sensation and life of the Hermetites\u2015\u2015the\npreformation and pre-existence of the soul, alleged by Synesius,\nLeibnitz, and others\u2015\u2015the successive transformation, transmigration,\ngradual perfection of beings; the periodical renovation of the world\nprofessed by many Greek schools\u2015\u2015the palingenesis of Bonnet\u2015\u2015the _one_\nand the _all_ of Parmenides, Plotinus, Synesius, Spinoza, not to omit\nthe refined Egoismus of Fichte, etc., etc. I shall not proceed further\nin the enumeration of opinions ascribed in the Dabist\u00e1n to different\nsects, and reproduced in the doctrine of celebrated ancient and modern\nphilosophers of Europe. Who will realize that criterion of true\nphilosophy indicated by the great Leibnitz, namely, that which would\nat once collect and explain the fragments of truth scattered through\nall, and apparently the most incongruous, systems?\n\nThis is perhaps the prize to be gained, not by one mortal, but by a\nseries of generations, in a laborious task, so often interrupted and\nrecommenced, but never abandoned. The struggle of the human mind is\nwithout term, but not without aim. We see two principal movers of\nhuman intellect\u2015\u2015PHILOSOPHY and RELIGION. The one employs reason as a\nsufficient power for the solution of a solvable problem, which\ncomprehends knowledge, morality, and civilisation. The other distrusts\nreason, and relies upon a supernatural power for the revelation of a\nsecret, or for the word of an enigma, which relates to a destination\nbeyond the bounds of this world. The philosopher, self-confident, is\nliable to error for various reasons; but always capable of correction\nand improvement, in the only possible way, that of self-activity, the\nvirtuous exertions of his faculties towards attainable perfection in\nhis whole condition. The religionist is exposed to deception by his\ngratuitous faith in superhuman guidance, and, if mistaken, is\nprecluded from regress and improvement by his essential virtue,\nfidelity; that is, the pious surrender of his soul to a spiritual and\nmystical sovereignty. The Dabist\u00e1n shows us more religionists than\nphilosophers; it is the school of sects, or rather that of inveterate\nsuperstition, with which, in spite of the correctives which human\nnature affords to its errors, the general character of the Asiatics\nremains stamped, from time immemorial to the present day.\n\nAlthough the twelve chapters of the Dabist\u00e1n bear the titles of as\nmany religions, the author says himself, at the end of his work, that\nthere are only _five_ great religions\u2015\u2015those of the Hindus, Persians,\nJews, Nazareans, and Muselmans. He no where mentions the Egyptians nor\nthe Chinese, apparently because, in his times and long before, no\ntrace of the Egyptian religion existed, although it certainly had once\noccupied a great circle of influence, and because the Chinese creed\nwas known to be Buddhism.\n\nThe five religions mentioned constitute indeed so many bases, upon\nwhich the whole creed of mankind has been, and remains founded. They\ncomprise, in general, _polytheism_ and _monotheism_. In all times and\nplaces, the religion of the \u201cEnlightened\u201d was distinguished from that\nof the \u201cVulgar;\u201d the first as interior, being the product of universal\nreason, was every where nearly uniform; the second, as exterior, being\ncomposed of particular and arbitrary rites and ceremonies, varied\naccording to the influence of the climate, and the character, history,\nand civilisation of a people. But, in the course of time, no religion\nremained entirely the same, either in principle or form. Polytheism,\nby mere simplification, tended to monotheism; this itself, in its\nawful incomprehensibility, was modified according as it originated, or\nassumed its notions, from anthropomorphism, hylozoism, spiritualism,\nor pantheism. Nor did any religion remain simple and pure, as\nproceeding from only one principle; all religious ideas, elemental,\nsidereal, allegorical, symbolical, mystical, philosophical, and others\nwere mixed, as well as all sorts of worship interwoven. It is now\nimpossible to range in chronological order their rise and transition\ninto different forms. Still the one or the other of these kinds\npredominated: thus _physiolatry_, or \u201cthe adoration of personified\nnature,\u201d in India; _astrolatry_, or \u201cthe worship of stars,\u201d in Arabia\nand Iran; none of the religions entirely disclaimed _monotheism_,\nwhich was positively and exclusively professed in Judaism,\nChristianity, and Muhammedanism.\n\nMagism and the three last-named religions were founded or modified by\nholy personages, or prophets, that is, by individuals whose historical\nexistence in more or less remote times is positively fixed; Hinduism\nalone acknowledges _Manu_ as an ideal or mythological person, whose\nlaws are however derived from Brahma himself. This may perhaps be\nassumed as a proof of its remotest antiquity; and India, having been\nless disturbed by invasions, and conquered in much later times by\nforeign nations, preserved its institutes complete in their\noriginality. There is scarcely a tenet to be found in any other creed\nwhich does not, at least in its germ, exist in the Hindu religion.\n\nIt is most remarkable that, although men revered as divine messengers\nof religion have existed, still the works containing the heaven-sent\ndoctrine are, either not at all or not incontestably, ascribed to\nthem; and in any case devolved upon posterity in a more or less\ncorrupted and mutilated state; so as to entail for ever an\ninexhaustible subject of dispute, a heavy task for belief, and severe\ntrial of faith. If the Vedas are the best preserved, it is to no\ngeneral purpose, inasmuch as they are the least known and most\nobscure. These facts the author of the Dabist\u00e1n has set in full light,\nand says,[201] as it were to tranquillise mankind with regard to the\nmultifarious inheritance of their prophets: \u201cThe varieties and\nmultitudes of the rules of prophets proceed only from the plurality of\nnames; and as in names there is no mutual opposition or contradiction,\nthe superiority in rank among them is only the predominance of a name.\nTo this I subjoin another passage, although it occurs in connection\nwith another subject:[202] \u201cThe time of a prophet is a universal one,\nhaving neither priority nor posteriority\u2015\u2015neither morning nor\nevening:\u201d that is, if I understand these words: As the same sun ever\nshines upon us, so shines the same wisdom of all times, incorruptible\nin its divine source.\n\nIf we take a rapid comparative view of the principal features of the\nfive religions mentioned, we find _emanation of all beings,\nintellectual and material, from one great source_, to be the\nfundamental and characteristic dogma of Hinduism, established and\ndeveloped in the most explicit and positive manner. _The division of\nsupernatural beings in good and bad_ is adopted in the five religions,\nbut in Magism it is of a somewhat different origin: for Ahriman and\nhis host are not rebellious or fallen good genii; they are an original\ncreation. _A primitive innocence and posterior corruption_ is\ngenerally believed; but by the Hindus as coming from riches and\nabundance, by the other nations as caused by seduction of the bad\nspirits. _The destruction of mankind by a deluge_ is no part of the\nPersian creed; it occurs in the Indian as one of the past periodical\nrenovations of the world, which are to be followed by others, and is\nalso admitted by the Persians, whilst the Jews, Christians, and\nMuhammedans believe a deluge not very ancient, as a punishment of\nhuman depravity. _Incarnations of the Deity for the benefit of\nmankind_, are believed only by Hindus and Christians; to the latter\nbelongs exclusively the dogma of _a propitiatory sacrifice. Human\nsouls, immaterial_, have pre-existence according to the Vedas and the\nZand-Avesta; in the first, as parts of the Divinity; in the latter, as\ncreated in their _fervers_, or \u201cpre-established ideals\u201d at the\nbeginning of the world. _Transmigration_ is taught in the sacred books\nof the Hindus and Persians. _The immortality of the soul, reserved to\nfuture beatitude or damnation_, is maintained generally, less\npositively, by the ancient Jews; the righteous are cheered by the\nprospect of the same heaven, the wicked threatened by the same\npunishments, which are held to be eternal by Christians and\nMuhammedans; the Hindus and Persians place the future life in a long\nseries of purifications or _purgatories_, leading, howsoever late,\nfinally to heaven, to which, according to the first, the most perfect\nonly are admitted immediately after their terrestrial life, and are\nnot to be born again, except by their own choice. _The resurrection\nwith the same body, and the last judgment_, are among the most\nessential tenets of the Magi, Christians, and Muhammedans; the other\nworld is vaguely represented among the ancient Hebrews. It is just to\nattribute to the Persians exclusively one of the most beautiful\npersonifications that was ever imagined:[203] the soul of the deceased\nmeets at the bridge of eternity an apparition either of an attractive\nor repulsive form; \u201cWho art thou?\u201d asks the uncertain spirit, and\nhears the answer: \u201cI am thy life.\u201d\n\nAlthough the variety and multitude of human conceptions may appear\nboundless, yet they may perhaps be reduced to a few fundamental\nprinciples. In general, there is one object common to all sorts of\nreligion: this is to detach man from gross sensual matters, and to\naccustom him to hold converse with holy supernatural beings, guides to\nsalvation, _omnipresent_ witnesses of all his actions, remunerators of\ngood, punishers of bad deeds; the belief in such beings, one or more,\nis in fact the most essential support of morality, which, being fixed\nin each individual, insures the peace and happiness of all. In short,\nthe most important object of all religion is to ennoble, refine, and\nsanctify man\u2019s inmost thoughts and feelings, as well as his exterior\nactions. No wonder, that the same virtues are recommended by all\nreligions.\n\nBut, if these virtues be the same as to names, there is a great\ndifference as to their practical application. Thus, the Hindus,\ntending excessively to the extinction of sensual propensities, and a\ncontemplative life, destroy spontaneity, and produce apathy. The\nPersians recommend more practical virtues. Both nations, however, as\nwell as the Jews and Muhammedans, are subject to a great number of\ndietetical and ritual observances, which divert them from useful\nactivity, confine their practical sense, and render inert the innate\nperfectibility, the most precious prerogative of mankind. Among all\nthe Asiatic nations, considered in this work, theocracy, that is, the\njunction of the religious and civil laws, doubles the power of\ndespotism, and commands equally the spiritual and material, the\npresent and the future world. The Western Christians were in the\ncourse of time fortunate enough to modify the _Asiatic_ morals, to\nenlarge the circle of civilization, and to open to themselves a\nboundless prospect of progressive knowledge, morality, and happiness.\n\nFinally, there is one idea common as an adjunct to the five religions\nof mankind. Common are their failings, common their sufferings, common\nis also their consolation\u2015\u2015hope. Always regretting a purity,\nsimplicity, and independence, supposed to have been lost in the past,\nbecause not to be found any where in the present, and never exempt\nfrom oppression, men look to the future, and listen gladly to the\npromise of universal reform and restoration to one rule, which each\nreligionist says, will be his own, to be effected among the Hindus by\n_Kalki_, an incarnation of Brahma[204], among the other nations by the\nreappearance of their respective _prophet_, _Messiah_, _Mahdi_.\n\n \u201cAnd then shall come,\n When the world\u2019s dissolution shall be ripe,\n With glory and pow\u2019r to judge both quick and dead,\n To judge th\u2019 unfaithful dead, but to reward\n His faithful, and receive them into bliss,\n Whether in Heav\u2019n or Earth, for then the Earth\n Shall all be Paradise.\u201d[205]\n\n\n [198] Hermelaus Barbaro relates that, finding the\n interpretation of that word so difficult, he one night\n invoked the devil for assistance. The old scoffer did not\n fail to appear, but told him a word still more unintelligible\n than the Greek. Hermolaus at last brought forth the strange\n term _perfectihabia_, which, I think, nobody adopted.\n\n [199] Cicero circumscribes the word: _Quasi quandam\n continuatam motionem et perennem_ (_Tusc. Qu\u00e6st._, I. 10).\n Bud\u00e6us translates it _efficacia_.\u2015\u2015(On this subject see\n _Thesaurus Gr\u00e6c\u00e6 lingu\u00e6 ab Henr. Stephano constructus_, new\n edit., Paris, 1838.)\n\n [200] Leibnitz (Op. t. II. p. II. p. 53; t. III. p. 321),\n after having said, that to the material mass must be added\n some superior principle, which may be called _formal_,\n concludes: \u201cThis principle of things, whether we call it\n _entelechia_, or \u2018force,\u2019 is of no matter, provided we\n recollect that it can only be explained by the notion of\n force.\u201d\n\n [201] Vol. III. p. 276.\n\n [202] _Ibid._, p. 289.\n\n [203] Vol. I. p. 286.\n\n [204] Vol. II. p. 24, and _Vishnu-purana_, transl. of\n Wilson, p. 484.\n\n [205] Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost, XII. v. 458-464.\n\n\n\n\nPART III.\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\n\u00a7 GENERAL APPRECIATION OF THE DABISTAN AND ITS AUTHOR.\n\n\nMohsan F\u00e1ni collected in the Dabist\u00e1n, as I hope to have shown by a\nrapid review of its principal contents, various important information\nconcerning religions of different times and countries. His accounts\nare generally clear, explicit, and deserving confidence; they agree in\nthe most material points with those of other accredited authors. Thus,\nto quote one more instance, the accuracy of his topographic\ninformation relative to the marvellous fountain in Kachmir is in the\nmain confirmed by that published by Bernier who had visited the\ncountry. Our author enlivens his text by interesting quotations from\nthe works of famous poets and philosophers, and by frequent references\nto books which deserve to be known. I beg to mention the _Tabsaret al\n\u00e2vam_, \u201cRendering quick-sighted the Vulgar,\u201d which he regrets not to\nhave before his eyes. His whole work is interspersed with anecdotes\nand sayings, characteristic of individuals and sects which existed in\nhis times. To what he relates from personal observation or other\nsources, he frequently adds reflections of his own, which evince a\nsagacious and enlightened mind. Thus, he exhibits in himself an\ninteresting example of Asiatic erudition and philosophy.\n\nThe Dabist\u00e1n adds, if I am not mistaken, not only a few ideas to our\nhistorical knowledge, but also some features to the picture which we\nhitherto possessed of the Asiatics. May I be permitted to quote a\nremarkable instance relative to the latter? We are wont to speak of\nthe inherent apathy and stationary condition of the Muhammedans, as an\neffect of their legislation. Although this general idea of their\ncharacter and state be not unfounded, yet it is carried to such an\nexaggerated degree, that we think them incapable of progress. We may\ntherefore be astonished to find in the work before us[206] a maxim\nsuch as this: \u201cHe who does not proceed, retrogrades,\u201d and beside a\ndeclaration attributed to Muhammed himself: \u201cHe whose days are alike\nis deceived.\u201d Our author, it is true, interprets it in the particular\npoint of view of an orthodox S\u00fafi, who thinks that there is a degree\nof mental perfection, beyond which it is impossible to rise: this was,\nhe says, the state of Muhammed, the prophet, always the same, from\nwhich no ascent nor descent was possible, the perfection of unity with\nGod, higher than whom nothing can be: _the blackness beyond which no\ncolor can go_. With the exception of these fits of mysticism, now and\nthen occurring, it is just to say that Mohsan Fani most commonly leans\nto the side of progressive reform.\n\nFor the just appreciation of his work, I think it necessary to point\nout another opinion, which, very generally entertained, requires to be\nconsiderably modified: I mean that which attributes to the Muhammedans\nan unrestrained intolerance in religious matters. On that account, I\nbeg to refer directly to the book, which to them always was the sacred\nsource of all rules and precepts of conduct\u2015\u2015the Koran. In this\nastonishing farrago of truth and falsehood, we find here and there a\ngreat extent of toleration. In fact, Muhammedism was eclectic in all\nthe religious ideas of its time, Magian, Jewish, and Christian.\nMuhammed avowed himself to be \u201ca man like every body;\u201d[207] he did not\npretend, that \u201cthe treasures of God were in his power,\u201d nor did he say\n\u201cthat he knew the secrets of God, neither that he was an angel; no; he\nthought only to follow what was revealed to him,\u201d[208] so much every\nbody else may say and think, He professed his good-will to Christians,\n\u201cas inclinable to entertain friendship for the true believers;[209] he\nexhorted his followers not to dispute, but in the mildest manner,[210]\nagainst those who have received the Scripture, and wished to come to a\njust determination between both parties, that they all worshipped not\nany but God.\u201d[211]\u2015\u2015\u201cAbraham,\u201d said he, \u201cwas neither a Jew nor a\nChristian, but one resigned unto God (Moslim); excellence is in the\nhand of God; he gives it unto whom he pleaseth.\u201d[212]\u2015\u2015Still more; the\nprophet seems to give a general license to the professors of every\nreligion to observe certain rites about which he prohibits all\ndisputes;[213] nay, he declares: \u201cIf the Lord had pleased, verily, all\nwho are in the earth would have believed in general. Wilt thou\ntherefore forcibly compel men to be true believers? No soul can\nbelieve but by the permission of God.\u201d[214]\n\nAlthough the Arabian prophet and his followers too often gave by their\nconduct a strong denial to these principles, still the existence of\nthem in the Koran was a sanction to all those who were disposed to\nprofess them in words and actions. Such sentiments of religious\ntoleration are in accordance with similar ones expressed in many\nChristian moral treatises, but in none of the latter do I remember to\nhave read: \u201cthat the diversities of religions distributed among\nnations, according to the exigency of each, are manifestations of the\ndivine light and power, and that these various forms, by which God\u2019s\ninscrutable essence may be viewed by glimpses, are means of possessing\neternal beatitude, whilst here below the acquisition of knowledge is\nsufficient to insure to mankind the enjoyment of concord, friendship,\nand agreeable intercourse.\u201d[215]\n\nThese appear to be the maxims adopted by the S\u00fafis, and particularly\nby those among them who, under Akbar, professed to be _Ilahians_. The\ncreed of this class exists in our days, although the name has not\nsurvived. To these we may suppose, if to any, Mohsan F\u00e1ni belonged. If\nwe could agree with Erskine that \u201che was in strict intimacy with the\nsect of enthusiasts by whom the Des\u00e1tir was venerated,\u201d we should\nstill be obliged to avow, that his enthusiasm had not in the least\ninfluenced his free judgment upon religious matters. His imagination\nalthough justly exalted by sublime notions of the Divinity, certainly\nappears now and then bewildered by the mysterious action of unknown\ncauses; but on other occasions pointing out, in a satirical vein, so\nmany follies, absurdities, and extravagances prevailing among mankind,\nhe seems to laugh at all enthusiasm whatsoever, his own not excepted.\nIn general, there breathes in his words a spirit of independence,\nwhich would command attention even among us in the accustomed circle\nof long-established liberty. His boldness in religious controversy\nstartled even sir W. Jones so much that, in characterising it by the\nharsh term of _blasphemy_, the English judge appears for a moment\nready to plead for the abettors of popular superstition, who stood\nconfounded before the tribunal of the philosophic Akbar.\n\nI shall however not conceal, that Mohsan Fani sometimes paid tribute\nto the prevailing ignorance and inveterate prejudices of his time, and\nabove all, to the sovereign power of early impressions; nor that,\nalthough in many respects he offers in himself an honorable exception\nto the general character of his countrymen, he now and then confounds\nhimself with them. Thus, he was far from being above all popular\nsuperstition. The Asiatic, from the dawn of his reason, is nourished\nwith the marvellous, trained to credulity, and prepared for mysticism,\nthe bane of practical life; in short, he imbibes from his infancy a\nsuperstition from which he never frees himself, always prone to\ninterpret every unusual phenomenon as a miracle. No sort of study\nenables him to correct his first impressions, or to enlighten his\nignorance; natural history and experimental philosophy are not\ncultivated in Asia. If not an agriculturist, mechanic, tradesman, or\nsoldier, he devotes himself to the intricacies of metaphysics, and\nvery commonly to a contemplative life; he becomes an ascetic. Thus he\nknows no social life embellished by the refinement of mutual sympathy,\nnor the noble vocations of a citizen who lives\u2015\u2015with more than one\nlife in himself, in others, and in the whole community. Such being the\ngeneral state of Asia, let us not wonder that Mohsan Fani believed\nsome strange stories of miracles, and viewed with astonishment tricks\nof jugglers, which he relates with serious credulity, strangely\ncontrasting with his usual good sense, sagacity, and judgment. Thus,\nhe presents to us a man standing on his head with his heels in the air\nduring a whole night; others restraining their breath many hours, and\nremaining immoveable during two or three days; he speaks of the\nmiraculous effects of austerity, such as being in different places at\nthe same time; resuscitating the dead; understanding the language of\nanimals, vegetables, and minerals; walking on the surface of water,\nand through fire and air; commanding the elements; leaving and\nreassuming the body; and the like. But let us not forget that such\nstories were told elsewhere, and in Europe, even so late as the time\nin which the Dabist\u00e1n was written.\n\nFurther, although generally moral and judicious in his sentences,\ngrave and austere in his views, fervent and exalted in devout\ncontemplation, our author now and then happens to use the language of\nribaldry and indecency, which deserves serious reprobation. We shall\nhowever remark that taste, or the sense of propriety in words and\nexpressions among Asiatics differs, as much as their general\ncivilisation, from ours. From religious austerity they banished the\nelegant arts, as objects of sensuality; but, as they could not stifle\nthis essential part of human nature, they only prevented its useful\nrefinement; they clipt the delicate flower, but left the brute part of\nit: hence the grossness of their jokes, expressions, and images. \u201cTo\nsacrifice to the graces\u201d is, among them, not understood at all, or\nthought an abomination. But they cannot be said to _violate_ laws\nwhich they do not know; the offence which they give from want of taste\nand decency, is purely unintentional, and cannot with them have that\nevil effect which, among us, it would be likely to produce.\n\nAs to the general style of the Dabist\u00e1n\u2015\u2015it is only in the original\ntext itself, that it can be justly appreciated. It will perhaps\nsufficiently appear from our translation that it distinguishes itself\nfavorably among other Oriental works with which it may be compared.\nThe diction is generally free from their usual bombast; it is commonly\nclear, and when obscure to an European reader, it is so on account of\nthe strangeness and abstruseness of the matter treated. As to form\u2015\u2015if\njudged according to the rules of Western criticism, the work of Mohsan\nFani may be found deficient in the distribution and arrangement of\nmatter; there are useless repetitions, incoherences, disorder, abrupt\ndigressions, and excess, sonetimes of prolixity, at others of\nconcision. Although we have reason to praise him for generally naming\nthe source from which he drew his information, still we can but\nregret, now and then, his not sufficiently authenticating nor\nexplaining the particulars which he relates. Thus we could wish him to\nhave been more explicit concerning the Des\u00e1tir. Upon the whole, we\ncannot accuse him of not having performed what, in his time and\ncircumstances, was hardly possible, and what hitherto no Asiatic\nauthor has achieved. We ought to keep in mind how much, with respect\nto the perfection of literary publications, we owe solely to the art\nof printing, the practice of which, by its own nature, necessitates\nand facilitates a manifold revision and correction of the text, which\notherwise could hardly take place. This alone sufficiently accounts\nfor the frequent defects even of the best manuscript works.\n\nStriking an equitable balance between faults and excellencies, and\nwith particular regard to the abundance of curious, useful, and\nimportant information, I shall not hesitate to express my sincere\npersuasion, that the Dabist\u00e1n was worthy of the eulogy bestowed by the\ngreat Orientalist who first brought it into public notice.\n\n\n [206] Vol. III. p. 287.\n\n [207] The Koran, ch. XVIII. v. 100.\n\n [208] _Ibid._, ch. VI. v. 49.\n\n [209] _Ibid._, ch. V. vv. 86. 88.\n\n [210] _Ibid._, ch. XXIX. v. 45.\n\n [211] _Ibid._, ch. III. v. 57.\n\n [212] _Ibid._, vv. 61. 66. 67.\n\n [213] _Ibid._, ch. XX. v. 66.\n\n [214] _Ibid._, ch. X. vv. 99. 100.\n\n [215] See Epilogue.\n\n\n\n\n\u00a7 II.\u2015\u2015NOTICE CONCERNING THE PRINTED EDITION, SOME MANUSCRIPTS, AND\nTHE TRANSLATIONS OF THE DABISTAN.\n\nIt is well known, that the only printed edition of the Dabist\u00e1n which\nexists is due to the press of Calcutta. At the end of the work will be\nfound the Epilogue of the editor, _Moulavi Nazer Ushruf_, a learned\nMuhammedan gentleman of the district of Juanpur, who was for many\nyears employed in judicial offices in the district of Burdwan, and in\nthe court of Sudder Diwani Adawlet, in Calcutta. These particulars\nwere communicated to me by the favor of the honorable gentleman whose\nname the said editor mentions in his Epilogue with encomium, the\nsincerity of which can certainly not be questioned: it was William\nButterworth Bayley, at present director and chairman of the Honorable\nEast India Company. It was he, a distinguished Persian scholar, who\ndirected and superintended the edition of the Dabist\u00e1n. Upon the\nstrength of his authority I am enabled to add, that the printed copy\nwas the result of a careful collation of several manuscript copies of\nthis work. One was obtained from Delhi (as mentioned in the epilogue),\nand another from Bombay; two or three were in the possession of\nnatives in Calcutta. Although these, as it is more or less the case\nwith all manuscripts, procurable in India, were defective, yet we may\nbelieve the assurance given by the editor, that \u201cthe doubts and faults\nhave been as much as possible discarded, and the edition carried to a\nmanifest accuracy.\u201d This is confirmed by the fact, that only a few\ndiscrepancies from the printed edition were found in two other\nmanuscripts, which were in England at the disposition of the late\nDavid Shea for the translation of the first part of the Dabist\u00e1n. Nor\ndid I find frequent deviations from the printed text in the copy which\nwas transcribed for me in Calcutta from a manuscript, procured from\nthe library of the king of Oude. Mutilated in many places, and\nimperfect as is this latter, it afforded me nevertheless a few\nacceptable readings. I was obliged to content myself with the\nassistance of this only manuscript for the translation, as several\ncircumstances, among which was the lamented death of the earl of\nMunster, prevented me from obtaining the use of other manuscript\ncopies. All circumtances considered, I do not hesitate to say, that\nthe printed edition of the Dabist\u00e1n is more correct than any of the\nmanuscript copies which can be found; we have only to regret that its\ntypography, owing to the then imperfect state of the Oriental press in\nCalcutta, is so irregular, as to be scarce entitled to any preference\nover the common sort of Persian manuscripts.\n\nThe English translation of the Dabist\u00e1n was begun some time before the\nyear 1835, by David Shea, one of the professors of Oriental languages\nat Hayleybury. He was in his early years distinguished in the\nuniversity of Dublin for his classical attainments, and remained\ndevoted to literature in all the various circumstances of his life. It\nwas not for, nor in, India\u2015\u2015the great object and school of English\nstudents\u2015\u2015but in Malta, from peculiar inducement, that, by uncommon\napplication, he acquired the Arabic and Persian languages. After his\nreturn to England, having been attached to the Hayleybury college\u2015\u2015I\nshould not fail to add to his eulogy by saying, that he had before won\nthe kind interest and recommendation of sir Graves Haughton\u2015\u2015and\nhaving become a member of the committee of the Oriental Translation\nFund, he earned the applause of Orientalists in England, and on the\ncontinent of Europe, by his faithful and spirited translation of\nMirkhond\u2019s history of the early kings of Persia. Undertaking the\ntranslation of the Dabist\u00e1n, he was undoubtedly preparing to himself a\nnew success, the full realisation of which he was not permitted to\nenjoy; the last date in his manuscript copy, in which he was wont to\nmark the progress of his labor, was April 22, 1835. From this day he\nappears to have withdrawn his hand from the Dabist\u00e1n, and too soon\nafter\u2015\u2015I shall be permitted to use the very words of the author whom\nhe was translating:[216]\n\n \u201cHe sought the stores of holy liberty,\n A resting place on high, and soar\u2019d from hence\n Beyond the bounds of heaven, earth, and time.\u201d\n\nIt was in the beginning of the year 1837 that I was honored by the\nearl of Munster, the vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society of\nGreat Britain and Ireland, with the proposal of completing and editing\nthe English Dabist\u00e1n. Having already several years before been\noccupied with the same work whilst pursuing my Indian studies, I was\nso much the more prompted to accept the proffered honor. Engaged\nhowever as I then was in publishing my French translation of the first\nsix books of the _Rajatarangini_ from the Sanscrit, I could not begin\nthe new work before 1841. This delay was the cause of my being\ndeprived of the desired honor and satisfaction of presenting my\ntranslation to the earl of Munster, who while in the full enjoyment of\nlife, welcomed with a benevolent interest every contribution, however\nsmall, to the general diffusion of Oriental history and literature; he\nhad accepted in Paris my Dedication a short time before his death; it\nremains to me to consecrate, with a profound feeling of regret and\nveneration for departed worth, the English Dabist\u00e1n to his memory.\n\nI took charge of the manuscript copy of David Shea\u2019s version, which\nhad been carried to page 201 of the printed Calcutta edition.[217] In\nthis there were only a few omissions to be supplied, and no other\nrectifications to be made but those which a second review would have\nsuggested to my learned predecessor himself; his notes, and those\nwhich I thought necessary to add, are marked each with the initials of\nour respective names.\n\nIf I found little to change, I had much to imitate in David Shea\u2019s\ntranslation\u2015\u2015his faithfulness and clearness. By faithfulness I\nunderstand not only expressing truly the sense, but also keeping\nunaltered the words, figures, images, and phrases of the original, as\nit is in them that the author\u2019s national and individual peculiarity is\nmanifested. This sort of faithfulness may roughen or hamper the\nphrase, destroy the elegance of style, and even offend good taste, but\nby it alone we shall not only know, as I have just observed, the\ngenius of the foreign writer, but also satisfy the exigencies of\nphilology, which is one of the main purposes of translations not\nundertaken as mere exercises of improvable eloquence.\n\nAn author will not employ more or other words than those he thinks\nnecessary for being understood by readers of his own nation, religion,\nschool; he writes, for instance, as a Muhammedan for Muhammedans, a\nS\u00fafi for S\u00fafis. But a translator must do his best for uniting\nfaithfulness with clearness, the indispensable condition of any speech\nor writing; he must add what is required for illustrating the original\ntext, and thus submit to a charge, now and then heavier than he can\nbear.\n\nUnder the necessity of expounding the translation by notes, I was not\nactuated by the ambition of being new, but only by that of being as\nuseful as my means permitted, that is, by endeavoring to spare the\nreader time and trouble to look for dates and biographical notices of\nthe persons, the situation of the places, and the explanation of the\ntechnical terms which occur in the text. Orientalists know the\ndifficulty of rendering in a European language the phraseology of the\nAsiatic theology and philosophy. The Dabist\u00e1n presents, besides the\nSanscrit, a confusion of Arabic and Persian technical expressions;\nsome of them have a very comprehensive signification, and for the sake\nof clearness must be rendered by different terms in different places;\nother expressions have at times a particular sense, and are at other\ntimes to be taken in the common acceptation; the same terms must be\ntranslated by different words, and different terms by the same;\nfinally, the matter treated of is frequently so abstruse in its nature\nthat professed philosophers have not yet been able to agree upon some\nof the most important questions. I can therefore but apprehend that I\nmay not have thoroughly understood, and must confess that I have not\ntranslated, to my own satisfaction, more than one passage relative to\nIndian doctrines, and to the Muhammedan scholastic philosophy.\n\nThe Sanscrit names and terms of Indian mythology, theology, and\nphilosophy are much corrupted by the Persian spelling; I have\nendeavored to restore them to their original forms. I thought it right\nto adduce in most cases the Sanscrit, Arabic, or Persian word at the\nsame time in Roman as well as Devanagari, or Arabic characters, with\nits interpretation. I followed the rule proposed by sir William Jones\nfor writing oriental words in Roman characters, as often as I took\nthese words from a Sanscrit, Persian, or Arabic text; but from works\nwritten in a European language, I was generally obliged to copy the\nspelling of Oriental names: on which account, in my notes, a\nregretable inequality of orthography could not be avoided.\n\nThe Dabist\u00e1n not only touches upon most difficult points of science\nand erudition, but also comprises in its allusions and references\nnearly the whole history of Asia. In observing this, I am necessarily\nat the same time pointing to the many deficiencies which will be found\nin my attempts to comment and illustrate so comprehensive and\ndiversified a text. The best advantage which a man obtains at the\ntermination of an arduous work, is to have enabled himself to make it\nbetter, if he could begin again; but he can but humbly submit to the\ndecrees of an all-ruling power, which bestows upon each mortal only a\ncertain measure of faculties and of time.\n\nDesirous to fulfil my task to the best of my abilities, I did not\nneglect to consult every translation of any part of the Dabist\u00e1n which\nhad been published. I have already mentioned, in this preface,[218]\nthat Gladwin edited the Persian text of a part of the first chapter\nwith an English version which was worthy of his reputation as an\nexcellent Orientalist. Every thing that came from the pen of the late\ndoctor Leyden deserved attention. I had before my eyes his translation\nof chapter IX., on the religion of the Roshenian.[219] I did not\nneglect the abridged interpretation of the religious controversies\nheld before Akbar, given in form of a dialogue by the learned and\ningenious Vans Kennedy.[220] I perused with due regard the\nexplanations which the illustrious Silvestre de Sacy furnished of some\npassages of the Dabist\u00e1n[221] since this work became known to him in\n1821, as well as the remarks cursorily made upon it by some\nOrientalists.\n\nI did not fail also to profit by the advantages which my residence in\nParis, and my connections with distinguished cultivators of Oriental\nliterature, could afford me on behalf of my translation. It is my duty\nto acknowledge the services which I received from the kindness of M.\nGarcin de Tassy, professor of Hindostanee, whose intimate acquaintance\nwith Arabic and Persian literature in general, and with Muhammedan\ntheology in particular, is attested by several esteemed works which he\nhas published. The many Arabic passages, disseminated in the Dabist\u00e1n,\nhave mostly been revised, interpreted, and referred to the Koran, by\nhim. M. Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf, professor of Sanscrit, is never in vain\nconsulted concerning that part of ancient philology in which he has\nacquired a most particular and eminent distinction. I also constantly\nexperienced the most friendly readiness to tender me information, when\nrequired, in M. Julius Mohl and baron Mac Guckin de Slane, as well as\nin M. Reinaud, professor of Arabic, attached to the Royal Library, a\nmost distinguished conservator and most complaisant communicator of\nthe valuable manuscripts under his special charge. I beg these\nhonorable gentlemen to receive my sincerest acknowledgments.\n\n\n [216] See vol. I. p. 131.\n\n [217] In the English transl. to vol. II. p. 85.\n\n [218] P. vi.\n\n [219] See _As. Res._, vol. XI. pp. 406-420; Calcutta quarto\n edit.; and vol. III. pp. 26-42 of this work.\n\n [220] See Transact. of the Bombay Lit. Soc., vol. II. pp.\n 242-270, and vol. III. of this work, p. 50 _et seq._\n\n [221] See _Journal des Savans, f\u00e9vrier 1821_, Review of the\n Des\u00e1tir; and December, 1821, and January, 1822, Review of\n Thulok\u2019s work upon S\u00fafism.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DABIST\u00c1N,\n\nOR\n\nSCHOOL OF MANNERS.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DABIST\u00c1N,\n\nOR,\n\nSCHOOL OF MANNERS.\n\n\n [222]In the name of the bountiful and merciful God.\n\n Verse.[223]\n\n \u201cO Thou, whose name is the beginning of the book of the children\n of the school,\n Thy remembrance is to the adult amongst the Sages the torch of\n their nightly retirement;\n Without thy name the tongue fails the palate of the barbarians,\n Although they know the language of Arabia;[224]\n _Having_ the heart in the body _full_ of thy remembrance, the\n novice, as well as the adept, in contemplation\n _Becomes_ a supreme king of beatitude, and the throne of the kingdom\n of gladness.\n Whatever road I took, it joined the street _which leads_ to Thee;\n The desire _to know_ thy being is also the life of the meditators;\n He who found that there is nothing but Thee, has found the _final_\n knowledge;\n The m\u00f3bed is the teacher of thy truth, and the world a school.\u201d\n\nBlessing without limit to the mighty Being, the Lord of existence, the\nrider upon the sun of the celestial sphere _which is_ the eye-witness\n_of his glory_; _to Him_ whose servant is Saturn, Baharam (Mars) the\nmessenger, Jupiter the star, _the herald of good fortune_, Venus the\nslave; _to Him who is_ the ornament of the throne of the empire of the\nfaith, and the crown of divinity of the kingdom of truth.\u201d\n\n Masnavi.[225]\n\n \u201cThe being to whom the holy God said:\n If not thee, I would not have created the worlds;[226]\n That primitive wisdom and that soul of the world;\n That man of spirit, and that spirit of man.\n Blessing be also to the Khalifs of the faithful, and to the\n Lords of the Im\u00e1ns of the faith.\u201d[227]\n\n Raba\u00e2i (quatrain).\n\n \u201cThe world is a book full of knowledge and of justice,\n The binder of which book is destiny, and the binding the\n beginning and the end;\n The suture of it is the law, and the leaves are the religious\n persuasions;\n The whole nation is formed of its disciples, and the apostle is\n the teacher.\u201d\n\nIn this book, called \u201cThe Dabistan,\u201d is contained something of the\nknowledge and faith of past nations, of the speeches and actions of\nmodern people, as it has been reported by those who know what is\nmanifest, and see what is concealed; as well as by those who are\nattached to exterior forms, and by those who discern the inward\nmeaning, without omission, and diminution, without hatred, envy and\nscorn, and without taking a part for the one, or against the other\nside of the question.\n\nThis work is composed of several chapters.\n\n CHAPT. I. treats of the religion of the _P\u00e1rsi\u00e1n_.\n CHAPT. II. of the religion of the _Hindus_.\n CHAPT. III. of the religion of the _Tabit\u00edan_.\n CHAPT. IV. of the religion of the _Yahud_ (Jews).\n CHAPT. V. of the religion of the _Taras\u00e1s_ (Christians).\n CHAPT. VI. of the religion of the _Muselm\u00e1ns_.\n CHAPT. VII. of the religion of the _S\u00e1dak\u00edah_.\n CHAPT. VIII. of the religion of the _V\u00e1hadi\u00e1h_ (Unitarians).\n CHAPT. IX. of the religion of the _R\u00f3shen\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n CHAPT. X. of the religion of the _Ilah\u00edah_.\n CHAPT. XI. of the religion of the Wise (Philosophers).\n CHAPT. XII. of the religion of the _S\u00fafiah_.\n\n\n [222] The words in italic are not in the Persian text.\n\n [223] The five distichs are in the metre called \u0647\u0632\u062c,\n \u201chazaj,\u201d composed of the following feet: \u0645\u0641\u0639\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0641\u0627\u0639\u064a\u0644 \u0641\u0627\u0639\u064a\u0644\n \u0641\u0639\u0648\u0644\u0646. See _M. Garcin de Tassy, author of the \u201cM\u00e9moire sur\n le syst\u00e8me m\u00e9trique des Arabes, adapt\u00e9 \u00e0 la langue\n Hindoustani.\u201d_ 1832.\n\n [224] This distich contains the same idea as the following\n of Niz\u00e1mi:\n \u0647\u0631 \u06a9\u0647 \u0646\u0647 \u06af\u0648\u064a\u0627 \u0628\u062a\u0648\u062e\u0627\u0645\u0648\u0634 \u0628\u0647\n \u0647\u0631 \u0686\u0647 \u0646\u0647 \u064a\u0627\u062f \u062a\u0648 \u0641\u0631\u0627\u0645\u0648\u0634 \u0628\u0647\n\n \u201cIt is better not to speak than to speak of another but\n thee; it is better to leave in oblivion what does not remind\n of thee.\u201d _Quoted in the \u201cRudimens de la langue\n Hindoustani,\u201d by the author just mentioned (p. 16 and 25)._\n\n [225] The two distichs are in a metre, which is a variety of\n the _hazaj_, before mentioned, and is composed as follows:\n \u0645\u0641\u0639\u0648\u0644 \u0645\u0641\u0627\u0639\u0644\u0646 \u0641\u0639\u0648\u0644\u0646.\n\n [226] This verse expresses the same idea as the following\n hemistich of the Arabic poem, called Borda, and composed by\n Sharf-eddin-al B\u00fas\u00edri:\n\n \u0644\u0648\u0644\u0627\u0647 \u0644\u0645\u0627 \u062a\u062e\u0631\u062c \u0627\u0644\u062f\u0646\u064a\u0627 \u0645\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0639\u062f\u0645\n\n \u201cWithout him the world would never have come forth from\n nothingness.\u201d This is one of the celebrated traditions\n respecting Muhammed, contained in the following words:\n\n \u0644\u0648\u0644\u0627\u06a9 \u0645\u0627 \u062d\u0644\u0642\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0627\u0641\u0644\u0627\u06a9\n\n \u201cIf it had not been for thee (Muhammed), the worlds would\n never have been created.\u201d This encomiastic expression has\n been reproduced in several other poems, Arabic, Persian, and\n Hindostani. _See upon this subject, \u201cLes aventures de\n Kamrup,\u201d p. 146-147, and \u201cLes OEuvres de Wali,\u201d p. 51-52,\n traduites de l\u2019Hindoustani, par M. Garcin de Tassy._\n\n [227] The manuscript of Oude has here: \u0645\u062d\u0633\u0646 \u0641\u0627\u0646\u06cc \u06af\u0648\u0628\u0647,\n \u201cMohsen F\u00e1ni says:\u201d which would leave no doubt upon the name\n of the author of this book, if these words were not a mere\n addition of the copyist.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nOF THE RELIGION OF THE PARSI\u00c1N.\n\n\nThis chapter is divided into fifteen sections.\n\n SECT. I. of the religious tenets and ceremonies of the _Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. II. of the distinguished men amongst the _Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. III. of the ordinances contained in the book revealed to _Ab\u00e1d_.\n SECT. IV. of the _Jemsh\u00e1spi\u00e1n_.\n SECT. V. of the _Samr\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. VI. of the religion of the _Khod\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. VII. of the tenets of the _R\u00e1d\u00eean_.\n SECT. VIII. of the religion of the _Sh\u00eddrang\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. IX. of the belief of the _Pyker\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. X. of the tenets of the _Mil\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. XI. of the doctrines of the _Al\u00e1r\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. XII. of the religious opinions of the _Sh\u00edd\u00e1b\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. XIII. of the religion of the _Akhsh\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n SECT. XIV. of the belief of the _Zerdushti\u00e1n_.\n SECT. XV. of the doctrine of the _Mazdak\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION I.\n\n[228]Here commences the history of the tenets and ceremonies observed\nby the _Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n_ and _P\u00e1rs\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n\nAmong the _Pars\u00ed\u00e1n_, called also the _Iran\u00ed\u00e1n_, is a sect styled the\n_Yazad\u00ed\u00e1n_ or _Yazd\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_, _Ab\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n_, _Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n_, _Hushi\u00e1n_,\n_Anushk\u00e1n_, _Azarh\u00f3shang\u00ed\u00e1n_, and _Azar\u00ed\u00e1n_. They believe it\nimpossible for man, by the force of intellect, or the energy of\nspirit, to comprehend the exalted essence of the Almighty and Holy\nLord. Entity, unity, identity, or all his divine attributes of\nknowledge and life, constitute the fountain of his holy essence. He\nis, in the most comprehensive sense, the paramount, omnipotent Lord\nover all things, whether considered collectively, or in the changes\nincident to their component parts. All his works and operations are in\nconformity to his exalted will: if he wills, he acts; if he wills not,\nhe acts not; but works worthy of adoration are as inseparable from his\nhonored essence, as his other glorious attributes of perfection.\u2015\u2015Urf\u00ed\nof Sh\u00edr\u00e1z thus expresses himself:\n\n \u201cThy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,\n Except to create one like thyself.\u201d\n\nThe first creation of his existence-bestowing bounty was the precious\njewel of the intellectual principle, called _Azad Bahman_; the solar\nray which constitutes the excellence of his august existence is from\nthe essence of the light of lights. From the effulgence of _Bahman_,\nor the \u201cFirst Intelligence,\u201d proceeded another, along with the spirit\nand body of the Pure Ether or Crystalline Sphere. In like manner from\nthis second _Ser\u00fash_[229] or \u201cangel\u201d there emanated three similar\nrays; so that every star in the universe, whether in motion or at\nrest, that is, every planet and fixed star, and also every one of the\nheavens, has its peculiar intellect and spirit.\n\nThey also believe that the heavens exceed the compass of numbers, and\nthat the spheres are as many in number as the stars: also that every\nstar has its own firmament, but that the movements of their spheres\nare in accordance with those of the zodiacal firmament.\n\nIn like manner, each of the four elements has its separate guardian,\nfrom the _Nuristan_ (region of light), or the world of Intellects:\nwhich angel is styled _Parvardigar_ or _Parvardigar-i-Gunah_; _Dara_\nor _Dara-i-Gunah_; and in Arabic, \u201c_Rab-un-naw\u201d_ or \u201cLord of the\nspecies;\u201d in the same manner, all their relations, or every species,\nhas its peculiar regent from the _Nuristan_ or \u2018region of\nlight.\u2019\u2015\u2015They regard the subsisting spirit of man, or the reasonable\nhuman soul, as eternal and infinite. S\u00e1id says thus:\n\n \u201cNo sign of man or world appeared on the tablet of existence\n When the soul breathed forth pursuant to thy will in the school of\n love.\u201d\n\nIt is related in some of the esteemed records of this sect, that by\n_eternal souls_ are meant, the spirits of the spheres: and that human\nsouls are a creation, but eternal: also, that some human temperaments\nare so constituted, that souls from the upper world are conferred on\nthem: whilst others are adapted for having attached to them souls\nabstracted from matter; that such appropriation is regulated by\ninfluence of the spheres, and is concealed from the sight of the most\nprofound thinkers. They also say, when this immortal spirit attains to\neminence in praise-worthy knowledge and belief, that is, pure faith\nand good works, that on leaving this lower body, it succeeds in\nuniting itself to the sublime uncompounded spirits: but should it not\nattain to this high, emancipation-bestowing degree, it is united to\nthat sphere, in relation to which its acts were upright. If the\nhabitual language were praise-worthy and the works performed\nmeritorious, but it should not have attained to the rank of union with\na sphere, it being then divested of corporeal elements, remains in the\nlower world with the similitude of a bodily form, and in consequence\nof its praise-worthy qualities, it enjoys in appearance the view of\nthe nymphs, palaces, and bright rose-bowers of paradise, and becomes a\n_Zam\u00edn\u00ed-Serush_, or \u2018Terrestrial Angel.\u2019 But if its words have been\nreprehensible,[230] and also accompanied with evil deeds, on deserting\nthis material body, it obtains not another similarly constituted and\nis unable to reach the _Sh\u00eddastan_ or \u2018the region of Light.\u2019 Being\nthus separated from the primitive source, it remains in the abode of\nElements, in the Hell of concupiscence and passion and the flames of\nremorse: ultimately it becomes the prey of malady, but does not obtain\na higher mansion: the soul of such a description finally becomes an\n_Ahriman_, or \u2018Evil Demon.\u2019 If in a spirit destitute of praiseworthy\nconversation, the good actions preponderate,[231] but in consequence\nof the attachment of the heart to matter, or through ignorance, such a\nspirit attains not to the dignity of liberation, it removes from one\nbody to another, until by the efficacy of good words and deeds, it is\nfinally emancipated from body and gains a high rank. Sar\u00e1b\u00ed thus says:\n\n \u201cThe truly free, as soon as possible, disengages himself from body:\n If he cannot extricate himself from skin, let him resign his\n doublet.\u201d\n\nBut if the spirit be prone to error, it descends successively from the\nhuman frame to the animal body: such are the doctrines of their\ndistinguished men. Some however of this sect, in whose language all is\nmetaphorical and figurative, assert, that sometimes the spirit,\nthrough excessive wickedness, becomes by insensible degrees connected\nwith plants and vegetables; and frequently, by progressive gradations,\nbecomes joined to mineral or metallic substances. According to this\nclass of believers, there is an uncompounded soul in each of the three\nkingdoms of nature: and they acknowledge that every thing possesses a\nray of existence emanating from _Sh\u00edd Sh\u00eddan_, or \u2018Effulgence of\nLight.\u2019 One of the eminent men, agreeably to this view, has said:\n\n \u201cThe soul is the marrow of certainty, the body its envelope:\n In the robes of spirit contemplate the form of a friend (the\n Creator).\n Whatever object bears the impress of existence,\n Regard it as the reflexion of light, or his very self.\u201d\n\nThey also hold that the world bears the same affinity to the Creator,\nas the solar light doth to the body of the sun; that it has existed\nfrom all eternity and will continue to all infinity. They maintain\nthat, whatever exists in this world, or that of formation and\nevanescence, depends on the influence of the stars; also that\nastronomers and astrologers have found out some few effects of the\ninfluence of the seven planets, but are ignorant of the natures and\ninfluences of the slow-moving or fixed stars. The possessors of\n_Fard\u00e1t_ and _Fart\u00e1b_, or those who are directed by inspiration and\nrevelation, have laid down that every star, whether fixed or\nplanetary, is regent during certain periods of several thousand years:\none thousand years being assigned to each star, without the\nassociation of any other: on the termination of which, in the\nsubsequent millennia, both the fixed and planetary stars are\nsuccessively associated with it\u2015\u2015that is, in commencing the series\nwith a fixed star, we call the fixed star which is Lord of the Cycle,\nthe First King; on the termination of the millennium appropriated to\nhim, another fixed star becomes partner with the First King, which\npartner we style First Minister: but the supremacy and dominion of the\nperiod belong exclusively to the First King: on the termination of the\nsecond millennium,\u2015\u2015the period of office assigned to the First\nMinister expires, and another star is associated with the First King;\nand so on, until the fixed stars are all gone through: on which Saturn\nbecomes associated with the First King, and continues so during a\nthousand years, and so with the other planets, until the period of\nassociation with the moon arrives: then terminates the supremacy of\nthe fixed star, named the First King, and his authority expires. After\nthe First King, the star associated with him in the second millennium,\nand which was called the First Minister, now attains the supremacy and\nbecomes Lord of the Cycle, during which cycle of sovereignty we style\nhim the Second King, with a thousand years appropriated to his special\nrule as before stated. In the following millennium another fixed star\nbecomes his associate, as above mentioned, and goes through a similar\ncourse. When the period of the moon\u2019s association arrives, the moon\nremains joined with the Second King during a millennium, on the\ncompletion of which, that fixed star, the term of whose sovereignty\nhas passed away, and who commenced the cycle, under the style of First\nKing, is associated with the Lord of the Cycle, styled the Second\nKing; after which, the empire of the Second King\u2019s star also\nterminates and becomes transferred to another: thus all the fixed\nstars in succession become kings, until they are all gone through, on\nwhich the principality and supremacy come to _Shat Kaivan_, or \u2018the\nLord Saturn,\u2019 with whom in like manner the fixed stars and planets are\nassociated for their respective millennia,\u2015\u2015when the dominion comes to\nthe _Shat M\u00e1h_, or \u2018Lunar Lord,\u2019 his period is ended as before stated,\nthe cycle completed, and one great circle or revolution has been\ndescribed.\u2015\u2015On the expiration of this great period, the sovereignty\nreverts to the First King; the state of the revolving world\nrecommences; this world of formation and evanescence is renovated; the\nhuman beings, animals, vegetable and mineral productions which existed\nduring the first cycle, are restored to their former language, acts,\ndispositions, species and appearance, with the same designations and\ndistinctions; the successive regenerations continually proceeding on\nin the same manner. The prince of physicians, _Abu Al\u00ed_ (whose spirit\nmay God sanctify!) expresses himself to this purport:\n\n \u201c_Every_ form and image, which seems at present effaced,\n Is securely stored up in the treasury of time\u2015\u2015\n When the same position of the heavens again recurs,\n The Almighty reproduces each from behind the mysterious veil.\u201d\n\nIt is here necessary to remark, that their meaning is not, that the\nidentical spirits of _Abad_, _Kaiomors_, _Si\u00e1ymak_ and _H\u00fashang_ shall\nbe imparted to the identical material bodies long since abandoned, or\nthat the scattered members of the body shall be reassembled and\nreunited: such sentiments, according to them, are absurd and\nextravagant: their real belief is this, that forms similar to those\nwhich have passed away, and bodies resembling the primitive ones,\ntheir counterpart in figure, property and shape, shall appear,\nspeaking and acting exactly in the same manner. How could the exalted\nspirits of the perfect, which are united with angels, return back?\nThey also maintain that men do not arise from their own species,\nwithout father or mother: but they affirm that, as a man and woman\nwere left at the commencement of the past cycle, so there shall two\nremain in the present cycle, for the continuance of the human race.\nFor although the heavens are the sires of the three natural kingdoms\nor productive principles, and the elements their mother, yet this much\nonly has been imparted to us, that man is born of man, and is not\nproduced after any other fashion.\n\nThe followers of the ancient faith call one revolution of the regent\nSaturn, a day; thirty such days, one month; twelve such months, one\nyear; a million of such years, one _fard_;[232] a million _fard_, one\n_vard_; a million _vard_, one _mard_; a million _mard_, one _j\u00e1d_;\nthree thousand _j\u00e1d_, one _v\u00e1d_; and two thousand _v\u00e1d_, one\n_z\u00e1d_.[232]\u2015\u2015According to this mode of computation, the happiness and\nsplendor of the M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1dian dynasty lasted one hundred z\u00e1d of years.\nThey believe it impossible to ascertain the commencement of human\nexistence; and that it is not to be comprehended by human science:\nbecause there is no epoch of identical persons, so that it is\nabsolutely impossible to form any definite ideas on the subject, which\nresembles an arithmetical infinite series. Such a belief also agrees\nwith the philosophy and opinions of the Grecian sages.\n\nFrom the authority of esteemed works, they account _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_ the first\nof the present cycle; as in reality he and his wife were the survivors\nof the great period, and the bounteous Lord had bestowed on them so\nimmense a progeny, that from their numbers, the very clefts of the\nmountains were filled. The author of the _Am\u00edghistan_ relates, that\nthey were acquainted only to a trifling degree with the viands, drinks\nand clothing which through the bounty of God are now met with:\nbesides, in that cycle there existed no organization of cities,\nsystems of policy, conditions of supremacy, rules of authority and\npower, principles of _Nush\u00e1d_ or law, nor instruction in science and\nphilosophy, until through the aid of celestial grace, joined to the\nmanifold favors and bounties of God, the uncontrolled authority of\n_M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_ pervaded alike the cultivated region and the wild waste; the\nwide expanse of land and sea. Through divine illumination, in\nconjunction with his spiritual nature, the assistance of his guiding\nangel and the eyes of discernment; and also what he had seen and heard\nin the past cycle, he meditated on the creation of the world: he then\nclearly perceived that the nine superior divisions, and the four lower\nelements, the subjects of existence, are blended and associated with\ndistinct essences and accidents, so as to combine together opposing\nmovements with contrary dispositions and natures: and that the\naggregate of this whole indispensably requires a supreme bestower of\nconnection, a blender and creator: also that whatever this bestower of\nrelation wills, and this all perfect in wisdom does, cannot be\ndestitute of utility and wisdom: M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d therefore dispatched persons\nto all quarters and regions of the world, to select from land and\nwater all productions and medicinal plants held in esteem for their\nvarious properties; these he planted in a proper site, so that by the\naid of the terrene and aqueous particles, the influence of atmospheric\ntemperature, in conjunction with the sidereal energies, their powers\nof vegetation, nutritious qualities, and properties might be\nascertained. At the time of promulgating this excellent purpose, the\nsovereign of the starry host entered in glory the mansion of Aries;\nand the rapidly-sketching painter of destiny drew forth the faces of\nthe brides of the gardens (blossoms and flowers): then, through the\nefficacy of command, experiment, and examination, M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d extracted\nfrom the various flowers, fruits, leaves and fibres, the different\nalimentary substances, medicinal compounds, viands and beverages. He\nnext commanded all sorts of ores to be fetched from the mines and\nliquified in the furnace, so that the different metals concealed in\nthem became visible. Out of iron, which combines hardness and\nsharpness, he formed warlike weapons for the brave; jewels, gold,\nsilver, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and chrysolithes, in which he\nobserved smoothness and capability of polish, he assigned as\ndecorations for kings, military chieftains, and matrons. He also\nordered persons to descend into the deep waters and bring forth the\nshells, pearls, corals, etc. People were commanded to shear the fleece\nof sheep and other animals: by him also were invented the arts of\nspinning, weaving, cutting up, sewing and clothing. He next organized\ncities, villages, and streets; erected palaces and colonnades;\nintroduced trade and commerce; and divided mankind into four classes.\nThe first was composed of _H\u00edrbeds_, _Mobeds_,[233] ascetics, and\nlearned men, selected for maintaining the faith and enforcing the\nsentence of the laws: these are also called _Birman_ and\n_Birmun_;[234] that is, they resemble the _Bar\u00edn\u00edan_ or supreme\nbeings, the exalted angels: they also style them _H\u00farist\u00e1r_.[235] The\nsecond class consists of kings and intrepid warriors, who devote\nthemselves to the cares of government and authority, to the promotion\nof equity and the curbing of oppression; those they call _Chatram\u00e1n_,\n_Chatraman_, and _Chatr\u00ed_:[236] this word _Chatr\u00ed_ means a standard or\ndistinction; as people of high rank have a _Chatra_,[237] or umbrella,\nto protect them with its shade, which they call _Sayah dar_ and _Sayah\nban_; the people repose under the shade of the individuals of this\nclass, who are also called _N\u00farist\u00e1r_.[238] The third class is\ncomposed of husbandmen, cultivators, artisans, skilful men, and\nmechanics; these are called _B\u00e1s_,[239] which is synonymous with\n_Bisy\u00e1r_ or numerous; as this class should far exceed in number all\nthe others. _B\u00e1s_ also means cultivation and improvement, results\nwhich altogether depend on this order\u2015\u2015they are also styled\n_Surist\u00e1r_.[240] The fourth class are destined for every kind of\nemployment and service; they are called _S\u00fad\u00edn_, _S\u00fad\u00ed_, and\n_S\u00fad_:[241] from them profit, indulgence, and ease accrue to society:\nthey are also called _R\u00fazistar_.[242] He instituted these four\nclasses,[243] the four elements of society, and the sources of\norganization were completed; independence and want appeared; there\nwere produced the gradations of ruler and subject; of lord and\nservant; discipline and authority; justice and knowledge; kindness and\nseverity; protection of the _Zindbar_ or kind treatment of innoxious\ncreatures; destruction of the _Tundbar_ or noxious animals; the\nknowledge of God and the ceremonies of his worship.\n\nGod also sent _Ab\u00e1d_ a code called the _Das\u00e1tir_,[244] in which are\nformed all languages and sciences. This work consisted of several\nvolumes, containing a certain number for each dialect. In it was also\nthe language called _Asm\u00e1n\u00ed_, or the Celestial, not a trace of which\nhas remained in any of the languages spoken by the inhabitants of this\nlower world. _Ab\u00e1d_ also assigned a language to every nation, and\nsettled each in a suitable place: and thus were produced the Parsi,\nHindi, Greek and such like.\n\nAccording to this sect, authentic revelation is only obtained by the\nworld of ecstacy or similitude, called _M\u00e1nist\u00e1n_; but from the time\nof _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_, all the prophets who were sent were in accordance with\nhis faith; not one of them being opposed to his law. After _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_,\nappeared thirteen apostles who, with him, were styled the fourteen\n_M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1ds_: they were called by the common name of _Ab\u00e1d_, and acted\non every occasion in conformity to their ancestor and his Celestial\nCode: and whatever revelation was made to them tended to corroborate\nthe faith of _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_.[245] After them, their sons in due succession\nobtained sovereign power, after their fathers, and devoted themselves\nto justice. The followers of this sect also believe that all the\nprophets and kings were selected from the heads of the most\ndistinguished families.\n\nNext to this dynasty, known as the Mahabadian, comes _Ab\u00e1d Az\u00e1d_, who\nwithdrew from temporal power and walked in the path of devotion and\nseclusion. It is recorded, that in their time, the realm was highly\ncultivated; treasures were abundant; lofty palaces, ornamented with\npaintings and exciting admiration; colonnades attracting the heart;\nthe Mobeds celebrated, profoundly learned, worshippers of God,\nundefiled, equally eminent in good words and deeds; soldiers,\nwell-appointed and disciplined, with corresponding trains of\nattendants and officers; mountain-resembling elephants; chargers like\nfragments of _Alburz_,[246] rapid in their course; swift-paced animals\nfor riding; numerous camels and dromedaries; well-trained cavalry and\ninfantry, and leaders who had experience in the world; precious\nstuffs; vases of gold and silver; thrones and crowns of great price;\nheart-delighting tapestries and gardens with other such objects, the\nlike of which exists not at present, and were not recorded as being in\nexistence in the treasures or reigns of the _Gilsh\u00e1\u00ed\u00e1n_ monarchs.\n\nHowever, on the mere abandonment of the crown by _Ab\u00e1d Az\u00e1d_, every\nthing went to ruin; so much blood was shed that the mills were turned\nby streams of gore; all that had been accomplished by the inventions\nand discoveries of this fortunate race was forgotten; men became like\nsavage and ferocious beasts, and as in former times resumed their\nabodes in the mountain-clefts and gloomy caverns; those superior in\nstrength overpowered and oppressed the weaker. At last some of the\nsages eminent for praise-worthy language and deeds, and who possessed\nthe volume of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, assembled and went into the presence of _Jai\nAfr\u00e1m_, the son of Ab\u00e1d, who, next his sire was the most undefiled and\nintelligent of men, and became one of the great Apostles: he passed\nhis time in a mountain cave, far removed from intercourse with the\nworld, and was styled _Jai_ on account of his purity, as in the\n_Ab\u00e1d\u00ed_ or _Az\u00e1r\u00ed_ language, a holy person is called _Jai_:[247] the\nassembled sages with one voice implored his justice, saying: \u201cWe know\nof no remedy for preserving the world from ruin, excepting the\nintercourse of thy noble nature with mankind.\u201d They afterwards recited\nto him the counsels, testamentary precepts, traditions and memorials\nof the _Ab\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n_ princes on the great merit of this undertaking. He\ndid not however assent, until a divine command had reached him, when\nthrough the influence of revelation and the presence of the\ndecree-bearing angel, _Gabriel_, he arose and assumed the high\ndignity, The realm once more flourished, and the institutes of _Ab\u00e1d_\nresumed their former vigor. The last of the fortunate monarchs of the\n_Ja\u00ed_ dynasty was _Ja\u00ed Al\u00e1d_, who also retired from mankind; when the\ndominion had remained in this family during one _asp\u00e1r_ of years. It\nis written in books of high authority that _Ja\u00ed Afr\u00e1m_ was called the\nson of _Ab\u00e1d Az\u00e1d_, because next to his noble ancestor no individual\npossessed such great perfections: but in reality many generations\nintervened between them: besides, _Ja\u00ed Afr\u00e1m_ was descended from the\nsons of _Ab\u00e1d Az\u00e1d_, so that there is a wide interval between _Sh\u00e1\u00ed\nGil\u00edv_ and _Ja\u00ed Ab\u00e1d_: in like manner between _Sh\u00e1\u00ed Mahb\u00fal_ and\n_Y\u00e1s\u00e1n_, and between _Y\u00e1s\u00e1n_ and _Gilsh\u00e1h\u00ed_ there must have elapsed\nmultiplied and numerous generations.\n\nThose who would understand the doctrines of this faith must know, the\nprocess of numeration among this profoundly-thinking sect is as\nfollows; by tens, hundreds and thousands: one _sal\u00e1m_ equal to one\nhundred thousand; one hundred sal\u00e1m, one _sham\u00e1r_; one hundred\n_sh\u00e1mar_, one _asp\u00e1r_; one hundred _asp\u00e1r_, one _r\u00e1dah_; one hundred\n_r\u00e1dah_, one _ar\u00e1dah_; a hundred _ar\u00e1dah_, one _r\u00e1z_; a hundred _r\u00e1z_,\none _ar\u00e1z_; and a hundred _ar\u00e1z_, one _b\u00ed\u00e1raz_.\n\nNow that their system of computation has been explained, I shall\nproceed with their history. They say that when his attendants found\nnot the auspicious monarch _Ja\u00ed Al\u00e1d_, neither amongst his courtiers,\nnor in the royal apartments, or _harem_, nor in the house of praise,\nor place of prayer, the affairs of the human race fell once more into\ndisorder: at length the sages and holy men went and represented the\nstate of affairs to the praise-worthy apostle _Sh\u00e1\u00ed Gil\u00edv_, son of\n_J\u00e1\u00ed Al\u00e1d_, who was then engaged in the worship of the Almighty. This\nprince, from his great devotion and unceasing adoration rendered to\nGod, was called _Sh\u00e1\u00ed_ and _Sh\u00e1y\u00ed_, that is a god and a\nGod-worshipper: his sons were therefore styled _Sh\u00e1yi\u00e1n_. When the\nsages had stated the case, the first _Sh\u00e1y\u00ed\u00e1n_ prince, _Sh\u00e1\u00ed Gil\u00edv_,\nhaving reflected on the cruelty practised towards the animal creation,\narose, through the influence of a celestial revelation and Divine\nlight, and sat in his illustrious father\u2019s throne. After this happy\ndynasty came _Sh\u00e1\u00ed Mahb\u00fal_, when the _Sh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n_ empire had lasted one\n_sham\u00e1r_ of years.\n\nAfter these came the _Y\u00e1s\u00e1ni\u00e1n_, so called from _Y\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the son of\n_Sh\u00e1\u00ed Mahb\u00fal_: this prince was exceeding wise, intelligent, holy and\ncelebrated; the apostle of the age: and being in every respect worthy\nof supreme power, was therefore called _Y\u00e1s\u00e1n_, or the meritorious and\njustly exalted.[248] His mighty sire having withdrawn from mankind,\nretired into seclusion, and there giving himself entirely up to the\nworship of God, the affairs of the human race again relapsed into\ndisorder. Tradition informs us, that when these auspicious prophets\nand their successors beheld evil to prevail amongst mankind, they\ninvariably withdrew from among them\u2015\u2015as they could not endure to\nbehold or hear wickedness; and sin had no admission to their breasts.\nWhen the chain of worldly repose had been rent asunder, Yas\u00e1n, in\nobedience to a Divine revelation, seated himself on the throne of\nsovereignty, and overthrew evil. Of this happy dynasty the last was\n_Y\u00e1s\u00e1n Aj\u00e1m_, when this admirable family had graced the throne during\nninety and nine _sal\u00e1m_ of years. The author of the _Am\u00edghist\u00e1n_ says:\n\u201cThe years which I have mentioned are _fars\u00e1ls_ of Saturn: one\nrevolution of the regent Saturn, which is allowed to be thirty years,\nthey call one day; thirty such days, one month; and twelve such\nmonths, one year.\u201d This is the rule observed by the _Yezd\u00e1ni\u00e1n_, who\nwrite down the various years of the seven planets after this manner:\nsuch is the amount of the saturnian _fars\u00e1l_. This same system of\ncomputation is applied to the _fars\u00e1ls_ of Mars, Venus, Mercury and\nthe moon, a day of each being the time of their respective\nrevolutions: they at the same time retain the use of the ordinary\nlunar and solar months.\n\nIt is also to be observed that, according to them, the year is of two\nkinds; one the _fars\u00e1l_, which is after this manner: when the planet\nhas traversed the twelve mansions of the zodiac, they call it one day;\nthirty such days, one month; and twelve such months, one year; as we\nhave before explained under Saturn. Similar years constitute the\n_fars\u00e1ls_ of the other planets, which they thus enumerate; the\n_fars\u00e1ls_ of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the sun, Venus, Mercury, and the\nmoon: the months of the _fars\u00e1l_ they call _farm\u00e1h_; the days of the\nfarm\u00e1h, _farr\u00f3z_. The second kind of years is, when Saturn in the\nperiod of thirty years traverses the twelve mansions, which they call\na saturnian _kars\u00e1l_; the _karm\u00e1h_ is his remaining two years and a\nhalf in each mansion,\u2015\u2015Jupiter describes his period in twelve common\nyears; this time they call the _hormuz\u00ed kars\u00e1l_; and the _hormuz\u00ed\nkarm\u00e1h_ is his remaining one year in each mansion: and so with regard\nto the others. However, when we speak of years or months in the\naccounts given of the _Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n_ princes, solar and lunar years and\nmonths are always meant; day implies the acknowledged day; and by\nmonth is meant the residence of the Great Light in one of the zodiacal\nmansions; and by year, his passing through the zodiac; a lunar month\nis its complete revolution, and traversing all the signs, which year\nand month are also called _T\u00edm\u00far_.[249]\n\nWhen Y\u00e1s\u00e1n As\u00e1m had abandoned this elementary body and passed away\nfrom this abode of wickedness, the state of mankind fell into utter\nruin, as his son _Gilsh\u00e1h_, who was enlightened in spirit, intelligent\nin nature, adorned by good deeds, feeling no wish for sovereign power,\nhad given himself so entirely up to the service of God, that no one\nknew the retreat of this holy personage.\u2015\u2015Men therefore, shutting up\nthe eyes of social intercourse, extended the arm of oppression against\neach other; at once the lofty battlements and noble edifices were\nlevelled to the ground; the deep fosses filled up; mankind being left\ndestitute of a head, the bonds of society were broken; slaughter was\ncarried to such excess, that numerous rivers flowed with currents of\nblood, streaming from the bodies of the slain: in a short time not a\ntrace was left of the countless treasures and the boundless stores,\nthe amount of which defied the computations of imagination. Matters\neven came to such an extremity, that men threw off the institutes of\nhumanity, and were no longer capable of distinguishing the relative\nvalues of precious stones, wares and commodities: they left not a\nvestige remaining of palaces and cities; but like ferocious and savage\nbeasts, took up their dwelling in the mountain caverns.\u2015\u2015Besides this,\nthey fought against each other, so that the multitudes of the human\nrace were reduced to a scanty remnant.\n\nOn this, _Gilsh\u00e1h_[250] of exalted nature, in obedience to a\nrevelation from heaven, and to the command of the ruler of the\nuniverse, became the sovereign of mankind: he restored the institutes\nof justice, and reassembled the members of his family, who, during his\nseclusion, had totally dispersed: on this account he was styled\n_Ab\u00fa-l-Bashr_, or \u201cthe Father of the human race,\u201d because with the\nexception of his family, the great majority of the others having\nfallen in their mutual contests, the survivors had adopted the\npursuits and habitudes of demons and of wild beasts: _Kaiomors_, or\n_Gilsh\u00e1h_, with his sons, then proceeded to give battle to the vile\nrace, and disabled their hands from inflicting cruelty on the harmless\nanimals: all that we find in Histories of Kaiomors, and his sons\nfighting against demons, refers to this circumstance, and the systems\nof faith which sanction the slaughter of animals were all invented by\nthis demon-like race. In short, the only true Ruler of the world\ntransmitted a celestial volume to Kaiomors, and also selected for the\nprophetic office among his illustrious descendants, _Siy\u00e1mak_,\n_H\u00fash\u00e1ng_, _Tahm\u00faras_, _Jemsh\u00edd_, _Far\u00edd\u00fan_, _Minucheher_, _Kai\nKh\u00fasr\u00f3_, _Zarat\u00fasht_, _Az\u00e1r S\u00e1s\u00e1n_ the first, and _Az\u00e1r S\u00e1s\u00e1n_ the\nfifth, enjoining them to walk in conformity with the doctrines of\nM\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d and Kaiomors; so that the celestial volumes which he bestowed\non those happy princes, all their writings and records were in perfect\naccord with the code of _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_: with the exception of _Zarat\u00fasht_,\nnot one of this race uttered a single word against the book of Abad:\nand even Zarat\u00fasht\u2019s words were, by the glosses of the _Yezd\u00e1ni\u00e1ns_,\nmade to conform to the _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1dian_ code\u2015\u2015they therefore style\nZarat\u00fasht, \u201c_Wakhshur-i-Simbari_,\u201d or the parable-speaking prophet.\n\nThe Gilsh\u00e1\u00edan monarchs constitute four races; namely, the\n_Peshd\u00e1d\u00edan_, _Kai\u00e1ni\u00e1n_, _Ashk\u00e1ni\u00e1n_, and _S\u00e1s\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_: the last of\nthese kings is _Yezdejird_, the son of _Sheriar_: the empire of these\nauspicious sovereigns lasted six thousand and twenty-four years and\nfive months.[251] During their existence, the world was arrayed in\nbeauty: _Kaiomors_,[252] _Siyamak_,[253] _H\u00fashang_,[254] named the\n_P\u00e9shd\u00e1di\u00e1n_, _Tahm\u00faras_,[255] surnamed the Enslaver of Demons, and\n_Jemshid_,[256] through celestial revelations, Divine assistance, the\ninstruction of Almighty God, unerring prudence, and just views, having\nfollowed in all things what we have recorded concerning M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d and\nhis illustrious children, introduced the rules of Divine worship, the\nknowledge of God, virtuous deeds, purity of conduct, modes of diet,\nclothing, the rites of marriage, the observance of continence, with\nall kinds of science, letters, books, professions, solemn festivals,\nbanquets, wind and stringed musical instruments, cities, gardens,\npalaces, ornaments, arms, gradations of office, the distinctions of\nthe two sexes with respect to exposure and privacy, the diffusion of\nequity, justice, and all that was praiseworthy.\n\nAfter these, the Gilsh\u00e1iy\u00e1n ruled, through divine inspiration and the\ncommunication of the Almighty added to their intelligence, so that the\ngreater part of the splendor, pomp, and beauty we now behold in the\nworld is to be attributed to this happy race: many however of the\nexcellent institutions of this happy dynasty have fallen into disuse\nand a few only remain.\n\nThe following is the sum of the _Sip\u00e1si\u00e1n_ creed: from the\ncommencement of _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d\u2019s_ empire to the end of _Yezdejird_\u2019s reign,\nthe great majority, nay all the individuals of this chosen race, with\nthe exception of _Zokah_,[257] were models of equity, characterized by\njustice and piety, perfect in words and deeds. In this holy family,\nsome were prophets, all were saints, righteous and God-fearing\npersons, with realms and armies maintained in the highest order. They\nalso acknowledge the apostles and princes prior to _Gilsh\u00e1h_, from\n_M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_ to _Y\u00e1s\u00e1n Aj\u00e1m_, as so eminently pious, that in no degree\nwhatever did wickedness enter into their conversation or actions: nor\ndid they at any time deviate from the _Paym\u00e1n-i-Farhang_, or\n\u201cExcellent Covenant,\u201d which is the code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, nor omit the\nperformance of any duty; they also held that the stars are exceedingly\nexalted, and constitute the _Kiblah_[258] of the inhabitants of this\nlower world.\n\nIn the time of _D\u00e1wir H\u00e1ry\u00e1r_ (the author of Dara\u00ed Sekander), who was\nof the _Ka\u00ed\u00e1nian_ race and a follower of the _Yezdanian_ faith, some\none said: \u201cThe prophets and faith are higher in dignity than the sun.\u201d\n_Dawir_ replied: \u201cWhere are now the forms and bodies of that\ndescription of men?\u201d On which that person having stated the names of\nthe cities and burial places of the prophets, _Dawir_ rejoined:\n\u201cDuring their whole lifetime, the form of no prophet or saint ever\nemitted light, even the distance of one day\u2019s journey, and since they\nhave been committed to the earth, not a single ray has been shed from\ntheir graves: and they are now so blended with the dust that not a\ntrace of them is left!\u201d The person then said: \u201cthe spirits of the\nprophets and saints are exceedingly resplendent.\u201d _Dawir_ retorted:\n\u201cBehold what amount of light is diffused by the solar globe! whereas\nthe bodies of your saints are destitute of splendor; therefore rest\nassured that his spirit is more resplendent than theirs.\u2015\u2015Know\nbesides, that the sun is the heart of the heavens: if he existed not,\nthis world of formation and dissolution could not continue: he brings\nforth the seasons and the productive energies of nature; moreover, the\nprophets were not in the beginning, nor are they in existence now: but\nthe world endures, the seasons rejoice, and the people are gladdened:\nthis much however may be conceded, that the prophets and saints are\nmore exalted than the remainder of the human race.\u201d\u2015\u2015On hearing this,\nthat person was silenced. Lastly, it is stated in the _Akhtarist\u00e1n_,\nthat the Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n tenets were, that the stars and the heavens are the\nshadows of the incorporeal effulgences; on this account they erected\nthe temples of the seven planets, and had talismans formed of metal or\nstone, suitable to each star: all which talismans were placed in their\nproper abode, under a suitable aspect: they also set apart a portion\nof time for their worship and handed down the mode of serving them.\nWhen they performed the rites to these holy statues, they burned\nbefore them the suitable incense at the appointed season, and held\ntheir power in high veneration. Their temples were called\n_Paikaristan_, or \u201cimage-temples,\u201d and _Shidist\u00e1n_, or \u201cthe abodes of\nthe forms of the luminous bodies.\u201d\n\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE WORSHIP RENDERED TO THE SEVEN PLANETS ACCORDING TO\nTHE SIPASIAN FAITH.\u2015\u2015It is stated in the _Akhtarist\u00e1n_, that the image\nof the regent Saturn was cut out of black stone, in a human shape,\nwith an ape-like head; his body like a man\u2019s, with a hog\u2019s tail, and a\ncrown on his head; in the right hand a sieve; in the left a serpent.\nHis temple was also of black stone, and his officiating ministers were\nnegroes, Abyssinians and persons of black complexions: they wore blue\ngarments, and on their fingers rings of iron: they offered up storax\nand such like perfumes, and generally dressed and offered up pungent\nviands; they administered myrobalam, also similar gums and drugs.\nVillagers and husbandmen who had left their abodes, nobles, doctors,\nanchorites, mathematicians, enchanters, soothsayers and persons of\nthat description lived in the vicinity of this temple, where these\nsciences were taught, and their maintenance allowed them: they first\npaid adoration in the temple and afterwards waited on the king. All\npersons ranked among the servants of the regent Saturn were presented\nto the king through the medium of the chiefs and officers of this\ntemple, who were always selected from the greatest families in Iran.