Chapter XX: Section THE FIRST: OF THE RELIGION OF THE SONNITES.――The author of

this book was informed by respectable persons of the Sonnites (the mercy of God be upon them!) and saw in their books, namely, in the doctrine presented by the imam _Mohammed Sheh eristanî_,[498] where it is said, that in sign of revelation the verses of the high prophet (upon whom be blessing!) show the right faith; that his religion will divide into seventy and three sects,[499] and that of this number one shall obtain salvation, and the rest shall share darkness and perdition. It was asked: “Upon what people shall the sun of salvation shine?” He answered: “It shall shine upon the people of the _Sonat_[500] and _Jamáât_.”[501] It was further asked: “Who are the people of Sonat[502] and Jamáât?” He said: “Those who walk the road upon which I am to-day a traveller, and by which my successor shall proceed.” The same book treats also of the _Sifátîah_,[503] a great number of which sect has from all times acknowledged the greatness of the divine nature, whose attributes are omniscience, power, life, hearing, sight, providence, command, majesty, bounty, profuse liberality, greatness, and magnificence; they make no difference between the _essential attributes_ and the _attributes of operation_; because in logic, according to their definition of the words, both these attributes are but one; they maintain that some of the attributes are proclaimed by the evidence of the blessed revelation; and these they call _attributes declarative_: for instance, the hand, the countenance; these they do not interpret in a particular sense, but they say, these attributes are found mentioned in the sacred book, on which account these attributes are called _declarative_. Whereas the sect called the _Mâtazalah_[504] deny the attributes, and the ancients maintain them by arguments; the latter are called _Sifátiah_, and the Mâtezalah are entitled _Mâtalah_; but these last employ exaggeration in their arguments to such a degree that they approach the boundary of a mere image. Some use more restriction with respect to the attribution, which is indicated by the actions _of God_. Information derived from the sacred book devolved equally to both sects; but some interpret these words in a manner that they may appear probable, whilst others are firm in their interpretation, saying: “We know by the application of the intellect that nothing can be like the Lord’s divine power, and that at all times nothing of what is created can be like him, and firmly convinced of it, we think these words are to be considered as a mere simile, such as: ‘_God seated upon his throne_,’ or such as ‘_I created you with my hand, and I preserve you_.’ Except these words, which are to be considered as a mere simile, we know no other meaning, and to know _thoroughly_ the meaning and interpretation of it, we feel ourselves perplexed; but, in spite of this perplexity, we deny the likeness of the created beings and the Creator, on account of the extent of the divine power.”

The sect called _Jamáâtî_, which belongs to the moderns, amplified what the ancients had maintained, and said, that necessarily an evident sense is to be ascribed to these words, and by means of a commentary an agreement was obtained upon the proper bearing which the text of the sacred book has, so that we may without difficulty interpret it, or establish the evident meaning of it. They always fell into a pure simile, and in such an acceptation, they are in opposition to the ancients. Whatever, as a pure simile, is taken from the sacred book of the Jews, this is also not received by all the Jewish tribes, although the readers of the Koran, having found some such words in the Old Testament, employ the simile as an argument, and in this belief are the _Shîâh_. Some fell upon the side of excess, and some upon that of deficiency; but others of the sect, which by exaggeration[505] exceeded all bounds, declared as vain any comparison with the Lord Almighty, whilst the sect which happened to take the side of deficiency and error compared something which is created to the Lord God. When the _Mâtazalah_ and the _Matakalmán_,[506] “scholastics,” appeared, then some openly turned their face from exaggeration and deficiency in which they were, and became _Mâtazalah_. And some of the ancients, inasmuch as they attached themselves to the imagery of certain words which are to be considered as a mere simile, fell into an error; but the sect of the ancients in general did not oppose the interpretation of those words, and made themselves no objects of contention and blame on account of the simile. It was the example of the theologians and of the Imáms of the right faith, the Imám _Ans_ Ebn _Málik_,[507] (the peace of God be upon him!) who said that the words: “_God was seated upon his throne_,” are evident; the attribute is unknown, and the faith to be placed in it is necessary. The question thereupon being a novelty, and carried to such a state, the Imáms _Ahmed Hanbal_[508] and _Dáúd Jśfaháni_,[509] (the mercy of God be upon them!) and the Jamáâtî, who followed them, came to a final conclusion, until the time of _Abd-Alah Kalabî_, and _Abî al Abas Kalánasî_, and _Háres Jben Asad Mahásebi_.[510] Although these were of the ancients, it happened that, by devoting themselves to scholastic theology, they became inflamed with it, but were not able to expound the creed of the ancients; in such a manner as to impart, by means of arguments, clearness to the fundamentals of theology, and their fervor and activity became doubled and increased, until by the intervention of the Shaikh _Abu ’l Hasen Asharî_[511], and by his instruction in the precepts of rectitude and perfection an opposition appeared, and a dispute arose, and enmity displayed itself. Ashâri inclined to their side, and by opening roads to the fundamentals of theology, he lent strength to their endeavors, and this creed became the religion of the _Sonnites_ and the _Jamáât_. The title of _Sifátíah_, which they bore as a title of honor, was changed, and they called themselves _Ashârî_. As the _Ashârîáh_ and _Keramiah_[512] are among the establishers of the divine attributes, they are acknowledged as two sects of the totality of the Sifátîah. The principal point among the precepts of the Ashârîs is, that every being that may _really_ exist must be perfect, that it may answer its own purpose; perfection is a necessity of existence, and the Lord Almighty is the _real_ being: the necessity of the Lord God is always right, and the law by him is a salvation acquired, so that the faithful believers shall in the other world, by a beneficent necessity, become exalted:

“God said: ‘Some countenances shall on that day look towards
their Lord.’”[513]

They say besides, that if he gave access to heaven to all creatures, or sent them to hell, it would not be unjust; because tyranny can be exercised every where except in his empire. They maintain also, that the office of an Imam becomes firm by union and election, not only by manifestation and establishment: because, if there was manifestation, it did not remain occult, and the excitements occasioned by the report of it were abundant. Upon the plank of the children of Sáâdah[514] they united to elect _Abubeker_; after having established Abubeker, they chose _Omar_; and after consultation _Osman_, and afterwards their choice fell upon _Alî_ (the blessing of God, the Highest, be upon them all!). The order of their succession in the office of Imam was according to the order of their excellence.

An example of what was said about the ancients is to be found among the possessors of the sacred sayings, the Imam Ahmed Hanbal[515] and Dáúd Ebn Ali Muhammed Jsfahánî[516] and the Jamáâtî of the ancients (the blessing of God be upon them!) who proceeded as leaders upon the high road of the ancients, such as Málik Ans and Makábil Ben Solîman, and persevered upon the high road of peace, saying: “We made oath by the book and the Sonna, and we were no opposers to the interpretation;” therefore they placed confidence in the book of God, and the Sonnites said: “We know that the Lord Almighty is not like any thing that is created, and none of the created beings is like the Lord Almighty;” and they were very careful of the simile, and said: “Whoever makes a motion with his hand in reciting these words:

‘I created with my hands,’

“or extends his finger, repeating these words of the sacred sayings:

‘The heart of the believer is between two fingers of God the
Merciful.’

