Chapter III: he is declared to be the source of revelation. While this

is true, there are other phrases which refer to Ṭâ´ûs as being inferior to the great God, but superior to all other gods. He was created, and is under the command of God; but he is made the chief of all.

It is not quite easy to understand the underlying idea in worshipping the devil. Some[137] explain this by supposing he is so bad that he requires constant propitiation; otherwise he will take revenge and cause great misery. For this reason, it is claimed,[138] they do not worship God, because he is so good that he cannot but forgive. This is the usual interpretation, and it is confirmed by the nature of the religious service rendered. It seems to partake much more of a propitiatory than of a eucharistic character, not as the natural expression of love but of fear. This reminds us at once of the Babylonian religion. According to this religion, when any misfortune overtook the worshippers, they regarded it as a sign that their deity was angry, and had therefore left them to their own resources or had become their enemy. To be thus deserted was accounted a calamity because of the innumerable dangers to which the soul was exposed from the action of the powers seen and unseen. So that as a matter of precaution, it was well to maintain a propitiatory attitude. Hence the great object of worship was to secure and retain the somewhat capricious favor of the deity.[139] This is in accord with the natural feeling of man in his primitive state, which leads him rather to dread punishment for his sin than to be thankful for blessings received.

Others[140] hold that the Devil-worshippers believe that their Lord is a fallen angel, now suffering a temporary punishment for his rebellion against the divine will because he deceived Adam, or because he did not recognize the superiority of Adam as commanded by God. But it is not for man to interfere in the relations of God with his angels, whether they be fallen or not; on the contrary man’s duty is to venerate them all alike. The great God will be finally reconciled to Ṭâ´ûs, and will restore him to his high place in the celestial hierarchy.

Still others[141] assert that the sect does not believe in an evil spirit but as a true divinity. This theory is not generally accepted, but seems more probable than the preceding ones. For there is nothing in the sacred book to indicate that Melek Ṭâ´ûs is an evil spirit or a fallen angel. On the contrary the charge that he was rejected and driven from heaven is repudiated. The mentioning of his name is looked upon as an insult to and blasphemy against him because it is based, the Yezidis think, on the assumption that he is degraded. Finally, he is declared to be one of the seven gods, who is now ruling the world for a period of 10,000 years.

It is interesting to note that, in the history of religion, the god of one people is the devil of another. In the Avesta, the evil spirits are called daeva (Persian Div); the Aryans of India, in common with the Romans, Celts, and Slavs gave the name of dev (devin, divine, divny) to their good or god-like spirits. Asura is a deity in the Rig Veda, and an evil spirit only in later Brahman theology. Zoroaster thought that the beings whom his opponents worshipped as gods, under the name of daeva, were in reality powers by whom mankind are unwittingly led to their destruction. “In Islam the gods of heathenism are degraded into jinn, just as the gods of north semitic heathenism are called šĕirim (hairy demons) in Lev. 17: 7, or as the gods of Greece and Rome became devils to the early Christians.”[142]

The Yezidis’ veneration for the devil in their assemblies is paid to his symbol, the sanjaḳ. It is the figure of a peacock with a swelling breast, diminutive head, and widespread tail. The body is full but the tail is flat and fluted. This figure is fixed on the top of a candlestick around which two lamps are placed, one above the other, and containing seven burners. The stand has a bag, and is taken to pieces when carried from place to place. Close by the stand they put water jugs filled with water, to be drunk as a charm by the sick and afflicted. They set the sanjaḳ at the end of a room and cover it with a cloth. Underneath is a plate to receive the contributions. The ḳawwal (sacred musician) kisses the corner of the cloth when he uncovers Melek-Ṭâ´ûs. At a given signal, all arise, then each approaches the sanjaḳ, bows before it and puts his contribution into the plate. On returning to their places, they bow to the image several times and strike their breasts as a token of their desire to propitiate the evil principle.