\nThe words _Shat_ and _T\u00edmsar_ are appellations of honor, signifying\ndignity, just as _Sri_ in Hindi, and _Hazrat_ in Arabic.\n\nThe image of the regent _Hormuzd_ (Jupiter) was of an earthy color, in\nthe shape of a man, with a vulture\u2019s[259] face: on his head a crown,\non which were the faces of a cock and a dragon; in the right hand a\nturban; in the left a crystal ewer. The ministers of this temple were\nof a terrene hue, dressed in yellow and white; they wore rings of\nsilver and signets of cornelian; the incense consisted of\nlaurel-berries and such like; the viands prepared by them were sweet.\nLearned men, judges, imans, eminent vizirs, distinguished men, nobles,\nmagistrates and scribes dwelt in the street attached to this temple,\nwhere they devoted themselves to their peculiar pursuits, but\nprincipally giving themselves up to the science of theology.\n\nThe temple of the regent _Bahram_[260] (Mars) and his image were of\nred stone: he was represented in a human form, wearing on his head a\nred crown: his right hand was of the same color and hanging down; his\nleft, yellow and raised up: in the right was a blood-stained sword,\nand an iron verge in the left. The ministers of this temple were\ndressed in red garments; his attendants were Turks with rings of\ncopper on their hands; the fumigations made before him consisted of\nsandaracha and such like; the viands used here were bitter. Princes,\nchampions, soldiers, military men, and Turks dwelt in his street.\nPersons of this description, through the agency of the directors of\nthe temple, were admitted to the king\u2019s presence. The bestowers of\ncharity dwelt in the vicinity of this temple; capital punishments were\nhere inflicted, and the prison for criminals was also in that street.\n\nThe image of the world-enlightening solar regent was the largest of\nthe idols; his dome was built of gold-plated bricks: the interior\ninlaid with rubies, diamonds, cornelian and such like. The image of\nthe Great Light was formed of burnished gold, in the likeness of a man\nwith two heads, on each of which was a precious crown set with rubies;\nand in each diadem were seven _s\u00e1r\u00fan_ or peaks. He was seated on a\npowerful steed; his face resembling that of a man, but he had a\ndragon\u2019s tail; in the right hand a rod of gold, a collar of diamonds\naround his neck. The ministers of this temple were dressed in yellow\nrobes of gold tissue, and a girdle set with rubies, diamonds, and\nother solar stones: the fumigations consisted of sandal wood and such\nlike: they generally served up acid viands. In his quarter were the\nfamilies of kings and emperors, chiefs, men of might, nobles,\nchieftains, governors, rulers of countries, and men of science:\nvisitors of this description were introduced to the king by the chiefs\nof the temple.\n\nThe exterior of _Nahid\u2019s_[261] (Venus) temple was of white marble and\nthe interior of crystal: the form of the idol was that of a red man,\nwearing a seven-peaked crown on the head: in the right hand a flask of\noil, and in the left a comb: before him was burnt saffron and such\nlike; his ministers were clad in white, fine robes, and wore\npearl-studded crowns, and diamond rings on their fingers. Men were not\npermitted to enter this temple at night. Matrons and their daughters\nperformed the necessary offices and service, except on the night of\nthe king\u2019s going there, as then no females approached, but men only\nhad access to it. Here the ministering attendants served up rich\nviands. Ladies of the highest rank, practising austerities,\nworshippers of God, belonging to the place or who came from a\ndistance, goldsmiths, painters and musicians dwelt around this temple,\nthrough the chiefs and directors of which they were presented to the\nking: but the women and ladies of rank were introduced to the queen by\nthe female directresses of the temple.\n\nThe dome and image of the regent _Tir_[262] (Mercury) was of blue\nstone; his body that of a fish, with a boar\u2019s face: one arm black, the\nother white; on his head a crown: he had a tail like that of a fish;\nin his right hand a pen, and in the left an inkhorn. The substances\nburnt in this temple were gum mastic and the like. His ministers were\nclad in blue, wearing on their fingers rings of gold. At their feasts\nthey served up acidulous viands. Vizirs, philosophers, astrologers,\nphysicians, farriers, accountants, revenue-collectors, ministers,\nsecretaries, merchants, architects, tailors, fine writers and such\nlike, were stationed there, and through the agency of the directors of\nthe temple, had access to the king: the knowledge requisite for such\nsciences and pursuits was also communicated there.\n\nThe temple of the regent _Mah_ (the moon) was of a green stone; his\nimage that of a man seated on a white ox: on his head a diadem in the\nfront of which were three peaks: on the hands were bracelets, and a\ncollar around the neck. In his right hand an amulet of rubies, and in\nthe left a branch of sweet basil: his ministers were clad in green and\nwhite, and wore rings of silver. The substances burnt before this\nimage were gum arabic and such like drugs. His attendants served up\nsalted viands. Spies, ambassadors, couriers, news-reporters, voyagers,\nand the generality of travellers, and such like persons resided in his\nstreet, and were presented to the king through the directors of the\ntemple. Besides the peculiar ministers and attendants, there were\nattached to each temple several royal commissioners and officers,\nengaged in the execution of the king\u2019s orders; and in such matters as\nwere connected with the image in that temple. In the _Khuristar_ or\n\u201crefectory of each temple,\u201d the board was spread the whole day with\nvarious kinds of viands and beverages always ready. No one was\nrepulsed, so that whoever chose partook of them. In like manner, in\nthe quarter adjacent to each temple, was an hospital, where the sick\nunder the idol\u2019s protection were attended by the physician of that\nhospital. Thus there were also places provided for travellers, who on\ntheir arrival in the city repaired to the quarter appropriated to the\ntemple to which they belonged.[263]\n\nIt is to be observed, that although the planets are simple bodies of a\nspherical form, yet the reason why the above-mentioned images have\nbeen thus formed, is that the planetary spirits have appeared in the\nworld of imagination to certain prophets, saints, and holy sages under\nsuch forms; and under which they are also connected with certain\ninfluences; and as they have appeared under forms different from these\nto other persons, their images have also been made after that fashion.\n\nWhen the great king, his nobles, retinue and the other Yezdanian went\nto the temple of Saturn, they were arrayed in robes of blue and black\nhues; expressed themselves with humility, moving with a slow pace,\ntheir hands folded on the breast. In the temple of _Hormuzd_\n(Jupiter), they were dressed in his colors, as learned men and judges.\nIn that of _Bahram_ (Mars) they were clad in the robes peculiar to\nhim, and expressed themselves in an arrogant manner\u2015\u2015but in the temple\nof the Sun, in language suitable to kings and holy persons; in that of\nVenus, they appeared cheerful and smiling; in the temple of Mercury\nthey spoke after the manner of sages and orators; and in the moon\u2019s,\nlike young children and inferior officers.\n\nIn every private house there were besides images of the stars, a\nminute description of which is given in the _Akhtaristan_. They had\nalso, in every temple, the spherical or true forms of the several\nplanets.\n\nThere was a city called the royal abode or _sar\u00e1\u00ed_, facing which were\nseven temples. On each day of the week, in the dress appropriated to\neach planet, the king exhibited himself from an elevated _tabsar_ or\nwindow, fronting the temple of the planet, whilst the people, in due\norder and arrangement, offered up their prayers. For example, on\nSunday or _Yakshambah_, he shewed himself clad in a yellow kab\u00e1 or\ntunic of gold tissue, wearing a crown of the same metal, set with\nrubies and diamonds, covered with many ornaments of gold from the\ntabsar, the circumference of which was embossed with similar stones:\nunder this window, the several ranks of the military were drawn out in\ndue gradation, until the last line took post in the _kash\u00fadz\u00e1r_ or\nample area, in which were posted soldiers of the lowest order. When\nthe king issued forth, like the sun, from the orient of the tabsar,\nall the people prostrated themselves in adoration, and the monarch\ndevoted himself to the concerns of mankind. The _T\u00e1bs\u00e1r_ is a place of\nobservation in a lofty pavilion, which the princes of Hindustan call a\n_jahrokah_ or lattice window: on the other days, the king appeared\nwith similar brilliancy from the other T\u00e1bs\u00e1rs. In like manner the\nking, on their great festivals, went in choice garments to the temples\nof the several images: and on his return seated himself in the T\u00e1bs\u00e1r,\nfacing the image of the planet, or, having gone to the _R\u00f3zist\u00e1n_ or\n_D\u00e1dist\u00e1n_, devoted himself to the affairs of state. This Rozistan was\na place which had no t\u00e1bs\u00e1r, where the king seated himself on the\nthrone, his ministers standing around in due gradation.\u2015\u2015The\n_D\u00e1dist\u00e1n_ was the hall of justice, where, when the king was seated,\nno one was prevented from having access to him: so that the king first\ncame to the T\u00e1bs\u00e1r, then to the r\u00f3zist\u00e1n, and lastly to the D\u00e1dist\u00e1n.\nAlso on whatever day a planet moved out of one celestial house to\nanother, and on all great festival days, the king went to the temple\nappropriate to the occasion. Each of the planetary forms had also its\npeculiar T\u00e1bs\u00e1r, in the same manner as we have before stated\nconcerning the royal T\u00e1bs\u00e1r; and on a happy day, or festival, they\nbrought the image to its T\u00e1bs\u00e1r, The king went first and offered up\nprayer, standing in the T\u00e1bs\u00e1r of the image, the nobles placed around\naccording to their gradations, whilst the people were assembled in\ngreat multitudes in the _Kash\u00fadz\u00e1r_, offering up prayers to the\nplanet.\n\nAccording to what is stated in the _T\u00edms\u00e1r Das\u00e1tir_,[264] that is, in\nthe \u201cVenerable Des\u00e1tir,\u201d the Almighty Creator has so formed the\ncelestial bodies, that from their motions there result certain effects\nin this lower world, and, without doubt, all events here depend on the\nmovements of these elevated bodies; so that every star has relation to\nsome event, and every mansion possesses its peculiar nature: nay,\nevery degree of each sign is endued with a distinct influence:\ntherefore the prophets of the Lord, in conformity to his orders, and\nby great experience, have ascertained the properties inherent in the\ndegrees of each celestial mansion, and the influences of the stars. It\nis certain that whenever the agent does not agree with the passive,\nthe result of the affair will not be fortunate; consequently, when the\nprophets and sages desired that the agency of the planet should be\nmanifested advantageously in the world, they carefully noted the\nmoment of the star\u2019s entering the degree most suitable to the desired\nevent: and also to have at a distance from that point, whatever stars\nwere unfavorable to the issue. When all had been thus arranged,\nwhatever was connected with the productive cause was then completed:\nthey then bring together whatever is connected with causation in the\nlower world: thus all the viands, perfumes, colors, forms, and all\nthings relating to the star, being associated, they enter on the\nundertaking with firm faith and sure reliance: and whereas the spirits\npossess complete influence over the events which occur in the lower\nworld, when therefore the celestial, terrestrial, corporeal and\nspiritual causes are all united, the business is then accomplished.\nBut whosoever desires to be master of these powers, must be well\nskilled in metaphysics; in the secrets of nature; and having his mind\nwell stored with the knowledge of the planetary influences, and\nrendered intelligent by much experience. As the union of such\nqualifications is rarely or never found, the truth of this science is\nconsequently hidden from men. The _Abadi\u00e1n_ moreover say, that the\nprophets of the early faith, or the kings of _Farsist\u00e1n_ and the\n_Yezd\u00e1ni\u00e1n_, held the stars to be the _Kiblah_ of prayer, and always\npaid them adoration, especially when a star was in its own house or in\nits ascendant, free from evil aspects; they then collected whatever\nbore relation to that planet, and engaged in worship, seating\nthemselves in a suitable place, and suffering no one to come near\nthem: they practised austerities; and on the completion of their\nundertaking, exhibited kindness to the animal creation.\n\nIn the year 1061 of the Hegira (A. D. 1651) the author, then in\n_Sikakul of Kalang_,[265] was attacked by a disease which no\napplication could alleviate. An astrologer pronounced, that \u201cthe cause\nof this malady arises from the overpowering force of the regent Mars;\u201d\non which, several distinguished Brahmins assembled on the fourth of\n_Z\u00edk\u00e2dah_ (the 9th October) the same year, and having set out the\nimage of Bahr\u00e1m and collected the suitable perfumes, with all other\nthings fit for the operation, employed themselves in reading prayers\nand reciting names; at last, their chief, taking up with great\nreverence the image of Mars, thus entreated: \u201cO illustrious angel and\ncelestial leader! moderate thy heat, and be not wrathful: but be\nmerciful to such a one\u201d (pointing to me). He then plunged the image\ninto perfumed water; immediately on the immersion of the image, the\npain was removed.\n\nIn front of each temple was a large fire-temple, so that there were\nseven in all: namely, the _Kaiwan-\u00e1zar_, _Hormuz-\u00e1zar_, _Bahr\u00e1m-\u00e1zar_,\n_H\u00e1r-\u00e1zar_, _Nah\u00edd-\u00e1zar_, _T\u00edr-\u00e1zar_, and _M\u00e1h-\u00e1zar_, so that each\nfire-temple was dedicated to one of the seven planets, and in these\nthey burnt the proper perfumes. They assert that, during the\nflourishing empire of the early monarchs, several sacred structures,\nsuch as those of the K\u00e2bah and the holy temple of Mecca;[266]\nJerusalem; the burial-place of Muhammed; the asylum of prophecy, in\nMedina; the place of repose of Al\u00ed,[267] the prince of the faithful in\nNajf; the sepulchre of Imam Husain in Kerbela;[268] the tomb of Imam\nMusa[269] in Baghdad;[270] the mausoleum of Imam Reza[271] in San\u00e1b\u00e1d\nof T\u00fas; and the sanctuary of Al\u00ed in Balkh,[272] were all in former\ntimes idol and fire-temples. They say that Mahabad after having built\na fire temple, called _Hafts\u00far_ or seven ramparts, in Istakhar of\nPersia,[273] erected a house to which he gave the name of _Ab\u00e1d_, and\nwhich is at present called the _K\u00e2bah_: and which the inhabitants of\nthat country were commanded to hold in reverence: among the images of\nthe _K\u00e2bah_ was one of the moon, exceedingly beautiful, wherefore the\ntemple was called _M\u00e1hg\u00e1h_ (Moon\u2019s place) which the Arabs generally\nchanged into Mekka. They also say that among the images and statues\nleft in the K\u00e2bah by Mahabad and his renowned successors, one is the\nblack stone,[274] the emblem of Saturn. They also say that the prophet\nof Arabia worshipped the seven planets, and he therefore left\nundisturbed the black stone or Saturn\u2019s emblem, which had remained\nsince the time of the Abadian dynasty; but that he broke or carried\naway the other figures introduced by the Koreish, and which were not\nformed according to the images of the stars. In most of the ancient\ntemples of Persia they had formed the symbol of Venus in the figure of\na _Mihrab_, or arch, like the altar of the mosques: consequently the\npresent _Mihrab_, or altar, is that identical symbol: which assertion\nis also proved by the respect paid to Friday or the day of Venus.\n\nIbrahim (Abraham), the friend of God, pursued the same conduct; that\nis, he rejected the idols which were not of the planetary forms: and\nthe reverence paid by him to the black stone, according to ancient\ntradition, seems to prove that point. _Isfendiar_, the son of king\n_Gushtasp_[275] conformed also to this practice; nay Socrates the\nSage, in like manner, forbad the people to worship any other forms\nexcept those of the planets, and commanded the statues of the kings to\nbe removed. Moreover, the holy temple of Jerusalem, or\n_Kund\u00edzh-h\u00fahkt_[276] was erected by Zohak, and Faridun[277] kindled in\nit the holy fire. But long before Zohak\u2019s time, there were several\nidol and fire temples in that place. In the same manner, they say,\nthat when Faridoon turned his attention to the overthrow of Zohak,\nduring his journey his brethren having hurled a rock at him, this\nrevered prince, who was skilled and mighty in all the extraordinary\nsciences, manifested a wonderous deed: he prayed to the Almighty that\nit might remain suspended in the air, so that the stone even to this\nday is known as _K\u00fads Khal\u00edl_. They also say that in _Medina_,[278]\nthe burial place of the prophet, there was formerly an image of the\nmoon: the temple in which it was, they called _Mahd\u00ednah_, or the \u201cMoon\nof Religion,\u201d as religion is the moon of truth, from which the Arabs\nformed _Medinah_. They in like manner relate, that in the most noble\n_Najf_, where now is the shrine of Al\u00ed, the prince of the faithful,\nthere was formerly a fire-temple called _Far\u00f3gh p\u00edr\u00e1i_ (the decoration\nof splendor), and also \u201c_Nakaf_,\u201d or _Na akaft_ (no injury), which is\nat present denominated _Najf_. Also at _Karbal\u00e1_, the place where the\nImam Husain reposes, there was formerly a fire-temple called\n_Mahy\u00e1rsur ilm_[279] and _Kar bala_ (sublime agency), at present\ncalled _Karbela_.\n\nAlso in Baghdad, where the Imam Musa reposes, was a fire-temple called\n_Shet Pir\u00e1yi_ (decoration): and in the place where rest the remains of\nthe great Imam _Abu Hanifah_, of Kufah, was a temple called _H\u00faryar_\n(sun\u2019s friend): also in Kufah, on the site of the mosque, was a\nfire-temple called _Roz-Azar_ (the day of fire): and in the region of\nT\u00fas, on the site of Imam Resa\u2019s shrine, was a fire-temple called _Azar\nKhirad_ (the fire of intellect)\u2015\u2015it was also known by many other\nappellations, and owes its erection to Farid\u00fan.\u2015\u2015Also when _T\u00fas_, the\nson of _N\u00e1zar_,[280] came to visit _Azar-i-Khirad_, he laid near it\nthe foundation of a city which was called after his name.[281]\u2015\u2015In\nBalkh, where is now the sanctuary of the Imam, formerly stood a temple\ncalled _Mahin Azar_ (great fire), now known under the name of\n_N\u00f3bah\u00e1r_. In Ardebil,[282] the ancient _Dizh-i-Bahman_[283] (Bahman\u2019s\nfort), Kai Khosr\u00fa, on reducing the citadel, constructed there a\nfire-temple called _Azari-K\u00e1us_,[284] which now serves as the burial\nplace of the shaikh Sufi Ud-Din, the ancestor of the Safavean\nprinces:[285] they also assert that there were fire-temples in several\nparts of India: as in _Dwaraka_,[286] was the temple of Saturn, called\n_Dizh-i-Kaivan_ (Saturn\u2019s fort), which the Hindoos turned into\n_Dwaraka_: and in Gya also was an idol temple, called _Gah-i-Kaivan_,\nor \u201cSaturn\u2019s residence,\u201d which was turned into Gya.[287]\u2015\u2015In Mahtra\nalso was an idol temple of Saturn, the name of which was _Mahetar_,\nthat is the chiefs or _mahetar_ resorted thither; which word by\ndegrees became _Mahtra_.[288]\u2015\u2015In like manner several places among the\nChristians and other nations bore names which show them to have been\nidol-temples. When the _Abadian_ come to such places, they visit them\nwith the accustomed reverence, as, according to them holy places are\nnever liable to abomination or pollution, as they still remain places\nof worship and adoration: both friends and foes regarding them as a\nKiblah, and sinners, notwithstanding all their perverseness, pray in\nthose sacred edifices. Rai G\u00f3p\u00ed Nath[289] thus expresses himself:\n\n O Shaikh! behold the dignity of my idol-house;\n Even when destroyed, it remains the house of God!\n\nThere is not on record a single word repugnant to reason from the time\nof Mahabad to that of Yasan Ajam; and if they have recourse to\nallegory, they then express its figurative nature. From these princes\nto the Gilshaiyan there are many figurative expressions, all of which\nthey interpret. For example, they say that the tradition of Siamak\nbeing slain by the hand of a demon implies, that in successive\nbattles, through ignorance of himself and God, he unwittingly\ndestroyed this elementary body; thus, wherever, in the language of\nthis sect, mention is made of a demon, they always understand a man of\nthat description, as has been explained in the _Paiman-i-ferhang_, or\n\u201cExcellent Code.\u201d They also maintain that, in some passages, the\nrendering the demons obedient, and slaying them, is a figurative mode\nof expressing a victory gained over the pleasures of sense, and the\nextirpation of evil propensities: in like manner, whatever is related\nabout the appearance of angels to virtuous and holy persons, is the\nrevelation and vision of good spirits, whilst in a state of sleep,\ntransport, recovery from excess, or abstraction from the body; which\nstates are truly explained in this work. They say that Zohak\u2019s two\nserpents, _do-mar_, and ten fires (vices) or _deh ak_, imply\nirascibility and sensuality: the devil, his carnal soul, and in some\nplaces his disposition\u2015\u2015the two pieces of flesh which broke out on\nZohak\u2019s shoulders in consequence of his evil deeds, appeared to the\nhuman race like serpents, the pain caused by which could only be\nalleviated by the application of human brains. They also say that the\ncelebrated _Sim\u00fargh_[290] (griffin) was a sage, who had retired from\nthe world and taken up his peaceful abode in the mountains: he was\ntherefore called by this name, and was the instructor of _Dastan_, the\nson of S\u00e1m; so that Z\u00e1l, through his instruction, attained the\nknowledge of the occult sciences. As to the current tradition about\nKai-K\u00e1us attempting to ascend to Heaven, and his downfall, this\noccurred, according to them, during his sleep, and not when he was\nawake. Kai Nish\u00edn, his brother, who had retired from all intercourse\nwith mankind, thus interprets the adventure of K\u00e1us: \u201cThe four eagles\nare the four elements; the throne, the predominating passions; the\nlance, their energy and impetuosity in the desire of sensual\ngratifications; the thighs of flesh, their various pursuits of anger,\npassion, lust, and envy; their ascent implies that they may be subdued\nby religious austerities, and by the aid of their energy be made the\nmeans of ascending to the world on high and the supreme Heaven; their\nfall, instead of reaching Heaven\u2019s eternal mansions, intimates that\nif, even for a short period, we become careless about repressing evil\npropensities, and desist from the practice of mortification, the\npassions will return back to their nature, or wander from the eternal\nparadise, the natural abode of souls:\u201d the hemistich, \u201c_during one\nmoment I was heedless, and he was removed from me a journey of a\nhundred years_,\u201d is applicable to such a state.\n\nRustam\u2019s[291] bringing back Kai K\u00e1us to his throne from the forest\ninto which he had fallen, means, his bringing back intelligence into\nthe king\u2019s soul, and turning him back from the desert (lit. meadow),\nof natural infirmity: Kai Kaus therefore, by direction of Kai Nishin,\nhis younger brother, but his elder in purity of faith and good works,\nremained forty days in retirement, until in the state of sleep,\nthrough the awakening of his heart, he beheld this heavenly vision.\nThey also assert, whatever modern writers have declared, relative to\n_Khizr_[292] and Iskander, having penetrated into the regions of\ndarkness, where the former discovered the fountain of life immortal,\nmeans, that the Iskander, or the intellectual soul, through the energy\nof the Khizr, or reason, discovered, whilst in the state of human\ndarkness, the water of life, or the knowledge of the rational\nsciences, or the science which forms the proper object of\nintellect\u2015\u2015as to what they say about Iskander\u2019s returning back\nempty-handed, by that is meant, that to expect eternal duration in\nthis evanescent abode being altogether absurd, he consequently could\nnot attain that object, and therefore departed to the next world. What\nthey record about Khizr\u2019s drinking of that water, means, that the\nperfection of intellect exists not through the medium of body, and\nthat reason has no need of body, or any thing corporeal, either as\nessence or attribute.\n\nIn some passages they interpret the tradition after this manner; by\nKhizr is meant the intellectual soul, or rational faculty, and by\nIskander the animal soul, or natural instinct; the Khizr of the\nintellectual soul, associated with the Iskander of the animal soul,\nand the host (of perceptions) arrived at the fountain-head of\nunderstanding, and obtained immortality, whilst the Iskander of the\nanimal soul returned back empty-handed.[293] It must be remarked, that\nthis sect explain after this manner, whatever transgresses the rules\nof probability, or cannot be weighed in the balance of comprehension;\nin short, all that is contrary to reason. They also say purification\nis of two kinds; the _amighi_ or true, and the _ashkari_ or apparent:\nthe first consists in not defiling the heart with any thing; in not\nattaching it to the concerns of this treacherous world, emancipating\nit from all ties and prejudice, maintaining no connection with any\nobject whatever, and washing away all bias from the soul. The\n_Ashkari_, or apparent, consists in removing to a distance whatever\nappears unclean; consequently this purification is effected with water\nwhich has undergone no change of color, smell, or taste: that is,\nwhich is free from bad color, smell, or taste; if otherwise,\nrose-water and such like are more to be commended. Ablution requires a\n_kur_, or a measure of lustral water; that is, according to them, the\nmeasure for a man, is that quantity into which he can immerge his\nhead; for an elephant, a quantity proportioned to his bulk; and for a\ngnat, a single drop of water. They reckon it meritorious to recite the\nprayers and texts of the _Shat Das\u00e1t\u00edr_, relative to the unity of the\nself-existent Creator, the great dignity of intelligence and souls,\nwith the pains of the superior and inferior bodies; after which they\nrepeat the benedictions of the seven planets, particularly on their\ndays, and offer up the appropriate incense. The worshipper after this\nrecites the praises of the guardian of the month, and those of the\ndays of the month; for example, if it be the month of\n_Farvardin_,[294] the believer repeats benedictions on that angel, and\nthen on each of the regents of the days of that month: particularly\nthe regent of that day called by the same name as the month: which day\nis also regarded as a festival.[295] For instance, in the month of\n_Farvardin_, he utters benedictions on the angel _Farvardin_, who is\none of the cherubim on whom that month is dependent; if it be the\nfirst day of the month, called the day of _Hormuz_ (the angel who\nsuperintends the first day of the month), the believers address their\nbenedictions to _Hormuz_; and act in a similar manner on the other\nmonths and their respective days. According to them, the names of the\nmonths are called after the names of their lords; and the appellations\nof the days are according to the names of their respective regents:\nconsequently, as we have said, the believer adores the lord of the\nmonth, and on festivals, pays adoration to the angel who is the lord\nof the month and the day.[296] According to the Abadian, although in a\nmonth, the name of the month and of the day be the same, this\ncoincidence makes not that day dependant on the month, but on the\nregent who bears the same name with him, consequently it is necessary\nto celebrate a festival. In the same manner, on the other days of\nevery month, salutations are paid every morning to the regent of the\nday: also during the _Sudbar_, or the intercalary days, they offer up\npraises to their angels. They also regard the angels of the days as\nthe ministers to the angels of the months, all of whom are subject to\nthe majesty of the Great Light\u2015\u2015in like manner the other stars\n(planets) have also angels dependent on them: they also believe that\nthe angels dependent on each star (planet) are beyond all number: and\nfinally, that the angelic host belonging to the solar majesty are\nreckoned the highest order. Besides, on the period at which any of the\nseven planets passes from one zodiacal mansion to another, they make\nan entertainment on the first day, which they regard as a festival,\nand call it _Shadbar_,[297] or \u201creplete with joy.\u201d Every month also,\non the completion of the lunar revolution, on ascertaining its\nreappearance from astronomical calculation, they make great rejoicings\non the first day: there is in like manner a great festival when any\nstar has completed its revolution, which day they call _D\u00e1dram_,[298]\nor \u201cbanquet decking.\u201d Thus, although there is a festival every day of\nthe week in some idol-temple or other, as has been before stated,\nrelative to the day of _Nahid_, or Friday, in the temple of this idol:\nyet on the day of the Sun, or _Yakshambah_ (the first day of the\nweek), there was a solemn festival at which all the people assembled.\nIn like manner they made a feast whenever a star returned to its\nmansion or was in its zenith.\n\nThey believe it wrong to hold any faith or religious system in\nabhorrence, as according to them, we may draw near to God in every\nfaith: also that no faith has been abolished by divine authority\u2015\u2015they\nhold that, on this account, there have been so many prophets, in order\nto shew the various ways which lead to God. Those who carefully\ninvestigate well know, that the ways which lead to heaven are many;\nnay more than come within the compass of numbers. It is well\nunderstood, that access to a great sovereign is more easily attained\nthrough the aid of his numerous ministers; although one of the\nprince\u2019s commanders be on bad terms with his confidential advisers, or\neven should all the chiefs not co-operate with each other; yet they\ncan promote the interest of their inferiors: therefore it is not\nproper to say that we can get to the God of all existence by one road\nonly. But the insurmountable barrier in the road of approaching God is\nthe slaughter of the Zind\u00edbar, that is, those animals which inflict no\ninjury on any person, and slay not other living creatures, such as the\ncow, the sheep, the camel, and the horse: there is assuredly no\nsalvation to the author of cruelty towards such, nor can he obtain\nfinal deliverance by austerities or devotions of any description.\nShould we even behold many miraculous works performed by the slayer of\nharmless animals, we are not even then to regard him as one redeemed;\nthe works witnessed in him are only the reward of his devotions, and\nthe result of his perseverance in the practice of religious\nausterities in this world: and as he commits evil, he cannot be\nperfect in his devout exercises, so that nothing but suffering can\nawait him in another generation (when born again): such an instance of\nan ascetic endued with miraculous powers is likened in the Shat\nDasatir[299] to a vase externally covered with choice perfumes, but\nfilled internally with impurities. They also maintain that in no\nsystem of faith is cruelty to innoxious animals sanctioned: and all\nhuman sanction for such acts proceeds from their attending to the\napparent import of words, without having recourse to profound or\nearnest consideration\u2015\u2015for example, by putting a horse or cow to death\nis meant, the removal or banishing from one\u2019s self animal\npropensities, and not the slaughtering or devouring of innoxious\ncreatures. They state the later historians to have recorded without\ndue discrimination that Rustam, the son of Dastan (who was one of the\nperfect saints), used to slay such animals: whereas tradition informs\nus, that the mighty champion pursued in the chase noxious animals\nonly: what they write about his hunting the wild ass, implies that the\nelephant-bodied hero called the lion a wild ass; or \u201cthat a lion is no\nmore than a wild ass when compared to my force.\u201d In the several\npassages where he is recorded to have slaughtered harmless wild asses\nand oppressed innoxious creatures, and where similar actions are\nascribed to some of the Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n princes, there is only implied the\nbanishment of animal propensities and passions: thus the illustrious\nShaikh Farideddin \u00e2t\u00b4\u00e1r declares,\n\n \u201cIn the heart of each are found a hundred swine;\n You must slay the hog or hind on the Zanar.\u201d[300]\n\nThey hold that, from the commencement to the very end, the chiefs of\nthe Persian Sip\u00e1s\u00ed\u00e1n, far from slaughtering these harmless creatures,\nregarded as an incumbent duty to avoid and shun, by every precaution,\nthe practice of oppression or destruction towards them: nay, they\ninflicted punishment on the perpetrators of such deeds. Although they\nesteem the Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n prophets, pontiffs, and princes, exceedingly\nholy personages, yet in their opinion, they come not up in perfect\nwisdom and works to the preceding apostles and sovereigns, who\nappeared from the Yass\u00e1ni\u00e1n to the end of the M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n race.\n\nThey assert that some innoxious animals suffer oppression in this\ngeneration by way of retribution: for instance, an ox or a horse,\nwhich in times long past had, through heedlessness, wantonness, or\nwithout necessity, destroyed a man: as these creatures understand\nnothing but how to eat and drink, consequently when they obtain a new\nbirth, they carry burdens, which is by no means to be regarded as an\nact of oppression, but as a retribution or retaliation for their\nprevious misconduct. They are not put to death, as they are not\nnaturally destructive and sanguinary: their harmless nature proves\nthat they cannot be reckoned among the destroyers of animal life: so\nthat putting them to death is the same as destroying an ignorant\nharmless man: therefore their slayer, though he may not receive in\nthis world the merited punishment from the actual ruler or governor,\nappears in the next generation under the form of a ferocious beast,\nand meets his deserts. A great man says on this subject:\n\n \u201cIn every evil deed committed by thee, think not that it\n Is passed over in Heaven or neglected in the resolutions of time;\n Thy evil deeds are a debt, ever in the presence of fortune,\n Which must be repaid, in whatever age she makes the demand.\u201d\n\nThey also hold the eternal paradise to be the Heavens; and regard the\nsolar majesty as lord of the empyrean; and the other stars, fixed or\nplanetary, as his ministers: thus a person who, through religious\nmortifications and purity of life, attains righteousness in words and\ndeeds, is united with the sun and becomes an empyreal sovereign: but\nif the proportion of his good works bear a closer affinity to any\nother star, he becomes lord of the place assigned to that star: whilst\nothers are joined to the firmament on high: the perfect man passes on\nstill farther, arriving at the \u00e6thereal sphere, or the region of pure\nspirits; such men attain the beatific vision of the light of lights\nand the cherubinic hosts of the Supreme Lord. Should he be a prince\nduring whose reign no harmless animals were slaughtered in his realms;\nand who, if any were guilty of these acts, inflicted punishment on the\nperpetrators of the crimes, so that no such characters departed this\nworld without due retribution; he is esteemed a wise, beneficent, and\nvirtuous king: and immediately on being separated from the elements of\nbody, he is united with the sun: his spirit is identified with that of\nthe majesty of the great light and he becomes an \u00e6thereal sovereign.\nPrince Siamak, the son of Kaiomors declares: \u201cI beheld from first to\nlast all the Ab\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n, Jy\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n, Sh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n, and Yass\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n monarchs: some\nwere cherubim in the presence of the Supreme Lord; others absorbed in\nthe contemplation of the Light of Lights: but I found none lower than\nthe sphere of the sun, the vicegerent of God.\u201d On my asking them\nconcerning the means of attaining these high degrees, they said: \u201cThe\ngreat means of acquiring this dignity consist in the protection of\nharmless animals, and inflicting punishment on evil doers.\u201d\n\nAccording to this sect, labouring under insanity, suffering distress\non account of one\u2019s children, being assailed by diseases, the\nvisitations of providence, these calamities are the retribution of\nactions in a former state of existence. If a person should fall down\nor stumble when running, even this is regarded as the retribution of\npast deeds: as are also the maladies of new-born babes. But whatever\nhappens to a just man, which is evidently unmerited, this is not to be\nlooked on as retribution, but as proceeding from the oppression of the\ntemporal ruler, from whom, in a future generation, the Supreme Ruler\nwill demand an account.\n\nAccording to their tenets, the drinking of wine or strong liquors to\nexcess, or partaking of things which impair the understanding, is by\nno means to be tolerated: which may be proved by this reflexion, that\nthe perfection of man is understanding, and that intoxicating\nbeverages reduce human nature, whilst in that state, to a level with\nthe brute creation. If a person drink strong liquors to excess, he is\nbrought before the judge to receive due castigation; and should he,\nduring that state, do injury to another, he is held accountable for\nit, and is punished also as a malefactor.\n\nAmong this sect it is permitted to kill those animals which oppress\nothers, such as lions, fowls, and hawks, which prey on living\ncreatures: but whatever animals, whether noxious or innoxious, suffer\nviolence from the noxious, duly receive it by way of retribution: when\nthey slay the former, or noxious animals, that is regarded as a\nretribution, because in a former existence they were oppressive and\nsanguinary creatures: and in this generation the Almighty has given\nthem over to other more sanguinary animals, that they might shed the\nblood of the sanguinary bloodshedder: so that when noxious creatures\nare slain, it is by way of retribution for having shed blood: the very\nact of shedding their blood proves them to have been formerly shedders\nof blood: it is not however allowed to put them to death until they\nbecome hurtful: for example, a young sparrow cannot, whilst in that\nstate, commit an injury; but, when able to fly, it injures the insects\nof the earth; and, although this happens to the insects by way of\nretributive justice, yet their slayers become also deserving of being\nslain, as in a former generation they have been shedders of blood. For\ninstance, a person has unwittingly slain another, for which crime he\nhas been thrown into prison; on which they summons one of the other\nprisoners to behead the murderer: after which the judge commands one\nof his officers to put the executioner to death, as, previous to this\nact, he had before shed blood unjustly. But if a man slay a noxious\nanimal, he is not to be put to death, because that person taking into\nconsideration the noxious animal\u2019s oppression, has inflicted\nretribution on it: but if a brave champion or any other be slain in\nfighting with a noxious creature; this was his merited retribution;\nand it is the same if an innoxious animal be slain in fighting with a\nnoxious creature: for example, in a past generation the ox was a man\nendued with many brutal propensities, who with violence and insolence\nforced people into his service and imposed heavy burdens on them,\nuntil he deprived some of them of life: therefore in this generation,\non account of his ruling propensities, he comes in the form of an ox,\nthat he may receive the retribution due to his former deeds, and in\nreturn for his having shed blood, should be himself slain by a lion or\nsome such creature. But mankind are not permitted to kill the harmless\nanimals, and these are not shedders of blood: and if such an act\nshould be inadvertently perpetrated by any individuals, destructive\nanimals are then appointed to retaliate on them, as we have explained\nunder the head of the ox.\n\nThe best mode to be adopted by merciful men for putting to death\ndestructive creatures, such as fowls, sparrows, and the like, is the\nfollowing: let them open a vein, so that it may die from the effusion\nof blood: there are many precepts of this kind recorded in the _Jashen\nSudah_ of the _M\u00f3bed Hoshy\u00e1r_: but philosophers, eminent doctors, and\ndurveshes who abandon the world, never commit such acts: it is however\nindispensably necessary that a king, in the course of government,\nshould inflict on the evildoer the retaliation due to his conduct. The\nM\u00f3bed _Hoshy\u00e1r_ relates, in the _Sarud-i-Mast\u00e1n_, that in the time of\nKa\u00edomors and Siamak, no animal of any kind was slain, as they were all\nobedient to the commands of these princes. So that one of the\n_Farj\u00fad_, or miraculous powers possessed by the Yezdanian chiefs of\nIran, from Ka\u00edomors to Jemsh\u00edd, was their appointing a certain class\nof officers to watch over the animal creation, so that they should not\nattack each other. For instance, a lion was not permitted to destroy\nany animal, and if he killed one in the chase, he met with due\npunishment; consequently no creature was slain or destroyed, and\ncarnage fell into such disuse among noxious animals, that they were\nall reckoned among the innoxious. However, the skins of animals which\nhad died a natural death were taken off, and in the beginning used as\nclothing by Ka\u00edomors and his subjects: but they were latterly\nsatisfied with the leaves of trees. Those who embrace the tenets of\nthis holy race attribute this result to the miraculous powers of these\nmonarchs, and some profound thinkers regard it as effected by a\n_talisman_; whilst many skilled in interpretation hold it to be an\nenigmatical mode of expression: thus, the animal creation submitting\nto government implies, the justice of the sovereigns; their vigilance\nin extirpating corruption and evil, and producing good. In short, when\nin the course of succession the Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n crown came to H\u00fashang, he\nenjoined the people to eat the superabundant eggs of ducks, domestic\nfowls, and such like, but not to such a degree that, through their\npartaking of such food, the race of these creatures should become\nextinct. When the throne of sovereignty was adorned by the presence of\nTahm\u00faras, he said, \u201cIt is lawful for carnivorous and noxious creatures\nto eat dead bodies:\u201d that is, if a lion find a lifeless stag, or a\nsparrow a dead worm, they may partake of them. In the same manner,\nwhen Jemshid assumed the crown, he enacted: \u201cIf men of low caste eat\nthe flesh of animals which die a natural death, they commit no sin.\u201d\nThe reason why people do not at present eat of animals which died in\nthe course of nature, is, that their flesh engenders disease, as the\nanimal died of some distemper: otherwise there is no sin attached to\nthe eating of it. When Jemshid departed to the mansions of eternity,\n_Deh Ak_,[301] the Arab, slew and partook of all animals\nindifferently, whether destructive or harmless, so that the detestable\npractice became general. When Farid\u00fan had purged the earth from the\npollution of Zoh\u00e1k\u2019s tyranny, he saw that some creatures, hawks,\nlions, wolves, and others of the destructive kind, gave themselves up\nto the chase in violation of the original covenant: he therefore\nenjoined the slaughter of these classes. After this, Jraj permitted\nmen of low caste, that is the mass of the people, to partake of\ndestructive creatures, such as domestic fowls (which prey upon worms),\nalso sparrows and such like, in killing which no sin is incurred: but\nthe holy Yezdanians never polluted their mouths with flesh, or killed\nsavage animals for themselves, although they slew them for others of\nthe same class. For example, the hawk, lion, and other rapacious\nanimals of prey were kept in the houses of the great, for the purpose\nof inflicting punishment on other destructive animals, and not that\nmen should partake of them: for eating flesh is not an innate quality\nin men, as whenever they slay animals for food, ferocity settles in\ntheir nature, and that aliment introduces habits of rapacity: whereas\nthe true meaning of putting destructive animals to death, is the\nextirpation of wickedness. The Yezdanians also have certain viands,\nwhich people at present confound with animals and flesh: for instance,\nthey give the name of _barah_, \u201clamb,\u201d to a dish composed of the\n_zing\u00fa_, or egg-mushroom; _gaur_, or \u201conager\u201d is a dish made out of\ncheese: with many others of the same kind. Although they kill\ndestructive animals in the chase, they never eat of them; and if in\ntheir houses they kill one destructive animal for the food of another,\nsuch as a sparrow for a hawk, it is done by a man styled _Dazhk\u00edm_, or\nexecutioner, who is lower than a _Milar_, called in _Hindi_, _Juharah_\nor \u201csweeper,\u201d and in modern language _Hall\u00e1l Kh\u00far_, or one to whom all\nfood is lawful. But the dynasty preceding Gilshah, from whom the\nYezdanians derive their tenets, afforded no protection whatever to\ndestructive animals, as they esteemed the protection of the oppressor\nmost reprehensible. In the time of the Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n princes, they\nnourished hawks and such like, for the purpose of retaliating on\ndestructive animals; for example, they let loose the hawk on the\nsparrow, which is the emblem of _Ahriman_; and when the hawk grew old,\nthey cut off his head and killed him for his former evil deeds. The\nfirst race never kept any destructive creatures, as they esteemed it\ncriminal to afford them protection; and even their destruction never\ntook place in the abodes of righteous and holy persons.\n\nAmong the Sipas\u00edyan sect were many exemplary and pious personages, the\nperformers of praiseworthy discipline: with them, however, voluntary\nausterity implies \u201creligious practices\u201d or _Saluk_, and consists not\nin extreme suffering, which they hold to be an evil, and a retribution\ninflicted for previous wicked deeds. According to this sect, the modes\nof walking in the paths of God are manifold: such as seeking God; the\nsociety of the wise; retirement and seclusion from the world; purity\nof conduct; universal kindness; benevolence; reliance on God;\npatience; endurance; contentedness; resignation; and many such like\nqualities\u2015\u2015as thus recorded in the _Sar\u00fad-i-Must\u00e1n_ of the _M\u00f3bed\nHushyar_. The _M\u00f3bed Khod\u00e1 J\u00e1\u00ed_, in the \u201cCup of _K\u00e1i Khusr\u00f3_,\u201d a\ncommentary on the text of the poem of the venerable _Azar Kaivan_,\nthus relates: \u201cHe who devotes himself to walking in the path of God,\nmust be well-skilled in the medical sciences, so that he may rectify\nwhatever predominates or exceeds in the bodily humours: in the next\nplace, he must banish from his mind all articles of faith, systems,\nopinions, ceremonials, and be at peace with all: he is to seat himself\nin a small and dark cell, and gradually diminish the quantity of his\nfood.\u201d The rules for the diminution of food are thus laid down in the\n_Sharistan_ of the holy doctor _Ferzanah Bahram_, the son of _Farh\u00e1d_:\n\u201cFrom his usual food, the pious recluse is every day to subtract three\ndirems, until he reduces it to ten direms weight: he is to sit in\nperfect solitude, and give himself up to meditation.\u201d Many of this\nsect have brought themselves to one direm weight of food: their\nprincipal devotional practice turning on these five points: namely,\nfasting, silence, waking, solitude, and meditation on God. Their modes\nof invoking God are manifold, but the one most generally adopted by\nthem is that of the _M\u00fak Zh\u00fap_: now in the _Azanan_ or _Pehlevi_,\n_M\u00fak_ signifies \u201cfour,\u201d and _Zh\u00fap_ \u201ca blow;\u201d this state of meditation\nis also called _Char Sang_, \u201cthe four weights,\u201d and _Char K\u00fab_, \u201cthe\nfour blows.\u201d The next in importance is the _siy\u00e1 zh\u00fap_, \u201cthe three\nweights\u201d or \u201cthree blows.\u201d The sitting postures among these devotees\nare numerous; but the more approved and choice are limited to\neighty-four; out of these they have selected fourteen; from the\nfourteen they have taken five; and out of the five two are chosen by\nway of eminence: with respect to these positions, many have been\ndescribed by the _M\u00f3bud Sar\u00fash_ in the _Zerd\u00fasht Afsh\u00e1r_: of these\ntwo, the choice position is the following: The devotee sits on his\nhams, cross-legged, passing the outside of the right foot over the\nleft thigh, and that of the left foot over the right thigh; he then\npasses his hands behind his back, and holds in his left hand the great\ntoe of the right foot, and in the right hand the great toe of the left\nfoot, fixing his eyes intently on the point of the nose: this position\nthey call _Farnishin_, \u201cthe splendid seat,\u201d but by the Hindi Jogies it\nis named the _Padma \u00e1san_,[302] or \u201cLotus seat.\u201d If he then repeat the\n_Zekr-i-Mukzhub_, he either lays hold of the great toes with his\nhands, or if he prefer, removes his feet off the thighs, seating\nhimself in the ordinary position, which is quite sufficient\u2015\u2015then,\nwith closed eyes, the hands placed on the thighs, the armpits open,\nthe back erect, the head thrown forward, and fetching up from the\nnavel with all his force the word _Nist_, he raises his head up: next,\nin reciting the word _H\u00e9sti_, he inclines the head towards the right\nbreast; on reciting the word _Magar_, he holds the head erect; after\nwhich he utters _Yezdan_, bowing the head to the left breast, the seat\nof the heart. The devotee makes no pause between the words thus\nrecited; nay, if possible, he utters several formularies in one\nbreath, gradually increasing their number. The words of the formulary\n(_Nist hesti magar yezdan_, \u201cthere is no existence save God\u201d) are thus\nset forth: \u201cNothing exists but God;\u201d or, \u201cThere is no God, but God;\u201d\nor, \u201cThere is no adoration except for what is adorable;\u201d or this, \u201cHe\nto whom worship is due is pure and necessarily existent;\u201d or, \u201cHe who\nis without equal, form, color, or model.\u201d It is permitted to use this\nformulary publicly, but the inward meditation is most generally\nadopted by priests and holy persons; as the senses become disturbed by\nexclamations and clamors, and the object of retirement is to keep them\ncollected. In the inward meditation, the worshipper regards three\nobjects as present: \u201cGod, the heart, and the spirit of his Teacher;\u201d\nwhilst he revolves in his heart the purport of this formulary: \u201cThere\nis nothing in existence but God.\u201d But if he proceeds to the\nsuppression of breath, which is called the \u201cknowledge of _Dam_ and\n_S\u00famrad_,\u201d or the science of breath and imagination, he closes not the\neyes, but directs them to the tip of the nose, as we have before\nexplained under the first mode of sitting: this institute has also\nbeen recorded in the _Surud-i-Mastan_, but the present does not\ninclude all the minute details.[303]\n\nIt is thus recorded in the _Zerd\u00fasht Afsh\u00e1r_; the worshipper having\nclosed the right nostril, enumerates the names of God from once to\nsixteen times, and whilst counting draws his breath upwards; after\nwhich he repeats it twenty-two times, and lets the breath escape out\nof the right nostril, and whilst counting propels the breath aloft;\nthus passing from the six Kh\u00e1ns or stages to the seventh; until from\nthe intensity of imagination he arrives to a state in which he thinks\nthat his soul and breath bound like the jet of a fountain to the crown\nof the head: they enumerate the seven stages, or the seven degrees, in\nthis order: 1st, the position of sitting; 2d, the hips; 3d, the navel;\n4th, the pine-heart; 5th, the windpipe; 6th, the space between the\neyebrows; and 7th, the crown of the head. As causing the breath to\nmount to the crown of the head is a power peculiar to the most eminent\npersons; so, whoever can convey his breath and soul together to that\npart, becomes the viceregent of God. According to another institute,\nthe worshipper withdraws from all senseless pursuits, sits down in\nretirement, giving up his heart to his original world on high, and\nwithout moving the tongue, repeats in his heart Yezdan! Yezdan! or\nGod! God! which address to the Lord may be made in any language, as\nHindi, Arabic, etc. Another rule is, the idea of the Instructor: the\nworshipper imagines him to be present and is never separated from that\nthought, until he attains to such a degree, that the image of his\nspiritual guide is never absent from the mind\u2019s eye, and he then turns\nto contemplate his heart: or he has a mirror before his sight, and\nbeholds his own form, until, from long practice, it is never more\nseparated from the heart, to which he then directs himself: or he sits\ndown to contemplate his heart, and reflects on it as being in\ncontinual movement. In all these cases he regards the practices of the\nsuppression of the breath as profitable for the abstraction of\nthought: an object which may also be effected without having recourse\nto it.\n\nAnother rule is, what they call _\u00e1z\u00e1d \u00e1w\u00e1_, or the \u201cfree voice;\u201d in\nHindi _\u00c1nahid_; and in Arabic _S\u00e1ut Mutluk_, or \u201cthe absolute sound.\u201d\nSome of the followers of Mohammed relate, that it is recorded in the\ntraditions, that a revelation came to the venerable prophet of Arabia\nresembling \u201cthe tones of a bell,\u201d which means the \u201cS\u00e1ut Mutluk:\u201d which\nHafiz of Shiraz expresses thus:\n\n \u201cNo person knows where my beloved dwells:\n This much only is known, that the sound of the bell approaches.\u201d\n\nThe mode of hearing it is after this manner: the devotees direct the\nhearing and understanding to the brain, and whether in the gloom of\nnight, in the house, or in the desert, hear this voice, which they\nesteem as their _Zikker_, or \u201caddress to God.\u201d Azizi[304] thus\nexpresses himself:\n\n \u201cI recognise that playful sportiveness,\n And well know that amount of blandishment:\n The sound of footsteps comes to my ear at night;\n It was thyself; I recognise the hallowed voice!\u201d\n\nThen having opened the eyes and looking between the eyebrows, a form\nappears. Some of those who walk in the path of religious poverty among\nthe followers of Mohammed (on whom be benedictions!) assert that the\nexpression _Kab Kausain_, \u201cI was near two bows\u2019 length,\u201d alludes to\nthis vision. Finally, if they prefer it, having closed the eyes for\nsome time, they reflect on the form which appeared to them on looking\nbetween the eyebrows; after which they meditate on the heart; or\nwithout contemplating the form, they commence by looking into the\nheart; and closing both eyes and ears, give themselves up entirely to\nmeditation on the heart, abandoning the external for the internal:\nwhoever can thus contemplate obtains all that he wants; but\n\n \u201cThe anguish of my friend strikes at the portal of the heart;\n Command them, O, Sh\u00e1ni! to purify the dwelling of the heart.\u201d\n\nFinally the searcher after the Being who is without equal or form,\nwithout color or pattern, whom they know and comprehend in the Parsi\nunder the name of \u201c_Izad_,\u201d in Arabic by the blessed name of\n\u201c_Allah_,\u201d and in Hindi as \u201c_Para Brahma N\u00e1r\u00e1yaran a_,\u201d[305]\ncontemplates him without the intervention of Arabic, Persian, Hindi,\nor any other language, keeping the heart in his presence, until he,\nbeing rescued from the shadows of doubt, is identified with God. The\nvenerable _Maulav\u00ed Jami_ says on this head:\n\n \u201cThou art but an atom, He, the great whole; but if for a few days\n Thou meditate with care on the whole, thou becomest one with it.\u201d\n\nThey hold that reunion with the first principle, which the Sufees\ninterpret by evanescence and permanence, means not, according to the\ndistinguished Ishrakian[306] or Platonists of Persia, that the beings\nof accident or creation are blended with him whose existence is\nnecessary, or that created beings cease to exist; but that when the\nsun of the first cause manifests himself, then apparently all created\nbeings, like the stars in the sun\u2019s light, are absorbed in his divine\neffulgence; and if the searcher after God should continue in this\nstate, he will comprehend how they become shrouded through the sun\u2019s\noverpowering splendor, or like the ecstatic Sufees he will regard them\nas annihilated: but the number of Suf\u00eds who attain to this state is\nexceedingly small, and the individuals themselves are but little known\nto fame. This volume would not be sufficient to enumerate the amount\nof those lights (precepts) which direct the pilgrim on his course, but\nthe venerable _Azur Kaiv\u00e1n_ has treated at large on this head in the\n_J\u00e1m-i-Kai Khusr\u00f3_.\n\nIt is, however, necessary to mention that there are four states of\nvision; the first, _N\u00fan\u00edar_,[307] or that which is seen during sleep:\nby sleep is meant that state when the subtile fumes arising from the\nfood taken into the stomach mounting up to the brain, overpower\nexternal perceptions at the time of repose: whatever is then beheld is\ncalled in Farsi _T\u00edn\u00e1b_, in Arabic _R\u00fay\u00e1_, and in Hindi _Svapna_.[308]\nThe state beyond this dignity is _Susvapna_,[309] in Arabic _Ghaib_ or\n\u201cmysterious,\u201d and in the popular language of the Hindoos\n_Sukh\u00e1sv\u00e1da_[310] or _Sam\u00e1dhi_[311] (suspending the connexion between\nsoul and body), which is as follows: when divine grace is communicated\nfrom the worlds on high, and the transport arising from that grace\nlocks up external perceptions, whatever is beheld during that state is\ncalled _Binab_ or \u201crevelation:\u201d but that state into which the senses\nenter, or _H\u00f3shw\u00e1zhen_, \u201ca trance,\u201d which is expressed in Arabic by\n_Sah\u00fa_ or \u201crecovering from ebriety,\u201d and in Hindi by _Jagrat_,[312]\n\u201cawaking,\u201d and _Pratyaya_ \u201cevidence,\u201d[313] means that state in which\ndivine grace being communicated, without the senses being overpowered,\nit transports the person for the time being to the world of reality:\nwhatever he beholds in this state is called _B\u00edn\u00e1b_ or _M\u00e2ainah_\n\u201creality.\u201d The state higher than this is the power of the soul to quit\nthe body and to return to it, which is called in Farsi\n_N\u00edvah-i-chaminah_, in Arabic _Melk\u00e1t Khal\u00e2-baden_, and in Hindu\n_prapura paroksha_.[314]\n\nThey affirm that the bodies occupied by some souls resemble a loose\ngarment, which may be put off at pleasure; so that they can ascend to\nthe world of light, and on their return become reunited with the\nmaterial elements. The difference between _Sah\u00fa_ and _Khal\u00e2_ is this:\n_Sah\u00fa_ means, being absorbed in meditation on the communication of\ndivine grace, so that, without a relaxation of the senses, the person\nmay, for the time being, actually abide in the invisible world:\nwhereas _Khal\u00e2_ means, that the individual, whenever he pleases,\nseparates himself from the body and returns to it when he thinks\nfitting. The spiritual Maulavi thus says:\n\n \u201cShout aloud, my friends! for one person has separated himself\n from the body;\n Out of a hundred thousand bodies, one person has become\n identified with God.\u201d\n\nAccording to this sect there are seven worlds: the first is absolute\nexistence and pure being, which they call _Arang_[315] or \u201cdivinity;\u201d\nthe second is the world of intelligences, which they call _Birang_ or\n\u201cthe empyreal;\u201d the third is that of souls, called _Alrang_ or the\nangelic; the fourth that of the superior bodies, or _Nirang_; the\nfifth, the elementary or _Rang_; the sixth the compounds of the four\nelements, or _Rang-a-Rang_: but according to the Suf\u00eds all bodies,\nwhether superior or inferior, are named _M\u00e1lk_ or region; the seventh\nis _Sarang_, which is that of man or of human beings: but in some\nParsi treatises they term these seven regions the seven true\nrealities: however, if the author were to describe minutely the\narticles and ceremonies of this sect, their details would require so\nmany volumes, that contenting himself with what has been stated, he\nnow proceeds to describe some of their most distinguished followers of\nlater times.\n\n\n [228] Here begins the translation of David Shea.\n\n [229] _Ser\u00fash_ or _Ser\u00f3sh_, is derived from the Zend, and\n signifies properly _s\u00ed-roz_, that is \u201cthirty days, a month.\u201d\n To the adorers of the stars, Ser\u00f3sh is the name of an angel\n who presides over the 17th day of the month; according to\n their religion, he is moreover the most active of the\n celestial spirits; as king of the earth, he passes every day\n and every night three times through his empire; his throne\n is the summit of the world; all light, all intelligence, he\n purifies and fertilizes the earth, blesses and protects\n mankind, strikes the evil spirits; in short, he is adored\n equal to the supreme being. (_See Zend Avesta, par Anquetil\n du Perron_, _I._ 2. P. _pp._ 80, 156, 228, 404, 415; _II._\n 320, 330, 223, 235, 237).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [230] The text given by Gladwin (_see the New Asiatic\n Miscellany_, _vol. I. p._ 93), and the manuscript of Oude,\n have no negative before \u062e\u062c\u0633\u062a\u0647; the sense would\n therefore be: \u201cif his words had been plausible, but the\n deeds bad.\u201d The edit. of Calcutta gives the sense as\n above.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [231] Gladwin translates this passage as follows (_ibid._,\n _p._ 94): \u201cIf a deserving soul produces good words and\n deeds,\u201d which is in accordance with the text he followed,\n and with that of the edit. of Calcutta; but Shea\u2019s\n translation is justified by the manuscript of Oude, which\n has: \u0628\u064a \u067e\u0633\u0646\u062f\u064a\u062f\u0647 \u0627\u0642\u0648\u0627\u0644 \u0641\u0631\u0651\u062e\u06cc \u0627\u0641\u0639\u0627\u0644.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [232] According to Gladwin, after \u0628\u0627\u0631\u0647 once followed in a\n series by \u0647\u0632\u0627\u0631 the same word is to be always understood\u2015\u2015thus\n \u064a\u06a9 \u0647\u0632\u0627\u0631 \u0628\u0627\u0631\u0647 \u0641\u0631\u062f\u0631\u0627 is not a thousand _fard_, but one million\n _fard_. This word is not in the Burhan:\u2015\u2015I have therefore\n followed Gladwin\u2019s authority. But in the Des\u00e1tir, or \u201cSacred\n Writings of the ancient Persian Prophets in the original\n tongue,\u201d published at Bombay in 1818, the following passage\n occurs in the commentary of the Vth Sasan (English transl.\n p. 36): \u201cThey call a thousand times a thousand years a\n _ferd_; and a thousand _ferds_, a _werd_; and a thousand\n _werds_, a _merd_; and a thousand _werds_, a _j\u00e1d_; and\n three thousand _j\u00e1ds_, a _w\u00e1d_; and two thousand _wads_, a\n _z\u00e1d_;\u201d etc.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [233] \u0647\u064a\u0631\u0628\u062f \u201cHirbed\u201d (see Thomas Hyde, _Veterum Persarum et\n Parthorum et Medorum Religionis Historia, Oxon ii._ 1760, p.\n 369-372) was called a priest of the fire-worship; according\n to oriental authors, a priest of the ancient Persians was in\n general, called formerly \u0645\u063a, \u2018magh,\u2019 or \u0645\u0648\u063a \u2018mogh,\u2019 that is\n \u201cexcellent,\u201d hence Magus, a Magian. The Magi are mentioned\n by Herodotus, and, according to Aristotle, were more ancient\n than the Egyptian priests. Clitarchus and Strabo, contemporaries,\n the one of Alexander, the other of Augustus, speak of the\n Magi. The latter says (lib. XV.): \u0395\u03bd \u03b4\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7 \u039a\u03b1\u03c0\u03c0\u03b1\u03b4\u03bf\u03ba\u03af\u03b1, \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03cd\n \u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u039c\u03ac\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd \u03c6\u1fe6\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd \u03bf\u1f31 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u03a0\u03cd\u03c1\u03b5\u03b8\u03bf\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9\u00b7 \u201cIn\n Kappadocia is a great multitude of Magi, called also\n Pyrethi.\u201d (See Selden, De Dis Syris syntagma, Lipsi\u00e6, 1662,\n p. 317, 318). An order superior to this class of priests was\n the \u0628\u062f, \u2018m\u00f3gh bed,\u2019 or \u0648\u0628\u062f, \u2018mobed,\u2019 a \u2018prefect, or judge of\n the Magi,\u2019 of the learned priests, or of the worshippers of\n the sun, in a general sense, a wise man, adorer of the sun.\n A third order of Persian priests was called \u062a\u0648\u0631, \u2018dastur,\u2019\n or \u2018superintendant.\u2019 (See also _Zend-Avesta_, translated by\n Anquetil du Perron, t. II, pp. 516, 517, 553, 555.)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [234] \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e\u0928\u094d \u201cBrahman.\u201d\n\n [235] Gladwin \u201cMahuristar.\u201d We read in the Commentary upon\n article 145 of the Desatir, English translation, p. 27: \u201cIn\n Pehlevi the Huristars are called _Athurn\u00e2ns_\u2015\u2015They are the\n Mobeds and Hirbuds whose duty is to guard the faith, to\n confirm the knowledge and precepts of religion, and to\n establish justice.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [236] \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0903, \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0930\u093f\u092f\u0903, \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0924\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0940, \u2018kshatra, kshatriya, kshatri,\u2019\n a man of the military class, from \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0926\u094d to divide, or eat,\n rather from \u0915\u094d\u0937\u0947\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0902, _ksh\u00e9tram_, \u2018field,\u2019 which they are to\n protect. This last from \u0915\u094d\u0937\u093f, _kshi_, \u2018to dwell.\u2019\n\n [237] \u091b\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0902, \u2018_chhatra\u1e3f_,\u2019 a parasol, an umbrella, from \u091b\u0926\n \u2018chhada,\u2019 to cover.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [238] \u201cThe N\u00farist\u00e1rs in Pehlevi are named _Rehtisht\u00e1ran_,\n and are the princes and warriors who are called to grandeur\n and superiority, and command, and worldly sway.\u201d _Comment.\n upon art. 145 of the Desatir_, p. 27.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [239] \u0935\u093f\u0936, \u0935\u0948\u0936\u094d\u092f, \u2018_vi\u015b_, _vai\u015bya_, \u2018a man of the mercantile\n tribe,\u2019 from \u0935\u093f\u0936, \u2018vi\u015b,\u2019 to enter.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [240] \u201cThe Suristars in Pehlevi are denominated _Washtery\u00fb\u00b4sh\u00e1n_,\n and are devoted to every kind of business and employment.\u201d\n _Comment. upon the Desatir_, p. 27.\n\n [241] \u0936\u0941\u0926\u094d\u0930, _\u015budra_, a man of the fourth or servile class,\n from \u0936\u0941\u091a, _such_, to purify.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [242] \u201cThe Ruzistars are in Pehlevi styled Hotukhshan, and\n are artisans and husbandmen.\u201d\u2015\u2015_Comm. upon the Des._\n\n [243] The names _Huristar_, _Nuristar_, _Suristar_, and\n _Ruzistar_, of the four classes of the people, are to be\n found in the Desatir (artic. 145, English translation, p.\n 27), from which work the author of the Dabistan is likely to\n have taken them, as various other information. As this\n division of a nation is undoubtedly suggested by the natural\n state of things, it has been attributed to more than one\n ancient king, and by Ferd\u00fasi, in his Shah-namah, to Jemshid,\n under four denominations belonging to the ancient Persian\n language. These are as follows: 1\u1d52 \u0627\u0646, _Amuzian_; 2\u1d52\n \u064a\u0633\u0627\u0631\u064a\u0627\u0646, _Nisarian_; 3\u1d52 \u062f\u06cc, _Nasudi_; 4\u1d52 \u062e\u0648\u0634\u06cc, _Ahnu\n khushi_, corresponding to the learned, the warriors, the\n husbandmen, and the mechanics. The first of these names,\n _Amuzian_, is easily recognised in the Persian \u062e\u062a\u0646,\n _amokhten_ (Imp. \u0627\u0645\u0648\u0632 _amuz_), \u201cto teach, to learn;\u201d the\n second _nisarian_ is the same with \u0633\u0627\u0631\u06cc, _nisari_, the\n common Persian word for a warrior; the third, _nasudi_, is a\n Pehlevi noun (see Hyde, p. 437); the fourth, _Ahn\u00fakh\u00fash\u00ed_,\n appears composed of [\u0627\u0647\u0646\u0648, _ahnu_, \u201cprovisions, meat\u201d (to be\n traced to \u0906\u0939\u094d\u0928\u093f\u0915, _ahnika_, \u201cdaily work, food\u201d), and of\n \u062e\u0648\u0634\u06cc, _khushi_, \u201cgood, content,\u201d or from \u0633\u062a\u0646 _kh\u00e1stan_, \u201cto\n ask.\u201d Upon the four classes of the people see also _History\n of the early kings of Persia, translated from the Persian of\n Mirkhond, entitled the Rauza-us-safa\u201d_ by David Shea, p.\n 108-113.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [244] The text of Gladwin has \u0627\u0646\u064a\u0631, _dest\u00e2nir_, the edition\n of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have _Das\u00e1tir_. The\n single volume published under that name at Bombay (see note\n page 14), if genuine at all, can be considered but as a very\n small part of the great work, said to comprehend all\n languages and sciences.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [245] This faith is also called _Fersend\u00e1j_, and the great\n \u00c1b\u00e1d himself _Ferz\u00e1b\u00e1d_, and _B\u00faz\u00fag\u00e1bad_, (Das\u00e1t., Engl.\n Transl., p. 27, 58, 187).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [246] _Burz_, with the Arabic article _Al-burz_, is a\n mountain in Jebal or Irak Ajemi, not far distant from, and\n to the north of, the town Yezd in the province of Fars,\n where, from very remote times to our days, a great number of\n fire-temples existed. Alburz belongs to a fabulous region;\n this name is given to several mountains, among which the\n great Caucasus is distinguished from the _tirah_, or\n \u201clittle,\u201d Alburz.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [247] This word reminds of \u091c\u093f\u0928, _jina_, or \u091c\u0948\u0928, _jaina_,\n from \u091c\u093f, _ji_, \u2018to conquer\u2019 or \u2018excel,\u2019 a generic name of\n distinguished persons, belonging to the Jaina sect of\n Hindus.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [248] This is evidently the Sanskrit word \u092f\u0936\u0938\u094d, _ya\u015bas_,\n \u201cfame, glory, celebrity, splendor,\u201d and \u092f\u0936\u0938\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0928, _ya\u015basvan_,\n \u201cfamous, celebrated.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [249] Gladwin has \u0645\u0648\u0631, _nimur_; the edition of Calcutta and\n the manuscript of Oude have \u062a\u064a\u0645\u0648\u0631 _timur_.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [250] Gil-shah, \u201cEarth-King,\u201d also \u201cthe King formed of\n clay.\u201d According to the _Mojmil-al-Tavarikh_ (see Extracts\n from this work by Julius Mohl, Esq., Journ. Asiat., February\n 1841, p. 146), he was so called, because he governed the\n then not inhabited earth. Gil-shah is one of the names given\n to the first man or King; in the _Des\u00e1tir_ (pp. 70, 131) he\n is called Giomert, Gilshadeng; by others Kaiomars (see also\n _Rauzat-us-Safa_ of Mirkhond, translated by D. Shea, p.\n 50).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [251] This number differs considerably from the chronology\n of other Asiatics. Here follow the periods enumerated in the\n _Epitome of the ancient History of Persia, extracted and\n translated from the Jehan Ara_, by Sir Wil. Ouseley (p.\n 71-74).\n\n The Pesh\u00e1dian ruled (the mean of 4 different data) 2531 years.\n Kai\u00e1ni\u00e1n \u2015\u2015 ( \u2015\u2015 4 \u2015\u2015 ) 704 \u2015\u2015\n Ashk\u00e1ni\u00e1n \u2015\u2015 ( \u2015\u2015 11 \u2015\u2015 ) 352 \u2015\u2015\n S\u00e1s\u00e1nian \u2015\u2015 ( \u2015\u2015 7 \u2015\u2015 ) 500 \u2015\u2015\n \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n TOTAL 4087 years.\n \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\n As Yezdejird\u2019s reign terminated 651 or 653 years of our era,\n the beginning of the Peshd\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n, according to the Dabistan,\n is placed 6024-651=5373 years before J. C.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [252] Adopting the just computed period of 4087 years\n between Yezdegird and the 1st of the P\u00e9shdad\u00ed\u00e1n, Kaiomars\n would have begun to reign 3436 years before Christ;\n according to the Shahnamah, it was 3529 years before our\n era; Sir W. Jones places him 890 years B. C. (see his Works,\n vol. XII, 8vo edit. p. 399).\n\n [253] S\u00edyamak the son of Gilshah or Kaiomors, was killed in\n a battle against the Divs.\n ACCORDING ACCORDING\n TO FERDUSI: TO SIR W. JONES:\n [254] H\u00fashang began to reign 3499 years B. C.; 865 years B. C.\n [255] Tehm\u00faras \u2015\u2015 3469 \u2015\u2015 ; 835 \u2015\u2015\n [256] Jemsh\u00edd \u2015\u2015 3429 \u2015\u2015 ; 800 \u2015\u2015\n\n Jemsh\u00edd, also called Jermsh\u00e1r in the _Des\u00e1tir_ (pp. 88,\n 89), according to Ferdusi the son of Tehm\u00faras, according to\n the _Zend-Avesta_ the son of Vivergh\u00e1m, brother or son of\n Tahm\u00faras. He, or rather his dynasty, ruled 700 years the\n Persian empire. He is believed to have been the first who\n amongst the Persians regulated the solar year, the\n commencement of which he fixed at the vernal equinox, about\n the 5th of April (see _Zend-Avesta_, by Anquetil du Perron,\n vol. II, p. 82). He is also distinguished by the epithet\n _Sad-wakhshur_, which signifies \u201chundred prophets;\u201d to him\n is ascribed the book _Javedan Khirad_, \u201ceternal intelligence,\u201d\n which is said to have been translated into Greek, with other\n books, by order of Alexander (see _Des\u00e1tir_, English transl.\n pp. 79, 153, 163).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [257] Zohak, the son of a sister of Jemsh\u00edd, usurped the\n throne of his uncle and sovereign, according to Ferdusi,\n 2729 years B. C.; according to Helvicus, 2248; according to\n Jackson, 1964; but only 780 years B. C., according to Sir W.\n Jones who, in general, fixes the ancient Persian reigns much\n lower than other chronologers. Zohak is also called\n _Pivar-asp_, or _Bivar-asp_, from the circumstance of his\n always keeping ten thousand Arabian horses in his stables,\n for _Bivar_, says Ferdusi, from the Pehlevi, in counting\n means in the D\u00e1r\u00ed tongue, ten thousand (see Rauzat-us-saf\u00e1,\n Translat., p. 123; and also Mojmel-al-Tavarikh). The empire\n which Zokah founded is identified by some historians with\n the Assyrian monarchy of Semiramis, or with a Semitic\n domination in general. It lasted, according to the Orientals,\n 1000 years; according to Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Justin\n and Syncellus 13 or 1400, according to Herodotus only 520\n years.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [258] Kiblah signifies that part to which people direct\n their face in prayer, the temple of Mecca to the devout\n Muhammedans; in a general sense, it means the object of our\n views or wishes.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [259] The text has \u06af\u0633, _Kerges_, a bird, feeding on\n carcasses, and living one hundred years.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [260] Bahram is also called _Manishram_ (Des\u00e1tir, Engl.\n transl. p. 79).\n\n [261] Nahid appears also under the name of _Fereheng\u00edram_\n (ibid., p. 90).\n\n [262] Tir, also _Temir\u00e1m_ (ibid., p. 102).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [263] It was from time immemorial to our days the practice\n of the Asiatics to refer the common affairs of life to the\n stars, to which they attribute a constant and powerful\n influence over the nether world. Thus H\u00famaiun the son of\n Baber, emperor of India (see the History of Ferishta,\n translated by general John Briggs, vol. II, p. 71) \u201ccaused\n seven halls of audience to be built, in which he received\n persons according to their rank. The first, called the\n palace of the Moon, was set apart for ambassadors, messengers\n and travellers. In the second, called the palace of _Utarid_\n (Venus), civil officers, and persons of that description,\n were received; and there were five other palaces for the\n remaining five planets. In each of these buildings he gave\n public audience, according to the planet of the day. The\n furniture and paintings of each, as also the dresses of the\n household attendants, bore some symbol emblematical of the\n planet. In each of these palaces he transacted business one\n day in the week.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [264] Gladwin has \u0648\u0633\u0627\u062a\u064a\u0631 _timar Vas\u00e1tir_, the manuscript of\n Oude \u0631 \u062f\u0633\u064a\u062a\u064a\u0631 _t\u00edm\u00e1r dasy\u00e1tir_, the edition of Calcutta \u0627\u0631\n \u062f\u0633\u0627\u062a\u064a\u0631, _t\u00edms\u00e1r dasatir_, which is the right reading, as the\n word \u201c_timsar_\u201d is explained in the index of obsolete or\n little known terms by these words: \u0644\u0645\u0647\u0654 \u062a\u0639\u0638\u064a\u0645 \u0628\u0645\u0639\u0646\u06cc \u201ca word\n expressing respect.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [265] Cicacole, a town in the northern districts of the\n Coromandel coast, anciently named Kalinga, the ancient\n capital of an extensive district of the same name, lat. 18\u00b0\n 21\u2032 N., long. 83\u00b0 57\u2032 E.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [266] The Muhammedans distinguish particularly two temples,\n or mosques: the first, the principal object of their\n veneration, is the _Masjed al Haram_, or \u201cthe Sacred\n mosque,\u201d that is to say, the temple of Mecca, where is also\n the _K\u00e2bah_, or \u201cthe Square-edifice,\u201d built, as they say, by\n Abraham and his son Ismael. The second of the temples is the\n _Masjed al Nab\u00ed_, \u201cthe mosque of the Prophet,\u201d who preached\n and is buried in it.\u2015\u2015(_Herbelot._)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [267] Ali, the son of _Abu Taleb_, the cousin and son in law\n of Muhammed. Ali was assassinated in the mosque of Kufa, and\n buried near this town, in the province of Irak, the\n Babylonian, on the right bank of the Euphrates.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [268] Kerbela is a district of Irak, the Babylonian, or of\n Chald\u00e6a, not far from Kufa, and west of the town called\n Kaser Ben H\u00f3beirah. It is famous on account of the death and\n sepulchre of H\u00f3ss\u00e1in, the son of Ali, who was killed there,\n fighting against the troops of Yezid, son of Moavia, who\n disputed the khalifat with him.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [269] M\u00fasa was the seventh of the twelve Imams whom the\n Shiites revere. He was born in the year of the Hegira 128\n (745 A. D.), and died in 183 (799 A. D.).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [270] Baghdad, a town in the province Irak Arab\u00ed.\n\n [271] The Imam Reza was the eighth Imam of the race of Al\u00ed;\n he was called Al\u00ed Ben M\u00fassa al Kadhem, before he received\n the title Reza or Redha (one in whom God is pleased) from\n the Khalif Almam\u00fam, when the latter appointed him his\n successor, but survived the Imam, who died A. D. 818.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [272] Balkh, a town in Khorasan, situated towards the head\n of the river Oxus, in lat. N. 36\u00b0 28\u2032; long. 65\u00b0 16\u2032.\n\n [273] Persepolis, in Persia proper.\n\n [274] For the black stone, consult Dart\u2019s Antiquities of\n Westminster, vol. II, p. 12; Matthew of Westminster, p.\n 430.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n Stones, especially when distinguished by some particular\n form or colour, were in the most ancient times venerated as\n the only then possible monuments, consecrated to some\n respected person, or to some Divinity. Thus the ancient\n Arabians venerated a square stone as sacred (see Selden de\n Dis Syris, p. 291, 292). It is known that the Muhammedans\n bestow a particular veneration upon a black stone, which is\n attached to the gate of their mosque at Mecca (Herbelot,\n Bibl. orient. sub voce). It is evident that the followers of\n Muhammed, who is the prophet of a comparatively recent\n religion, appropriated to themselves more than one object\n and place of the most ancient veneration by merely changing\n its name, and attaching to it a legend in accordance to\n their own belief.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [275] According to Ferdusi in his Shah-namah, Gushtasp\n (Darius, son of Hystaspes, 519 B. C.) was induced by\n Zerdusht to adopt a reformed doctrine which prescribed the\n adoration of fire, and was probably a purer sort of Sab\u00e6ism,\n as practised by the most enlightened magi of very ancient\n times. Isfendiar, Gushtasp\u2019s son, a zealous promoter of this\n religion, erected fire-temples in all parts of his empire\n (see also Rauzat-us-safa, Shea\u2019s transl., p. 285).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [276] The Persian text of Gladwin reads: \u06a9\u0646\u06a9\u062f\u0698 \u201c_Gangdezh._\u201d\n\n [277] Faridun, the son of Abtin, restored the power of the\n P\u00e9shd\u00e1d\u00edan according to Ferdusi, 1729 years B. C.; according\n to Sir W. Jones and other chronologers, 750 years before our\n era. Faridun, or rather his dynasty, reigned 500 years;\n according to the Boundehesh and the Mujmel-ul-tav\u00e1rikh\n during the 500 years of Feridun, twelve generations intervened\n between Faridun, and Manutcheher, his grandson.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [278] Medina signifies a town in general, but in particular\n that of Jatreb, in Arabia, in the province of Hajiaz, to\n which town Muhammed fled when obliged to abandon Mecca, on\n the 16th July, 622 of our era, which is the first year of\n the _Hejira_, \u201cflight.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [279] The text of Gladwin reads. \u062a\u0627\u0632\u0633\u0648\u0632 \u0639\u0644\u0645 \u201c_Maht\u00e1rs\u00faz\n ilm._\u201d\n\n [280] N\u00e1zar is the eighth king of the P\u00e9shdad\u00ed\u00e1n, placed by\n Ferdusi 1109 years B. C.; by the modern chronologers 715-708\n B. C. He had two sons, T\u00fas and Gustaham.\n\n [281] The foundation of the town Tus, in Khorasan, is also\n attributed to Jemsh\u00edd.\n\n [282] Ardebil, a town in the province called Azerbijan,\n which is a part of the ancient Media.\n\n [283] Bahman, son of Isfendiar.\n\n [284] K\u00e1us, the second king of the Ka\u00edan dynasty, whose\n reign began, according to Ferdusi, 955 years B. C.; he is\n supposed by western historians, to be Darius, the Mede, of\n the Greeks, and placed by them 600, 634-594 years B. C.\u2015\u2015A.\n T.\n\n [285] The Safavean dynasty began in 1499 A. D. by Shah-Ismail,\n who derives his origin from Musa, already mentioned as the\n seventh imam of the Muselmans. All his ancestors were\n considered as pious men and some as saints. The first of\n this family who gained a great reputation was Shaik Sufi\n Ud-din, from whom this dynasty takes the name of Sufaviah.\n His son was Sudder Ud-din. The monarchs of that time used to\n visit his cell. Timur asked him what favour he could bestow\n on him. The saint answered: \u201cSet free all the prisoners whom\n thou hast brought from Turkey.