“it shall be necessary to cut off his hand.” They said besides: ”We persevere in the interpretation of it, because there is a remedy for the heart, which remedy proceeded from the heavenly revelation; namely,

“They whose hearts are inclined to error will follow that
which is parabolical therein (the Koran), out of love of
schism and a desire of the interpretation thereof; yet none
knoweth the interpretation thereof, except God. But they who
are well grounded in knowledge say: ‘We believe therein the
whole is from our Lord.’[517]

“And we are safe from doubt, and the interpretation of the command is fixed in our thought; by common consent the word about the attributes of God Almighty, interpreted according to opinion, is not to be depended upon; it may sometimes happen that we interpret it contrarily to the will of the Lord God; we always fall into doubt and some deviation from truth; but we say what the men firm in knowledge say: that the whole is from the Lord, the Almighty God; we manifested this belief externally, and internally we acknowledged it as true; we consign it to the Lord, the Almighty God, and we are not perplexed by the abstruseness of this knowledge, because to possess it, is not imposed upon us by the law of the faith.” Some have carried scrupulousness to that degree, that they do not interpret in Persian the words “hand, countenance, and strength;” but, like the _Hashaviyat Ashâriah_, they enjoined that whatever is contained in the Koran about strength, both hands, countenance, arrival, meeting, supremacy, and the words in the sacred sayings, such as:

“God created Adam after his own image.”

and other expressions therein of a similar sort, are to be read in the very terms of the original, so that the words which there openly bear upon solid bodies, are understood by them in such a manner as to answer the belief of the religious sects and the attribution.

The author of this book heard, in the year of the Hejira 1048 (A. D. 1638) in the royal capital of Lahore, from _Mulla Adel_, of Kashghar, that he (the Mulla) has read in the revered book of his faith, and also the _lord Mawlána Abd al rahmen Jámî_[518] has stated, in his noble verses, that by the right faith it is necessary to believe in our heart, and to confess with our tongue, that the author of existence is independant, absolute, and without wants; and that his being is free of matter and without a form, and that he is better than whatever can be imagined; he existed primitively whilst the beings were in the mansions of nothingness; after which, as an object everlasting, he remained firm, and no other being but he is always, and one; but his greatness, his attributes, and his names are without measure and number, although in a thousand parts he is but one; in these however he is not confined; the qualities of his majesty are not perceived by the eye; and no being but he has life inherent in his qualities; but he lives neither by his spirit, nor breath, nor body, although he be living by himself. He is another universe, endowed with such a knowledge that the world has no superiority over him, and his omniscience comprehends the totalities and the parts, the inhabitants and the places, and the town of existence, in such a manner that not a grain of sand is without his knowledge; he is the author of every thing by his will, and the actions of all things may be voluntary, such as the doings of mankind; or natural, such as the inclination of a stone, and are all produced by his will.

“Not a thorn pricks without his will;
Not a thread is broken without his direction.”

He is strong, and possesses a perfect power; without the help of instruments he performs every thing; from nothingness he brings forth beings; he hears without an ear; he sees without an eye:

“He hears the petition from afar and near:
He sees, be there light or darkness.”

He speaks, but his speech comes not from his throat, nor from the tongue and the palate; but what he announces or withholds is nothing more than his speech; and his silence is eloquence.

“When God, the Almighty, without words and letters
Spoke to nothingness sublime mysteries,
Nothingness was moved by delight at these speeches,
Dancing through the area of existence.”

The emergencies of the world, good or bad, are all from his disposition; and the actions pleasing or repulsive, are all his creation.

“The good and evil, if they be the necessities of predestination,
The one is contrary, the other conformable, to his pleasure.
He does what he likes, and knows of no hinderance nor favor;
Who is possessed of power like his?
Justice and virtue tend towards him,
Injustice is foreign to his actions.”

* * * * *

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ANGELS.

The angels are neither females nor males, and are pure of all depravity and sins. Some of the first rank among them are entranced in the contemplation of the divine perfection which they witness, so that they are not aware of God Almighty having created the world and mankind. The second order of angels are the ministers of bodies and gigantic forms; the revolution of the heavens is their office; and with every drop of rain an angel comes down, and no leaf appears without an angel fostering it. But among the angels four are distinguished, namely: _Jabrîl_, _Isráfîl_, _Mâîkáíl_, and _Azráîl_. The message of revelation is the business of Jabrîl; to sound the trumpet belongs to Isráfîl; the surety of professions is Mâikáil’s; and Azráil seizes the souls. Four angels are the appointed guardians of mankind, and write down the good and the bad; two of them are occupied with this business during the day, and two during the night. The writers of the good keep the right side, those of the bad the left. The angels can in some form appear to men;

“Especially to the eyes of the guides of the ways,
From among the possessors of constancy,[519] the prophets and
apostles.”

The prophets are the select of God from among all the children of Adam and of the exalted angels, and the spirit of Satan can never hurt them, if, by an extraordinary emergency, one of them commits a fault, it is reckoned to be for giving good advice.

“Adam, at the moment when he tasted wheat,[520]
Received the seed for the propagation of mankind;
From the grain which he ate sprang up a tree;
Life in me and in thee is its fruit.”

Although there be among the prophets, as compared with each other, a higher and a lower rank in their exaltation, yet Muhammed the Arabian (may the blessing of God, the high and omnipotent, be upon him!) is the noble and excelling prophet, who unites all virtues and perfections.

“Before the intelligent, there is no messenger
But Muhammed for all mankind.”

He is the seal of God’s prophets, and after him no other shall come, and when at the end of time the Messiah shall descend, he shall adopt the law of Muhammed; he shall convoke the nations to his religion; the law of the prophet shall cancel all other laws.

“If the decision of the law of the sovereign (Muhammed) happens to be
Corresponding with another law,
There is no obedience whatever due to the latter,
Except from the circumstance of its being right according to the
law of the prophet.”

The ascent of the prophet[521] with his body happened during his being awake, as far as the mosque _Aksa_; there he mounted on the back of _Borák_,[522] and passed above the heavens. He saw all the prophets, and the stories of the heavens and the hells; in the heavenly mansion of Jabrîl (God be praised!) the angel remained behind him; then, by means of the arch he proceeded further.

“There was no confident but God;
He saw what was to be seen, he heard what was to be heard;
From thence he turned his face towards his dwelling;
His place of repose had not yet become cold.”

If this supernatural event was associated with the claim of prophecy, so was it a miracle, and if not, so was it divine favour; in the existence of the Lord prophet (the blessing and peace of God be with him) was a great number of miracles attesting his mission to the nations, and such ones as are not to be found with other prophets. There are many books attributed to God Almighty, and in their whole number one hundred and four are approved; but they are not confined to this number, and some of those which are known, are not praised.

“Every book which God has sent,
Is received by the believing as revealing God’s perfection.
Such is the _Tawrit_ (the Old Testament) this book of the Merciful,
Which by tradition and writing came to Ibrahim.
Another is the Gospel, which came down
By the Messiah, and the psalms by Dáúd.
A summary of all these four is the Koran,
Which Muhammed has composed,
The sense and the text of which is a wonder.
When the eloquent men of Arabia united
Breathe enchantment into the sounds of words,
They become weak, defective, and vile
Altogether, in comparison with the shortest Súrah.”[523]

As the book of God contains divine words, it is ancient, and the letters and sounds are new; the novelty of an old meaning is like a dress.