The Yezidis have seven sanjaḳs, but the Fariḳ (Lieut.-Gen. of the Turkish Army), who tried to convert them to Mohammedanism in 1892, took five of them. Some deny, however, that they were real ones; they say they were imitations. Each sanjaḳ is given a special place in the Emir’s palace, where it is furnished with a small brazen bed and a vessel in the form of a mortar placed before it. They burn candles and incense before it day and night. Each sanjaḳ is assigned a special district, the name of which is written on a piece of paper and placed on its shoulder. On the shoulder of the first the district of Šeiḫan, which comprises the villages around Mosul, is indicated; on the second Jabal Sinjar; in the third the district of Ḫalitiyah, which is one of the dependencies of Diarbeker; on the fourth the district of Ḫawariyah, _i. e._, the Kocḥers; on the fifth the district of Malliah, the villages around Aleppo; on the sixth the district of Sarḥidar, which is in Russia; and the seventh remains at the tomb of Šeiḫ ‘Adi.

When sent from village to village of its respective district, a sanjaḳ is put in a hagibah[143] (saddle-bag) and carried on a horse that belongs to a pir (religious teacher). On nearing a certain place, a messenger is sent to announce in Kurdish “Sanjaḳ hat,” “the Sanjaḳ has come.” Then all the people don their fineries and go out to welcome it with tambourines. As the representative of Melek Ṭâ´ûs reaches the town, the pir cries out in Kurdish language, “Sanjaḳ mevan ki sawa?” (literally: “Whose guest shall the sanjaḳ be?”). On hearing this, each person makes a bid for the privilege of entertaining it. Finally he who bids the highest receives the image. At that moment the accompanying pir takes the hagibah off the horse’s back and hangs it on the neck of the person who is to keep the symbol of the devil over night.

The Yezidis say, that in spite of the frequent wars and massacres to which the sect has been exposed, and the plunder and murder of the priests during their journeys, no Melek Ṭâ´ûs has ever fallen into the hands of the Mohammedans. When a ḳawwal sees danger ahead of him, he buries the Melek Ṭâ´ûs and afterwards comes himself, or sends some one to dig up the brazen peacock, and carries it forward in safety.

Besides revering the devil by adoring his symbol, the Yezidis venerate him by speaking with great respect of his name. They refer to him as Melek Ṭâ´ûs, King Peacock, or Melek al-ḳawwat, the Mighty King. They never mention his name; and any allusion to it by others so irritates and vexes them that they put to death persons who have intentionally outraged their feelings by its use. They carefully avoid every expression that resembles in sound the name of Satan. In speaking of shatt (river) they use the common Kurdish word Ave, or the Arabic ma (water). In speaking of the Euphrates, they call it Ave ‘Azim, or ma al-kabir, _i. e._, the great river, or simply al-Frat.

2. Šeiḫ ‘Adî

Next to the devil in rank comes Šeiḫ ‘Adi. But he is not the historical person whose biography is given by the Mohammedan authors. He is identified with deity and looked upon as a second person in a divine trinity. He is sent by Melek Ṭâ´ûs to teach and to warn his chosen people lest they go astray. He is conceived to be everywhere, to be greater than Christ; and, like Melek-Ṣedek, has neither father nor mother. He has not died and will never die. In verse ten of the poems in his praise, he is distinctly said to be the only God. His name is associated with all the myth that human imagination can possibly create about a deity. To express the Yezidi dogma in terms of Christian formula, Šeiḫ ‘Adi is the Holy Spirit, who dwells in their prophets, who are called kochaks. He also reveals to them truth and the mysteries of heaven.