\u201d The conqueror granted this\n request, and the grateful tribes declared themselves the\n disciples of the man to whom they owed their liberty. Their\n children preserved the sacred obligation of their ancestors,\n and placed the son of the pious Eremite upon the throne of\n Persia. (_Malcolm\u2019s Hist. of Persia._)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [286] Dwaraka, an ancient town, built by Krichna, destroyed\n by a revolution of nature; actually exists a town and\n celebrated temple of that name, in the province of Guzrat,\n situated at the S. W. extremity of the peninsula, lat. 22\u00b0\n 21\u2032 N.; long. 69\u00b0 15\u2032 E.\n\n [287] \u201cThe true name is _G\u00e1y\u00e1_, a town in the province of\n Bahar, 55 miles south from Patna, lat. 24\u00b0 49\u2032 N.; long. 85\u00b0\n 5\u2032 E. It is one of the holy places of the Hindus, to which\n pilgrimages are performed. It was made holy by the benediction\n of Vichnu, who granted its sanctity to the piety of G\u00e1y\u00e1 the\n R\u00e1jarchi; or according to another legend, to G\u00e1y\u00e1, the\n Asura, who was overwhelmed here by the deities, with rocks.\n This place is also considered by some Hindus either as the\n birthplace or as the residence of Buddha, from which\n circumstance it is usually termed Buddha-G\u00e1y\u00e1 (Hamilt. E. I.\n Gazetteer. Wilson\u2019s Dict. sub voce).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [288] Mathura, a town in the province of Agra, situated on\n the east side of the Jumna, 30 miles N. E. by N. from the\n city of Agra, lat. 27\u00b0 32\u2032; long. 77\u00b0 37\u2032 E. This place is\n much celebrated and venerated by the Hindus, as the scene of\n the birth and early adventures of Krichna (Hamilt.\n Gazet.).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [289] This is an entirely Indian name: G\u00f3p\u00ednath, \u201cthe lord\n of the cowherds\u2019 wives,\u201d a name of Krichna.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [290] According to oriental Romance, the Si-murgh, or Enka,\n is endowed with reason. He acts a considerable part in the\n Shah-namah, as tutor to Z\u00e1l, the father of Rustam. In the\n Kaherm\u00e1n N\u00e1mah, this bird in a conversation with Kaherman,\n the hero, states that it has existed during many revolutions\n of ages and beings prior to the creation of Adam. It is\n called Si-murgh, as being equal in magnitude to thirty\n birds.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [291] Rustam appears to be a personification of the heroic\n times of the Persians, the Medes and the Scythes. He was\n born under the reign of Manucheher, after the year 1299 B.\n C., and died under that of G\u00fastasp, after the year 625\n before our era; his existence comprises therefore 604 years.\n He was the lord of Sejestan, and extended his domination\n over Zabulistan and Kabul; but the circle of his actions\n comprehends a great part of Asia between the Indus, the\n Indian and the Caspian seas.\n\n [292] Khizar is confounded by many with the prophet Elias,\n who is supposed to dwell in the Terrestrial Paradise, in the\n enjoyment of immortality. According to Eastern traditions,\n Khizr was the companion, vizir or general of the ancient\n monarch, named _Zu-al-Kurnain_, or \u201cthe Two-horned;\u201d a title\n which was also assumed by Alexander the Great. According to\n the T\u00e1rikh Muntakhab, this prophet was Abraham\u2019s nephew, and\n served as guide to Moses and the children of Israel, in\n their passage of the Red sea and the desert. The same author\n tells us, that Khizr lived in the time of Kai Kobad, at\n which time he discovered the fountain of life.\n (Herbelot).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [293] Ferdusi in his Shah-namah narrates that: Secander was\n in search of the water of life, accompanied by Khizr. The\n prophet attained his purpose, but the king lost his way in\n the dark. The troops of the latter followed a mare running\n after her foal, until they found themselves in a place full\n of pebbles sounding beneath their feet, and heard a voice\n from heaven, saying: \u201cTake, or leave, the stones; sorrow of\n the heart \u201cawaits you in any case.\u201d And so it happened. At\n day-break, the stones picked up were found to be precious\n rubies; all were grieved: the one for not having taken more,\n the others for not having taken any, of them.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [294] Farvardin presides over the 19th day of the month, and\n over the first month of the year (Zend-Avesta, by Anquetil\n du Perron, II, p. 320-337). Hyde (p. 239) says: the first\n month, March, in the Jel\u00e1li-year (or the new Persian era of\n Jelaluddin) which first month was July in the old year, is\n called _Farvardin_, and he endeavours to derive this word\n from the modern Persian. Anquetil du Perron (I, 1^{re} part. p.\n 493) rejects Hyde\u2019s etymology, and says that Farvardin\n signifies in Zend \u201cthe Fervers (the souls) of the law.\u201d Hyde\n himself seems to enter into this sense, in saying (p. 240):\n \u201cIste Angelus (Farvardin) creditur pr\u00e6esse Animabus qu\u00e6 in\n Paradiso\u201d (this angel is believed to preside over the souls\n who are in Paradise).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [295] The Calcutta manuscript, translated by Gladwin,\n differs in this passage from the printed copy of Calcutta,\n 1224 of the _Hejirah_, A. D. 1809, and also from two\n excellent manuscripts: the Calcutta copy has been\n followed.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [296] The most ancient year of the Persians (Hyde, p. 188,\n 189) appears to have been vague or erratic, its commencement\n varying through all the different seasons, or at least soon\n gave room to the vague Persian-Median civil year, to which\n was joined afterwards the fixed ecclesiastic year of\n Jemshed. Both these years lasted to the time of Yezdejerd,\n who made some considerable changes in the Persian calendar.\n This king being killed, after an interval of time, the fixed\n solar year, beginning in the middle of \u201cpisces,\u201d was\n introduced into Persia. The names of the ancient months and\n days appear to have come from the Medes, with their\n denomination, to the Persians; and even those invented by\n Yezdejerd were of Median origin. Here follows the order of\n months called _Jelali_ (Hyde, p. 180).\n\n I. Farvardin March.\n II. Ard\u00edbehist April.\n III. Khord\u00e1d May.\n IV. Tir June.\n V. Mard\u00e1d (_Amardad_. _Anquetil du Perron_) July.\n VI. Shahr\u00edvar August.\n VII. Miher September.\n VIII. Ab\u00e1n October.\n IX. Azar November.\n X. D\u00e1i December.\n XI. Bahman January.\n XII. Isfand\u00e1rmend February.\n\n The old Persian month was not divided into weeks, but every\n day had its particular name from the angel who presided over\n that day. Here follows the order of their names, according\n to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190):\n\n I. Hormuzd.\n II. Bahman.\n III. Ard\u00edbehist.\n IV. Shahr\u00edvar.\n V. Isfand\u00e1rmend.\n VI. Khurd\u00e1d.\n VII. Murd\u00e1d.\n VIII. D\u00e1\u00edb\u00e1der.\n IX. Azur.\n X. Ab\u00e1n.\n XI. Khur.\n XII. M\u00e1h.\n XIII. T\u00edr.\n XIV. J\u00fash or G\u00fash.\n XV. D\u00e1\u00edbamiher.\n XVI. Miher.\n XVII. Sur\u00fash.\n XVIII. Resh.\n XIX. Farvardin.\n XX. Bahr\u00e1m.\n XXI. R\u00e1m.\n XXII. B\u00e1d.\n XXIII. D\u00e1\u00edbad\u00edn.\n XXIV. Din.\n XXV. Ird, or Ard.\n XXVI. Asht\u00e1d.\n XXVII. Asam\u00e1n.\n XXVIII. Z\u00e1m\u00ed\u00e1d.\n XXIX. M\u00e1r\u00e1sfand.\n XXX. An\u00edr\u00e1n.\n\n The names of the five additional days were as follows:\n\n I. Ahnud-jah.\n II. Ashnud-jah.\n III. Isfandamaz-jah.\n IV. Akhshater-jah.\n V. Vahashtusht-jah.\n\n Room is wanted for entering into further developments of\n this extensive subject.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [297] The text of Gladwin has \u0646\u064a\u062f\u064a\u0627\u0631 which has the same\n meaning.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [298] The text of Gladwin has \u0627\u0648\u0631\u0627\u0645 _Or\u00e1m_. The name is\n properly Ur\u00e1man, a peculiar manner of chanting or reading\n Pahlavi poetry, which derives its name from a village in the\n dependencies of Kushgun, where its inventor lived.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [299] Gladwin and Shea read Wasatir, but I cannot forbear\n from thinking, the right reading is das\u00e1tir; the \u0648 and the \u062f\n being easily confounded with each other. The simile above\n quoted is not to be found in the Bombay edition of the\n Des\u00e1t\u00edr, although the same precepts are stated therein (pp.\n 12, 13, 14). Here follows the passage (English transl.\n Comment. p. 45) about the Des\u00e1t\u00edr itself: \u201cThere are two\n books of Yezd\u00e1n. The name of the first is _D\u00f3g\u00edt\u00ed_, \u2018two\n worlds,\u2019 and this they call the \u2018Great Book,\u2019 or in the\n language of Heaven _Ferz-Desatir_, or the \u2018Great Des\u00e1tir,\u2019\n which is the great volume of Yezd\u00e1n. And the other book\n is called Des\u00e1tir, the doctrines of which M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, and\n the other prophets from M\u00e0h\u00e1b\u00e1d down to me, have revealed.\n * * * * And in the heavenly tongue this is called _Derick\n Desatir_, \u2018the Little Des\u00e1tir,\u2019 as being the Little Book of\n God.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [300] Zanar is called in India the brahminical, or in\n general, a religious thread; here is meant the mark of any\n unbeliever.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [301] Zohak.\n\n [302] \u092a\u0926\u094d\u092e\u093e\u0938\u0928\n\n [303] These practices are evidently the same as those used\n among the Hindu devotees. The chapter upon the Hindus, which\n follows, will set forth the great conformity, nay, identity\n of Indian religions with the tenets and customs here\n ascribed to Persian sects. In the Des\u00e1tir (English transl.\n Comment. pp. 66, 67) is a curious account of the postures to\n be taken standing, or lying, or sitting, on the ground\n before any thing that burns, and reciting the _Ferz-zemiar_,\n \u201cgreat prayer,\u201d to Yezd\u00e1n, or another to _Shesh-k\u00e1kh_, that\n is to say, to the stars and to the fire which yield\n light.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [304] \u0639\u0632\u064a\u0632\u06cc Azizi is supposed, by Mr. Tholuck (Sufismus,\n sive Theosophia Persarum Pantheistica) to be the name of the\n so long unknown author of Gulshen-raz, \u201cthe rose-bower of\n mystery.\u201d Silvestre de Sacy (see Journal des Savants,\n d\u00e9cembre 1821, p. 719, 720), without absolutely rejecting\n this supposition, explains the word Azizi by \u201chomme\n vertueux\u201d in the verse upon which Mr. Tholuck founded his\n opinion. The true author of Gulshen-raz is now known to be\n Mahmud Shabister\u00ed. See the Persian text with a German\n metrical translation of this poem, published in 1838 by the\n baron Hammer-Purgstall.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [305] \u092a\u0930 \u092c\u094d\u0930\u0939\u094d\u092e \u0928\u093e\u0930\u093e\u092f\u0923\u0903\n\n [306] For Ishrakian, see pages 31 and 86 ad refutationem\n Alcorani.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [307] In Gladwin\u2019s Persian text, it is \u062a\u0648\u062a\u064a\u0627\u0631 _Tutiar_; in\n the manuscripts consulted by Shea, in the edition of\n Calcutta, and in the manuscript of Oude \u0646\u0648\u0646\u064a\u0627\u0631 _nuniar_.\n\n [308] \u0938\u094d\u0935\u092a\u094d\u0928.\n\n [309] \u0938\u0941\u0938\u094d\u0935\u092a\u094d\u0928, \u201cgood sleep.\u201d\n\n [310] \u0938\u0941\u0916\u093e\u0938\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0926, _sukh\u00e1sv\u00e1da_, \u201cenjoyment.\u201d\n\n [311] \u0938\u092e\u093e\u0927\u093f, _sam\u00e1dhi_, \u201cdeep and devout meditation.\u201d\n\n [312] \u091c\u093e\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0924\u094d, _jagrat_, \u201cwatching, being awake.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [313] \u092a\u094d\u0930\u0924\u094d\u092f\u092f, _pratyaya_, \u201ccertainty.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [314] \u092a\u094d\u0930\u092a\u0941\u0930\u092a\u0930\u094b\u0915\u094d\u0937, _prapura-par\u00f2ksha_, \u201cabsent from the\n former body.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [315] The text of Gladwin has \u0632\u0627\u0631\u06a9 \u201c_z\u00e1reng_;\u201d the edition\n of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude \u0627\u0631\u0646\u06a9 _Arang_; in the\n Desatir we find _Lareng_ for the name of a divinity.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION II.\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE S\u00cdP\u00c1SI\u00c1N SECT.\n\n\nAmong the moderns, the chief of the Abadian and _Az\u00farh\u00fashang\u00ed\u00e1n_ sects\nwas _Azar Kaiv\u00e1n_, whose lineage is as follows: _Azar Ka\u00edvan_, the son\nof _Azar Zerdusht_, the son of _Azar Barz\u00edn_, the son of _Azar\nKhur\u00edn_, the son of _Azar Ayin_, the son of _Azar Bahram_, the son of\n_Azar Nosh_, the son of _Azar Mihtar_, the younger son of _Azar\nS\u00e1s\u00e1n_, styled the fifth _S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the elder son of _Azar S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the\nfourth of that name, the younger son of _Azar S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the third of\nthat name, the eldest son of _Azar S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, or the second _S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the\nmighty son of _Azar S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, or the first _S\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the son of _Darab_\nthe less, the son of _Darab_ the great, the son of _Bahm\u00e1n_, the son\nof _Isfendiar_, the son of _Gushtasp_, the son of _Lohrasp_, the son\nof _Arvand_, the son of _Kai Nishin_, the son of _Kai Kobad_, the son\nof _Zab_, the son of _Nauder_, the son of _Minuchehr_, the son of\n_Iraj_, who was of the lineage of Feridun, the son of _Abtin_, who was\nof the lineage of _Jamshid_, the son of _Tahm\u00faras_, the son of\n_H\u00fasheng_, the son of _Siamak_, the son of _Kaiomors_, the son of\n_Y\u00e1s\u00e1n Ajam_, of the lineage of _Y\u00e1s\u00e1n_, the son of _Shai Mohbul_, of\nthe lineage _Shai Giliv_, the son of _Ja\u00ed Alad_, of the lineage of\n_Jai Afram_, the son of _Ab\u00e1d Az\u00e1d_, of the lineage of _Mah Ab\u00e1d_, who\nappeared with splendor in the beginning of the great cycle. The mother\nof _Kaiv\u00e1n_ was named _Shir\u00edn_, a fortunate and illustrious dame\ndescended from the lineage of the just monarch Nushirvan. Through\neternal aid and almighty grace _Azar Kaiv\u00e1n_, from his fifth year,\ndevoted himself to great abstinence in food, and watching by night.\n_Sal\u00edm_ thus expresses himself:\n\n \u201cInnate essence has no need of instruction;\n How could an artist produce the image in the mirror?\u201d\n\nIn the progress of his admirable voluntary mortification, the quantity\nof his daily food was reduced to one direm weight. On this point, the\ndivine sage Sun\u00e1i observes:\n\n \u201cIf thou eat to excess, thou becomest an unwieldy elephant;\n But if with moderation, thou becomest another Gabriel;\n If any person should give way to excess in eating,\n Rest assured that he is also vile to excess.\u201d\n\nHe abode in Khum during twenty-eight years, but removed in his latter\ndays from the land of Iran into India: he remained some time in Patna,\nwhere, in the year of the Hegira 1027 (A. D. 1673), he took his flight\nfrom this lower elementary abode to the sphere of the mansions on\nhigh. Az\u00edz\u00ed observes:\n\n \u201cWhoever is wise, esteems this mortal coil the obstacle to union\n with God:\n This life is the death of Durvishes: look on (the world of) reality\n as a friend.\u201d\n\nHe continued eighty-five years united to the elements of body, during\nwhich time he never desisted from the practice of austerities. On this\nsubject Hafiz of Shiraz observes:\n\n \u201cO! my heart, if thou once become acquainted with the lustre of\n austerity,\n Like those who strike the smiling taper, thou canst give up thy\n head\u2015\u2015\n But thou longest after thy beloved and sparkling wine-bowl:\n Abstain from such desire, for thou canst accomplish better things.\u201d\n\n_Farz\u00e1nah Bahr\u00e1m_ relates in the _Sharistan_, that from the very\ncommencement of his religious career, Azar Kaiv\u00e1n, having resolved on\nlearning thoroughly the science and systems of the eminent sages of\nantiquity, on this, the distinguished philosophers of Hindustan,\nGreece, and Persia, having appeared to him in a vision, communicated\nall kinds of knowledge. He went one day to a college, where he\nanswered every question that was proposed, and gave the solution of\nevery difficulty: he was therefore entitled _Zu-l-ulum_, or \u201cthe\nMaster of Sciences.\u201d Ali Sani Amir Saiyid Ali of Hamadan observes:\n\n \u201cIf thou advance even one step from this abode of vain desire,\n Thou mayest repose in the sanctuary of omnipotence;\n And if thou perform ablution with the water of religious austerity,\n Thou canst convert all the uncleanness of thy heart into purity;\n This path however is only traversed by the active pilgrim,\n How canst thou, the world\u2019s idol, perform such a task?\u201d\n\nIt is reported that Saiyid Hasan of Shiraz, who was styled \u201cthe sage,\nthe embellishment of pure faith and works,\u201d one day said thus: \u201cOn a\ncertain day, two followers of the Suf\u00eds came into the presence of Azar\nKaiv\u00e1n, and pursuing the path of opposition to the Master of Sciences,\ntreated him not as one possessed of perfection. Their teacher, a man\nequally eminent in theoretical and practical science, who by dominion\nover the external world had established the relation of spiritual\nintercourse with the holy prophet, fell one night into a state of\necstasy, and beheld in his trance the effulgent perfection of the\nprophet, who said to him: \u2018My son! tell thy disciples that through the\nassistance of the Only Wise and the Omnipotent, who is independent of\nall, Ali Kaiv\u00e1n is a completely perfect man, who has attained to the\ndifferent degrees of spiritual dominion, by the practice of the seven\ncordial ejaculations, and varied mysterious illuminations, visions,\nrevelations, spiritual realities in his acts and attributes: moreover\nhis evanescent existence, through grace predestined from eternity, has\nreceived the boon of divine nature; equally versed in special and\ngeneral providence; unique in the true knowledge of things from\ninspection, not contented with the illumination of tradition; the most\nperfect master of the seekers after truth in matters of worship,\nseclusion, social intercourse, and whatever is meet and suitable to\ntheir state in all kinds of institutes and religious austerities. He\nis the true philosopher; the physician of the human race; the\ndiscipline of religion; the institute of the devout; the interpreter\nof events; the instructor of worship; the director of those who seek\nGod, labouring diligently in the purification of souls; co-operating\nin the cleansing of hearts; the spiritual champion of the law;\nfighting the good fight of faith; the principle of truth; confirmed in\nthe knowledge, source, and evidence of certainty; supported by divine\naid in the fundamental points and collateral inductions. Let not thy\ndisciples calumniate him, but esteem him a holy personage, and regard\nattendance on him as pregnant with happiness: do thou also approach\nhis presence, and use every effort to conciliate his affection.\u2019 The\nteacher having during his ecstacy repeated this panegyric several\ntimes, I committed the words to writing, and on the holy man\u2019s arising\nfrom his ecstatic trance, he summoned me and said: \u2018Who in this city\nis Azar Kaiv\u00e1n? The prophet hath praised him exceedingly, and ordered\nme to go into his presence.\u2019 I answered: \u2018He has lately come hither\nfrom the direction of Istakhar:\u2019 on which he replied: \u2018Conduct me near\nhim.\u2019 I therefore accompanied him, but was ignorant of Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s\nresidence. When we had proceeded some time, one of Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s disciples,\nby name Farhad, came near him and said: \u2018The master (that is Kaiv\u00e1n)\ninvites you, and has sent me to be your guide.\u2019 When we came into his\npresence, my teacher had determined in his mind to salute him first,\nbut was unable to obtain the priority, as Azar Kaiv\u00e1n had much sooner\nanticipated him in salutations in the Persian language, and afterwards\naddressed him in Arabic. We were struck with astonishment. My teacher\nthen repeated what he had communicated to me concerning the vision, on\nwhich Kaiv\u00e1n commanded him \u2018not to remove the veil of this mystery.\u2019\u201d\nThe teacher, on his return, having called before him his two misguided\ndisciples, recounted the perfections of Kaiv\u00e1n, and enjoined them to\nabstain from censuring the holy man. For as Sadi says:\n\n \u201cRespecting the thicket, imagine it not unoccupied,\n A tiger may probably be couched there.\u201d\n\nAzar Kaiv\u00e1n mixed little with the people of the world; he shunned with\nhorror all public admirers; and seldom gave audience to any but his\ndisciples and the searchers after truth; never exposing himself to the\npublic gaze. According to Shaikh Baha Uddin Muhammad of Amil,\n\n \u201cIf thou have not guards in front and rear to keep off the crowd,\n Aversion to mixing with crowds will be a sufficient safeguard to thee.\u201d\n\nFarzanah Bahr\u00e1m relates in the _Sharistan_, that Kaiv\u00e1n expressed\nhimself after this manner: \u201cThe connexion of my spirit with this body,\nformed of the elements, resembles the relation of the body to a loose\nrobe; whenever I wish I can separate myself from it, and resume it at\nmy desire.\u201d The same author also thus relates of him, in the text of\nthe _Jam-i-Kai Khusr\u00f3_, wherein are recounted some of his revelations\nand spiritual communications:\n\n \u201cWhen I passed in rapid flight from material bodies,\n I drew near a pure and happy spirit;\n With the eye of spirit I beheld spirits:\n My spirit was moving amidst kindred spirits:\n In every sphere and star I beheld a spirit;\n Each sphere and star possessed its peculiar spirit;\n Thus in the three kingdoms of nature I beheld a common spirit,\n As their spirit was mutually communicated to each other.\n I attained the knowledge of all existences.\n And was associated with the great Ser\u00f3sh Ramah.\n [316]But when I reached a great elevation,\n Splendor from the Almighty gave me light;\n As the radiance increased this individuality departed;\n [317]Even the angelic nature and the principle of evil disappeared:\n God only existed, there was no sign of me\n (or of my individual existence):\n [318]I no longer retained intellect or recollection of spirit:\n [319]I discovered all my secrets to be but shadows;\n I then returned to the angelic intelligences,\n And from these intelligences I came back to the spirit;\n And thus at last to bodies also summoning me.\n In this manner I became powerful, wise, and sublime,\n Until I descended from that high degree\u2015\u2015\n Upon the road by which I had gone up, I returned to my body\n With a hundred divine favours[320] deriving splendor from that\n assemblage;\n The dignity of the Supreme Lord is too exalted\n For intercourse with his servants to be worthy of him.\n By his effulgence intellect becomes (illumined) like the earth or sun;\n He is elevated too high for his servants to hold intercourse with him:\n If the spirit receives illumination from him,\n It becomes beside itself, and its speech is \u2018I am without intellect\u2019\u2015\u2015\n The world is a drop which proceeds from the ocean of his existence;[321]\n What is the dropping dew? it is Himself (God);\n Thou art not the dropping dew, but only a drop among the drops of it.\n I know not what to say, as the result of all is deficiency:\n Through love he confers bounties on his servants;\n As it is proper to raise up the down-fallen\n His love renders the mendicant a man of power.\n The world is but a ray emanating from the sun of his face:\n The just Creator addressed me in kind words,\n And conferred on me the splendor of an Ized;\n None but He can duly praise Himself,\n As He cannot become the object of speech or hearing.\u201d\n\nKaivan was master of noble demonstrations and subtile distinctions:\none of the Moslem lawyers having asked him: \u201cWhy dost thou forbid thy\nfollowers from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring living\ncreatures?\u201d He thus replied: \u201cThe seekers of God are named the\npeculiar people of the heart; and the heart itself, the true K\u00e2abah:\ntherefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary formed of water and\nclay cannot a fortiori be suitable to the true K\u00e2abah: that is, the\neating of animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A great man\nsays:\n\n \u201cI have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher,\n At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword:\n \u2018I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I\n tasted;\n What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted loin?\u2019\u201d\n\nKaivan also said: \u201cIf you think proper, keep your tenets secret\nwherever you happen to be, concealing them even from your brethren in\nthe faith; as they, for the confirmation of their system, will make\nyou publicly known.\u201d Azizi also says:\n\n \u201cAs long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend;\n For that friend has another; beware therefore of thy friend\u2019s\n friend?\u201d\n\nSome one asked him: \u201cIn the schism of Abad Ansari, which faith shall I\nadopt, and whose arguments must I regard as true?\u201d Azar Kaiv\u00e1n\nreplied: \u201cRemain in the same faith that, until the present time, God\ndoeth as seemeth good to him; and for the time to come he will do\nwhatever he thinks proper.\u201d Urfi of Shiraz says,[322]\n\n \u201cThy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,\n Except to create one like thyself!\u201d\n\nHe once said to a holy man: \u201cThe knowledge of evanescent objects is\nnot properly knowledge, but bears the same relation to reality as the\nmirage of the desert to water: the searcher after which obtains\nnothing but an increase of thirst.\u201d Shah Subhan says:\n\n \u201cMen favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge;\n They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity;\n The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity\n Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve.\u201d\n\nThey once observed to Kaivan: \u201cNotwithstanding the great exertions\nmade by his highness the sincere and faithful Akbar, and the grand\njusticiary, the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two lights,\nOsman, in the way of the faith proved by miracles, and their mighty\nlabors in diffusing its institutes, the Shee-ites are opposed to these\ngreat personages?\u201d He replied: \u201cThe mass of mankind are acted upon by\ntime and place, in opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also\nto be observed that the people of Iran have adopted the Shee-ite\nfaith; and as the above-mentioned great personages destroyed the\nfire-temples of that nation, and overturned their ancient religion,\ntherefore rebellion and envy have remained in their hearts.\u201d\n\nTwo learned men having a dispute concerning the superiority of the\nchosen Al\u00ed, \u201cthe Elect\u201d (whose face may God honor), over the two\nShaikhs and the _Lord of the two lights_ (Osmar), (upon all of whom be\nthe mercy of the Almighty) having referred the dispute to Kaivan, he\nobserved:\n\n \u201cAll four are the four perfections of the prophetic edifice;\n All four are the four elements of the prophets\u2019 souls.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe distinction between the two exalted parties is difficult, as two\nof them claim supremacy on the celebrity (drum) of being\nfathers-in-law to the Arab founder of religion; and the other two are\nfitted for dignity, by being sons-in-law to the apostle of the Arabs.\nBut whereas all things are objects of the Almighty\u2019s regard, the\nexcellent Al\u00ed, \u2018the Lion of God,\u2019 was esteemed so pre-eminent an\nobject of divine favor among the Moslems, that want of faith and\nignorance induced many to worship him as the true God, until this\ngreat personage openly disclaimed such a pretension. Also during the\npontificate and caliphat of _Sadik_, \u2018the faithful witness,\u2019 the\npowerful _Abubeker_, \u2018the separator,\u2019 the grand _Omar_, and that of\n_Zu-l-Narain_, \u2018the Lord of the two Lights,\u2019 error misled many to such\na degree, that they denied their authority, until these legitimate\ndirectors asserted their claims to that dignity.\u201d[323]\n\nHe returned an answer of a similar description in a dispute between a\nJew, a Christian, and a Muselman, who were arguing about the\nsuperiority of their respective prophets; some acknowledging Jesus as\nGod, the others as the Son of God. One day as a Christian and Muselman\nwere disputing with each other, the former allowing the death of\nJesus, and the latter believing him to be alive, Azar Kaivan said: \u201cIf\na person who knew not the direction of a road which formed his\ndestination, should in the course of his journey come to a dead body\nlying down, and a living person seated, from which of the two ought he\nto inquire his way?\u201d As the disputants both replied, \u201cfrom the living\nperson;\u201d he then said to the Muselman: \u201cAdopt thou the faith of Jesus,\nas according to thy belief he is living.\u201d He then added: \u201cBy life is\nmeant the life of the rational soul: in this Mohammed and Jesus are on\nan equality; call your prophets the \u2018eternal living:\u2019 for life means\nnot the perpetuity of this body fashioned out of the elements, which\ncannot accompany us beyond a hundred or a hundred and twenty natural\nstages (years).\u201d Azizi says:\n\n \u201cIf the domestic fowl should fly along with the fowls of the air,\n It could not proceed in flight beyond the summit of the wall.\u201d\n\nA hermit once came into _Zu-l-Ulum_\u2019s[324] presence; he pronounced a\npanegyric on the opposition to sensual passions exhibited by pious\nMoslem believers: and then added: \u201cThere is no limit to the opposition\nto these passions: even the unbeliever through the practice of\nausterities finally becomes a Moslem.\u201d He also added: \u201cAn exemplary\nunbeliever had become able to work miracles: a Shaikh went to him one\nday and asked: \u2018By what route hast thou attained to this dignity?\u2019 He\nreplied, \u2018By opposing the suggestions of the passions.\u2019 On which the\nShaikh answered: \u2018Now turn to Islamism, as thy soul has admitted\ninfidelity.\u2019 On hearing which the unbeliever became a follower of\nIslamism.\u201d Kaivan observed: \u201cThe Shaikh must have been an infidel, as\nhis soul was still seeking after Islamism, or the true religion.\u201d Urfi\nsays:\n\n \u201cLay aside the recollection of (these words) belief and unbelief,\n as they excite great disputes;\n For according to our (supposed) bad doctrines, all persons think\n aright.\u201d\n\nA person once came to Zu-l-Ulum, and said: \u201cI propose embracing the\nprofession of a durvesh, and breaking asunder the chains which bind me\nto the world.\u201d Kaivan replied, \u201cIt is well.\u201d Some days after, he\nreturned to Kaivan, and said: \u201cI am at present engaged in procuring\nthe patched tunic, cap, wallet, and other things necessary for my\nprofession.\u201d Zu-l-Ulum observed: \u201cThe profession of a durvesh consists\nin resigning every thing and abandoning all manner of preparations,\nand not in accumulation of any kind.\u201d\n\nA merchant through penury having assumed the dress of hypocrisy,\nappeared in a Shaikh\u2019s garb, and many persons devoutly regarded him as\na holy man. He one day came before Kaivan and said: \u201cOften have\nwretches plundered me on the road: it was however for a good purpose,\nin order that by embracing the life of a durvesh I might attain the\ngreat object of salvation.\u201d Azar Kaivan replied: \u201cBe not grieved, as\nthou art now plundering mankind by way of retaliation.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe society of Urfi pleases not the superior of our monastery;\n Because the superior is a foe to the intelligent and Urfi to the\n stupid.\u201d\n\nAt present some of Kaivan\u2019s disciples, as far as the author\u2019s\nacquaintance extends, are about to be enumerated.\n\n_Farzanah Kharr\u00e1d_, of the family of Mahbud, who had been the _khan\nsalar_ (royal table-decker or taster) to the equitable monarch\n_Nushirvan_,[325] and put to death through the sorcery of a Jew and\nthe calumnies of a chamberlain, as recorded in the Shah Namah of the\nking of poets, Ferd\u00fasi, and in other histories: Kharrad joined himself\nto Kaivan in the bazar of Shiraz, and practised religious austerities\nfor many years. Farzanah Khushi has often mentioned in conversation,\nand has also frequently repeated in the _Bazm-gah-i-Durv\u00e9sh\u00e1n_, \u201cthe\nDurvesh\u2019s banquetting-room,\u201d the following circumstance: \u201cI one day\nbeheld _Kharrad_ and _Ardeshir_ (a descendant of _Ardeshir\nBabegan_,[326] and one of Kaivan\u2019s disciples), standing face to face\nand mutually opposing each other: whenever Ardeshir wished to smite\nKharr\u00e1d with a sword, he appeared like a stone, so that when the sword\ncame into contact with his body, it was instantly broken to\npieces.\u201d\u2015\u2015In the year 1029 of the Hejirah (1620 A. D.) he became\nreunited to the pure uncompounded spirit. _Buzurgi_ says:\n\n \u201cWhat is the soul? the seminal principle from the loins of destiny:\n This world is the womb: the body its enveloping membrane:\n The bitterness of dissolution, dame Fortune\u2019s pangs of childbirth.\n What is death? to be born again an angel of eternity.\u201d\n\n_Farzanah Farshid wird_ was one of the Parsi village chieftains: his\npedigree ascended to _Farzanah Shedosh_, who was one of the fifth\n_Sassan_\u2019s[327] disciples. He also became attached to Azar Kaivan in\nthe same place as Kharrad, and devoted himself to the service of the\nAlmighty. Khushi relates as follows: \u201cFarshid wird and Bahman used to\nstand facing each other; every arrow which Bahman discharged against\nFarshid wird, he used to cut in two with his sword: and whenever the\nlatter let fly an arrow, Bahman with activity and address threw\nhimself to one side and avoided it. But this is still more wonderful:\nwhenever Bahman shot off a musket, Farshid let fly one at the same\ninstant, and ball met ball, so that they both remained unhurt:\nsometimes also when Farshid Wird shot off his musket, Bahman used to\nmove rapidly on one side.\u201d In the year 1029 of the Hejirah (A. D.\n1619) he hurried away from this abode of the elements to the skies.\nThe Khajah Hafiz speaking on this subject, says:\n\n \u201cHe never dies whose heart is quickened with love divine;\n But remains for ever stamped on the records of our eternal world.\u201d\n\n_Farzanah Kh\u00edradmand_ was descended from S\u00e1m, the son of Narim\u00e1n: he\njoined _Zu-l-Ulum_ and gave himself up to religious austerities.\nKhushi thus relates: \u201cI once beheld Khiradmand while standing face to\nface to _Rustam_ (who was descended from _Bahram Gur_,[328] and was\none of Kaivan\u2019s distinguished disciples), assume the form of a dragon,\nand shower out fire from his mouth, to such a degree that a strong\npalm was consumed by its violence.\u201d\n\nIn three months after Bahman\u2019s death, Khiradmand was restored to his\noriginal place. _Buzurgi_ says:\n\n The skilful and intelligent artist\n Should have in this world two successive lives:\n So that in one he might acquire experience,\n Which he could carry into effect by another experiment.\n\nOf these illustrious personages they have recorded many miraculous and\nmysterious deeds; such as, in the upper world, hiding the sun\u2019s disk;\ncausing him to appear at night; making the stars visible in the\nday-time: and in this lower world, walking on the surface of water;\nmaking trees productive out of season; restoring verdure to dried-up\nwood; causing trees to bow down their heads; also showing themselves\nbetween heaven and earth in the form of lightning; and such like: and,\nin the animated world, metamorphosing animals; rendering themselves\ninvisible to men; appearing under various shapes and forms: some of\nwhich wonders have been recorded in the _Bazmgah-i-Durveshi Khush\u00ed_.\nThey relate that these great personages were to such a degree enabled\nto divest themselves of corporeal elements, that they quitted the body\nat pleasure: also that they had acquired from the court of Heaven the\nknowledge of all sciences whether known or occult, and _consequently_\nhad the power of exhibiting such wonderful works; having rendered, by\nthe efficacy of their austerities, elementary matter subject to\nthemselves. The author of these pages beheld these four holy\npersonages, Kharrad, Farshid wird, Bahman, and Khiradmand, in Patna,\non which occasion they bestowed their benedictions, and imparted to\nhim the glad tidings of the means of obtaining the great object, or\nfinal salvation. Shaikh Saadi says:\n\n \u201cIt becomes the truly wise to pass every day in the exercise of\n holy zeal,\n And to offer up prayers for the prosperity of durveshes.\u201d\n\n_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of Farhad, was descended from _Gudarz_, the\nson of Hashw\u00e1d. When Azar Kaivan had proceeded to Patna, in this\nsage\u2019s latter days, Farzanah Bahram came from Shiraz and devoted\nhimself to the practice of religious austerities. He was a man who had\nattained the highest degree of knowledge in logic, natural philosophy,\nthe abstract sciences, and theology, which he had most attentively\nstudied as far as set forth and expounded by sound reasoning in the\nParsi, Pehlevi, and Arabic: in practical and theoretical science he\nwas unequalled; being profoundly skilled and a perfect philosopher in\nall the objects of science and morality: among the Moslem doctors, he\nhad established the relations of external tuition with _Khajah\nJum\u00e1l-Uddin Mahm\u00fad_, one of the disciples of the _Mulla Jal\u00e1l Dawani_.\nFarz\u00e1nah Bahr\u00e1m is the polished author and compiler of the book\nentitled _Shar\u00edst\u00e1n-\u00ed-D\u00e1nish, wa Gul\u00edst\u00e1n-\u00ed-Binish_, \u201cthe pavilion of\nknowledge and the rose-garden of vision.\u201d In the _Sharistan_, he thus\ntells us: \u201cThrough the aid of Azar Kaivan, I reached the invisible,\nthe angelic, the empyrean worlds, and the seat of the Divinity, and\nattained to union with him through revelations of the fourfold\nkind\u2015\u2015_impressive_, _operative_, _attributive_, and _essential_.\u201d The\nMobed _Hoshyar_ relates: \u201cI have heard Farz\u00e1nah Bahr\u00e1m relate as\nfollows: I was one day standing in the presence of Azar Kaivan, and\nconceived in my heart the wish that he should tell me what occupied my\nsecret thoughts. The venerable personage unfolded the secret thoughts\nof my heart, and afterwards said: \u2018O, Farzanah! it is an easy matter\nfor me to know the secrets of the soul; but then what purpose does thy\ntongue answer? in order that thy tongue may not be useless, I shall\nfor the future suffer thee to speak.\u2019\u201d He assumed the dress of a\nmerchant, but people imagined it was for the purpose of concealment,\nand that he gave himself up to alchymy. In the year of the Hejirah\n1034 (A. D. 1624), he ascended from this lower abode of darkness to\nthe pavilions of light. The sage Sun\u00e1i says:\n\n \u201cWherever intellect and divine knowledge are found,\n The death of body is the birth of soul.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed Hoshyar is the author of the _Sar\u00fad-i-Mast\u00e1n_, \u201cthe songs of\nthe intoxicated.\u201d He was born at the port of Surat; he traced his\npedigree to the invincible champion Rustam, the son of Z\u00e1l, and was a\nman of exceeding bravery, heroism, and experience; perfect in\ngenerosity, sagacity, the termination of disputes, right reason, and\nsound experience. If his history were detailed at full length, it\nwould become necessary to write another Shah Namah concerning his\nvictory at Girdun, his defeat of Al\u00ed Yakah, and such like.[329]\n\nIn short he entered the service of the great philosopher Azar Kaivan\nand his eminent disciples, being associated with them in the doctrine\nof self-knowledge; from the commencement of night to the rise of the\nworld-illuminating sun, he slept in the attitude of _Murdah Khasp_.\nNow the terms _Mur\u00e1ah Khab_, _Murdap Khasp_, and _S\u00e1\u00f3n\u00f3s_, are terms\napplied by the Sip\u00e1s\u00edan to the following mode of sleeping: the devotee\nrests (having thrown his legs beneath him) on his knees, pressing to\nthe ground both heels as far as the great toe: and applying the\nextremities of the knees to the earth, he keeps his seat on the same;\nhe is then to lie on his back, keeping the points of his fingers on\nhis head; after this, he is to look intently between the eye-brows,\nand carry into practice the _Habs-i-dam_, or imprisonment of the\nbreath. The Durvesh Subahani, one of the great Sufees, used to say:\n\u201cSuch was the sleep of the prophets.\u201d They also say: \u201cThe prophets of\nold used to sleep on their backs, with their faces directed towards\nthe Heavens:\u201d which is the same as the position before described.\nHoshyar had attained to the power of suppressing the breath for one\nwatch (three hours). Shaikh Saadi says:\n\n \u201cThey who restrain the soul from sensual pleasures\n Surpass in heroism both Rustam and Z\u00e1l.\u201d\n\nHoshyar was not scrupulous about what he ate; never turning away his\nface from whatever was set before him: he however most diligently\nshunned the practice of cruelty to living creatures, and avoided\nsuperfluities and excess of every description. Hafiz of Shiraz on this\nhead says:\n\n \u201cAddict not thyself to cruel pursuits, and do whatever else thou\n pleasest;\n As in our law there is no sin except that of cruelty.\u201d\n\nIn the year of the Hejirah 1050 (A. D. 1640) he was delivered from the\nbondage of body in the capital named _Akbar Abad_.[330] The Mobed says:\n\n \u201cTruly the body is a narrow sepulchre which entombs every spirit,\n When that tomb is entombed, thou beholdest a wall, that _really_\n is no wall;\n When the tomb is entombed, the living spirit is freed from its\n prison.\n Alas! O Mobed, the sovereign of the body knows of no restriction.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed Hoshyar, who was conversant with the visible and invisible\nworlds, master of the esoteric and exoteric doctrines, was the\ninterpreter of the _Jashn-i-Sadah_ (the festival of Sadah),[331] from\nwhich work his superior talents are evident: he derived his descent\nfrom the sage _Jamasp_.[332] In the year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D.\n1626) the author of this work met him in the delightful region of\nKashnim. He used to support himself on the extremities of his fingers,\nso that his body came not into contact with the ground, in which\nposition he continued from midnight until dawn. On the subject of\npenance Hafiz says:\n\n \u201cO, my heart! couldst thou but acquire a knowledge of religious\n austerity,\n Thou wouldst be able to abandon women like smiling torches.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed _Sar\u00f3sh_, the son of Kaiv\u00e1n, the son of Kamkar, who was\nstyled _Namd\u00e1r_, or \u201cthe illustrious,\u201d on account of the celebrity of\nhis knowledge. The Mobed carried his lineage on the father\u2019s side to\nthe venerable prophet _Zard\u00fasht_, and on his mother\u2019s, to _Jam\u00e1sp_ the\nSage. He was equally conversant with the theoretical and practical\nsciences; and was master of the languages of Arabia, Persia, and\nHindustan; he had travelled over most of the habitable world; his\nnights were passed in prayer; his conduct was always pure. On coming\ninto attendance on Kaiv\u00e1n, he was illuminated by the sun of his\nknowledge, and during his attendance on Farzanah Bahr\u00e1m, the son of\nFarh\u00e1d, he acquired the Arabic language. His age reached to sixty\nyears; in short he was a saint elect, who in the course of his life\nnever looked on a woman; his mouth was never polluted with animal food\nof any description; he sought seclusion from the world, and limited\nhimself to a small quantity of food.\n\n \u201cIf thou didst but know the pleasure of abandoning pleasure,\n Thou wouldst never more talk about the pleasures of sense.\u201d\n\nHe is the author of many admired literary works and compilations; such\nas the _Nosh D\u00e1r\u00fa_, \u201csweet medicine;\u201d the _Sagangub\u00edn_, \u201cdog\u2019s honey,\u201d\nand the _Zerd\u00fasht Afshar_, \u201cthe companion of Zerd\u00fasht,\u201d and such like.\nIt was heard from an eminent doctor, named _Muhammed Mahsan_, who said\nthus: \u201cI heard from him (Kaiv\u00e1n) three hundred and sixty proofs\nconfirmatory of the existence of the Deity: but when I wished to\ncommit them to writing, it was no longer in my power.\u201d People relate\nall manner of miraculous stories about him; such as his creating what\nwas not previously in existence; revealing secret matters, and\nconcealing what was evident; the acceptance or fulfilment of his\nprayers; his performing a long journey in a short space of time; his\nknowledge of things hidden from the senses; and his giving a\ndescription of the same; his appearing at the same time in places far\ndistant from each other; bringing the dead to life, and depriving the\nliving of vitality; his being enabled to hear and understand the\nlanguage of animals, vegetables, minerals, etc.; to produce food and\nwine without any visible means; to walk on the surface of water, also\nthrough fire and air; and such like. The author met him in Kashmir in\nthe year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D. 1627).\n\n_Firrah K\u00e1r\u00ed_, the attendant on the venerable _Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh_ (an account of\nwhom shall be soon given) was a person, whose essence was adorned with\nscience and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordinary\nprobity and sound understanding, said thus: \u201cI once received some\ninjury from the peasantry of Ach\u00e1n, a district bordering on the public\nand sacred place of Kashm\u00edr: speaking of this to _Yazd\u00e1n Sil\u00e1i_, a\ndisciple attached to the M\u00f3bed Sar\u00f3sh, I said \u2018the people of Ach\u00e1n\nhave grievously afflicted me,\u2019 and stated to him the criminal conduct\nof this wicked set of men. He answered: \u2018Do you wish that the Almighty\nshould overwhelm with floods the cultivated grounds of these\nwretches?\u2019 I replied \u2018Certainly.\u2019 It then began to rain so\nexceedingly, the loftiest and strongest-built houses were overthrown;\nfrom the overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings and tilled\ngrounds; and the fields of these men themselves were nearly destroyed\nby the waters at the very commencement.\u201d The Maulavi M\u00e2nevi says:\n\n \u201cAs long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction,\n God never brings calamity on any people.\u201d\n\nThe rains still continued, which Sar\u00f3sh having observed, he was\nexceedingly wroth with his disciple and reproved him; and that same\nday the rain ceased. Firrah-K\u00e1ri used to say, \u201cMobed Sar\u00f3sh was\nacquainted with the desires of my heart, and possessed power over\nmen\u2019s minds.\u201d He also related the following story concerning him: \u201cAt\nthe time of arriving in the caravanserai of B\u00e1lik, in the city of\nTarkhan, the men of that place wished to act wickedly towards us, and\npractise oppression. I explained the nature of their conduct to the\nMobed, on which he retired into a corner. That same night there\nappeared in the air men whose heads reached to the heavens, whilst\ntheir feet touched the earth. The people of the city were seized with\nconsternation and desisted from oppressing us, and the merchants at\nthe same time bestowed freedom on those who had been captives for many\nyears.\u201d The Mobed H\u00fashy\u00e1r relates: \u201cBeing in want of a few direms, I\nwent to Yazd\u00e1n Sit\u00e1i, the disciple of the Mobed Sar\u00f3sh; on this he\nstretched forth his hand, and taking up some broken pottery, formed\ntwenty heaps of it: having breathed on these a few times, they all\nbecame gold Mohurs: these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them\nin the course of my ordinary expenses.\u201d He also relates: \u201cYazd\u00e1n Sit\u00e1i\nconstructed a house of such a kind that, when any one entered, he\nbeheld the sun; and when the holy man sat with his friends, he\nappeared as a crocodile coming to the river-bank, which was about to\nsnatch away all present. He sometimes threw into the fire towels on\nwhich the flames had no effect: he frequently repeated something,\nstirring his lips, and so rendered himself invisible; he used\nsometimes to appear in the air, and used to say: \u2018I am actually at\nrest, although I appear otherwise.\u2019\u201d _Shidosh_, the son of _Anosh_,\nsaid: \u201cWe were once seated near him when he placed a taper in a basin\nof water; there immediately appeared some peacocks turning towards the\nwater, plunging their heads into it, and displaying all their beauty,\nwhilst we remained in utter astonishment.\u201d Shidosh also says: \u201cI once\nbeheld him disporting in the midst of a blazing fire.\u201d Nay, the writer\nof these pages has seen him swallow fire. The Mobed H\u00fashy\u00e1r says: \u201cHe\nonce exhibited a sight, so as to make a house appear filled with\nserpents and scorpions.\u201d He used also to lay on the breast of a person\nplunged in sleep, something of such a nature as to make him return an\nanswer to every question proposed to him. The Mobed H\u00fashy\u00e1r also\nrelates: \u201cI once beheld the Hakim (the Sage) Kamran of Shiraz, in the\nfeast of joy and hospitality made for the reception of an Iraki\nfriend, light a match: on this, all the Lulees[333] then in the house\nstripped themselves naked and began to dance, whilst we looked on at a\ndistance. The sage said: \u2018This we have learnt from Yazdan Sit\u00e1i: as I\ngive no invitation to Lulees, and no others can be prevailed on to\ncommit such indecency, I therefore tried the experiment on the party\nof them assembled in this place.\u2019\u201d Many other things of a similar\nnature are related concerning Yazdan Sit\u00e1i.\n\n_Khoda J\u00f3i_ was a native of Herat, who had passed many years in the\nservice of exemplary and holy men; he relates: \u201cI once saw in a vision\nholy personages come around me and say: \u2018Depart and seek a spiritual\nguide free from prejudice.\u2019 During many years\u2019 search I was unable to\ndiscover such a character; but having once seen in a dream, \u2018that Azar\nKaiv\u00e1n of Istakhar was one of that description:\u2019 I went near him in\ncompany with _Farzanah Khushi_.\u201d\n\nKhoda J\u00f3i excelled in the knowledge of Parsi and Arabic; he avoided\naltogether animal food of every description; he could suppress his\nbreath during four watches (twelve hours), and was in the habit of\npractising the Hubs-i-dam; he never slept at night, nor ate more than\nfifty direms weight of food. He never gave utterance to a lie, and\nwhatever he stated had reference to exalted objects and pursuits: even\nthese were uttered only at the solicitation of his friends. He is the\nauthor of the volume entitled _J\u00e1m-i-Kai Khusr\u00f3_, \u201cthe cup of Kai\nKhusr\u00f3,\u201d an admirable commentary on the poetic compositions of Azar\nKaiv\u00e1n, and also containing his visions. He arrived in the delightful\nregions of Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), where\nthe author met him: in that same year this distinguished personage\nhastened from this abode of evanescence to the mansions of eternity.\nHafiz of Shiraz says:\n\n \u201cO joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation;\n I then seek my soul\u2019s repose and follow the adored object:[334]\n Fluttering about like a solar mote in the _atmosphere_ of that lip,\n Until I attain at last to the fountain-head of the radiant sun.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed Khushi is the author of the _Bazm-Gah_ (or \u201cbanqueting\nhouse\u201d), in which treatise when describing the stations of Azar\nKaiv\u00e1n\u2019s illustrious disciples and most eminent followers, who are\ntwelve in number; he enumerates them in this order: _Ardash\u00edr_,\n_Kharad_, _Shiro\u00edyah_, _Khiradmand_, _Farhad_, _Suhrab_, _Az\u00e1dah_,\n_Bizhen_, _Isfendiar_, _Farshidwird_, _Bahman_ and _Rustam_: the daily\nfood of each of these individuals was much below ten direms weight:\nand they carried the austerities recommended by Kaiv\u00e1n to the utmost\nlimit, so that no others of his disciples attained to the same rank as\nthese twelve persons. Of Farh\u00e1d, Farsh\u00eddwird, and Bahman, some account\nhas been given in the preceding part of this work.\n\nIn the _Bazm-gah_, Khushi thus states respecting himself: \u201cIn the days\nof my youth, it was my anxious desire to find _a spiritual guide_. I\ntherefore had recourse to the eminent doctors of Iran, Turan, Room,\nand Hindustan; that is, to Moslems, Hindoos, Guebers, Christians, and\nJews. They all said to me: \u2018Quit thy present faith and pass over to\nus:\u2019 but my heart felt no inclination to change of religion, to\nadopting another, and abandoning opinions, as they did not afford me\nsufficient light in the object of my pursuit.\n\n \u201cWhilst a person beholds not the water, why pull off his slippers?\u201d\n\n\u201cSuch is the language of the prejudiced; although each of these\ndoctors praised himself as being free from its influence: I afterwards\nbeheld, in a vision, a mighty river from which streams and canals\nissued forth, all of which after many windings returned back into the\nsame great river, and were confined within its two banks. I abandoned\nthe great water, and in order to allay my thirst, directed my steps\ntowards the rivulets in search of water: but as the banks of their\nchannels were difficult of access through slime and mud, and carrying\na bowl,[335] I could not reach the stream, and remained in great\nperplexity. At length my father came up and said: \u2018Entreat God to\nconduct thee to the water.\u2019 A voice then reached my ear: \u2018This man has\nabandoned the river, and directed his face towards the rivulets.\u2019 On\nmy directing my steps towards the river, a blessed Angel said to me:\n\u2018The great river is Azar Kaiv\u00e1n; the small rivulets are the doctors.\u2019\nI then knew that the slime and mud of the banks, the bowl, and the\nrivulets refer to prejudice and envy: therefore, being accompanied by\nKhoda J\u00f3i, I joined myself to Azar Kaiv\u00e1n, and discovered the object\nof my inquiries.\u201d Hafiz of Shiraz observes:\n\n \u201cWhither can we turn our face from the high-priest\u2019s threshold?\n Happiness dwells in his abode, and salvation within that portal.\u201d\n\n_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of Farh\u00e1d, was called Bahram the Less: the\n_Arzhang M\u00e1ni_ (the gallery of M\u00e1ni) is the production of his genius:\nhe was in attendance on Zu-al-Ulum, but attained to communion with God\nand to perfection, in the service of Farzanah Bahram, the son of\nFarhad. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the compiler of\nthese pages met with Bahram the Less, the son of Farhad, in the\nimperial city of Lahore, in perfect health, but in the same year that\nsage bade adieu to this world. He was a man who found repose in God,\nand avoided all intercourse with society: he was learned in all the\ntheoretical and practical sciences, and eminently conversant with the\nlanguages of Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and Europe: by him were\ntranslated into Persian, that is, into Parsi mixed with Arabic, the\nworks of the Shaikh _Ishr\u00e1k Shuh\u00e1b ud d\u00edn Makt\u00fal_, which treated of\nthe Ishrakian tenets; his time was employed in transcribing books,\nfrom which source he was obliged to derive his scanty support. He\nnever slept at night; in the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the\nauthor beheld him with H\u00fashy\u00e1r at Lahore; during the entire night, the\nwriter of these pages sat in his presence, and from morn until evening\nH\u00fashy\u00e1r remained before him; whilst the above-mentioned Farzanah,\nseated on both knees, with his face to the east, never moved: people\nhave witnessed in him many things of this description. They say that\nhe used to remain seated two or three days after this fashion, neither\neating bread nor drinking water; he never laid his back on the ground;\nhis food consisted of a small quantity of cow\u2019s milk; his lips were\nnever polluted with any other substance, and even this he swallowed at\nintervals of two or three days.\n\n \u201cBe thou as a goblet, free from the contamination of body,\n Be thou earth in the footsteps of the pure.\n As from this earth thou mayst come to dust,\n Break through the dust, and attain the human nature.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed Parist\u00e1r, the son of Khursh\u00edd, who was originally of\nIsfash\u00e1n, assumed the elements of body in Patna; the Mobed, when a\nyouth, was accepted by divine favour, and through the aid of the\nAlmighty became one of the _Yek\u00e1nah B\u00edn_, or \u201cseers of unity.\u201d Having\nin his early years entered into the service of Azar Kaiv\u00e1n, he\nobtained a perfect sanctity through the society of his holy master\u2019s\ndisciples. He however devoted himself chiefly to the Mobed Sar\u00f3sh: he\nwas the author of the _Taprah-i-Mobedi_, or \u201cthe Sacerdotal\nKettledrum.\u201d In the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1640) he came to\nKashmir, where the author of this work was admitted into his society.\nFrom the nightfal until sunrise, the Mobed Parist\u00e1r gave himself up to\nthe Sar\u00e1\u00edst, which in the celestial language, or the _Desatir_, they\ncall _Far\u00f3_, or \u201cdownward:\u201d this rite, according to them, consists in\nelevating the feet in the air, and standing on the head; which\nposition is called in Hindi _Kapal Asan_[336] or \u201chead-seat.\u201d He of a\nsudden quitted the body and entered the bowers of Paradise. A Mobed\nhas said:\n\n \u201cIf thou be a wanderer upon the path of spirituality,\n Fix not on the (external) robe, the motion of thy heart,\n For nothingness will be the dwelling of thy body:\n Although in reality thou continuest to move.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed Peshk\u00e1r, the son of Khursh\u00edd, was also born in Patna, and\none year younger than Perishtar (his brother). He became unrivalled\nduring his age, in the Hindi chaunts and poems of that sect. He was\nthe _servant of the leader_ Azar Kaiv\u00e1n and his disciples, and whilst\nin the service of the Mobed Sar\u00f3sh he attained the knowledge of God,\nand of himself, and he became eminently divested of prejudice and\nexempted from human infirmities: being totally unfettered by the bonds\nor chains of any sect whatever, and studiously shunning the polemic\ndomains of prejudice: in short, the eulogium of one creed and the\nabhorrence of another, entered not into his system. He came to Kashmir\nwith his elder brother, with the purpose of departing from thence to\nKathay: he was noted for the imprisonment of the breath, concerning\nwhich the Mobed H\u00fash\u00edy\u00e1r said: \u201cHe once suppressed his breath and\nplunged into the water, where he remained immersed during two watches\n(six hours), after which interval he again raised his head above the\nsurface.\u201d\n\n HEMISTICH: \u201cWherever he may be, O God, guard him in safety!\u201d\n\n_Sh\u00eddosh_, the son of Anosh, descended from the prophet Zardusht by\nhis father An\u00f3sh, who was styled _Farhosh_, \u201cthe splendor of\nintellect,\u201d was one of the sincerely devoted disciples of Azar Kaiv\u00e1n:\n_Zarb\u00e1d_ was also descended from the same divine apostle Zard\u00fasht, and\nfinally became a man of opulence, although at the beginning of his\ncareer he only possessed the pangs of destitution. They both came one\nday into the presence of Azar Kaiv\u00e1n, and lamented the hardship of\ntheir forlorn state; on this Azar replied: \u201cProceed with a small stock\nto the quarter of sunrise, traverse the eastern borders, and dispose\nof it with speed towards the descending sun, as your condition,\nthrough this depressed site of difficulty will be changed into the\nmeans of affluence.\u201d Nearly at the period of giving these\ninstructions, Azar Kaiv\u00e1n having withdrawn from this earthly\ntabernacle, hastened to the resting-place of the spheres, and these\ntwo Jupiter-like stars, the unrivalled splendor of the world, set out\nas directed. At length, through the efficacy of Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s enlightened\nspirit, the state of these pilgrims continued to obtain an ascendancy,\nuntil they became possessed of great opulence. Hafiz says thus:\n\n \u201cThey who by a look convert clay into the philosopher\u2019s stone,\n What great matter if they bestow a single glance on me.\u201d\n\nAfter this, _Zarb\u00e1d\u00ed_ sent to Patna an ancient servant, Farrah Kari by\nname, to conduct his daughter to the musk-scented pavilion of Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh,\nthe illustrious son of An\u00f3sh. After this event, Farrah Kari and\nSh\u00edd\u00f3sh, proceeded from Patna on a commercial adventure, and formed\nthe plan of setting out from Kashmir to Kashgar: they were however\nobliged to remain some time in Kashmir: but on the first moment of\nmoving from Patna, there arose in the breast of Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh an anxious\nwish for attaining the knowledge of himself, the investigation of his\nancient abode, ascertaining his natural light, and exploring the march\nof the invisible world: as from the very first, this bright Jupiter,\nthrough the entreaty of Kaivan (Saturn) had directed his steps to the\nregion of atoms and the abode of elements of the celestial and\nterrestrial parents: consequently, when Kaivan had abandoned this\nbodily frame, he sat down with his disciples,\n\n \u201cChoose thou companions who are better than thyself,\n In order that thy understanding and faith may increase.\u201d\n\nHe consequently devoted himself to religious exercises, listening in\nthe first place to the voice called in Persian _\u00e2z\u00e1d \u00e1v\u00e1_ \u201cthe\nindependent voice,\u201d in Arabic, _saut-i-mutluk_, or \u201cthe absolute\nsound;\u201d and in Hindi, _an\u00e1hid_. When he had duly practised this rite,\nhe directed his eyes, opened wide between the eyebrows, which in Hindi\nthey call _ter\u00e1tuk_, until the blessed form of Kaiv\u00e1n was clearly\nmanifested: he next contemplated that form, until it actually was\nnever more separated from him; he at last reached the region of\nintellect, and having passed through the six worlds, arrived in the\nseventh, and in this state of entrancement obtained admittance to the\nAlmighty presence; so that, during this abstraction from self, the\nannihilation (of every thing human) and the eternity (of the\nspiritual) was joined to his existence. S\u00e2di says:\n\n \u201cO youth! enter thou this very day into the path of obedience,\n For to-morrow the vigor of youth comes not from the aged man.\u201d\n\nOne morning at the dawn of day he said thus to the author of the\nDabistan: \u201cYesterday in the gloom of night, directed by the light of\nspirit, I departed from this external body, and arrived at the\nmysterious illumination ever replete with effulgence: the chamberlain\nof truth removed from before me the curtains, so that on quitting this\nmortal nature and leaving the visible world, I traversed the angelic\nsphere. The supreme independently-existing light of lights became\nrevealed in all the impressive, operative, attributive, and essential\nradiance of glory: this state of imaginary being disappeared, actual\nexistence was clearly witnessed.\u201d Hafiz says:\n\n \u201cThe perfect beauty of my beloved is not concealed by an interposing\n veil;\n O Hafiz, thou art the curtain of the road: remove away.\u201d\n\nShid\u00f3sh, though far removed from receiving pleasure by dainty food,\nstill appeared always in magnificent dresses: his audience always\ndiffused the fragrance of perfume; he even clad in handsome dresses\nhis head domestic servants, and other dependents, nay his very porter\nand doorkeeper. He used to say: \u201cMy state proceeds from the splendor\nof Azar Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s aid: to feel contempt for such a capital would be\nhighly improper; and not to make use of it would be an abomination\nbefore my benefactor; for otherwise, I derive no pleasure from fine\nraiment.\u201d As to his abstinence in point of food, and his shunning of\nfemale society, what has been mentioned is sufficient on these heads.\nShidosh Bihin was a youth of a finely proportioned person, and\nbeautiful countenance; the following was the rule observed by him: he\nnever attached merit to any strange creed, but endeavoured to divest\nhimself altogether of prejudice, and maintained very little\nintercourse with the generality of mankind: when he formed an\nintimacy, on the first day he testified only a small degree of warmth;\nhe exhibited greater attention on the second; so that he daily made\ngreater advances in the path of friendship; progressively increasing\nhis love and affection: as to what has been stated relative to his\ndisplaying no great degree of warmth on the first interview, the same\nproportion obtained when he shewed a decrease of warmth to some; that\nsame would be reckoned very great in any other. He always asserted,\nthat in the society of friends, their intercourse must not be\nseparated from meditation on God, as whatever is, is but a radiancy\nemanating from the sun of his essence: the visible and invisible of\nthe world being only forms of that existence. Rafiah says:\n\n \u201cIf angels and demons be formed from one principle,\n The husbandman, the spring, the seed, and the field must be the\n same:\n What has his unity to dread from the plurality of the human race?\n Although you tie the knot a hundred-fold, there is only a single\n cord.\u201d\n\nShidosh was seized with so severe an illness in Kashmir, that his case\nsurpassed the art of the physician: as Urfi says:\n\n \u201cWhat physician can there be, if the Messiah himself be taken ill?\u201d\n\nAll the people about Shidosh were disconsolate, but he remained\ncheerful of heart, and in proportion as the symptoms became more\naggravated, his cheerfulness increased, and he frequently recited\nthese couplets from Hafiz:\n\n \u201cO joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation,\n Seeking the repose of my soul, and setting out in search of my\n beloved:\n Dancing like a solar mote around the atmosphere of her lips,\n Until I reach the fountain-head of the radiant sun.\u201d[337]\n\nOn the day of his departure from this temporary halting-place to the\neternal mansion of repose and the exalted seat of happiness, his\ndisconsolate friends and affectionate domestics were deeply afflicted;\nbut Shidosh retained his cheerfulness and thus addressed them with an\nexpression of delight: \u201cI am not grieved at this disease of body, why\nthen do you grieve? nay ought you not to wish that I, having quitted\nthis gloomy abode of phantasy, should hasten to one beyond the\nconfines of space, and the mansions of intellect may become united to\nthe truly existent and independent (first cause).\u201d The Maulavi M\u00e2navi\nsays thus:\n\n \u201cIf death be a human being, say to him, \u2018draw near,\u2019\n That I may closely fold him in a fond embrace.\n From him I extort by force eternal life,\n Whilst he but snatches from me the Durvish\u2019s party-colored dress.\u201d\n\nHe then lifted up his hands and directing his face to heaven, the\nKiblah of prayer, recited the following blessed couplets front the\n_Sahifah al Auliya_, \u201cvolume of the Saints,\u201d written by the Imam\n_Muhammed Nur Baksh_.\n\n \u201cWhether we are directors or guides[338]\n Still do we want to be guided, on account of the infancy of our steps.\n We are but solitary drops from the ocean of existence,\n However much we possess of divine revelation and proof.\n I am far from the great reservoir of drops,\n Convey me, O God, to the boundless ocean of light!\u201d\n\nOn reciting these lines he closed his eyes. The Shaikh Ab\u00falfaiz\nFaiyazi says on this subject:\n\n \u201cThe drop became a fountain, and the fountain grew into a river,\n Which river became reunited to the ocean of eternity.\u201d\n\nThis event occurred in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1629): his\naffectionate friends expressed their grief in the following manner:\n\n \u201cThy brilliant hues still exist in the parterre,\n Thy fragrance still survives in the jessamine;\n The sight of thee is put off to the day of resurrection;\n It is well: but it forms the theme of many a tale.\u201d\n\nThe author also in his elegy on Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh thus expresses his grief:\n\n \u201cSince Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh departed from my sight\n That which was a receptacle of eyes became a receptacle of rivers;\n Had my eyes been a channel, they would have become a river-bed:\n The resting place of the bird was the paradisian sphere:\n From this lowly nest he departed to the nest on high.\n He was truly free and sought no stores except those of holy freedom.\n He abandoned his body to corporeal matter, and his spirit joined\n the spiritual region.\n His soul was united to the sublime being, the creator of souls,\n Soaring beyond the limits of heaven, earth, and time.\u201d\n\nIf the author attempted to describe the learned and pious Ab\u00e1d\u00edy\u00e1n who\nwere seen in the _Dadistan Aursah_,[339] this treatise would never be\nbrought to a conclusion; he now therefore proceeds to mention some\nothers, who though professing a faith different from the Yezd\u00e1ni\u00e1n or\nAbad\u00edy\u00e1n, yet walked according to the institutes of Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s\ndisciples, and attained their great object, the knowledge of God: and\nalthough this class is too numerous to be fully described, a few of\nthe eminent personages are now about to be mentioned.\n\n_Mahummed Al\u00ed_, of Shiraz was the fellow-student of Shah Futtah Allah,\nand he traced his family to Azar Kaiv\u00e1n: he however attained\nperfection through the society of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farh\u00e1d,\nand had also traversed the seven climes. A thief came to his house one\nnight, on perceiving whom Muhammed Al\u00ed pretended to fall asleep on his\ncarpet, so that the robber might not suppose him to be awake, and\ncontinue his pursuits without apprehension. The robber searched the\nhouse carefully, but as all the effects were concealed in a secure\nplace, he was unable to get at them. On this Muhammed raising his\nhead, said to him: \u201cI laid myself down to sleep, that thou mightst\naccomplish thy desires, whereas thou art in despair: be no longer\nuneasy.\u201d He then arose and pointed out the place where all the things\nwere stored away: in consequence of this generous proceeding, the\nrobber abandoned his infamous profession, and became a virtuous\ncharacter.\n\n_Muhammed Said_ of Isfahan was a Saiyid descended from Husain, who\nattained his great object through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad.\nHe once said to the author: \u201cThe first time I obtained the honor of\nadmittance to the audience of the distinguished Farzanah, he rose up\non seeing me, and showed the proper respect due to an honorable\nperson, directing me to be seated on the most distinguished couch.\nSome time after, entered a naked Fakir, but Farzanah Bahram moved not\nfrom his place, but pointed him to a seat in the slipper-repository. I\nfelt this scruple; surely the highest distinction is due to the\nDurvish. Farzanah then turning his face to the wall, which was\nornamented with paintings, said: \u2018O, lifeless figure, thou art seated\non high; but external form confers not distinction; but Durvishes\nenjoy a rank, when their bodies are under the control of their\nsouls,[340] and their souls united with the supreme object of love;\neven in this assembly they are seated with me in my heart.\u2019 On hearing\nthis, I turned into the right road.\u201d In the year of the Hejirah 1045\n(A. D. 1634), he abandoned this elemental frame in Lahore.\n\n_Ashur Beg Karamanlu_ is also one of those who obtained the gift of\nspiritual intelligence through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad,\nnotwithstanding the total absence of regular studies: by the exertion\nof his innate powers, he, like the other Yekanah Bin \u201cseers of one\nGod,\u201d attained communion with God. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A.\nD. 1636) the author conversed with him in Kashmir, and inquired into\nthe nature of his intercourse with Bahram. He answered: \u201cI went by way\nof experiment to Farzanah, and he thus directed me: \u2018Whether alone or\nin a crowd, in retirement or in public, every breathing which issues\nforth must proceed from the head; and on this point there must be no\ninattention.\u2019 He also said: \u2018Guard the internal breath as long as thou\ncanst, directing thy face to the pine-formed heart, until the\ninvocation be performed by the heart in the stomach; also thy\ninvocation should be thus: \u2018God! God!\u2019 Meditate also on this\nsentiment: \u2018O Lord! none but thou forms the object of my desire!\u2019 When\nI had duly practised this, and found its impressive influence, then\nfrom the bottom of my heart I sincerely sought God. After some time he\nenjoined me to practise the _Tawajjah-i-Talk\u00edn_, \u2018turning to\ninstruction:\u2019 that is: \u2018keep thy soul in the presence of God, divested\nof letters and sounds, whether Arabic or Persian, never removing thy\nmind from the \u2018pine-formed heart.\u2019 By conforming to these\ninstructions, I have come at last to such a state, that the world and\nits inhabitants are but as a shadow before me; and their very\nexistence as the appearance of the vapor of the desert.\u2019\u201d\n\nHe was truly a man who had entirely withdrawn from all external\nemployments and concerns; never mixing with the people of the world.\nIf a person deposited food before him, he took only the quantity he\nthought proper, and gave away the remainder; he never polluted his\nhand with money in gold, silver, or copper; and he frequently passed\ntwo or three days altogether without food and never requested any\nthing.\n\n_Mahmud Beg Timan_, so called from the Timan tribe of Arang in Lahore,\njoined himself also to Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, and as the\nprecepts of that sage were entirely congenial to his mind, he\ncommenced his religious profession under him, and became one of the\nYekanah Bin, \u201cseer of one God,\u201d and \u201cknowing God:\u201d thus without the\naid of books he attained to the knowledge of the Lord, and\nnotwithstanding the absence of written volumes, discovered the actual\nroad. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1637), whilst in Kashmir,\ncoming out of his cell one day, he saw before him a wounded dog,\nmoaning piteously; as the animal was unable to move, he therefore sold\nthe only two objects he possessed, his carpet for prayer and his\nrosary, with the proceeds of which he purchased remedies for the dog.\nThat same year, he said to the author: \u201cOn the first day of turning my\nheart to the mental invocation of God, I had scarcely performed it ten\ntimes, when an evident influence was manifested: at the moment of the\nfirst part, called _nafi_, of the sentence, my human existence\ndisappeared; at the time of the second, called _asbat_, a determined\nsign of divine grace became visible: my sentence was this: \u2018There is\nno God, but God.\u2019\u201d[341] After this manner, several of this sect, by\nthe diligent practice of faith, attained to the knowledge of God.\n\n_Musa_ and _Harun_ were two Jews, to whom Farzanah Bahram, the son of\nFarhad, gave these names: they were distinguished by a profound\nknowledge of their own faith, and highly celebrated among the Rabbins,\nwho are a particular sect of Jewish teachers. On their introduction\ninto Bahram\u2019s society, they were fascinated by his manners, and\nthrough his system of faith acquired the knowledge of themselves. They\napplied themselves to commerce, and neither in buying or selling did a\nfalsehood proceed from their lips, as is the custom of merchants. They\nhave thus recorded: \u201cTo whomsoever Bahram, the son of Farhad, uttered\na single word about the path of religion, he became immediately\nfascinated by his manner: also whoever beheld him felt an attachment\nto him; even the hardened infidel who approached him, humbled himself,\nand we have often witnessed such events: for example, the _Mulla\nMuhammed S\u00e1id_ of Samarkand, who was our intimate friend, through\nexcess of prejudice hurried once to revile him: at that moment, Bahram\nhad retired from Lahore into a burying-ground: when the Mulla\napproached, he found himself irresistibly impelled to run forward and\nlaid his face on Bahram\u2019s feet: and on Bahram\u2019s addressing a few words\nto him, immediately embraced his faith. I afterwards questioned the\nMulla about the exact nature of this conversion from infidelity, and\nhe replied: \u2018I no sooner beheld him than I fell at his feet; and when\nhe addressed a few words to me, I became enraptured with him.\u2019 The\nMullah always styled Bahram \u2018the plunderer of hearts.\u2019\u201d\n\nOne day the author asked Musa, \u201cis Kasun thy brother?\u201d he replied,\n\u201cpeople say so.\u201d I then asked, \u201cwho is your father?\u201d he answered, \u201cour\nmother knows that.\u201d\n\n_Antun Bushuyah W\u00e1varaj_[342] was a Frank, zealous in the Christian\nfaith, and also possessed of great property; through divine aid, he\nconceived an attachment to the society of Durvishes, and for the\npurpose of acquiring knowledge held frequent conferences with them:\nthrough his having discovered the path pointed out by the son of\nFurhad, he altogether resigned his worldly concerns, assumed the\nprofession of a _Kalander_,[343] and denied himself the use of\nclothes: Farzanah always called him \u201cMessiah.\u201d He used to appear\nperfectly naked, and never wore clothes either summer or winter: he\nabstained altogether from animals of every description: he never\nsolicited any thing, but if a person brought food or drink before him,\nif it were not animal food, he would eat part of it. One day, although\nan evil-disposed person smote him so that his limbs were wounded, yet\nhe never even looked at his oppressor; when his persecutor had\ndeparted, I, the author, came up as the people were speaking of the\ninjury inflicted on him; on my enquiring the particulars from himself,\nhe replied: \u201cI am not distressed for my own bodily suffering, but that\nperson\u2019s hands and fists must have suffered so much.\u201d The Imam _Kali\nWarastah_, \u201cthe humble,\u201d says:\n\n \u201cIf the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!\n But how acutely I feel for the hapless broken thorn!\u201d\n\n_Ram Bh\u00f3t_, a Hindu, was a learned Brahmin of Benares; on joining the\nson of Farhad, he desisted altogether from his former rites, and began\nto follow the path pointed out by Bahr\u00e1m. The Mobed Hoshyar says: \u201cI\nhave often heard wonderful stories concerning him; a person named\nMuhammed Yakub was so ill, that the physicians having given up all\nhopes of his cure, his relations, in their affliction, had recourse to\nan ignorant woman who reckoned herself a skilful personage: I went one\nday near Ram Bh\u00f3t, and found him reposing his head on his knee, on\nwhich this reflection passed across my mind: \u2018if Ram Bh\u00f3t be one of\nthe elect, he can tell whether Muhammed Yakub is to remain or pass\naway.\u2019 He raised up his head, and looking on me with a smile, said:\n\u2018God only knows the hidden secrets; however, Muhammed Yakub is not to\ndepart: in another week he will be restored to health.\u2019 And truly the\nthing came to pass as he had declared.\u201d Through his guidance _Ram\nChand_, a Kshatri, one of the chiefs of the _Sahan Sakal_, adopted the\nfaith: and through the instruction of these two individuals, many of\ntheir tribe embraced the independent faith as promulgated by the son\nof Farhad. The word _Sah_[344] in Hindi is applied to \u201ca possessor or\npowerful person,\u201d and the _Sahkal_[345] are a division of the Kshatri,\nan Indian cast or tribe. In reality, if the writer attempted to\nenumerate the numbers of different nations who zealously adopted the\ndoctrines and ritual of Bahram, this work would become exceedingly\nprolix; he must therefore resist from such an undertaking. The author\nof these pages has heard from Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, as\nstated on the authority of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, that\none day the Shaikh _Bah\u00e1-ud-din Mohammed Amali_, who was a _Mujtahad_,\n\u201ca champion,\u201d of the sectaries of Al\u00ed, came near Kaiv\u00e1n and obtained\nan interview: having thus become acquainted with Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s perfection\nand wisdom, he was exceedingly rejoiced and happy, and recited this\ntetrastich:\n\n \u201cIn the k\u00e2bah and the firetemple the perfect saint performed his\n rounds,\n And found no trace of any existence (save that of God);\n As the splendor of the Almighty sheds its rays in every place,\n Knock thou either at the door of the k\u00e2bah or the portals of the\n temple.\u201d\n\nAfter this interview, he became the diligent follower of Kaiv\u00e1n, and\nresorted to the disciples of the Master of all Sciences.\n\n_Mir Abulkasim Fandaraski_ also, through his intercourse with Kaiv\u00e1n\u2019s\ndisciples, became an adorer of the sun, refraining from cruelty\ntowards all living creatures. It is well known that being once asked:\n\u201cWhy dost not thou in obedience to the law go on the pilgrimage to\nMecca?\u201d He replied: \u201cI go not on this account, as I must there\nslaughter a sheep with my own hand.\u201d At present the author proceeds to\ndescribe with the pen of truth a summary of the institutes of the\n_Am\u00e9zish_, \u201cintercourse,\u201d held by the Abadian Durveshes with society.\nThose who adopt this rule call it the _Am\u00e8zish-i-Farhang_, or \u201cthe\nintercourse of science,\u201d and _M\u00e8zchar_, or \u201cStranger\u2019s remedy.\u201d When a\nstranger to their faith is introduced to one of their assemblies, far\nfrom addressing harsh observations to him, they pass eulogiums on his\ntenets, approve whatever he says, and do not omit to lavish on him\nevery mark of attention and respect: this conduct proceeds from the\nfundamental article of their creed, as they are convinced that in\nevery mode of belief, its followers may come to God: nay, if those of\na different faith should present them a request respecting some object\nabout which they disagree, that is, solicit some act by which they may\napproach God, they do not withhold their compliance. They do not\nenjoin a person to abandon his actual profession of faith, as they\naccount it unnecessary to give him useless pain of mind. Moreover when\nany one is engaged in concerns with them, they withhold not their aid\nfrom his society and support, but practise towards him to the utmost\nextent of their ability, whatever is most praiseworthy in this world\nand the next: they are also on their guard against indulging in\nsentiments of prejudice, hatred, envy, malice, giving pre-eminence to\none faith above another, or adopting one creed in preference to\nanother. They also esteem the learned, the Durvishes, the pure of\nlife, the worshippers of God in every religion, as their trusty\nfriends; neither styling the generality of mankind wicked, nor holding\nworldly-minded persons in abhorrence: they observe, \u201cwhat business has\nhe who desires not this world\u2019s goods to abhor the world?\u201d for the\nsentiment of abhorrence can proceed from the envious alone. They\nneither communicate their secrets to strangers, nor reveal what\nanother communicates to them.\n\nA person named _Mihr\u00e1b_ was among the disciples who followed the son\nof Farhad, in the year of the Hejirah 1047 (A. D. 1637); the author,\nwho was then in Kashmir, thus heard from Muhammad F\u00e1l Has\u00eer\u00ee: \u201cI once\nbeheld Mihr\u00e1b standing in the high road, at the moment when a\nKhoras\u00e1nian, seizing on an old man by force, obliged him to labor for\nhim without recompense, and placed a heavy burden on his head: at this\nMihr\u00e1b\u2019s heart so burned within him, that he said to the Khoras\u00e1nian,\n\u2018Withdraw thy hand from this old man, that I may bear the burden\nwhithersoever thou desirest.