Chapter XXII: Section II: An Account of the Second Sect of the People of Islam, (2)

In the fourth chapter, the author says, that the individuals of mankind are divided into two classes.

The one says: “We require for the knowledge of the Creator a learned _sádik_, or sincere friend; and his special appointment is required, and after that instruction from him.” The other class says, “Instruction for the knowledge of any science can be obtained from any person, whether a master or not a master _specially appointed_.” As, by previous investigations, it is understood that the truth is with the first class, certainly the chief and leader of the first class will be the chief of the philosophers; and as it has been ascertained that the second class is erring, their leader is the leader of the deceived. The author says further, the _true_ doctrine is, that we acknowledge the _muhikk_, “him who knows for certain” _bahakk_, that is, “in truth,” which is a summary knowledge; and after the summary knowledge by which we recognise “him who knows for certain,” “in truth,” we want a detailed (distinct) knowledge of these questions; and our purpose in using the word _bahakk_, “in truth” is to express the necessity of having a _muhikk_, and the author says: By necessity we are to know the Imám, and by the Imám we know God in such a manner that by lawfulness we acknowledge him who is necessary, that is to say, that we acknowledge by the possibility of perfection the existence of the self-existent being.

The author also says, that knowing the _true_ doctrine is knowing the unity _of God_. After this illustration, having in several sections exhibited an account of his own faith, and in some established it, he made in other sections a digression upon the creed of others, and the digressive sections are frequent; the proofs and disquisitions by controversy with regard to false religions, and the disquisitions by concordance with regard to the rightfulness of his own religion, are distinct from the totality of those arguments, which are between truth and falsehood, and the contrast between truth and falsehood, and that between small and great _is made evident_. The author further alleges, that in science there is truth and falsehood; but the distinguishing mark of truth is unity, and the distinguishing mark of falsehood is multiformity; unity is related to _authoritative_ instruction, and multiformity is related to opinion; instruction belongs to the assembly, and the assembly to the Imám; opinion is allied with conflicting sects, and these agree with their chiefs. As for the separation of truth from falsehood, and the resemblance which truth has with falsehood, and for the distinction between what is consistent and what is absurd, on both sides, a balance ought to be formed in which every thing may be weighed.[614] The author moreover says, that we obtained the knowledge of this balance from the speeches of the witnesses, and whatever is compounded of negation and affirmation; and whatever is deserving negation is falsehood; and whatever is deserving affirmation is truth; and by this balance we weigh the good and bad, the sincere and the lying, and all contradictions; and the acute distinction and mystery of this speech is, that in the sentences each word relates to truth by proof of evidence, and unity and confirmation. The Imámate unites itself with prophecy in such a degree that prophecy, by the very nature of the Imámate, is prophecy; and this is the scope of the discourse in these topics of inquiry.

Besides, the author forbade the vulgar to dive deeply into science; and he prohibited the nobles the study of the books of the ancients, unless there was a person fit to master the particulars of their contents, and the comparative merits of the men who have delivered speeches. He also determined, with his companions in divinity, to say: _illah illah Muhammed ast_, “God is God the praise-worthy;” so you; but the adversaries say: _illah illah akel ast_, “God is God the wise;” that is, whatever is reason, every reason takes its direction towards the side of this leader (Muhammed); and as some of them raise these questions: “God Almighty is he present or not? one or many? knowing or ignorant? powerful or not?” An answer sufficiently strong is given, namely: _illah ba illah Muhammed_, “God by God is praiseworthy:”[615] as it is God who sent the prophet for leading the creatures, and the prophet is the leader of the creatures.

These sectaries are to be found in many places, but in great numbers in the _navahi_, “district,” of the eastern Kohistan, in the districts of Khita, of Káshghar, and Tibet. The author of this book saw, in the year of the Hejira 1054 (A. D. 1644), in Multan, one belonging to this sect, called Mír Alî Akbar, and heard frequently this account from his mouth: The Khalifs of the Ismâílíah maintained, during a long time, their dignity in the West. The lineage of the first Khalifs, according to the manner which is agreed upon among the Ismâílíah, is stated as follows: Khájah[616] Násir Túsi (of Tús) showed himself or really was, in his time, a professor of Ismâílísm. Muhammed al mahtadí ben Abd-ullah, ben Ahmed ben Muhammed, ben Ismâíl, ben Jâfr sádik, united the dignity of the Imámate with his own nobility, and declared that Mahdi, the last of the age, is represented in Muhammed ben Abd-ullah, and he quoted from the writing of Sádik, who said: “_At the end of thirteen hundred years, the sun shall rise in the west._” They say that the word _sun_ in this sentence alludes to Muhammed, son of Abd-ullah.[617] They give to Abú yazíd, who fell off from the lord (Sadik), the name of Antichrist (dajál).[618]