The entertaining of such views has led some modern critics to think ‘Adi the good and Melek Ṭâ´ûs the evil principle. In the poem (30-32), he is represented as the good deity and the source of all good. Others identify him with Adde or Adi, a disciple of Manes or Mani. Still others regard his name as one of the names of the deity. In this case, his tomb is a myth and the prefix “Šeiḫ” is added to deceive the Mohammedans, and thus to prevent them from desecrating the sacred shrine, just as the Christians call Mar Mattie, Sheikh Mattie, and the convent of Mar Behnan, ḫuder Elias.[144] But the most ingenious theory is that advanced by the Rev. G. P. Badger. He queries whether the Yezidi ‘Adi be not cognate with the Hebrew Ad, the two first letters in the original of Adonai, the Lord, and its compounds, Adonijah, Adonibezek. The writer is aware, however, that “This derivative is open to objection on the ground that the Yezidis write the word with ‘ain and not with alif.” But he explains: “They write so only in Arabic, of which they know but very little, and not in their own language (Kurdish) in which they do not write it at all. Moreover, they may have assimilated the mode of expressing the title of their deity in bygone days to that of ‘Adi, one of the descendants of the Merawian Califs, with whom, from fear of being persecuted by the Mohammedans, they sometimes identified him.” Having thus expounded his own view, this English scholar proceeds to repudiate the suggestion that Šeiḫ ‘Adi “is the same Adi,” one of the disciples of Mani, since there is no proof, according to him, that Mani himself was deified by his followers.

So far as the application of the method of comparative philology is concerned, Badger’s theory is more reasonable and tenable than that of Lidzbarski, who, by the same method, attempts to identify Melek Ṭâ´ûs with Tammuz. Nevertheless, the inference of the former is beyond any possible justification. For such a starting-point is misleading when it is not supported by historical proof. A failure to support it thus cannot be regarded as other than deficiency in treatment. Now, while one may be misguided by the Yezidi myth surrounding the personality of Šeiḫ ‘Adi, the critical mind can find much in it to aid him in his efforts to discover the true identity of the man. In verse fifty of his poem, for our critic draws his conclusions in the light of this poem, the Šeiḫ receives his authority from God who is his lord; in verse fifty-seven he is a man, ‘Adi of Damascus, son of Musafir; in verse eighty he declares that the high place which he had attained is attainable by all who, like him, shall find the truth. To justify my criticism, I need only ask the reader to recall the description by the Mohammedan biographers of the person in question.

The Yezidis offer their worship to Šeiḫ ‘Adi, usually when they assemble at his shrine. This is his tomb within a temple. The latter lies in a narrow valley which has only one outlet, as the rock rises on all sides except where a small stream forces its way into a large valley beyond. The tomb stands in a courtyard, and is surrounded by a few buildings in which the guardians and the servants of the sanctuary live. In the vicinity are scattered a number of shacks, each named after a šeiḫ, and supposed to be his tomb. Toward sunset these sacred places are illuminated by burning sesame oil lamps, putting one at the entrance to each tomb in token of their respect; the light lasts but a short time. There are also a few edifices, each belonging to a Yezidi district, in which the pilgrims reside during the time of the feast; so that each portion of the valley is known by the name of the country of those who resort thither. On the lintel of the doorway of the temple, various symbols are engraved,—a lion, a snake, a hatchet, a man and a comb.[145] Their mystical meaning is unknown. They are regarded as mere ornaments placed there at the request of those who furnished money for building the temple. The interior of the temple is made up of an oblong apartment which is divided into three compartments, and a large hall in the centre which is divided by a row of columns; and arches support the roof. To the right of the entrance are a platform, and a spring of water coming from the rock. The latter is regarded with great veneration, and is believed to be derived from the holy well of Zamzam at Mecca. It is used for the baptism of children and for other sacred purposes. Close by there are two small apartments in which are tombs of the saints and of some inferior personage. In the principal halls a few lamps are usually burning, and at sunset lights are scattered over the walls.

The tomb of Šeiḫ ‘Adi lies in the inner room, which is dimly lighted. The tomb has a large square cover, upon which is written Ayat al-Kursi, that is, the verse of the throne, which is the 256th verse of surat-al-Baḳarah, or Chapter II of the Koran.

“God. There is no God but He, the Living, the Abiding. Neither slumber nor sleep seizeth Him. To Him belongeth whatsoever is in heaven and whatsoever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His own permission? He knoweth what has been before them and what shall be after them; yet naught of His knowledge do they comprehend, save what he willeth to reveal. His throne reacheth over the heavens and the earth, and the upholding of both burdeneth Him not. He is the High, the Great.”