\u2019 The Khoras\u00e1nian was astonished, but\nMihr\u00e1b, without paying any farther attention to this, took the poor\nman\u2019s load on his head, and went along with his unjust oppressor, and\non his return from that person\u2019s house showed no symptoms of fatigue.\nOn my observing to him, \u2018This oppressor has heaped affliction on a\nholy priest and judge like thee!\u2019 he replied, \u2018What could a helpless\nperson do? the load must be conveyed to his house, and he was unable\nto place it on his shoulders, as it was unbecoming for him; nor was he\nable to give money (which is difficult to be procured) in payment of\nhis labour: he of course seized on some one to perform his work. I\napplaud him for granting my request, and feel grateful to the old man\nfor complying with my wishes, suffering me to take his place, and\ntransferring his employment to myself.\u2019\u201d\n\nHafiz of Shiraz thus expresses himself:\n\n \u201cThe heavens themselves cannot remove the weight confided to us;\n The lot of labour fell to my hapless name.\u201d\n\n_M\u00e1h Ab_, the younger brother of the above _Mihr\u00e1b_, was seen by the\ncompiler of this work in attendance on the son of Farhad, and in the\nyear of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) he thus heard from the Mulla\n_Mahdi_ of Lah\u00f3re: \u201cBahram having one day sent him on some errand to\nthe bazar, he happened to pass by the house of a person in the service\nof _Alim Uddin_ of Halsub, styled _Wazir Khan_; the soldier was then\nchastising his slave, saying: \u2018Thou hast fraudulently sold one of my\ncaptives.\u2019 M\u00e1h\u00e1b coming near the soldier, said to him: \u2018Withdraw thy\nhand from this slave, and accept me in place of him who has run away.\u2019\nNay, this request was so importunately urged, that the soldier finally\naccepted the offer and desisted from beating his slave. However, when\nthe soldier had discovered M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u2019s spiritual gifts, he permitted him\nto return home, but M\u00e1h\u00e1b would not quit him. A week after this event,\nFarhad said in my presence, \u2018I know not where M\u00e1h\u00e1b is;\u2019 on which,\nresting his head on his knees, he directed his heaven-contemplating\nattention to the subject, and the instant after, raising up his head,\nsaid: \u2018M\u00e1h\u00e1b is in the service of a certain soldier, and has\nvoluntarily resigned his person to servitude.\u2019 He forthwith proceeded\nto the soldier\u2019s abode and brought back M\u00e1h\u00e1b.\u201d Many similar\ntransactions are recorded of these sectaries. _Muhammed Shariz_,\nstyled _Amir ul Umra_,[346] a Shirazi by descent, thus says:\n\n \u201cThrough auspicious love we make perfect peace in both worlds,\n Be thou an antagonist, but experience nothing but love from us.\u201d\n\nIt is to be observed that Halsub is a place in one of the districts of\nthe _Parjab_.\n\nA short notice of the _Am\u00eezesh-i Farhang_, or institute of the\nAbad\u00edyah Durveshes, having been thus given, we next proceed to\ndescribe with the pen of truth the chiefs and rulers of that religion.\nBut it is always to be borne in mind that the faith of the princes of\nPersia, whether of the _Abadian_, _Jaian_, _Shaian_, _Yesani-an_, nay\nof the _Peshdadian_, _Kaianian_, _Ashkanian_, and _Sassanian_\ndynasties was such as has been described; and although the system of\nZardusht obtained the pre-eminence, yet they have by means of glosses\nreconciled his faith with that professed by _Abad_, _Kaiomars_, and\nthe system of _H\u00fashang_, called the _Farhang Kesh_ or \u201cexcellent\nfaith;\u201d[347] they regarded with horror whatever was contrary to the\ncode of Ab\u00e1d, which they extolled by all means in their power, as\n_Parviz_ the son of _Hormuz_,[348] in his answer to the Roman emperor,\nthus expresses himself:\n\n \u201cWe feel no shame in professing our ancient faith,\n No other creed in this world can compete with that of H\u00fashang.\n The whole object of this code consists in promoting justice and love:\n And contemplating the numbers of the celestial spheres.\u201d\n\nThey give _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_ the names of _Azar H\u00fashang_, _A H\u00fashang_,\n_H\u00fashang_, and _A Hosh_. It is also recorded, that the Almighty\nbestowed on the princes of _Ajam_[349] prudence, sagacity, and\nperfection of intellect, whereby their theories were connected with\npractical results, and their words quite in harmony with their deeds,\nso that their rule over this revolving world for so many thousand\nyears was entirely owing to the efficacy of the above-mentioned\nprinciples and covenants.\n\n\n [316] Edit. of Calcutta: \u062f\u0631 \u0648 \u0686\u0648\u0646 \u0628\u0633\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u062a\u0631\u06cc \u064a\u0627\u0641\u062a\u0645 In one\n manuscript: \u0648\u0686\u0648\u0646 \u0628\u0633\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u062a\u0631\u06cc \u064a\u0627\u0641\u062a\u0645. In the manuscript of Oude:\n \u062f\u0631\u0648\u0646 \u0686\u0648\u0646 \u0628\u0633\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u062a\u0631\u06cc \u064a\u0627\u0641\u062a\u0645. The first is best.\n\n [317] Edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have:\n \u0633\u0631\u0648\u0634\u06cc \u0628\u062a\u0627\u0628\u064a\u062f \u0622\u0647\u0631\u0645\u0646\u06cc. Two other manuscripts: \u0633\u0631\u0648\u0634\u06cc \u0646\u067e\u0627\u064a\u062f\u0621 \u0648\n \u0622\u0647\u0631\u0645\u0646\u06cc. The latter seems to be the better reading.\n\n [318] Edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude: \u0641\u0631\u0627\u0645\u0648\u0634;\n two other manuscripts, \u0645\u0631\u0627 \u0647\u0648\u0634\u2015\u2015the better reading by far.\n\n [319] Two manuscripts have \u0632 between \u0633\u0627\u062e\u0648\u062f and \u0633\u0627\u064a\u0647; the\n edit. of Calcutta and the manuscript of Oude have \u062e\u0648\u062f \u0633\u0627\u064a\u0647.\n\n [320] The text has:\n \u0628\u062f\u0627\u0646 \u0631\u0647 \u06a9\u0647 \u0631\u0641\u062a\u0645 \u0634\u062f\u0645 \u0633\u0648\u06cc \u062a\u0646\n \u0628\u0639\u062f \u0627\u064a\u0632\u062f\u06cc \u0641\u0631\u0647 \u0632\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0646\u062c\u0645\u0646\n _Izedi_ means any thing given for God\u2019s sake, or as one\u2019s\n due; here it seems to signify a divine gift. \u064a\u0632\u062f, \u0627\u064a\u0632\u062f,\n _ized_, also \u064a\u0632\u062f\u0627\u0646, _yezdan_, is the name of God, and may be\n derived from \u0908\u0936, _\u00edsa_, \u201cto possess power,\u201d \u0908\u0937, _\u00edsha_, \u201cto\n give,\u201d \u0907\u0937, _isha_, to wish, or according to Hyde (p. 159),\n from \u064a\u0634\u062a\u0646, _ishten_, \u201csupplicare, intercedere.\u201d _Ized_ is\n also light, purity; it is the name of good spirits, created\n for the good of the world, and appointed to protect\n individuals.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [321] In the Gulshen raz, a poem quoted in our note p. 82,\n this idea is expressed in several verses, of which the\n following:\n \u062c\u0647\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0632 \u0639\u0642\u0644 \u0648 \u0646\u0641\u0633 \u0648 \u0686\u0631\u062e \u0648 \u0627\u062c\u0631\u0627\u0645\n \u062c\u0648\u0646 \u064a\u06a9 \u0642\u0637\u0631\u0647 \u062f\u0627\u0646 \u0632\u0627\u063a\u0627\u0632 \u0648 \u0627\u0646\u062c\u0627\u0645\n\n \u201cThe world, which is composed of intellect, soul, heavens,\n and bodies,\n Know them to be as a drop from beginning to end.\u201d\n\n Room is wanted for quoting, as a curious coincidence with\n this image, four beautiful strophes of Klopstock, from his\n ode \u201c_Die Fr\u00fchlingsfeyer_,\u201d the Festivity of Spring.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [322] This verse has already been quoted, page 6.\n\n [323] Allusion is here made to the four immediate successors\n of Mohammed; these were _Abubeker_, _Om\u00e1r_, _Osman_, and\n _Al\u00ed_.\n\n The first who took the title of _khalif_, that is\n \u201clieutenant of the Prophet,\u201d was _Abdallah_, better known by\n the name of \u0627\u0628\u0648 \u0628\u0650\u06a9\u0652\u0631, _Ab\u00fabeker_, \u201cFather of the Virgin,\u201d\n so called because A\u00edsh\u00e1, his daughter, was the only one of\n Mohammed\u2019s wives who had not been before married to another\n man. He was also distinguished by the title of \u0635\u062f\u064a\u0642 _sadik_,\n or \u201cthe faithful witness,\u201d given to him because he, the\n first Muselman after Mohammed\u2019s preaching, attested the\n miracle of the Prophet\u2019s ascension to heaven. It was he who\n collected the verses of the Koran, which were written upon\n separate leaves, into one volume, called _Almoshaf_, \u201cthe\n book by excellence,\u201d the original text of which was\n deposited in the hands of Hafsat, daughter of Omar and widow\n of Mohammed. After a reign of two years and three months, he\n died in the year 13 of the Hejira, 634 A. D., not without\n having named his successor.\n\n This was _Omar Ben al-Khetab_, known under the title of\n \u0641\u0627\u0631\u0648\u0642, _f\u00e1r\u00fak\u00b4_, \u201cthe separator,\u201d so called by Mohammed,\n because he had separated the head from the body of a\n Muselman who, not satisfied with the decision which the\n Prophet had given in a law-suit, came to submit the case to\n Omar\u2019s revision. Under Abubeker\u2019s khalifat, Omar acted as\n chief of justice, or chancellor. As khalif he was the first\n who took the title of \u0627\u0645\u064a\u0631 \u0623\u0644\u0645\u0648\u0645\u0646\u064a\u0646, _Emir al-M\u00famen\u00edm_,\n \u201cprince or commander of the faithful,\u201d which title devolved\n to all his successors. He conquered Syria, Chald\u00e6a,\n Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt, and built the town of\n Bassora at the mouth of the Tigris, in order to prevent the\n Persians from taking the route to India by the gulph of\n Persia. After a reign of ten years he was killed by the hand\n of a Persian slave, who, having complained of his master\u2019s\n cruelty to him, did not receive the expected redress. Omar,\n a judge cruel but just, would not fix the right of\n succession upon his son, but wishing to keep the khalifat\n elective, named six persons, called \u0627\u0647\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u0634\u0648\u0631\u064a, _ahel\n al-shurah_, \u201cpeople of council,\u201d who should choose a khalif\n among themselves.\n\n Among these were _Osman_ and _Ali_. After a hard contest\n between these two competitors, the former, supported by his\n four colleagues, was proclaimed khalif at the end of the\n year 23, or the beginning of 24 of the Hejira, 643 or 644 A.\n D. Osman Ben Affan was called by his partisans \u0630\u0648 \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0648\u0631\u064a\u0646,\n _zo ul nar\u00e1in_, \u201cthe possessor of two lights,\u201d because he\n had married Rak\u00edah and Omm al Kach\u00fam, both daughters of\n Mohammed, whose prophecy was supposed to be the source of\n light diffused over his whole posterity. Osman published the\n Koran such as it was in the original text, deposited (as was\n before said) in the hands of Hafsat, one of Mohammed\u2019s\n widows, and he caused all copies, differing from this one,\n to be suppressed. The domination of the Mohammedans was\n established and extended, to the east, in Khorassen and in\n Upper Asia; to the west, over the whole northern coast of\n Africa and even a part of Spain, during this khalif\u2019s reign,\n which, after eleven years, terminated by his violent death\n in an insurrection which took place against him in Egypt.\n\n The Egyptians offered the government to Ali. As before\n mentioned, he was one of the six persons named by Omar as\n fit for the khalifat, which Ali claimed as his right, being\n the cousin-german and son-in-law (husband of Fatima, the\n eldest daughter) of Mohammed, and thus the head of the\n family of the Hashemites, who were distinguished by the name\n of \u201cthe house of the Prophet.\u201d After Osman\u2019s death, Ali was\n by his party proclaimed the head of the Muselmans. His title\n was \u0627\u0633\u062f \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u063a\u0627\u0644\u0628, _assad allah al-ghaleb_, \u201cthe lion of\n God, the victorious.\u201d Possessed of great learning, he\n composed several celebrated works in prose and in verse,\n although he had to sustain a continual struggle with the\n adverse party. He was assassinated in Kufa, in the year 40\n of the Hejira, 660 A. D. After him, his sons Hassan and\n Hossain (see note 3, pp. 47-48) fell victims to Moavia, a\n relation of Osman, and the mortal enemy of the whole race of\n Ali. The contest between these two parties was, after the\n death of their chiefs, carried on by their numerous\n adherents, and, connected as it is with some difference in\n their religious opinions and rites, continues to our days.\n Ali is acknowledged the head of the \u0634\u064a\u0639\u0629, _Shi\u00e2ts_, which\n word means in general \u201ca troop, a party,\u201d but is\n particularly applied to those who believe that the _Imamat_,\n or the supreme dignity over the Muselmans, belongs by right\n to Al\u00ed and his descendants, who call themselves\n _Aladiliats_, or \u201cthe party of the just.\u201d Opposed to them\n are the _Sonnites_, so called from the Arabic word _sonnat_,\n which signifies \u201cprecept, rule,\u201d or the orthodox faith of\n Muselmans, comprehending the traditional laws relative to\n whatever has not been written by the great legislator (see\n Herbelot, _sub voc._).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [324] Zu-l-Ulum, \u201cmaster of sciences,\u201d was a title of Kaiv\u00e1n.\n\n [325] Nushirvan, called by the Arabs _Kesra_, by the\n Persians _Khosru_, is reckoned by some authors the 19th (by\n others the 20th) Persian king of the Sass\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n dynasty,\n which, according to different opinions, was composed of 31,\n 30, or 29 princes, and lasted 527, 500, or 431 years.\n Nushirvan reigned from 531 to 579 after J. C. He was called\n \u201cthe just:\u201d from the outside of his palace to his room was\n drawn a chain, by the motion of which he could have notice\n of any complainant who wanted redress. He was victorious in\n the east and west of Asia; he destroyed the prophet _Mazdak_\n (of whom see hereafter, section XV); he brought from India\n to Persia the fables of _Pilpay_, called _Anvar\u00ed Soh\u00edli_,\n \u201cthe Canopian lights,\u201d and a game similar to chess. During\n his reign Mohammed was born. Nushirvan\u2019s favorite minister,\n _Buzerg-Mihr_, called also _Buzer-Jmihr_, was famous for\n virtue and wisdom; about both these personages a great\n number of marvellous and fabulous accounts forms the matter\n of favorite poems in the East.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [326] Ardeshir Babegan was the first king, and founder of\n the IVth dynasty of Persian kings, called the _Sasss\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1ns_,\n or the _Khosroes_. His father was _Sassan_, a descendant of\n another _Sassan_, the son of _Bahman Isfendiar_, the 6th\n king of the IId Persian dynasty, called the _Kay\u00e1nian_. The\n latter Sassan was reduced to a low station, having become\n the shepherd of _Babek_, a wealthy man, whose daughter he\n married;\u2015\u2015he had by her a son named Ardeshir, who took the\n name of his maternal grandfather (which is to be noted as an\n Indian custom): hence he was called _Babegan_. He is\n identified with the Artaxerxes of the Greeks, a contemporary\n of the Roman emperor Commodus (A. D. 180-193). The epoch of\n his reign is one of the most uncertain points of Persian\n history. It may be fixed from the year 200 to 240 of the\n Christian era.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [327] The 5th Sassan, above mentioned, is said to be the\n last of fifteen Persian prophets, the first of whom was\n Mah\u00e1bad, and the 13th Zoroaster. The fifth Sassan lived in\n the time of Khosru Parviz, who reigned, the 21st or 22nd\n king of the Sass\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1ns, from 591 to 628 of the Christian\n era. We read in the Persian preface of the Desatir, that\n five years after the death of Khosru Parviz (that is in the\n year 634), the Persian empire being shaken by the conquests\n of the Arabs, the fifth Sassan translated the Desatir. The\n English preface of the same work states, that \u201che died only\n nine years before the destruction of the ancient Persian\n monarchy,\u201d or nine years before 652, which would be in the\n year 643 of our era. It appears from the Desatir (English\n transl. p. 192), that the fifth Sassan, not less than his\n father, the fourth Sassan, was attached to the king Parviz,\n of whom he says (ibid. p. 202): \u201cFrom the wickedness of\n mankind did it arise that such an angel-tempered king was\n taken from the Hirtasis (Persia).\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [328] Bahr\u00e1m Gur (Varanes V), the son of Yezdejird _badkar_\n (the iniquitous), was educated out of Persia. After the\n death of his father, the throne having been given to Kisra,\n a stranger, Bahram came to dispute the crown, which he\n proposed should be placed between two famished lions, and\n belong to him who should seize it there. Kisra accepted the\n proposal, but would not attempt the first to snatch what he\n already possessed. Bahram then, after having killed the\n fierce animals, took and kept the prize with universal\n applause. He was the 13th (or 14th) king of the S\u00e1ss\u00e1n\u00edans.\n After having repulsed an invasion of the Turks, and secured\n his empire, he left Persia, and travelled in disguise to\n India in search of adventures; by a series of daring\n actions, he gained a great reputation, and the hand of an\n Indian princess, with whom, after two years of absence, he\n returned to Persia. Fortunate in war against Greeks and\n Arabians, he lost his life in a hunting party, after a reign\n of 23 (some say 18) years, which is placed from 420 to 438\n of our era.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [329] This passage is very obscure\u2015\u2015the occurrences here\n mentioned must have been local.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [330] Akbar Abad (Akbar\u2019s town) was Agra.\n\n [331] Sadah is the name of the 16th night of the Persian\n month Bahman (the 11th of the year, January). This night is\n solemnized by fires lighted in towns and in the fields\n (Herbelot).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [332] Jamasp, a great priest of the religion of Zoroaster,\n and supposed author of a Persian work upon the great\n conjunctions of the planets, and upon the events which they\n produce. This work was translated into Arabic by Lal\u00ed, in\n the year 1280 of our era. According to the Shah-namah and to\n some historians, Jamasp was the brother of Gustasp, the Vth\n Persian king of the P\u00e9shdad\u00edan dynasty (Herbelot). In the\n book M\u00fagjizat Farsi (see Hyde, Prefatio), Jamasp is the VIth\n of ten Persian prophets, who are enumerated as follows: I.\n Feridun; II. Alexander; III. Anushirvan; IV. Baheramgor; V.\n Rustam; VI. Jamasp; VII. Buzurgjmihr; VIII. Barbud; IX. an\n anonymous sculptor of the beautiful horse Shabdiz, which had\n belonged to king Parviz; X. Ferhad, a celebrated architect,\n enamoured of Sh\u00edr\u00edn, the wife of Parviz.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [333] The Lulees in Persia and in other parts of Asia are\n women of the same description as the dancing girls in India,\n devoted to pleasure, and exercising their art of pleasing at\n all festivals, public and private.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [334] These verses of Hafiz, p. 56, edit. of Calcutta, are\n again quoted, p. 6, of the same edit.; but instead of \u0627\u0632\u067e\u06cc\n \u062c\u0627\u0646\u0627\u0645; which occur in the first of these pages, we find in\n the last \u062f\u0631\u067e\u06cc \u062c\u0627\u0646\u0627\u0645; which last reading was adopted.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [335] \u0686\u0645\u0686\u0645\u06c1 _chamchamah_, \u201ca skull,\u201d answers to \u0915\u092a\u093e\u0932\n _kap\u00e1la_, which signifies skull, and a skull-like bowl, in\n which beggars receive alms.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [336] \u0915\u092a\u093e\u0932 \u0906\u0938\u0928.\n\n [337] These verses have been quoted before, page 119.\n\n [338] Mahd\u00ed, \u201cguide,\u201d in the original is perhaps an allusion\n to the name of the twelfth and last Imam of the race of Al\u00ed.\n The Persians believe that he is still living, and will\n appear with the prophet Elias at the second coming of Jesus\n Christ, and will be one of the two witnesses mentioned in\n the Apocalypse (Herbelot).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [339] The printed copy reads \u062f\u0627\u062f \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0646 \u0627\u0648\u0631\u0633\u0647, and the manuscripts\n \u062f\u0627\u062f \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0646 \u062f\u0627\u0648\u0631\u0634\u0647 and \u062f\u0627\u062f \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0646 \u062f\u0627\u0648\u0631\u0633\u0647, the MS. of Oude has\n \u062f\u0627\u062f \u0633\u062a\u0627\u0646 \u0633\u064f\u0647 \u062f\u0627\u0648\u0631.\n\n [340] The printed copy reads \u062f\u0631\u067e\u0627\u06cc \u062c\u0627\u0646, the MSS., with that\n of Oude, have \u062f\u0631\u067e\u0627\u06cc \u0645\u0627 \u062c\u0627\u0646.\n\n [341] This corresponds to the Arabic: _la ila hah illilla_;\n the first part of which, _la ila hah_, \u201cthere is no God,\u201d is\n called _nafi_, \u201cnegation;\u201d the other part, _illi la_, \u201cbut\n God,\u201d is called _asb\u00e1t_, \u201cconfirmation.\u201d To which is added:\n _Mohammed resul ulla_, \u201cMuhammed is his prophet.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [342] The two MSS. read _Antun pashutah dakardaj_; the MS.\n of Oude, _Anton pashuyah_.\n\n [343] A Kalander is a person of religious pretensions, a\n sort of durvish not generally approved by the\n Muhammedans\u2015\u2015(_Herbelot_).\n\n [344] Perhaps \u0938\u0939\u0938\u094d _sahas_, \u201cstrength, power, light.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [345] Perhaps \u0938\u0915\u0941\u0932 _sakula_, \u201chaving a family.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [346] _Amir_ signifies \u201ccommander, chief, prince.\u201d This\n title was once borne by sovereigns, but in the course of\n time was changed for that of Sultan, it remained a title\n given only to princes, their sons. _Amir ul Omra_ signifies\n \u201cthe commander of commanders\u201d (_Herbelot_).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [347] The Persians pretend to have (see my note, p. 32, and\n Hyde, _Prefatio_) a book more ancient than the writings of\n Zoroaster, called _J\u00e1v\u00edd\u00e1n Khirid_, \u201cthe eternal wisdom,\u201d\n which treats of practical philosophy, and the author of\n which is supposed to have been H\u00fashang.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [348] Khosro Parviz was the grandson of Nushirvan, mentioned\n in our note, page 105, as contemporary of the fifth Sasan,\n the translator and commentator of the Desatir. Parviz, soon\n after having taken possession of his father\u2019s throne, was\n driven out of Persia by a fortunate usurper, called _Bahram\n J\u00fab\u00edn_, and took refuge in the court of the Greek emperor\n Mauritius, from whom he obtained not only protection, but\n also the hand of his daughter named _Mary_ by some, and by\n others Sh\u00edrin, and a powerful army to recover the kingdom of\n Persia. According to _Eben Batrik_ (see _Herbelot_), it was\n after having been restored to his sovereignty, that he sued\n for marriage with the daughter of Mauritius, who answered\n that he could not grant his daughter, unless the Persian\n monarch adopted the Christian faith. The verses in the text\n seem to refer to this circumstance, but express at the same\n time a strong attachment of Parviz to the ancient religion\n of his country, whilst, according to the Arabian author just\n quoted, this prince apostatised, in spite of his opposing\n grandees, for the sake of the beautiful Shir\u00edn, for whom he\n had conceived an irresistible passion. Mauritius, his\n father-in-law, having been put to death, with all his\n children except one son, Parviz endeavoured to replace this\n remaining son upon the throne of his father. At first\n successful against Phocas, he was defeated by Heraclius, the\n successor of the Greek emperor; he lost all his conquests,\n his reputation, his liberty, and at last his life, by a\n parricide, his son and successor, Shiruyah or Sirocs.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [349] Ajem includes all Asia except Arabia. The Arabians, as\n formerly the Greeks, call the inhabitants of all countries\n except their own, Barbarians; but here, and elsewhere, the\n author takes Ajem for Persia.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION III.\n\n\nTHE THIRD SECTION OF THE DABISTAN explains the laws of the\nPa\u00edm\u00e1n-i-Farhang (excellent covenant) and the Hirbed S\u00e1r (the pure\nHighpriest).\n\nThe _Paiman-i-Farhang_ is the code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, of which many\ntranslations have been made; one of them is that made by _Faridun_,\nthe son of _Abtin_: another; that of _Buzurg-Mihr_[350] for the use of\n_Nushirvan_, the son of _Kobad_; some extracts from these have been\ngiven in the present work. The _Yazdanian_, \u201cgodly,\u201d who are also\ncalled _Sahi Kesh_, \u201cflourishing faith,\u201d and _Sip\u00e1s\u00ee_, \u201cadorers,\u201d\nmaintain that the most exalted of the prophets, the mightiest of\nkings, and the sire of the human race which exists in this cycle was\n_M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_, whom they also call _Azar Hushang_, \u201cthe fire of wisdom.\u201d\nThey also say that it is thus recorded in the code of this venerable\npersonage, which is the word of God; and that moreover, this mighty\nprince has himself expressly announced that the Divine Essence, which\nhas no equal, is totally devoid and divested of all form and figure;\nincapable of being the object of conception or similitude: also that\nthe tropes of the most eloquent orators, the illustrations of the most\nenlightened and profound geniuses, are utterly unable to convey a\nclear idea of the light, which has neither perceptible color nor sign:\nthe sublime speculations of the learned and the discriminating\nunderstandings of the sage are too feeble to comprehend the substance\nof the pure essence of that light, which is without equal, quality,\ncolor, or model: also that all existences have proceeded from the\nbounty and wisdom of the Almighty, and are consequently his creation:\nthat not a single atom in this world, nor even the motion of a hair on\nthe body of a living creature escapes his knowledge: all which\npropositions are proved by evident demonstrations deduced from various\npremises, and accompanied by excellent commentaries, the enumeration\nof which this abridged treatise cannot admit. Also that the cognizance\nof the self-existent God extends alike to the most minute particles of\nmatter and the entire universe.\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT ANGELS OF THE FIRST ORDER.\u2015\u2015In the code of\nthe great apostle M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d it is thus stated; the work of God is above\nthe power of the tongue, and infinitely exceeds the calculations to\nwhich the inhabitants of this lower elemental world have recourse: the\noperations of the Eternal are from eternity to eternity: they assign\nthe name of _Bahman_[351] to the first Angel whom the Almighty\ninvested with the mantle of existence, and through the medium of whom\nit was communicated to others. The planets, fixed stars, and heavens\nhave each their peculiar conservative Angel; also the four elements\nbelow the lunar sphere have four conservative Angels, and in like\nmanner all productions connected with them: for example, in minerals\nthere are many precious stones, such as rubies, sapphires, and\nemeralds of every kind, which are under the dominion of their good,\nmunificent, protecting Angel: and so on with respect to all species of\nvegetable and animal productions. The name given to the conservative\nangel of mankind is _Farun Faro Vakhsh\u00far_.[352]\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE SECOND ORDER OF ANGELS.\u2015\u2015The code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d states\nthat the second rank is assigned to the Angels connected with bodies:\nthat is, every heaven and every star has a simple uncompounded spirit,\nbare of matter, as it is neither a body nor material: also that all\nliving beings in the world have an uncompounded soul.\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ANGELS.\u2015\u2015It is stated in the code of\nM\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, that angelic beings of the third rank are the same as the\nsuperior and inferior bodies. The superior bodies are those of the\nsphere and the stars; and the inferior the four (_guhar_) elements.\nThe most noble of all bodies are those of the sphere.\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE GRADATIONS OF PARADISE.\u2015\u2015The code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d states\nthus: \u201cIn the _M\u00een\u00fa_ or \u2018azure heaven\u2019 there are many gradations, we\nshall first enumerate the gradations of Paradise in this lower world.\nThe first gradation consists of minerals, such as rubies, sapphires,\nemeralds, and the like; the second of vegetation, such as plane trees,\ncypress, gardens, etc.; the third of animals, such as the Arab horse,\nthe camel, and such like; the fourth consisting of selected\nindividuals amongst men, such as princes and those connected with that\nclass, persons in the enjoyment of health, the contented, and such\nlike; all which gradations they call _M\u00een\u00fa S\u00e1r_, \u2018celestial abode,\u2019\nand _B\u00eest L\u00e1d_,[353] that is, _Fer\u00f3den fer\u00f3_, \u2018the low foundation.\u2019\u201d\nIn these states there is a retrospect; for example, there is one man\nwho in relation to his deeds gradually descends to the animal state;\nwhilst the terrene particles of virtuous men\u2019s bodies change either to\nthe vegetable state or that of the choicest minerals, however without\nthe existence of an incorporeal soul in either of them. On ascending\nfrom this state, the change is called _Lim Sar_, or \u201cdwelling on\nhigh;\u201d the first is the lunar step; for in the soul of the exalted\nmoon are the forms of all those beings into which the elements enter.\nA person on arriving there remains in it, becoming the regent of all\nthe lower world, and in proportion to his knowledge and the habits\nresulting from his laudable qualities, assumes a better form. On\narriving at a higher rank than this, he finds augmented delight as far\nas the solar step; for the sun is the _Pirah-i-Yazdan_, or \u201cthe\nornament of God,\u201d that is, the viceroy of the Lord and sovereign of\nthe stars, whose gracious influence pervades both high and low. On\nleaving this and passing through the various gradations to the\nempyreal heaven, every step becomes more delightful and excellent. On\nascending beyond the great sphere, he arrives at the curtain[354] of\nthe great Angels and contemplates the Lord of the light of lights\nsurrounded by angels: no state can surpass the beatitude and glory of\nthis gradation, which is called the _M\u00een\u00faiv\u00e1n M\u00een\u00fa_, or \u201cheaven of\nheavens.\u201d\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS.\u2015\u2015The code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d states thus:\nHell is situated under the sphere of _the moon_:[355] the first step\nconsisting of minerals in mis-shapen masses, or stones without worth;\nof plants, thorny and vile and poisonous herbage; of living creatures,\nsuch as ants, serpents, and scorpions; and of men labouring under\nindigence, sickness, feebleness, ignorance, and disgrace: in this step\nman is punished for whatever evil actions he has committed, and\nescapes not without due retribution. However, the severest gradation\nof the infernal regions is that of mental anguish, which is\nappropriated to the irreligious philosophers, for when his elemental\nbody is dissolved, they do not assign him another; so that he finds\nnot his way to heaven, but remains in the lower elemental world,\nconsumed by the flames of anguish: besides, in consequence of his\ndetestable qualities, his tormentors pounce upon him in the shape of\nserpents, scorpions, and other such plagues. This state they\ndenominate _Puch\u00e1n-i-P\u00fach_, or \u201cthe hell of hells.\u201d\n\nThe code of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d also states, that whatever occurs in this\nelemental world proceeds entirely from the planets; so that their\nadoration, next to that of the Almighty, becomes an indispensable\nduty: for these luminaries approach near the palace of the Almighty,\nand the chiefs of the court of eternity. In this world, whoever draws\nnear the seat of grandeur, must have a friend to sound his praise,\nwhich is a measure much to be commended. The person who undertakes a\njourney cannot do without a guide, and he who goes to a city where he\nhas no friend, meets with difficulty: consequently, the worship\ntendered to these dignities is much to be commended. The stars are\ntruly many in number, but amidst these multitudes, the influences of\nthe seven planets are the most evident: also of all the starry hosts\nthe sun is the sovereign lord. It is therefore necessary to form seven\nimages, and to raise that of the sun above the others; the temples\nbuilt by the Abad\u00ee\u00e1n princes were open on all sides, so that when the\nsun shone they were exceedingly bright in the interior; not like the\nHindoo idol-temples, in which they walk about with lamps, even in the\nday time: the roofs of the Abad\u00ee\u00e1n temples were also rather elevated.\nThe emperors and princes are individuals of the most select\ndescription, on which account the king should find repose in the\nfourth sphere, which is one of the solar regions. As it is evident\nthat the stars are set by God for the due government of the world, in\nlike manner it is clear that it is not every individual\nindiscriminately who attains to the regal dignity, but only a royal\npersonage, not opposed to the _Farhang-Ab\u00e1d_, or the law of _Azar\nH\u00fashang_: as otherwise he would be undeserving of the supreme power.\nOf the qualifications indispensably requisite in a monarch, the first\nis conformity to the faith above described, and firmness in adhering\nto it. In the next place, if on the side of both parents, which means\n_Hasab va Nasab_, \u201caccomplishments and genealogy,\u201d he were of royal\ndescent, it would be more advantageous: the meaning of royal birth is\nto be the possessor of the kingdom of justice; if every external\nqualification be united with the supreme power, it is much more\nagreeable, so that the king should not say, \u201cI am more excellent than\nmy father, and he than his ancestors:\u201d on the contrary, he styles his\nfather \u201chighly distinguished,\u201d and his grandfather \u201cfar superior.\u201d\nMoreover, if any one should praise him on this account, he should\norder that person to be chastised. _Azizi_, \u201ca distinguished\nman,\u201d[356] has said: \u201cThe following is what we mean by this principle;\nthat as one sire is superior to another, if a son should imagine\nhimself the greater, then each child would reckon himself superior to\nhis father, and there would then be no acknowledged ruler.\u201d\n\nA king must also be provided with a distinguished mathematician as\nprime minister, to whom the calculators and astronomers should be\nsubject; in every city there should be an astronomer or surveyor; and\nan _Arshiya_,[357] or accountant, should act as vizir, one well versed\nin the amount of rents paid by the Rayas; he must also have\ncommissaries; and as there are attached to every city many villages\nand hamlets, the king\u2019s private property, to which the local director\nattends, that officer is called the _Vizhak_. Also with every vizir,\nwhether absent or present, there should be two _Ustuwars_ or\nsupervisors, and two _Shudahbands_, or recorders of occurrences; the\nsame rule is to be observed with all administrators, and the _Sam\u00e1n\nS\u00e1l\u00e1r_, or head steward, the chief reporters and inspectors should\nalso be each accompanied by two Ustuwars and two Shudahbands.\n_Dustoor_, or prime minister, means the person to whose department the\npublic revenue is attached: the copies of the registers of all the\nvizirs should be regularly kept at the seat of government, as well as\nthe papers of the Shudahbands.\n\nThe king also requires military commanders, in order that they may\nkeep the soldiers in due discipline. The first dignity consists of the\nchiefs of a hundred thousand cavalry; the second, of the commanders of\nthousands; the third, of the commanders of hundreds; the fourth, of\nthe rulers over tens; and the fifth, of those accompanied by two,\nthree, four, or five persons. Thus in this assemblage every ten\npersons have an officer and every hundred a Sipahdar, called in the\npopular language of Hindustan _Bakhshi_, \u201cpay-master,\u201d in that of\nIran, _Lashkar Nav\u00ees_, or \u201carmy-registrar,\u201d and in Arabic, _Ariz_, or\n\u201cnotary:\u201d a similar arrangement must be observed in the infantry. In\nlike manner, when the military in regular succession are in attendance\non the king, there is at court a _B\u00e1rn\u00eeg\u00e1r\u00ee_, or \u201cregistrar,\u201d to set\ndown those who are absent as well as those present; in the popular\nlanguage of India this officer is styled _Chauki Nav\u00ees_, or \u201cregister\nkeeper;\u201d they are accompanied by a _Shudahband_, an _Ustuwar_, and\nsentinels, so that they may not go to their homes nor give way to\nsleep until their period of duty is terminated: there are also\ndifferent sentinels for day and night. It is also so arranged that\nthere should be always four persons together on each watch, two of\nwhom may indulge in sleep whilst the other two remain awake. In every\ncity where the king is present there ought to be a _Shudahband_, to\nreport to the king whatever occurs in the city: the same rule should\nbe observed in the other cities also: this functionary they call, in\nIndia, _Wakia-Navis_, \u201cnews-writer.\u201d There should also be a _Shahnah_,\nor \u201cintendant of police,\u201d styled _Farhang-i-roz_, \u201cregistrar of the\nday,\u201d who is to conduct all affairs with due prudence, and not suffer\npeople to inflict injury on each other. He is to have two\n_Shudahbands_ and an _Ustuwar_ or \u201cconfidential secretary.\u201d In like\nmanner, among the troops of the great nobles there must be two\n_Shudahbands_; and in all provinces a _Shahrdar_, or governor; and in\nevery city a _Bud-andoz_, or collector-general, a _Sipah-dar_, that is\na Bakhshi, and an intendant of police, or _Shahnah_; it is to be noted\nthat among the Yezd\u00e1n\u00edan, a _K\u00e1z\u00ee_ and _Shuhnah_ were the same, as the\npeople practised no oppression towards each other. The _Shudahband_,\nthe _N\u00e1vand_ (writer), and the _R\u00e1vand_ (courier), or those who\nconveyed intelligence to the king, had many spies set over them\nsecretly by his majesty, and all those officers wrote him an account\nof whatever occurred in the city. If the _Sipahdars_ did not give the\nmen their just dues, these officers called them to account: also if a\nsuperior noble acted in a similar manner towards his inferiors, they\ninstituted an inquiry into his conduct: they also took note of the\nspies; so that if any secret agent made himself known as such, he was\nimmediately dismissed. If any one kept the due of the soldier or of\nthe cultivator, in the name of the king, and did not account for it,\nthey inflicted chastisement on him. The officers were obliged to\ndelineate the features of every one employed in the cavalry or\ninfantry, and also to furnish a representation of his horse, and to\ngive the men their regular pay with punctuality. Previous to the\nGilsh\u00e1hian dynasty, no one ever branded the king\u2019s horses, as this was\nregarded as an act of cruelty towards the animal: most of the soldiers\nalso were furnished with horses by the king, as the sovereigns of Ajem\nhad many studs. On the death of a horse, the testimony of the\ncollectors and inspectors was requisite. Every soldier who received\nnot a horse from the king, brought his own with him: they also took\none out of twenty from the Rayas. However, under the Sassanian\nprinces, the Rayas requested \u201cto take from them one out of ten:\u201d and\nas this proposition was accepted, it was therefore called\n_Baj-i-hamdastani_, or voluntary contribution, as having been settled\nby the consent of the Rayas.\n\nThe Omras and the great of the kingdom, near and far, had not the\npower to put a guilty man to death; but when the _Shadahband_,\n\u201crecorder,\u201d brought a case before the king, his majesty acted\naccording to the prescriptions of the _Ferhang-abad_, unless in the\ncase of executing a dangerous rebel, when, from sparing him until\nreceiving the king\u2019s will, a great evil would arise to the country.\n\nThey laid down this royal ordinance: that if the king sent even a\nsingle person, he was to bring back the head of the commander of a\nhundred thousand; nay, that person never turned aside from the\npunishment. For example, when such a commander in the time of Shah\n_M\u00e1hb\u00fal_ had put an innocent man to death, the prince sent a person\nwho was to behead the criminal on a day on which the nobles were all\nassembled: and of this there are innumerable examples. Also in the\ntime of Shah _Farid\u00fan_, the son of _Abtin_, the son of _Farshad_, the\nson of _Sh\u00e1-\u00ee Gil\u00eev_, a general named _M\u00e1hl\u00e1d_ was governor of\n_Khorosan_: and he having put to death one of the village chiefs, the\nShudahbands reported to the king all the public and private details of\nthe fact, on receiving which the king thus wrote to M\u00e1hl\u00e1d: \u201cThou hast\nacted contrary to the Farhang Abad.\u201d When Mahl\u00e1d had perused the\nking\u2019s letter, he assembled the chief men of the province, and sending\nfor the village chieftain\u2019s son, put a sword in his hand that he might\ncut off his head: the son replied: \u201cI consent to pass over my father\u2019s\nblood.\u201d M\u00e1hl\u00e1d, however, would not agree to this, and insisted so\nearnestly, that the young man cut off his head, which was sent to the\ncourt. The king greatly commended this conduct, and according to his\nusual practice conferred M\u00e1hl\u00e1d\u2019s office on his son. In the same\nmanner, the Mogh\u00fals submitted implicitly to the commands of the Lord\nstrengthened by the Almighty, that is, to _Jenghiz Khan_;[358] and the\ntribes of _Kazl-B\u00e1sh_[359] were equally obedient to _Ismail Safavi_\nduring his reign. But the kings of Ajem were averse to the infliction\nof capital punishments, so that until a criminal had been declared\ndeserving of death, according to the Ab\u00e1d\u00edan code, the order for his\nexecution was not issued.\n\nThe kings and chieftains of Iran never addressed harsh language to any\none; but whenever a person deserved chastisement or death, they\nsummoned the _Farhangdar_, or \u201cjudge,\u201d and the _Dad-sitani_, or\n\u201cmufti;\u201d on which, whatever the code of _Farhang-abad_ enjoined in the\ncase, whether beating with rods or confinement, was carried into\neffect: but the beating and imprisonment were never executed by low\npersons. Whatever intelligence was communicated by spies was submitted\nto a careful examination, in which they took great pains; and that\nunless reports made by two or more spies coincided, they carried\nnothing into execution. The princes and young nobles, like all others,\nbegan by personal attendance on the king: for example, the routine of\n_Hash-o-bash_, or \u201cpresence and absence\u201d at court, was enjoined them\nin rotation, that they might better understand the state of humbler\nindividuals: they even attended on foot, that they might more easily\nconceive the toils of the foot-soldier.\n\n_Bahzad_ the Yasanian, in one of his marches having proceeded a short\ndistance, alighted from his horse,[360] on which a distinguished\nnoble, named _Naubar_, thus remarked: \u201cOn a march it is not proper to\nremain satisfied with so short a journey.\u201d On this, _Bahzad_ Shah,\nleaving the army in that place, said to the commander _Naubar_, \u201cLet\nus two make a short excursion.\u201d He himself mounted on horseback, and\nobliged the other to advance on foot. They thus traversed mountain and\nplain, until _Naubar_ became overpowered by fatigue, on which _Bahzad_\nsaid: \u201cExert thyself, for our halting place is near;\u201d but he having\nreplied, \u201cI am no longer able to move,\u201d the king rejoined; \u201cO\noppressor! as thou art no longer able to proceed, dost thou not\nperceive that those who are on foot experience similar distress from\nperforming too long a march?\u201d\n\n \u201cThou, who feelest not for the distress of others,\n Meritest not to be called by the name of man.\u201d\n\nThe military, in proportion to their respective ranks, had assigned to\nthem costly dresses, vigorous steeds with trappings and saddles inlaid\nwith precious stones, equipments, some of solid gold and silver, and\nothers plated with gold or silver, and helmets. The distinguished men\nwere equally remote from parsimony and profuseness. The nobles of Ajem\nwore a crown worth a hundred thousand dinars of gold: the regal diadem\nbeing appropriated to the king. All the great Amirs wore helmets and\nzones of gold; they also had trappings and sandals of the same. When\nthe soldiers set out on an expedition, they took with them arms of\nevery description, a flag and a poignard;[361] they were habituated to\nprivations, and entered on long expeditions with scanty supplies: they\nwere never confined within the enclosure of tents and pavilions, but\nbraved alike the extremes of heat and cold. In the day of battle, as\nlong as the king or his lieutenant stood at his post, if any one\nturned his back on the foe, no person would join him in eating or\ndrinking, or contract alliance with him, except those who like himself\nhad consigned their persons to infamy and degradation. Lunatics,\nbuffoons, and depraved characters found no access to the king or\nchieftains.\n\nOn the death of a person who had been raised to dignity, his post was\nconferred on his son, or some one of his legitimate connections\nadequate to its duties; thus no innocent person was ever deprived of\noffice, so that their noble families continued from the time of _Sh\u00e1\u00ee\nKil\u00eev_ to that of _Sh\u00e1\u00ee Mahbul_. When king _Khusr\u00f3_, the son of\n_Farid\u00fan_, the son of _Abtin_, the son of _Forzad_, the son of _Sh\u00e1i\nKiliv_, had sent _Gurgin_[362] the son of _L\u00e1s_ to a certain post,\nthat dignity remained in his family more than a thousand years; and\nwhen, in the reign of the resplendent sovereign, king _Ardeshir_,\n_Madhur_ the descendant of Gurgin had become a lunatic, the king\nconfined him to his house, and promoted his son _M\u00e1bz\u00e1d_ to the\ngovernment; and similar to this was the system of Shah _Ismail\nSafavi_. But if an Amir\u2019s son were unfit for governing, he was\ndismissed from office, and had a suitable pension assigned him. Nay,\nanimals, such as the cow, ass, and horse, which were made to labor\nwhen young, were maintained by their masters in a state of ease when\nthey grew old; the quantity of burden which each animal was to carry\nwas defined, and whoever exceeded that limit received due\nchastisement. In like manner, when any of the infantry or cavalry grew\nfeeble, infirm, or old, although he might not have performed effective\nservice, they appointed his son to succeed him; and if the latter was\nnot yet of mature age, they settled on him a daily allowance from the\nroyal treasury. But if he had no son, they assigned him during his\nlife such an allowance as would keep him from distress, which\nallowance was continued after his decease to his wife, daughter, or\nother survivors. Whatever constitutes the duty of a parent was all\nperformed by the king; if, in the day of battle, a soldier\u2019s horse\nfell, they bestowed on him a better and finer one. It has already been\nsaid that most of the cavalry horses were supplied by the king, and\nthe military were at no expense save that of forage. If a soldier fell\nin battle, they appointed the son with great distinction to his\nfather\u2019s post, and also conferred many favors on his surviving family;\nthey also greatly exerted themselves in teaching them the duties of\ntheir class, and in guarding their domestic honor inviolate: as, in\nreality, the king is the father, and the kingdom the common mother. In\nlike manner, when a soldier was wounded, he received the greatest\nattentions. Similar notice was taken of workers in gold and of\nmerchants who had failed and become impoverished, their children being\nadopted by the government: so that, within the circuit of their\ndominions, there was not found a single destitute person. The Sard\u00e1r\nof each city took cognizance of every stranger who entered it: in the\nsame way, all friendless travellers were received into the royal\nhospital, where physicians gave themselves up to the curing of the\nsick: in these there were also Shudahbands to take care that none of\nthose employed should be backward in their respective offices. The\nblind, the paralytic, the feeble, and destitute were admitted into the\nroyal hospital, where they passed their time free from anxiety. Now\nthe royal _B\u00eem\u00e1rast\u00e1n_, or hospital was a place in which they gave a\ndaily allowance to the feeble and indigent: thus there were no\nreligious mendicants or beggars in their dominions; whoever wished,\nembraced a Durvesh\u2019s life and practised religious austerities in a\nmonastery, a place adapted for every description of pious\nmortifications: a slothful person, or one of ill repute, was not\npermitted to become a Durvesh, lest he might do it for the purpose of\nindulging in food and sleep: to such a character they enjoined the\nreligious exercises suitable to a Durvesh, which, if he performed with\nzeal, it was all well; but, otherwise, he was obliged to follow his\ninclinations in some other place.\n\nThe king had also confidential courtiers, well skilled in the\nhistories of the righteous men of olden time, which they recited to\nhis majesty. There was also an abundance of astrologers and\nphysicians, so that, both in the capital and in the provinces, one of\neach, agreeably to the royal order, should attend on every governor;\nand their number was such in every city, that men might consult them\non the favorable and unfavorable moments for every undertaking.\n\nIn every city was a royal hospital, in which were stationed physicians\nappointed by the king; there were separate hospitals for women, where\nthey were attended by skilful female physicians, so that the hospitals\nfor men and women were quite distinct. In addition to all this, the\nking stands in need of wise _Farhangs_, \u201cjudges,\u201d well versed in the\ndecisions of law and the articles of faith, so that, aided by the\nroyal influence and power, they may restrain men from evil deeds, and\ndeliver the institutes of Farhang, \u201cthe true faith,\u201d to them.[363] The\nking also requires writers to be always in his presence. A great Mobed\nmust be acquainted with all sciences; a confidential courtier,\nconversant with the narratives and histories of kings; a physician,\nprofound in medical science; an astrologer in his calculations of the\nstars; an accountant, accurate in his accounts; and a _Farhang\u00ed_, or\nlawyer, well versed in points of law: moreover, the study of that\nportion of the code contained in the _P\u00e1iman-i-Farhang_, or in the\n\u201ccovenant of the Farhang,\u201d is incumbent on all, both soldiers, Rayas,\nand those who practise the mechanic arts, and on other people. In like\nmanner, persons of one rank were not wont to intermeddle with the\npursuits of another: for example, that a soldier should engage in\ncommerce, or a merchant in the military profession: on the contrary,\nthe two employments should not be confounded, so that one should at\nthe same time be a military man and a servant, or in any employment;\nand having become a commander, should again take up the trade.\n\nThey also permitted in every city such a number of artificers,\nconductors of amusements, merchants, and soldiers as was strictly\nnecessary; to the remainder, or surplus, they assigned agricultural\noccupations; so that, although many people may know these arts, yet no\nmore than is required may be occupied with them, but apply themselves\nwholly to the cultivation of the soil. If any officer made even a\ntrifling addition to the import on any business which brought in a\nrevenue to the king, so far from its being acceptable, they, on the\ncontrary, ordered that ill-disposed person to be severely punished.\n\nThe king gave audience every day: but on one day of the week in\nparticular, he acted as _D\u00e1dsit\u00e1n_, or \u201cMufti,\u201d when every person who\nwas wronged had access to the sovereign; also, once a year, he gave a\ngeneral audience, when everyone who pleased came into his presence; on\nthis occasion, the king sat down at table with the R\u00e1y\u00e1s, who\nrepresented to him, without the intervention of another, whatever they\nthought proper.\n\nThe sovereign had two places of audience; one the _R\u00f3zist\u00e1n_, or\n\u201cday-station,\u201d in which he was seated on an elevated seat; which place\nthey also called the _T\u00e1bs\u00e1r_, or \u201cplace of splendor;\u201d around which\nthe nobles and champions stood in their respective ranks; the other\nwas the _Shabist\u00e1n_, or \u201cnight station,\u201d which had also an elevation,\non which the king took his seat. Men of distinction stood on the\noutside; those of royal dignity were at the door; and next the king\nwas a company standing with weapons of war in their hands. Every one,\nindiscriminately, had not the privilege of laying his hand on the\nroyal feet; some only kissed the slipper and walked around it; others,\nthe sleeve of the royal mantle which fell on the throne: that person\nmust be in high favor at court who was permitted to kiss the king\u2019s\nfeet, or the throne, or perform a circuit around it.\n\nAs a brief account has been given of the exterior place of reception,\nand of the _R\u00f3zist\u00e1n_, or \u201cday station,\u201d we now proceed to write a few\nparticulars concerning the interior place of reception, or the secret\nnight station, or the _Harem_, which is also called the \u201cgolden\nmusk-perfumed pavilion.\u201d In the code of _Azar H\u00fashang_, or _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_,\nit has been thus laid down: whatever be the number of the king\u2019s\nwomen, there must be one superior in dignity to all the rest: her they\nstyle \u201cthe Great Lady;\u201d but she possessed not such absolute power that\nthe right of loosing or binding, inflicting the bastinado, or putting\nto death within the night station should be conferred on her: or that\nshe could put to death whomsoever she pleased without the king\u2019s\nconsent, a power quite opposed to law.\n\nThe _Shudahbands_ also report to the royal presence all the\ntransactions of the Great Princess and of the night station, just as\nthey transmit accounts of those persons who live out of its precincts.\nIf the king\u2019s mother be alive, the supremacy is of course vested in\nher, and not in the Great Princess. _Sal\u00e1rb\u00e1rs_, or \u201cushers with\nsilver maces,\u201d _J\u00e1d\u00e1rs_, or \u201csuperintendants of police,\u201d _G\u00e1hnum\u00e1s_ or\n_Shudahbands_, astrologers and such like professions, were also met\nwith in the interior residence.\n\nOf these women and princesses not one had the smallest degree of\nauthority over the rest of their sex who lived outside of the\nprecincts, nor did they possess the power of issuing any order\nwhatever; nay they seldom made mention of them in the royal\n_Rozistan_; neither were they called by any fixed title; nor, without\nurgent necessity, did they ride out in public.\n\nThe king also, on visiting the interior apartment, is not wont to\nremain long with the women; nor do they ever entertain any wishes\nwhich have not reference to themselves; such as the mode of speaking\nwhen enjoining an officer to perform some service, or increasing the\ndignity of the great warriors. The same system was followed by every\nAmir in his own house; but in the dwelling of every Amir, whether near\nor remote, there was an aged matron or _Atuni_, deputed on the king\u2019s\npart, with the office of Shudahband, to report the exact state of\naffairs to the Great Princess, or to send from a distance a written\nreport for being brought before the king.\n\nTo the king\u2019s Harem, or to that of an Amir, no males had access,\nexcept boys not come to maturity, or eunuchs; but criminals only were\nqualified for the latter class, who were never after admitted to any\nconfidential intimacy; and no individual in their empire was allowed\nfrom motives of gain to have recourse to that operation.[364]\n\nEvery year, on certain occasions, on some great festivals, the wives\nof the Amirs waited on the Great Princess, and the women of the city\ncame to the general levee; but the king never saw these women, as on\nsuch days he did not enter the musk-perfumed pavilion, but departed to\nsome other place, so that his eyes might not fall on a strange female.\nThe motives of the ladies\u2019 visit to the king was this: that if any\nwere oppressed by their husbands, it might be reported to the king,\nwho after proper investigation was to enjoin the punishment awarded by\nthe court of justice.\n\nThe great king partook not of reason-subduing strong drinks, as he was\na guardian, and as such should not be in a state of helplessness; on\nwhich account not one of those kings who were styled guardians ever\npolluted his lips with wine or other intoxicating beverage before the\nGilshaiyan dynasty. The cup-bearers of the king\u2019s sons and other\nnobles were always females, and these were called _B\u00e1deks_:[365] no\nbeardless males were admitted to the feast: even eunuchs were excluded\nfrom the banquets of the Gilshaiyan princes, and they were waited on\nby beardless youths under ten years of age; and at the time of taking\nwine even they were not allowed to be present. The ancients, or those\nprevious to the Gilshaiyan dynasty, had appointed seasons for drinking\nwine, which occurred when the physicians prescribed it for the removal\nof some infirmity, on which occasions they conformed to the\nabove-mentioned rules. If any one, and the king in particular, labored\nunder a malady the cure of which could only be effected by wine, and\nthe invalid should be altogether reluctant to the drinking of it, in\nthat case, as the cure was confined to the use of wine, the patient\nwas obliged to comply with the prescription: for things forbidden\nunder other circumstances, become lawful when taken for medicinal\npurposes: but with this reservation, that no injury should accrue to\nany innoxious animal.\n\nAlong the roads frequented by travellers in this realm, there were\nmany caravansaries, between every two of which were posted sentinels,\nso that the voice of a person reached from one to the next. In every\nhalting-place was a _Shudahband_, a physician, and a _T\u00eem\u00e1r\u00ee_; and the\ninns were also constructed near each other. Now a _T\u00eem\u00e1r\u00ee_ is one\nappointed by the king to protect the helpless, such as persons of\ntender years and the infirm. Aged women brought out from the Haram all\nthe requisite supplies (for these establishments), which they\ntransferred to aged men, by whom they were conveyed to the attendants.\n\nThe soldiers\u2019 wives were not without employment, such as spinning,\nsewing, and in various works, the making of house-furniture, riding,\nand in the management of the bow they were as able as men; they were\nall formed by discipline and inured to toil.\n\nIt is evident to all the world that, notwithstanding the extent of\ntheir realms was so exceedingly great and spacious, yet in consequence\nof these arrangements, the kings were necessarily informed of every\nevent which occurred: in addition to what has been stated, pursuant to\ndecrees influential as those of Heaven, villages were erected at every\nstage and halting-place, at each of which the king\u2019s horses were\npicketted, and men appointed whom they called _Ravand_, or \u201ccouriers.\u201d\nWhen the _Shudahband_ day by day delivered the report of whatever had\noccurred into the hand of a courier, the one near the city delivered\nit into the custody of another, and so on, from the couriers of the\nstage to those of the villages, until the report reached the capital.\nThe king observed the same system in corresponding with the Umras; at\none time appointing an individual who was with great caution to\ncommunicate the royal despatches without entrusting them into the\nhands of another; a courier of this description mounted at every stage\nthe king\u2019s post-horses which were picketted at the different\nhalting-places until he completed his object: this description of\ncourier they call _Nuwand_; the Umras also despatched _Nuwands_ to the\nking\u2019s court; but the couriers belonging to royalty or the nobility\nwere not empowered to seize any individual\u2019s horse, or practise\noppression, as they would in that case meet with due retaliation:\nthere were besides, at the different villages, persons stationed as\nguards, who were liable to be called to account if a traveller\nsuffered oppressive treatment from any quarter. _Shadahbands_ also\nwere there. _Azar H\u00fash\u00e1ng_, that is, _M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d_, thus enjoined: \u201cLet\nthere be no exactions practised towards the Rayas: let him afford what\nhe well can, and nothing more;\u201d they therefore only took such an\namount as maintained both soldiers and rayas in tranquillity.\n\nAll the king\u2019s devoted servants entertained this belief, that the\nperformance of whatever was agreeable to the king was attended with\nadvantage in both worlds; also that the royal command was the\ninterpretation of the word of God, and that it was highly praiseworthy\nto meet death in the path of obedience to the Great King: nay, they\naccounted death, with the prospect of royal approbation, which is the\nbestower of paradise, as far superior to life; but he must be a king\nwho acts in conformity with the _Paiman-i-Farhang_, or \u201cexcellent\ncode.\u201d In short, the system of inquiry was such, that the inspectors\nused to question the soldiers, whether they were satisfied or not with\ntheir chief.\n\nWith respect to keeping guard, it was thus settled; that out of the\nfour persons acting in concert with each other, two went to sleep and\nthe other two stood up armed; again, when the sleepers arose the\nothers went to rest; and on the expiration of the night, other troops\ncame to keep watch: the night sentinels, however, did not depart but\nby order of their officer. These inspected the men three times during\nthe night. In that manner each person had, every week, one day\u2019s\nwatch: and when they retired from keeping guard, proclamation was made\nto this purport by the king\u2019s command: \u201cIf any have cause of complaint\nagainst their inspector or chief, let them not keep it concealed.\u201d\n\nIn like manner every month the inspectors, whether near or remote,\nlooked into the state of the military; if they found any individual,\nwithout sufficient cause, deficient in the requisites for service,\nthey ordered him to be punished, unless he adduced a satisfactory\nexcuse and testimony; in which case they accepted his reasons: and if\nthey proceeded from overpowering necessity, they had regard to it.\n\nTo whomsover they had assigned land, _Jaghir_ or _Muk\u00e1s\u00e1_, they gave\ndaily or monthly pay with the greatest punctuality, never permitting\nany deficiency to occur.\n\nIf any were deficient in the performance of duty, for example, being\nabsent one watch without sufficient cause, besides inflicting the due\npunishment, they deducted the pay of that watch, but not of the whole\nday. When, for some good reason, he applied for a furlough, he\nobtained it.\n\nThe prime minister was obliged to institute an inquiry into any affair\nof which he got the necessary information. The _Rais sufid_,\n\u201cchieftain,\u201d must produce a Khushn\u00fad\u00ed namah, or \u201ca certificate,\u201d\npurporting that he had given the due to his people, and that they were\nsatisfied with him; also that whatever revenue had been received was\ndelivered over to the inspector, in the presence of the Anim and\nShudahband: the inspectors also produced, in the royal presence,\ncertificates stating that they had practised no oppression towards the\nmilitary: and although the spies made a report of all particulars\nevery week, still the king inquired besides of the soldiers, as to the\ntruth of this approbation.\n\nThe Yazdan\u00edans never attempted a thing mentioned with abhorrence in\nthe Farhang code, in which every fault had its fixed punishment. When\nany one was convicted of a crime, the king\u2019s near attendants never\nmade intercession for him: for example, pursuant to this code, and by\nthe king\u2019s command, the son inflicted punishment on the father, and\nthe father on his son, so that even princes of the blood had not the\npower of breaking this law; if they were guilty of injustice, the\nkings themselves inflicted the allotted punishment: for example, _Jai\nAl\u00e1d_ had a son called _H\u00fadah_, whom he himself beheaded for having\nput to death the son of a villager. The king\u2019s devoted servants raised\nthemselves to distinction by their excellence and exertions to obtain\npraise and titles: whoever swore falsely by the royal family was\nexpelled from all intercourse with them.\n\nThere were peculiar places assigned for the combat of elephants,\nlions, and other wild beasts, the backs and sides of which places were\nso elevated, that people might behold from every part, without the\npossibility of sustaining injury from the elephants and other wild\nanimals: the king being all the while seated on a lofty throne. They\nnever created embarrassments in bazars or populous places with furious\nelephants or fierce lions, but kept them in remote situations and\nsecure places such as before-mentioned, from whence they could easily\nremove them. It is recorded that, in the time of Sh\u00edrz\u00e1d Shah, the\nYass\u00e1nian, an elephant having broken out of the place where he was\ntied up, killed some one; on which the king, in retaliation for the\ndeed, put the elephant to death, and also inflicted capital punishment\non the elephant-keepers and the door-keepers of the elephant-stables,\nwho had left the door open. The king never listened to tales of\nfiction, but solely to true statements: the military and the rayas\nalso never averted their necks from executing the king\u2019s commands: and\nif a traveller invoked the king\u2019s name and entered into any house, the\ninmates not only washed his feet, but even drank the water in which\nthey performed the operation, as a sovereign remedy, and sedulously\nshowed all due attentions to their guest.\n\nOn the day of battle, the soldiers were drawn up in right, centre, and\nleft columns, an arrangement which they never violated in any\nengagement: as when once dissolved, the restoration of that combined\norder would be impossible: when the troops had been arrayed in this\nmanner, they gave the enemy battle; and in proportion to the\nnecessity, the bazar, or \u201cmarket\u201d of assistance followed them: even\nafter victory they observed the same arrangement.\n\nOn the day of triumph, when the enemy fled and the foe dispersed, the\nentire army did not give themselves up to plunder; but the king\nappointed for the service a certain detachment, accompanied by\n_Shudahbands_ and _Binandahs_, or inspectors and supervisors, whilst\nthe rest of the army remained prepared for battle and ready to renew\nthe engagement; not one of them raising the dust of plunder or\ndeparting to their homes, lest the enemy, on discovering their\ndispersion in pursuit of plunder, might return and gain the victory.\nWhen they had made themselves masters of the spoil, the king ordered\nthem to set apart the choicest portion for the indigent and the\nerection of religious foundations: he next distributed an ample share\nto the men proportioned to their exertions; after which he gave each\nof his courtiers a portion; and he lastly conferred a suitable portion\non the great officers; but no part of this division entered into the\naccount of the allowances settled on the military class: last of all,\nthe king drew the pen of approbation over whatever was worthy of the\nroyal majesty. Some of the ancient kings and all the princes of the\nremote ages, far from taking any part of the spoil to their own share,\neven made good every injury which happened to the army in executing\nthe royal orders, as the loss of horses and such like.\n\nAfter the victory, they never oppressed the helpless, the indigent,\nmerchants, travellers, or the generality of the inhabitants, and the\nRayas. Those who were guilty of such acts were, after conviction,\npunished. They divided among them whatever the enemy had in their\nflight left on the field of battle: but whatever in the different\nrealms belonged to the conquered prince and his near connexions, they\nsubmitted to the royal pleasure. They never slew or offered violence\nto the person who threw down his arms and asked for quarter.\n\nThis class of the obedient followers of the _Azar Hushang_ code were\nstyled _Farishtah_, \u201cangelic;\u201d _Sur\u00fash_, \u201cseraphic;\u201d _Farishtah\nmanish_, \u201cangel-hearted;\u201d _Sur\u00fash manish_, \u201cseraph-hearted;\u201d _Sip\u00e1s\u00ed_,\n\u201cadorers;\u201d _Sah\u00ed d\u00edn_, \u201cupright in faith;\u201d and _Zan\u00e1dil_, \u201cthe\nbenevolent;\u201d opposed to whom are the _Ahriman_, the _D\u00eevs_, and the\n_Tun\u00e1dil_, or \u201cfierce demons.\u201d\n\nThe Divs are of two kinds; the one class subject to the king of the\nangels, who, through fear of that prince, have been compelled to\ndesist from injuring animated beings; the second kind consists of D\u00eevs\nin the realms of other kings, who break through the covenants of the\nlaw, and slay animals: these in truth are no other than wolves,\ntigers, scorpions, and serpents.\n\nThey record that in the time of _Ardesh\u00edr_, the son of _Az\u00e1d_, the son\nof _Babeg\u00e1n_, the son of _Nushirv\u00e1n_, there was a Jaiyanian champion\nby name _Farh\u00e1d_, the son of _Al\u00e1d_, who were both ranked among the\ndistinguished leaders: Al\u00e1d, when in a state of intoxication, having\nslain a sheep with his sword, his son Farh\u00e1d, on ascertaining this,\nmade him pass under the sharp-edged scimitar; the people held him in\ndetestation, and said: \u201cThou shouldst have sent thy father to the\nking.\u201d He replied, \u201cMy father had committed two criminal actions; the\nfirst, in taking so much wine as to lose his senses; the second in\ndestroying a sheep. Although it would have been proper to send him to\nthe king, I could not suffer any delay to intervene in punishing his\ncrimes: at present I confess myself guilty of transgressing the\nAbadi\u00e1n code, for not submitting the details of this affair to the\nking.\u201d He then ordered himself to be put in chains, and brought in\nthat state before the king: but his majesty drew the pen of\nforgiveness over his crime, and elevated the apex of his dignity.\n\nMoreover it was necessary to drink wine in a secret place, as they\ninflicted due punishment on whoever was found intoxicated in the\npublic bazar. In truth, permission to drink wine was only given in\ncases of malady, as from the time of the very ancient sovereigns of\nthe Mahabad dynasty, until that of _Y\u00e1ss\u00e1n Ajam_, no person partook of\nwine or strong drinks, except the invalids who were ordered by the\nphysicians to have recourse to them; and even they partook of them\naccording to the established rules: but among the ancient kings, _i.\ne._ from Kaiomars\u2019 to Yezdagird, they at first indulged secretly in\nwine for the purpose of sensual enjoyment, under color of conforming\nto medical ordinances. At last matters terminated in this, that wine\nwas openly produced at the banquets, and the champions in attendance\non the king partook of it; but it was not permitted to be drunk openly\nin the bazars or streets.\n\nThe king gave audience every day, being seated on an elevation, that\nis a _T\u00e1bs\u00e1r_, or elevated window: in the same manner he took his seat\nin the _Roz-G\u00e1h_, which is a place where, on his rising from the\n_T\u00e1bs\u00e1r_, he seated himself on a throne: on which occasion the nobles\nin attendance were drawn out in their proper gradations: note, that by\ngiving audience is meant, turning his attention to the concerns of\nmankind. Every decree issued by the king from the _rozist\u00e1n_ or\n_shabist\u00e1n_ of the interior or exterior, was transcribed by the\nShudahband and again submitted to the royal presence, and when its\npromulgation was ratified, it was laid before his majesty a second\ntime.\n\nWhenever a traveller entered a caravanserai or city, the secretaries\nof the place, in the presence of witnesses and notaries, made out a\nstatement of his wealth and effects, which they gave him; and the same\nat the time of sale; so that if he should afterwards declare that his\nstock had been diminished or some part had been abstracted, they could\nascertain its value and quantity: there was also a fixed price\nassigned to every commodity and article, and also a certain rate of\nprofit prescribed to each vendor.\n\nThe following was their mode of hunting: the army being drawn out in\narray, in right, centre, and left columns, the nobles and eminent\nwarriors took their several posts according to rank, and during a\nperiod of forty or fifty days formed a circle around both mountains\nand plains. If the country abounded in wood, they formed the whole of\nit into well secured piles: the king then directed his steps towards\nthat quarter, and his train by degrees drove in the game, keeping up a\nstrict watch that no beast of prey should escape out of the circle: on\nthis the king, his sons, and relations dispatched with arrows as many\nas they could; after this the king, surrounded by the most\ndistinguished courtiers, sat on a throne placed on an eminence, formed\nof strong timbers so fastened together that no animal could get up\nthere: the generals, and then the whole of the soldiery charged into\nthe centre, so that not a trace remained of ferocious animals, that\nis, of lions and such noxious creatures: they next counted the numbers\nof the slain, and having piled them in one place, formed a hillock of\ntheir carcases. If they discovered a harmless animal amongst the\nslain, they ordered vengeance to be inflicted on its destroyer, and\ncast his body among those of the ferocious animals.\n\nThey record that in the reign of Y\u00e1ss\u00e1n, the son of Sh\u00e1h Mahb\u00fal, an\nelk had been slain by some tyrannically-inclined person, on beholding\nwhich the father of the insane criminal, with the ruthless sword,\nimmediately dissevered his son\u2019s head from his shoulders. Also in the\nreign of N\u00fashirvan, the fortunate descendant from the _Sh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n_\ndynasty, at one time whilst in the pursuit of game, an arrow shot\nintentionally from the bow of a noble champion named _Fart\u00fash_,\nwounded a deer so that it fell dead: his son, _Ay\u00edn T\u00fash_, was\nperfectly horror-struck, and in retaliation with an arrow pinned his\nfather\u2019s body to that of the slaughtered deer; so that, in future,\nthere should be no infringement of the Farhang law.\n\nAs soon as a lofty mound had been formed of slaughtered noxious\ncreatures, which either walk, fly, or graze, then by the king\u2019s\ncommand a Mobid ascended the eminence and said: \u201cSuch is the\nrecompense of all who slay harmless creatures; such the retribution\nwhich awaits the destroyers of animals free from crimes.\u201d He then said\nto the harmless creatures: \u201cThe equitable king of kings, in order to\ndestroy the noxious animals which cause you so many calamities, has\ncome forward in his own precious person, and taken vengeance for the\nmisdeeds of these wicked creatures: now depart in peace; behold the\nvengeance inflicted on your sanguinary foes; and commit no sin before\nthe protector of your species.\u201d They then left a road open for the\ninnoxious animals to escape and hasten to their mountains and deserts.\nThis kind of hunting they called _Shik\u00e1r-i-d\u00e1d_ or _D\u00e1d-shik\u00e1r_; i.\ne.: \u201cthe hunt of equity,\u201d or \u201cthe equity-hunt.\u201d The royal governors\nalso in their respective provinces adopted a chase of the like\ndescription. Whenever the sovereign was of such a character as not to\ndeviate from the Farhang code, if any person declined rendering\nallegiance to the prince chosen by him for his successor, that person\nwas immediately destroyed by the people.\n\nIn the reign of _Sh\u00e1h Gil\u00edv_, a champion having beheld in a vision,\nthat the king had raised to the throne one of the princes who met not\nhis approbation, immediately on awaking put himself to death. Sh\u00e1h\nGil\u00edv, on hearing this, said to the son of the deceased: \u201cWhen a\nperson is awake, rebellion is to be abhorred; but not in a state of\nsleep, as it is then involuntary.\u201d\n\nAlso in the reign of _Bahman_, the son of Isfendiar, the son of\n_Ardash\u00edr_, the son of _Azad Shai_,[366] one of the generals, _Bahram_\nby name, governor of Khorasan, having made arrangements for revolt and\nrebellion, the soldiers on learning his designs put him to death, and\noffering up his flesh after the manner of the Moslem sacrifice,\ndivided it and ate of it, saying, \u201cHe is a noxious animal.\u201d\n\nIn the same reign, a champion, by name _Gilsh\u00e1sp_, saw in a trance\nthat he had rebelled against Bahman: on relating the dream to his\nsoldiers, they for answer drew forth their swords and shed his blood,\nsaying: \u201cAlthough there is no blame to be attached to the vision, yet\nhe is the genius of evil for publishing it abroad.\u201d\n\n_Ay\u00edn Shak\u00edb_, a M\u00f3bed, who saw in a vision that he was uttering\nimprecations against _Ard\u00edsh\u00edr_, the son of _Babag\u00e1n_, the son of\n_Az\u00e1d_ the Jaiy\u00e1n\u00edan, immediately on awaking cut out his tongue: such\nwas their devotedness to their kings.\n\nThey moreover say, in the case of every prince who was adorned with\nsound doctrine, good works, and noble descent; who promoted the\ninterests of the military and the happiness of the R\u00e1y\u00e1s, and who\nnever deviated from the covenant of the law; that when any one proved\nrefractory to his commands, that person\u2019s life and property were\nconfiscated with justice. The kings made trials of their sons\u2019\ncapacities, and conferred the royal dignity on whichever was found the\nmost deserving; not making the one king whom they regarded with the\ngreatest natural affection. They also said: \u201cSovereign power becomes\nnot the monarch who transgresses this blessed law; neither should any\nprince give way to the disposition to deviate in the slightest degree\nfrom any of its covenants, lest from their esteeming one branch of the\nlaw as of no importance, they might regard the whole as of trifling\nobligation.\u201d The adorable and almighty God so gave his aid to these\npraise-worthy sovereigns that they decked the bride of dominion with\nthe ornaments of equity, benevolence, and impartial justice.\nMerchants, travellers, and scholars moved about in perfect security;\nduring their reigns there existed no annoyance from the payment of\ntolls, customs, and other exactions; and in the caravanserais was\nneither rent nor hire.\n\nThe kings had the covenants of the law transcribed, which they always\nkept near them, and had read over to them daily by some confidential\ncourtier: on great festivals they were communicated to the military\nand the rayas, with strong injunctions to store them up in their\nrecollection. The Umras also pursued the same system, and recited the\nlaw to their dependants. In like manner, the princesses of the\n_Shabist\u00e1n_, \u201cnight-apartment,\u201d observed the same rule.\n\nThey moreover say that every prince who, through the suggestions of\nhis own mind or of his minister\u2019s, adopted any measures except in\nconformity to this law, bitterly repented of it.\u2015\u2015_Jai Alad_ has said:\n\u201cWhoever in the king\u2019s presence utters a word contrary to the\ncovenants of the law, or persuades him to do so; the king may rest\nassured that the object of that person is to throw the kingdom into\nconfusion.\u201d\n\nWhen the Yezd\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n princes and rulers gave audience, there lay before\nthem a book, a scourge, and a sword; the book contained the covenants\nof the law; and every affair which was submitted to them being\nconsidered according to the view taken of it in the book, they then\ngave a decision.\n\nIn the royal dynasty which preceded the Gilsh\u00e1\u00ed\u00e1n kings, there was no\nviolation whatever of this code; but under later princes some disorder\ncrept into its observance. They also say, that whenever they violated\nthe commands, decrees, maxims, rules, and decisions of this covenant,\nthey became associated with regret and repentance. Whenever a\nsovereign sustained any injury, it arose principally from inattention\nto this standard; and whenever a monarch lived in prosperity, it\nproceeded from his scrupulous observance of the most minute details of\nthis code. The ancient sovereigns, that is, the _Ab\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n_, the\n_Jaiy\u00e1n_, the _Shaiy\u00e1n_ and the _Yass\u00e1n\u00edan_, who are the most renowned\nof kings, never lost sight of the Farhang Ab\u00e1d, that is, they did\nevery thing according to its dictates: this code they also called\n_Hirbud S\u00e1r_, or \u201csacerdotal purity.\u201d During this period no enemy\narose, and no foe obtained the supremacy; the military and the rayas\nenjoyed undisturbed repose. Amongst the _Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n_ kings, _Hushang_,\n_Tahm\u00faras_, _Faridun_, _Minuchahar_, _Kaikob\u00e1d_, _Kaikhusr\u00f3_,\n_Lohorasp_, _Bahman_, _Ardashir Bab\u00e1g\u00e1n_, and the others, had this\ncode transcribed in secret characters, which they employed as mental\namulets and spiritual charms. _N\u00e1shirv\u00e1n_ also, having procured a\ntranscript of this law, kept it by him. Although all the sovereigns\nconformed to this rule, yet none observed it in so high a degree as\nthe ancient sovereigns of the _Ab\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n_, _Jaiy\u00e1n_, _Shaiy\u00e1n_, and\n_Yass\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_ dynasties: as in the belief held by the _Yazdanians_, or\n\u201ctheists,\u201d their dignity so far transcends that of the Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1ns,\nthat we can institute no comparison between them. The Gilsh\u00e1\u00edy\u00e1n\nprinces also exerted themselves to prevent the slaughter of harmless\nanimals; although the people did not pay the same respect to their\norders as to those of the ancient sovereigns, yet, as compared with\ntheir successors, people were more exact in the performance of duty\nthan in later periods.\n\nThey say that _Rustam_,[367] the son of _Zaul_, at the moment of\nabandoning the robes of mortality, having heaved a deep sigh, the king\nof Kab\u00fal said to him: \u201cO Rustam! art thou alarmed at death?\u201d the hero\nreplied: \u201cGod forbid! for the death of the body is to the spirit the\nbestowing of life; and the issuing forth under the sphere is the being\nborn from the maternal womb; when the cloud of the body is removed,\nthe sun of spirit shines more resplendently: but my grief proceeded\nfrom this reflection, that when Ka\u00fas commanded T\u00fas to put me to the\nignominious death of the gibbet,[368] I refused to submit to the\npunishment. Although Ka\u00fas, in violation of the Farhang code, had\npassed a sentence opposed to the decisions of Mahab\u00e1d, and even the\ninterests of Ka\u00fas were ultimately advanced by my rebellious conduct, I\nam at present afflicted on that account, lest, perhaps, any thing\nopposed to the Farhang code may have proceeded from me. In like manner\nIsfendiar was slain by my hand,[369] and I refused to be put in\nchains; although it became him not to exact compliance, nor was it in\naccordance with the Farhang code.