“If the dress be perpetually with the heart,
How can the person who possesses the dress be disturbed?”

The Muhammedan religion is among the most excellent and most noble religions, and the father of this religion, the prophet of Arabia, is the best and the most eminent among the saints of the religions; there is a number of prophets, particularly the friends and the posterity of the prophet, but none is higher than he, the prophet.

“Among them all there was, in truth,
None more apt for the khalifat than Sidík (Abu beker);
And to succeed him, there was among the noble
None more worthy of the office than Fárúk (Omar);
After Fárúk, from none more than Zo-ul Narain (Osman)
Did the state of religion find ornament;
After them all, by knowledge and faith,
Was Asad Allah (Ali) the seal of the khalifs.[524]
Do not bestow veneration upon other names but theirs;
To none offer greater honors than to them.”

When thou findest one of the people of the Kibla (the true faith) in a sin and fault, accuse him not of infidelity, and number him not among the people of damnation; in like manner, consider not a fit and good man, although he be removed from sins, as belonging to the inhabitants of heaven.

“Whoever is an unbeliever with a zunar,
Do not consider him for certain as belonging to the inhabitants
of hell.”

Having found the happy tidings that ten personages[525] have entered into heaven, do not however include him in their number.

“Because they are all formed of the pure offspring,
They received also the happy tidings of going to heaven.”

When any body is placed in the tomb, then two angels of a frightful appearance ask him: “Who was thy God, thy prophet, what thy creed?” If he give a right answer, then they keep his grave open, and make a window from heaven to it, that he may behold his future dwelling. But if his answer does not prove satisfactory, they beat his face soft with a club, and close the grave so tight upon him, that a noise issues from the compression of his sides; they also open a window from hell to him, so that he may there see his fate and his habitation. When the period of the world shall be terminated, the name of God shall not be pronounced by any tongue; then, by God’s orders, shall Israfíl sound the trumpet, and extinguish all like lamps; afterwards, during ages, there shall be no motion upon the face of the earth, until Israfíl shall again, at God’s order, by a blast of the trumpet blow the souls into the dispersed parts of their bodies, so that all shall revive. Afterwards, at the last judgment, the angels shall place the journal of actions recorded at the right hand of the virtuous, and at the left of the iniquitous. If the balance is weighed down by the good actions of a person, he goes to heaven; but if the scale, heavy with sins weighs down the other, hell awaits the sinner. This being brought to a close, an invisible bridge is thrown over hell; this bridge is sharper than the edge of a sword and thinner than a hair, and the believers and unbelievers are to be driven over it.

“When any unbeliever puts his foot upon it,
The abyss of hell shall be his habitation.”

The believer also shall, according to his knowledge and his actions, sooner or later pass over it; a weak faith shall not easily cross it.

“But he shall find salvation at the end of the business,
Although he may see many difficulties.”

There are fifty stations in the space on which the obedient and the rebels shall stop: upon each station another question is asked:

“He who gives a right answer
Crosses each station with rapidity.
But if not, in each, from a distressing condition,
He suffers pain and grief during one thousand years.”

The unbeliever shall suffer the torment of hell eternally; and the iniquitous believer shall remain in it, according to the estimation of his crimes.

“Either the entreaty of the intercessors
Shall liberate him from the retribution and punishment,
Or if, by intercession, the door of liberation does not open,
The most merciful of the merciful shall bestow salvation.”

When they come out of hell, they wash themselves clean of smoke in the _Kawser_.[526] There are eight gradations, or steps, in heaven; and every man, according to his knowledge and conduct, shares a place in them, and enjoys eternal beatitude. The highest of blessings is the sight of God, the Almighty, whom the good behold as the moon of fourteen nights. This is upon the authority of the lord Mulána Abd-ul rahmen Jami.[527] It is written in an esteemed book, that there are in hell eight steps, in which men are placed according to the estimation of their sins.

Here is a short account of what I have learned from the speeches of intelligent men of the right faith. It is contained in their books that the first being created was the spirit of Muhammed.

“The first creature of God was my soul.”

To this allusion is made in the words quoted from the Koran. Then all the spirits of mankind were brought forth; these, before being united with bodies, remained four thousand years in the vicinity of the grace of the most high God:

“God created the souls four thousand years before the bodies.”

The heavens are understood to be the heavenly bodies of the sphere which is over our heads, and this has seven circles; the earth is the cover of the tortoise which is beneath our feet. There are seven earths:

“Who created seven heavens and earths like them.”

In each earth there are creatures, and amcng these creatures propagating inhabitants. The width of each earth is five hundred journeys of travel. The compartments of heaven are round; but in the middle of the circle is the tent of majesty; and in each sphere is an order of angels occupied with the worship and adoration of the divinity; one troop standing somewhat erect; another multitude inclined (with their hands on their knees); a number prostrated, with the forehead touching the ground; others sitting; some carry the throne of God; and every angel has a place and a post determined, which he cannot leave.

“Their place is a place known.”

From sphere to sphere there is a distance to be traversed in five hundred years of travelling; in each heaven is one of the seven planets, all the other stars are in the first heaven, which is the next to the world of mankind.

“We have adorned the inferior heaven with the ornament of stars,
And we have preserved it from all obstinate demons.”

The borders of heaven are upon the mount Kaf, and the throne of God[528] is higher than the seven spheres.

“He created the heavens and the earths.”

Above the throne of God is the ninth sphere (ârsh).

“He created the heavens and the earths in ten days, and then
took rest upon his throne.”

The throne of God, the seven stories of heaven, and the seven _âshîánah_ (nests, houses) of the earth are firm, and having taken their rest, do not move in any way, and are absolutely without motion.

All that has been enumerated did not exist in the beginning; the Almighty God created them without elementary matter by the action of his wisdom and absolute power. When the day of resurrection arrives, he shall fold together the heavens, and change the earth for another earth, and plunge the heavenly sphere and the earth into nothing. The earth of the resurrection will be like an earth of pure silver, and in this earth nobody shall have committed a crime. As the happy Abd ullah says:

“On the day when the earth shall be changed for another
earth, that is, shall be changed for an earth of white
silver, where no blood shall be shed, and no crimes shall be
committed.”

On the day of resurrection, heaven and hell shall be made ready; the dispersed members shall again form their body and be reunited; and the soul shall again take possession of them. Some shall be carried to heaven, others to hell. The first of mankind who was created was Adam; he was the father of men; his body was of earth; Adam was the father of all bodies, and Muhammed the father of all spirits.

“I was a prophet and a man, between water and earth;”

and all existence was brought forth according to, and in dependance upon, the existence of the prophet Muhammed.