A great number of learned men are followers of the Ismâílíah: such was _Amír Náśer Khusró_, from among all learned poets, the contemporary of Ismâíl, surnamed _Montáser_, “the victorious.”[619] Amir Naser[620] was born in the year of the Hejira 359 (A. D. 969). When he arrived at the age of discernment and rectitude, he heard the voice of Hassen, _teaching_ the morals of the Ismâílíah, in the time of the khalifat of the legitimate Imám Montáser;[621] he hastened from Khorassan to Egypt, where he dwelt seven years; every year he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and returned from thence; he was exceedingly devoted to the practice of the law. At last he went to Mecca, and returning by the way of Baśra (Bussora) he was disposed to go to Khorassan. Having fixed himself in Sabakh, he invited mankind to the khalifat of Manteśer, and to the religion of the Ismâíliah, and showed the way to it. Hence, a number of the enemies of the prophet’s descendants wished to destroy Amír Nás r Khusró. A prey to fear and terror, he concealed himself from mountain to mountain in Badakhshan,[622] and lived twenty years upon water and grass in inaccessible places. Some of the ignorant reckoned him a companion among the Ismâíliah Almutíah; others of the uninformed composed a book of regret on the subject of his alliance with the Almutíah which they supposed: the fact is that he, following the Ismâílíah of the West, kept no communication nor society with the Almútíah. This is what we have heard from the Ismâílíah with regard to Nás r, and what is also recorded in historical books.[623]

The Imáms of the Ismâílíah showed themselves very kind to all creatures. Thus Manśur, the son of Azíz, known under the name of Alhákem ba amra allah, an Ismáílah, ordered in Egypt that, for the convenience of purchase and sale, the doors of the shops should be kept open at night, and the windows of Cairo not shut, that besides torches should be lighted in the narrow streets the whole night, and the people freely move in the market places and squares. This lord was skilful in all sciences, and powerful in prodigies, like his glorious ancestor Muhammed Mokhtar. Thus he said: “in such a night, a misfortune will befall me:” and so it happened.[624]

The Imáms of the western Ismâílíah were all zealous in the practices of exterior worship, and an account of them is published in the historical books. The Ismâílíah of Iran are celebrated with the Ismâílíah of Kohistán and Rúdbár.[625] The first of the former was _Hassan_, son of _Sábáh_. As the account of him in the histories has been traced with the pen of partiality, therefore I shall endeavor to make a statement such as obtains credit among the Ismâílíah concerning him.[626]

The lineage of Hassan is connected with Muhammed Sabah Zamérí; his grandfather, who descended from the family of Sábah Zamérí, came from Yemen to Kúfa, from Kúfa to Kam, and from Kam to Ráí. His father is also said to have been Alí,[627] a person devout and learned in the religion of Ismâílísm; he found a livelihood in the country of Ráí. The judge of this province, Abú Muslem Rází, on account of the contrariety of religion, bore him enmity. At the time when the Imám Mavafek Níshápúrí, one of the most learned Sonnites, flourished in Khorássan, the father (Alí), in order to remove from the suspicions of the enemy, having brought his fortunate son to Níshápúr, into the society of the Imam Movafik, procured him the opportunity of being intent upon his own advantage, whilst he himself, seated in the corner of tranquillity, devoted himself to piety. He never permitted himself speech above the comprehension of the vulgar, for fear that any person might consider them speeches of heretics and infidels, and accuse him of impiety and irreligion. Hassan was a condisciple of Nizam al mulk, of Tús,[628] and Omar Khayám[629] of Níshápúr. As his glorious father had revealed to him that Nizám al Mulkh would rise to a high rank of worldly greatness, and Hassan to a great dignity, visible and invisible, therefore Hassan said to Nizam al mulk: “Whichever of us attains a high dignity, shall divide the fortune by him acquired between us three equally;” and in this sense they bound themselves by a covenant. When khájah became a vizir in the time of Alp Arselan,[630] then Hakím Omar Khayám came to him, and in the corner of contemplative retirement, devoted himself to the acquisition of virtues. Khojah took no notice of his arrival. Hassan expected that Nizam al mulk would call him to his presence; disappointed in this, he, during the reign of Alp Arslan, did not join Khajah, but in the time of Sultan Malik Shah[631] he presented himself in Níshápúr to Khajah, but the latter did not mind the covenant that he had made, nor introduce him to the assembly of the king. Helpless then, the _Sayid al táífah_, “the chief of the sect,” that is, Hassan, said to Khájah: “Thou belongest to the learned, and to the companions of certainty, and thou knowest that the world is a vile object; should such a meanness be allowable, that thou, on account of rank and the love of sway, shouldst exhibit thyself a violator of promises, and enter the number of those of whom it is said: ‘They break the covenant of God.’”