\u201d Dastan (Zaul) also lived in regret,\nsaying: \u201cWhy did I utter a word in opposition to Kai Khusran, on the\nday when he chose Lohorasp as his successor, although my sentiments\nwere expressed by way of counsel?\u201d[370] When Bahman, the son of\nIsfendiar, made preparations for laying waste Sistan, notwithstanding\nthe people urged Dastan to give the invaders battle, he approved not\nof it, but said: \u201cNever more will I break through the Farhang code.\u201d\nHe then came on foot into the presence of Bahman, by whose orders he\nwas thrown into chains: but he finally attained the king\u2019s unbounded\nesteem, and was released; whilst his son Faramarz, contrary to the\nFarhang code, gave the king battle, and, being taken prisoner,\nsuffered the ignominious death of the gibbet:[371] his son was also\nput to death on the same account. The implicit obedience of the son\n_Minufarad_ to Kobad,[372] the father of Nushirvan, is also well\nknown; although that prince was not strictly entitled to obedience\naccording to the Farhang covenant, yet the devotedness of his subjects\nis highly celebrated.\n\n\n [350] Buzurg-Mihr was the celebrated minister of Nushirvan\n (see note, p. 104).\n\n [351] Azad Bahman is called by the Sipasian (see p. 6) the\n precious jewel of the intellectual principle. In the\n Zand-books and in the Bun-Dehesh, he is invoked as created\n by Ormuzd, and as one who is to conduct the heavens; he\n presides over the eleventh month of the year and the second\n day of the month; he is the king of the luminous world; the\n other angels repose under his guard; he is the principle of\n the intelligence of the ear, given by Ormuzd; the father of\n the purity of the heart; the Ized of peace who watches over\n the people; he aids in the distribution of the waters, and\n in the production of herds and other riches; it is he who\n receives the souls of the just at their entrance into\n heaven, congratulates them on their happy arrival, and\n clothes them with robes of gold.\u2015\u2015_Zend-Avesta_, I, pp. 81,\n 134, 416, 418; II, pp. 75, 100, 144, 152, 316, and\n elsewhere. According to the Des\u00e1tir (English transl. p. 63)\n Bahman is the first of the numberless created angels.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [352] Vakhsh\u00far signifies \u201cprophet\u201d in the old Persian\n language. According to the Des\u00e1tir (edit. of Bombay, English\n transl., p. 79), _Sadvakhsh\u00far_ is an epithet of Hoshang,\n signifying \u201cone hundred prophets.\u201d by a mistake ascribed, as\n well as the work _Javidan Khirid_, to Jemshid, in my note,\n pp. 31 and 32.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [353] The manuscripts read \u0646\u064a\u0627\u0644\u0627\u062f, the manuscript of Oude\n reads: \u062a\u0644\u0628\u06c1 \u0644\u0627; neither word is found in any dictionary.\n\n [354] The manuscripts read \u067e\u0631\u062f\u0647, which appears the best\n reading; the manuscript of Oude has, like the edit. of\n Calcutta, \u0628\u0631\u062f\u0647.\n\n [355] The manuscripts, with that of Oude, read \u0645\u0627\u0647, the\n edition of Calcutta, \u0628\u0627\u062f.\n\n [356] It is not decided whether \u201cAzizi\u201d here and elsewhere\n is a proper name, or the attribute of a person.\n\n [357] \u201cArshiya\u201d\u2015\u2015the manuscripts read \u201cArsmai;\u201d the\n manuscript of Oude has \u0627\u0632 \u0633\u0645\u0627\u06cc.\n\n [358] Jenghis Khan, \u201cthe king of kings,\u201d was the name\n assumed by Temuz Khin, a Moghul, when he had succeeded in\n uniting under his own and sole domination the various tribes\n of the Turks. He was born in the year 1162 and died in 1228\n of our era. His history is sufficiently known and belongs\n not to this place.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [359] Kazl-b\u00e1sh signifies in the Turkish language \u201cred\n head,\u201d a name given by the Turks to the Persians, since they\n began to wear a cap of that colour enveloped by a turban\n with twelve folds in honour of the twelve Imams. This\n happened in the year 1501, under the reign of their king\n Ism\u00e1il S\u00fbfi, already mentioned, note 6, pp. 52, 53.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [360] Intending to put an end to the march.\n\n [361] \u062f\u0631\u0641\u0634 \u0648 \u0633\u0648\u0632\u0646 signify also a bodkin and a needle.\n\n [362] Gurgin, in the Shahnamah, is called the son of M\u00e9lad,\n and was one of the principal chieftains under the reign of\n Khusro. Gurgin\u2019s character does not figure advantageously in\n the history of P\u00e9zshen and Munizsh\u00e1, one of the most\n interesting episodes of Ferdusi\u2019s historical poem.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [363] The manuscript translation of D. Shea reads in this\n place: \u201cThese officers are called _S\u00e1m\u00f3r_, or the _Char Ay\u00edn\n Farangi_, \u201cthe four institutes of law:\u201d which words are not\n in the printed edition of Calcutta, but are probably in the\n two manuscripts which he had before his eyes.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [364] It cannot be denied that the Persians, in very remote\n times, practised castration, and especially upon youths\n distinguished by their beauty (Herod. lib. VI). They are\n even accused of having been the first among whom this\n infamous practice and the name of eunuchs originated (Steph.\n de urbibus. Donat. in Eunuchum, act. I, scen. 2). Ammian.\n Marcell. (lib. XIV) attributes it, however, to Semiramis.\n (See upon this subject Brissonius, de Regio Persarum\n principatu, p. 294, 295.) The passage in the text permits us\n to believe that this cruel operation was a dishonouring\n punishment, generally abhorred, and particularly restricted\n by severe laws among the Persians.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [365] It may be recollected that the interior service in the\n palace of an Indian king was of old always performed by\n females.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [366] Bahman, son of Isfendiar and successor of Gustasp, is\n also named K\u00e1i Ardash\u00edr, diraz-dost and identified with the\n Artaxerxes \u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03c1\u03bf\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9\u03c1 (longimanus) of the Greeks. He is\n placed 505 years before our era. He reigned 112 years,\n according to the Shah-namah.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [367] Rustam, who in the Shah-namah, during a period of six\n centuries, appears rather a generic name, or a representative\n of the Medo-Persian heroism than a particular individual,\n Rustam is reckoned the fifth of the ten Persian philosophers\n enumerated in our note, page 112. Hence Rustam\u2019s\n philosophical reflexions. In general, we see frequently in\n the Persian historical accounts the characters of kings,\n heroes, ascetics, and philosophers confusedly blended in the\n same persons.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [368] At the time that a great army of Turanians commanded\n by Sohrab overrun Persia, Rustam, the ruler of Sistan, was\n summoned by K\u00e1\u00fas, his liege, to repulse the invaders.\n Rustam, although willing to obey, having spent some days in\n feasting, appeared later than his sovereign expected, who,\n in a fit of rage, after having severely rebuked him for his\n tardiness, condemned him to an ignominious death. G\u00edv, one\n of the principal chiefs, and friend of Rustam, was charged\n with the execution, but, refusing to do what he felt\n impossible, he was sentenced to share the fate of the great\n hero, and Tus, a chief mentioned in the text, received the\n order to execute the mandate upon both. A reconciliation\n however took place between the king and his powerful\n vassals, whose united efforts were required against the\n Turanians. It was in the course of this war that Rustam slew\n his son Sohrab, without knowing him, and without supposing\n him at the head of the Turanian army: this is the subject of\n one of the most celebrated episodes of Ferdusi\u2019s\n Shah-namah.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [369] Isfendiar, the son of Gushtasp, several times\n mentioned in the course of this work, adopted, like his\n father, and zealously propagated, Zoroaster\u2019s religion,\n which caused a new war between the Persians and Turanians.\n Arjasp, the sovereign of T\u00far, having invaded Persia,\n Isfendiar was called to the assistance of his father, who\n promised the throne to him if he repulsed the invaders; but,\n delivered from danger by his son\u2019s successful exertions,\n Gushtasp, unwilling to fulfil his promise, readily listened\n to suggestions about the treacherous designs of Isfendiar\n whom he emprisoned. Arjasp, profiting by this event, marched\n to Balkh, killed Lohrasp, the father of Gushtasp, carried\n off the two daughters of the latter, whom he defeated in a\n battle and pent up in a fortress. Isfendiar, called out from\n his prison, routed the Turanian army and released his\n father. Moreover, he rescued his two sisters (one of whom\n was his wife) from captivity, by taking the strong residence\n of Arjasp, whom he killed with his own hand. He was not even\n then to enjoy the well-deserved reward, but charged with the\n most perilous expedition to bring Rustam in chains before\n the throne of his discontented liege. In vain did the hero\n just mentioned proffer his willingness to submit to any\n terms of submission except that of being enchained; nothing\n less than this was insisted upon: a combat became necessary,\n in which Isfendiar reduced his great antagonist to have\n recourse to the miraculous aid of Simurgh (see note, p. 55);\n by this alone Rustam was enabled to kill Isfendiar in a\n renewed combat.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [370] K\u00e1\u00ed Khusr\u00f3, after a glorious reign of sixty years,\n resolved to resign the crown. He assembled in a plain all\n his chiefs and the people of Iran. After a magnificent\n festival of seven days, he proclaimed his final determination;\n divided the empire among several chiefs, and appointed\n Lohrasp the successor of his sovereignty. This choice met\n with some opposition on the part of the aged Zaul (see\n Rauzat-us-Safa, Shea\u2019s transl., p. 263), and although this\n chief yielded to the sovereign will, yet he never paid\n homage to the new king; and a pernicious misunderstanding\n remained between the descendants of both parties. It may be\n remarked that K\u00e1\u00ed Khusr\u00f3\u2019s abdication is quite Indian.\n According to Ferd\u00fasi, it was towards the mountains of India,\n called Amajal, that K\u00e1\u00ed Khusr\u00f3 bent his steps, accompanied\n by a number of his chiefs, the most ancient of whom he soon\n dismissed, whilst others followed him further, although\n warned by him of an impending storm of snow which was to\n bury them all. He suddenly disappeared, and they were never\n heard of. This reminds of more than one similar event in\n Indian history.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [371] This account agrees with the Shah-namah, according to\n which Bahman, in order to revenge the death of his father\n (see note last but one), invaded Sistan and took Zaul with\n all his treasures. It was then that Far\u00e1mars, the son of\n Rustam, encountered the Persians in a battle: he was\n defeated, taken prisoner, and hanged. According to the\n Rauzat-us-Safa (see Shea\u2019s transl., p. 340), Bahman, on\n reaching Zabulistan, heard of Rustam\u2019s death; his son\n Far\u00e1mans fell, and Zaul was taken prisoner.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [372] Kobad, the Cabades or Cavades of the Greeks, the\n eighteenth king of the Sassanians, ruled 43 years in Persia\n from 488 to 531, A. D., not ingloriously within and without\n his empire, from which he was however driven on account of\n the support which he gave to the new and dangerous doctrine\n of the prophet Mazdak, about whom see section XV of this\n chapter. Kobad recovered the throne by the assistance of the\n Tartar prince Hestial (see Ferdusi\u2019s Shah-namah), or (see\n Herbelot) by that of the nations, called Ha\u00efathelah, who\n inhabit the countries of Kandahar, Thibet, and\n Barantolah.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOURTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN contains an account of the\nJamshaspian sect. The _Yekanah-binan_, \u201cseers of unity,\u201d also called\nthe Jamsha\u00ed, who form another great body of the Parsees, are the\nfollowers of _Jamshasp_, the son of _Jemshid_, the son of _Tahm\u00faras_:\nin their speech there is much that is enigmatical, and endless\nsubtilty. Jamshasp never invited any one to follow his tenets, but he\nwas of such exemplary life and so great a sage, that the people bore\nhim great affection, and wrote down his sayings, until by degrees\ngreat numbers voluntarily adopted them as articles of faith. According\nto them, the world has no external existence; they hold that whatever\nexists is God, and that naught exists besides him: a holy man has said:\n\n \u201cEvery eye which is directed to the primitive nature,\n Unless tinged with the collyrium of divine light,\n Whatever it beholds in the world, except thy face,\n Is but the second image of distorted vision.\u201d\n\nThey hold that all the intelligences, souls, angels, heavens, stars,\nelements, the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms exist within his\nknowledge, and are not external to it: which sentiment king Jamshid\nexplained to Abtin, saying: \u201cKnow, O Abtin, that the Almighty\nconceived in idea the first intelligence; in like manner the first\nintelligence conceived three objects, namely, the second intelligence,\nthe soul of the upper sphere, and the body of the same heaven: in like\nmanner, the second intelligence conceived three objects, and so on in\nsuccession to the elements and their combinations: and this is exactly\nas when we form an idea of a city, with its palaces, gardens, and\ninhabitants, which in reality have no existence external to our\nimagination; so that, consequently, the existence of this world is of\nthe same description.\u201d The Abadian regard these sayings as\nenigmatical, although Jamshid composed many philosophical works, which\nthe Yekanah Binan admit without any commentary: many of the Parsees\nadopt this creed, and particularly the ascetics of that class. The\nbelief of these sectaries is illustrated by the following tetrastich\nfrom Subahani:\n\n \u201cThe sophist, who has no knowledge of intellect,\n Asserts that this world is altogether an optical illusion,\n In truth, the world is an illusion; however,\n Certainty is for ever displaying her effulgence there.\u201d\n\nOn this subject they have composed various works, the most celebrated\nof which is, the \u201cTestament of Jamshid addressed to Abtin,\u201d compiled\nby _Farhang Dostoor_. _Sh\u00eddah_, _Suhr\u00e1b_, _M\u00edzan_, and _Jamsh\u00e1sp_,\nwho, under the profession of mercantile pursuits, travelled along with\n_Sh\u00edd\u00f3sh_, the son of _An\u00f3sh_, were of the Yekanah Binan sect.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIFTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n sect.\u2015\u2015In\ncommon language Samr\u00e1d means imagination and thought; and the sects\nthus named are of many descriptions; the first is that of the\nfollowers of _Fart\u00f3sh_, who lived about the commencement of the\nSerpent-shouldered _Zohak_\u2019s reign: _Fart\u00f3sh_ followed mercantile\npursuits, and his faith was as follows: this elemental world is merely\nidea; the remainder, the heavens, the stars, and the simple\nuncompounded beings actually exist. The holders of this opinion are\ncalled the _Fartosh\u00ed\u00e1n_.\n\nThe second are the _Farsh\u00edd\u00edyah_, so called from _Farsh\u00edd_, the son of\n_Fart\u00f3sh_: he asserted that the heavens and the stars are also ideal,\nand that the simple uncompounded beings only have actual existence.\n\nThe next are the _Far\u00edraj\u00edyah_, so called from _Far\u00edraj_, the son of\n_Farshid_: his opinion was that the simple uncompounded beings, that\nis, intelligences and souls, also have no existence, which is the\nattribute of the necessarily self-existent God alone, and that all\nbesides is ideal, appearing only to exist in consequence of the\nessence of that sole existence.\n\nThe next are the _Faramand\u00edyah_, thus named from _Faramand_, the\ndisciple of _Far\u00edraj_: he says, if any person exists, that person\nknows that the elements, heavens, stars, intelligences, and souls are\nthe Almighty; and what people call the necessarily self-existent God\nhas no being, although we, through imagination (idea), suppose him to\nexist; which he certainly does not. According to the testimony of the\nsage _Amr Khaiam_:\n\n \u201cThe Creator in this aged world is as a vase,\n Which is internally water and externally ice;\n Resign to children this trifling about infidelity and faith;\n Remove from the place where God is only a letter.\u201d\n\nThey said to him: \u201cHow dost thou prove this idea?\u201d he answered:\n\n \u201cBy means of the solar light we can see: but where is the sun?\u201d\n\nThus, according to them, the Almighty is only an idea of the\nimagination: the people of this sect are now mixed up with the\nMoslems, and go about in the garb of the faithful: according to them a\nperson named _K\u00e1mk\u00e1r_, one of the ascetics of this sect, who lived in\nthe reign of sultan _Mahmud of Ghiznah_,[373] composed a poetical\ntreatise, and compiled narratives, proofs, and revelations conformable\nto his tenets; assigning to his faith a superiority over all other\nsystems, after this manner: that, whatever devout persons have\nrecorded in their respective creeds concerning the existence of God,\nthe greatness of the empyreal sphere, the extent of the angelic world,\nor concerning paradise, hell, the bridge of judgment, the resurrection\nof the dead, the interrogatory and reply,[374] the appearing before\nGod, the rejection of tradition, eternity, and the creation of the\nworld, is all correct in this creed; as all becomes evident to the\nidea of their professor through the existence of idea; with respect to\nwhich they thus express themselves: \u201cby means of idea, they behold the\nideal.\u201d In proof of his system, he farther says: \u201cSelf cannot be\nignorant of self.\u201d But in truth they are ignorant of their own\nidentity, and understand not in what \u201cself\u201d consists: some of them\nmaintain, that the being called man and endowed with voice and speech,\nis an incorporeal essence joined to the body; the relations of thought\nand action resulting merely from its entrance or descent into body:\nnotwithstanding this principle, they differ greatly among themselves\nrespecting the eternity and creation of their own souls. In like\nmanner, some have also denied the simple uncompoundedness of the\nintellectual soul, and have spoken largely against that doctrine;\nconsequently, as they are unacquainted with their own identity, what\ncan they know about the heavens, stars, intelligences, and God? and it\nbecomes not that one should know nothing about himself, but that he\nexists not. K\u00e1mk\u00e1r, in his treatise, has collected many amusing\nanecdotes respecting the Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n sect, of which the following is an\ninstance: a Samradian once said to his steward: \u201cThe world and its\ninhabitants have no actual existence; they merely have an ideal\nbeing.\u201d The servant, on hearing this, took the first favorable\nopportunity to conceal his master\u2019s horse, and when he was about to\nride, brought him an ass with the horse\u2019s saddle. When the Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n\nasked, \u201cWhere is the horse?\u201d the servant replied, \u201cThou hast been\nthinking of an idea: there was no horse in being.\u201d The master\nanswered, \u201cIt is true:\u201d he then mounted the ass, and having rode for\nsome time, he suddenly dismounted, and taking the saddle off the ass\u2019s\nback, placed it on the servant\u2019s, drawing the girths on tightly; and\nhaving forced the bridle into his mouth, he mounted him and flogged\nhim along vigorously. The servant, in piteous accents, having\nexclaimed: \u201cWhat is the meaning of this conduct?\u201d the Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n\nreplied: \u201cThere is no such thing as a whip; it is merely ideal; thou\nart only thinking of some illusion:\u201d after which the steward repented\nand restored the horse.\n\nIn another tale it is recorded that a Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n, having obtained in\nmarriage the daughter of a wealthy lawyer, she, on finding out her\nhusband\u2019s creed, proposed to have some amusement at his expense. One\nday the Samradian brought in a bottle of pure wine, which during his\nabsence she emptied of its contents and filled it up with water; when\nthe time for taking wine came round, she poured out water instead of\nwine into a gold cup which was her own property. The Samr\u00e1di\u00e1n having\nobserved, \u201cThou hast given me water instead of wine,\u201d she answered,\n\u201cIt is only ideal; there was no wine in existence.\u201d The husband then\nsaid: \u201cThou hast spoken well; present me the cup, that I may go to a\nneighbour\u2019s house and bring it back full of wine.\u201d He therefore took\nout the gold cup, which he sold, and concealing the money, instead of\nthe gold vase brought back an earthen vessel full of wine. The wife,\non seeing this, said, \u201cWhat hast thou done with the golden cup?\u201d he\nreplied, \u201cThou art surely thinking about some ideal golden cup:\u201d on\nwhich the woman greatly regretted her witticism.\n\nAs to those sectaries who assert that the world exists only in idea,\nthe author of this work saw several in Lahore, in the year of the\nHejirah 1048, A. D. 1637. The first was _K\u00e1m J\u00f3\u00ed_, who composed the\nfollowing distichs on _Far\u00edraj_:\n\n \u201cThou knowest that every thing is ideal,\n If the Almighty has given thee illumination!\n The mention even of ideality proceeds from idea;\n The very idea itself is nothing more than ideal.\u201d\n\nIt is to be noted that _Samr\u00e1d_ and _Samw\u00e1d_ are applied to fancy or\nidea. _Ismail Sufi_, of _Ardistan_[375] has poetically expressed\nhimself to the same purport in what is styled the mixed Persian:\n\n \u201cI am about to mention something although remote from reason;\n Listen carefully: but if not, mercy still awaits thee:\n This world is ideal; and ideality itself is but idea:\n This existence which I call ideal, that likewise is idea.\u201d\n\nThe second person treated of in the Samrad Namah of K\u00e1mk\u00e1r was _N\u00e9k\nKhoy_; the third was _Sh\u00e1d K\u00e9sh_; and the fourth, _M\u00e1hy\u00e1r_: they were\nall engaged in commercial pursuits, and styled Moslem or true\nbelievers.\n\n\n [373] Mahmud, the son of Sebekteghin, was the first monarch\n of the dynasty of Ghiznah, the foundation of which had been\n laid by his father. During a reign of 33 years (from 997 to\n 1030, A. D.) he made twelve expeditions to India, and\n established his domination in the western part of this\n country, out of which he possessed a still greater empire,\n which to the north-west extended over the whole of Persia,\n and was limited on the north-east by the river Oxus.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [374] See about it hereafter the sixth chapter, which treats\n of the religion of the Musulmans.\n\n [375] Upon Ismail Sofi, see note p. 52, 53. Ardistan or\n Ardastan is a town of the province called Icbal, or Persian\n Irak, 36 leagues distant from Ispahan.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SIXTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the tenets of the\n_Khodaiyan_.\u2015\u2015This sect are followers of _Khod\u00e1d\u00e1d_, a Mobed, who\nlived during the decline of Jemshid\u2019s power and the usurpation of\nZohak. Khod\u00e1d\u00e1d held intelligences and souls to be simple uncompounded\nbeings, and the stars and heavens to be the companions of God; each of\nwhich, in proportion to its proximity to the Almighty beyond other\ncreated beings, is so much more elevated in dignity: notwithstanding\nwhich we are not to account any being, whether the simple uncompounded\nor material, as a mediator or promoter between us and God; neither is\nthere any occasion for prophets, because through the medium of\nreliance, the seeking out of God is attained, and we are to serve God\nalone. Among those who held these opinions in Lahore, in the year of\nthe Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1639) were seen _Kamus_ and _Fart\u00fash_, both\nmerchants.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SEVENTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN describes the system of the\nR\u00e1d\u00ed\u00e1n.\u2015\u2015The chief of this sect was _R\u00e1d G\u00fanah_, one of the eminently\nbrave, a lion-like hero, who, to beneficent acts and abstinence from\ncruelty to animals, joined the dignity of knowledge; he enjoyed\ndistinguished honor and rank about the end of Jamsh\u00edd\u2019s reign and the\ncommencement of Zoh\u00e1k\u2019s usurpation: his opinion is, that God is the\nsame as the sun, whose bounty extends to all beings; and that the\nfourth heaven, by reason of its constituting the true centre of the\nseven heavens, is the seat of his glory and as his essence is pure\ngood, his place must also be regarded as a proof of his goodness:\nbesides this, his grace extends alike to all bodies, whether superior\nor inferior: moreover, as the heart, which is the sovereign of the\nbody, is settled in the midst of the breast, such is also the rule and\ncustom observed by renowned princes to fix the seat of government in\nthe centre of their realms, so that their bounty as well as severity\nmay be equally extended over the whole community; and, by such a\nmeasure, the repose of the people and the due regulations of the Rayas\nmay be promoted. He asserted that the spirit of the heavens, the\nstars, and the three kingdoms of nature proceed from the solar spirit,\nand that their bodies return to the light of his body; that is, the\nvirtuous return to him or some of the stars approximating to his\nglory, whilst sinners remain in the elemental world. He at first\ncommunicated these opinions secretly to his friends, but promulgated\nthem fearlessly during the reign of Zoh\u00e1k. In the year of the Hejirah\n1052 (A. D. 1642), the author, whilst journeying from Panjab to Kabul,\nmet at the station of _R\u00e1wal Bund\u00ed_ two persons of this creed, and\nwhose names were _Hormuzd_ and _T\u00edrah K\u00e9sh_, who were skilled in all\narts, abstinent, and remote from hurting any living being.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EIGHTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN treats of the _Sh\u00eddrang\u00ed\u00e1n_\ncreed.\u2015\u2015_Sh\u00eddrang_, a champion of Iran, who in battle was regarded as\nthe acknowledged chief of the marshallers of armies, and joined\nprofound knowledge in science to bravery in the field, always turned\naway most studiously from doing injury to the creatures of God. He\nappeared about the middle of Zoh\u00e1k\u2019s reign, and soothed the serpents\nbetween the usurper\u2019s shoulders. Sh\u00eddrang unceasingly invited the\npeople to adopt his faith, and had many followers: he maintained that\n_Khoy_ and _Manish_, \u201cdisposition and constitution\u201d or nature, to be\nGod; according to his system, the state of man and other animals\nresembles that of herbage, which, when scattered about or dissolved,\ngrows up again. A merchant, named _P\u00edl \u00c1z\u00e1r_, who belonged to this\nsect, was met by the author in Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040\n(A. D. 1631).\n\n\n\n\nTHE NINTH SECTION explains the _Paik\u00e1ri\u00e1n_ creed.\u2015\u2015_Paik\u00e1r_ was a\nvirtuous sage from Iran, who appeared about the middle of Zoh\u00e1k\u2019s\nreign. He thus addressed his disciples: \u201cThe Almighty is the same as\nfire, from the effulgence of which stars have been formed, and the\nheavens from its smoke; as fire is both hot and dry, from its heat\nproceeded the air, which is hot and humid; and from the humidity of\nthe air came water, which is cold and humid; also from the coldness of\nwater proceeded the earth, which is cold and dry; and from these\nconjointly came the compound productions, both perfect and imperfect.\u201d\nTwo individuals of this sect, _Paik\u00e1r Pazhuh_ and _Jahan Navard_, who\nwere unequalled in drawing out astronomical tables, painting, and\ninlaying, were met by the writer in the year 1059 (A. D. 1649) in\nGujar\u00e1t, in the district of Panjab.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TENTH SECTION OF THE DABISTAN explains the _M\u00edl\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_\nsystem.\u2015\u2015_M\u00edl\u00e1n_ was one of the brave champions of Iran and\ncontemporary with Paik\u00e1r; he exhorted many people to adopt his faith,\nwhich was as follows: \u201cThe air is the truly self-existent God, as it\nis both hot and humid; from its heat proceeded fire, and from its\nhumidity, water; from the effulgence of fire came forth the stars;\nfrom its smoke the heavens (as before mentioned); and from the\nfrigidity of water proceeded the earth.\u201d[376] One of this sect was\n_Roh\u00e1m_, who passed under the designation of a draughtsman; he was in\ntruth a painter possessed of European skill; the hand of Bahzad[377]\nand the finger of Mani,[378] who never remained long in one place. In\nthe year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630) the author beheld him in\nKashmir, in the house of _Sh\u00eddosh_.\n\n\n [376] Vitruvius (who lived shortly before J. C.) says (I.\n iv. Pr\u00e6f.): Thales Milesius omnium rerum principium Aquam\n est professus, Heraclitus Ignem, Magorum sacerdotes, Aquam\n et Ignem. As to the earth proceeding from the frigidity of\n water, we read in Macrobius (In Somno Scip. I. 1) what\n follows: \u201cTerra est sicca et frigida: aqua vero frigida et\n humecta est; h\u00e6c duo elementa, licet sibi et per siccum\n humectumque contraria sint, per frigidum tamen commune\n junguntur.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [377] Bahzad was a celebrated painter.\n\n [378] In the Des\u00e1t\u00edr (English transl., pp. 188, 1889) it is\n stated that Mani came into Iran during the reign of\n Ardeshir, and made himself notorious by curious paintings\n and a new doctrine which he exhibited: he permitted the\n killing of harmless animals, and forbade all intercourse\n with women. After a controversy upon these two points with\n the king Shapur, he was driven out of the court, and then\n lapidated and torn to pieces by the people of the town.\n According to Sharistani, Mani was the son of F\u00e1ten or Fater;\n according to Mohammed Ben Ishak, his father was Fettak Ben\n Ebi Berds\u00e2m. He was born about the year 240 of our era, but\n his birthplace is differently stated to have been in Persia,\n in Babylonia, in Nishap\u00far, in Khorossan. He is reputed as a\n learned man, as will be shewn in a subsequent note. He\n appeared at the court of king Sh\u00e1pur, the son of Ardeshir\n Babegan, but inhabited chiefly Turkistan. As a painter, he\n exhibited a set of pictures, called \u062a\u0646\u06af, _artang_; or \u0631\u0698\u0646\u06af,\n _arzhank_; or \u0627\u0631\u0686\u0646\u06af \u0645\u0627\u0646\u06cc, _archang M\u00e1ni_, which he said he\n had brought from heaven, where he pretended to have dwelt,\n whilst in reality he was concealed in a cavern during one\n year. The baron Hammer Purgstal suggests that the _artang_\n might have been a banner or ensign, upon which astronomical\n or cabalistical figures were represented, and which the\n Mongols and Buddhists used to call _M\u00e1ni_ (see Jahrb. der\n Lit., for April, May, June, 1840, p. 28). M\u00e1ni was besides a\n skilful musician, and inventor of a musical instrument,\n called _\u00e2\u00fad_ by the Arabs, _chelys_ by the Greeks. He was\n put to death by order of king Bahram, the son of Hormuz,\n about the year 278; by some authors his life and death are\n placed later.\u2015\u2015See about M\u00e1ni, _Hyde_, pp. 282, 290, and\n _Beausobre_, _Histoire critique de Manich\u00e9e_.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ELEVENTH SECTION describes the system of the followers of\n_\u00c1l\u00e1r_.\u2015\u2015_Alar_ was a native of Iran, celebrated for his extensive\nknowledge, who lived in reputation and dignity about the end of\nZoh\u00e1k\u2019s reign, under whose command he distinguished himself in the\nerection of forts and other architectural works. His belief was, that\nGod is the same as water, from the ebullition of which proceeded fire;\nfrom the fire came forth the heavens and the stars (as before stated);\nfrom the humidity of water proceeded the air, and from its frigidity,\nthe earth. To this sect belonged _Andar\u00edm\u00e1n_, who was well skilled in\nthe management of the bow, archery, wielding the lance, horsemanship,\nand other military accomplishments; he gave instructions in these\nsciences to the sons of great men, in which occupation he passed his\nlife. In the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1630) the author met him\nin Kashmir at the house of _Shidosh_. To this sect also belonged\n_M\u00edl\u00e1d_, who possessed consummate skill in writing, and was held in\ngreat respect by men of high station: he was in truth unequalled in\nthe recitation of histories, the narration of stories and romantic\ntales. The author enjoyed his society also in Kashmir.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWELFTH SECTION treats concerning the _Shidabian_ faith.\u2015\u2015_Sh\u00e1d\u00edb_\nwho lived about the end of _Zoh\u00e1k_\u2019s reign, was an eminent physician\nof Iran, held in great estimation by nobles and princes. He maintained\nthat the self-existent lord is the same with the earth, from the dry\npropensity of which was produced fire; and from fire the heavens and\nstars, as before mentioned; from its frigidity proceeded water; from\nthe humidity of which was formed the air; and when the four elements\nwere mixed together, the three kingdoms of nature were then\nmanifested. The physician _Mihr\u00e1n_ was also of this sect. In the year\n1018 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1638) the author joined him, and travelled\nin his society from Lahore to Kashmir. Among those who held these\ntenets was one named _Kh\u00e1k\u00ed_, who followed the profession of a\nmerchant and possessed great wealth: him the author met in Lahore. In\nthat same year and in the same place, he became acquainted with a\nyoung man named _Sh\u00edr_, who excelled in writing the Nishki and Taalik\ncharacters, and was one of the chosen followers of _Sh\u00edd\u00e1b_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THIRTEENTH SECTION describes the system of the _Akhsh\u00edy\u00e1n_\nsect.\u2015\u2015The Mobed _Akhsh\u00ed_ was by origin a Persian, possessed of great\nknowledge, and full of kindness towards the creatures of God; he was\ncontemporary with _Sh\u00edd\u00e1b_, and promulgated his sentiments openly,\ninviting all men to embrace his faith: he maintained God to be the\nessence of the elements; so that when people say, \u201cGod is not\nvisible,\u201d this implies the elemental essence, which presents no form\nto the sight; when they assert the ubiquity of God, they style that\nthe essence, as he is every where under his fourfold form; their\nproposition of all things excepting God being perishable, means that\nthe elements admit of change, but that their essence remains for ever\nin the same state. They hold the sun to be the source of fire and of\nthe other stars, such as the falling and shooting stars, comets with\ntails, etc. One of those sectaries was a person named _Sh\u00edd\u00e1b_, whom\nthe author met in the costume of a merchant, in Kashmir in the year of\nthe Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), and from whom he heard what has now\nbeen written, and which was partly recited out of the book of _Aksh\u00ed_.\nThe same _Sh\u00edd\u00e1b_, called also _Shams-ud-d\u00een_, or \u201cthe sun of faith,\u201d\ncomposed a treatise entitled _R\u00e1z\u00e1b\u00e1d_ in proof of his system, which\nhe demonstrated by texts of the Koran and the traditions. According to\nthese sectaries, which became known after the _Radiy\u00e1n_, there is no\nresurrection nor return to life but after this manner: the seminal\nprinciple being derived from food, when the body of a living creature\nis dissolved, it becomes grass and constitutes the food of some other\nanimal: as to future rewards and punishments, they enter not into the\nfaith or practice of this sect: their paradise consists in having fine\nraiment, in carousing, riding, sensual enjoyments, and such like\npleasures, which alone they esteem the chief good; torment, according\nto them, consists in being separated from such objects: however, the\nfounders and followers of this faith carefully avoid all kind of\ncruelty towards living creatures.\n\nAccording to them, intercourse with daughters, sisters, mothers,\nmaternal aunts, and their children is allowable;[379] as there can\nexist no antipathy between the source and what is derived from it: no\ndegree of relationship in their opinion should be a bar to the\nintercourse of the sexes: nay, on the contrary, it is highly to be\ncommended, as the nearer the degree of consanguinity, the greater will\nbe the friendship between the parties.[380] They however regard\nadultery as highly criminal, unless the husband should willingly\nsacrifice his wife\u2019s honor. They in fact maintain that marriage\nbetween any two parties, however nearly related, is perfectly\nallowable if the parties agree among themselves. They also regard the\nceremonial ablutions enjoined by the law as absurd and\nunnecessary.[381] They also say, that men assume a particular nature\nby means of laws and institutions, and on that account regard good as\nevil, and evil as good. When they desire to make a sacrificial\noffering, they kill some harmless animal and count it not a foul\ncrime. Nay, some religionists who partake of swine\u2019s flesh,\nscrupulously avoid that of cows, and _vice vers\u00e2_. Whoever shall\nappeal to the intelligence, which is the gift of God, will be\nconvinced that our discourse is true; that is, all we have narrated\nfrom the fifth chapter to the present. The professors of this belief\nare mixed up with the Muhammedans, and travel about under that mask,\nassuming the name of true believers, but having a distinct appellation\nfor their peculiar creed; they are scattered over Iran and Turan,\nremote from and averse to the fire-worshippers.\n\n\n [379] According to Philo and to Diogenes Laertius, the\n Persians used to marry their mothers and sisters. Alexander\n abolished these incestuous marriages (see _Brisson_, p.\n 290). We know from Herodotus (I: 111) that Cambyses married\n his sister Atossa. According to Strabo, the law permitted\n the Magians union with their mothers. Plutarch, in the life\n of Artaxerxes, relates that this king took to wife his two\n daughters Atossa and Amestris; but his mother Parysatis\n (_Pari-dokht_, \u201cdaughter of a fairy\u201d), at the very time she\n was engaging him to marry the first of his daughters, said\n that he must, in doing so, place himself above the laws of\n the country. Zoroaster, in the Zand books, recommends but\n the marriages between the children of brothers and sisters\n as actions deserving heaven. We observe that the author of\n the Dabistan speaks here only of a particular sect, the\n custom of which might have been attributed to the whole\n nation of the Persians, but without sufficient foundation.\n This is confirmed by the ancient tradition mentioned by\n Agathius (l. 11), who says, that Ninus killed his own mother\n Semiramis, because she had proposed to him an unnatural\n connection with her. For this same reason, according to the\n author just quoted, Artaxerxes is said to have discarded\n from him with great indignation his mother Parysatis,\n although he did not decline the marriage with his two\n daughters.\u2015\u2015(See _Hyde_, p. 421.)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [380] The translation of this passage of the original text\n is not, and ought not to be, literal, as the author\u2019s\n expressions are here such as an European reader would hardly\n think suitable to common decency.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [381] The same observation is also applicable to this\n passage.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOURTEENTH SECTION of this chapter of the Dabist\u00e1n treats of the\nfollowers of _Zard\u00fasht_.[382]\u2015\u2015_Farzanah Bahram_, the son of\n_Farhad_, the Yazdanian, thus relates in the _Sharistan_: The _Behd\u00edn_\nsages relate, that the Almighty, on creating the holy spirit of\nZard\u00fasht, attached it to a tree, when he commenced the creation of\ncontingent beings in the highest starry heavens: this signifies the\nprimary intellect, which is as a tree, the leaves and fruits of which\nare all contingent existences; and their assertion concerning the\nspirit of Zard\u00fasht being attached to it, means that his intellectual\nsoul is a ray of the primary intellect, the perfections of Zard\u00fasht\nbeing also an effulgence proceeding from that same tree. The Mobed\n_Sar\u00fash_, the Yazd\u00e1ni\u00e1n, relates: \u201cThe teachers of the _Behd\u00edn_ faith\nhave thus said: The father of Zard\u00fasht had a cow which went forth\nevery morning to the pasture: having one day come accidentally to some\ntrees, the fallen leaves of which had become dried up, she partook of\nthem, and after that occurrence, never fed on any other provender\nexcept the withered leaves of that grove. Zard\u00fasht\u2019s father partook of\nthe milk supplied by this cow, and the influence of it being\ncommunicated to his wife Dughduyah, she conceived _Zard\u00fasht_.\u201d[383]\nThe object of the above narrative is to show, that by eating the green\nfoliage, the vegetable spirit is afflicted; for which reason the cow\nfed only on dry leaves, so that no injury could result to any spirit\nwhatever: although, in fact, the vegetable spirit is incapable of\nreceiving either pleasure or pain, it also shows, that unless a cow be\nmilked, she feels great pain in the udder, whilst, at the time of\nmilking, no pain ensues from the operation; also, that the Almighty\nformed his prophet\u2019s body out of milk, which in its essence implies no\ninjury to any living creature. This much being premised, _Zaratusht\nBahram_, a Mobed of the religion of Zardusht,[384] says: When the\nworld had been thrown into confusion by the wicked, and was entirely\nat the mercy of the demon, God willed to raise up a prophet of an\nexalted dignity, which the family of Faridun was alone worthy of\nfilling. In those days lived a man, by name _Pursh\u00e1sp_, the son of\n_Patir\u00e1sp_, descended from Faridun;[385] and his wife\u2019s name was\n_Doghduyah_, a virtuous matron, who was also of the family of Faridun.\nThese two persons were selected by the Almighty as the shells for\nenclosing the pearl of Zardusht. When five months of Doghduyah\u2019s\npregnancy had elapsed, she one night beheld in a dream her house\nenveloped in a dark cloud, which concealed the splendor of the sun and\nmoon; and from this cloud were raining down the noxious and rapacious\ncreatures of earth and air; the boldest of these animals having rent\nopen Doghduyah\u2019s womb, took out the infant, which he held in his\ntalons, and the other wild beasts gathered around him. Doghduyah in\nher alarm wished to cry out, but Zardusht prevented her, saying: \u201cthe\njust God befriends me; entertain no apprehensions.\u201d She consequently\nheld her peace. That instant she beheld a shining mountain which\ndescended from heaven and rent the black cloud asunder; on which the\nnoxious animals began to fly away. When the mountain approached\nnearer, there came forth from it a youth shining all over, bearing in\none hand a luminous branch, and in the other the volume sent by the\njust God. He next hurled that volume towards the beasts, on which they\nall departed from the house, excepting three; a wolf, a lion, and a\ntiger: the youth then smote these with the luminous branch, so that\nthey were consumed by fire; after this, taking Zardusht, he restored\nhim to his mother\u2019s belly, and said to her: \u201cFear not! grieve not! for\nGod himself is thy son\u2019s guardian: this honored child shall be the\nprophet of the just God!\u201d The youth then disappeared, and Doghduyah\nawaking, rose up that gloomy night, and hastening to a neighbouring\nseer who was skilled in the interpretation of dreams, related her\nvision.[386] The interpreter answered: \u201cThrough this sun-resembling\nchild, the world shall be filled with thy fame; depart, and bring\nhither the calculation of thy nativity for my inspection.\u201d She\nperformed his command; and the interpreter on examining it said:\n\u201cDuring three days keep this secret concealed from all; return hither\non the fourth day, and receive the answer to thy demands.\u201d She did so;\nand on the fourth day came to the astrologer, who smiled on beholding\nher, and having carefully considered the sidereal influences, turned\nto the interpretation of the dream, saying: \u201cThe night on which thou\nbeheldest that vision, the unborn child had completed five months and\ntwenty-three days; on his issuing forth to the couch of existence, his\nillustrious name shall be Zardusht; by him shall the enemies of the\nfaith be destroyed; but they will previously oppose him in battle, and\nput in practice every hostile measure; from the evil doers thou shalt\nfeel much affliction, such as thou didst witness from the wild beasts\nof the vision.\n\n At last victorious and rejoiced in heart thou shalt become,\n And through this unborn child feel all a mother\u2019s joy.\n\nNext thou beheldest a youth descending from the sixth heaven with the\nglittering branch of a tree; that was _Farrah-i-Izad_, \u2018the splendor\nof God,\u2019 the warder of evils from thy son; the written volume in his\nhand is the emblem of the prophetic office, by which he is to obtain\nthe victory over all foes; the three wild beasts which remained behind\nare the type of a powerful evil-disposed enemy, who by wiles will\nendeavour to destroy Zardusht, but who shall be finally discomfited;\nand there shall be a prince to promulgate the faith: through his might\nshall Zardusht become sovereign of this world and the next. O\nDoghduyah! paradise is the recompense of obedience to Zardusht, and\nhell is the reward of those who avert the face from him. Would to\nheaven that I could live in the days of his mission, to exhibit my\nzeal for his eminent dignity.\u201d Doghduyah then said to the interpreter\nand astrologer: \u201cHow hast thou found out the circumstance of the exact\nperiod of my pregnancy?\u201d To this he replied: \u201cThrough the power of\nknowledge of the stars, and the perusal of ancient records, which give\nan account of his auspicious existence.\u201d Doghduyah, on her return\nhome, told this event to _Purshasp_, that he might communicate it to\n_Pat\u00edrasp_; on which both parents joined in praising the Almighty.\nZaradusht, on issuing forth into the abode of existence, laughed aloud\nat the moment of his birth,[387] so that the women of the\nneighbourhood who were there assembled heard the sound of his laugh,\nand even his father, _Purshasp_,\n\n \u201cSaid to himself, he must surely be an emanation of God,\n All, with the exception of him, weep on coming into the world.\u201d\n\nHe then gave him the name of Zaratusht,[388]\n\n \u201cThus the dream-interpreter\u2019s word was verified.\u201d\n\nAll the women became jealous at the laugh of Zaradusht, and this\nwonderful occurrence was spread abroad, until it came to the hearing\nof _Dar\u00e1n Sar\u00fan_, the king of that region, who gloried in the practice\nof magic and the worship of Ahriman. He had information of the\nappearance of Zaratusht, and it was known from the historians and\nastronomers that he will reveal a better religion and destroy that of\nAhriman. He therefore hastened to the pillow of Zaradusht, and\ncommanding him to be taken out of the cradle, and putting his hand to\nhis sword, prepared to cut off the child\u2019s head; but that instant his\nhand was dried up, so that he left the house in pain and affliction;\non which all the magicians and worshippers of Ahriman (the only\nworship which prevailed at that time) became quite alarmed. The\nmagicians then formed a mountain of wood, naphtha, and sulphur, and\nhaving set it on fire, threw into the midst of it Zaradusht, whom they\nhad by force taken from his father, and hastened with this\nintelligence to their king: but, through the aid of God,\n\n \u201cThe devouring flame became as water,\n In the midst of which slumbered the pearl of Zardusht.\u201d\n\nOn learning this, Zaradusht\u2019s mother hurried to the desert, and taking\nher honored son out of the embers, bore him secretly home. After many\ndays, when the account of his deliverance was published abroad, the\nmagicians, evil spirits, and demons again bore Zardusht away, and\nthrew him into a narrow place, a thoroughfare for the passage of oxen,\nthat he should be exposed to be bruised and trampled under foot.\nThrough the goodness of God, a powerful cow came in front, and,\nstanding still, took Zardusht between her fore feet, and drove off\nwith her horns whatever cow came in that direction: when the whole had\npassed, she also went to join them; and Doghduyah, after great search,\nhaving discovered her honored son, took him home: when this\nintelligence came to D\u00faransar\u00fan, he commanded them to expose Zardusht\nin a far narrower defile through which horses were to pass; but, owing\nto divine aid, a mare advanced before the others, and standing at the\nchild\u2019s head kept a strict watch over him, and Doghduyah, after\nencountering great hardship, bore her fortunate offspring home. On\nlearning this occurrence, D\u00faransar\u00fan ordered persons to repair to the\ndens of the ravening wolves, and having slaughtered their cubs, then\nexpose Zardusht in the same place, in order that the dams out of\nrevenge might tear him to pieces. At night, when the troop of wolves\nreturned to their lairs, they beheld their cubs slaughtered and\nweltering in blood, and at the same time finding an infant crying out,\nthey all hurried towards him; the chief wolf and the boldest of them,\nhaving rushed on to devour Zardusht, his mouth became as sewn up: at\nthis miracle the wolves were altogether alarmed, and seated themselves\nlike so many nurses around the infant\u2019s head; at the same time there\nalso came two sheep from the mountain region, which applied their\nteats filled with milk to the lips of Zardusht: thus the sheep and the\nwolf lay down in one place. With the morning dawn, his mother, after\nanxious seeking and searching, came to that frightful place, raised up\nthe exalted prophet, and having poured out her gratitude to God,\nproceeded with exultation to her home.[389] The magicians, on hearing\nthis miracle, became quite despondent; they assembled to devise some\nremedy, and formed a council for the purpose of deliberating, when a\ncelebrated magician named _Purtar\u00fash_ and _Parantar\u00fash_[390] said to\nthem: \u201cZardusht is not to be destroyed by your plans, for God\nbefriends him, and the angel _Far-i-Izad_ \u2018the splendor of God,\u2019 is\never with him. Bahman (who is the same as Jabri\u00eel) has borne Zardusht\nto the presence of the Almighty; and God having imparted to him the\nknowledge of all the secrets of existence, sends him forth as a\nprophet. A just sovereign will co-operate with him in promulgating his\nfaith, and every vestige of enchanters and Deeves shall be cut off\nfrom the earth.\u201d The father of Zardusht said one day to _Partar\u00fash_:\n\u201cGive me some account of Zardusht\u2019s star and its rise; tell me also\nwhy he laughed at the time of his birth\u201d. _Partar\u00fash_ replied: \u201cThy\nson Zardusht is to be a chief, as all the happy spheres afford him\naid; this offspring of auspicious career will conduct the creatures of\nGod in the true way; promulgate the _Zandavasta_;[391] destroy the\ndemon and enchanters, and finally king Gushtasp shall embrace his\nfaith.\u201d This announcement gave great delight to Purshasp.\n\nAt this time there lived an aged saint named _Barzinkaroos_, of\nprofound experience and clear discernment; this sage having come to\nthe house of Purshasp, entreated that he might be allowed to bring up\nZardusht, and acquire glory by his education. Purshasp consented to\nthis proposal, and entrusted the infant to the holy sage.\n\nWhen Zardusht had attained his seventh year, Purtarush, the chief of\nthe magicians, came along with Duransanun to the child\u2019s abode; and\nmade so great a display of enchantments, terrific, and fearful sights,\nthat all the people fled out of the house; but Zardusht, through the\naid of God, felt no alarm and moved not, so that the magicians went\naway filled with affright and disappointment. After some time Zardusht\nbecame ill, at which news all the magicians were greatly delighted;\ntheir chief Partar\u00f3sh came, with enchantments and medicine mixed up\nwith _mina_,[392] to Zardusht\u2019s pillow and said: \u201cThe swallowing of\nthis medicine will render thy body tranquil and deliver thee from\npain.\u201d The illuminated mind of Zardusht saw through the machination,\nand taking the medicine from him, poured it on the ground, and at the\nsame time telling him about the _mina_ mixed up with the portion, said:\n\n \u201cShouldst thou in a different guise conceal thy violence,\n I can again recognise thee, O thou full of deceit!\n Thy description is furnished to me by that God\n Through whose command the world is preserved.\u201d\n\nThe magicians consequently again returned back mortified at the\nresults of their wicked plot. They say that in those times they\naccounted no system superior to that of magic, and that the demon held\npublic intercourse with persons of that class so that they obtained it\nfrom Iblis without the intervention of enchantment.\n\n \u201cMankind then praised the foul demon,\n As they now do the God of purity.\u201d\n\nNay, Pursh\u00e1sp, the father of Zardusht, followed that path; one day\nhaving invited Dur\u00e1nsar\u00fan, P\u00e1r\u00e1nt\u00e1r\u00fash, and many more magicians to a\nfeast, he made the suitable arrangements, and when the repast was\nended, he said to P\u00e1r\u00e1nt\u00e1r\u00fash, the chief of the magicians: \u201cThrough\nthe excellence of enchantment, whereby our hearts are gladdened and\nour necks exalted, thy noble person at this period is the spiritual\nguide of all magicians.\u201d Zardusht, being indignant at this speech,\nsaid to his father: \u201cAbandon this erroneous way, and turn to the faith\nof God: hell must finally be the abode of magicians and enchanters.\u201d\nThese words greatly incensed Purtar\u00fash, who replied: \u201cOf what\nconsequence art thou before thy father! The intelligent of the earth,\nand the great men of the habitable world dare not address such\ninsolence to me! Art thou not afraid of me? Dost thou not know me? For\nthis thy insolence I shall spread amongst mankind such calumnies and\nlies respecting thy creed, that thou must remain in obscurity. What is\nthy power that, without courtesy, thou darest slight my dignity!\n\n \u201cMay thy name be more degraded than that of all other men!\n May no desire of thy heart be ever accomplished!\u201d\n\nZardusht replied: \u201cO son of earth! the lie thou utterest respecting my\ncreed will render thyself before God and man the butt of censure: in\nretaliation I shall tell, nothing but truth concerning thee, and\noverpower thee by just arguments and proofs.\n\n \u201cBy order of the righteous God\u2019s messenger,\n I shall turn thy empire upside down.\u201d\n\nAll who were present, as well as the magicians, remained in\nastonishment at such a stripling\u2019s great intellect, so that\nP\u00e1r\u00e1nt\u00e1r\u00fash left the house and hastened home, covered with confusion\nand disgrace: that night he fell sick, and his people also being\nattacked by illness at the same time, were hurried along with him to\nthe house of retribution.[393]\n\nWhen the honored age of Zardusht had reached the fifteenth year, he\nattached not his heart to this place of sojourn, neither did he set\nany value on the world or its concerns: but fleeing away from wrath\nand the pleasures of sense, he with pious fear labored night and day\nin the service of God; wherever he found any one hungry, thirsty,\nnaked, or helpless, he bestowed on them food, raiment, and the needful\nsupplies; his piety and sincerity were consequently renowned amongst\nall people, although he withdrew from the public gaze.\n\nWhen he had reached the age of thirty, he directed his face towards\nIran, in company with several men and women and some of his own\nrelations; in the course of this journey, they came to a large expanse\nof water, on which there was not a boat to be found:[394] as it is not\nmeet for women to expose their persons, particularly before strangers,\nhe became anxious about the means of taking them over in the presence\nof their fellow travellers; he therefore poured out his distress\nbefore the God of justice, entreating from him a passage over that\nwide expanse of water; after which, by the order of the Almighty, he\ncrossed over, with his companions and relations, in such guise that\nthe soles of their feet only were moistened by the water; finally, in\nthe end of _Isfandarmaz_,[395] on the day of _An\u00edr\u00e1n_, which is the\nlast day of every solar month, he reached the confines of Iran. At\nthat period the people of Iran held a great festival at which were\nassembled both high and low, and therefore Zartusht took his course to\nthat quarter. At night, whilst alone in some halting place, through\nhis enlightened spirit he beheld, in a vision, a mighty army[396]\nadvancing from Bactria, or the West, which from hostile motives\nblocked up his road on every side; in the same place he beheld another\narmy coming from _Nimroz_, or \u201cmid day,\u201d and when both armies came to\nclose quarters with the sword, the Bactrian or Western troops were put\nto the rout. The examiner of the vision thus interpreted it: \u201cWhen\nZardusht, having been taken into the presence of God, should discover\nall the mysteries of creation, that afterwards, on his return from\nheaven, to promulgate the _D\u00ednbah\u00ed_, or \u2018true faith,\u2019 the D\u00eevs and\nMagicians, having found out his intentions, would with all expedition\nmake war against him. _Mizumah_,[397] the angel who attends the\nservants of God, on learning this will promote the better faith, and\nin consequence the _Asta va zand_ will be read with a loud voice, and\nthrough this the demons and magicians shall be dispersed and flee\naway.\u201d On the interpretation of the dream, he hastened to the\nfestival, inspired with great delight.\n\nWhen he had returned from the banqueting-place, he set out about the\nmiddle of _Ard\u00edbihist_,[398] on the _D\u00edmihr_, the fifteenth day of\nevery solar month, and came to a deep, broad, and extensive water,\nnamed _D\u00e1bat\u00ed_,[399] in the _Astawasta_; there recommending himself to\nthe Lord, he stepped into the water, which at first rose up to the\ncalf of his legs, then to his knees, waist, and finally to his neck;\nwhich event was thus interpreted; \u201cthe division of the water into\nthese four portions signifies, that in nine thousand years the\n_D\u00ednbah\u00ed_, \u2018the true faith,\u2019 shall be four times renewed; the first\ntime by the agency of Zardusht, who was sent to promulgate the\n_Bahd\u00edn_; the second by _Hush\u00eddar_; the third by _Hush\u00eddarm\u00e1h_; and\nthe fourth by _Sars\u00e1sh_; all four descendants from Zardusht.\u201d\n\nWhen the prophet had gained the opposite shore, he washed his person\nas pure as his soul, and putting on undefiled garments, engaged in\nprayer.[400] That very day, Bahman, the mightiest of the angels, (whom\nthe Muhammedans call Jabriel) came robed in light to Zardusht, and\nhaving asked his name, said: \u201cWhat dost thou most desire in this\nworld?\u201d Zardusht having answered, \u201cI have no desire but that of\npleasing God; my heart seeks after nothing but righteousness; and my\nbelief is that thou wilt guide me to do what is good:\u201d then Bahram\nreplied \u201cArise! that thou mayest appear before God; entreat from his\nMajesty whatever thou desirest, from his bounty he will return thee a\nprofitable answer.\u201d Zardusht then arose, and according to Bahram\u2019s\norder shut his eyes for an instant; on opening them he found himself\nin the bright empyreal, where he beheld an assemblage through whose\neffulgence his shadow became visible: from that assemblage to the\nnext, was a distance of twenty-four paces; and also another assemblage\nof beings formed of light waited on by virgins of paradise. The angels\ngathered around Zardusht and warmly greeted him, pointing him out to\neach other, until the honored son of Espintaman[401] came before God,\nto whom with joyous heart and trembling body he addressed the prayers\nof supplication. It is necessary to observe here, that the\n_B\u00e1hid\u00ednian_, \u201cbelievers of the eternal doctrine,\u201d unanimously\nmaintain that Bahman assumed the human figure, and that Zardusht\nascended to the heavens in his elemental body; but, according to the\ncreed of the intelligent Ab\u00e1di\u00e1n, the matter is thus stated: \u201cBy the\ncoming of Bahman in the human form and his speaking like a mortal, is\nmeant that the true essence of man is uncompounded and simple, not a\nbody nor any thing material; and that, under such a quality, that is,\nuncompoundedness, he manifested himself to Zardusht; and his saying\n\u2018close thy eyes,\u2019 is figurative, and implies the eradication of the\nattachments and darkness of the elemental body; when he thus became a\nsimple uncompounded existence, he arrived at the heavens styled the\n\u2018eternal empyrean;\u2019 the first company of angels signifies the souls on\nhigh, and the second, the existence of the celestial intelligences;\nthe interrogatories addressed to him by the angels imply, that when\nthe soul leaves the upper world, it descends into this lower abode to\nencounter wanderings and calamity; but when, by the attractive\ninfluence of Bahman and through the energy of intelligence, it returns\non high, the angels feel delight on the occasion. He next ascended to\nthe world of simple uncompounded beings, and came near God; the\ndelight experienced by Zardusht signifies, the freedom from alarm and\nfear enjoyed in that pure world; and his bodily tremor is emblematic\nof the effulgence of the divine Majesty.\u201d He then asked of the God of\njustice: \u201cWhich of thy servants on earth is superior to the rest?\u201d God\nthus answered: \u201cThe righteous professor of righteousness; secondly, he\nwho to righteousness joins generosity and liberality, walking\nunceasingly in the way of righteousness and withdrawing from evil;\nthirdly, he who is friendly to fire and water, to all living and\nanimated beings; for man, by the knowledge and practice of this\nprecept, delivers himself from hell and attains to union with the\neternal paradise. O, Zardusht! whichever of my servants in this\ntransitory sojourn of existence practises oppression and cruelty\ntowards my creatures, and averts his head from obedience to my\ncommands, repeat thou to such this warning: that unless he desist from\nrebellion, he shall dwell in hell to all eternity.\u201d Zardusht again\nasked: \u201cO most just God, impart to me the names of the\n_Amsh\u00e1sfands_,[402] that is, of the angels the most acceptable in thy\npresence; gladden me by their names and sight; cause me to hear their\ndiscourse; and graciously enable me to discern the impious\nAhriman,[403] who turns not to good through his evil nature; give me\npower to behold the good and evil of this world, and its termination;\nthe effect of the revolving sphere, with the successive production of\nmodes or the reappearance of things.\u201d When he had thus laid before the\nAlmighty the secret wishes of his heart, he received this answer: \u201cI\nam the author of good; the benevolent and the beneficent; I neither do\nevil, nor enjoin it to be committed. I consent not to wickedness,\nneither do I bring calamity on my creatures: evil and wickedness\nbelong exclusively to Ahriman. It is, however, incumbent on me to keep\nin hell to all eternity the troops of Ahriman in reward for their\ndeeds: the ignorant only assert that I am the \u201cauthor of evil.\u201d[404]\nThe Almighty then made Zardusht acquainted with the celestial\nrevolutions and the motions of the stars, and their good and evil\ninfluences; he also showed him paradise filled with light, angelic\nnymphs, palaces, and _Amsh\u00e1sfands_; communicating to him at the same\ntime the knowledge of all mysteries, and teaching him all sciences, so\nthat he knew every thing from the commencement of existence to the end\nof time; he likewise showed him Ahriman in the gloom of hell, who, on\nbeholding Zardusht cried aloud: \u201cTurn away from the faith of God, that\nthou mayest obtain all thy desires in this world.\u201d[405]\n\nWhen the Lord had thus instructed Zardusht, he beheld a mountain of\nflaming fire, which at the command of God he traversed without any\ninjury to his person; they next poured molten brass on his guileless,\nsilver-like bosom, and not a single hair of his body was touched; they\nnext opened his stomach, and taking out all the intestines again\nreplaced them, on which the wound immediately closed without leaving a\nvestige of the incision behind. The just God then said to Zardusht:\n\u201cThou hast passed over the mountain of fire, and hadst thy stomach\nrent open; therefore tell mankind whoever turns away from the\n_D\u00ednbah\u00ed_, \u2018pure faith,\u2019 and passes over to Ahriman, in the same\nmanner shall the blood of his body be poured out; he shall dwell in\nthe fire, and never attain to the joys of paradise. Again, the molten\nbrass, which on contact with thy breast became congealed like ice,\ncausing thee no injury, is a sign that the nation, at the suggestion\nof Ahriman, will turn away from the faith; and also that when the\n_D\u00ednbah\u00ed_ shall be promulgated in the world, the high Mobed shall gird\nhis loins to give them battle.\n\n \u201cThe heart of mankind was harassed with doubt,\n However thou knowest this brass was but a sign;\n It is therefore meet that Azarb\u00e1d, the son of M\u00e1rasfand,\n Should impart to each individual counsel of every kind;\n This molten brass he should pour on his breast,\n From which no injury shall result to him.\n\n\u201cSo that, on beholding this miracle, all mankind with heart and soul\nwill follow the right true road.\u201d\n\nAfter this, Zardusht asked of the God of justice: \u201cIn what manner\nshall thy worshippers celebrate thy praise and what is to be their\nKiblah?\u201d The Lord answered: \u201cTell all mankind that every bright and\nluminous object is the effulgence of my light; at the time of\nworshipping me, let them turn to that side, in order that Ahriman may\nflee from them; in the world there is no existence superior to light,\nout of which I have created paradise, the angelic nymphs, and all that\nis pleasant, whilst hell was produced out of darkness.\n\n \u201cWherever thou art, and in whichever of the two abodes,\n Dost thou not perceive that either place is formed out of my light?\u201d\n\nHaving thus taught Zardusht the _Avesta_ and the _Zand_, he said to\nhim: \u201cRecite this celebrated volume to king Gushtasp, that through it\nhe may obtain wisdom; tell him also to attain a perfect knowledge of\nme; no one should ever call me the worker of injustice; command the\nMobeds and all mankind to separate themselves from demons and\nmagicians.\u201d\n\n \u201cZardusht then enlarged on the praises of the Almighty Lord.\u201d\n\nWhen the prophet\u2019s desires and purpose had been thus completely\nattained, he was met on his return by the Amsh\u00e1sfand Bahman, the\nprotector and chief of the sheep, who said to him: \u201cTo thee I deliver\nthe sheep and all herds; tell the Mobeds, sages, and all men to guard\nthem well; prohibit them from putting to death calf, lamb, young\nsheep, or any other quadruped, as men derive great benefits from them:\n\n \u201cWe must never be guilty of excess in slaughter.\u201d\n\n\u201cI received these flocks from the Almighty, and now accept them from\nme; account not my words as unimportant, but inculcate obedience to\nthem on young and old:\u201d on which Zardusht accepted the trust. The\nMobed Sarush used to say: \u201cThe Yezdanians maintain that, when Bahman\nforbade the killing of young quadrupeds, he well knew it to be equally\nwrong to slay the old; first, because in their youth, although they\nrendered many services, they received no wages for their labor; and\nsecondly, in old age they produce young animals; consequently, where\nZardusht in some passages holds it lawful to slay animals, but without\ncommitting excess; by the precept is meant, the expulsion of animal\nqualities from our existence; and by avoiding excess is meant, that we\nshould gradually banish all vile propensities from ourselves, such as\neating to excess, which is an animal quality, but which cannot be\ndiscontinued at once; it therefore becomes necessary to lessen the\nquantity of food gradually, as stated by us under the head of the\n_S\u00e1h\u00ed Kesh\u00e1n_.\u201d\n\nAfter Bahman, the Amsh\u00e1sfand _Ardebihist_[406] coming forward, said to\nZardusht: \u201cO accepted of God! bear from me this message to king\nGushtasp, and say to him: \u2018To thee have I delivered whatever relates\nto fire. Let there be suitable places of great splendor in every city\nfor the general worship; appoint stated times and _Hirbuds_, or\n\u2018ministers\u2019 for the purpose of adoration; because that light is an\nemanation of the divine effulgence. Dost thou not perceive how every\nthing stands in need of fire, which requires only wood from the human\nrace?\u2019\n\n \u201cIts body apprehends not death nor the decrepitude of age,\n When thou layest wood within the influence of its sphere.\n\n\u201cSuch is its property to indicate the truth, that if thou burn\nperfumes it diffuses fragrance among the assembled people: from\nunpleasant odors a correspondent effect ensues; it also banishes the\naffliction of cold. As fully as God hath delivered it to me, do I now\ngive it in charge to thee! Whoever turns away from my counsel and\nadvice becomes the captive of hell, and incurs the displeasure of\nGod.\u201d\n\nWhen Zardusht had departed from Bahman, the Amsh\u00e1sfand _Shahrivar_\ncame forward and said to him: \u201cOn thy arrival from the upper to the\nlower world, tell men to furbish and polish up their arms, and always\nto keep them in good order and readiness; in the day of battle let\nthem not quit their posts, but display heroic exertion and not resign\ntheir post to any other.\u201d\n\n_Asfand\u00e1rmaz_ then coming forward, after many benedictions said to\nZardusht: \u201cThis is the command of the Almighty to mankind, let them\nkeep the earth pure, and remove blood, pollution, and dead bodies to\nsome uncultivated place.\n\n \u201cAmong princes, that sovereign is by far the best\n Who exerts himself to improve the face of the earth.\u201d\n\nWhen Zardusht had departed thence, _Kh\u00fard\u00e1d_ advanced, and with\nbenedictions thus addressed him: \u201cTo thy charge I assign all waters of\nrunning streams, rivers, water-courses, rivulets, wells, and all\nbesides; say thou to mankind:\n\n \u201cThrough water is the body of every creature maintained in life;\n Through it the face of every tract and region is kept in bloom.\n\n\u201cLet them keep dead bodies far removed from it, and let them not\ndefile it with blood or any dead carcass, as the food dressed with\nsuch water furnishes an unwholesome repast.\u201d\n\n_Murd\u00e1d_ next came forward and said to Zardusht: \u201cLet not men\nheedlessly destroy the vegetable productions of the earth or pluck\nthem from their place:\n\n \u201cAs these form the delight of both man and beast.\n\n\u201cAlso, O prophet of God! send Mobeds around the whole country, and\nappoint a wise person in every city to communicate these tidings to\nall men: let them understand the _Avesta_, and bind around their waist\nthe zone, which is a sign of the pure faith and constancy in it, and\nlet them endeavor to keep the four substances (elements) undefiled:\n\n \u201cOut of the four elements has the body of every animal\n Been composed by the supreme and just Lord:\n It is therefore necessary to keep them undefiled,\n Accounting them among the choice blessings of God.\u201d\n\nIt is to be remembered that the conference of all these angels with\nZardusht was a revelation and message from God; but there was a more\ntranscendent dignity in this fact, that the Almighty himself addressed\nZardusht without the intervention of angels, and imparted to him the\nmysteries of all that exists.[407]\n\nZardusht having thus obtained from God the accurate knowledge of all\nmysteries, drew near this elemental world, whilst the magicians and\ndemons, with a dreadful host, blocked up his road; after which the\nchief enchanter and the head of the demons and his host thus addressed\nZardusht: \u201cKeep the _Avesta_ and _Zand_ concealed; thy incantation,\nfraud, and artifice make no impression on us: if thou knowest us, thou\nwilt turn away from such practices.\u201d On hearing this, Zardusht recited\naloud one chapter of the _Avesta_ and _Zand_; when these sounds\nreached the demons, they hid themselves under ground, and the\nmagicians trembled; a part of the enchanters died on the spot, and the\nremainder implored for mercy.\n\nThe Mobed _Sur\u00fash_, the Yezd\u00e1nian, has been heard to say: \u201cIt is\nrecorded in the treatise of _M\u00edh\u00edn Far\u00fash_ that, according to the\ndoctors of the pure faith, when Zardusht had thus obtained the victory\nover the demons, and was proceeding to an interview with the great\nking Gushtasp, there happened to be two oppressive and infidel kings\nin his road; these Zardusht invited to adopt the pure faith and turn\naway from their evil practices; but they heeded not his words, he\ntherefore prayed to God, and there began to blow a mighty wind, which\nlifted up these two kings on high and kept them suspended in the air;\nthe people who came around were astonished on beholding this sight;\nthe birds also from every quarter of the sky flocked around the two\nkings, and with beaks and talons tore off their flesh until their\nbones fell to the ground.[408]\n\nZaratusht, the son of Bahram, says, that when Zardusht after his\nvictory arrived at the court of the great king Gushtasp, he called on\nthe name God, and then sought access to the sovereign.[409] He beheld\nthe first rank, composed of the grandees and champions of Iran and\nother regions, standing around; and above these two ranks of sages,\nphilosophers, and learned men, who took precedence of each other in\nproportion to their knowledge, for this great king was exceedingly\nattached to men of science; he next beheld the monarch of the world\nseated on a lofty throne, and his brows encircled with a costly crown:\non which Zardusht in eloquent language recited the praises of the\nking.\n\nFarz\u00e1nah Bahram, the son of Farhad, of the Yazdanian sect, relates\nthus in the _Sh\u00e1rist\u00e1n_: \u201cThe doctors of the pure faith say, that when\nZardusht entered into king Gushtasp\u2019s assembly, he held in his hand a\nblazing fire which caused him no injury; he then transferred that fire\nto the king\u2019s hands, which in like manner remained unhurt; he\nafterwards gave it into the hands of others and still no trace of\nburning appeared; he next lay down, and ordered molten brass to be\npoured on his bosom four different times: although the molten metal\ncame on his breast, no bodily injury resulted from it.\u201d[410]\nZaratusht, the son of Bahram, adds: The sovereign of Iran having thus\nascertained the dignity of the prophet of the human race, addressed\nhim with terms of earnest affection, and ordering a chair to be\nbrought, placed him in front of the royal throne, above the two ranks\nof the philosophers. Zardusht, agreeably to the king\u2019s command, having\ntaken this seat, manifested to all the assembly the precious diamonds\nof his intellectual stores. The sages and eminent men of the exterior\ncircles on his right and left entered on the path of controversy, but\nwere finally refuted, one after another. They say that on this day\nthirty of the sages seated on his right, being unable to withstand the\narguments of Zardusht, bore testimony to his knowledge and truth; and\nin like manner thirty of the wise men on his left were overpowered and\nconvinced. When such sages, who had not their equals in the seven\nclimates, had been thus confuted, the illustrious prince called the\nprophet of the Lord into his presence, and for further conviction\nquestioned him on various sciences and the traditions of old; and\nhaving received conclusive answers on all these points he was struck\nwith amazement. The great king therefore assigned to the prophet of\nthe just Lord a dwelling adjacent to his own palace, and the\nphilosophers departed home with afflicted hearts. During the whole\nnight they read over books with each other, and concerted with each\nother how they might, the following morning, conduct the argument and\ncontroversy with Zardusht; whilst the prophet of the Lord on coming to\nhis house, according to his custom, desisted not until morning from\nacts of worship and praise. The following day, when Zardusht and the\nphilosophers assembled around the king, whatever the sages advanced\nwhich was not strictly conformable to truth, Zardusht produced a\nhundred arguments, both theoretical and practical, to invalidate the\nassertion; and if they demanded a proof of whatever he himself\nadvanced, he adduced a hundred convincing demonstrations. Gushtasp\naccordingly increased the dignity of the Lord\u2019s prophet, and inquired\nhis name, lineage, and native city; to which questions Zardusht\nreturned the meet answer, and said: \u201cO great king, to-morrow is the\nday of Hormuz, or the first of the month; command the chiefs of the\nmilitary to assemble and all the philosophers to appear, that I may\nreduce all to silence, as I have done this assembly, and give answers\nwhich will dumbfound them; after which I shall execute the commission\nwith which I am entrusted.\u201d\n\nGushtasp issued the requisite order, and they all returned home with\nthis agreement. Zardusht, from inclination and habit, continued in\nsupplication to the Lord; and the wise men said to each other: \u201cThis\nstranger has twice degraded us wise men, taken away our reputation,\nand obtained favor with the king:\u201d they therefore conferred with each\nother how they could most effectually oppose Zardusht and refute his\narguments.\n\n \u201cWith this understanding each retired to his own abode,\n And through anxiety not one of them slept all that night.\u201d\n\nOn the third day, the nobles, doctors, and wise men assembled around\nthe king, and Zardusht also advanced into the company: although the\nsages and learned men had mutually combined to confound him by\nargument, they were all finally refuted. When the philosophers were no\nlonger able to utter a word, the superior personages gave place to\nZardusht, on which the prophet of the Lord loosed his tongue and said\nto Gushtasp: \u201cI am the envoy of the Lord the Creator of the heavens,\nearth, and stars; the disinterested bestower of daily food to his\nservant: he who has brought thee from non-existence into being and\nmade kings thy servants, has sent me to thee.\u201d Then taking the\n_Avesta_ and _Zand_ out of a case, he added: \u201cThis volume God has\ngiven to me, and sent me forth to the human race with the commandments\nnamed _Astawazand_, which require implicit obedience; if thou wilt\nconform to the commands of God, in like manner as he has made thee\nsovereign of the world, he will also make thee eternally happy in\nfuturity and paradise; but if thou avert the head from his command,\nthou incurrest the displeasure of the just God; the foundation of thy\ngreatness shall be rent, and thou shalt finally become a denizen of\nhell.\n\n \u201cAdopt no line of conduct through the suggestion of a Div.\n From this time forward listen to my commands.\u201d\n\nThe great king replied: \u201cWhat proof dost thou adduce, and what miracle\ndost thou perform? exhibit them, that I may instantly diffuse thy\nfaith over all the world.\u201d Zardusht said: \u201cOne of my decisive proofs\nand miraculous works is this volume, on once listening to which thou\nshalt never more behold demon or magician: this volume contains the\nmysteries of both worlds, and clearly expounds the revolutions of the\nstars: there is no being in existence an account of which is not found\nin this book.\u201d The king then commanded: \u201cRead me a section of this\nheavenly volume.\u201d Zardusht having read one chapter, Gushtasp not\nfeeling a full conviction, said to him: \u201cThou hast urged a bold suit;\nbut precipitancy in such an affair is by no means proper; I shall\ndevote some days to exploring the nature of the _Zand-Avesta_: but in\nthe mean time come thou hither as usual.\u201d Zardusht then\n\n \u201cReturned to the house assigned him by the king.\u201d\n\nThe enraged philosophers also came out and took counsel with each\nother about slaying Zardusht. The following morning, when Zardusht\nleft the house to go to the king\u2019s palace, he delivered the key of his\napartment to the king\u2019s porter; but the philosophers so deluded this\nman, that he gave up the key secretly to them; on which they opened\nthe door of the prophet\u2019s apartment, and having put into bags unclean\nthings which they had collected, such as blood, hair, a cat\u2019s head, a\ndog\u2019s head, dead men\u2019s bones and the like, placed them under his\npillow, and having locked the door, gave the key back to the porter,\npreviously obliging him to swear to keep the matter altogether secret;\nafter this they went to the palace, where they beheld Zardusht seated\nnear the king, who was engaged in reading the _Zand-Avesta_,\n\n \u201cLost in amazement at the characters and words.\u201d\n\nThe philosophers said: \u201cThe _Zand-Avesta_ is altogether magic, and\nthis man is a wizard, who by force of spells has produced an\nimpression on thy heart, in order to bring evil and confusion all over\nthe world; but be not thou the wizard\u2019s ally.\u201d On hearing this,\nGushtasp ordered persons to repair to Zardusht\u2019s house and make a\ncareful examination; they went and immediately brought before the king\nwhatever they found in the house, whether eatables, carpets, dresses,\nclothes-bags, etc., all which they opened in the king\u2019s presence; on\nthis, the talons, hair, and such like impurities, which had been\nhidden there by the philosophers, were exposed to view. The king was\ngreatly enraged, and said to Zardusht: \u201cThis is thy magic practice.\u201d\nThe prophet of the Lord being quite astonished, replied: \u201cI have no\nknowledge of these things; let his majesty inquire the particulars\nfrom the porter.\u201d The porter on being summoned, said: \u201cZardusht closed\nhis door, and not even wind had access to it.\u201d The king became quite\nindignant and said to Zardusht: \u201cThey have not brought these sacks\nfrom heaven and hid them under the pillow.\u201d In his rage he threw away\nthe _Avesta-Zand_, and sent Zardusht in chains to prison: there was\nalso a porter appointed to give him a fixed allowance and keep strict\nwatch. Zardusht remained in chains both day and night, the porter\nbringing him daily a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water; and one\nwhole week passed in that manner.\n\nThey relate that Gushtasp had a royal steed called the \u201cBlack\nCharger,\u201d which the great king mounted on the day of battle:\n\n \u201cWhen, mounted on this charger\u2019s back, he advanced to the fight,\n The result of the combat terminated in victory.\u201d\n\nOne morning at dawn, the master of the horse beheld the Black Charger\nwithout fore or hind feet, which he saw were drawn up into his belly;\nin great haste he announced this event to the sovereign of the world.\nGushtasp in great affliction hurried to the stable, summoning thither\nthe veterinary surgeons, physicians, and learned men, all of whom\nexerted themselves in remedies and applications without any benefit\nresulting from their exertions. Through grief the king partook not of\nfood that day, and the military were sorely afflicted. Zardusht, who\nin consequence of the general mourning had not received his allowance\nbefore evening, became hungry; when the evening had passed, the porter\ncame and brought the provisions, stating at the same time what had\nbefallen the Black Charger; on this the prophet of the Lord said to\nhim: \u201cTo-morrow tell the king that I can set this affair to rights.