The angels have wings to fly, with which they cross in one minute a distance of one thousand years’ journey. Satan was brought forth from fire, and was accursed on account of disobedience.[529]

This is the greatest part of the creed professed by the people of Islam. They are divided into many sects. According to the account of some belonging to the persuasion of the Sonna and the Jamáât, the Mulla Muhammed Mâsúm, of Kashghar,[530] was a learned and virtuous man, and one of those who followed the doctrine of Hanefí, to whom he attached himself so much as to choose him for his master. His origin was from Badkahshán, and his name Shaikh Hossan; he always studied the Koran, the traditions, and other books of religion and law, and regulated his conduct after them; in such way he passed the day; he kept frequent fasts, never read poems nor listened to stories, and if any body uttered before him speeches of worldly people, he became angry. He was very cautious with the Shiâhs, and admitted them not to his house. The author of this book asked him, in Lahore: “What is the cause of the aversion which you always show to the Shiâhs.” He replied: “I was originally a Shiâh, and therefore conformed myself to that creed. One night I saw in a dream the lord Imâm Hossen, the son of the lord Alí, the son of Abí Taleb, and asked him about the real truth of religion; he enjoined me: ‘Be a Sonni, and keep away from the inconstant, for they are heretics and idolators of my person, and then utter unbecoming words against the heads of religion, Abubekr, Omar, and Osman, and by such an illusion they lost the right way: the way of truth is the doctrine of the Sonnites and the Jamáât.’”

Here follows what I have learned from the Shaikh Hossen, as well as from Mulla Aádil. A Shiâh is no Muselman, and when he brings forth his faith, it is not right, according to the saying of the prophet:

“Reviling the two shaikhs is an infidelity without
repentance (remission).”

I heard from Mulla Yâkub Tarfánî, that these words for restraining the tongue exceed all bounds, and are an exaggeration in the veneration of the two Shaikhs (the grace of God be upon them); that yet repentance (remission) is admitted; he said besides that it is agreed, reviling is no infidelity.

Shaikh Manśur Máterîdî[531] became a follower of the lord Imám Abú Hanífa of Kufa, and _Hujjet ul islam_, “the proof of Islam,” the Imám Muhammed Ghazáli,[532] who was a traveller on the same road with the lord Jmám Sháfâyat[533] (the peace of God be upon them!) said in their literary compositions, and in books we read, that the root and the foundation of the seventy and two branches of religion are six doctrines, namely: the _Tashbíah_, _Tâtîl_, _Jaber_, _Kadr_, _Rafs_, and _Naseb_.[534]

In the _âmedat ul mâtekad_, “the pillar of believers,” composed by _Shaháb ul hak_, “flame of truth,” Shaikh of Islamism and of the Muselmans, _Abu abd ulla Faselella_, son of the Imám, the blessed, whom God has taken in his mercy, and whose sins are forgiven, _Taj eddin_, “the crown of the faith,” _Abu Sâid al Hassan_, son of _Hassan_, son of _Yúsef al Súrí_, is to be found, that the _Tashbîhîan_, “assimilators,” have attached to the most high God improper and unsuitable attributes, inasmuch as they have connected his creation partly with an elementary principle, and partly with accidents. The _Tâtîlîan_, “the indifferent,”[535] have denied God and his attributes. In the before-mentioned book we find, the creed of this sect is, that the world has no Creator, and that it always was such as it is, and that, except what is surely perceived, there is no other existence.

We have also heard from Shaikh Hossen, that the _Tât´íl_ maintain what some philosophers asserted, that God is the cause of things, and that the matter of the world was always in him. We learned also from Azîzî, that, according to this sect, God, the Almighty, when he created the world, attached its destiny to every thing that appeared, and that now, without God’s taking any active part in it, every thing exists or perishes.[536]

The sect of the _Jaberiah_, “the compelled,” having given up, and denying, freedom of action in men, attach all their deeds to God.[537]

The _Kadariah_, “the powerful,” affect God in themselves, and reckon themselves the creators of all their actions.[538]

The _Rafs_, “heretics,” profess their devotion to Alí (the peace of God be with him!), and in the exaggeration of their affection, they make an unbecoming use of their tongue in reviling the illustrious Abu-bekr, Omar, and Osman (the peace of God be upon them!); they rebelled, and went so far that, whoever did not, after the prophet of Arabia, without hesitation acknowledge the supremacy of Alí (the grace of God be with him!) and profess his being the chief of the faith and substitute of the prophet, was not reckoned by them among the Muselmans.

The _Nawaséb_, “enemies,” are devoted to Abu-bekr and Omar, and having prevailed in this devotion, they rejected Alí (the mercy of God be upon him!) and proceeded so far that, whoever did not, after the great prophet, plainly and decidedly acknowledge Abubekr and Omar (the grace of God be with them!) as khalifs of the prophet, and as Imáms, was by them excluded from the circle of the right faith.

Each of these six sects was subdivided into twelve, whence seventy and two sects arose.[539] All are in the fire _of hell_, by the precepts of the sayings of the prophet:

“My nation is divided into seventy and three sects, who are
all in the fire _of hell_, except one.”

And those only who are without these seventy and two sects belong to the people of salvation, because they are of the true religion and upon the right road; but the true religion is that which is not to be found among the sects mentioned, and in which those six religions are not likely not to be, because these six religions did not exist in the time of the prophet and in the last will of the apostle. After him innovations took place, so that it is not unknown, in what time, and in what place or town, and by whom they became manifest, and from what cause they originated. By concordance of the people of Islam, the right road and the true religion is that which Muhammed (blessing be upon him!) and after him the noble companions professed, and this faith is that of the Sonnites and the Jamáât. This is in substance the creed of Shaíkh _Mansúr_, and of _Hajet ul islám Abu Abd’ulla_:[540] We are informed by the learned of the Hanefî persuasion, and by Mulla _Yakúb Turkhanî_, who was an assistant and companion of Mulla _Adil_, that the religion of the Sonnites and the Jamâát is divided into four branches, which are the four sides of the city of the law of Muhammed, namely, the _Hanefîah_, _Málkîah_, _Sháfâya_, _Hambalîah_,[541] and the wanderer in these four religions is liberated.

* * * * *

AN ACCOUNT OF THE UMAVIYAH AND YEZIDIAH CONNECTED WITH THE ALI-ILAHIAN.

In the east of Kohistan is a tract of country known by the name of _Shekúnah_, and the lord of it is Malek Yakúb, who boasts of having issued from the family of the lord of the believers, Mâaviah Ebn Abi Safîan. The inhabitants of that country are brave, warlike, pious, and abstemious. They have many commentaries, and knowledge of law and religion, and religious books. They acknowledge the divine mission of Muhammed (the blessing of God be upon him!) as well as the office of Imám and the khalifat of Abu-bekr and Omar, and of the lord of believers Mâaviah, and they revile Alî for having pretended to a divine rank. His belief was that they ought to possess all kinds of grain;[542] his followers worshipped him as divine; this he insinuated to them by this prayer, which he pronounced himself in the sermons, related as his saying:

“I am God; I am the merciful; I am the bountiful; I am the
high; I am the creator; I am the provider of the necessaries
of life; I am the most compassionate; I am the most
propitious; I am he who bestows a form to the drop of the
sperm in the wombs.”[543]

and the like; these words are of Pharâún and Nimrod,[544] and like these are many of their sayings. They are besides fond of bloodshed, and cruel. They say improper things about the prophet, as of one who did not always behave with decency. So it happened once, that eating dates in company with other persons, the prophet threw the stones of the dates towards Alí, and then said: “O Alí! thou hast eaten a great many dates, because all the stones are before thee;” Ali answered, “Thou hast swallowed them with the stones;” and they say this passage is in the sacred book:

“There are men whose speeches about the present life will
astonish thee, and who will take God for witness of what is
in their heart, whilst they are the most quarrelsome of
adversaries.”