It is related (in the Mishkat, Book IV, 1. 19, Part III) that ‘Ali heard Mohammed say in the pulpit, “That person who repeats the Ayat al-Kursi after every prayer shall in no wise be prevented from entering into Paradise, except by life; and whoever says it when he goes to his bedchamber will be kept by God in safety together with his house and the house of his neighbor.” Šeiḫ ‘Adi might have been in the habit of repeating this verse; and this, perhaps, led to its inscription on the tomb.

In the center of the inner room, close by the tomb, there is a square plaster case, in which are small balls of clay taken from the tomb. These are sold or distributed to the pilgrims, and regarded as sacred relics, useful against disease and evil spirits. It is said that there are three hundred and sixty lamps in the shrine of ‘Adi, which are lit every night. The whole valley in which the shrine lies is held sacred. No impure thing is permitted within its holy bounds. No other than the high priest and the chiefs of the sect are buried near the tomb. Many pilgrims take off their shoes on approaching it, and go barefooted as long as they remain in its vicinity.

Such is the sanctuary of ‘Adi, where they offer him their homage. Their worship may be divided into two kinds, direct and indirect. The former consists of traditional hymns sung by the ḳawwals, the sacred musicians of the sect. They are chanted to the sound of flutes and tambourines. The tunes are monotonous and generally loud and harsh. The latter kind consists in celebrating their religious rites with great rejoicing on the feast day of their great saint. And their ḳubla, the place to which they look while performing their holy ceremonies, is that part of the heaven in which the sun rises.

The great feast of Šeiḫ ‘Adi is held yearly on April fifteenth to twentieth, Roman calendar, when the Yezidis from all their districts come to attend the festival celebration. Before entering the valley, men and women perform their ablutions, for no one can enter the sacred valley without having first purified his body and his clothes. The people of the villages are gathered and start together, forming a long procession, preceded by musicians, who play the tambourine and the pipe. They load the donkeys with necessary carpets and domestic utensils. While marching they discharge their guns into the air and sing their war cry. As soon as they see the tower of the tomb, they all together discharge their arms.

The šeiḫs and the principal members of the priesthood are dressed in pure white linen, and all are venerable men with long beards. Only the chief and the ḳawwals and two of the order of the priesthood enter the inner court of the temple, and they always go in barefooted. They start an hour after sunset.[146] The ceremony begins with the exhibition of the holy symbol of Melek Ṭâ´ûs to the priests. No stranger is allowed to witness this ceremony or to know the nature of it. This being done, they begin the rite. The ḳawwals stand against the wall on one side of the court and commence a chant. Some play on the flute, others on the tambourine; and they follow the measure with their voices. The šeiḫs and the chiefs form a procession, walking two by two; the chief priest walks ahead. A faḳir holds in one hand a lighted torch, and in another a large vessel of oil, from which he pours into the lamp from time to time. All are in white apparel except the faḳirs, who are dressed in black. As they walk in a circle, they sing in honor of Šeiḫ ‘Adi. Afterward, they sing in honor of ‘Isa (Jesus). As they proceed the excitement increases, the chants quicken, the tambourines are beaten more frequently, the faḳirs move faster, the women make tahlil with a great shouting, and the ceremony comes to an end with great noise and excitement. When the chanting is ended, those who were marching in procession kiss, as they pass by, the right side of the temple entrance, where the serpent is figured on the wall. Then the emir stands at this entrance to receive the homage of the šeiḫs and elders who kiss his hand. Afterward all that are present give one another the kiss of peace.[147] After the ceremony the young men and women dance in the outer court until early in the morning.

In the morning the šeiḫs and the ḳawwals offer a short prayer in the temple without any ceremony and some kiss the holy places in the vicinity. When they end, they take the green[148] cover of the tomb of Šeiḫ ‘Adi and march with it around the outer court with music. The people rush to them and reverently kiss the corner of the cloth, offering money.