\u201d\nThe next morning the porter conveyed the prophet\u2019s message to the\nking, on which orders were given to bring Zardusht into the royal\npresence. This favorable intelligence having been communicated to\nZardusht, the prophet entered into a warm bath, and after ablution, on\nappearing before the king, he uttered benedictions on the sovereign of\nthe world. Gushtasp then assigned him a place near himself, and having\nexplained the state of the horse, added:\n\n \u201cIf thou be truly a prophet sent from the Lord,\n Thou canst easily restore this horse to perfect health.\u201d\n\nZardusht replied: \u201cIf thou wilt, O king, engage to perform four\nthings, thou shalt again behold the charger\u2019s fore and hind legs.\u201d The\nking said: \u201cI accept the conditions: what is the first?\u201d Zardusht\nreplied: \u201cLet us all repair to the Black Charger\u2019s bed.\u201d On arriving\nthere he said to the king: \u201cMake thy heart and tongue of one accord:\nutter with thy tongue and repeat with thy heart, that without doubt,\nsuspicion, or equivocation, I am a prophet and apostle sent from God.\u201d\nThe king having agreed to this, the prophet of the Lord addressed his\npetitions to the God of justice, and then rubbing with his hand the\nhorse\u2019s right forefoot, it straightway came out, on which the king and\nthe soldiery loudly applauded the holy man.\n\nAfter this, he said to the king: \u201cCommand the heroic Isfendiar to\nenter into a covenant with me that he will gird up his loins to\npromulgate the faith of the Lord.\u201d The prince was not averse, and\nentered into a solemn engagement; on which the apostle prayed to the\nLord until the right hind leg came out.\n\nHe then said to the great king: \u201cSend an _Ustawar_ and an _Amin_ along\nwith me to the great queen _Kit\u00e1b\u00fan_, in order that she may enter into\nthe true faith.\u201d The king having assented, Zardusht on coming into the\nking\u2019s golden apartment thus addressed queen Kit\u00e1b\u00fan: \u201cMighty\nprincess! the Lord has expressly selected thee to share the couch of\nGushtasp and to be the mother of Isfendiar. I am the Lord\u2019s prophet\nsent by him to the king: therefore adopt the pure faith.\u201d On this the\ngreat queen with heart and soul attached herself in sincerity to the\nprophet: after which Zardusht prayed, so that the other hind leg came\nout.\n\nHe then said to the king: \u201cNow send for the porter; it is proper to\ninquire of him who it was that conveyed this stuff of magical\npreparation to my house.\u201d The king summoned the chamberlain and\nquestioned him in a threatening tone, saying: \u201cIf thou wilt confess\nthe truth, thou savest thy life; but otherwise, thou shalt have thy\nhead under thy feet.\u201d The treacherous chamberlain implored pardon, and\nrelated all the particulars of the bribery and delusion practised by\nthe philosophers\u2019 friends. Gushtasp was exceedingly indignant, and\nordered the four philosophers to be hanged. Zardusht then recited the\nprayers taught him by the Almighty, so that the other forefoot came\nout, and the swift charger stood on his legs. The sovereign of Iran\nkissed the prophet\u2019s head and face, and leading him to the throne,\nseated him near himself; he also requested pardon for his sin and gave\nback the prophet\u2019s goods.[411]\n\nThe doctors of the pure faith also record, that king _Lohrasp_ and\n_Zerir_, brother to Gushtasp having fallen into so violent a malady,\nthat the physicians in despair desisted from all attendance on them,\nbut having been restored to health through the prayers of Zardusht,\nthey adopted the pure faith.[412]\n\nZaratusht the son of Bahram relates: One day Zardusht, having come\ninto the king\u2019s presence, he thus addressed the prophet of the Lord:\n\u201cI desire to obtain four things from God; it is therefore meet that\nthe prophet should request them: first, that I should behold my own\nstate in the next world; secondly, that in the time of conflict no\nblow should make any impression on me, so that I may be able to\ndiffuse the true faith; thirdly, that I may know thoroughly the\nmysteries of good and evil in this world; fourthly, that until the day\nof judgment my spirit may remain united to my body.\u201d Zardusht replied:\n\u201cI will entreat the Lord to grant these four wishes:\n\n \u201cBut it is necessary that out of these four wishes\n Thou shouldst implore one only for thyself:\n Choose three wishes for three different persons:\n That I may entreat them from the righteous Creator;\n He will not confer on any one person these four gifts,\n Because that person might say: \u2018I am the supreme Creator.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe king having agreed to this, Zaratusht at the time of evening\nprayer went to his house, repeated the praises of the Almighty,\nentreating from him the accomplishment of the king\u2019s desires, and lay\ndown in the act of adoration: in this state God showed him in a vision\nthat the king\u2019s petition was granted. At dawn of day the king was\nseated on his throne; Zardusht appeared in the royal presence and came\nto his place; in a moment after, the king\u2019s chamberlain entering in\ngreat trepidation, said: \u201cThere are four terror-striking,\nawe-inspiring horsemen at the door:\n\n \u201cNever before have I beheld horsemen of such a kind.\u201d\n\nThe king asked of Zardusht: \u201cWho are these persons?\u201d but he had\nscarcely done speaking before all the four horsemen dressed in green,\ncompletely armed, of majestic port, drew near the throne; these four\ncavaliers were of the number of those angels who are nearest the just\nGod, and are of the great Amshasfands, namely, _Bahman_,[413]\n_Ardibahist_,[414] _Azarkhurdad_,[415] and _Azargusht\u00e1sp_,[416] who\nthus addressed the king: \u201cWe are angels and the envoys of God. The\nDispenser of justice thus declares: \u2018Zardusht is my prophet, whom I\nhave sent to all the inhabitants of the earth; attend well to him; if\nthou devote thyself to his way, thou art delivered from hell. Never\ninflict pain on him; and when thou obtainest thy desires, avert not\nthy head from his commands.\u2019\u201d\n\nKing Gushtasp, although in magnanimity immovable as mount _Alburz_,\nyet through the majesty of the angels and their awful presence, fell\nsenseless from his throne: on recovering himself he thus addressed the\nrighteous Lord:\n\n \u201cI am the lowest of all thy servants,\n And have girt up my loins to execute thy orders.\u201d\n\nWhen the Amsh\u00e1sfands heard this answer, they departed; and the\nmilitary, on learning this wonderful occurrence, were all assembled:\nthe king also, trembling all over, apologized to Zardusht:\n\n \u201cThy command sits upon my soul;\n My spirit is like the son of the Lord;\n My body, soul, and wealth are all to thee devoted,\n By order of the just and glorious Creator.\u201d\n\nThe prophet of the Lord replied: \u201cMay good tidings ever attend thee! I\nhave entreated from the Almighty the completion of thy desires, and my\nprayer has been granted.\u201d Zardusht then ordered that for the purpose\nof the _Yashtan-i-dar\u00fan_,[417] that is, \u201cthe recitation and breathing\nout of prayer,\u201d they should make ready in an inner apartment wine,\nsweet perfumes, milk, and a pomegranate; and over these he performed\n_Yasht_, or \u201cthe recitation of prayers,\u201d in a low voice, out of the\n_Avesta_ and _Zand_; after this ceremony they gave Gushtasp some of\nthe hallowed wine, on the mere tasting of which he became insensible\nand rose not up for three days: in that interval his spirit ascended\nto heaven, and there beheld the celestial nymphs, their palaces,\nprogeny, and attendants; the blessings of paradise; the different\ngradations of rank among the virtuous, and the grade reserved for\nhimself.\n\nThe prophet next presented to _Bishutan_[418] some of that hallowed\nmilk, on drinking of which he was delivered from the pangs of death\nand obtained eternal life. Some of the Yezd\u00e1nian doctors hold, that by\neternal life is implied the knowledge of one\u2019s own essence and soul,\nwhich never admit of decay; milk is also mentioned, as it constitutes\nthe food of children, and science is the food of spirit; on which\naccount they have likened science to consecrated milk. He next gave\n_Jamasp_[419] some of the hallowed perfume, through the efficacy of\nwhich universal science shed its lustre on his heart; so that, from\nthat very day of his existence, whatever was to come to pass until the\nday of judgment was clearly comprehended by him in all its details. He\nthen gave one grain of the hallowed pomegranate to _Isfendiar_, who on\neating it instantly became brazen-bodied, and his frame grew so hard\nthat no blow could make an impression on it.\n\nWhen the great king awoke from his vision, he broke out into praise\nand adoration; after which he called for Zardusht, to whom he related\nwhat he had witnessed, and commanded all men to receive the pure\nfaith; then, being seated on his throne, he ordered the prophet of the\nLord to recite some sections of the _Zand_ in his presence. On hearing\nthe _Avesta_, the demons fled and concealed themselves under the\nearth. The great king next commanded that in every city the Mobeds\nshould attend to the observance of fire, erecting domes over it, and\nkeeping stated festivals and times.\n\n\nACCOUNT OF THE PRECEPTS GIVEN BY ZARDUSHT TO THE KING AND TO ALL\nMANKIND.\u2015\u2015The prophet Zardusht, having read to the king some sections\nconcerning the greatness and majesty of the Almighty, said to him: \u201cAs\nthou hast adopted the ways of God, the joy of paradise is to be thy\nportion; but he who abandons that way is hurried off to hell by\nAhriman, who feels delighted, and on making the capture says to his\nvictim: \u2018Because thou hast abandoned the ways of God, therefore art\nthou fallen into hell.\u2019 But the just God is liberal to his servants,\nand has sent me to them, saying: \u2018Communicate my covenant to all\ncreated beings, that they may abandon their perverse ways.\u2019 I am his\nprophet, sent to thee that thou mayst guide mankind to the right road;\nas the final result of persevering in the way of God is the attainment\nof paradise; and the retribution of devotedness to Ahriman is hell. He\nmoreover commanded me: \u2018Say thou to mankind, if ye adopt the pure\nfaith, then shall paradise be your place; but if ye receive it not,\nyou follow the institutes of Ahriman, and hell shall be your abode.\u2019\nThe several demonstrations of Zardusht and his wondrous works are to\nyou an abundant proof of the truth of his faith. Know also that at\nfirst he sought the world; but finally regarded wife, children, and\nrelations as strangers to himself; he has moreover attained to such\nperfect faith, that the king and the mendicant are the same in his\nsight. He has enjoined me nothing more than this: neither has he given\nme permission to be your intercessor or to entreat from him remission\nof your sins: for protection extended to the evil doer is itself\ncriminal, and the chastisement of evil deeds is true religion: he\nenjoined me also to entertain hope of his favor from my words and\ndeeds.\u201d\n\n \u201cLook to your acts and words, for they produce their sure effect,\n The same seed that people sow, such the harvest they shall reap.\u201d\n\nIt is also expressly stated in the glorious Koran to the same\npurport:[420] \u201cOn the very day when the spirit (Gabriel) and the\nangels shall be ranged in their order, nobody shall speak except him\nto whom the Merciful will permit it, and who will say nothing but what\nis just.\u201d In another place it is declared:[421] \u201cTruly thou canst not\ndirect whomsoever thou lovest; but God will direct whomsoever he\npleases.\u201d It is also recorded in the traditions, that the asylum of\nprophecy (on whom be blessings!) said to the beautiful Fatima: \u201cO\nFatima! fear nothing, for thou art the prophet\u2019s daughter; perform\ngood works! again I say, perform good works!\u201d He also proposed this\nadditional proof! \u201cNot one of the eminent, eloquent, learned, or wise\nmen of the world can produce a composition which in the least\nresembles the volume I have sent down; if they are able let them\ndeclare it; but as they are unable, let them confess that this is the\nvoice of God: a similar statement has also been made in the divine\nwords of the Koran: \u2018produce ye a chapter resembling it.\u2019 Again of the\nmany prophets who appeared on earth, all were ignorant of future\nevents except Zardusht, who, in the _Zend-Avesta_, clearly expounded\nwhatever was to come to pass until the day of judgment, whether good\nor evil.\u201d\n\n \u201cConcerning kings inspired by truth, religion, and justice,\n There are minute details if thou wilt call them to mind:\n The names of all he has consigned to lasting fame,\n Their every act and deed, whether just or unjust alike.\u201d\n\nMoreover no prophet, save Zardusht, bestowed in the presence of God\nbenedictions on the military class whose hearts were rightly affected\ntowards him.\n\n \u201cTo the follower of his faith he said, if to the true believers\n Thou doest good, then good shall result to thee.\u201d\n\nBut above all he has said: \u201cGod has commanded me: \u2018Say thou to mankind\nthey are not to abide in hell for ever; when their sins are expiated,\nthey are delivered out of it.\u2019\u201d\n\nIt is generally reported that Zardusht was of _Azarbadg\u00e1n_[422] or\n_Tabruz_; but those who are not _Beh-dinians_, or \u201ctrue believers,\u201d\nassert, and the writer of this work has also heard from the Mobed\n_Torru_ of _Bus\u00e1w\u00e1ri_, in Gujurat, that the birth-place and\ndistinguished ancestors of the prophet belong to the city of\n_Rai_.[423]\n\nA Mobed has transcribed as follows from the _Avesta_ and _Zand_,[424]\nwhen the Amsh\u00e1sfand B\u00e1hm\u00e1n, pursuant to God\u2019s command, had borne the\nprophet Zardusht to heaven, he thus entreated of the Almighty: \u201cClose\nthe door of death against me: let that be my miracle.\u201d But the\nrighteous Lord replied: \u201cIf I close the gates of death against thee,\nthou wilt not be satisfied; nay, thou wouldst entreat death from me.\u201d\nHe then gave Zardusht something like honey, on tasting of which he\nbecame insensible; like one in a profound sleep has visions, he became\nacquainted with the mysteries of existence, clearly perceiving the\ngood and evil of whatever is in being; nay, he knew the number of\nhairs on the sheep, and the sum of the leaves on a tree. When his\nsenses were restored, the Almighty asked him: \u201cWhat hast thou seen?\u201d\nHe answered: O supreme ruler! I beheld in hell, along with Ahriman,\nmany wealthy persons who had been ungrateful in this world; and I\nfound in the supreme paradise many persons, rich in gold and silver,\nwho had worshipped the Lord and been grateful to him. I moreover saw\nin hell many who were eminent for wealth, but who were childless; and\nmany an indigent Durvesh, the father of many children, in the\nenjoyment of paradise. I saw moreover a tree with seven branches,[425]\nthe shadow of which extended far and wide; one branch of gold, the\nsecond of silver, the third of copper, the fourth of brass, the fifth\nof tin (or lead), the sixth of steel, the seventh of mixed iron.\u201d The\nLord then said to his prophet: \u201cThe tree with seven branches is the\nseries of events in the world, in which agitation arises from seven\nsources through the revolution of the spheres; the first or golden\nbranch typifies the way and attraction by which thou hast come to my\npresence and attained the prophet\u2019s office; the second or silver\nbranch signifies that the great sovereign of the age shall receive thy\nsystem of faith, and that the demons shall hide themselves in dismay;\nthe third or copper branch is the period of the Ashkanian kings.\n\n \u201cHe who is not a true believer\n Holds in abhorrence the pure in faith.\n The great stock of fortune shall at this time\n Be torn piecemeal and scattered all over the world.\n\n\u201cThe fourth, or the branch of brass, typifies the reign of Ardashir,\nthe son of S\u00e1ss\u00e1n, who shall adorn the universe with the true faith\nand reestablish the pure institutes; the people will embrace the faith\nthrough the force of demonstration: they will pour molten copper and\nbrass on the breast of Arzabad, and his person shall receive no\ninjury. The fifth, or leaden branch is the reign of B\u00e1hr\u00e1m Gor, during\nwhich mankind will enjoy repose.\n\n \u201cWhen mankind are in the enjoyment of happiness,\n Ahriman is grieved beforehand at this prosperous state.\n\n\u201cThe sixth branch, or that of steel, is the reign of Nushirwan,\nthrough whose equity the aged world shall be restored to youth; and\nalthough _Mazdak_ of corrupt heart shall pursue his designs, yet will\nhe be unable to do any injury to the pure faith. The seventh branch,\nor that of mixed iron, is emblematic of the time when the period of a\nthousand years verges to its end,[426] and the royal dignity falls to\n_Mazdakin_, and no respect remains to the pure faith; then a people\nclothed in black, oppressors of the poor, without title, reputation,\nor merit, friends to tumult and wickedness, fraudulent, hypocritical,\nand deceitful, bitter of heart like aloes, with honied tongue,\ntraitors to bread and salt, ungrateful, speakers of falsehood, alike\nbuilding the most magnificent mansions and fond of ruined\ncaravansarais, seeking the ways of hell, having conspired together\nwill destroy the fire-temples, and turn to themselves the spirit of\nthe inhabitants of Iran. The sons and daughters of the nobles shall\nfall into their hands, and the children of the virtuous and mighty\nbecome their attendants: nay, this race shall make a covenant-breaker\nking over them:\n\n \u201cThat person among them obtains both power and rank,\n Whose career is directed to the production of misery.\n\n\u201cWhen this millennium comes to a termination, the clouds shall mostly\nappear unattended by rain; the rains not fall in their season; heats\npredominate; the water of rivers be lessened; few cows or sheep be\nleft remaining; and men despicable in figure, small of stature, weak\nin form, shall then be met with.\n\n \u201cThe speed of the horse and the rider shall suffer diminution,\n And no productive energy remain in the bosom of the sown field.\u201d\n\n\u201cMen shall gird the sacred zone in secrecy, and drag on a dishonored\nexistence, forgetting altogether the _N\u00e1\u00faroz_ and _the festival of\nFarvardin_.[427]\n\n \u201cThe mouth of Safand\u00e1rmuz shall be opened wide,\n And the hidden treasures cast forth and exposed to view.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn evil-disposed rapacious host of Turks shall come to Iran, and\nforce away the crown and throne from its chieftains. O, Zardusht!\ncommunicate these tidings to the Mobeds, that they may impart them to\nthe people.\u201d Zardusht replied: \u201cHow shall the professors of the true\nfaith be able to perform their worship?\u201d to which this answer was\ngiven: \u201cWhen the second millennium commences, mankind shall behold\nmore calamity than was witnessed in the times of Zoh\u00e1k and Afrasi\u00e1b;\nand when that period is terminated, there will not be found any one of\nthe least merit among the professors of the true faith.\n\n \u201cFrom every quarter they shall prepare to assail Iran,\n With their chargers\u2019 hoofs they shall lay it waste.\u201d\n\nZardusht said: \u201cO righteous Ormuzd! after so much toil, abridgment of\nlife and long-protracted suffering shall not the professors of the\ntrue faith find some intercessor; and how can discomfiture overtake\nthose clothed in black vestments?\u201d The Almighty answered thus: \u201cPain\nis not to last for ever; when the black ensign is displayed, a host\narrayed in red vestments and helmets shall come forth from the\nformidable room; and the land of Khorasan be desolate by flood and\nvapor; the earth shall tremble and the cultivated fields be laid\nwaste; Turk, R\u00famite, and Arab encounter each other; and the borders of\nTuran be made a wilderness by Turks, Persians, and Hindoos; the sacred\nfire be borne to _Dushkhargar_, or \u2018the mountainous region;\u2019 and,\nthrough invasions, Iran become one scene of desolation.\u201d The prophet\nthen said: \u201cO, Lord! however short the duration of this people may be,\nthey will surely destroy life; how then shall these wicked be\nexterminated?\u201d To which he received this answer: \u201cThe standard of an\narmy arises out of Khorasan, and then Hoshidar is separated from his\nmother; when he arrives at the age of thirty, he will follow the\nancient mode of faith, and become sovereign of Hindustan and China; he\nshall have a son of the Kaianian race, named Bahram and entitled\nHamawand, but whom his nation will call Shapur: on the birth of that\nillustrious child, the stars shall drop down from heaven; and his\nfather pass away from this world in the month of _Aban_ and the day of\n_Baud_.[428] When this son has attained twenty-one years of age, he\nshall march in every direction with a numerous host, and proceeding\nwith his troops to Balkh and Bokhara, advance into Iran with the\narmies of India and China. A man professing the good faith in the\nmountain region will then exert himself, and bringing up an army from\nKhorasan and Sistan, come to the aid of Iran:\n\n \u201cFrom Kisht\u00ed Duw\u00e1l, Roome, and Firingstan,\n From demons clothed in black, like piebald wolves.\u201d\n\n\u201cThree mighty battles shall then ensue, which will render Persia the\nland of mourning; after which will arise an exalted avenging prince\nwho shall obtain the victory. In those days a thousand women shall not\nbe able to find one man; and if they should perchance behold one, they\nshall be filled with astonishment. When those times are come to an\nend, I shall send Ser\u00f3sh towards Jerusalem and summon Bishutan, who\nwill issue forth with a company of one hundred and fifty virtuous men,\nand duly perform _Yasht_, or \u2018prayer,\u2019 on which Ahriman will engage in\nbattle with them; but, on hearing the sound of the _Hadokht_ and the\n_Ashtawazand_, the partizans of Ahriman shall flee out of Iran. A\nprince, B\u00e1hr\u00e1m by name, shall then ascend the throne, bring back the\nsacred fire, and restore the institutions of ancient times, and the\nseed of the wicked shall then be exterminated: finally, when Bishutan\nbeholds every thing duly arranged, he will return with royal pomp to\nhis own palace.\u201d\n\nThe Mobed _Azar Khirad_ relates in his book that the _Zand_ contains\ntwenty-one _Nosks_, or \u201cparts,\u201d every _Nosk_ having a particular name\nin Zand and Parsi according to the following list:[429] _Yath\u00e1_,\n_Ita_, _Ahu_, _W\u00edr\u00eda_, _Alart\u00fash_, _Nadar_, which they call in Arabic\n_B\u00fafast\u00e1l_, and in Parsi _Fava\u00edmas\u00edhan_. This Nosk treats of the\nstars, constellations, order of the heavens, the aspects, the good and\nevil influences of the heavenly bodies, and such like topics. The\nother Nosks are: the _Ash\u00e1d_, _Ch\u00edd_, _Hash\u00fa_, _Wankaw\u00edsh_, _Wazda_,\n_Mankah\u00fa_, _S\u00edtan\u00fa_, _Nan_, _Ankah\u00edsh_, _Marz\u00e1i_, _Khashar_, _Mach\u00e1_,\n_Ahr\u00e1_, _Ay\u00e1m_, _Dark\u00fab\u00ed\u00fa_ and _Astar\u00e1m_: all the sciences are\ncontained in the Zand, but some are mentioned enigmatically and by way\nof allusion. At present there are fourteen complete Nosks possessed by\nthe Dost\u00fars of Karman, the other seven being incomplete, as through\nthe wars and dissensions which prevailed in Iran some of the Nosks\nhave disappeared, so that, notwithstanding the greatest researches,\nthe Nosks have come into their hands in a defective state.\n\nZaratusht B\u00e1hr\u00e1m, the son of _Pazhd\u00fa_, relates that, at the time of\nthe promulgation of the pure faith in Iran, there lived in India a\nsage of profound learning, named _Jangrangh\u00e1chah_,[430] whose pupil\n_Jamasp_[431] had been during many years, a circumstance which\nprocured him great distinction. On being informed of Gushtasp\u2019s\nconversion, he wrote an epistle to the great king, to dissuade him\nfrom the profession of the pure faith. By the king\u2019s command, this\nsage came to Iran to hold a disputation with Zardusht, who said to\nhim: \u201cListen to one Nosk of this Asta which I have received from God,\nand attend to its interpretation.\u201d Upon this, at the illustrious\nprophet\u2019s command, one of his disciples read a Nosk in which God said\nthus to Zardusht: \u201cOn the promulgation of the pure faith, there shall\ncome from Hindustan a wise man, named _Jangrangh\u00e1chah_, who will ask\nthee questions, after such and such guise, the answers to which are\nafter this manner, thus answering all his questions:\n\n \u201cBy this same Nosk his condition was improved,\n And the answer to each question was correctly given.\u201d\n\nWhen he heard the solutions of his questions he fell from his chair,\nand on recovering his senses adopted the pure faith. The prophet S\u00e1s\u00e1n\nthe Fifth, in his select commentary on the _Das\u00e1tir_ and the\ninterpretation of the code of Zardusht, relates, that when Isfendiar\nhad promulgated the pure faith, the eminent sages of Greece dispatched\na learned man, named _Niy\u00e1t\u00fas_,[432] to interrogate the prophet of the\nLord concerning the exact nature of his tenets. Gushtasp, having\nassigned him an audience on a most auspicious day. this distinguished\nGreek, on beholding the face of Zardusht, said: \u201cFrom this face,\nknowledge, sagacity, and science are manifest as the properties of a\nmind so formed; and this is not the physiognomy of one who utters\nfalsehoods.\u201d He then asked him concerning the moment, day, month, and\nyear of his birth, which being communicated by Zardusht, Niy\u00e1t\u00fas\nobserved: \u201cUnder such a horoscope, a person of weak intellects cannot\nbe born.\u201d He next questioned him concerning his food, sleep, and mode\nof life, which being also explained, Niy\u00e1t\u00fas added: \u201cFrom this rule of\nlife he cannot be an impostor.\u201d The prophet of the Lord then said to\nhim: \u201cKeep in thy heart whatever thou desirest to inquire about, and\nutter it not with thy tongue; as the Almighty has acquainted me with\nit, and for my sake has sent me his word in this chapter relative to\nthese matters.\u201d On this, one of the prophet\u2019s disciples read to\nNiy\u00e1t\u00fas, out of a single chapter, all that was laid up in the noble\nenvoy\u2019s breast, and whatever he was commissioned to enquire about, at\nthe desire of the eminent men of Greece.\n\nThe Fifth S\u00e1s\u00e1n, in like manner, relates that when the report of\nJangrangh\u00e1chah\u2019s having adopted the faith was published abroad, a\nsage, by name _By\u00e1s\u00e1_,[433] came from India to Iran; and the sages of\nevery country being assembled, pursuant to the great king\u2019s command,\nBiy\u00e1sa thus addressed the prophet of the Lord in the presence of all:\n\u201cO, Zardusht! in consequence of thy answers and unfolding of mysteries\nto the wise Jangrangh\u00e1chah, thou art accounted a true prophet. I have\nbesides heard of innumerable miracles performed by thee. Know that I\nalso, in my own country, am reckoned as one who is unequalled both in\nthe theoretical and practical sciences. I now hope that thou wilt\ndisclose the secrets which I have kept pent up in my bosom, and have\nnever in any manner transferred from the page of my heart to the lip:\nsome people tell us that the genii impart knowledge of this kind to\nthe worshippers of Ahriman: however if thou canst unfold all these\nsecrets, I shall turn to thy faith.\u201d The prophet of the Lord said:\n\u201cLong before thy arrival, the God of purity made all known to me.\u201d He\nthen recited a _Simnad_, \u201cchapter,\u201d which the Lord had sent down on\nthose subjects; in which was specified whatever was in By\u00e1sa\u2019s heart,\nwith the answer attached to it; after which By\u00e1sa listened to the word\nof God, and having made profession of the pure faith, returned to\nHindustan. It is to be remarked that the two Simnad which contain the\nanswers to the eminent envoy of the Greeks and the sage Byasa do not\nform a part of the Astawazand, but constitute a portion of the\nDes\u00e1tir,[434] or of the celestial volume, in the language of which a\nchapter is styled a Simnad.\n\nMoreover, Zaratusht B\u00e1hr\u00e1m thus relates concerning the account of\nheaven and hell given by _Ardaivir\u00e1f_.[435] It is recorded that, when\nthe power of _Ardeshir Babagan_ was firmly established, he assembled\naround him forty thousand virtuous Mobeds and Dustars, out of which\nnumber he selected four thousand; of those thus selected he set apart\nfour hundred, who knew by heart the greater part of the Asta; of these\nfour hundred he again chose out forty learned doctors; and from these\nhe selected seven unblemished sages, equally free from mortal and\nvenial sins, whom he thus addressed: \u201cLet whichever of you is able\ndivest himself of body, and bring us intelligence concerning heaven\nand hell.\u201d These righteous men made answer: \u201cFor such a purpose there\nis required a man who from the age of seven upwards has not committed\nsin.\u201d After which these sages selected from amongst them one, named\n_Ardai Vir\u00e1f_,[436] whom they knew to be possessed of this excellence,\nand, accompanied by the great king, they all repaired to _Azar\nKh\u00fard\u00e1d_, which was a fire-temple; having there prepared a golden\nthrone for _Ardai Vir\u00e1f_, the forty thousand professors of the faith\nperformed _Yazash_, that is, recited prayers according to the\nprescribed mode. Ard\u00e1ivir\u00e1f, having drunk a cup of hallowed wine which\nhe received from the Dustur, lay down on his couch and did not arise\nbefore the expiration of a week; his spirit, through the efficacy of\nthe divine word, having been separated from the body, those six\nDust\u00fars all the while standing around his pillow. On the eighth day\nArd\u00e1\u00ed, arising from sleep, ordered a scribe to be brought, who should\ncommit to writing all his words; and he thus spoke:[437] \u201cWhen I fell\nasleep, _Sirushi_, who is called also _Sur\u00fash Ash\u00fa_, or _Ash\u00fa_ simply,\nor \u2018the Angel of paradise,\u2019 came near. Having made my sal\u00e1m, I\nexplained the motives of my coming to the other world. He took my hand\nand said: \u2018Ascend three steps.\u2019 I obeyed, and arrived at the _Chanyud\nPul_, or \u2018the straight bridge of judgment\u2019 (the sar\u00e1t of the\nMuhammedans). The accompanying Angel pointed me out the road, when I\nbeheld a bridge finer than a hair and sharper than a razor, and\nstrong, and its length was seven-and-thirty _rasans_, or cords.[438] I\nbeheld a spirit just parted from the body in a state of tranquillity;\non its arrival at the bridge of judgment, a fragrant gale came from\nmid-day or the east, out of which issued forth a beautiful nymph-like\nform, the like of which I never before beheld. The spirit asked her:\n\u2018Who art thou of such surpassing beauty?\u2019 She replied: \u2018I am the\npersonification of thy good deeds.\u2019\n\n\u201cI then saw _Mihr Ized_,[439] at whose side were standing _Rash\nRast_[440] and _Sar\u00fash Ized_ holding a balance in his hand, and angels\nassembled around them. Now Mihr Ized is the angel whose province it is\nto number and estimate people in regard to rewards and punishments.\nRash is his minister of justice and the lord of equity; and Sar\u00fash is\nthe lord of messages and the master of announcements. To these I made\nmy salam which they returned, and I passed over the bridge.[441]\nSeveral spirits then appeared who addressed me affectionately; B\u00e1hm\u00e1n\nnext appeared and said to me: \u2018Come on, that I may show thee the\n_Gah-i-zarin\u2019_ (or golden place, which is the same as the celestial\nthrone). I proceeded with him to a beautiful throne, where I beheld\nthe spirit before mentioned, whose deeds were personified by a\nbeauteous form, with the _Ashwan_, or \u2018pure spirits,\u2019 and the\ninhabitants of paradise around him, with the spirits of his relations\nrejoicing as on the arrival of a long-absent traveller from his abode;\nthen B\u00e1hm\u00e1n took his hand and brought him to a place worthy of him.\nWhen I had proceeded a little onwards, I beheld a lofty portico, where\nby order of Sur\u00fash I addressed my prayers towards the place of God,\nand my sight became darkened through the effulgence of light. Sur\u00fash\nagain brought me back to the bridge of judgment, around which I beheld\na number of persons standing with folded hands. I asked: \u2018Who are\nthose persons?\u2019 Sur\u00fash answered: \u2018These are the weak in faith, who\nremain in this state until the day of judgment: if they possessed an\nadditional particle of virtue, equal in weight to one of the hairs of\nthe eyelash, they would be relieved from this calamity.\u2019 I then beheld\nanother assemblage like unto shining stars. Surush said: \u2018This is the\n_Satra Payah_,[442] (or the sphere of the fixed stars); in these are a\npeople who with all their wealth observed not the _G\u00edt\u00ed Khar\u00edd_[443]\n(the purchase of the other world) and the _Na\u00fa Roz_ (or the festival\nof the new year.)\u2019 He next brought me to the _M\u00e1h P\u00e1yah_ (or lunar\nsphere), where I beheld spirits resplendent as the moon. The angel\nsaid: \u2018this _M\u00e1h P\u00e1yah_ is also one of the spheres of paradise, in which\nare those who have performed every kind of meritorious act and deed,\nexcept observing the _Na\u00fa Roz_.\u2019 He then conducted me to the _Kh\u00farsh\u00edd\nP\u00e1yah_ (or solar sphere) where I beheld spirits exceedingly bright,\nradiant as the sun. The angel said: \u2018In the solar sphere are the\npersons who have observed the _G\u00edt\u00ed Khar\u00edd_ and the _Na\u00fa Roz_.\u2019 At his\ncommand, I then addressed my prayers to the _Warakt_ and\n_Khurah-i-Yazdan_, or \u2018light of the Almighty:\u2019 perception and\nintellect, through the effects of terror and overpowering awe, began\nto flee from me; a voice, however, from which I obtained renovated\nenergy, came to my hearing: there was then some oil[444] given me to\ndrink out of a golden cup: I partook of it and found it of an\nincomparable taste: they told me that it was the food of the people of\nparadise. I next beheld _Ardi Beh\u00e9st_,[445] to whom I made my salam.\nHe said to me: \u2018Place on the sacred fire wood free from moisture.\u2019\nSurush then bore me off to _Kurutaman_, or \u2018paradise,\u2019[446] in the\nlight of which I became bewildered in astonishment: I knew none of the\nprecious stones of which it was composed. The angels, by the command\nof the Almighty, took me round every part of it. I next came to a\nplace where I beheld an illustrious assemblage enveloped in _Khurah_,\nthat is, \u2018radiance and pomp.\u2019 _Sur\u00fash Ashir_ said: \u2018These are the\nspirits of the munificent and noble-minded.\u2019 After this I saw a great\nmultitude in all magnificence. Sur\u00fash explained to me: \u2018These are the\nspirits of all who have observed the _Na\u00fa Roz_.\u2019 Next them I beheld an\nassemblage in the enjoyment of all magnificence and happiness. Sur\u00fash\nobserved: \u2018These are the spirits of just princes.\u2019 After this I beheld\nblessed spirits in boundless joy and power. Surush explained: \u2018These\nare the Dust\u00fars and Mobeds: my duty is to convey that class to this\nhonor.\u2019 I next beheld a company of women rejoicing in the midst of\ngreat pomp. Sur\u00fash Ash\u00fa and Ardibah\u00e9st observed: \u2018These are the\nspirits of women who were obedient to their husbands.\u2019 I then beheld a\nmultitude of majestic and beautiful persons, seated along with angels.\nSur\u00fash said: \u2018this class consists of H\u00edrbuds and Mobeds, the\nattendants on fire-temples, and the observers of the _Yasht_ and\n_Yazisht_ of the Amshasfands.\u2019 After these I saw an armed assemblage\nin a state of the highest joy. Sur\u00fash informed me: \u2018These are the\nspirits of the champions who fought in the ways of God, maintaining\ntheir country and the husbandmen in a state of prosperity and\ntranquillity.\u2019 I next beheld a great assemblage in the enjoyment of\nall delight and gladness. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018These are the spirits of\nthe slayers of the _Khur\u00e1st\u00e1r_ (or noxious animals).\u2019[447] After this,\nI witnessed a people given up to sporting and happiness. Surush\nobserved: \u2018These are the spirits of the husbandmen, over whom\n_Saf\u00e1ndarmuz_ is set; he consequently presides over this class, as\nthey have propitiated him by their acts.\u2019 I next beheld a great\ncompany surrounded by all the appliances of enjoyment. Sur\u00fash said:\n\u2018These are the spirits of shepherds.\u2019 After this, I beheld great\nnumbers in a state of repose and joy, and the elemental principles of\nparadise standing before them. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018These are the heads\nof families, friends to building, who have improved the world by\ngardens and water-courses, and held the elements in reverence.\u2019 I next\ncame to another class, endowed with prophet-like radiance, of whom\nSur\u00fash remarked: \u2018These are the spirits of _J\u00e1d\u00f3ng\u00f3is_.\u2019 By\n_J\u00e1d\u00f3ng\u00f3is_ is meant one who solicits money from the wealthy to\npromote the way of the Lord, and who expends it on noble foundations\nand holy indigent persons.\n\n\u201cWhat can I say concerning the black-eyed nymphs\u2015\u2015the palaces,\noffspring, and attendants\u2015\u2015the drinks and viands?\u2015\u2015any thing like\nwhich I know not of in this elemental world.[448]\n\n\u201cAfter this Sur\u00fash and Ardibeh\u00e9st, taking me out of paradise, bore me\noff to behold the punishments inflicted on those in hell. First of\nall, I beheld a black and gloomy river of fetid water, with weeping\nmultitudes falling in and drowning. Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This water is\ncollected from the tears shed by relatives on the death of a person;\nand those who are drowning are they whose relatives, after their\ndeath, break out into mourning, weeping, and tears.\u2019 I next proceeded\ntowards the bridge of judgment, where I beheld a spirit rent from the\nbody, and mourning for its separation: there arose a fetid gale, out\nof which issued a gloomy figure, with red eye-balls, hooked nose,\nhideous lips, teeth like columns, a head like the kettle of a\nminaret,[449] long talons, spear-like fangs, snaky locks, and vomiting\nout smoke. The alarmed spirit having asked, \u2018Who art thou?\u2019 he\nanswered, \u2018I am the personification of thy acts and deeds.\u2019 On saying\nthis, he threw his hands around the spirit\u2019s neck, so that his\nlamentations came to the bridge of judgment, which is sharper than a\nrazor: on this the spirit having gone a little way with great\ndifficulty, at last fell into the infernal regions. I then followed\nhim, accompanied by S\u00farush and Ardibehest: our road lay through snow,\nice, storms, intense cold, mephitic exhalations, and obscurity, along\na region full of pits: into these I looked, and there beheld countless\nmyriads of spirits suffering tortures. They all wailed bitterly, and\nthe darkness was so thick that one was unable to perceive the other,\nor to distinguish his lamentation: three days such punishment is equal\nto nine thousand years, and the same calculation applies to the other\npits, in all of which were serpents, scorpions, stinging and noxious\ncreatures: whatever spirit falls into them\n\n \u201cWas stung by one and torn by another,\n Was bit by this, and pierced by that.\u201d\n\n\u201cSur\u00fash having taken me below, I there beheld a spirit with a human\nhead and serpent-like body, surrounded by many demons who were\napplying the torture to his feet, and smiting him in every direction\nwith hatchets, daggers, and maces, whilst noxious creatures were\nbiting him on all sides. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018This was a man of vile\npassions.\u2019 I next saw a woman who held in her hand a cup filled with\nblood and corrupted matter; demons kept striking her with clubs and\nspears until she swallowed the nauseous draught, on which they\ninstantly replaced a similar bowl in her hands. Sur\u00fash remarked: \u2018This\nwoman, whilst laboring under periodical illness, approached the\nelements, of fire and water.\u2019 I then beheld a man wailing piteously,\nwhose head they were scalping with a poniard: Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This was a\nshedder of innocent blood.\u2019 I next saw a man who was forced to swallow\nblood and corrupted matter, with which they were continually supplying\nhim. The demons in the mean time tortured him, and placed a heavy\nmountain on his breast: Sur\u00fash stated this to be \u2018The spirit of a\ndissolute man, who seduced the wives of other men.\u2019 After this, I\nbeheld a spirit weeping through hunger and thirst; so intense was his\ncraving, that he drank his own blood and devoured his own flesh.\nSur\u00fash stated: \u2018This is the spirit of one who observed not the\n_B\u00e1j_[450] when partaking of food,\u2019\u201d (B\u00e1j is a rite practised by\northodox Parsees before meat, as has been explained under the head of\nbanquet) \u201c\u2018and who on the day of Aban[451] partook of water, fruit,\nand bread, so that the angels _Khurd\u00e1d_ and _Murd\u00e1d_ were displeased\nwith him.\u2019 I next beheld a woman suspended by her breasts and noxious\ncreatures falling on her. Sur\u00fash said: \u2018this is a woman who deserted\nher husband and went after another man.\u2019 I then saw a great multitude\nof spirits, furiously assailed by rapacious animals and noxious\ncreatures. Sur\u00fash stated thus: \u2018These are persons who adopted not the\n_Kashti_[452] or sacred cincture as worn by professors of the\nexcellent faith.\u2019 I next beheld a woman hung up, with her tongue\nprotruding from the hind part of the neck. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018This is a\nwoman who obeyed not her husband, and replied to him with harsh\nanswers and opposition.\u2019 I then saw a man eating with a ladle the most\nnoxious things, of which if he took too small a portion, demons smote\nhim with wooden clubs. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018this is the spirit of one who\nbetrayed his trust.\u2019 I after this beheld a man hung up, surrounded by\nseventy demons, who were lashing him with serpents instead of\nscourges; and meanwhile the serpents kept gnawing his flesh with their\nfangs. Sur\u00fash Ash\u00fa said: \u2018This is a king who extorted money from his\nsubjects by torture.\u2019 I next beheld a man with wide-opened mouth and\nprotruding tongue,\n\n \u201cWith serpents and scorpions covered all over,\n The one lacerating with fangs, the others lashing with their tails.\n\n\u201cSur\u00fash said: \u2018This was a tale-bearer, who by his lies caused\ndissension and strife among mankind.\u2019 After this I saw a man, every\nligature and joint of whose body they were tearing asunder. Sur\u00fash\nsaid: \u2018This person has slain many four-footed animals.\u2019 I next beheld\na man exposed to body-rending torture, concerning whom Sur\u00fash said:\n\u2018This was a wealthy, avaricious man, who employed not his riches for\nthe useful purposes of either world.\u2019 I then saw a person to whom were\noffered all sorts of noxious creatures, whilst one foot was free from\nall kind of suffering. Sur\u00fash said concerning him: \u2018This is the spirit\nof a negligent person, who did not in the least attend to the concerns\nof the world or the world to come. As he once passed along the road,\nhe observed a goat tied up in such a manner that it was unable to get\nat its food: with that foot he tossed the forage towards the animal,\nin recompense of which good act that foot is exempt from suffering.\u2019 I\nnext beheld a person whose tongue was laid on a stone, and demons kept\nbeating it with another. Concerning him Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018This person\nwas an habitual slanderer and liar, through whose words people fell\ninto mischief.\u2019 I then saw a woman whose breasts the demons were\ngrinding under a millstone. About her Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018This woman\nproduced abortion by means of drugs.\u2019 I next beheld a man in whose\nseven members worms had fixed themselves. Concerning him Sur\u00fash said:\n\u2018This person gave false witness for money, and derived his support\nfrom that resource.\u2019 After this I saw a man devouring the flesh of a\ncorpse and drinking human gore. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018This is the spirit\nof one who amassed wealth by unlawful means.\u2019 I afterwards beheld a\ngreat multitude with pallid faces, fetid bodies, and limbs covered\nwith worms. About these Sur\u00fash Ash\u00fa observed: \u2018These are hypocrites of\nsatanic qualities, whose hearts were not in accordance with their\nwords, and who led astray the professors of the excellent faith,\ndivesting themselves of all respect for religion and morality.\u2019 I next\nsaw a man the members of whose body hell-hounds were rending asunder.\nConcerning him Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This man was in the habit of slaughtering\nwater and land dogs.\u2019 I next beheld a woman hurled into snow and\nsmitten by the guardians of fire. About her Sur\u00fash said: \u2018When this\nwoman combed herself, her hairs fell into the fire.\u2019 After this I\nbeheld another woman tearing off with a poniard the flesh of her own\nbody and devouring it. Surush said: \u2018This is an enchantress who used\nto fascinate men.\u2019 Next her I saw a man whom the demons forced by\nblows to swallow blood, corrupted matter, and human flesh. Concerning\nhim Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This man was in the habit of casting dead bodies,\ncorrupted matter, nails, and hair into fire and water.\u2019 I afterwards\nbeheld a person devouring the flesh and skin of a dead body. Sur\u00fash\nsaid: \u2018This person defrauded the labourers of their hire.\u2019 I next\nbeheld a man with a mountain on his back, whom with his load they\nforced through terror into the midst of snows and ice. Sur\u00fash\nobserved: \u2018This was an adulterer, who took the wife from her husband.\u2019\nI afterwards saw a number of ill-fated persons up to their necks in\nice and snow, before each of whom was a cup filled with gore, and\nhair, and impurities, which, through terror of blows and clubs, they\nwere obliged to swallow. Sur\u00fash observed: \u2018These are persons who used\nwarm bathing along with the _Batardeen_ (or the enemies of the faith)\nwashing their bodies and heads in such unclean and polluted baths.\u2019 I\nthen beheld a person groaning under the weight of a mountain.\nConcerning him Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This man laid heavy taxes on the people,\nestablished evil ordinances, and oppressed mankind.\u2019 Next him I beheld\none digging up a mountain with his fingers and nails, whilst the\nsuperintendent kept smiting him with a viper. Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This is a\nman who by violence seized on the lands of others:\u2019\n\n \u201cAs long as this earth and place continue to exist,\n So long, by way of retribution, shall this spirit be thus employed.\n\nI afterwards saw a man the flesh of whose shoulders and body they were\nscraping off with a comb of iron. Concerning him Sur\u00fash said: \u2018This\nman was an egregious violator of promises and breaker of engagements.\u2019\nI then beheld a great multitude whose hands and feet they were smiting\nwith bludgeons, iron maces, and such like. Concerning these Sur\u00fash\nobserved: \u2018This class is composed of promise-breakers and the\nviolators of covenants, who maintained friendship with\n_Darwands_,[453] or those hostile to the faith.\u2019 Sur\u00fash, Ash\u00fa, and\nArdibehest then led me from that abode of misery to _Girutuman_, \u2018the\nseat of supreme bliss,\u2019 or \u2018paradise on high,\u2019 which is called \u2018the\nheaven of heavens.\u2019 On beholding the light and splendor of the\nrighteous Lord, I became entranced, and this spirit-reviving voice\nreached my ears: \u2018Through thy virtuous words and actions, which have\nbeen conformable to the excellent faith, joined to the co-operation\nand energy of intellect, though hast resisted all the demons which\ninfest the body, and hast therefore attained to this rank.\u2019 Sur\u00fash\nthen taking me by the hand, said: \u2018Communicate to mankind all thou\nhast heard.\u2019 He next took me down to paradise, where several spirits\nreceived me and said: \u2018Reveal these mysteries to our relations, that\nthey may beware of sin.\u2019 I next came to the lunar mansion, where they\naddressed me in the same manner. I afterwards reached the starry\nmansion with the same two companions, and here also the spirits\nadvanced to receive me, saying: \u2018Counsel our relations to make _Yasht_\nand _Yazisht_ (to pray in a low murmuring tone at meal-time) and to\ncleave firmly to the festival of the _Na\u00fa Roz_, and the girding of the\ncincture; had we observed these rites, we should not have remained in\nthis mansion, but gone on to Paradise.\u2019 It appears to follow from what\nhas been stated, that the starry mansion or zodiacal sphere is below\nthat of the moon; the Yezdanians however say, that the starry mansion\nsignifies the mansion of the spirits who below the lunar sphere are\nnot exempted from sufferings, but are attached to the bodies of the\nvirtuous by means of the zodiacal signs.[454]\n\n\u201cI next came to _Ch\u00ednawad Pul_ (the bridge of judgment) where many\nspirits thus addressed me: \u2018Tell men to leave sons behind them in the\nworld, or otherwise they must, like us, remain here.\u2019\n\n \u201cWe behold paradise in distant perspective,\n But are far removed from its enjoyment.\n\n\u201cAnother company of spirits said: \u2018Let not men look at the wife or\nmate of another; and let them hold up none to suspicion: otherwise\nthey must remain here like us, until our injured enemy comes hither\nfrom the world: if he be propitiated, we may be delivered.\u2019\n\n\u201cSur\u00fash and Ardibehest then brought me to the lower world and bade me\nadieu.\u201d[455]\n\n\nWhen the scribe had written down all the words of Ardi Viraf, he read\nthem over to the great king, who thereupon duly promulgated the\nexcellent faith, and sent Mobeds to all the borders of Iran.\n\nAfter (the death of Ardashir) appeared the Mobed _Azarbad_,[456] the\nson of _Marasfand_ (whose lineage by the father ascended to the\nprophet Zardusht, and by his mother to king Gushtasp), from whom king\nShapur (the son of Ardeshir) and the military having demanded a\nmiracle in proof of the faith, the forty thousand wise men were again\nassembled.[457] Azarbad, having performed his ablutions, lay down\nbefore this great assemblage, whereupon they poured nine mans of\nmelted brass upon his bared breast, but, through the divine glory, his\nperson received no injury. On beholding this, all those who before had\nbeen unbelievers, embraced the faith. From the time of Azarb\u00e1d the\nDust\u00fars of all succeeding kings were of his lineage.[458]\n\nThe professors of the excellent faith and the Moslem historians agree,\nthat in Kashmir or Kashmar,[459] a place celebrated for female beauty,\na dependency of Naishapur, there was formerly a cypress[460] planted\nby Zardusht for king Gushtasp, the like of which was never seen before\nor since, for beauty, height, or straightness: mention of this tree\nhaving been made at the court of Mutawakkal[461] when he was engaged\nin building the _Sarman ra\u00ef_, or _Samarah_[462] palace in the\nJ\u00e2afriyah,[463] the Khalif felt a great desire to behold it: and as it\nwas not in his power to go to Khorasan, he wrote to _Abdallah T\u00e1hir\nZavalimin_, \u201cpossessor of happiness,\u201d to have the tree cut down,\nfastened on rollers, and sent to Baghd\u00e1d. When intelligence of this\ncame to the people of the district and the inhabitants of Khorasan,\nthey assembled at the foot of the tree, imploring for mercy with tears\nand lamentations, and exhibiting a scene of general desolation. The\nprofessors of the excellent faith offered the governor fifty thousand\ndinars to spare the tree, but the offer was refused. When the cypress\nwas felled, it caused great detriment to the buildings and\nwater-courses of the country; the birds of different kinds which had\nbuilt their nests on it issued forth in such countless myriads as to\ndarken the air, screaming out in agony with various tones of distress:\nthe very oxen, sheep, and other animals which reposed under its\nsheltering shade, commenced such piteous moans of woe that it was\nimpossible to listen to them. The expense of conveying the trunk to\nBaghdad was five hundred thousand dinars; the very branches loaded one\nthousand and three hundred camels. When the tree had reached one\nstation from the Jaafriyah quarter, on that same night, Mutawakkal the\nAbasside was cut in pieces by his own guards,[464] so that he never\nbeheld the tree. Some Muhammedan writers state the circumference of\nthe trunk at twenty-seven _t\u00e1zi\u00e1ynah_, each a cubit and a quarter\nlong, and also that fourteen hundred and fifty years had elapsed from\nthe time of its being planted to the year 232 of the Hejirah (846, A.\nD.).[465] The Behd\u00ednians say that Zardusht brought with him from\nparadise a branch which he planted at the gate of the fire temple of\nKashmir, and which grew up into this tree: but some sages maintain\nthat, according to the intelligent, this tradition signifies: 1. that\nthere is in vegetables a simple uncompounded soul; and 2. that\nparadise is the world of beings of that class. Some Yezdanians say\nthat Zardusht prayed the superintending lord of cypress-trees, whom\nthey call _Azraw\u00e1n_, to nourish carefully the offspring of this shoot.\nThey also relate, on the authority of a holy _Hakim_, \u201cdoctor,\u201d[466]\nwho said: \u201cI saw the Lord of the cypress, and he declared: \u2018I have\ngiven orders to slay Mutawakkal for the crime of cutting down this\ntree.\u2019\u201d Muhammed Kuli Salim also says:\n\n \u201cNo person wishes to see his own nursling enfeebled.\n Water and fire are ever at enmity with chips and leaves.\u201d\n\nThe Behd\u00ednians maintain that Ahriman is the production of Time; and\nthat the angels, heavens, and stars (always) were, and will (for ever)\nbe: but that the three kingdoms of nature are a creation. Also that\nthe period of the present creation is twelve thousand years, at the\nexpiration of which comes the resurrection, when God will raise up all\nmankind and render this elemental world a glorious paradise, and\nannihilate Ahriman, his worshippers, and hell itself. The Dust\u00far Shah\nZad\u00e1h says, in the volume of the _Sad Der_, or \u201cthe hundred\ngates,\u201d[467] the excellent faith has been received from the prophet\nZardusht, the son of Purshasp, the son of Khajarasp, the son of\nHujj\u00fas, the son of Asfantaman: on him the Almighty graciously bestowed\nthe _Avesta_ and _Zand_, and through divine knowledge he comprehended\nall things from eternity to infinity. This is the hundred-gated city\nconstructed from the world of truth, that is, the celestial volume.\n\n \u201cThe mighty, through means of the Asta, Zand, and Pazand,\n Have constructed on its outside a hundred gates.\n Behold what a system of belief Zardusht has introduced,\n In which a hundred gates give admission to his city of Faith.\u201d\n\n\nGATE THE FIRST is the belief and acknowledgment of Zardusht\u2019s\nprophetic character; for when the spirit on the fourth night (after\nquitting the body) comes to the bridge of Chinavad, where _Mihr Ized_\nand _Rash Ized_ take account of its actions, in the _Kirfah_, or \u201cgood\ndeeds\u201d exceed the sins by one hair\u2019s point, they bear the spirit off\nto paradise, but always on the condition of having professed the faith\nof Zardusht.\n\n\nGATE THE SECOND. It is necessary to be ever vigilant, and always\nlooking on a trifling sin as one of magnitude, to flee far from it;\nbecause, if the virtuous deeds exceed the sinful acts by even the\npoint of one of the hairs of the eye-lashes, the spirit goes to\nparadise; but should the contrary be the case, it descends to hell.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRD. The pursuits of a man should be of a virtuous\ntendency; because, whilst thus engaged, if he be overpowered by\nrobbers or foes, he shall receive fourfold in paradise; but if he be\nslain in any vain pursuit, it is the retribution due to his acts, and\nhell is his abode.\n\n\nGATE THE FOURTH. A man must not despair of God\u2019s mercy; for Zardusht\nsays: \u201cI beheld one whose body, with the exception of one foot, was\nentirely in hell; but that foot was outside. The Lord said: \u2018This\nperson, who ruled over thirty-three cities, never performed good\ndeeds; but having one day observed a sheep tied up at a distance from\nher food, he with this foot pushed the grass near her.\u2019\u201d[468]\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTH. Let all men exert themselves to observe the rites of\n_Yasht_,[469] and the _Na\u00fa Roz_,[470] and if they cannot themselves\nperform these duties, let them purchase the agency of another.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTH. Let men know that the meritorious works are six in\nnumber: 1. the observance of the _Gahambara_, or \u201csix periods of\ncreation;\u201d 2. that of the _Favardigan_, or \u201cfive supplementary days of\nthe year,\u201d with that of _Yashtan_, \u201cor praying in a low murmuring\nvoice at meals;\u201d 3. propitiating the spirits of thy father, mother,\nand other relations; 4. offering up supplications to the sun three\ntimes every day; 5. offering up prayers to the moon three times every\nmonth, that is, the beginning, middle, and last day of the moon; 6.\noffering up supplications in due form every year.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTH. When sneezing comes on, repeat the entire of the\nforms called _Ita ahu virio_,[471] and the _Ashem Vuhu_.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTH. Be obedient to the Dust\u00fars and give them one-tenth of\nthy wealth; as that is a most meritorious work, or _Kirfah_.[472]\n\n\nGATE THE NINTH. A person should avoid all practices not sanctioned by\nthe laws of nature, and must look on them as accursed: let all those\nfound guilty of such deeds be put to death. This description of\ncriminals are equally guilty with the usurper Zohak, and Alkus,[473]\nand Sar\u00farak,[474] and Afrasiab, and Turbaraturas.[475]\n\n\nGATE THE TENTH. It is incumbent on every man and woman to tie on the\n_Kashti_.[476] By Kashti is meant a woollen cincture girded round the\nwaist, in which they make four knots: the first to signify the unity\nof God; the second, the certainty of the faith; the third, that\nZardusht was the prophet of God; the fourth to imply, \u201cthat I will to\nthe utmost of my power ever do what is good.\u201d\n\n\nGATE THE ELEVENTH. Keep the fire burning, and let it not consume any\nthing impure.\n\n\nGATE THE TWELFTH. Let not the shroud of the deceased be new, but let\nit be clean and old.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTEENTH. The good man gives joy to the spirits of his\nfather and mother, by celebrating the _Darun miezd_[477] and the\n_Afernig\u00e1n_,[478] or \u201cfunereal \u201crepasts.\u201d The Darun is a prayer\nrecited in praise of the Almighty and of Azar: when they breathe out\nprayers in a murmuring tone over viands, they are said to be Yeshtah.\nAfrinigan also means one of the twenty Nosks of the Zand.\n\n\nGATE THE FOURTEENTH. Let them repeat the Ita Ahu three times over the\ncollected nail-parings, and having each time drawn a circular line\naround them, let earth be poured on them with the shears, or let them\nbe taken to some mountain.[479]\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTEENTH. Whatever pleasing object meets the true believer\u2019s\nsight, he repeats over it the name of God.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTEENTH. In the house of a pregnant woman keep the fire in\nwithout ceasing; and when the child is born, let not the lamp be\nextinguished during three days and nights.\n\nThey say that, on the birth of the prophet Zardusht, there came fifty\ndemons with the design of slaying him; but they were unable to do him\nany injury as there was a fire kept up in the house.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTEENTH. On arising from sleep, bind the Kashti, without\ndoing which enter upon no pursuit whatever.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTEENTH. Let the tooth-pick, after having been used, be\nconcealed in a wall.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETEENTH. They give their son and daughter in marriage at\nan early period; as the person who has no son cannot pass over the\nbridge of _Chinavad_; let whoever is in that state adopts some one; if\nhe should not find it feasible, it will then be incumbent on his\nrelations and the Dust\u00far to fix on a son for him.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTIETH. They esteem husbandry the best of all professions,\nand regard the husbandman with respect and honor.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-FIRST. It is meet to give good viands to the\nprofessors of the pure faith.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-SECOND. At the time of eating bread it is necessary to\nperform _V\u00e1j_:[480] and at the time of _Maizad_ and _Afrinig\u00e1n_ to\nkeep the lips closed; the true believer repeats the entire of the\n_Esha \u00e2ad avizmidi_ three times, and then eats bread; and when he\nwashes his mouth, he repeats _Ashem Vuhu_ four times, and the _Ita ahu\nvirio_ twice. It is to be remarked, that _W\u00e1j_ or _V\u00e1j_ is the\n_Barsom_,[481] which consists of small twigs of the same length,\nwithout knots, taken from the pomegranate, tamarisk, or _Hum_; these\nthey cut with a _Barsomchin_, or knife with an iron handle. Having\nfirst washed the knife carefully, they recite the appointed prayers,\nafter which, having cut off the Barsom with the Barsomchin, they wash\nthe Barsomdan, or Barsom-holder, into which they put these small\ntwigs. At the time of worship, whilst reading the Zand, and during\nablution or eating, they hold in their hand a few of these twigs,\naccording to the number required in each of these actions.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-THIRD. The wealthy man bestows alms on the indigent\nDurvesh; he also practises _Jadongoi_, which consists in this,\nwhatever donations the Behd\u00ednians make to the fire-temples, or to\ndeserving objects, are by that person caused to be expended in the\nmanner desired.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-FOURTH. Beware of sin, particularly the day on which\nthou eatest flesh, as flesh-meat is the nutriment of Ahriman. If,\nafter partaking of meat thou committest sin, whatever sins the animal\nhas committed in this world shall be imputed to thee: for example, the\nkick of the horse, and the goring of the ox with his horns.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-FIFTH. Know that in thy faith there is no fasting,\nexcept that of avoiding sin:[483] in which sense thou must fast the\nwhole year, and not remain hungry from morn until night, and style\nthat fasting. Thou must endeavor to keep thy members free from sin,\nand there will be then no occasion to keep the lips closed against\nmeat and drink; but it is altogether necessary to keep them closed\nagainst uttering any evil speech.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-SIXTH. As soon as a child is born let them cause it to\ntaste milk.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. When going to bed, repeat the forms which\ncommence with the Ita; that is, repeat to the end the _It\u00e1 Ahu\nVir\u00edyo_, the _Eshim Vahu_, etc., etc.; repenting of thy sins of sight\nand hearing, known and unknown, committed or meditated, and imploring\nforgiveness; also, when thou turnest from one side to the other,\nrepeat the whole of the Eshim.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-EIGHTH. When thou enterest into a covenant either with\none of the pure faith or an unbeliever (_Durwand_), break it not, but\nmaintain it inviolate.\n\n\nGATE THE TWENTY-NINTH. When the believer\u2019s son attains the age of\nfifteen, the father appoints a Dust\u00far for his guidance, without whose\ndirection and counsel he does nothing; for no good work is acceptable\nto God, unless the Dust\u00far be satisfied; he truly possesses such\ndignity in the sight of God, that he can remit one-third of any\nperson\u2019s sins. Note, that the title of Dust\u00far is given to a spiritual\ndirector, or one skilled in the faith of Zaratusht.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTIETH. When any undertaking occurs, and thou knowest not\nwhether engaging in it be good or sinful, desist, and defer the\nenterprise until thou hast consulted the Dust\u00far.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-FIRST. The believer undertakes nothing on his own\nexperience merely, without previously investigating its nature through\nhis Dust\u00far, his relation, and the experience of the intelligent.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-SECOND. Whoever studies the Avesta must learn to read\nit in the exact words: he must also meditate on it continually; for\nshould it depart from his memory, he is guilty of sin. In ancient\ntimes, whoever had learned the Avesta and forgotten it, was not\npermitted to join the congregation, until he had again made himself\nmaster of it: nay, they threw bread before him as they would to dogs.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-THIRD. It behoves a man to be liberal, showing favor\nto the Arzan, or deserving objects, for this only is profitable.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-FOURTH. The religious pour not out water at night,\nparticularly towards the _Wakhtar_, or \u201ceast;\u201d but should it be\nindispensable, the believer, at the time of throwing it out, repeats\nthe form of words commencing with the _Ita_, as far as enjoined.\nNeither does he draw water from the well at night; but when there is\nan inevitable necessity for it, he recites the formula of the Ita, as\nenjoined in their books. They seldom drink water at night; but if it\nbe unavoidably necessary to drink, they fetch water from the well:\nmoreover, they never pour out much water.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-FIFTH. When they eat bread, they lay by three morsels\nfor the dogs, and never ill use these animals.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-SIXTH. When a cock crows out of season, they kill him\nnot, but bring another to his aid, for the fowl having seen a _Darji_\n(demon) or some approaching calamity, gives notice of it.[484]\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-SEVENTH. If in any place a person who is destitute of\nfear should deposit a _Nisa_, or \u201ccarcase\u201d under ground, expose and\nbring it forth.\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-EIGHTH. It is by no means meet to slay animals in\nprofusion, as every hair of theirs will in the other world be as a\nsword to the destroyer\u2019s body: but the slaughter of sheep is by far\nthe most criminal; for they are of the _Sardah_,[485] or \u201cprimary\ngenus.\u201d This prohibition includes the goat, the kid, and the lamb; the\ncow and the horse; also the crowing cock, which during that time is as\na drum: nay, it is equally improper to slay the cock which crows not;\nbut should it be indispensably necessary to kill him, it will be\nproper to tie his head (that is, to perform the rite of Yashtan over\nhis head).[486]\n\n\nGATE THE THIRTY-NINTH. When thou art about to wash the face, join thy\nlips, and recite once the formula of the _Ashim Vuhu_ as far as is\nprescribed; then wash thy face; and when thou shavest, recite the\nprayer of the _Kimna_ and _Mazda_[487] as far as the appointed place.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTIETH. Whoever performs _Barashnom_[488] must be good in\nword and deed, for otherwise he is deserving of death. Whoever comes\nto the age of fifteen and performs not this rite, renders whatever he\nlays his hand on impure like himself. Note, that _Barashnom_ signifies\nthe purification of one\u2019s self by prayer.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-FIRST. On the arrival of the Farvardig\u00e1n, the believer\nperforms the _Dar\u00fan Yezd_, _Yazish_, and _Afr\u00edn_ during ten days. The\nFarvardig\u00e1n are five damsels which spin, weave, and sew celestial\ngarments: their names are _Ahnavad_, _Ashnavad_, _Isfintamad_,\n_Kukhashatar_, _Vahsh\u00fashp\u00fash_.[489] Farvardigan[490] is the name of\nthe five supplementary or intercalary days of the Persian year. When\nthe spirit quits this world it is naked; but whoever has duly\nperformed the Farvardig\u00e1n obtains from them royal robes and celestial\nornaments.\n\nAccording to the Yezd\u00e1ni\u00e1n, these five damsels signify wisdom,\nheroism, continence, justice, and intellect;[491] and in other\npassages they call them the five senses.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-SECOND. The true believer must beware of associating\nwith those of a different faith; let him not drink out of the same cup\nwith them. If an unbeliever pollute a cup made of brass, it must be\nwashed three times: but if it be of earth, it cannot become pure.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-THIRD. Keep up the fire in thy house, and at night\nlight it up.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-FOURTH. Shew honor to thy instructor, father, and\nmother; as otherwise in this world distress shall be thy portion; and\nin the next, hell.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-FIFTH. A woman, in her periodical illness, must not\ndirect her eyes to the heaven or the stars; to running water or a\nMind\u00e1sh\u00fa; that is, a pure or celestial man. She is to drink water out\nof any vessel except one of earth. When she eats bread, her hand is to\nbe folded in the sleeve of her dress,[492] and she is to wear a veil\non her head.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-SIXTH. Refrain from Hamiy\u00e1l, which means calumny,\ntreachery, and adultery: for if the woman\u2019s husband forgive not the\nadulterer, he cannot, whatever may be his good works, behold the face\nof paradise.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-SEVENTH. The believer must slay the _Khar\u00e1st\u00e1r_, or\n\u201cnoxious creatures.\u201d Of these it is most meritorious to destroy\nwater-frogs, serpents, scorpions, flies, and ants. According to the\ntenets professed by the true believers, that is, the _Yazd\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_ and\n_Abadi\u00e1n_, it is a meritorious work to destroy any creature which is\ninjurious to animal life or oppressive to the animal creation: but the\ndestruction of any creature which is not injurious to animal life, is\nnot only improper, but the unjust oppressor draws down retribution on\nhimself. The Yezd\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n maintain, that whenever in ancient records the\nslaughter of a harmless animal is mentioned, the expression is used in\nan enigmatical sense.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-EIGHTH. It is not proper to walk barefooted.\n\n\nGATE THE FORTY-NINTH. Repent without ceasing: for unless attention be\npaid to this, thy sin accumulates every year, and becomes more\naggravated. If, which God forbid! thou commit a sin, go before the\nDust\u00far; and if thou find him not, to the H\u00edrbud (or minister attending\non the sacred fire); and if thou meet him not, repair to some\nprofessor of the pure faith; and if thou find not such a one, declare\nthy repentance before the majesty of the great light. In like manner,\nat the moment of departing from this world, let a man declare his\ncontrition, and if he be unable, let his son, relative, or those\npresent, perform this rite of penance at that time.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTIETH. When a son or daughter attains the age of fifteen,\nit becomes necessary to bind the sacred cincture about the waist, as\nthis forms the bond of duty.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-FIRST. If a child should die, from the first day of its\ndecease during a space of seven years, \u201cwithout the expression of\ngrief, recite the Dar\u00fan of its angel.\u201d On the fourth night after its\ndecease, it is necessary to recite with _Yasht_, the Dar\u00fan, or prayer\nof the angel Sur\u00fash. Note, Yasht is the name given to one of the\ntwenty-one Nosks of the Zand,[493] which is recited for the souls of\nthe deceased: this they also repeat in the _Gahanbars: Nosk_ also\nsignifies a part or section.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-SECOND. When thou placest on the fire a cauldron for\ndressing food, it must be of a large size, and two thirds of it\nwithout water, so that when it boils, the water may not fall over on\nthe fire.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-THIRD.[494] When they remove fire from one place to\nanother, they lay it apart for a short time, until its place becomes\ncool; having taken care not to leave it heated, they bear the fire to\nits destined place.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-FOURTH.[495] The true believers wash the face every\nmorning with the _Ab-\u00ed-z\u00far_, or \u201cwater of power,\u201d and afterwards with\npure water.[496] After this they recite the formula of the _Kimna va\nMazda_,[497] and then wash the hands; this rite they call _Pavaj_; but\nif they wash not the hands in the _Ab-\u00ed-z\u00far_, their recitation is not\naccepted.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-FIFTH. The faithful instruct their sons in the\nknowledge of religion, and hold in high honor the Kirbud who teaches\nthem.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-SIXTH. On the return of the day of _Khurd\u00e1d_ in the\nmonth of Farvard\u00edn (the 6th of March), they collect in one place a\nportion of all the fruits they can find. The true believers then\ncontinue to offer them up and to pray over them, repeating the praises\nof the Lord, in order that their condition may be improved that year;\nas on this day the angels give nutriment to mankind. When any one has\nthus prayed, the Amshaspand Khurd\u00e1d makes intercession for him: this\nprayer is synonymous with _Khusnuman_.[498]\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-SEVENTH. Whenever any one sets out on a journey, he\nmust celebrate once the _Dar\u00fan Yesht\u00e9_. In ancient times, when they\nset out on an excursion of even twelve parasangs, they performed the\nsame ceremony.[499]\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-EIGHTH. If any one have not a son, let him adopt one;\nand let the adopted son regard him as a father.\n\n\nGATE THE FIFTY-NINTH. Whoever has performed the rites of Yasht and\nNa\u00fa-Roz, cannot immediately after celebrate the Dar\u00fan Yesht\u00e9: he first\nprays mentally to Ormuzd, and eats bread; and then performs the rites\nof mental prayer and the Darun.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTIETH. It is improper, whilst in an erect posture, to make\nwater; it is therefore necessary to sit down (stoop) and force it to\nsome distance, repeating the Avesta mentally. The religious man is\nthen to advance three paces, and repeat once the formula of the _Yeth\u00e1\n\u00e1h\u00fa vir\u00edyo_ and the _Eshem Vahu_, as far as prescribed. On coming out,\nhe is to repeat the Eshem once; the formula of the Homoctanne twice;\nthat of the _Hokhsh\u00e9thr\u00f4tem\u00e2\u00e9_ three times, and that of the _Yeth\u00e1_,\netc., four times; and to repeat to the end the formula of the _Etha\naad iezmede_.[500]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-FIRST. Slay not the _Hujjah_ or weasel, for it is the\ndestroyer of serpents.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-SECOND. Kill not the water-dog, or otter, but if thou\nperceive him far out of the water, take him back to his river.[501]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-THIRD. The believer performs during his life the rites\nwhich ensure his salvation: the propitiation of the Ized Sur\u00fash is a\nsacred duty; it is therefore advisable that every person should\nperform it duly in his own life-time.[502]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-FOURTH. When any one departs from this world, the\nsurvivors during three days propitiate Sur\u00fash, light a fire for the\ndeceased, and recite the Avesta: as the spirit of the deceased remains\nthere three days, it is therefore necessary to offer up three Dar\u00fans\nto Sur\u00fash Ized. On the fourth night, recite one of them to propitiate\nRash and Astad (the angels of the 18th and 26th days of every month);\nanother for that of the other heavenly beings; along with the fourth\nDar\u00fan produce complete dresses, the best and most splendid in thy\npower. These they style _Ashud\u00e1d_, or heaven-bestowed.[503]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-FIFTH. Women are not enjoined to perform any of these\nNiyayish, except that they should go three times into their husband\u2019s\npresence, and inquire what his wishes may be. They must never, either\nby night or day, avert the face from their husband\u2019s command: which\nobedience on their part is serving God.[504]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-SIXTH. The pure faith springs from this belief, that\nGod has delivered us from affliction (in the world to come): and\nshould circumstances occur to any believer which would necessarily\nlead him to apostatize from the true faith, let all exert themselves\nto the utmost to aid him, so that he may remain unshaken in the true\nreligion.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-SEVENTH. Believers never utter a falsehood, although\nthrough it they might attain to worldly eminence.\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-EIGHTH. They make truth their profession, and remain\nfree from the degradation of _Goyastah_ (or _Gogestah_).[505]\n\n\nGATE THE SIXTY-NINTH. The believers beware of any intercourse with a\ncourtesan or unchaste woman, also of voluntary degradation\n(connivance) and adultery. For when a libertine engages in improper\ncorrespondence with a woman, she becomes an abomination to her\nhusband; and if, after proof of her misconduct, the husband resume his\nintimacy with such a wife, he then becomes a _R\u00faspi_, or utterly\ncontemptible.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTIETH. If any one steal property to the amount of one\ndirem, they take from the thief two direms, cut off the lobes of his\nears, inflict on him ten blows of a stick, and dismiss him after one\nhour\u2019s imprisonment. Should he a second time commit a similar act, and\nsteal to the amount of a direm, they make him refund two, cut off his\nears, inflict twenty blows, and detain him in prison two hours: should\nhe after that steal three direms or two dangs, they cut off his right\nhand; and if he steal five hundred direms, they put him to death.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-FIRST. Beware of open and secret sin: abstain from\nbad sights and thoughts. Offer up thy grateful prayers to the Lord,\nthe most just and pure Ormuzd, the supreme and adorable God, who thus\ndeclared to his prophet Zardusht: \u201cHold it not meet to do unto others\nwhat thou wouldst not have done to thyself: do that unto the people\nwhich, when done to thyself, proves not disagreeable to thyself.\u201d\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-SECOND. Direct the Hirbud to sanctify for thee an\noblation or Dar\u00fan once every day: if not he, then thyself. It is to be\nobserved that Yazish has the sense of _Yashtan_; also that _Dar\u00fan_\n(the first letter with _Zemma_) means a prayer in praise of the Lord\nand of fire, which being recited by the professors of the pure faith,\nthey breathe over the viands; whatever has been thus breathed over\nthey call _Yashtah_: for _Yashtan_ signifies the reciting of a prayer.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-THIRD. Let women perform the rites of oblation in the\nmonth of Aban (the 8th month), so that they may be purified from their\nillness and attain paradise.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-FOURTH. Beware of committing adultery; for when the\nwife of a stranger has been four times visited by a strange man, she\nbecomes accursed to her husband: to put such a woman to death is more\nmeritorious than slaying beasts of prey.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-FIFTH. A woman during her illness is not to look at\nthe fire, to sit in water, behold the sun, or hold conversation with a\nman. Two women, during their illness, are not to sleep in the same\nbed, or look up to heaven. Women in this state are to drink out of\nleaden vessels, and not to lay their (bare) hands on bread. The\ndrinking-vessel is to be half-filled with water, and not filled up to\nthe brim. They are to fold their hand in the sleeve of their mantle\nand then lay hold of the vessel: they must not sit in the sun. On the\nbirth of a child, the infant is to undergo ablution along with the\nmother.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-SIXTH. A fire is not to be lighted in a situation\nexposed to the sun\u2019s rays: also place not over the fire any thing\nthrough the interstices of which the sun may shine. But before the\ntime of Mah Ab\u00e1d it was held praiseworthy to light a fire in face of\nthe great luminary for the purpose of making fumigations.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH. They show the Nisa or dead body to a dog, at\nthe moment the person gives up the soul:[506] and again when they\nconvey it to the burial-place. When removing the body, the bearers\nfasten their hands together with a cord, so that it comes to all their\nhands and keeps them close to each other; they bear the body along in\nperfect silence; and if the deceased be a woman advanced in her\npregnancy, there are then four bearers instead of two. According to\nthe precepts of Mah Ab\u00e1d, if the woman be pregnant, they are to\nextract the f\u0153tus and bring it up: the same holds good respecting all\nanimals. Finally, when the professors of the pure faith have conveyed\nthe corpse to the _Dad Gah_, or \u201cplace for depositing the dead,\u201d the\nbearers wash themselves and put on fresh garments.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH. It is necessary to beware of (contact with)\nthe wooden frame on which the dead body has been carried or washed;\nalso of that on which any one has been hung; or one touched by a woman\nduring her illness.\n\n\nGATE THE SEVENTY-NINTH. If, during a malady, the physician prescribe\nthe eating of any dead animal, let the patient comply without\nrepugnance and partake of it.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTIETH. A dead body is not to be committed to water or\nfire.[507]\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-FIRST. If any one force a professor of the pure faith\nto partake of the flesh of a dead body, or even throw it at him, he\nmust perform the Barashnom and recite the _Patet Iran_. Note: that is,\nhe must repent, and implore pardon, and exert himself in good works,\nthat he may escape going to hell.[508]\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-SECOND. If any animal partake of a dead body, it\ncontinues unclean during a whole year.[509]\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-THIRD. Nothing should be given (to the unworthy)\nunless through dread of the oppressor: that is, if believers apprehend\nnot danger from the sinner, and do not entertain alarm at his power of\ndoing them injury, they are not to give him any thing.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-FOURTH. In the morning, on arising from sleep, rub thy\nhands with something, then thrice wash thy face, thy arms from the\nwrist to the elbow, and thy foot as far as the leg; reciting the\n_Avesta_ at the same time. If the believer cannot find water, he is\nthen permitted to use dust.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-FIFTH. When the husbandman introduces water for the\nirrigation of his own fields, he carefully observes that there be not\na dead body in the stream.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-SIXTH. A woman after parturition must during forty\ndays beware of using vessels of wood or earth, and is not to cross the\nthreshold of the house. She is then to wash her head: during all this\ntime her husband is not to approach her.