And they are approving Ebn Maljám,[545] and say Maljám is among them:

“There are some men who rescue their soul, desiring in this
manner to perform the will of God.”

They assert that the two Hasáîn are not of the family of the prophet, according to this verse of the Koran:

“Muhammed is not any thing else but one of us; he is yet the
prophet of God, and the seal of the Apostles.”

They say that Yazîd killed Hasan, the son of Alí, in his house, and did not bring him forth from the corner where he was concealed.[546] He was come for subduing the country of Bîrak; on that account he was put to death. On the tenth day of the Moheram, they go on horseback upon a wide field which is before their town; there they make, of earth, an image of Hosain who was killed; against him they dash their horses, and think fortunate those who can say, that they have been riding against the bodies of the martyrs of Kerbala;[547] this they call a day of victory, and on this day they make a greater show of festivity and rejoicing, because the Imám of the time, that is, Yazîd, was upon the field of victory. And on Fridays and festivals they revile from their pulpits the lord Alí and his offspring. Among them is one sect in particular which act in this manner, and, with their swords drawn, curse Alí and his sons, and in this way they pass one day: they are called _Sîáf_, “fencers.”

The same say that the prophet and his offspring, and particularly their prophet, had the power of recalling to life and putting to death, of creating and annihilating any being; and that they did whatever they wished. But this mode of acting was no more allowable to their successors, such as that of the prophets to destroy the living, which power they possessed on account of their having also that of recalling to life; but it is not one of our attributes to render lifeless the living, because we have not the power of restoring them to life; also because the creatures have not been made on our account; besides, the prophet took whatever mate he liked, because the world was his share, whilst it is not permitted to us to take the woman of another man. It is however right, making it our profession, to wage war against the opposers of faith, and to fight the enemies of religion for the protection of the law. This people kill no living beings in the country of Shekúnah. Their usual food is animal juice, such as honey, butter, and the like; they use no intoxicating liquors, nor that prepared from the palm-tree, nor opium.

Among the _Maksud chep_, who are a more intelligent people, the author of this book found himself in the house of one of them. There a man called _Hushíar Refik Nikarindah_, asked him: “If it were not permitted to drink intoxicating liquors, how was it that the former prophets, and some of the khalifs, the sons of Ommiah,[548] drank wine?” He answered: “The wine could not overcome their understanding; with us, it is not so.” Hushiar said again to the author of this work: “If the khalifs, after the prophet, possessed the power to create and to annihilate lives, why did they not render the heretics dumb?” The answer was: “A king sent a phial of deadly poison to the Amir of the believers, Omar (the grace of God be with him!) that he may give it to an enemy; the khalif said: ‘I have no greater enemy than my own spirit,’ and he drank the whole phial, from which however his sacred body received no harm; now, the gentle-minded personage, who could drink poison, how would he not hear the abuse of mistaken men? So represent to thyself the other khalifs.” The _Cheps_ are a tribe of the people of Shekunah.

[498] Sheheristâni is the surname of _Al Fath Mohammed Ben
Abdalkerim_, one of the most celebrated doctors of the
Ashârian sect, an account of which is to follow. He died in
the year of the Hejira 548 (A. D. 1153). He composed several
works upon metaphysics and the scholastic theology of the
Muselmans, and among others that which is entitled _Nehajat
alekdam fi êlm al Kelam_, and on account of which he is
entitled _Mâtakellam al-Ashari_, “the scholastic of the
Ashârian.” We have also from him a book called _Al Melal u
alnahal_, “the means of curing wearisomeness and
melancholy.”――(Herbelot.)

[499] According to Sheheristani, quoted by Pococke (p. 211,
1st edit.), the Magians were divided into seventy sects; the
Jews into seventy-one; the Christians into seventy-two; and
the Moslem into seventy-three. Among the sects there was
always one to be saved.

The baron de Hammer says (Journ. As., juin 1825, p. 321,
Tableau généalogique des soixante-treize sectes de Islam):
“The best information which we have yet upon the sects and
the heresies of Islam are those given by Pococke,
Marraccius, and Sale, according to Sheheristânî, and the
Commentary of Mewakif. Pococke (Specimen historiæ Arabum,
Oxoniæ, 1650, pp. 194 and 210), Marraccius (Prodromus), and
Sale (Engl. transl. of the Koran) trace the principal
classes of the genealogical table of the heresies; but their
catalogue is not quite exact, and still less complete. This
subject, interesting for the history of religions, and above
all for that of the Islamitic heresies, is treated
fundamentally in the Commentary of the great scholar Jorjani
upon the _Mewakif_, that is to say, the metaphysics of Adhad
eddin al Ijí, a valuable work in more than one respect,
which work was printed in Constantinople” (in folio, of 635
pages, in the year of the Hejirah 1039, A. D. 1824). The
baron de Hammer treated this subject summarily in the number
of the journal quoted, pp. 321-335, and in the subsequent
number for July, 1825, pp. 32-46.

[500] The points of faith in dispute among the schoolmen are
reducible to four general heads, called the four bases or
great fundamental articles. The first relates to the
attributes of God, and his unity consistent therewith; the
second regards predestination and the justice thereof; the
third concerns the promises and threats; the fourth treats
history and reason, and also the mission of prophets, and
the office of Imâm, or chief pontiff. About all these heads
the Muhammedans are divided into different sects, which may
be classed under two principal sorts: the _orthodox_ and the
_heretical_; the former, by a general name, are called
_Sonnites_, or “Traditionists:” the latter _Shiâts_ (see
note, vol. I. p. 101).

[501] Jamaât signifies properly the _assembly_, or as we may
say, the _church_ of Muselmans. This name is assumed by the
Ashârian, who, as Sheheristâni contends (see Pococke, p.
211), were the sect whom the prophet indicated as selected
for salvation.

[502] The Sonnites, just mentioned, are divided into four
sects, the founders of which I shall mention, in the order
as they occur, in the text of the Dabistán.

[503] The Sifátiah are one of the orthodox sects; they
maintain the existence of the eternal attributes of God, and
are on this account named _Sifátiah_, or “Attributists.”

[504] The _Mâtazalah_, or “Separatists,” were the followers
of _Wasel Ebn Ata_. He was the disciple of Hassan al Baśri,
of whom hereafter. When he separated from his master, the
latter exclaimed: _Kad êttazal amma Wassel_, “Wassel
separates from us:” hence is derived the name of his
followers, _Mâtazalah_――(See Herbelot). They entirely
rejected all eternal attributes of God, saying that eternity
is the proper or formal attribute of his essence; that God
knows by his _essence_, and not by his _knowledge_, and the
same they affirmed of his other attributes, and hence this
sect were also named _Mâtalah_, or _Mâtalites_, from their
_divesting_ God of his attributes, in which they place the
unity of God. They denied also all vision of God in paradise
by the corporeal eye, and rejected all comparison or
similitude applied to God. They established further, that
the word of God is created; that God is necessarily holden
to the observation of justice in his decrees, to the
rewarding of good and the punishment of the wicked. Moreover
they refuted the dogma of absolute predestination,
maintaining that God was not the author of evil, but of good
only, and that man was a free agent: on which account they
are also called _Kadarian_, from _kadr_, “destiny.” They are
subdivided into twenty sects, taxing each other with
infidelity――(See _Sale’s Koran_, vol. I. Prelim. Discourse,
pp. 211-212). The latter are to be particularly mentioned in
these pages hereafter.