After taking the cover back to its place, the chiefs and priests sit around the inner court. Kochaks at this time bring food and call the people to eat of the hospitality of Šeiḫ ‘Adi.[149] After they have finished their meal, a collection is taken for the support of the temple and tomb of their saint. All people that come to the annual festival bring dishes as offerings to their living šeiḫ. After he has indicated his acceptance of them by tasting, these are given to the servants of the sanctuary. When the feast comes to an end, the people return to their several abodes.

(3.) YEZID

The third essential element in the religion of the devil-worshippers is the belief that their sect has taken its origin from Yezid, whom frequently they call God and regard as their ancestral father, to whom they trace their descent. No other worship is offered him. He is given, however, a place of honor in the court of the temple, where, on one side, there is the inscription “Melek Yezid, the mercy of God be upon him”; on the other side “Šeiḫ ‘Adi, the mercy of God be upon him.” In the corner of this court a lamp is kept burning all night in honor of the two.

NOTES ON CHAPTER II

[130] P. Anastase: _Al-Mašrik_, vol. II, p. 151; Bedrus Efendi Ar-Riḍwani, his letter to A. N. Andrus, April 22, 1887.

[131] Lidzbarski, Z. D. M. G., vol. LI, p. 592; he is followed by Makas, _Kurdische Studien_, p. 35.

[132] See “Tammuz” in Jastrow’s Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, and Cheney’s Dictionary of the Bible.

[133] R. W. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 219; Aš-Šahrastanî, vol. II, p. 434. Yaḳut (vol. IV, p. 780) says: Originally nasr was worshipped by the people of Noah, and from them was brought to the tribe of Ḥamyar. According to the Syriac doctrine of Addai (Ed. George Philips, p. 24) the people of Edessa worshipped “the eagle as the Arabians.”

[134] So far as I am aware no writer on the Yezidis has ever raised this question.

[135] Hughes: _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 21.

[136] Victor _Dingelstedt_, SGM, vol. XIV.

[137] Badger: _The Nestorians_, vol. I, p. 125; Layard, Nineveh, vol. I, p. 297.

[138] P. Anastase: _Al-Mašrik_, vol. II, p. 152.

[139] The Hibbert Journal, vol. V, No. 2, Jan., 1907, p. 337.

[140] Layard: Ibid; _Victor Dingelstedt_, Ibid, p. 299.

[141] Dingelstedt: Ibid.

[142] R. W. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 120; Fihrist, p. 322, 326, calls the gods of the Ḥarranians devils.

[143] _Hagibah_ is a Turkish word, meaning a saddleback.

[144] Badger: Ibid, p. 247. (137) Ibid, p. 112.

Mr. Badger seems to contend that the Kurdish-speaking people do not pronounce the letter ‘ain. This is not true, the Kurds pronounce this letter as well as other gutturals. They sometimes even change the Arabic Alif to ‘ain. This is to be said, however, that in some localities the ‘ain is pronounced alif, just as the ḳaf is changed to alif, but this is not confined to the Kurds, such changes are made by the Arabic-and the Syriac-speaking people also.

[145] The figures of the bull and of the serpent, or of the bull and of the lion were placed at the right and left of the palaces of the Assyrian kings to protect their path. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 162; Nineveh, vol. II, p. 315; B. F. Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, pp. 139, 148, 153. The lion was both an ornament and support in the throne of Solomon, Layard, Nineveh, vol. II, p. 301. The hatchet was among the weapons of those who fought in chariots, and carried in the quiver, with the arrows and short angular bow, Nineveh, vol. II, p. 343.

[146] The Mandeans, the star-worshippers, also begin their rasta ceremony after the sunset, and continue it through the night.—_London Standard_, October 19, 1894, Al-Mutaḳtataf, 23, 88.

[147] The kiss of the peace is a regular part of the church service in the East.

[148] In Mohammedanism, green is the color of šeiḫs.

[149] This is a communal meal.