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH. If a woman be delivered of a dead child\nprevious to four months\u2019 gestation, as it is without a soul, it is not\nto be regarded as a dead body; but should this occur after the term of\nfour months, it is then to be looked on as a dead body, and to be\nconveyed to burial with the usual ceremonies.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH. When a death occurs, the people of the house\nand the relatives of the deceased are to abstain from meat during\nthree days.\n\n\nGATE THE EIGHTY-NINTH. It is incumbent on the professors of the true\nfaith to be liberal, generous, and munificent; for God hath declared:\n\u201cParadise is the abode of the liberal.\u201d\n\n\nGATE THE NINETIETH. Reciting the Eshem Vehu[510] is attended with\ncountless merits: it is necessary to do this at the time of eating\nbread, of going to sleep, at midnight, on turning from one side to the\nother, and at the time of rising up in the morning.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-FIRST. You must not put off the good work of to-day\nuntil the morrow, for God declared thus to Zardusht: \u201cPutting off the\nduties of this day until the following, brings with it cause of\nregret. O Zardusht! no one in the world is superior to thee in my\nsight. For thy sake I have even created it;[511] and princes earnestly\ndesire to diffuse the true faith in thy life-time. From the age of\nKa\u00edomars to thine, three thousand years have elapsed;[512] and from\nthee to the resurrection is a period of three thousand years: thus I\nhave created thee in the middle, as that point is most worthy of\nadmiration. Moreover I have rendered obedient to thee king Gushtasp,\nthe wisest and most prudent sovereign of the age; whose eminence\narises from science and perfect morals, not merely from high birth and\nlineage. I have also given thee a volume such as the _Avesta_, and in\nlike manner a perspicuous commentary on it. Expect not that, after\nthou hast passed away, others will perform good works for thee. Know\nthat Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly appointed two demons, named\nTardiness and Procrastination, for putting off the performance of good\nworks to a remote and future period.\u201d\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-SECOND. Whatever is polluted by a dead body must be\npurified by _P\u00e1vy\u00e1b_ water according to this rule: gold once; silver\ntwice; tin and copper thrice; steel four times; stone six times;\nearthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away. _P\u00e1vy\u00e1b_ signifies to\nwash with certain forms of prayer.[513]\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-THIRD. Shew vigilant attention to the fire of _Adar\nBehr\u00e1m_, and to his attendant (genii); light up the fire every night\nand cast perfumes into it.\n\nNote: Var (Adar) Behr\u00e1m[514] is the name of the angel, the lord of\nvictory, and the bestower of triumph.[515]\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-FOURTH. The _G\u00e1h\u00e1mbars_, which are six in number, must\nbe observed, because the Almighty created the world in six periods or\ntimes, the commencement of each period having a particular name; in\norder to celebrate each of which commencements, they pass five days in\nfestivity and rejoicing. According to the statement in the _Zand_, the\nrighteous Hormuzd created the whole world in the space of one year.\n\n_The first G\u00e1h\u00e1mbar_ is called _M\u00edd\u00fayzaram_, as on the day _Kh\u00far_ (the\n11th of the month) _Ardibehisht_, God commenced the creation of the\nheavens, which was terminated in forty-five days.\n\n_The second G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r_, called _Midy\u00fashaham_, began on the day of\n_Kh\u00far_, in the old month of _Tir_, in sixty days from which God\ncompleted the creation of the waters.\n\n_The third G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r, Pitishah\u00edm_, commences on the day of _Asht\u00e1d_\n(the 26th) of the old _Shahriv\u00e1r_, in seventy-five days from which God\nterminated the creation of the earth.\n\n_The fourth G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r_, called _Ayad sahr\u00edm_, begins on the _Asht\u00e1d_ of\nthe old month of _Mihr_, in thirty days from which the creation of all\nplants and trees was completed.\n\n_The fifth Gahambar_, named _M\u00eddy\u00e1r\u00edm_, begins on the _Miher_ of the\nold month _Ard\u00ed_ (November); God created from this day, in eighty\ndays, all the animals.\n\n_The sixth Gahambar, Hamshpata mihdim_,[516] beginning on the day of\n_Ahnavad_, the first of the five intercalary or surreptitious days,\nreckoning from which the Almighty terminated the creation of the human\nrace in seventy-five days. Tradition thus ascribes to Jemshid the\norigin of the festival of the G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r. In the _Sad-D\u00e1r_ we find it\nrecorded, that the demon one day came to Jemshid\u2019s palace, and the\nking, as usual, sent him to the kitchen to satisfy his hunger. The\ndemon having devoured all that was there, and also swallowed up\nwhatever they brought him beside, was still unsatisfied. On beholding\nthis, Jemshid cried out to the Lord, and the most righteous God sent\nthe angel Behr\u00e1m (or Jabrael) to say thus to the king: \u201cSlaughter the\nred ox, on which pour vinegar, rue, and garlic; take it when boiled\nout of the cauldron, and serve it up to the demon.\u201d When they had done\nthus, the demon having tasted one morsel of it, fled and disappeared,\nfrom which day they instituted the festival of the _G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r_.\n\nThe Ab\u00e1diy\u00e1n say, with respect to the creation, that the actions of\nGod are not circumscribed by time. It must however be acknowledged\nthat Jemshid first established this festival. In the first G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r,\nJemshid, by the command of the Almighty, began to depict on the\nceiling of his palace the representation of the heavens, which\nundertaking was finished in forty-five days. Secondly, on the _Kh\u00far_\nof _T\u00edr_ he was commanded by the Lord to introduce water into his\npalace, gardens, city, and cultivated grounds, which work was\ncompleted in the course of sixty days. Thirdly, on the _Asht\u00e1d_ of\n_Shahriv\u00e1r_, by order of the Almighty (whose name be glorified!) he\ncleared the surface of the grounds and palace, and embellished them\nexceedingly; he levelled the place of exercise in front of his palace,\nbuilt houses, and laid out in due order the city and its streets; all\nwhich was completed in seventy-five days. Fourthly, on the _Asht\u00e1d_ of\n_Mihr_, he began to ascertain the properties of all vegetable\nproductions, and completed the embellishment of his garden, and\nterminated the entire in thirty days. He next, on the day of _Mihr_ in\nthe month of _D\u00e1\u00ed_, collected all species of animals in his garden and\nassigned their suitable employments to each: to the ox and the ass to\ncarry burdens; to the horse to serve for riding, and so forth; which\narrangements were completed in seventy days. Lastly, on the day of\n_Ahnavad_, he summoned mankind to appear in his presence, and assigned\nthem their respective occupations; the details of which were finished\nin the course of seventy days. He then proclaimed: \u201cThe Lord has\ncreated all these things through me;\u201d and commanded five days to be\nset apart for rejoicing at the beginning of each G\u00e1hamb\u00e1r. As to the\ntradition of the demon\u2019s appearing and eating up whatever he found, it\nis thus explained: by the demon is meant, the depraved sensual\nappetite, which loves to eat, sleep, shed blood, and such like, and is\nnever satiated with such pursuits; but when the spiritual Jemshid\nprayed to the Lord, the Jabriel of intellect came with this divine\ncommunication: \u201cSlay the sensual appetite (which is typified by the\nox), that is, indulge it not in the excesses it demands; next apply to\nthe cauldron of the body the vinegar of abstinence, the garlic of\nreflection, and the rue of silence; then serve up a portion of this\nfood to the Satan-like propensities, that the demon may flee away.\u201d On\ndoing this, he was delivered from the presence of the evil one. Such\nwas the enigma propounded to the people by Zardusht respecting the\nG\u00e1hamb\u00e1r, and such the solution of it as given by the Ab\u00e1di\u00e1n\nprofessors, who have interpreted in a similar manner the whole of\nZardusht\u2019s discourses, which were couched under this enigmatical form.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-FIFTH. When any one does good to another, the latter\nshould not forget his benefactor\u2019s goodness.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-SIXTH. The believers make _N\u00edy\u00e1yish_ to the sun three\ntimes every day: they also perform the same to the moon and to fire.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-SEVENTH. They weep not after the deceased, as the\ntears thus shed are collected and form a barrier before the bridge of\n_Chinavad_, or \u201cof judgment,\u201d and prevent the deceased from passing:\nbut, on reading the _Vasta_ and _Zend_, they can pass over.[517]\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-EIGHTH. Whoever comes into the presence of the\nDust\u00fars, Mobeds, or Kirbuds, listens to what they say, and rejects it\nnot although painful to him.\n\n\nGATE THE NINETY-NINTH. The professor of the true religion ought to\nunderstand thoroughly the characters of the _Avesta_ and the _Zend_.\n\n\nGATE THE HUNDREDTH. The Mobeds must not instruct a stranger in the\nPehlevi language; for the Lord commanded Zardusht, saying: \u201cTeach this\nscience to thy children.\u201d\n\n * * * * * * *\n\nENUMERATION OF SOME ADVANTAGES WHICH ARISE FROM THE ENIGMATICAL FORMS\nOF THE PRECEPTS OF ZARDUSHT\u2019S FOLLOWERS.\u2015\u2015The substance of the\nvenerable Zardusht\u2019s precepts is contained in enigmas and parables,\nbecause with the mass of society, fabulous narrations, though\nrevolting to reason, excite stronger impressions. In the next place,\nif it were proposed to communicate to an ignorant person the idea of\nthe existence of the necessarily existing God, independent of cause,\nhe could not understand the proposition; and if we speak to him\nconcerning the uncompoundedness of intelligences, the immateriality of\nsouls, the excellence of the sphere and stars, he becomes overwhelmed\nin perplexity and amazement; being utterly unable to comprehend\nspiritual delights or tortures, or discover the exact truth; whilst\nthe precepts enforced by the figurative expressions of the law come\nwithin the understanding of high and low, so that they are profited\nthereby, and the explanation of the law is attended with a good\nreputation both in this world and the next. The select few undoubtedly\ncomprehend the nature of certainty, religious abstraction, and\nphilosophy, although the vulgar, in general, hold these in abhorrence:\nit therefore becomes necessary to clothe the maxims of philosophy in\nthe vestments of law, in order that all classes of society may derive\ntheir appropriate advantages from that source: these observations\nbeing premised, it is to be remarked, that some Yazdanian professors\nexpress themselves after this manner:\u2015\u2015The book of the _Zend_ is of\ntwo kinds; the one perspicuous and without enigmatical forms of\nspeech, which they call the _Mah Zand_, or \u201cGreat Zand;\u201d the second,\nabounding in enigmatical and figurative forms of speech, is called the\n_Kah Zand_, or \u201cLittle Zand.\u201d The Mah Zand contained the precepts of\nthe law promulgated by the venerable M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, such as the volume of\nAzar Sass\u00e1n, and the Mah Zand was lost during the domination of\nstrangers, particularly the Turks and Greeks: the Kah Zand still\nremained, but much of it was also lost in other subsequent invasions.\n\n\nSUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MAH ZEND.\u2015\u2015It entitles the supreme\nLord, Aharmuz, and acknowledges the existence, immateriality, and\nuncompoundedness of his essence; accounting _Bahm\u00e1n_ the Great, the\nfirst-created being, who is also called _Farvard\u00edn_ the Great, and\nlooked upon and styled pure and uncompounded; from him was derived\n_Ardibehesht_ the Great, along with the sublime soul and body of the\nempyrean heaven; from _Ardibehesht_ the Great proceeded _Khurd\u00e1d_ the\nGreat; from him _T\u00edr_ the Great; from him _Murd\u00e1d_ the Great; from him\n_Shahr\u00edvar_ the Great; from him _Mihr_ the Great; from him _Ab\u00e1n_ the\nGreat; from him _Azar_ the Great; and from him _Dai_ the Great; these\nare the lords of the heavens, and after _Farvardin_ the Great, are\naccounted as the months as well as the heavens collectively. In all\nother points, speculative and practical, such as the protection of\nharmless creatures and the destruction of noxious animals, it agrees\nwith the _Das\u00e1tir_. During the Ashkanian dynasty, the people conformed\nto the _Kah Zend_, but as Ardeshir was obedient to the second Sas\u00e1n,\nhe, in compliance with the _Das\u00e1tir_ and _Mah Zend_, studiously\navoided the destruction of harmless animals: for the _Mah Zand_ is a\nportion of the _Das\u00e1tir_. After him, others adopted the _Kah Zand_.\nBut Nushirvan, under the guidance of the contemporary _Azar Sas\u00e1n_,\nalthough conforming to the _Das\u00e1tir_ and _Mah Zand_, was during the\nwhole of his life innocent of the crime of slaying harmless animals;\nhis successors however followed the precepts of the _Kah Zend_, until\nthe fifth Sas\u00e1n,[518] having uttered imprecations against the people\nof Iran, they became the victims of privation and wretchedness.\n\nThe professors of the Abad\u00ed\u00e1n faith say that Ahriman was produced by\nTime: they also say that the angels and the heavens have existed,\nexist, and will continue to exist.[519] Moreover the belief of the\n_Azar H\u00fasheng\u00ed\u00e1ns_ or _Yazdan\u00ed\u00e1ns_ is, that although the faith of\nZardusht prevailed universally from the time of Gushtasp to that of\nYezdejird, yet that the different intervening princes glossed it over\nand made it agree with the _Azar Husheng\u00ed\u00e1n_ or _Mahabad\u00ed\u00e1n_ system,\nso as never to sanction the destruction of animal life; and as they\nheld the words of Zardusht to be figurative, they never put them in\npractice literally when they contradicted the _Azar Husheng\u00ed\u00e1n_ faith,\nbut invariably glossed them over.\n\nThis statement proves that _Ardeshir Babegan_ and the other Sas\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n\nprinces showed great reverence to the _Azar Sas\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1n_ family and paid\nthem implicit obedience, as being truly the ministers and worshippers\nof the Lord; they besides accounted them as the legitimate sovereigns,\nregarding themselves merely as their lieutenants: in short, when the\n_Azar Sas\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1ns_ ceased to reign, they exercised the government in\ntheir stead. However the _Azar Sas\u00e1n\u00ed\u00e1ns_ followed no faith except\nthat of M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, receiving no other without the requisite glosses, and\nattaching no esteem whatever to the external import of Zardusht\u2019s\nprecepts: that is, regarding his words as true, but holding their\nexternal import as figurative. The Behdin\u00ed\u00e1ns also maintain that such\nwas the system adopted by the kings of old, particularly by _D\u00e1r\u00e1_,\n_D\u00e1r\u00e1b_, _Bahm\u00e1n_, _Isfendi\u00e1r_, and _Lohr\u00e1sp_.\n\nThe present seems the proper time for stating some of the enigmatical\nsayings ascribed to the Magians or followers of Zardusht, as\nphilosophy is guarded by such expressions from falling into the hands\nof the ignorant, whilst the sages thereby attain their object.\n\nIt is well known that according to their system the world had two\ncreators, _Yazdan_ (the Lord), and _Ahriman_: but the Lord having\nentertained this evil thought, \u201cPerhaps an antagonist may rise up to\noppose me,\u201d Ahriman was produced, from that thought.[520] In some\nplaces it is mentioned that God was alone, and gloom having come over\nhim, he entertained an evil suspicion, on which Ahriman was produced.\nThey say that Ahriman, who was outside the world, on looking through a\nsmall aperture, and beholding the Lord surrounded with glory and\nmajesty, bore him envy and raised up wickedness and corruption. God\nthen created the angels to be his host, and with them fought against\nAhriman; but being unable to destroy him, they made peace with each\nother on this condition; that Ahriman should remain in the world\nduring a definite period; and on his departure it should become the\nabode of unalloyed good.[521] Jam\u00e1sp, the venerable sage, says thus:\n\u201cIt is to be remarked that \u2018_world_\u2019 is a metaphorical expression for\nbody; and \u2018_God_,\u2019 for the aspiration of the spirit; \u2018_Ahriman_,\u2019 for\nthe physical temperament; \u2018_the evil thought_,\u2019 the habitual bias of\nthe soul to material objects; by \u2018_the wickedness and corruption of\nAhriman, and his war_,\u2019 are implied the domination of the sensual\npassions over spirit; and what they said of \u2018_the terrestrial world_,\u2019\nmeans the same; by \u2018_the creation of angels_,\u2019 the existence of\npraiseworthy qualities and perseverance in pure morals, with the\nsubjugation of the senses by means of religious austerities, for the\nsenses constitute the gratuitous foes of the heart; by \u2018_peace_,\u2019 is\nsignified the impossibility of expelling by one effort the evil\npropensities which are the armies of Iblis; that is, excess and\nextravagance are to be avoided, and the path of moderation followed;\nthe circumstance of \u2018_Ahriman\u2019s remaining in the world for a definite\nperiod_,\u2019 means the ascendancy and supremacy of the bodily passions,\nparticularly in early years, and before arriving at mature reflection,\nand even during other periods of this mortal life, in certain\nconstitutions; \u2018_the departure of Ahriman from the world_\u2019 implies\nvoluntary death, or religious austerities, or compulsory death, which\nis the natural decease; when the soul has by such means been\nemancipated, it finds itself adorned with perfections and attains to\nits particular sphere or bliss without alloy.\u201d\n\nThey have said: \u201cDarkness besieged Light and imprisoned it; on which\nevent the angels having come to the assistance of Light, Darkness\ndemanded help from Ahriman, its source; but the angels having overcome\nthe prince of Darkness, gave him a respite until the appointed hour\nand the predestined death.\u201d As to Darkness having arisen from the evil\nthought of Light, the venerable sage Jamasp says: \u201cThe interpretation\nof this tradition is the same as that of the preceding; as thus: The\nsoul is a precious substance, formed from light; its darkness, the\nbodily passions; its confinement and imprisonment, the dominion of the\npassions over that luminous essence, which drag down the souls of the\nwicked to the desolation of the lower world; the assistance of angels,\nis the obtaining of grace and power through elevation of mind,\nproceeding from illumination from on high, and the ascent of the\nspirit to the world of intellect; delay or respite implies the\ncontinuance of the passions until the period of natural death; and the\ncorrupt thought the bias of the soul to material objects.\u201d\n\nD\u00e1war Hary\u00e1r, the author of the _D\u00e1r\u00e1\u00ed Sekandur_, having once\nquestioned the author concerning the enigmatical meanings attached to\nthe words God and Ahriman, received this answer: \u201cLight is the same as\nexistence, and darkness signifies non-existence; God is therefore\nlight or existence, and Ahriman is darkness or non-existence. When it\nis said that Ahriman is opposed to God, the meaning is, that God is\nexistence, the opposite to which is non-existence.\u201d\n\nThey say that the creation and production of diseases, serpents,\nscorpions, and such like is an abominable act, originating with\nAhriman, which Jam\u00e1sp thus explains: \u201cIt is evident that diseases,\nsuch as ignorance, folly, pride, negligence, noxious creatures, (such\nas) anger, lust, strong passions, concupiscence, calumny, envy,\nmalignity, covetousness, treachery, fraud, and the like, arise not\nfrom spirit, but from the elemental constitution.\u201d They have also\nsaid: \u201cAn angel is the agent of good, and Ahriman the agent of evil;\nand that God is exempt from both these acts; which the celebrated sage\nJam\u00e1sp thus explains:\u2015\u2015By angel is implied spirit and the agent of\ngood; which, if it overcome the senses, engages man in virtuous words\nand acts, which are styled \u2018good.\u2019 Ahriman, or Satan, in this place\nmeans the desires inherent in the constitution of the senses, which,\non obtaining the victory over spirit, attract it towards the pleasures\nof sense, thus making it forget its original abode; which is\ndenominated \u2018evil:\u2019 and as the Almighty has given his creatures free\nwill, neither are their good or evil deeds to be imputed to him.\u201d This\nsaying: That the soul of him who has done evil, having determined on\nflight through fear of divine wrath, plunges downwards, is thus\nexplained by the sage Jamasp: \u201cBy \u2018_sinner_\u2019 is understood one whose\nessence is defective; by \u2018_descent_,\u2019 turning away from the superior\nto corporeal attachments; by \u2018_resolving on flight_,\u2019 the strong\ndesires of passion, through the suggestion of body, until the entire\ndeparture of divine grace.\u201d\n\nThus far extend the illustrations of the sage Jam\u00e1sp. But that the\nscope of Zardusht is couched under allegories agrees with the\ndeclaration made by the great Bahman, the son of Isfendi\u00e1r, the son of\nking Gusht\u00e1sp, who says: \u201cZardusht once said to me: \u2018My father and\nmother delivered me to nurses, who dwelt in a place far remote from\nthe city of my birth; with these I remained many a long year, until I\nquite forgot my father, mother, and native town. Suddenly this thought\ncame over my mind\u2015\u2015Who are my parents, and where the place of my\nbirth?\u2015\u2015I struggled hard until I returned naked and bare the way by\nwhich I had come; and having gained my house and beheld my father and\nmother, I returned again to the place where my nurses dwelt. As the\ndress worn by the people of this country was on my person, I shall\ntherefore remain here until this dress is worn out, and then depart,\nin order that it may not be said\u2015\u2015He was unable to perform his office\nand has run away, leaving our despised garments.\u2019\u201d\n\nBahman, the son of Isfendi\u00e1r, thus says: \u201cAll that Zardusht uttered\nwas enigmatical: the \u2018_city and native place_\u2019 are the angelic world;\nby \u2018_father_,\u2019 is meant the primary intelligence; and by \u2018_mother_,\u2019\nthe universal soul; \u2018_the nurses_,\u2019 this lower world and junction with\nbody; \u2018_forgetting the original abode_,\u2019 attachment to the elements of\nbody; \u2018_recalling it to memory_,\u2019 implies the struggle towards that\ndirection; \u2018_the arriving there_,\u2019 means religious austerities; \u2018_the\nstate of nakedness_,\u2019 the divesting one\u2019s self of bodily attachments;\n\u2018_the returning back to the nurses_,\u2019 means resuming the body; \u2018_that\nit may not be said that he was alarmed at the performance of duty, and\nran off, leaving his clothes behind; I shall not therefore depart from\nhence, until these clothes be worn out_;\u2015\u2015_the performance of duty_,\u2019\nsignifies the amassing of the capital of knowledge, true faith, and\ngood works; by \u2018_the clothes being worn out_,\u2019 is implied the\nseparation of the bodily members; that is, I will remain here as long\nas the body lasts, and after its dissolution return to my native\nplace.\u201d\n\nPrince Isfendi\u00e1r, the son of king Gusht\u00e1sp, also tells us: \u201cZardusht\nonce said to me: \u2018A number of persons once left their native place for\nthe purpose of acquiring wealth, that on their return they might pass\ntheir time in pleasure and enjoyment. On arriving at the city of their\ndestination, some of them amassed wealth; some devoted themselves to\nwandering about the place and contemplating the beauties with which it\nabounded; whilst others remained altogether inactive. When the time of\npacking up came, the king of that people said\u2015\u2015Depart from hence, that\nanother set may arrive, and obtain their portion, as you have\ndone.\u2015\u2015On which all these people went out, some provided with stores\nfor the journey; some without any provision; a few on horseback; a\nmultitude on foot; a wide desert lay before, and a toilsome road,\nthrough rocks and prickly thorns, devoid of cultivation, destitute of\nwater and shade. Those who were on horseback and furnished with\nprovisions passed over, and having reached their native city, gave\nthemselves up to joy and gladness; those who were on foot, and had\nprovided stores for the journey, after experiencing many ups and\ndowns, at last, with extreme difficulty, reached their halting place,\nwhere they passed their time in a state of happiness proportioned to\ntheir gains, although, on instituting a comparison between themselves\nand those inhabitants and dignified persons who had acquired opulence\nby commercial pursuits, they feel pangs of regret; but those who came\nout of the city without any kind of conveyance or stores, and thinking\nthat without supplies they could reach their native place, when they\nhad gone some little distance, became wearied and unable to proceed\nthrough weakness, and fatigue from walking, want of provisions, the\ndifficulties of the road, distress, the sun\u2019s overpowering heat, and\nthe gloom of night; they were forced by necessity to turn back to the\ncity, where they had been; but other merchants had in the meantime\ntaken possession of the houses, dwellings, shops, and apartments which\nthey formerly occupied: they were thus reduced to a state of\ndestitution, and had no resource left but that of working for hire or\nturning mendicants, pursuits which they adopted.\u2019\u201d\n\nIsfendiar says: \u201c\u2018_The city from which they departed for the purposes\nof commerce_\u2019 is the angelic world; _that to which they came with the\ndesign of accumulating wealth_\u2019 is the lower world; \u2018_the houses,\nshops, etc._,\u2019 signify the human body; \u2018_the people of the city_\u2019 are\nthe animals, vegetables, and minerals; \u2018_the king_,\u2019 the elemental\nnature; \u2018_what the merchants have amassed_\u2019 are their words and deeds;\n\u2018_what others have collected_\u2019 is devotion without knowledge; \u2018_the\ninactive_\u2019 are those whose only \u201cpursuits were sleep, sensual\ngratification, etc.; \u2018_the exclamation of the king_\u2019 is Death, who\nexpels them from the mansions of body; \u2018_the deserts and mountains_,\u2019\nthe extremes of heat and cold; \u2018_the equestrians_\u2019 are those who unite\nthe speculative and practical; \u2018_the pedestrians, who were furnished\nwith some provisions_\u2019 are those who adore God, but neither knew\nthemselves nor the Lord; \u2018_they who are without provisions or\nconveyance_\u2019 are those destitute of knowledge and good works, who\nbeing unable to reach the angelic world, return in despair to the\nelemental world, forfeiting the rank they once possessed.\u201d\n\nThe sage _Shah Nasir Khusran_ says on this head:\n\n \u201cWhen any one travels this road for that important purpose,\n He takes at least a loaf of bread under his arm:\n How then canst thou, who hast no store, proceed up the mount,\n From the centre of darkness to the zenith of Saturn?\u201d\n\nIn some other parables of Zardusht, which are here noticed, he speaks\nthus: \u201cWhen the travellers, in consequence of the want of stores and\nfatigue of walking, return back to the king\u2019s city, not finding their\nformer beautiful mansions, they settle themselves in caverns or lanes,\nhiring themselves as labourers or subsisting on alms.\u201d\n\nEsfendiar says: \u201cBy this is understood, that when they quit this\nmortal frame, they cannot reach the world on high, owing to their want\nof knowledge and good works; being thus rejected, on their return to\nthe elemental world, they cannot obtain human bodies, but are invested\nwith the forms of the brute creation.\u201d As this parable nearly\nresembles what has been heretofore mentioned, it is unnecessary to\ndescribe it more in detail.\n\n \u201cWhen thou departest from the inn of the body, there is no other\n storehouse;\n Why dost thou not therefore procure supplies for the road in this\n place of sojourn?\u201d\n\nIsfendiar also records: \u201cZardusht once said: \u2018Two persons of one house\nwere partners, and were both possessed of great capital; they\nsaid:\u2015\u2015We have gained a sufficient stock of wealth in the world, and\nlive and dress in a manner suitable to our great riches; we now only\nwant some beloved object, that our existence may be more blissful:\ntherefore, to attain our desire, it will be necessary to undertake a\njourney. They directed their course to a city, the inhabitants of\nwhich were famed for beauty and gracefulness; on arriving there with\nthe caravan, one of the partners gave himself up to traversing the\ngardens, and was so absorbed in admiring the beauties of the city,\nthat he attended to no business whatever, whilst the other partner\nobtained a mistress of exquisite beauty. All of a sudden the\ngarden-door was closed.\u2019\u201d\n\nIsfendiar says \u201c_Z\u00e1\u00edd_ and _Amru_[522] may serve as an example of the\ntwo friends; \u2018_the capital and stock_,\u2019 the original world; \u2018_the city\nof beauteous persons_,\u2019 this world; \u2018_the desirable beloved object_,\u2019\ngood works; \u2018_the rapacious animals, reptiles, and beasts_\u2019 are anger,\nlust, excessive desire, hatred, envy, concupiscence, malignity, and\navarice; \u2018_the herbage and gardens_\u2019 are sloth and pride; \u2018_the\ngarden-door_,\u2019 the dakhmah (or sepulchral vault); \u2018_the urn_,\u2019 the\ngrave, or the place of burying the dead; \u2018_shutting the garden-door_\u2019\nthe moment of death.\u201d\n\nHis reasons for enumerating the urn, dakhmah, and grave are, that\naccording to the faith of Azur H\u00fashang, or M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1d, they sometimes put\nthe body of the deceased into a jar of aqua-fortis, as among them the\nbody is deposited indifferently either in the dakhmah or the jar: but\nthe sepulchre is in use among the people of Room, and the funeral pile\namong those of Hindustan.\n\nKing Gusht\u00e1sp also relates the following parable of Zardusht: \u201cA\ncertain man delivered his son to a preceptor, saying: \u2018Within such a\ntime teach this boy the accomplishments necessary for a courtier.\u2019 The\nboy, however, through a fondness for pleasure, sport, and amusements,\nwas unwilling to give himself any trouble, and was slow in learning\nany thing; he however every day secretly brought from home sweetmeats\nand agreeable objects, as his tutor had a great inclination for such\nenjoyments. When the preceptor\u2019s time had passed in this manner, and\nhis pupil had become habituated to revelling, sensual pleasures, and\nenjoyments, the tutor at last fell dangerously indisposed through\nthese excesses, and laid himself down on the bed of death. His pupil\nwell knew he had no other place left, and that he must return to his\nparents, so that when his master fell sick, he became sensible of his\nown state. Through dread of his father, shame of his mother, the\ndisgrace of ignorance, and a sense of contrition, he went not near\nthem, but pined in melancholy and wandered about in obscurity.\u201d\n\nThis parable has been thus explained by Gusht\u00e1sp: \u201c\u2018_The preceptor_\u2019\nsignifies the five senses; \u2018_the son_,\u2019 the immortal spirit; \u2018_the\nfather_,\u2019 the universal intelligence; \u2018_the mother_,\u2019 the universal\nsoul; \u2018_the sweetmeats and mistresses_,\u2019 worldly enjoyments; \u2018_the\nindispensable necessity of the immortal spirit_,\u2019 that it should,\nthrough the senses and the common reflection which is their\ninstructor, attain the objects of intellect and amass provisions for\nits return, so that it may become the associate of the only true king.\nIf this purpose be not effected, it of course feels terror at the\ndeath of the body. When it has become thus biassed to sensual\npleasures and devoid of all goodness, on being separated from the\nbody, although still possessed of sufficient energy for mounting on\nhigh, yet through shame and confusion, it feels no desire of arriving\nthere and beholding its parents, soul and intellect.\u201d\n\nThe venerable H\u00fary\u00e1r once said to the author: \u201cI have seen the\nfollowing narrative in the _Ramazast\u00e1n_ of Zardusht: \u2018The prime\nminister to the sovereign of the world had so many sons, that their\nnumber surpassed all computation; these he first sent to a place of\neducation, where, along with the children of Rayas (cultivators), they\nmight attain knowledge. If the minister\u2019s sons became intelligent, the\nDust\u00far summoned them to his presence, and enrolled them among the\nking\u2019s confidential servants; but if they remained without science,\nthey were not regarded as the Vizir\u2019s sons, but classed among the\nRayas; were not permitted to come into his presence; and were cut off\nfrom all share in their father\u2019s inheritance.\u201d\n\nThe author replied: \u201cIt occurs to me that, by \u2018_the king of the\nworld_,\u2019 is meant the supreme God without equal; by \u2018_vizir_,\u2019 the\nprimary intelligence; and by \u2018_the sons of the vizir_,\u2019 the souls\nendowed with reason; by \u2018_school_,\u2019 the elemental world, and the\nbodies formed of the elements; and by \u2018_the children of the common\npeople_\u2019 the corporeal senses and passions.\u201d\n\nWhen the immortal spirits have acquired knowledge in this place of\neducation, their father, \u201cUniversal Intelligence,\u201d brings them near\nhimself, and advances them to the rank of holding intercourse with the\nLord of Eternity: but the souls which do not acquire knowledge in this\nschool are not allowed access to the world of uncompounded beings, the\nabode of the Universal Intelligence, and remain banished from the\npresence of the Creator of the world; so that they make no advance\nfrom the material bodies of this abode of the elements, which hold the\nrank of Rayas, but are excluded from all share in the inheritance of\nthe primary intelligence or the acquisition of knowledge.\n\nZardusht has also said: \u201cIn the upper regions there exists a mighty\nocean, from the vapors of which a great mirage appears in this lower\nworld: so that nothing save that illusion subsists here; exactly as\nnothing besides that ocean exists in the world on high.\u201d\n\nThe revered ruler of H\u00fary\u00e1r, having asked the author the meaning of\nthis parable, received this answer: \u201c\u2018_The mighty ocean_\u2019 means the\nabsolute essence and pure existence of God; \u2018_the mirage_\u2019 implies\ncontingent existences, which in truth exist not, but appear to do so,\nthrough the inherent property of God\u2019s absolute existence; according\nto this view, he has said: \u2018From the vapors of that ocean has arisen\nthe mirage.\u2019\u201d\n\nIt is recorded in the books composed by Zardusht\u2019s followers, and also\nin the ancient histories of Iran, that at the period of Arj\u00e1sp\u2019s\nsecond invasion of Balkh, king Gushtasp was partaking of the\nhospitality of Z\u00e1l, in Sistan, and Isfendiar was a prisoner in Dazh\nGambad\u00e1n; and that Lohor\u00e1sp, notwithstanding the religious austerities\nhe performed through divine favor, laid aside the robes of mortality\nin battle, after which the Turks took the city. A Turk named\n_Turbaratur_, or _Turbaraturhash_, having entered Zardusht\u2019s oratory,\nthe prophet received martyrdom by his sword. Zardusht, however, having\nthrown at him the rosary (_Shumar Afin_, or _Y\u00e1d Afr\u00e1z_) which he held\nin his hand, there proceeded from it such effulgent splendor, that its\nfire fell on Turburatur and consumed him.[523]\n\n\n [382] If the claims to originality and antiquity of the\n language in which the Des\u00e1tir is written were admitted, we\n should have (pp. 146, 147, Engl. transl.) _Hertush\u00e1d_ or\n _Hert\u00far\u00e1sh_, as the first and true name of the Persian\n prophet who followed immediately K\u00e1i Khusro. In Zand, upon\n which language we are now better informed, the true name of\n this legislator of the Persians is _Zerethoshtr\u00f3_, or\n _Zarathustra_, which signifies \u201cstar of gold;\u201d of this was\n formed in the Pehlevi language the name of _Zaratesht_ or\n _Zaratosht_, and in Farsi that of _Zard\u00fasht_ or _Zaradusht_.\n The Greeks have changed the original Zand name, either by\n removing the \u201cth\u201d in the middle of it, and thus making it\n _Zereoshtr\u00f3_, _Zoroastr\u00e9s_; or by omitting the final\n syllable \u201ctro,\u201d whence it became _Zaratos_, _Zabratos_,\n _Zaradas_, _Zarasd\u00e9s_, _Zathraust\u00e9s_; we find, moreover,\n _Zoromasdr\u00e8s_, _Azonaces_, and _Nazarat\u00fas_. The most ancient\n mention of the name of Zoroastr\u00e8s, in Greek books, is to be\n found in the works of Plato, and dates therefore from the\n fourth century before our era. The original word has been\n translated by \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03b4\u03cd\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2, \u201che who sacrifices to the stars;\u201d\n by \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03b4\u03ad\u03b1\u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u201che who contemplates the stars;\u201d and by\n \u201cliving star.\u201d These interpretations relate to the character\n of a priest and of an astronomer, generally attributed to\n Zoroaster, who is also believed to have been the inventor of\n _magic_; this word was originally taken in a sense very\n different from that which has been given to it in later\n times, and can be referred to the name of _Magi_, or\n _Mobeds_ (see note, p. 17), well known to Herodotus in the\n fifth century B. C. These Magi are represented as the\n teachers and priests of a most pure philosophy and religion,\n the origin of which is placed by the Des\u00e1tir and the\n Dabist\u00e1n in the most remote and ante-historical times of the\n M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1di\u00e1ns. It may therefore appear less surprising to find\n in Pliny\u2019s Natural History (I. xxx. c. 1. 2.) Zoroaster\n placed, pursuant to the authority of Aristotle and Eudoxus,\n 6000 years before the death of Plato, and, conformably to\n Hermippus, 5000 years before the Trojan war. The last date\n is repeated by Plutarch (lib. de Is. et Osir.). Diogenes\n Laertius says: \u201cHermodoros, a Platonic philosopher, counts\n 5000 years from the establishment of the Magi to the\n destruction of Troy.\u201d According to Suidas, a Zoroaster lived\n 500 years before the Trojan war; if the number 500 had been\n erroneously substituted for 5000, which is admissible (see\n M. de Fortia d\u2019Urban, _Math\u00e9maticiens illustres_, p. 354),\n we should have the agreement of all these creditable authors\n just mentioned, from the fourth century before, to the\n twelfth century after, our era, in fixing the age of\n Zoroaster and the establishment of the Magi, 6352 or 6194\n years B. C.\n\n The epocha of the Magi (putting aside that of the M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1di\u00e1ns)\n has also been taken for that of Tahmuras and Jemshid, that\n is, 3460 or 3429 years B. C. According to other accounts\n (collected in the Hist. Diction. of Moreri, Bayle, etc.,\n etc.), a Zoroaster ruled the Bactrian empire in the times of\n Ninus, the Assyrian king, 2200 years B. C.; vanquished by\n the latter, he desired to be consumed by the fire of heaven,\n and exhorted the Assyrians to preserve his ashes as a\n palladium of their empire; after he had been killed by\n lightning, his last will was executed. Some historians (see\n Herbelot _sub voce_) admit a Zerd\u00fasht in the age of Ferid\u00fan,\n 1729 years B. C. Several other learned men concur in placing\n him much later, few below the sixth century before our era.\n\n In the utter impossibility to decide upon so many conflicting\n statements, there is perhaps no better means of reconciling\n them all, than concluding that Zoroaster having, in the\n course of ages, become a generic or appellative name for\n sages, prophets, and kings professing and promoting a\n certain religion or philosophy, this name could be applied\n to several individuals who appeared at different times, and\n in different countries of Asia. Hence we explain in the\n various accounts a plurality of Zoroasters, and an identity\n of several personages with one Zoroaster; he has indeed been\n supposed to be the same with _Japhet_, _Ham_ (_Heemo_),\n _Zohak_, _Nimrod_, _Buddha_, _Abraham_, _Moses_, _Ezekiel_,\n _Bal\u00e2am_, etc., etc. Whatever it be, the Dabist\u00e1n treats in\n this chapter of the Zard\u00fasht, who appeared under the reign\n of Gushtasp, king of Persia, upon whose epocha too our\n chronologers are not unanimous.\n\n Independently of the Das\u00e1tir, written originally in a\n particular language, the Persians have Zand books which they\n attribute to the last Zoroaster himself. Except these works,\n the age of which is a subject of dispute, they have no\n written records of their great legislator prior to the ninth\n or tenth century of our era, and these are the poems of\n Dakiki and Ferdusi. The latter narrates, in his Shah-nameh,\n the history of Zerd\u00fasht under the reign of Gushtasp. We have\n besides a Shah nameh _naser_, or a Shah-nameh in prose,\n composed by some one of the Magi (_Hyde_, p. 324). The\n _Zardusht-nameh_, and the _Changragatcha-nameh_ are Persian\n poems, the epocha of which, according to Anquetil du Perron\n (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. pp. 6, can scarcely be fixed farther\n back than the fifteenth century.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [383] This is also related in Mirkhond\u2019s _Runzat-us-Safa_\n (Shea\u2019s transl., p. 286).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [384] Zarat\u00fasht-Bahram is the author of the Zarat\u00fasht-namah\n before-mentioned (see _Hyde_, p. 332). The epoch of this\n work is uncertain, according to the opinion of the dost\u00fars\n of India; yet the author of it informs us, in the 2nd\n chapter, that he has translated it into Persian from the\n Pehlvi under the dictation of a Mobed skilled in this\n language; and in the last chapter in which he names himself\n he says that he composed the Zaratusht-namah in the year 647\n of Yezdegerd, which answers to 1276 of our era (see\n _Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p. 6).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [385] According to Cedrenus, an author of the eleventh\n century, Zoroaster descended from Belus or Nimrod: this king\n is, by some authors, identified with Zoh\u00e1k, who married two\n daughters of Djemchid, from whom also Faridun descended; on\n account of this relationship, Zoroaster\u2019s origin may without\n contradiction be referred to Belus and to Faridun. In the\n Des\u00e2tir, the name of his father is _Heresfetm\u00e1d_. According\n to the authority of the book Sad-der (see _Hyde_, p. 316),\n _Patir\u00e1sp_, the grandfather of Zoroaster, descended from\n _Hitcherasp_, who sprung from _Tchechsh\u00fanesh_, and this from\n _Espintaman_, or _Sad-yuman_; who is therefore the third\n ancestor of the prophet: nevertheless this last is often\n called simply _Espintaman_, or also _Sapetman_; which word,\n according to Anquetil du Perron (t. I. 2. p. 9), signifies\n \u201cexcellent.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [386] The same dream is related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c.\n 3 and 4), as well as in the work of Henry Lord (p. 451),\n quoted by Anquetil du Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p.\n 11).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [387] The tradition of this appears to be widely spread, not\n only in the East but also in the West, as it is mentioned\n by Pliny (H. N. I. vii. c. 16), with the addition of one\n wonderful particular, namely, that Zartusht\u2019s brain\n palpitated so much as to repel the hand laid upon his head,\n a presage of future science. Solinus (c. 1) relates the same\n fact. Zoroaster is proverbially known as the first child who\n laughed on being born.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [388] See note, p. 211. This name has also been supposed a\n mere corruption of \u0627\u0632\u0631 \u062f\u0648\u0633\u062a, _azer d\u00f3st_, that is, \u201ca\n friend of fire\u201d (see Hyde, who rejects it, p. 314).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [389] The same circumstances of the child\u2019s dangers and\n miraculous escapes are related in the _Zardusht-namah_ (c.\n 7-11), and in _Changr\u00e9gatha-namah_ (c. 2).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [390] In the _Zardusht-nameh_, the name of the magician is\n Turberatorsh.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [391] The edition of Calcutta reads generally \u0698\u0646\u062f, _zhand_;\n we shall keep the more familiar name, \u0632\u0646\u062f, _zand_. We find\n also _Avesta-zand_, and simply _Asta_ and _zand_.\n\n Herbelot has interpreted this name of Zoroaster\u2019s writings\n by \u201cthe book of life.\u201d Hyde thought (p. 336) that _Zand\n Avesta_ was properly _Zand va Esta_, or _Zand u Esta_, and\n _Zand_, an Arabic word signifying \u201cigniarium, focile, pixis\n ignaria,\u201d joined to the Hebrew-Chaldaic word _Eshta_, or\n _Esta_, \u201cignis,\u201d and explained the whole name by \u201cigniarium\u201d\n and \u201cignis,\u201d or \u201ctinder and fire.\u201d According to Anquetil du\n Perron (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 423), _zand_ signifies\n \u201cliving,\u201d and _Avesta_, \u201cword;\u201d therefore _Zand-Avesta_,\n \u201cthe living word;\u201d which was anciently the law of the\n countries limited by the Euphrates, the Oxus, and the Indian\n ocean (_ibid._, t. I. p. xiv). This law or religion is still\n professed by the descendants of the Persians who, conquered\n by the Muhammedans, have not submitted to the Koran; they\n partly inhabit Kirman, and partly the western coast of\n India, to the north and south of Surat. It is besides now\n decided by the investigations of the above-named author, and\n by those of Kleuker, Rask, as well as by those of Messrs.\n Eugene Burnouf, Bopp, Lassen, and other philologers, that\n Zand was an ancient language derived from the same source as\n the Sanskrit; it was spoken before the Christian era,\n particularly in the countries situated to the west of the\n Caspian sea, namely in Georgia, Iran proper, and Azerbijan\n (the northern Media). Moreover the _Pa-zand_ denotes a\n dialect derived from the Zand, or a mixed Zand, similar to\n the Rabbinic language of the Jews (_Z.-Av._, t. II. pp. 67,\n 68).\n\n It is generally known that Anquetil du Perron brought, in\n the year 1762, from Surat in India, and deposited in the\n Royal library of Paris, several Zand, Pehlvi, and Persian\n works, which, according to his opinion, were partly the\n original works written by Zoroaster himself, partly\n translated, or at least derived from original works of the\n Persian prophet. These writings, namely _The Vendidad_, in\n Zand and Pehlvi, were brought about the year 1276, by the\n Dostur Ardeshir, from Sistan to Guzerat, and there\n communicated to the Parsees, who made two copies of them;\n from these come all the _Vendidads_, Zand and Pehlvi, of\n Guzerat. These works, parts of which only existed in\n England, were then for the first time translated into an\n European language, and published in French by Anquetil.\n Examined as monuments of an ancient religion and literature\n of the Persians, they have been differently appreciated by\n learned men, and their authenticity denied by some, among\n whom the most conspicuous are sir William Jones, Richardson,\n and Meiners, and defended by others, by none with more zeal\n than John Frederic Kleuker, who not only translated\n Anquetil\u2019s _Zand-Avesta_ into German, in three volumes, but\n in an appendix of two volumes (all in quarto) commented and\n discussed with great judgment, sagacity, and erudition, all\n that relates to the Zand-books attributed to Zoroaster. Here\n follow, as shortly as possible, the principal results of his\n laborious investigations:\u2015\u2015testimonies of the existence of\n works attributed to Zoroaster are found in Greek authors who\n lived before our era. It was in the sixth century B. C. that\n the Persian religion and philosophy became known in Europe\n by Hostanes, the Archimagus who accompanied Xerxes in his\n expedition against Greece. In the fourth century B. C.,\n Plato, Aristotle, and Theopompus show a knowledge of\n Zoroaster\u2019s works. In the third century B. C., Hermippus\n treats expressly of them, as containing not less than\n 120,000 distichs. Soon after the beginning of the Christian\n era, works attributed to Zoroaster are mentioned under\n different names by Nicolaus of Damascus, Strabo, Pausanius,\n Pliny, and Dion Chrysostomus. St. Clement of Alexandria, in\n the third century, was not unacquainted with them. Later,\n the Gnostics made a great use of the oriental cosmogony and\n psychology as derived from Zoroaster. The testimony of\n Eusebius establishes that, in the fourth century, there\n existed a collection of sacred works respecting the theology\n and religion of the Persians. It was mostly the liturgical\n part of them that was spread about, mixed with notions\n relative to the magical art. The empress Eudokia of the\n fifth, and Suidas of the twelfth, century, attribute to\n Zoroaster several books, four of which treat of nature, one\n of precious stones, and five of astrology and prognostics.\n So much and more can be gathered from Greek and Latin works\n about the writings of the Persian legislator.\n\n The records of the Muhammedans concerning them begin only in\n the ninth century, by Muhammed Abu Jafar Ebn Jerir el Tabari\n (Hyde, 317-319), according to whom Zoroaster wrote his\n revelations upon 12,000 cow-skins (or parchment folios). Abu\n Muhammed Mustapha, in his life of Gushtasp, says: \u201cZoroaster\n wrote the just-mentioned work in 12 tomes, each of which\n formed a bullock\u2019s load.\u201d Both authors say that the Persian\n king deposited these books, magnificently ornamented, in\n Istakhar. By several other authors, from the ninth to the\n seventeenth century, it is positively established that the\n books of the Zand-Avesta existed in all the centuries in\n which the Muhammedans had intercourse with the disciples of\n Zartusht. Works composed by the latter are: the _Bun-Dehesh_,\n the _Viraf-nameh_, the _Sad-der Bun-Dehesh_, the _Ulemai-Islam_,\n the _Ravacts_ (that is, the correspondence between the\n Dosturs of Persia and India since the fifteenth century),\n the _Zaratusht nameh_, the _Changragachah namah_, and the\n history of the flight of the Parsees to India. In all these\n works breathes the spirit of the strongest conviction that\n authentic works of Zartusht have, although not entirely, yet\n partly, been preserved to later days. This conviction is\n common to a numerous nation, who adhere to their sacred\n books as to the inappreciable inheritance of their\n forefathers. The generality of this sentiment is attested by\n several respectable and intelligent European travellers in\n the East, such as Henry Lord, Gabriel de Chinon, J. B.\n Tavernier, D. Sanson, the chevalier Chardin, and others.\n\n The name of _Zand-Avesta_ belongs, among the books published\n by Anquetil, exclusively to those the original of which is\n truly Zand; these alone are canonical; they are five in\n number, all theological, for the most part liturgical,\n namely: 1. the _Izechn\u00e9_, \u201celevation of the soul, praise,\n devotion;\u201d called also _the little Avesta_; 2. the _Vispered_,\n \u201cthe chiefs of the beings there named;\u201d 3. the _Vendidad_,\n which is considered as the foundation of the law (these\n three are called together the _Vendidad Sad\u00e9_, \u201cto combat\n Ahriman\u201d) 4. the _Yeshts Sades_, or \u201ca collection of\n compositions and of fragments, more or less ancient;\u201d 5. the\n book _Siroz_, \u201cthirty days,\u201d containing praises addressed to\n the Genius of each day: it is a sort of liturgical calendar.\n These are the Zand-books existing in our days; the originals\n of them are said by the learned Foucher to have been\n composed under the reign of Gushtasp, whom he places before\n the time assigned to Darius Hystaspes, whilst Anquetil and\n other modern authors identify under these names a king of\n Persia, who lived about the middle of the sixth century\n before our era. We may reasonably believe that the Zand-books\n were written at a time when the Zand was a living, nay the\n dominant language, in those countries where these books\n first appeared; that is, in Georgia, in Iran, and in\n Azerbijan. Now, if it be admitted that the Zand was in these\n countries quite a dead language already, under the Ashkanian\n dynasty of Persia (the Arsacides), the first of whom,\n _Aghush_, began to reign 310 years B. C., it will follow,\n that the Zand-books were written long before that time, that\n is, most likely at least, so early so the sixth century\n before the Christian era.\n\n Besides the original Zand-books, Anquetil translated also\n from the modern Persian the _Bun-Dehesh_. This is a\n collection of treatises upon several points, ranged under 34\n sections\u2015\u2015a sort of encyclop\u00e6dia, theological, cosmological,\n historical, and political. This work is written in Pehlvi,\n and believed to be the translation of a Zand original no\n more to be found in India. It is the most ancient of the\n modern works of the Parsees, and was written probably about\n the seventh century of our era.\n\n What may confirm us in the opinion that these books, still\n in the hands of the Parsees, are truly derived from much\n more ancient works is, that their contents agree in a great\n number of principal points with the doctrine attributed to\n the Magi and to Zoroaster by ancient Greek authors, of whom\n the later Parsees had certainly not the least knowledge,\n whilst their Zand-books contain the names of the first and\n most ancient kings of the Medes and Persians, and no other\n but those, of whom the Greeks knew nothing. No king and no\n private person, after Gushtasp and Zoroaster, are mentioned\n in the Zand-books.\n\n Sixty years had elapsed since the publication of the\n Zand-Avesta by Anquetil, when M. Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf undertook a\n revision and commentary of that part of the Zand-works which\n the first had translated and published, under the Pehlvi\n name of _Iseshn\u00e9_, and which, in Zand, is entitled _Yasna_.\n Among the manuscripts which Anquetil had brought from India\n was a Sanskrit translation, made towards the end of the\n fifteenth century by a Dostur called Neriosengh, probably\n from a Pehlvi version of a Zand original. M. Eug\u00e8ne Burnouf,\n to give a better interpretation of the Zand text, not only\n availed himself of the double translation, executed by\n Neriosengh and Anquetil, but also, independently of both,\n applied the principles of comparative philology to the\n analysis of many Zand-words, the true signification of which\n he fixed, and by various judicious observations, interspersed\n in his commentary, threw light upon the geography, history,\n and religion of ancient Persia. He published in 1833 the\n first volume of his work, under the title \u201cCommentaire sur\n le Yasna:\u201d he had before (1829) published the lithographed\n Zand text of it in one folio volume. In 1836 appeared, at\n Bombay, a lithographed edition of the same Zand text.\u201d\u2015\u2015A.\n T.\n\n [392] Mina, semen virile.\n\n [393] The quarrel between Zartusht and his father, and the\n death of the head magician, as well as what preceded\u2015\u2015these\n facts are related nearly in the same manner in the _Zerd.\n Nam._, ch. 12-15.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [394] Anquetil du Perron states that this expanse of water\n was the river Araxes (t. 1. 2. P. p. 19).\n\n [395] The month of February, the last month of the year.\u2015\u2015A.\n T.\n\n [396] Anquetil du Perron, quoting the _Zerd. Nam._, c. 18,\n says, an army of serpents, perhaps tribes of N\u00e2gas, which\n came from the North.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [397] Mediomah, cousin to Zardusht, the first who embraced\n the law; he meditated on it profoundly, published and\n practised it: he confers happiness on cities.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [398] April, the second month of the year.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [399] Dabati, the name given, in Parsi works, to the Caspian\n sea.\u2015\u2015D. S.] Anquetil du Peron says (t. 1. 2. P. p. 21) that\n he passed the Cyrus on his way to the Caspian sea.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [400] Anquetil du Peron says here, quoting H. Lord, that\n Zardusht retired to the mountains for consulting the Supreme\n Being, and adds in a note that, according to the Vendidad,\n it was upon the mount Alborz that he consulted Hormuzd (t.\n 1. 2. P. p. 22). The geographical situation of this mountain\n has been indicated in the note at p. 22; but by the religion\n of the Parsees it is placed in the supernatural world, to\n which Zoroaster was transported, as related above. The\n sacred Alborz is the first of mountains; it attained its\n first elevation in fifteen years, and took eight hundred\n years to complete its growth; it rose up from the middle of\n the earth to the region of the first light, the delightful\n abode of Mithra, of whom hereafter; the sun and the moon\n depart from and return to this mountain every day (see\n _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 206, 207, 214, 357, 361, 364, and\n elsewhere).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [401] See note, p. 215. Zardusht is called the son of\n Espintaman. The edition of Calcutta reads Askiman; the\n manuscript of Oude, Askatam\u00e1n.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [402] The Amsh\u00e1sfands are the six first celestial spirits\n after Ormuzd. Their name is derived from the Zand-words\n _emeshe_, \u201cimmortal,\u201d and _sepente_, \u201cexcellent,\n perfect.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [403] It is generally acknowledged that Ahriman was the\n author of evil, opposed to Ormuzd, the creator and promoter\n of every good; but different opinions are entertained upon\n the origin of these two mighty beings. According to the most\n ancient doctrine, both were the productions of a primordial\n cause, which is called _Zaruam akaren\u00ea_, \u201cthe boundless\n time.\u201d The Zand-books, as well as Shahristani and the Ulemi\n Islam, make Ahriman anterior to Ormuzd, that is to say, in\n plain language, \u201cthe evil was before the good.\u201d These two\n were, however, not distinguished from each other before\n Ahriman had become jealous of Ormuzd, for which he was\n condemned by the great creator Time to dwell in the abode of\n darkness for twelve thousand years. It was then only that\n Ormuzd saw with horror his deformed and frightful adversary,\n and to oppose the effects of his existence created, within\n three thousand years, a celestial region and a celestial\n people. Ahriman, long time ignorant of what was preparing\n against him, had scarce perceived the light of Ormuzd, when\n he ran to destroy it, but, amazed at its beauty, fled back\n to hell, where he hastened to produce a host of evil beings.\n In vain did Ormuzd offer reconciliation to Ahriman, and even\n a partnership in the priesthood of the boundless time; the\n fiend rejected all terms of peace, and war began to rage\n between them (see _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 345, 347.)\n\n According to the books of the Parsees and of the Muhammedans\n who give an account of their doctrine, Ahriman is bad by\n nature: nor do the more ancient Zand-books say that he ever\n was good; yet the explanation given about this mysterious\n being can but involve contradictions in more than one\n respect. He alone is able to resist Ormuzd, of whom his\n existence is entirely independent; he is the king of the\n beings which he has created, and which Ormuzd cannot\n annihilate; nor can the latter prevent the effects of the\n power by which his enemy destroys the people of the just,\n and banishes the moral good from the earth.\n\n An account of Ahriman\u2019s origin, somewhat different from\n this, will be seen hereafter in the Dabist\u00e1n.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [404] These sentiments agree singularly with the following\n passage of Plato: \u03a4\u03c9\u03bd \u03bc\u03b5\u03bd \u03b1\u03b3\u03b1\u03b4\u03c9\u03bd \u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd \u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b5\u03bd\u03b1 \u03b1\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03bf\u03bd, \u03c4\u03c9\u03bd\n \u03b4\u1f72 \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03c9\u03bd \u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u2019 \u03b1\u03c4\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b4\u03b5\u03b9 \u03b6\u03b7\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd \u03c4\u03b1 \u03b1\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1, \u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u2019 \u03bf\u03c5 \u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u0398\u03b5\u03bf\u03bd (De\n Republica). \u201cThe author of good is God alone; but the author\n of evil any thing else rather than God.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [405] According to the Zardusht-nameh quoted by Anquetil (t.\n I. 2. P. p. 24) Zardusht delivered from hell a person who\n had done good and evil. This person, believe some Parsees,\n was Jamshid who, towards the end of his life, wished to be\n adored as a God. Others say it was Gersh-asp, a famous\n warrior, who suffered in hell for having struck the sacred\n fire.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [406] Ardibehest (see pp. 61. 62.) presides over the second\n month of the year, and the 3d, 8th, 15th, and 23d day of the\n month; he is pure, beneficent, endowed by Ormuzd with great\n and holy eyes; he grants health, and eloquence to men,\n productions to the earth, and grandeur to the world; he\n drives away the D\u00edvs and all evils (_Zend-Av._, II, pp. 69.\n 153. 154. 159. 316. and elsewhere).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [407] Zoroaster, according to the concurring account of\n several authors, retired from the world and lived in a\n cavern of the mountain Alborz, or in the mountains of\n Balkhan. According to the Rauzat us Sufa (Shea\u2019s transl., p.\n 286) it was in the mountains near Ardebil, a city of\n Azarbijan (the ancient Media). This cavern is said to have\n been consecrated by him to Mithra. Pliny states (H. N. l.\n xi. c. 42), the prophet lived 20 years in deserts, upon\n cheese so tempered that he should not feel the effects of\n age. This was probably before he appeared at the court of\n Gushtasp.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [408] This miracle is not recorded in Anquetil\u2019s life of\n Zoroaster.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [409] Not receiving immediate access to the king, the\n prophet split the upper part of the apartment where Gushtasp\n was, and descended through the opening (Anquet., _Vie de\n Zoroastre_, p. 29). This was in the year 549 B. C. (_ibidem_),\n after the 30th year of Gushtasp\u2019s reign (_Hyde_, p. 323).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [410] To these miracles add that related in the _Shah nameh\n naser_, quoted by Hyde (p. 324): Zoroaster planted before\n the king\u2019s palace a cypress-tree, which in a few days grew\n to the height and thickness of ten _rasons_ (measure\n undetermined), and upon the top of it he built a\n summer-palace.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [411] All those particulars about Zoroaster\u2019s imprisonment,\n and about his release after the cure effected by him upon\n the king\u2019s charger are, with little variation, related in\n the _Shah-nameh naser_ (see Hyde, 325, 327), and in the\n _Zerdusht n\u00e2mah_ (Anq. du Peron, t. I, 2. P. p. 325-327).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [412] This cure of Lohrasp is touched upon by Anquetil in\n his life of Zoroaster (p. 53), but not that of Zerir; Hyde\n mentions neither; but the conversion of king Lohrasp and of\n his relations is generally admitted.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [413] See p. 149. note.\n\n [414] See pp. 61. 62. 241. note.\n\n [415] See pp. 61. 62. Khordad is the sixth Amsch\u00e1spand; he\n presides over the third month of the year and the sixth day\n of the month; he is a chief of years, months, days, and of\n time in general; he grants and aids intelligence; he causes\n pure water to run through the world if man lives holily; he\n is taken for water itself; he gives what is sweet to eat\n (_Zand-Avesta_, I. 2. P. pp. 81. 103. II. pp. 69. 97. 153.\n 157. and elsewhere).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [416] See pp. 61. 62. The name of the angel is simply Azar.\n\n [417] _Yasht_, a Zand word, may be referred to the Sanskrit\n \u0907\u0937\u094d\u0924\u094d\u0935 _ishtva_, the participle of \u092f\u091c\u094d _yaj_, \u201cto venerate.\u201d\n\n The _Darun_ is an office celebrated particularly for the\n sake of a king, or of the Dostur of Dosturs, in honor of\n celestial beings of different names and classes (_Zend-Av._,\n t. II. p. 73). Darun is also a little cake in the shape of a\n crown piece, which the priest offers to the Ized-Dahman, who\n blesses the creatures, the just man, and having received\n from the hands of the Serosh the souls of the just, conducts\n them to heaven (_ibid._, t. I. 2. pp. 86. 172).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [418] _Bishutan_, according to some authors was the brother,\n according to the _Shah-nameh_, a confidential friend, of\n Isfendiar.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [419] _Jamasp_, the brother and minister of Gushtasp.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [420] Chapt. LXXVIII. v. 38.\n\n [421] Chapt. XXVIII. v. 56.\n\n [422] According to Abulfeda, quoted by Hyde (p. 315),\n Zoroaster was born in \u0627\u0631\u0645\u06cc or \u0627\u0631\u0645\u064a\u0647, in Armi or Armia, the\n most western town of Azarbijan (the Media of the Greeks), in\n the Gordian mountains, which accounts for the surname of\n Median, or Persian, or Perso-Median, which different authors\n have given to him. Other historians affirm that he came from\n Palestina.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [423] Ra\u00ed is the most northern town of the province Jebal,\n or Irak Ajem, the country of the ancient Parthians.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [424] Anquetil says (_Zend-Av._, 2 P. p. xviii.): \u201cThe\n Bahman Yesht Pehlvi, rather the epitome than the translation\n of the true B\u00e1hm\u00e1n Zand, may be called the Apocalypse of the\n Parsees. It presents, in the form of a prophecy, an abridged\n history of the empire and of the religion of the Persians,\n from Gushtasp to the end of the world.\u201d That part of the\n Dabist\u00e1n which follows, said to be transcribed from the Zand\n Avesta by a Mobed, may be presumed to be taken from the true\n B\u00e1hm\u00e1n Yesht Zand; still these prophecies are undoubtedly\n compositions of later times interpolated in the original\n works.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [425] It is mentioned in the Situd gher (the 2nd Nosk of the\n Zend-Avesta) that Zoroaster, having demanded immortality,\n Ormuzd showed him a tree of four branches: the first of\n gold, this indicated the reign of Gushtasp; the second of\n silver, that of Ardeshir Babegan; the third of brass, that\n of Nushirvan, and the troubles excited by Mazdak; the fourth\n of iron mixed with other metals, the destruction of the\n Persian empire. According to the B\u00e1hm\u00e1n Jesht Zand, Ormuzd\n refusing a second demand of immortality made by Zoroaster,\n pours into his hands a few drops of water, after the\n drinking of which he is during seven days and nights filled\n with divine intelligence, and sees all that passes upon the\n seven _kechvars_, or \u201cdistricts of the earth.\u201d He sees a\n second tree, having seven branches of metal, which indicate\n seven epochas and the events belonging to them; the first\n branch, which is of gold, designates the reign of Gushtasp.\n Zoroaster then no more desires immortality. Ormuzd announces\n to him, moreover, the war which Arjasp will make upon\n Gushtasp.\u2015\u2015(_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. note, pp. xviii.\n xix)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [426] The author of the B\u00e1hm\u00e1n Yasht (_ibid._, Notices, p.\n xix) describes in copious details the woes which are to\n afflict the world, during the influence of the iron branch:,\n he speaks of the march of armies, of physical convulsions,\n of the diminished productions of nature, of the conquests\n made by Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Chinese, and Christians. All\n this misery is to end on the arrival of king B\u00e1hr\u00e1m\n Varjavand, who is to re-establish the ancient Persian\n empire: by the successive mission of the three sons of\n Zoroaster, who are to convert the world and confirm their\n divine mission by working miracles. Sosiosh is to restore\n purity to the world: during this prophet\u2019s millennium the\n resurrection is to take place.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [427] The _N\u00e1\u00faroz_, is the first day of the year, a great\n festival, the institution of which is ascribed to the\n earliest times. It lasts six days, beginning on the day of\n Ormuzd of the month Farvardin (March); this is _the little\n N\u00e1\u00faroz_, and it ends on the day of _Khordad_ (an Amshasfand\n who presides over the sixth day of the month), called _the\n great N\u00e1\u00faroz_. It was on this day, they relate, that Ormuzd\n created the world and what it contains; that K\u00e1iomers\n triumphed over Eshem, the demon of envy, wrath, and\n violence, the enemy of Ser\u00f3sh, and the most powerful of the\n D\u00edvs; that Mashia and Mashi\u00e1n\u00e1, the first man and woman,\n came forth from the earth, and that several great events of\n the ancient history of the Persians took place, such as\n Gushtasp\u2019s embracing Zoroaster\u2019s faith: it is finally on\n that day that the general resurrection is to follow\n (_Zend-Av._, t. II. p. 574.)\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [428] The month of _Aban_ is the month of October, and the\n angel of that name, who is the Ized of the water, presides\n over the tenth day of the month.\n\n _Baud_ is the twenty-second day of the month.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [429] This list is incorrect; it should begin by stating\n that the Nosks are twenty-one in number, according to the\n number of words in the _Yatha ahu virio_\u2015\u2015but the ignorance\n of the transcriber has converted the three first words of a\n short prayer into the three first Nosks of the\n _Zend-Avesta_.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n According to several Parsee doctors, seven of these Nosks,\n or rather _n\u00e1skas_, treated of the first principle, of the\n origin of beings, of the history of the human race, etc.;\n seven treated of morals and of civil and religious duties;\n and seven of medicine and astronomy. The Pehlvi books and\n some Persian works mention three other Nosks, which are to\n complete the _Avesta_ at the end of this world (_Zand-Av._,\n t. I. 1. P. p. 479).\n\n Here follows a list of the Nosks according to a translation\n made by Anquetil from the Persian Ravaet of Kamah Berch (see\n _M\u00e9moires de l\u2019Acad. des Inscript. et des B.-L._, t.\n xxxviii. p. 239-254.) I have abridged the explanation of\n each Nosk; the contents of several of them are much alike,\n and the miscellaneous matters in them all confusedly stated.\n\n I.\u2015\u2015The first Nosk, called _Setud-yesht_, \u201cNosk of prayer or\n praise,\u201d has 33 chapters.\n\n II.\u2015\u2015The second, named _Setud-gher_, \u201cNosk of prayer and\n praise,\u201d has 22 chapters, and treats of the purity of\n actions, of collections for the poor, of the concord which\n is to subsist between relations.\n\n III.\u2015\u2015_Vehest Mantsre_, \u201cheavenly word,\u201d has 22 chapters. It\n discourses on faith, on the strict observation of the law,\n and on the propensities of the heart. Mention is made of the\n qualities of Zardusht, and of the pure people and pure\n actions which have existed before him.\n\n IV.\u2015\u2015_Bagh_, \u201chappiness, light, or garden,\u201d in 21 chapters,\n states the substance and the true meaning of the law, God\u2019s\n commands with respect to obedience, fidelity, justice,\n purity of actions, the means of guarding against Satan, and\n of going into the other world.\n\n V.\u2015\u2015_D\u00f3azdah Hamast_, the twelve Hamasts, that is, \u201cmeans or\n things produced at the same time.\u201d This book, in 32\n chapters, speaks of the bad people of the upper and nether\n world, of the nature of all beings, of the whole creation of\n God, of the resurrection, of the bridge Chinavad, and of the\n fate after death.\n\n VI.\u2015\u2015_Nader_, \u201cthe excellent, the rare.\u201d This book of 35\n chapters is assigned to astronomy, to the influences of the\n stars upon the actions of men; it corresponds with the\n Arabic work _Buftal_ (_Bufast\u00e1l_); its Persian name is\n _Favameshian_ (_Fava\u00edmas\u00edhan_); that is, by means of this\n science future events are known.\n\n VII.\u2015\u2015_Pajem_ means perhaps \u201csmall animal, or retribution.\u201d\n This book, in 22 chapters, gives an account of quadrupeds;\n of actions permitted or not; what animals may be killed or\n eat, what not; what may be killed for the use of the\n _Gahanbars_, that is, the six festivals in the year\n instituted in commemoration of the first creation of the\n world in 365 days; and about regulations relative to these\n festivals, to meritorious acts and gifts.\n\n VIII.\u2015\u2015_Reteshtai_, \u201cthe Nosk of warriors or of chiefs.\u201d The\n subjects of this book form 50 chapters, 13 of which only\n have survived the time of Alexander; they are: the orders\n of the king, the obedience of the subjects, the conduct of\n the judges, the foundation of towns, and the various\n things and animals created by God.\n\n IX.\u2015\u2015_Beresht_, \u201cexecution of orders, or supremacy.\u201d This\n book, of 60 chapters, 12 of which only remain after\n Alexander, treats of kings and judges; of the reciprocal\n relations of the governors and the governed; of the\n occupations prescribed to the different classes and\n professions of men; of useful knowledge; of the vices of\n men; and such like things.\n\n X.\u2015\u2015_Kesesrob_, perhaps \u201cagreeable word.\u201d This book, at\n first of 60 chapters, of 15 only after Alexander\u2019s\n conquest, discourses upon the soul, science, intellect,\n natural and acquired; upon morality, and the consequences\n of its being observed or violated.\n\n XI.\u2015\u2015_Veshtasp_, _Veshap_, once of 60, but after Alexander\n of 10 chapters only, contains an eulogy upon the\n government of Veshtasp (Gushtasp), upon his having\n adopted, observed, and propagated Zardusht\u2019s laws.\n\n XII.\u2015\u2015_Khesht_, \u201cbrick, or little lance, or agriculture.\u201d\n This book, in 22 chapters, discusses six subjects relative\n to religion, policy, morals, cultivation, political\n economy, and administration of justice. In the fifth part\n are stated the four venerable classes of men, which are\n the kings and chiefs, the warriors, the cultivators, and\n the tradesmen.\n\n XIII.\u2015\u2015_Sefand_, \u201cexcellent,\u201d inculcates in 60 chapters the\n observation of moral and religious duties, and the faith\n in the miracles of Zardusht.\n\n XIV.\u2015\u2015_Jeresht_, \u201che does;\u201d this book, of 22 chapters,\n treats of the birth and the destination of man.\n\n XV.\u2015\u2015_Baghantast_, \u201cthe Yesht of the fortunate,\u201d contains in\n 17 chapters the praise of God, of the angels, and of the\n man who approaches God and is thankful for the benefits\n which he receives from above.\n\n XVI.\u2015\u2015_Niaram_ means, perhaps, \u201cI do not seek my advantage.\u201d\n This book, of 54 chapters, teaches the good employ of\n one\u2019s fortune, and the advantages of a good behaviour\n towards God and men.\n\n XVII.\u2015\u2015_Asparam_, may signify \u201cthe ties, the book by\n excellence, the dawn, the heaven, perfect, plant, leaf.\u201d\n It treats in 64 chapters of the _Nerengs_, that is of the\n powers, faculties in different acceptations; here of the\n powers of good actions, and of liturgical ceremonies.\n\n XVIII.\u2015\u2015_Davaserujed_, \u201che who offers the extreme expedient,\n or who speaks of it,\u201d of 65 chapters, shows the knowledge\n of men and animals; how the latter are to be taken care\n of; how travellers and captives are to be treated.\n\n XIX.\u2015\u2015_Askaram_, \u201cI discover, explain, make known, teach\n publicly,\u201d in 53 chapters, explains the obligation, the\n best establishment and limitation of laws and regulations.\n\n XX.\u2015\u2015_Vendidad_, \u201cgiven for the repulsion of the D\u00eevs,\u201d of\n 22 chapters, forbids all sorts of bad, impure, and violent\n actions.\n\n XXI.\u2015\u2015_Hadokht_, \u201cthe powerful _Has_,\u201d that is, \u201cwords of\n phrases of the _Avesta_,\u201d in 30 chapters, exhibits the\n manner of always performing many miracles, pure works, and\n admirable things.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Of all these Nosks, not one, except the _Vendidad_, has been\n preserved complete, and the names of three only, namely, the\n _Setud-yesht_, the _Vendidad_, and the _Hadokht_, are\n mentioned in the different Zand-books still extant. This\n shows that, at different times, changes in the forms of the\n written liturgy have taken place, and that the names,\n superscriptions, and divisions of the writings have been\n arbitrarily treated by different Dost\u00fars, without any change\n in the contents.\n\n The names of the Nosks given by Hyde (343, 345), partly from\n the dictionary _Farhang Ichangiri_, partly from other\n sources not mentioned, are not correct nor rightly explained.\n\n Three additional Nosks are to be brought into the world by\n three posthumous sons of Zoroaster. See in a subsequent note\n their miraculous origin and actions.\n\n The Persian text of another Notice upon the Nosks, somewhat\n more complete than that published by Anquetil in Roman\n letters, has been edited by Messrs. Julius Mohl and\n Olshausen, of Kiel (see _Fragmens relatifs \u00e0 la Religion de\n Zoroastre, extraits des manuscrits persans de la\n Biblioth\u00e8que du Roi_, 1829).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [430] \u0936\u0919\u094d\u0915\u0930\u093e\u091a\u0930\u094d\u092f \u201c_Sankara acharya_,\u201d upon whose age different\n opinions are entertained.\n\n [431] According to another tradition Gushtasp himself had\n travelled in India, and had been instructed by the Brahmans.\n In the Des\u00e1tir (English transl., Comment, pp. 185, 186), we\n read that, when Sekander conquered Iran, S\u00e1s\u00e1n, the son of\n Darab, went to India, where he practised the worship of\n Yezdan in a cavern, and where he died. He left a son named\n Jiv\u00e1nasp, who is known as the second S\u00e1s\u00e1n, equal to his\n father, and who took his abode in Kabulistan. Ardeshir (the\n son of another S\u00e1s\u00e1n, of the Kayani\u00e1n race, a relative of\n the Saint), admonished by a dream, went to Kabulistan, and\n by his entreaties prevailed upon the second S\u00e1s\u00e1n to follow\n him to Istakhar, where Ardeshir erected, for the habitation\n of the saint, an immense monastery adorned with figures of\n the stars, and having fire-temples on its different sides.\n These and other traditions afford the inference that, in\n early times, a religious intercourse had taken place between\n India and Persia.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [432] In the Des\u00e1tir (English translat., p. 120) the Greek\n philosopher is called _T\u00fat\u00edanush_. We are at a loss even to\n guess at the Greek to whom these names may be applied. We\n may however remember that St. Clement of Alexandria places\n Pythagoras about the 62nd Olympiad, or about 528 years B.\n C., and says that he was a zealous follower of Zoroaster,\n and had consulted the Magi. Jamblicus, in his life of\n Pythagoras (cap. 4) states, that this philosopher was taken\n prisoner by Cambyses and carried to Babylon, where, in his\n intercourse with the Magi, he was instructed in their modes\n of worship, perhaps by Zoroaster himself, if _Zabratus_ and\n _Nazaratus_, mentioned as his instructors by Diogenes and\n Alexander, can be identified with the Persian prophet. Now,\n the long reign of Lohrasp (of 120 years) is supposed by some\n chronologers to comprehend the reigns of Cambyses and of\n Smerdis. Upon this uncertain chronological ground, Pythagoras\n may be placed in the times of Gushtasp, to whom, as was\n before said, Foucher with others assigns an epocha more\n remote than that of Darius Hystaspes of the Greeks. It is\n known that Alexander, by the conquest of Persia, accomplished,\n to a certain degree and for a certain time, his glorious\n project to connect the East with the West; an open\n intercourse took place between the Asiatics and the Greeks,\n whose language was widely spread in Asia. The Macedonian\n conqueror is there generally believed to have been the son\n of Darab (Darius), and the brother of B\u00e1hm\u00e1n Isfendiar. He\n received, says the Des\u00e1tir (p. 123), from the hands of his\n Persian spouse Pari-dokht Roshenak (Parysatis Roxana), \u201cthe\n bright daughter of the fairy,\u201d a book of Zardusht addressed\n to him, and forming a part of the Des\u00e1tir. Alexander ordered\n the Persian books to be translated into Greek, called the\n _Nurakhi_ language, in the Desatir, in which is also said\n (p. 124): \u201cHence the sect of Internal Illumination will\n arise among the _Nurakhis_, as well as that of Reason.\u201d To\n this passage the Commentary subjoins: \u201cThe sect of\n G\u00fashtaspians of Iran and Yun\u00e1n is a medium between the\n Illuminated and the Rationalist. When Sekander came to Iran,\n he found that the G\u00fashtaspians of Iran were the better and\n wiser; and he found that they had such power that, when they\n pleased, they left the body, which they treated as a\n garment. And besides them he saw another class of men in\n Ir\u00e1n, who, by means of reason and meditation (_nurn\u00fad_)\n discovered the real nature of things as they actually exist;\n and there was no such class of men in Yun\u00e1n. Having\n collected all their books, he translated them into the\n Yun\u00e1ni and R\u00fami tongues. He then gave his prime minister\n (Dostur) and teacher the title of the chief Mob\u00e9d and Sage,\n and made him the head of the Nirn\u00fadis. From this time\n forward the sect of Rationalists prevailed among the Yunanis\n and R\u00famis.\u201d Alexander\u2019s prime minister is supposed by the\n Asiatics to have been Aristotle; we know that this philosopher\n had an accurate knowledge of Zoroaster\u2019s doctrine. Although\n the history, religion, and science of the Asiatics have\n certainly not been neglected by the inquisitive Greeks,\n Alexander\u2019s companions, among whom was Callisthenes, a\n relation of Aristotle, yet we find in the western histories\n no particular notice corroborating the account just quoted\n of the Des\u00e1tir. Unfortunately we may be more positive about\n the destruction of ancient monumental works in Persia by the\n son of Philip; it is for having burnt the Nosks that he is\n said by the Persians to be burning in hell (see Anquetil,\n vol. II. p. 338).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [433] \u0935\u094d\u092f\u093e\u0938, \u201c_Vyasa_,\u201d a sage of that name occurs in the\n chapter upon the Hindus and elsewhere.\n\n In the Des\u00e1tir, published at Bombay, there is \u201cthe book of\n Shet the prophet _Zirt\u00fasht_\u201d (Engl. transl., pp. 116-145),\n in which the interview between _Hertush\u00e1d_, son of _Hereofetmad_\n (_Zort\u00fasht_), the Y\u00fanan philosopher and the Indian sages is\n related.