[505] There is a sect among the _Shiîtes_, or “the
Dissidents,” called the _Gholats_, or “the Exaggerators.”

[506] متكلم _Matkallem_, according to Richardson’s
Dictionary, Johnson’s edition, signifies “a speaker, orator,
declaimer, advocate;” but, according to Pococke (_vide_ pp.
195, 198 1st edit.), _Al Motacalmín_ are those who
investigate and dispute. _Al Kalem_ signifies “scholastic
theology,” synonymous with _Al mantik_, “logic.” According
to Eben al-Kossai, quoted by Pocock, _Al Kalem_ is a science
by which disquisitions are made about the essence and
attributes of God, and the condition of possible things,
about creation and restitution, pursuant to the canons of
Islamism. Others define it the science of legal principles
which belong to the articles of faith, and are acquired by
positive demonstrations. Further, conformably with the
author of _Al Mawakef_, “stations, or rather theses of
metaphysics,” who himself composed a system of this science,
it is a doctrine by which one is rendered capable of
confirming by demonstrations the articles of religion, and
of solving doubts.

[507] _Mâlik Ebn Ans_ (see Sale’s Koran, vol. I. p. 206),
was born at Medina, according to different accounts, in the
years of the Hejira 90, 93, 94 or 95 (A. D. 708, 711, 712,
or 713), and died there in the years of the Hejira 177, 178,
or 179 (A. D. 793, 794, or 795). This doctor and head of his
sect, is said to have paid great regard to the traditions of
Muhammed. He was distinguished by the humble confession of
his ignorance. Being asked his opinion as to forty-eight
questions, his answer to thirty-two of them was, that he did
not know.

[508] _Ahmed Ebn Hanbal_ (see Sale’s Koran, vol. I. p. 208)
was born in the year of the Hejira 164 (A. D. 780) at Meru,
in Khorasan, according to some, or according to others in
Baghdad, where he died in the year of the Hejira 241 (A. D.
855). He could repeat no less than a million of Muhammed’s
traditions. Refusing to acknowledge the Koran to be created,
he was, by order of the Khalif Al Mótasem, severely scourged
and imprisoned.

_Ahmed Hanbal_ was the contemporary and friend of _Muhammed
Ebn Edris al Shâfei_, the founder of the sect of the
_Shafâites_. The latter was born in the year of the Hejira
150 (A. D. 767-8) either at Gaza or at Ascalone, in
Palestine, and died in the year of the Hejira 204 (A. D.
819-20), in Egypt. He is said to have been the first who
discoursed of jurisprudence, and reduced that science into a
method (_ibid._, p. 207).

To the names of the three founders of sects just mentioned,
I am to add the name of _Abu Hanîfa al Noman Ebn Thabet_,
who was born at Cufa, in the year of the Hejira 80 (A. D.
699), and died in the year 150 (A. D. 767). He is the
founder of the sect called the _Hanefites_. This sect is
reckoned, in the order of time, the first of the four
orthodox sects of the Sonnites, distinguished by the title
of “_the followers of reason_,” whilst the other three are
called “_the followers of traditions_.” Of these three last,
the sect founded by Mâlik Ebn Hans is the second; that
instituted by Muhammed Ebn Edris al Shâfei, the third; and
that of the followers of Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, the fourth of the
orthodox sects, acknowledged by the Sonnites.

[509] _Dáúd Isfahâni_ was born in Cufa, in the year of the
Hejira 202 (A. D. 817); he died A. H. 270 (A. D.
883)――(_Abulfeda_, vol. II. p. 261); he was the chief of one
of the _six_ orthodox sects of the Muhammedans (see
hereafter the enumeration of these sects).

[510] Mahásebi died in the year of the Hejira 243 (A. D.
875).――_Abulfeda_, II, p. 201.

[511] _Abul ’l Hasan al Ashari_ was first a Mótazalite, and
the disciple of _Abu Ali al Jobbai_, from whom he disagreed
in opinion as to God’s being bound (as the Mótazalites
assert) to do always that which is best, or most expedient;
on which account he left his master, and founded a new sect,
called the _Ashárian_, who are a subdivision of the
Sifatian. Their opinions were, that they allowed the
attributes of God to be distinct from his essence, yet so as
to forbid any comparison being made between God and his
creatures. They further assert, after their master, that all
the actions of men are subject to the power of God, being
created by him, and that the power of man has no influence
at all on that which he is empowered to do, but that, both
the power and what is subject thereto, fall under the power
of God. Manifold are the subtle distinctions in this
abstruse subject; those who appear the least obscure, use
this form: There is neither compulsion nor free liberty, but
the way lies between the two; the power and will in man
being both created by God, though the merit or guilt be
imputed to man. Yet, after all, it is judged the safest way
to follow the steps of the primitive Moslems, and, avoiding
subtle disputations and too curious inquiries, to leave the
knowledge of this matter wholly unto God.――(See Sale’s
_Koran_, vol. I. pp. 219-225.) Abul Hasan died in Baghdad in
the year of the Hejira 324 or 329 (A. D. 935 or
940).――(Herbelot.)

[512] The _Keramian_ are followers of _Muhammed Ebn Kerâm_;
(who died in the year of the Hejirah 255 (A. D. 868))
(_Abulfeda_, vol. II. p. 229), they are also called
_Mojassemian_, or “Corporealists,” who not only admitted a
resemblance between God and created beings, but declared God
to be corporeal. The more sober among them, indeed, when
they applied the word “body” to God, would be understood to
mean that he is _a self-subsisting being_, which with them
is the definition of a body: but yet some of them affirmed
him to be finite and circumscribed, and others allowed that
he might be felt by the hand or seen by the eye.

[513] The Koran, ch. LXXV. v. 23.

[514] Sáâdah is the name of a tract of Arabia.

[515] See page 328, note 2.

[516] See page 329, note 1.

[517] The Koran, chap. III. v. 5.

[518] Abd al rahmen Ben Ahmed received his surname _Ja mi_
from a place called Jám, very near Herat, in Khorasan, where
he was born; he lived under the reign of sultan Hossain Bai
kara, who issued from the family of Tamerlan, and whose
capital Herat was. Jâmî is one of the most celebrated
Persian poets, author of a Divan, which contains the whole
mystical theology of the Muselmans; of the Baharistan, or
“the spring,” a composition mixed with prose and verse; and
of the romance Yúsef and Zuláikha, a most favourite poem of
the Orientals. Jâmî died in the year of the Hejira 888 or
891 (A. D. 1483 or 1486).

[519] This title is more particularly applied to Noah,
Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammed.

[520] According to some rabbins and to some Muselmans, wheat
was the forbidden fruit which Adam eat.――(See upon this
subject, _Les Oiseaux et les Fleurs, allégories d’Azz-eddin
el Mocadessi_, publiées en arabe avec une traduction
française par M. Garcin de Tassy, p. 167, notes.)

[521] Muhammed, in the fifty-second year of his age and the
twelfth of his preaching (A. D. 621), whilst lying asleep
between the mountains Al Safa and Merva, in the vicinity of
Mecca, had a vision in which he proceeded from earth through
the seven heavens to the throne of God. Muhammed himself
alludes to it twice in the Koran, the seventeenth chapter of
which is entitled “the night journey;” but he mentions
nothing else but a vision: it was the fanaticism of his
followers which wrought the most strange circumstances into
an absurd fable, according to which their prophet was
visited by the angel Gabriel, and in his company carried
first from Mecca to Jerusalem, and then, upon a ladder of
light, to the presence of God.

[522] For the just mentioned miraculous journey, Gabriel had
brought with him the sacred animal on which the prophets
used to ride when executing a divine command; it was called
_Al borak_, “flashing as lightning,” in shape resembling an
ass of a larger size, with a face like that of a man, the
eyes brighter than the star Aldebaran, the ears of an
elephant, the neck of a camel, the body of a horse, with the
tail of a mule and hoofs of a bull; the breast of the animal
shone like rubies, his legs like pearls, and a silken
caparison of Paradise bedecked his back.――(See hereafter on
the _Borak_, in chapter XI, the section “on the miracles of
the prophet.”)

[523] Surah means a chapter of the Koran.

[524] See note, vol. I. pp. 99-100.

[525] These ten personages are the four khalifs: I. Abubekr;
II. Omar; III. Osman; and IV. Ali; then V. Talha; VI. Zohair
ben Awam; VII. Saad ben Abu Wakkas; VIII. Abdur rahmen ben
Auf; IX. Abu Obaida ben Jarrah; and X. Saad ben Zaid. These
are called the ten evangelists, to whom the Muhammedans add
Hamzah and Jafar, and account them the twelve apostles of
Muhammed.――(See _Eucologe musulman_, par M. Garcin de Tassy,
Paris, 1840, p. 200.)

[526] كوثر _Kawser_ is a river of paradise, mentioned in the
Koran (chap. CVIII). According to a tradition of Muhammed,
the water of this river is whiter than milk or silver,
sweeter than honey, smoother than cream, and more
odoriferous than musk; its banks are of chrysolithes. This
river supplies in two pipes the pond of the prophet, who
describes it to be an exact square of a month’s journey in
compass. The cups to drink this water are of silver, and are
set around as numerous as there are stars in the
firmament.――(See Sale’s _Koran_, vol. I. Prelim. Disc., p.
126; vol. II. p. 514.)

[527] See pp. 334-335, note 1.

[528] Kersi: this is the crystaline or the empyrean heaven,
as being supposed the throne of God.

[529] Satan, or Iblis was cursed for refusing to worship
Adam at God’s command. This will be further developed in a
note, vol. III. chapter VII.

[530] A city in Turkistan.

[531] _Mâterídí_ was the surname of _Abu Mansúr Muhammed al
Hanefí_. He was a doctor of the Hanefian sect, to whom the
praise and title of _Imám al hada_, “the Imám, the
director,” was given. He died, and was buried in the year of
the Hejirah 333 (A. D. 944-5) in the town of Samarkand, a
native of which he was; _Mâterídí_ is a quarter of this town
whence he had his surname. This doctor was a _Motkalin_,
that is, a great metaphysician and scholastic theologian; he
composed, among many other works, a book entitled: _Bian
vahem al Mâtazalah_, against the Mâtazale.――(_Herbelot sub
voce Matridi_).

[532] _Muhammed Ghazáli_, his full name is _Abú Hamed
Muhammed Ebn Muhammed_, surnamed _Hajjet ul islam Zain eddin
al Tusí_, born at Tus, n Khorasan, in the year of the Hejira
450 (A. D. 1058-9), the son of a merchant of cotton thread,
_ghazal_, whence his surname _ghazáli_; he died in 504 or
505 (A. D. 1110-11). In the latter half of his life, which
extended very little beyond the half of a century, he
composed more than one hundred works, several of which are
thick volumes in folio, such as the most celebrated amongst
them entitled _Jhyá al âlum eddín_, “the revival of the
sciences, concerning faith;” upon which the judgment was
passed, that, were the Islam destroyed with all its works
except this, from this alone it could be restored in all its
perfection. This great dogmatic, ethic, and philosophic work
was nevertheless, during the author’s life, condemned as
heretical and consigned to the flames, by the Academy of
Cordova, in Spain, the western Baghdad, or seat of
Muhammedan learning. This composition of Ghazáli has been
abridged by _Abul Faśel Ahmed ben Mussa al Arbeli_, under
the title _Ruh al Ihyá_, “the spirit of the book entitled
Ihyá.” See _Pocock Spec. Hist. Arab._, p. 371; _Herbelot sub
voce Ghazálí_; _Hammer’s Gemäldesaal grosser moslimischer
Herrsher, III^{ter} Band, S._ 182, 1837. By the last
mentioned author was published a Biography of Ghazáli, as
introduction to the text and translation of a treatise of
Ghazali, under the title: “_O Kind! die berühmteste ethishe
Abhandlung of Ghazáli_,” Vienne, 1838.

[533] See page 329.

[534] The sects may be distinguished by the names of their
founders, and called _Hanefites_, _Asharian_, _Keramían_,
_Shafeites_, etc.; or by the nature of their doctrine, and
named _Sefatian_, “attributists;” _Matazalah_,
“separatists;” _Mashabian_, or _Tasbiah_, “assimilators,”
etc.; or by their relation to some established doctrine or
community, and then entitled _Rafs_, “heretics;” _Navaseb_,
“enemies;” finally, these sorts of distinctions may be
mixed. No doubt, these various classifications burden the
memory with a great number of names which may create
confusion. I am sparing in introducing others than those
which are in the text of the Dabistan. According to those
distinctions, their number may be diversely stated. We have
already seen the principal sects reckoned to be _four_; here
above are reckoned _six_; the author of _Sharh-ol Mowakef_
(Pocock, p. 209) enumerates _eight_ principal sects.

[535] From تعطيل _tâtíl_, “neglecting, causing to be
unemployed, rendering useless, vacation.” Rigorously they
are perhaps not to be declared atheists, as above: for their
creed consists rather in denying the attributes of God, and
in presenting him as inaccessible to human intelligence and
strange to the government of the world, than in denying
positively his existence.――(See _Chrestomathie Arabe_, tome
II. p. 96, by _Silvestre de Sacy_.)

[536] The scholastics among the Muhammedans employ in their
discussions principally two words: القضا, _al ka[:z]a_,
and القدر, _al kadr_, necessarily annexed to each other, but
still distinct by a nice sense particular to each: _al
ka[:z]á_ signifies God’s universal and eternal judgment or
decree, by which the particular things are created and
disposed so as they are to remain to all the ages of
eternity; _al kadr_ means God’s will in bringing forth, at a
determined time and by a determined cause, things in their
proper measure and fixed proportion with regard to their
essence as well as to their condition.――(_Pocock_, first
edit., pp. 207-209.)

[537] There are three principal opinions about the decrees
of God, and the power of man with regard to his actions,
among the Muhammedans.