\n\n Here ends the principal part of the historical account which\n the Dabist\u00e1n gives of Zoroaster\u2019s life. I shall add,\n according to Anquetil (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. pp. 60-62), a\n summary account of its principal events in chronological\n order.\n\n Anquetil supposes Zoroaster born 589 years B. C. At the age\n of 30 years he goes to Ir\u00e1n, through which country he only\n passes. He disappears then to the eyes of the Persians\n during ten years. His followers say that he was transported\n before the throne of God. It was in this interval of time\n that he terminated several works which he had perhaps\n already begun upon mount Alborz, or in Chald\u00e6a. The mountains\n afforded him retirement. The twenty years which he is said\n to have passed in the deserts were, probably, from his\n twentieth to his fortieth year.\n\n At this age he appeared before Gushtasp, in Balkh, and at\n this very time Hystaspes, father of Darius, may have reigned\n in Bactria. Zoroaster performed miracles during ten years:\n this is the period of his mission. After his first miracles,\n his reputation having spread afar, Changragh\u00e1chah came to\n meet him. This Brahman treats him in his letter to Gushtasp\n as a young man, and well might an old man, such as Changragh\u00e1chah\n was, have so called a man of forty years. It is also to this\n time that Anquetil refers what is said about the\n cypress-tree which Zoroaster planted before the\n _Atesh-gadah_, or the fire-temple, of Kichmar in Khorassan.\n Isfendi\u00e1r was then very young, because about twenty-eight\n years later his elder son was not yet married; and Darius,\n 540 years B. C., might have been ten years old.\n\n At the age of sixty-five years, Zoroaster delivered in\n Babylon lessons of philosophy, and counted Pythagoras among\n his disciples; Cambyses, according to the Greeks, filled\n then the throne of Persia. Three years afterwards, the\n legislator returned from Chald\u00e6a for establishing the\n worship of the cypress, which lasted eight years. Persia had\n then acknowledged Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as king.\n\n After these eight years, Zoroaster advised the war against\n Turan. He was very old. The Shahnamah calls him _p\u00edr_,\n \u201cold.\u201d Gushtasp, victorious over the Turani\u00e1ns, heaps every\n honor upon him, and he dies, some time after, at the age of\n seventy-seven years, in the interval of time which elapsed\n between the expedition of Gushtasp and the invasion of the\n Turani\u00e1ns. B\u00e1hm\u00e1n, the eldest son of Isfendiar, was able to\n carry arms, and Darius, 512 B. C., might have been\n thirty-eight years old.\n\n As to the posterity of Zoroaster\u2015\u2015he had been successively\n married to three wives. With the first he had one son and\n three daughters; with the second two sons; it is not certain\n whether he had any offspring with his third wife, called\n H\u00fa\u00f3, the niece of Jamasp\u2015\u2015the Zand-books however say, that\n she brought him three sons, who are to appear about the end\n of the world.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n According to Zand and Parsee writings, the birth and actions\n of these sons will be equally miraculous. Zoroaster, having\n visited H\u00fa\u00f3 three times on her going to bathe, the germs\n remained in the water. The Izeds (or genii) Nerioseng and\n Anahid were charged with their custody, until the period\n when three virgins bathing in the same water, should receive\n these germs in succession, and bring into the world the\n three sons of Zoroaster.\n\n The first is named _Oshederb\u00e1mi_. He is to appear at the\n commencement of the last millennium of the world, and to\n arrest the sun\u2019s course during ten days and nights; and as\n Zoroaster converted one of the four portions of the human\n race, he is to convert the second to the law, and give them\n the 22nd Nosk.\n\n The second posthumous son is _Oshederm\u00e1h_. He is to appear\n four hundred years after Oshederb\u00e1mi, and to arrest the\n sun\u2019s course during ten days and nights; he is also to bring\n the 23rd Nosk of the law, and to convert the third portion\n of the human race.\n\n The third is named _Sosiosh_. He shall appear at the end of\n ages, arrest the sun\u2019s course during thirty days and nights,\n bring the 24th Nosk of the law, and the whole world is to\n embrace the faith of Zoroaster: after this comes on the\n resurrection.\u2015\u2015(_Zend.-Av._, t. I. 2. P. pp. 45, 46).\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [434] In the Des\u00e1tir (English transl. p. 126) he is called\n _Biras_.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [435] Ardai Vir\u00e1f or Arda Vir\u00e1f or Virasp, also simply\n called Viraf or Virasp, was, about the year 200 of our era,\n one of the most zealous followers and defenders of Zoroaster\u2019s\n religion, which, under Alexander the Great and the other\n kings of Persia, had lost its first authority (see Hyde, pp.\n 278, 279). Arda Viraf is mentioned in one of the _Yeshts\n Sades_, or prayers called _Dup N\u00e9reng_, which are recited\n when perfumes are thrown into the fire (_Zend-Av._, t. II,\n p. 53).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [436] In the _Shah nameh Naser_ it is stated, in the life of\n Ardashir Babegan (see Hyde, p. 280) that this king,\n abolishing several regulations of Alexander the Great,\n granted toleration to followers of the faith professed by\n Gushtasp, and wishing to re-establish Zoroaster\u2019s religion,\n demanded from its Mobeds miracles, which they performed. The\n king, satisfied by these proofs, not only adopted their\n tenets himself, but obliged all others to do the same. In\n the life of Shapur it is said, in the book quoted, that,\n when Ardashir was inaugurated in the government, he demanded\n from the chiefs of the Magi miracles, after the performance\n of which Ardai Vir\u00e1f, during a whole week, supporting by\n arguments the truth of his religion, brought also forward\n all that relates to hell and heaven. Some believed; others\n doubted or denied: the number of the last was 80,000.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [437] The Revelations of Ard\u00e1i Viraf are said to have been\n originally written in Zand. There exists a Viraf nameh in\n Pehlvi, probably of the fourth century of our era; works of\n this name are found in modern Persian in prose and in verse.\n Anquetil mentions a Viraf nameh in verse, composed A. D.\n 1532, by K\u00e1\u00fas, Herbed of N\u00e1usari, and another by Zardusht,\n son of B\u00e1hr\u00e1m (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. not. pp. ix. x. xxx.\n xxxii). Translations of this work have also been made into\n Sanskrit and the Hindu language of Guzerat. An English\n translation of the Ardai-Viraf Nameh, by T. A. Pope,\n appeared in 1816. The translator says in his preface (p.\n xiii): that the Revelations of Ardai Viraf appear to be the\n same work that is mentioned by Richardson as the work of\n Ardeshir Babegan, which having been improved by Nushirvan\n the Just, in the sixth century, was sent by him to all the\n governors of provinces, as the invariable rule of their\n conduct. Pope examined for his work three versions in the\n modern Persian: the first in prose, by Nushirvan Kermani;\n the second in verse, by Zardusht Biram (B\u00e1hr\u00e1m); the third\n in prose, by the same (_ibid._, p. xiv).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [438] \u0631\u0633\u0646, _rasan_ is a linear measure, the exact value of\n which could not be ascertained. According to common belief\n of the Muhammedans, this bridge appears of different shapes;\n to the good, a straight and pleasant road of thirty-seven\n fathoms in breadth; but to the wicked it is like the edge of\n a sword, on which they totter and fall into the abyss below.\n According to the translation of Pope (p. 11), when Ardai\n Vir\u00e1f found himself close to the bridge, it appeared to him\n to be a broad and good road.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [439] Mihr Ized is the same as Mithra. He is the most active\n champion against Ahriman and the host of evil genii; he has\n one thousand ears and ten thousand eyes; a club, a bow,\n arrows, and a golden poniard in his hand; he traverses the\n space between heaven and earth; he gives light, that is the\n sun, to the earth; he directs the course of water, and\n blesses mankind with progeny and the fruits of the field:\n the earth receives from him its warriors and virtuous kings;\n he watches over the law, and maintains the harmony of the\n world. After death, he not only grants protection against\n the attacks of the impure spirits, but assigns heaven to the\n souls of the just. It is there that he appears in the\n celestial assembly of holy Fervers surrounding the throne of\n Ormuzd (see _Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 204. 205. 222. 223. 256.\n and in other places).\n\n Mithra is by some authors identified with Ormuzd himself,\n and with the sun; but it results from Anquetil\u2019s investigations\n that, in the religion of the Persians, he is distinct from\n both and subordinate to Ormuzd.\n\n He occupies a much higher rank in the religious system of\n the Chald\u00e6ans and the Arabs, who first venerated Mithra. It\n is now established beyond any doubt, by a good number of\n authentic monuments, that in later times the religion and\n worship of Mithra has been greatly developed in dogmas,\n symbols, and a system of mysteries relating to cosmology,\n astronomy, and physiology: in the first centuries of the\n Christian era, this religion appears to have been spread,\n not only over Asia, but also over a great part of Europe.\n This subject has been very learnedly treated at great length\n in modern works of too great celebrity to require mentioning\n here.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [440] Rashn\u00e9-rast, an Ized, who presides over the 18th day\n of the month; he is the Ized of righteousness, which he\n bestows; he sees every thing from afar, destroys the thief\n and the violent, and takes care of the earth; it is he to\n whom Ormuzd has given a thousand forces and ten thousand\n eyes, and who weighs the actions of men upon the bridge\n which separates the earth from heaven.\u2015\u2015(_Zend-Av._, t. I.\n 2. P. pp. 82. 131.; II. pp. 218. 219. 223).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [441] In Pope\u2019s translation of the Vir\u00e1f-nameh we find (pp.\n 13-15) what follows: \u201cWhen Ser\u00f3sh Ized laid hold of my arm,\n we proceeded to the top of the bridge, one side of which\n appeared in full splendor of light and the other in total\n darkness, when I heard a strong and extraordinary noise\n which, on looking forwards, I perceived to come from a dog,\n that was chained with a collar and chain of gold, near the\n light side of the bridge.\u2015\u2015I asked the angels: \u2018Why is the\n dog here?\u2019\u2015\u2015to which Ser\u00f3sh Izad replied: \u2018He makes this\n noise to frighten Ahriman, and keeps watch here to prevent\n his approach; his name is _Zering Goash_ (Cerberus?) and the\n devils shake at his voice; and any soul that has, during its\n residence in the lower world, hurt or ill used or destroyed\n any of these animals, is prevented by Zering Goash from\n proceeding any further across the bridge; and, Ardai Viraf,\n when you return again to the world, as one of the first\n duties, enjoin the taking care of these animals.\u201d According\n to the _Vendidad Sad\u00e9_ (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. p. 418), the\n souls, strong and holy, who have done good works, shall, at\n their passage over the bridge Chanivad, be protected by the\n dog of the herds. On that account the Persian kings had (see\n _Brissonii de Reg. Pers. princip. libri tres_, l. I. p. 157)\n at their table a particular meal prepared for the dog. The\n Parsees in our days have great regard for dogs. Immense\n numbers of these animals are fed by those people, though not\n admitted into their houses.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [442] Printed copy reads \u062a\u064a\u0631 \u067e\u0627\u064a\u0647, _tir p\u00e1yah_.\n\n [443] The G\u00edt\u00ed Khar\u00edd is called the gift of two rupees,\n which a man is obliged to give once in his life to a Mobed\n or a priest, in order that he may perform, during five or\n eight days, a religious ceremony for the sake of the donor,\n who is purified by it. This purification is substituted for\n another more expensive rite, called the N\u00e1uz\u00f3d\u00ed, which a\n Parsee is bound to perform when fifteen years old, and\n which, on the part of the Neophyte, requires a considerable\n knowledge of religious doctrine, prayers, and ceremonies. He\n who during his life has not made Yesht, nor the G\u00edt\u00ed Khar\u00edd,\n nor the present of a dress to the Pure, shall, after the\n resurrection, appear naked (_Zend-Av._, t. II. pp. 34. 553.\n 554).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [444] The Parsees mention in their books a very agreeable\n oil, called _Mediozerem_, which is the beverage of the\n blessed in heaven, and it is, they say, from the name of\n this oil that one of the six yearly festivals sacred to the\n memory of the creation is called _G\u00e1hamber Mediozerem_\n (_Zend-Av._, t. II. p. 394. note).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n According to the Ardai Viraf Nameh, translated by Pope,\n Lond., 1816 (p. 22) Ardai received a lozenge to eat, which\n buried in oblivion all that had passed in the other world,\n and turned his thoughts to God alone.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [445] Ardibehest, see p. 241, note.\n\n [446] In the manuscript, Garjishman; in the Ardai Vir\u00e1f\n Nameh, Geroosman.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [447] We might almost imagine this tenet as the origin of\n accounting the Grecian Hercules a God, from this ancient\n testimony of veneration for the destroyers of lions, hydras,\n etc.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [448] The Viraf-nameh, a sort of Persian \u201cDivina Commedia,\u201d\n contains, in Pope\u2019s translation, a description much more\n detailed than here, and even prolix, of Viraf\u2019s journey in\n the other world. We there read of seven heavens, namely: the\n _Hamestan_, the _Sitar-payah_, the _Mah-payah_, the\n _Khordad-payah_, the _Ger\u00fashman_, the _Azar R\u00f3shn\u00ed_, and the\n _Ana Gurra Roshn\u00ed_. In the last (pp. 38-39), in the centre\n of a building, on a throne was seated Zartusht, and by his\n side were standing his three sons, named _Assad Avaster_,\n _Ozvar t\u00far_, and _Khurshid cheh\u00e1r_; attending on the prophet\n were Jemshid and other kings, among whom was Gushtasp and\n some sages, not without Changrag\u00e1cha, the converted Brahman.\n These seven heavens have been very ingeniously referred by\n M. Felix Lajard (see _M\u00e9moire sur les deux bas-reliefs\n mithriaques qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 d\u00e9couverts en Transylvanie_, pp. 49\n _et seq._) to a passage which Origenes has preserved to us,\n from a treatise of Celsus against the Christians. This\n philosopher, speaking of certain mysteries among the\n Persians, mentions seven doors, which are of lead, tin,\n brass, iron, mixed metal, silver, and gold, corresponding in\n their order to the heavenly bodies, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter,\n Mercury, Mars, the moon, and the sun; above the last is an\n eighth door, most likely the heavenly Alborz, \u201cthe region of\n the primordial light (see note, p. 232).\u201d We learn from the\n Boun-Dehesh, the Zard\u00fasht-nameh, and other works, that the\n ascension of the souls was effected through the five planets\n which, in the mysterious ladder of Celsus, are placed before\n the moon and the sun, who himself rests upon mount Alborz.\n M. F. Lajard makes use with great sagacity of the passage of\n Celsus, in support of his explanation of the mithriacal\n monuments which are the subjects of his learned Memoir.\u2015\u2015A.\n T.\n\n [449] In which food is given to the poor.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [450] B\u00e1j, or V\u00e1j, signifies in general religious silence,\n or an inarticulate murmuring of prayers. This is practised\n before eating, and is to be followed by an inviolable\n silence during the repast. See Hyde, p. 352, and Anquetil du\n Peron, II. p. 598.\n\n [451] Aban is the Ized of water, and presides over the tenth\n day of the month. Anq. du Per., I. 2. P. p. 132; II. 318.\n 328.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [452] _Kashti_ is a girdle commonly of wool or of camel\u2019s\n hair, consisting of seventy-two threads, to go at least\n twice round the body, say, about ten feet in length. The\n breadth depends upon the thickness of the threads. It is\n tied about the _sader\u00e9_, which is a sort of white shirt,\n worn immediately upon the skin, with short sleeves, open\n above and commonly not passing the hips. This girdle was\n worn by the Parsees from time immemorial. They pretend that\n Jemshid, being instructed by Hom, the primitive legislator,\n invented the Kashti. Before the time of Zoroaster, it was\n worn indifferently as a scarf, or wrapped round the head.\n The monuments of Persepolis exhibit persons wearing the\n Kashti. Not to wear it in the fifteenth year is a great sin;\n the day on which it is taken for the first time is a\n festival, and daily prayers are prescribed before putting it\n on, and frequent ceremonies are connected with it (_Zend-Av._,\n t. II. pp. 529). Nothing can be right or good that is done\n without the Kashti: \u201cungirt, unblessed\u201d (Hyde, p. 376). We\n have here a striking example how a custom originally\n suggested by simple convenience, to be girt, or to be ready,\n _accingere se_, acquires by religious prescription an\n importance far beyond its intended use and purpose.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [453] Darwands, the production of Ahriman: this word means:\n 1. the _Darong_, or \u201cevil spirits, who appear under the\n human form;\u201d 2. the worshippers of Ahriman; 3. the spirits\n of the damned. After the resurrection, they shall be anew\n precipitated into hell, to be punished there during three\n days and nights; after which the great and small mountains\n of the earth shall be dissolved and flow over its surface in\n rivers of metal; the Durwands will be forced to pass through\n this molten ocean, and being thus purified from all sin\n become eternally blessed.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [454] In this sentence D. Shea found the manuscripts and the\n printed copy to differ greatly, but the manuscript of Oude\n agrees with the latter, which therefore the editor thinks\n himself justified in following, although there must remain a\n doubt about the author\u2019s meaning having been perfectly\n expressed.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [455] The account of Ardai Viraf\u2019s vision of the other world\n can but remind us of what Plato relates (Respubl., t. x) of\n Hero, the son of Armenius, a Pamphilian by origin: viz.,\n when this man had been killed in battle, and when, on the\n tenth day, the dead bodies were in a state of decomposition,\n he alone was preserved and carried home to be buried, and on\n the twelfth day, being placed upon the funeral pyre, he gave\n signs of life, and, resuscitated, he related what he had\n seen in the other world. Upon this we may reflect, that the\n name of _Arda_, which occurs as a part of many Persian\n names, may be referred to the Sanskrit \u090a\u0930\u094d\u0927 _\u00fbrdha_,\n \u201celevated;\u201d Ardashir is perhaps \u090a\u0930\u094d\u0927 \u0936\u093f\u0930\u0903 _\u00fardha\u015biras_,\n \u201celevated head;\u201d \u090a\u0930\u094d\u0926\u094d\u0926\u0930 _\u00farddara_, signifies \u201ca hero, a\n champion; from \u090a\u0930\u094d\u091c _\u00farja_, to be strong: which would give\n nearly the sense of Plato\u2019s \u03b1\u03bb\u03ba\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b1\u03bd\u03b4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2, \u201cof the\n strong man,\u201d as he characterises Hero. This observation\n gains perhaps some relief, by connecting it with a passage\n of St. Clement of Alexandria (Strom. I. V. sect. xiv.), in\n which he interprets by Zoroaster the name of Hero, and\n quotes a passage from a work in which this supposed\n Zoroaster relates of himself what Plato states of Hero. The\n work mentioned by St. Clement, much known in the first\n centuries of our era, might have been composed by a\n Neo-platonic who transposed the fable from Hero to Zoroaster.\n Hero, certainly not Zoroaster, may with more probability be\n assimilated to one of his zealous followers, Ardai Viraf,\n who lived in the second century of our era.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [456] According to the concurrent testimony of Persian\n records, _Azarbad_, the son of _Maresfand_, was the\n thirtieth descendant from Zoroaster. Twenty-nine generations,\n at four to a century, make 725 years; to this add forty for\n the probable age of Azarbad at the time of his assuming the\n prophetic mission: if from the sum 765 we subtract 240, that\n is, the epocha of king Shap\u00far, under whom Azarbad lived,\n there will remain 525, the time of Zoroaster before Christ.\n Four generations are here assigned to a century, because,\n according to Zoroaster\u2019s law, marriage is an act of\n religion, and children are the steps or ladders for\n ascending to heaven: the observance of this precept must\n have tended to multiply the generations in the legislator\u2019s\n family (Rauzet-us Safa, Shea\u2019s transl., p. 280).\n\n The following quotation from the Shah-nameh naser (Hyde, p.\n 280) may here find place, in addition to my note, p. 284:\n When king Shap\u00far heard of the great uncertainty still\n prevailing among a considerable number of men about the\n truth of Zoroaster\u2019s religion, he demanded a solution of the\n great question from the principal priests, among whom\n Azarbad rose and offered to satisfy him: \u201cI will,\u201d said he,\n \u201cfurther develop Ardai Viraf\u2019s account of hell and heaven,\n and sit naked from head to foot, whilst eighteen pounds of\n melted brass are poured upon my body; if the least particle\n of it be hurt, the prophet\u2019s words are false; they are true,\n if I receive not the least injury.\u201d No harm ensued to him\n from the trial made upon his person, and all believed.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [457] The reading of the manuscript and printed copy is\n exceedingly defective in this passage: it has been restored\n according to historical notices: Pope\u2019s translation has (p.\n 99) \u201cforty thousand souls have seceded from our holy faith,\u201d\n instead of \u201cthe forty thousand wise men were again\n assembled.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [458] The Viraf nameh terminates by these words: \u201cThe\n Masdian religion became more firmly established than ever,\n and continued in all its purity until the Mahomedan conquest\n dispersed its votaries, and forced those who persevered in\n it to abandon the tombs of their ancestors, and to fly for\n refuge to distant countries. A small number fled to, and\n were kindly received on, the shores of western India, and\n the present Parsees of Bombay and Surat are their descendants.\u201d\n That is to say, it was a short time after Yezdejerd\u2019s death\n that, persecuted by the Muhammedans, a number of Persians,\n to preserve their ancient religion, fled to Kohistan, from\n whence after a century they descended to Ormuz on the\n Persian gulf, and after a stay there of fifteen years landed\n at Diu on the Indian coast. Nineteen years later they\n established themselves in the Guzerat; thence, after the\n lapse of three hundred years, they dispersed to the north\n and south of Surat. They had been five centuries in India\n when they fought with the Indians against the Muhammedans,\n and were again obliged to fly before the enemies of their\n faith. They maintained themselves, however, in different\n places of the province of Aurungabad. Having gradually\n increased in numbers to about 150,000 families (in 1816),\n they live dispersed in villages from Diu to Bombay, in which\n place about 24,000 of them reside (_Zend Av._, t. I. 1. P.\n p. cccxviii; and Pope\u2019s Engl. transl. of the Viraf-nameh, p.\n 118).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [459] K\u00e1shmar, Kishmar is the name of a town in the country\n of Tirshez, in Khorasan or in Bactria (Hyde, p. 332).\n\n [460] Upon the cypress, see notes pp. 236, 280. According to\n the Ferhang Jehangiri and the Burhani Kati, Zardusht planted\n two cypress-trees; one in the town just mentioned, and the\n other in the town of _Far\u00famad_, or _Fer\u00fayad_, or _Ferd\u00edd_,\n which is in the country of _Tus_. The Magi believe, he\n planted these trees by means of two shoots brought by him\n from paradise.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [461] He was the tenth Khalif of the Abbassides, and began\n to reign in the year of the Hejira 232, A. D. 846.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [462] Samarah is a town in Chald\u00e6a, from which the Samaritan\n Jews have their name, and which was for some time the seat\n of the Muselman empire (Herbelot).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [463] J\u00e2afriyah is a town in the Arabian Irak, so called\n from its builder, _J\u00e2far_, the original name of the khalif\n who assumed the title of _Matavakhel al Allah_, \u201che who\n confides in God.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [464] He had then reigned fourteen years and two months.\n The Turks were excited to murder him by his own son\n _Montassar_, in the town of Makhuriah, on the very spot\n where Khosru Parviz had been put to death by his son\n Shiruyah (Siroes)\u2015\u2015(Herbelot).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [465] According to the above statement, the tree would have\n been planted 604 years before our era, that is, about the\n time of Gushtasp, king of Persia, if the years above stated\n be taken for solar years; but if for lunar (that is for only\n 1408 solar) years, the epoch of the plantation of the\n cypress would be 562 years B. C., and 548, if the computation\n be referred to the end of Mutawakhal\u2019s life.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [466] Hakim Mirtas, in the text, may be a proper name.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [467] The Sad-der naser (in prose) is an abridgment of\n practical and ceremonial theology, called Sad-der, or \u201cone\n hundred doors,\u201d because the hundred chapters of which it is\n composed are like so many doors leading to heaven. Some\n Parsees think that the original was written in Pehlvi. It is\n positively said in the beginning of this treatise that it\n has been drawn from the law: which proves that it makes no\n part of the Zend-Avesta (_Zend-Av._, t. I. 2. P. Notices,\n pp. xxix. xxx).\n\n The Sad-der nazem (in verse) was versified by a Persian\n called _Shahmard_, the son of _Malek Shah_, and terminated\n in the month of Isfendermad (February) of the year 864 from\n the installation of Yezdejerd, 1495 A. D., and brought from\n Kirman to India by the Dust\u00far Pashutan Daji. This work has\n been translated into Latin by the learned Hyde (_ibid._, p.\n xxxiv). The Dabistan gives only a short abstract of it.\u2015\u2015A.\n T.\n\n [468] See p. 298, where the same tale occurs.\n\n [469] Yasht (see note, p. 258) signifies with the Parsees in\n general prayers accompanied by efficacious benedictions, but\n is here used to imply the panegyrics of several celestial\n spirits, in which are enumerated their principal attributes\n and their relation to Ormuzd and his productions, as\n distributors of the blessings which this secondary principle\n spreads over nature, and as declared enemies of Ahriman and\n his ministers. According to the Parsees, each Amshasfand and\n Ized had a peculiar Yasht; but of all these compositions\n there only remain in the Zand eighteen which are authentic,\n and a small part of the Yasht of Bahman.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [470] Upon the Na\u00fa Roz, see note, p. 268.\n\n [471] These are two short forms of prayer, like our\n collects, which are frequently repeated in the Parsee\n litanies. The _Ita ahu virio_, as translated by Anq. du\n Peron, runs thus: \u201cIt is the desire of Ormuzd that the chief\n of the law should perform pure and holy works: Bahman\n bestows abundance on him who acts with holiness in this\n world. O, Ormuzd! thou establishest as king whoever consoles\n and nourishes the poor.\u201d The _Ashem Vuhu_ thus: \u201cAbundance\n and paradise are reserved for him who is just and pure: he\n is truly pure who is holy and performs holy works.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [472] _Kirfah_ means: 1. a good work; 2. a merit which\n absolves from sin. The author of the Dabist\u00e1n has so\n abridged this Der that it is deemed proper to give it at\n length according to Hyde\u2019s translation: \u201cIt is manifest,\n from the principles of religion, that we must concede due\n authority to the Dust\u00far and must not deviate from his\n commands, as he is the ornament and splendor of the faith.\n Although thy good works may be countless as the leaves of\n the trees, the grains of sand, the drops of rain, or the\n stars in the heavens, thou canst gain nothing by them,\n unless they be acceptable in the sight of the Dust\u00far: if he\n be not content with thee, thou shalt have no praise in this\n world: therefore, my son, thou shalt pay to the Dust\u00far who\n teaches thee the tithe of all thou possessest (wealth and\n property of every kind, gold and silver). Therefore thou,\n who desirest to enjoy paradise to all eternity, pay tithes\n to the Dust\u00far; for if he be satisfied with thee, know that\n paradise is thine; but if he be not content with thee, thou\n canst derive no portion of benefit from thy good works; thy\n soul shalt not find its way to paradise; thou shalt have no\n place along with angels; thy soul can never be delivered\n from the fiends of hell, which is to be thy eternal abode:\n but pay the tithes, and the Dust\u00fars will be pleased with\n thee, and thy soul shall get to paradise without delay.\n Truly the Dust\u00fars know the religion of all men, understand\n all things, and deliver all (faithful) men.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [473] Hyde (p. 454) has \u201c_Malkus_, whose enchantments\n brought on the deluge.\u201d\n\n [474] _Sar\u00faregh_, according to Hyde (_ibid._), \u201cby whom (in\n the time of S\u00e2m) the world suffered oppression and injury.\u201d\n\n [475] \u201c_T\u00far-Br\u00e1tur_ (otherwise _T\u00fari-Br\u00e1trush_ or _tresh_),\n that villanous and obscene man, who destroyed Zardusht in\n that religion which he supported by his zeal.\u201d\u2015\u2015(Hyde,\n _ibid._). This name is perhaps a variation of _Par\u00e1nt\u00e1rush_\n (see p. 228).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [476] See note, p. 297.\n\n [477] The terms Miezd and Darun require some farther\n illustration: the following is from the Zend-Avesta, vol.\n II. p. 534. The Miezd, that is, meats previously blessed and\n then eaten, either during or after the service; flowers,\n fruits, especially pomegranates and dates; rice, fragrant\n seeds, and perfumes; milk; the small cakes called Darun; the\n branches of the Hom and its juice, called Perahom; the roots\n of trees, particularly the pomegranate tree. The roots are\n cut, the milk, and in general all these offerings, are\n prepared with ceremonies described at great length in the\n _Ravaets_, or \u201critual treatises.\u201d These offerings, and the\n sacred implements, which are twenty-six in number, constitute\n the thirty-three objects as specified by Zoroaster in the\n latter part of the first Ha of the Izechn\u00e9, vol. I. P. II.\n p. 87: \u201cI invoke and laud all the mighty, the pure Dust\u00fars\n who have thirty-three objects around and near the Havan (the\n vase for holding the Perahom): they are pure, according to\n the ordinance of Zaradusht, who was instructed by the\n Supreme Lord himself.\u201d The Daruns are small cakes of\n unleavened bread, nearly the form and thickness of a crown\n piece: there are two or four of these offered, according to\n the nature of the service. The Darun on which they place a\n little dressed meat is called _Darun Fusest\u00e9_, or \u201coffered\n bread.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [478] The Afirgans, or Afernig\u00e1ns, are the prayers and\n benedictions recited during the Gahanbar or the last ten\n days of the year, and on the anniversary of deceased parents\n or relations: but the service on the third night after the\n decease is not to be neglected, as in that case the soul of\n the deceased would remain without protection until the\n resurrection. On the third night, at the Oshen Gah, or\n midnight, there are four services; one for each of the\n angels, Rashin Rast, Ram Izad, and Surush, the fourth in\n honor of the Ferouers of holy personages. In this last\n service are recited nine Kard\u00e9s, or portions of the\n _Vispared_, and four dresses, fruits, and cheese are laid by\n for the officiating priest, along with the Darun.\n\n The word _Vispered_ admits of two meanings: 1. \u201cthe\n knowledge of \u201cevery thing,\u201d _Visp\u00e9 Khirad_;\u201d 2. \u201call the\n chiefs,\u201d _Visp\u00e9 Rad_. The latter meaning seems more\n analogous to the Vispered, as it begins by invoking the\n chiefs of all beings\u2015\u2015such as the first of the heavens, the\n first of the earth, the first of aquatic creatures, etc.\n Zoroaster is supposed to have repeated to the Brahmin\n Ching\u00e9gratch this Vispered, which begins thus: \u201cI invoke and\n laud the first of the heavens, the first of the earth, the\n first of aquatic beings, the first of terrestrial beings,\n the first of brilliant and intelligent beings, the holy,\n pure, and great Ching\u00e9gr\u00e2tch\u00e1s;\u201d and it ends with \u201cI invoke\n and laud the bull exalted on high, who makes the herbage to\n grow in abundance; this bull, the pure gift, who has given\n (being) to the pure man.\u201d The Vispered is divided into\n twenty-seven _Kard\u00e9s_, or \u201csections,\u201d and probably formed\n part of the Baghant\u00e1st of the fifteenth Nosk of the Avesta.\n It is recited by day, as well as the Izeshneh (Yazishnah),\n and with a Barsom, or \u201cbundle, of thirty-five branches of\n trees.\n\n Izeshn\u00e9 (Yazishnah) means a prayer setting forth the\n greatness of the personage thus addressed. It is composed of\n seventy-two H\u00e1, which the Parsees divide into two parts: the\n first part contains twenty-seven H\u00e1, addressed to Ormuzd and\n his creation; the second contains prayers addressed to the\n Supreme Being; it speaks of man, of his wants, of the\n several genii charged to protect him, etc. The word H\u00e1,\n which signifies a portion of the Izeshn\u00e9, is derived from\n the Zend H\u00e2et\u00eem, or H\u00e2tarim, portions. From H\u00e2taum is also\n formed \u201cHad,\u201d which signifies \u201cmeasure, limit.\u201d The Izeshn\u00e9\n probably formed part of the Setud-yesht, the first Nosk of\n the Avesta, or of the Setud-gher, the second Nosk. The\n Izeshn\u00e9 is performed at the _Gah Havan_, or \u201csunrise;\u201d when,\n recited by itself without other prayers, the Izeshn\u00e9h Sadah\n is read with the same ceremonies as the Vendidad S\u00e2deh,\n excepting that the _Barsom_, or \u201csacred bundle of twigs\u201d\n [see hereafter, p. 319], consists then of only twenty-three\n branches. The Vendidad and Vispered cannot be recited\n without the Izeshn\u00e9, and the Barsom for these two offices\n consists of thirty-five branches.\n\n The term _S\u00e2de_ means \u201cpure,\u201d or the text without a\n translation.\n\n The two works, the Izeshn\u00e9 and Vispered, joined to the\n Vendidad, the twentieth Nosk of the Avesta, form the\n Vendidad Sad\u00e9, which the Mobeds are obliged to recite every\n day, commencing at the _G\u00e2h Oshen_, or \u201cmidnight,\u201d or before\n day-break, so that it may be finished before sunrise.\n\n Purifications, ordinances, marriages, in short all the\n ceremonies of the law, depend on the due celebration of this\n office.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [479] Lest demons or wizards should take them away and use\n them in their enchantments.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [480] Upon V\u00e1j, see note, p. 296.\n\n In this translation, the reading of the manuscript has been\n followed as being the most simple: there seems however\n something omitted. Annexed is the form of prayer recited in\n V\u00e1j, which means mental recitation: it is taken from\n Anquetil du Perron:\n\n\n THE PRAYERS RECITED BY PARSEES BEFORE MEAT.\n\n _Etha aad avirmede._\u2015\u2015\u201cOrmuzd is king: now I make Izeshn\u00e9 to\n Ormuzd the giver of pure flocks, the giver of pure waters,\n of pure trees, the giver of light, of earth, and of every\n kind of good.\u201d This is to be recited once.\n\n _Eshem Trihu._\u2015\u2015\u201cAbundance and paradise are reserved for the\n just and undefiled person; he who does heavenly and pure\n works.\u201d To be recited three times.\n\n\n PRAYERS AFTER MEAT.\n\n _Ethu ahu Virio._\u2015\u2015\u201cIt is the desire of Ormuzd that the\n chief (of the law) should perform pure and holy works.\n Bahman gives (abundance) to him who acts with holiness in\n the world. O Ormuzd! thou establishest as king whoever\n comforts and nourishes the poor.\u201d To be repeated twice.\n\n _Eshem vuhu._\u2015\u2015\u201cAbundance and paradise, etc.\u201d To be repeated\n once.\n\n _Ehmarestchi._\u2015\u2015\u201cMayest thou remain always effulgent with\n light! may thy body be always in good condition! may thy\n body ever increase! may thy body be ever victorious! may thy\n desires, when accomplished, ever render thee happy! mayest\n thou always have distinguished children! mayest thou live\n for ever! for length of time! for length of years! and\n mayest thou be received for ever into the celestial abodes\n of the holy, all radiant with light and happiness! enjoy a\n thousand healths, ten thousand healths.\u201d\n\n _Kereba mezada._\u2015\u2015This form of prayer shall be quoted\n hereafter.\n\n _Eshem Vuhu._\u2015\u2015\u201cAbundance and paradise, etc.\u201d To be repeated\n once.\n\n The commentator on this gate has evidently confounded V\u00e1j or\n V\u00e1z with the Barsum; this mistake is not to be attributed to\n the author of the Dabist\u00e1n.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [481] Strabo, observes Anquetil (_Zand-Avesta_, p. 532),\n alludes to the Barsom, where he says of the Magi: \u03c4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03b4\u1f72\n \u1f00\u03c0\u03c9\u03b4\u1f70\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u1f7a\u03bd \u1fe5\u03b1\u03b2\u03b4\u03c9\u03bd \u03bc\u03c5\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03af\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd \u03bb\u03b5\u03c0\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03b4\u03ad\u03c3\u03bc\u03b7\u03bd\n \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ad\u03c7\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2\u00b7 \u201cThey make their prayers a long time, holding a\n bundle of slender twigs of tamarisk in their hands\u201d\n (_Geog._, lib. XV. p. 733).\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [482] See pp. 292-3.\n\n [483] Anquetil du Perron says (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p.\n 601): \u201cOf all the religions known, that of the Pars\u00eds is\n perhaps the only one in which fasting be neither meritorious\n nor even permitted. The Pars\u00ed, on the contrary, believes to\n honor Ormuzd by nourishing himself well: because the body,\n fresh and vigorous, renders the soul stronger against the\n bad genii; because the man, feeling less want, reads the\n word with more attention, and feels more courage for\n performing good works; consequently several celestial\n spirits are especially charged with watching over the\n welfare of man: Rameshn\u00e9, Kharom, Khord\u00e1d, and Amerd\u00e1d give\n abundance and pleasures to him, and it is the last of the\n Izeds mentioned who produces in the fruits the taste and\n flavor which lead men to apply them to that use for which\n Ormuzd has created them.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [484] The cock is an animal held in great esteem by the\n Parsees, who are enjoined to keep one in their houses;\n Bahr\u00e1m (Mars) appears under this form (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II.\n pp. 290. 602). The cock is called a Persian bird, and,\n according to Athen\u00e6us, cocks came first from Persia (see\n Hyde, p. 412).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [485] In the fifth period of eighty days were created the\n 282 Sardah, or genera of birds and animals, viz.: 110 of\n birds and 172 of animals (Hyde, _Rel. Vet. Pers._, p.\n 164).\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [486] According to Hyde\u2019s translation of the _Sad-der_ (p.\n 471): _caput ejus expiare oportet_, \u201can expiation is to be\n performed over his head.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [487] _Mezda_ or _Maz-dao_, in Zand, according to Rask,\n means \u201cGod;\u201d Bohlen and Mr. Bopp believe that this word is\n of the same family as the Sanskrit _mahat_, \u201cgreat;\u201d M.\n Eugene Burnouf, in a learned discussion, justifies the\n interpretation \u201c_multiscius_\u201d given of this word by\n Neriosengh (see _Commentaire sur le Yacna_, pp. 70-77).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n The form of prayer called _Kimna va Mazda_ is probably the\n same as the Kereba Mazda (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 6), which\n is as follows: \u201cGrant, O Ormuzd, that my good works may\n efface my sins; grant joy and content to my purified soul!\n give me a share in all the good works and holy words of the\n seven regions of the earth! May the earth enlarge itself!\n may the rivers extend their courses! may the sun ever rise\n on high! may such be the portion of the pure in life,\n according to the wishes which I make.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [488] For _yarshanom_, which is in the manuscripts and in\n the edition of Calcutta, read _Barashnom_. This is the name\n of one of the four sorts of purifications prescribed to the\n Parsees; that called the _Barashnom of nine nights_, is\n believed the most efficacious. It is performed in a garden\n or in a retired place, where a piece of ground 90 feet in\n length and 16 feet in breadth is chosen for it, and, after\n having been cleaned and surrounded by a narrow ditch and a\n hedge, covered with sand. Therein, after the celebration of\n ceremonies during one or three days, a Mobed traces a number\n of furrows or trenches, called _Keishs_, and forms several\n heaps of stones according to prescribed rules; he prepares a\n beverage of ox\u2019s urine and water mixed with other sacred\n liquids: this the person to be purified drinks in sacred\n vases, then enters into the _Keishs_, accompanied by Mobeds\n and a dog; there he strips, and receives on his body wine\n poured over him, and washes himself with that given him by\n the Mobed. During prayers recited by the purificator and\n himself, he passes over several heaps of stones, his right\n hand on his head and his left upon the dog, and is then\n rubbed with dust; in his progress over other heaps of\n stones, he washes himself several times with water. This\n done, the purified person goes out of the trenches, and\n performs other ablutions with water before he dresses and\n puts on the _Koshti_, or \u201cgirdle.\u201d The individual who takes\n the _Barashnom_ remains separated from other men during nine\n days, and at the end of the third, sixth, and ninth night,\n he washes himself with a prescribed quantity of wine and\n water, and is subject to other ceremonies. This is a very\n short abstract of the ceremonies practised in our days; in\n the _Vendidad Sad\u00e9_, other very minute particulars and\n prayers are given for the performance of purification, the\n usages of which have in the course of time undergone some\n changes. See a completely detailed account of these rites of\n purification in Anquetil\u2019s elaborate work, _Zend-Avesta_, t.\n I. 2. P. pp. 353-367, and t. II. pp. 545-548, with a plan of\n the place upon which the Barashnom is performed.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [489] According to Olugh Beigh (Hyde, p. 190), the name of\n the five supplementary days of the Persian year of 360 days\n are as follows: Ahnav\u00e1d, Ashnav\u00e1d, Isfendam\u00e1d or M\u00e1z,\n Vahshat or Vah\u00e1st, and Hash\u00fanesh or Hashtuvish (see also p.\n 62. n.).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [490] According to Anquetil (_Zend-Avesta_, II. p. 575) the\n name of the five supplementary days is _Farvardians_, that\n is, \u201cthe days of the Fervers of the law:\u201d on these days, as\n the Persians believe, the souls of the blessed and those of\n the damned come to visit their relations, who receive them\n with the greatest magnificence in their houses, purified and\n adorned for the occasion.\n\n In the composition of the name Farvardig\u00e1n, appears to have\n entered the word G\u00e1hs, which denotes also the Epagomenes,\n and five female Izeds, or angels, who have formed, and\n preserve, the bodies, and are occupied in heaven to weave\n garments for the just (_Zand-Avesta_, I. 2. P. p. 221).\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [491] It may be recollected that, during the short period of\n the French Republic, the year was of twelve months, each of\n thirty days, with the addition of five supplementary days,\n called by some _Sansculotides_; these were festivals,\n consecrated, the 1st, to Virtue; the 2nd, to Genius; the\n 3rd, to Labour; the 4th, to Opinion; and the 5th, to\n Recompense; every fourth or leap-year, there was a 6th day,\n devoted to the Revolution.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [492] The manuscript reads: \u201cLet her eat bread at night,\n having wrapped up the hand in her sleeve and over that a\n towel.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [493] _Yasht_ is not found among the names of the Nosks\n enumerated in the note, pp. 272-275.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [494] Every city and village must have the tree called\n _Ader\u00e1n_, or _Ader\u00e1n Sh\u00e1h_, or \u201cthe chief of fires.\u201d\n _Ader_ is the P\u00e1-zend of Ater\u00e9, which signifies fire; which\n word, in Parsee writings, means the several fires which\n showed themselves to mankind under different forms, and also\n their presiding genii; whilst Atesh signifies the common\n fire. When a kitchen fire has been used three times, the\n Parsees are bound to take it to the Ader\u00e1n: the other fires\n must be taken thither on the expiration of seven days, on\n the day of Ader and those of his co-operating genii. The\n fire Ader\u00e1n itself is taken once every year, or at least\n every three years, to the fire _Behram_, which is the result\n of one thousand and one fires, taken from fifteen different\n kinds of fire. In strictness there should be an Ader Behr\u00e1m\n in every province, and according to some Dust\u00fars, in every\n city. On the expiration of a certain period, they take the\n ashes of the Behr\u00e1m, Ader\u00e1n, and other fires into the\n fields, and strew them over the cultivated grounds. It\n requires a ceremonial of thirty days to prepare the Behr\u00e1m\n fire (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. p. 531).\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [495] The Parsees use for their purifications seven things:\n plain water; _Padiav_ water; water of power, or _ab-\u00ed-z\u00far_\n (according to Hyde, golden water) _Yesht\u00ed_ water; earth;\n _Noreng gomez_, or ox\u2019s urine; and _Noreng gomez yesht\u00e1_.\n They must take care to have the plain water and the earth\n free from all kind of impurity.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [496] _Padiav_ means \u201cwhat renders or is rendered (pure)\n like water.\u201d To impart this quality to water, the officiating\n priest puts it in a large vase, out of which he fills a\n smaller vessel; he afterwards pours out some of the water\n three times from the smaller into the larger vessel,\n accompanying each act with certain forms of prayer, on which\n the water becomes Padiav.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [497] See note, p. 325.\n\n [498] According to Anquetil Du Perron, _Khushnuman_\n signifies one who is pleased or favorable: this name is\n given to a short prayer, or collect, which contains the\n principal attributes of the being to whom it is addressed:\n there are two kinds of it, the greater and the less: in the\n former, after every attribute they repeat: \u201cI offer thee\n Izechn\u00e9,\u201d or \u201cI praise and magnify thee;\u201d in the latter form\n this is only repeated after the enumeration of all the\n attributes.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [499] See note, p. 315, Hyde translates _Dar\u00fan yesht\u00e9n_, by\n \u201cexpiatory banquet:\u201d but according to Anquetil (_Zend-Avesta_,\n t. I. 2. P. p. 237) the Dar\u00fan Yesht\u00e9 is a Parsi office,\n which begins thus:\n\n \u201cWith the Barsom raised over the Z\u00far, I address in prayer\n the great Ormuzd, brilliant in light and glory; also the\n Amshaspands; and thee, O Fire! son of Ormuzd!\n I address in prayer the wood and the perfumes!\n . . . . thee, O Fire, son of Ormuzd!\n . . . . the pure, the chiefs who walk in dignity\n in this world!\n I make Khushnuman; I address my prayer to Ormuzd, to the\n Amshaspands, to the pure Sur\u00fash, to the Fire of Ormuzd, the\n great, the exalted, the holy!\n I pray to the holy, pure, and great Vendidad given to Zoroaster!\n . . . . . . . . Gahs.\n . . . . . . . . Gahanbars, or the six\n periods of creation.\u2015\u2015\n . . . . . . . . Years and laud them.\u201d\n\n _Darun yesht\u00e9_ also signifies \u201cFestival Dar\u00fans,\u201d or banquets\n preceded by the recitation of the Izeshn\u00e9, the Vendidad, and\n the Darun, for which the officiating priest receives a new\n dress. This bears out Hyde\u2019s translation.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [500] The forms Jeth\u00e1 ah\u00fa vir\u00edyo, Eshem Vehu, and Jetha \u00e2\u00fad\n Jezm\u00edd\u00e9 have been given under GATE 22.\u2015\u2015The Homoctenaum is a\n short prayer: \u201cTo think with purity, to act with purity, to\n perform and execute it, to teach others the same, such is my\n undertaking. I teach the same to men: may it turn to my\n good!\u201d The Hockhsh\u00e9thr\u00f4tem\u00e2\u00e9: \u201cThe king who is pure and\n elevated as I am, I will give him his desires; of him I,\n Ormuzd the holy and heavenly, will take peculiar care.\u2015\u2015\u201d\n The printed copy reads for J\u00e9tha \u00e2ad Jezm\u00e9d\u00e9, the words\n \u0627\u0647\u0645 \u0628\u0631\u064a\u0645 \u064a\u0632\u0645\u0646\u062f\u06cc \u0627\u064a\u062a\u0627 \u0627\u0647\u0648. But as one manuscript reads J\u00e9tha \u00e2\u00e1d\n Jezm\u00e9d\u00e9, it has been retained. The Hemoctaum and Hokhsh\u00e9thr\u00f4tem\u00e2\u00e9\n are also conjectural, as the two manuscripts and printed\n copy present different readings. In the latter these are\n read Homesham and Hochastar.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [501] In the Vendidad Sad\u00e9 (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2. P. p.\n 386) we find: \u201cThe world is engendered from water; and at\n present there are in the water two primeval aquatic dogs and\n thousands of their females which produce by copulation\n thousands of their species. To smite these aquatic dogs\n causes all good things to be parched up; from that city or\n place shall depart all that is sweet to the taste: wholesome\n viands, health, longevity, abundance, rain, the source of\n good, the profusion of temporal blessings; also whatever\n grows on the earth, such as grain and pasturage.\u201d\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [502] In page 564, _Zend-Avesta_, t. II. we find: \u201cThe\n Parsees who are desirous of leading happy lives, and of\n having children who do them honor, must employ four priests\n to repeat the Izeshn\u00e9 during three consecutive days and\n nights: this rite is called the _Zindeh Ravan_, or \u2018verifier\n of the soul (at the moment of death).\u2019\u201d\n\n Sur\u00fash, or Sur\u00fash Ized, performs a most important part in\n Parsee mythology (see note, p. 7).\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [503] According to Anquetil du Perron, the following are\n some of the ceremonies practised on such occasions. On the\n approaching departure of the soul from the body, they\n perform the _Sag-d\u00edd_ (the dog-saw) by presenting a dog\n before the dying person, and that the animal may be induced\n to look at him, they throw some bits of bread or meat near\n the person. Without doubt Bardesanes, in _Euseb. pr\u00e6p. Evan.\n lib._, p. 277, alludes to this custom where he says: \u201cAll\n the Medes expose the dying, whilst yet breathing, to dogs\n which have been carefully trained for that purpose;\u201d and in\n like manner (_Euseb. pr\u00e6p. Evang._, l. I. p. 11-12), where\n he says: \u201cAmong the Hyrcanians and Caspians, some exposed\n persons whilst yet alive to birds of prey and dogs; others\n only the deceased: but the Bactrians exposed old people\n whilst yet alive to dogs.\u201d (See hereafter the note to GATE\n 77.)\n\n The Parsees believe that, immediately after death, the soul,\n like a feeble new-born infant, flutters during the first day\n around the place where the person died; on the second,\n around the Kesh\u00e9, or place in the Dakhm\u00e9 where the body is\n deposited; and on the third around the Dakhm\u00e9 or Parsi\n burying-place; on the fourth, near the bridge of Chinavad,\n where he is interrogated by Mithra and Rashn\u00e9 Rast, who also\n weigh his actions. During the three first days, they\n celebrate the Sur\u00fash Yasht, the Sur\u00fash Dar\u00fan, the Patet\n Mokhtat (of souls), and the Sur\u00fash Afergan. Patet signifies\n a general confession of all sins a person may have committed.\n Aferg\u00e1ns and Afrins are prayers in the form of thanksgivings\n accompanied with supplications and benedictions. On the\n third night, at the Gah Oshen, they celebrate four Daruns:\n the first in honor of Rashn\u00e9 Rast; the second of Raon Ized;\n the third of Sur\u00fash, with six Dar\u00fans, three large and three\n small; and the fourth in honor of the Ferouers of the\n Saints: with this last they place four dresses, along with\n fruits and cheese, all of which are for the officiating\n priest.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [504] The Niyayish is an humble and submissive form of\n prayer, of which there are five, addressed to five Izeds,\n and containing their panegyrics: the sun, Mithra, the moon,\n the female Ardouisur, and the fire Behr\u00e1m. Amongst the\n attributes of Ardouisur are: making females prolific, pure,\n giving them happy child-births, supplying milk, etc. The\n great Vor\u00f4okesh\u00e9 makes every thing grow and exist in those\n places where it flows, and whither it bears the element of\n water, from the source Ardouisur of a thousand channels and\n a thousand arms, each of which extends to a journey of forty\n days as performed by a well-mounted horseman.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [505] According to Hyde\u2019s version Gojestah, or Gosakhtah,\n became the devil, because he lapsed from the truth and\n lessened it. When he saw he had to contend against the\n truth, he fell prostrate in astonishment during a thousand\n years, and dared not venture to approach the world, but\n remained groaning and trembling in his own place. I cannot\n find this tradition in the _Zend-Avesta_, according to\n which, Bomasp is the demon of falsehood. On the authority of\n GATE 91, I prefer reading Gokhastah to Kusastah, or \u201cthe\n broken.\u201d Hyde (p. 180) mentions that the Indo-Persians\n reckon Gegjesta Ghan\u00e1minu the immediate minister of\n Ahriman.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [506] According to an ancient custom which is observed even\n in our days, the mouth of a dying Pars\u00ed is applied to that\n of a dog, who is to receive the man\u2019s last breath. This\n custom may have occasioned the belief that the Persians let\n dogs devour their sick and dying. So says Herodotus (l.\n III.); Strabo (l. XI.) names the Bactrians and Sogdians as\n feeding for this purpose certain dogs, whom they call\n \u201cburiers of the dead;\u201d Cicero (Tusc., l. XLV) mentions the\n same of the Hyrcanians. Certainly, different customs\n prevailed in different times among the numerous nations who\n inhabited the vast empire of Persia: hence may be explained\n the various and sometimes contradictory accounts of ancient\n authors whose affirmation, denial, and silence, with respect\n to a particular fact, may however, in many instances, with\n equal truth but with due restriction, be applied to\n particular places and epochs.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [507] The Parsis, from the most ancient to our times,\n neither bury nor burn their dead, but expose them to be\n devoured by birds and wild beasts. They fear to pollute the\n earth and the fire, which they hold sacred. It is, however,\n well established that they built formerly very magnificent\n sepulchres for kings and eminent men, to whom probably the\n privilege of such monumental graves was confined.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [508] The readings in the manuscript and printed copy are\n both erroneous; therefore Yarshanom, Pituft Irash, and Tipat\n Barash have, on the authority of Anquetil Du Perron, been\n changed into Barashnom, and Patet Iran.\n\n [509] Among the animals, cows, sheep, and fowls are\n particularly specified.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [510] For Eshem Vehu, see GATE 22.\n\n [511] The same is said of Mohammed, see note, p. 3.\n\n [512] If the epoch of Ka\u00edomars be adopted according to\n Ferdusi, 3529 B. C., that of Zoroaster would be = 529 years\n before our era. In the Mojmel al Tavarikh (IVth chapter,\n upon the chronology of the philosophers and some kings of\n R\u00fam) it is stated that, since Zoroaster appeared, 1700 years\n had elapsed to the time of the author, who wrote in the year\n 1530 of the Hejira, or A. D. 1126; therefore Zoroaster would\n have lived 574 years B. C. If the 1700 years be taken for\n lunar years, the epoch would answer to 522 before the\n Christian era.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [513] For _P\u00e1vy\u00e1b_, or according to Anquetil du Perron,\n _Padiav_ water, see GATE 54. This word may perhaps be\n derived from the Sanskrit \u092a\u0942 _p\u00fa_, \u201cto purify;\u201d \u092a\u0935\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0930\n _pavitra_, \u201cpure;\u201d \u092a\u0935\u093f\u0924\u094d\u0930\u0902 _pavitram_, \u201cwater, rain,\n cleansing in general, a sacrificial implement.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [514] For Adar Behr\u00e1m, or the fire of Behram, see note on\n GATE 53. Instead of Var Behr\u00e1m and V\u0101r Behr\u0101m of the\n manuscript, and Varch\u00e1ram of the edit. of Calcutta, Adar\n Behr\u00e1m has been adopted on Hyde\u2019s authority.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [515] Bahr\u00e1m is the most active of the Izeds, the king of\n all the beings; with a celestial body, receiving his glory\n and splendor from Ormuzd, he presides over the 20th day of\n the month; he bestows health and victory, and combats the\n D\u00edvs. He appears under the form of a young man of fifteen\n years, and under those of different animals; that of a cock\n has already been mentioned (see note, p. 324); he appears\n besides as a bull, a horse, a camel, a ram, a he-goat, a\n lamb. He is also identified with the planet Mars, and acts a\n great part in the ancient history of Persia. See _Zand-Avesta_,\n t. I. 2. P. pp. 83. 86. 91; t. II. pp. 98. 287. 289. 290.\n 294. 321. 356. and in other places.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [516] The Calcutta edition reads _P\u00edmas\u00edd\u00edm_; the above\n agrees nearly with the name given by Anquetil, which is\n _Hamespethm\u00e9dem_. The other names of the Gahambars,\n according to the spelling of that author, are, from the\n first to the fifth, as follow: _Med\u00efozerem_, _Med\u00efoshem_,\n _Peteschem_, _E\u00efathrem_, and _M\u00e9d\u00efarem_. The statement\n relative to these six festivals, as contained in the Afr\u00edn\n of the Gahambar _Zend-Avesta_, t. II. pp. 82-87) coincides\n with that of the Dabist\u00e1n. Ormuzd himself holds out\n remunerations to those who rightly celebrate each of these\n days, and condign punishments to those who neglect the\n prescribed observances.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [517] In the _Ardi Viraf nameh_ we read, that the river of\n hell, most black and frigid, is made of the tears of those\n who mourn for the dead; to the surviving friends silence and\n pious mussitation in remembering the merits of the dead are\n recommended.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [518] See note, p. 105.\n\n [519] Nothing existed before the first principle began the\n work of creation; this principle is called in the\n _Bun-Dehesh Zaruam akaren\u00e9_, \u201cthe boundless time;\u201d that is,\n \u201csine extremitatibus anterioribus et posterioribus.\u201d\n Distinct from it is \u201cthe long time,\u201d which is said to be\n created by God, and not \u201cself-existing\u201d as the first. Among\n the productions of this first principle, some are \u201cself-creating,\u201d\n such as Ormuzd and Ahriman (see note, pp. 235-236); others\n act only upon what exists already, such as the three\n substances\u2015\u2015the primordial light, the primordial water, and\n the primordial fire. This is the doctrine expressed in Zand,\n Pehlvi, and the most ancient Persian books. The above\n statement about the eternal existence of the heavens seems\n therefore not in accordance with it. The Ab\u00e1dians or the\n Kaiomarsi\u00e1ns acknowledged the good principle under the name\n of _Yezdan_, and the bad principle under that of _Ahriman_;\n but they believed that the first only was from eternity, and\n not the last; or in other terms, that light only was eternal\n and darkness created. The cosmogony of this sect was the\n same as that related in the _Bun-Dehesh_, or as that of\n Zoroaster; it is briefly as follows: The primordial bull was\n the principle of all irrational creatures as well as of the\n human race. According to the _Izeshn\u00e9_ and the _Bun-Dehesh_,\n the primitive man came forth from the side of the bull; he\n was called in Zand _gaya mereta_, and in Pehlvi _gayo mard_;\n a word compounded of _gaya_, \u201cbull or life,\u201d and of\n _m\u0115r\u0115ta_, \u201cmortal,\u201d or \u201cman;\u201d hence came _Gayomars_, or\n _Ka\u00efomars_, the name of a most ancient Persian king (see\n note, p. 29). From the seed of Gayomard sprung a tree which\n was shaped like two men, and the fruit of which comprised\n ten different species of men; from these two bodies came the\n twins Meshia and Meshian\u00e9, man and woman, the ancestors of\n mankind. Although created for happiness, they were seduced\n by Ahriman, and averted from the adoration of Ormuzd; they\n wandered in the wilderness, were addicted to hunting, clad\n in skins of animals, and their posterity peopled the earth.\n\n But Ormuzd did not forsake his creatures. In order to\n emancipate them from the rule of Ahriman, he destined to\n them his word, the law of Zartusht, who always existed, but\n his _feruer_, that is, \u201cthe ideal of his perfection,\u201d was to\n be produced by Zardusht\u2019s fire.\n\n He was to be preceded by _Hom_, the first apostle of the\n law, whom Jemshid followed. This king and prophet erected\n but few fire-temples; mankind venerated the elements and the\n stars, not without a number of evil genii, and a gross\n superstition began to prevail. For opposing this and\n renewing the primitive law, Zardusht appeared.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [520] It appears quite conformable with true psychology to\n derive the origin of the evil spirit from jealousy, as was\n said in the note at p. 236, or from apprehension, doubt,\n suspicion, or envy, as above.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [521] According to the _Boun Dehesh_ (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II.\n pp. 347-348), Ormuzd will during three thousand years move\n alone; during three other thousand years, his operations\n will be blended with those of his adversary; the subsequent\n three thousand years will belong to Ahriman; and in the last\n three, completing the period of twelve thousand years, the\n author of evil shall disappear; and at the resurrection of\n the dead and the renewal of the bodies\u2015\u2015previous to which\n event are to appear the three posthumous sons of Zoroaster\n (see note, pp. 281-282)\u2015\u2015the world shall be without evil\n during all ages.\n\n The ultimate fate of Ahriman is stated in the _Vendidad Sad\u00e9\n Izeshn\u00e9_ and _Vispered_, as follows (_Zend-Avesta_, t. I. 2.\n P. p. 169): \u201cThat unjust, that impure being, who is a Div\n but in his thoughts; that dark king of the Darwands, who\n understands nothing but evil; he shall, at the resurrection,\n recite the Avesta, and not only himself practise the law of\n Ormuzd, but establish it even in the habitations of the\n Darwands.\u201d Moreover it is said (_Zend-Avesta_, t. II. pp.\n 415-416), that Ahriman, that lying serpent, shall at the end\n of ages be purified by fire, as well as the earth be freed\n from the dark abode of hell; Ormuzd and Ahriman, accompanied\n by all the good and evil genii, shall sing the praises of\n the author of all good.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [522] Z\u00e1\u00edd and Amru are two names which grammarians use in\n giving an example for any two individuals, such as may be\n said A. and B.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [523] The author of the _Dabist\u00e1n_ names no other famous\n teachers or sectaries of Magism, after the death of\n Zoroaster, besides Ardai Viraf, Azarb\u00e1d, and Mazdak: he\n treats of this last in particular in the subsequent section,\n previously to which we cannot omit adverting to Mani or\n Manes, whose name occurs in this book but once occasionally,\n as that of a painter (see note, p. 205). He is however much\n more reputed as the founder of a new doctrine, called from\n him _Manich\u00e6ism_, which spread its ramifications widely\n through the Christian world. According to several authors,\n Mani was a Christian priest, and pretended to act the part\n of Paraclet, the announced successor to Jesus Christ;\n according to Khondemir, he endeavored to substitute himself\n for Mohammed, to whom that prophecy respecting a Paraclet\n was applied by the Muselmans. However it be, Mani\u2019s\n Enghelion, or Gospel, has not been preserved, nor any other\n work written by himself; the books of his followers too,\n such as could be found, were burnt. His religion is stated\n to have been a mixture of Magism, Brahmanism or Buddhism,\n Judaism, and Christianism; Shahristani, often quoted in this\n work, and Mohammed Ibn el Nedim el Werrak, author of the\n Fehrist (a history of literature), agree in representing his\n doctrine as a branch of Magism with some Christianism\n ingrafted upon it.\n\n The two points attributed to Mani by the commentator of the\n Des\u00e1tir, namely, the permission to kill harmless animals,\n and the prohibition of sexual intercourse, belong rather to\n the ethical or practical, than to the theological, part of\n his religion, which distinguished itself by particular\n dogmas and opinions relative to the duality of principle,\n good and bad, light and darkness, involving other metaphysical\n questions. These, we know, were common to other religions in\n all times. Before Manes, Christian sects combined the said\n principles with the dogmas of their religion: so did the\n followers of Basilides, Marcion, Bardesanes, Valentius, and\n others. These, as well as after them the disciples of Manes,\n happen to be not seldom confounded with the Gnostics, which\n name was applied to different sectaries, chiefly Neo-platonics,\n from the earliest to later times of Christianism. The\n Manich\u00e6ans rejected the Old Testament entirely, and partly\n the New, which they interpreted according to their opinion.\n They disputed about the nature of Jesus, and modified\n Christian theology; they believed a region inhabited by God\n and the pure spirits, prior to the creation; a world,\n created of an eternal and self-existing matter; ten heavens\n and eight earths; two empires, the one of light and the\n other of darkness; the last, ruled by the great Lord, called\n \u201cmatter;\u201d demons with material souls and bodies; the soul no\n part of the divinty, but united with the body to govern it;\n two souls in every man; the propagation of souls; a\n transmigration of souls into animals; the stars, and every\n thing in nature, even the stones, animated; the rotundity of\n heaven and of the earth; antipodes; and other theses too\n many to be all enumerated in this place. They had besides\n particular rites of worship, from which the veneration of\n the sun, the moon, and other stars, was not excluded; they\n were averse to matrimony, and generally austere in their\n manners. See about this extensive subject the _M\u00e9moires_ of\n the learned Abb\u00e9 Foucher, in the _Hist. de l\u2019Acad. Royale\n des Insc. et Belles-Lett._, t. xxix, and the work quoted,\n _Hist. crit. de Manich\u00e9e_, by Beausobre.\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIFTEENTH SECTION GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF THE TENETS HELD BY THE\nFOLLOWERS OF MAZDAK.\u2015\u2015Mazdak was a holy and learned man,\ncontemporary with king Kobad; his religion was extensively\ndiffused, but he was at last put to death by the illustrious\nNushirvan; his tenets were as follow: from the commencement\nwithout beginning, the world had two creators; the agent of good,\n_Yazdan_, \u201cGod,\u201d or \u201clight;\u201d and the agent of evil, _Ahriman_, or\n\u201cdarkness.\u201d The supreme God is the author of good, and from him\nproceeds nothing but good; consequently, intelligences, souls,\nheavens, and stars are his creation, in all which Ahriman has no\nshare whatever; the elements and their combinations are, in like\nmanner, the productions of the Lord; the influence of fire\nimparts warmth to those stricken with cold; the breathing of the\nwinds gives coolness and ease to those consumed by heat; the\nwater satisfies those parched with thirst; the earth is the place\nof ambulation. In like manner, their combinations, such as gold\nand silver among minerals; the fruit-bearing trees among\nvegetables; the ox, horse, sheep, and camel, of animals; the\npious and beneficent among mankind, are his creation: but the\nconsuming of animals by fire; the destruction of living creatures\nby the sultry simoom (wind); the foundering of ships in floods;\nthe cutting bodies asunder by iron, or their being pricked by\nthorns; rapacious and noxious animals, such as lions, tigers,\nscorpions, serpents, and the like, are all the works of Ahriman;\nand as he has no share in the empyreal heaven, they style it\n_Behisht_; but as he possesses a joint authority in the elemental\nworld, opposition has consequently arisen, and no form subsisting\nin it is possessed of permanent duration. For example: the\nAlmighty bestows life, and Ahriman puts to death; life is the\ncreation of God, death that of Ahriman; God produced health,\nAhriman, pain and disease; the Bestower of blessings created\nparadise, Ahriman, hell; the worship of the Lord is therefore\nmost meet, as his kingdom is immense; and Ahriman has no power,\nexcept in the elemental world; in the next place, the spirit of\nevery one devoted to God ascends on high, but that of Ahriman\u2019s\nservants abides in hell. Wisdom therefore requires the man of\nintelligence to separate himself from the Ahrimans; for although\nthe author of evil may afflict such a person, yet on being\ndelivered from the body, his soul ascends to Heaven, whither\nAhriman has not the power of coming.\n\nIn some parts of the _Desnad_,[524] Mazdak says: \u201cExistence\narises from two principles or sources, _Sh\u00edd_ and _T\u00e1r_,\u201d _i.\ne._: \u2018light\u2019 and \u2018darkness,\u2019 which he afterwards interprets to\nmean God and Ahriman. He afterwards says: \u201cThe works of light\nresult from choice, but those of darkness from accident; light is\nendued with knowledge and sensation, darkness is ignorant; the\nmixture of light and darkness is accidental, and the\ndisengagement of light from darkness is also accidental, and not\nthe result of choice; whatever is good in this world is an\nadvantage emanating from light, whilst evil and corruption arise\nfrom darkness; when the parts of light are separated from\ndarkness, the compound becomes dissolved, which means\nresurrection.\u201d Again, he says in the same volume: \u201cThere are\nthree roots, or principles: water, fire, and earth; when these\nare blended together, the tendency to good or evil arising from\ntheir mixture is also accidental; whatever results from their\npurest parts tends to good, and whatever is derived from their\ngrosser parts tends to evil.\u201d He says in the same volume: \u201cGod is\nseated on a throne in the world, the source of all things, just\nas kings are on the throne of sovereignty in the lower world. In\nhis presence are the four energies, namely, _B\u00e1zkush\u00e1_, or \u2018power\nof discrimination;\u2019 _Y\u00e1ddah_, or \u2018power of memory;\u2019 _D\u00e1n\u00e1_, or\n\u2018faculty of comprehension;\u2019 and _Sur\u00e1_, or \u2018gladness;\u2019 in like\nmanner as the affairs of royalty turn on four persons: \u201cthe\nSupreme Pontiff, the principal Hirbud, the commander in chief of\nthe forces, and the master of the revels. And these four persons\nconduct the affairs of the world through the agency of seven\nothers, inferior to them in rank, namely, chieftain,\nadministrator, _Ban\u00far_,[525] _Dairv\u00e1n_ (head of a monastery),\nagent, _Dost\u00far_, and slave; which seven characters comprehend\nunder them the twelve _Raw\u00e1n\u00ed_, or \u2018orbits\u2019 of spirits, namely:\nthe speaker, giver, taker, bearer, eater, runner, grazer, slayer,\nsmiter, comer, goer, and abider. Whatever man unites in himself\nthe four energies, the seven agents, and the twelve qualities,\nbecomes in this lower world like a creator or protector, and is\ndelivered from all kinds of embarrassment.\u201d\n\nIt is also stated in the same volume: \u201cWhatever is not according\nwith the light and agrees with darkness, becomes wrath,\ndestruction, and discord. And whereas almost all contentions\namong mankind have been caused by riches and women, it is\ntherefore necessary to emancipate the female sex and have wealth\nin common: he therefore made all men partners in riches and\nwomen; just as they are of fire, water, and grass,\u201d In the same\nvolume we find: \u201cIt is a great injustice that one man\u2019s wife\nshould be altogether beautiful, whilst another\u2019s is quite the\ncontrary; it therefore becomes imperative, on the score of\njustice and true religion, for a good man to resign his lovely\nwife for a short time to his neighbour, who has one both evil and\nugly; and also take to himself for a short time his neighbour\u2019s\ndeformed consort.\u201d\n\nMazdak has also said: \u201cIt is altogether reprehensible and\nimproper that one man should hold a distinguished rank, and\nanother remain poor and destitute of resources: it is therefore\nincumbent on the believer to divide his wealth with his\ncoreligionist; and so taught the religion of Zardusht, that he\nshould even send his wife to visit him, that he may not be\ndeprived of female society. But if his coreligionist should prove\nunable to acquire wealth, or show proofs of extravagance,\ninfatuation, or insanity, he is to be confined to the house, and\nmeasures adopted to provide him with food, clothing, and all\nthings requisite: whoever assents not to these arrangements is\nconsequently a follower of Ahriman\u2019s, and they get contributions\nfrom him by compulsion.\u201d\n\n_Farh\u00e1d_, _Sh\u00edr\u00e1b_, and _Ayin Hoshp\u00fay\u00e1r_ adopted this creed;\nbesides these, _Muhammed K\u00fal\u00ed_ the Kurd, _Ismail B\u00e9g_, the\nGeorgian, and _Ahmadai of Tiran_ (a village near Ispahan)\npossessed this faith. From them it has been ascertained, that the\nfollowers of Mazdak do not at present assume the dress of Gebers,\nbut practise their religion secretly among the Muhammedans. They\nalso showed the author the volume of Mazdak, called the _Desnad_,\nwritten in old Persian, which _Ayin Shakib_, the grandfather of\n_Ayin Hosh_, translated into popular Persian. _Farhod_ was a man\nof great intelligence, and assumed the name of _Muhammed Said\nBeg_ among the Muhammedans: Shirab went under the name of _Shir\nMuhammed_, and _Ayin Hosh_ under that of _Muhammed Akil_; and as\nthey were eminent in their peculiar science, they possessed the\nvolume called the _Desn\u00e1d_. Such is the detailed account of the\nParsi systems, agreeably to the promise made in the beginning of\nthis work, into which not a single one has been admitted which\nhas not either been taken from their own books, or heard from the\nfollowers of the respective creeds, as their enemies have, from\nhostile motives, falsely ascribed to them various erroneous\ndoctrines.[526]\n\n\n [524] Desnad, the volume which contains the doctrines of\n Mazdak.\u2015\u2015D. S.\n\n [525] A word not in the dictionaries; if derivable from \u092c\u093e\u0923\n _b\u00e1na_, \u201can arrow,\u201d it may signify \u201can archer, head-archer;\u201d\n if from \u092c\u093e\u0923\u0940 _b\u00e1n\u00ed_, \u201cspeech,\u201d it may be \u201ca speaker, an\n orator.\u201d\u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n [526] This first chapter of the Dabist\u00e1n, here finished,\n represents the Sab\u00e6ismus, or the worship of the heavenly\n bodies, and the formation of society by a race of kings,\n called the M\u00e1h\u00e1b\u00e1di\u00e1ns, who were succeeded by the P\u00e9shd\u00e1di\u00e1ns,\n and other known dynasties of the Persian kings. We see laid\n down the principal features of Asiatic monarchies which have\n been preserved from times immemorial to our days. The\n Dabist\u00e1n, it is true, blends the ideas of more recent epochs\n with those of the highest antiquity, and introduces sects of\n later times, the origin of which he traces back to the times\n of Ab\u00e1d, H\u00fashang, and Zoh\u00e1k. It is however clear, that a\n very ancient religion prevailed in Asia, consisting of two\n principal points: the first was the adoration of the Creator\n of all good, whose unity was acknowledged very early by the\n enlightened class of men; the second point was the detestation\n of the author of all physical and moral evil. This religion\n inculcated purity of thoughts, words, and actions, and a\n tender regard for animal life; not without a great number of\n liturgical rites, dietetical observances, and other\n regulating customs in private and public. We may comprise\n under the general name of \u201cMagismus\u201d the fourteen religions\n mentioned in this chapter, the last but one of which,\n namely, that of Zardusht, appears to have been but a new\n systematic arrangement, not without a partial reform, of the\n old general religion of Asia, which has also been attributed\n to a more ancient Zardusht.\n\n The duality of principle (good and bad) seems to come home\n to the common feeling of mankind; but it implies metaphysical\n questions about the creation, anteriority, posteriority,\n derivation and duration of light and darkness, about which\n the different sects are divided by their dogmas and\n opinions. That of the Zardushti\u00e1ns derived from God light\n and darkness, and considered the last as a shadow inseparable\n from the body. Zardusht was a dualist, inasmuch as he\n adopted light and darkness, as two eternal principles\n opposed to each other, and also inasmuch as he taught two\n immediate authors of good and evil, who were independent of,\n and absolutely contrary to, each other: but he was an\n unitarian, inasmuch as he subordinated these authors to the\n eternal decrees of the Supreme Being, who to him was the\n only principle of the universe, with respect not only to its\n original creation, but also to all its physical and moral\n accidents.\n\n Although subdivided into sects, Zardusht\u2019s religion appears\n to have been dominant, until the forcible introduction of\n Muhammedanism among the Persians, and zealously supported by\n the preaching of four wise men, called S\u00e1s\u00e1n, who lived from\n 240 to 643 of the Christian era.\n\n Here follow the principal epochs of the Zardushti\u00e1n religion\n from the time of Gushtasp to the end of the ancient Persian\n monarchy:\n\n THE REIGNS OF ACCORDING TO FERDUSI.\n\n I. GUSHTASP _from_ 652 _to_ 505 B. C. Then lived Zardusht.\n\n II. ALEXANDER \u2015\u2015 337-323 id. The First S\u00e1san (Des\u00e1tir,\n pp. 185. 186).\n\n III. ARDESHIR BABEGAN \u2015\u2015 200-240 A. D. Arda Viraf.\n\n IV. SHAPUR II \u2015\u2015 240-271 id. } Arzabad, the son of\n } Marasfand, S\u00e1san II.\n } (Des\u00e1t, p. 188.)\n V. BAHRAM, the son of } Mani.\n Hormuzd \u2015\u2015 272-276 id. }\n\n VI. KOBAD \u2015\u2015 488-531 id. S\u00e1san III. Mazdak.\n\n VII. KHOSRU PARVIS \u2015\u2015 591-628 id. } The Fourth and the\n VIII. YEZDEJERD \u2015\u2015 632-652 id. } Fifth S\u00e1san.\n \u2015\u2015A. T.\n\n\n\nEND OF THE FIRST VOLUME.\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\n P. 31 (note) last line. Instead of \u201cHe,\u201d read \u201cHushang.\u201d This\n part of the note, to begin from \u201cHushang,\u201d ought to have been\n placed higher up, at the beginning of the last paragraph,\n before \u201cJemshid,\u201d also called \u201cJemshar.\u201d\n\n P. 57 (note) l. 5. Instead of \u201cassumed by,\u201d read \u201cgiven to.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nPARIS:\n\nPrinted by Madame V^{e} DONDEY-DUPR\u00c9,\n\n46, rue St-Louis, au Marais.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber Note:\n\nThis book was written in a period when many words had not become\nstandardized in their spelling. Words and names have multiple spelling\nvariations, inconsistent hyphenation and inconsistent accent marks.\nMisspelled words in English, Greek, Persian and Sanskrit were left\nunchanged. Accent marks for transliterations of Persian and Sandskrit\nwere standardized with accents placed above vowels, and letters d, t,\nand s; a high comma precedes aspirated consonants, such as h, d, t,\nand s. Words in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_.\nSuperscripts are within braces, preceded by a carat, e. g. 1^{er}.\n\nDuplicate words were removed. Obvious printing errors, such as upside\ndown, backwards, or missing letters, and letters in the wrong order,\nwere corrected. Spaces were added or removed between words, as\nappropriate. Quotation marks and parentheses were adjusted to standard\nusage. Missing stops were added to abbreviations and ends of\nsentences. Missing commas were added between items in lists. Commas\nwere changed to stops at ends of sentences.\n\nFootnotes were numbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the\nsection in which they occurred. Anchors for Footnotes 69, 85, 192, 364,\n479, 482, 489 are missing in the original; for 69, 85, 364, 489,\nanchors were added where they likely belonged. Location for anchors\n192 and 482 could not be determined. There are two anchors to\nFootnotes 117, 138, and 232.\n\nNoted, not changed:\n\n The word \u201cibid\u201d occasionally is not in italics.\n III^{ter} Buch, should be des III^{ten} Buches, footnote 87.\n For consistency, paragraph number V., should be 5., on page clxiv.\n The word \u201csir\u201d is occasionally lower case as a title.\n Dots were used instead of ditto marks in footnote 499.\n Page cite in footnote 105 should be 134, not 190, as printed.\n In the errata at the end of the book, P. 31 (note) refers to footnote 256,\n and P. 57 (note) refers to footnote 292.\n\nOther changes:\n\n Removed extraneous comma between \u201clatter formed,\u201d page lii.\n Changed semicolon to full stop after \u201cEast India Company,\u201d page clxxxix.\n Changed colon to semicolon after the word \u201ccompleted,\u201d page 20.\n Changed colon to semicolon in series of phrases in the quotation on page 150.\n Changed stop to colon, third paragraph, page 196.","title":"The Dabist\u00e1n, or School of manners, Volume 1 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":144187}