The first is that of the _Motazalahs_, according to which
man is the agent in good and evil, in faith, and infidelity,
in obedience and rebellion; all his actions are his; for it
could not be said to man, “Act,” if he had not the faculty
of acting. Evil and iniquity can by no means be attributed
to God; an infidel is composed of a man and of infidelity:
God created the first, but not the latter.

The second opinion is that of the _rigid Jabariahs_,
followers of _Jahmi Ebn Sefwan_, whose sect flourished about
the middle of the eighth century. According to them there is
no action but in God; man acts, without power his own,
without will or choice, exactly as a tree produces fruits,
as water runs, as a stone moves. Reward and punishment are
likewise proceeding from necessity, as well as the
imposition of orders comes from necessity.

The third opinion is that of the _moderate Jabariahs_, and
also that of the Asharian, who maintain that God creates the
actions of man, good as well as bad, but that man _acquires_
them: that is to say, God creates the power by, under, and
with, which man acts, but man wills the action, and prepares
himself to it, which is called كسب _kasb_, “acquisition;” an
action therefore, with respect to creation, belongs to God,
but with respect to production, by which it is manifested,
that is, by “acquisition,” it depends upon man, and falls
under his power. Abul Hasan of Isfahan says, that what makes
an impression upon a fact, are the power of God and the
power of man _jointly_. When man applies his mind to
obedience, God creates in him the action of obedience, and
when he applies his mind to transgression, God creates in
him the action of transgression; and in that respect it is
man who brings into existence or produces his action,
although in reality he be not the producer.――(See on this
abstruse subject, Pocock, pp. 243-251, with quotations from
several authors.)

[538] The _Kadariahs_ or _Kadarian_ belong to the Motazalah
(Abul Faraj, p. 20). The Kadarian have been compared to the
Magians, inasmuch as they acknowledge two principles, light
and darkness, or good and evil; the first of which they
ascribe to God, the other to man and to the devil;
nevertheless, every thing belongs to God, as created by his
will; that is, with respect to creation; but the actions
belong to the actors.――(_Pocock_, pp. 234, 235, etc.)

[539] We have already seen, p. 323, that Muhammed has
predicted the division of his followers into seventy-three
sects (and not seventy-two, as above). Why seventy-three? It
was (see _Pocock_) to make Muhammedism have one sect more
than Christianism, which had seventy-two, counting one more
than Judaism, which, to have seventy-one, had added one to
the seventy sects of Magism.

[540] See p. 349, notes 1 and 2.

[541] See the names of the founders of the four principal
sects, notes, pp. 324-5, 328-9.

[542] The meaning of this passage appears to me to be that
Alí wished the Muselmans to apply to agriculture, which the
Arabs generally despise or neglect.

[543] According to the most probable account of historians,
it never was Alí who pretended to be a God, but _Abdallah_,
son of _Wahab_, son of _Saba_, a Jew converted to Islamism,
who was the first instigator of the seditious movements to
which Omar fell a victim, promulgated the doctrine, that a
particle of divinity resided in Alí, the true Imám, that he
is not dead, but only for a time withdrawn from the eyes of
men; that he would reappear one day upon the earth, and fill
it with justice, in the same manner as it is now filled with
iniquities. This doctrine served as a foundation to the
different sects which admitted the transmission of the
Imamate to the descendants of Alí, by right of succession,
and spread in the east and west of Asia, in Africa, and in
Spain.

[544] Nimrod and Pharáun maintain, in the Koran and in the
traditions of the Muhammedans, the same character as in the
Bible of the Hebrews, for tyranny against men and
presumption towards God; the first was the enemy of Abraham,
the other of Moses: both were punished by God.

[545] _Ebn Maljam_, “the son of Maljam,” was _Abd-ur-rahman_,
who assassinated Alí.

[546] We have already (see vol. I. p. 100, note) touched
upon the enmity which existed between the family of Alí and
that of Moaviah, the son of Abu Sofian and of Hinda, a woman
famous for her animosity against Muhammed, the prophet.
Nevertheless Moaviah became one of the secretaries of
Muhammed, after whose death he was appointed to the
government of Syria by Omar, and confirmed in that station
by Osman. After the violent death of this khalif, Moaviah
declared himself the avenger of his protector, and would not
submit to Alí, upon whom he waged war during four years, and
after whose death he opposed with equal ardour Hasan, who
succeeded his father in the khalifat. Surrounded by
rebellion in his own camp, Hasan could not resist, but
resigned his right and person to Moaviah. He died in Medina
of poison given him, as some say, by his wife, Jáda, or by
his minister, at the injunction of Moaviah (see _Elmacin,
trad. Erpenii_, p. 56); according to others, in concordance
with the Dabistán, by the fraud of Moaviah’s son, Yazid, who
seduced Jáda, and instigated her to poison her husband,
promising to marry her, but after the perpetration of the
act, rejected, with scorn, the woman supplicating for the
price of her deed. I shall add, according to _Abulfeda_
(_edit. of Reiske_, p. 350), that in Hasan terminated (A. D.
661) the legitimate khalifat, or the succession of chiefs
whom the free consent of the Muslims called and established,
and thus was fulfilled the prediction of the prophet, which
from the mouth of Safina, his freeman, is recorded in the
traditions as follows: “Thirty years after his decease shall
last the true and legitimate khalifat, and then be succeeded
by tyranny.”

[547] After Moaviah’s death, A. D. 679, Yazid, his son,
assumed the khalifat, but Hosain, another son of Alí, still
lived, and was invited by the inhabitants of Kufa to their
town for receiving their oath of allegiance. Yielding to
their invitation, he set out from Mecca, where he had
concealed himself, with thirty-two horsemen and forty men on
foot. Not far from Kerbela, in an arid tract of country in
Jrak Arabi, he was encountered by five or ten thousand men,
sent by Yazid to destroy him. The son of Alí bravely fought
this superior force during one-half of the day, but at last
fell, with four of his brothers, as many of his own sons,
and all his surrounding friends, seventy-two in number. The
survivors, his women, were conducted to Damascus, where
Hosain’s head, severed from his body, rejoiced the savage
eyes of Yazid, now fixed in the khalifat. Hosain’s relics
(as mentioned vol. I. p. 48) lie buried at Kerbela. The
anniversary of his death, the 30th September, A. D. 680, is
still celebrated by the Shiâhs, with every imaginable
demonstration of grief about the fate of Alí’s posterity,
and of execration of their oppressors.

[548] Ommiah, according to Herbelot (_sub voce_) is the name
of a respectable personage among the Arabians, who was the
son of _Abd-ul-shems_, and whose posterity bears the title
of _benu Ommiah_, “the children of Ommiah.” But their
celebrity begins with the before mentioned Moaviah; he was
the first of fourteen khalifs of this family, who reigned in
succession ninety-one years. The last of them was _Mervan
Muhammed ben Mervan, ben Hakem_, and after him there
remained of this family but _Abd-ur-rahmen_, who escaped
from the hands of the Abbasides, and later (in 756 A. D.)
established the dynasty of the Ommiades in Spain, where
fifteen of them held successively the government during
nearly two hundred years, until 986 A. D., when the Alides
seized the sovereignty of that country.

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