“Place the hand of faith into the girdle of promise,
And endeavor to be no breaker of thy word.”

Khájah, perplexed, brought him to the court of the Sultan, to whom he said much of Hassan’s sagacity, but also gave information that the man was violent, avaricious, inconsistent, and undeserving of confidence. As Hassan was learned, and an able man of business, therefore his piety and prudence made in a short time a great impression upon the mind of the Sultan, who, in many great and important affairs, acted according to his advice. As the Sultan thought that what Khâja had said of the inconsistency and avarice of Hassan’s character was mere falsehood, and on account of other disorder, some dissatisfaction with Khájah came into the Sultan’s mind. One day he asked Khájah: “In what time art thou able to settle a clear account, such as that of a collector of the receipts and charges of the empire?” Khájah replied: “In two years.” The Sultan said: “That is a long time.” Hassan took an engagement with the king that he would bring it to a conclusion in forty days, under the stipulation that, during this time, all the writers should be at his service. The Sultan gave his approbation to the proposal, and Hassan, faithful to his promise, settled in forty days the account of the finances of the empire with the utmost exactness. Khájah, on hearing this intelligence, was troubled. According to the account of some, a slave of Khájah, who was upon terms of friendship with a servant of Hassan, or according to others, Khájah himself, took the register from the hands of the servant, who was carrying the leaves of it outside the king’s hall,[632] and mutilated the register. The servant brought to Hassan the leaves, without minding their order and without mentioning to him the occurrence; therefore, at the time of presenting the register, Hassan found it mutilated, and intent upon arranging and putting it in order, confused the leaves. The Sultan was impatient to know the receipts, charges, and revenues of the country; but Hassan was not able to answer, and spoke with hesitation. The Sultan, being vexed at meeting with such delay, said: “What is the reason of these difficulties?” As he received no answer, suitable to his questions, he became agitated. Khájah Nizám ul mulk took the opportunity to say: “Intelligent persons, to complete this business, demanded a delay of two years; an ignorant man pretends that, to finish it, forty days are sufficient for this important work: his answer to any question can but be insignificant. I have formerly represented, that in his character there is a total levity, and that his speeches deserve no confidence.”[633] On this account, the Sultan was displeased. Hassan consequently betook himself to flight, and hastened to Rudbar, in which country he found refuge with Abed-ul Malik Atás, who was a follower of the Ismâílíah; from thence he went to Isfahán, and, from fear of the Sultan and of Khájah, he concealed himself in the house of the Ráis Abulfazil. One day, in the midst of conversation, it escaped from his tongue: “If I found two proper friends, I would put in confusion this Turk and his places.” The Ráís Abulfásil ascribed this speech to a derangement of the brain; and, without disclosing his idea to Hassan, he prepared for him aliments, such as are proper for strengthening the brain. Our Sáid Hassan, from his great sagacity, having perceived the intention of his mind, hastened from thence to another place, and afterwards took possession of the fort _Almút_.[634] The Ráis Abulfazil joined him. Our Sáid then said: “Is my brain deranged, or hast thou not seen how, as soon as I had found two proper friends, I have made good my word?”

At last, our Sáid went to Egypt, and at that time Mantaśer[635] an Ismâílíah, sat upon the throne of the Khiláfet, and, being pleased with his sight, bestowed favors upon him, wherefore Hassan remained one year and a half under Montaśer’s protection. After this, a great enmity arose between him and Amír _Aljíyúsh_,[636] from this reason: Montaśer withdrew from his son Nazár the succession to his dignity, and issuing afterwards a second order, transferred it to his other son Ahmed surnamed Almistálí billah.[637] As a tumultuous concourse of the people took place on that account, Amír Aljíyúsh approved of the latter appointment, but Hassan said: “Respect is due to the first nomination;” and he invited the people to adhere to Nazár’s Imámate,[638] Amir Aljíyúsh, with the concurrence of some Umrá, represented to Montas er that Hassan, on account of this guilt, deserved to be imprisoned in the fort Damíat. Soon after this was done, a tower of the rampart of the fort, which was of a perfect strength, fell down, wherefore the people apprehended a still greater miracle from Hassan; at last the Amír Aljíyúsh sent him, with some people of the Franks, on board a ship bound to the West. The vessel was scarcely in the open sea, when a violent wind began to blow, the sea became boisterous, and the ship’s crew were agitated; but Hassan showed himself in that state of mind described by Amir Khusro:

“That thou mayst not be moved by every blast of wind,
Draw in thy skirts (collect thyself) like a mountain;
For man is but a handful of dust,
And life is a violent storm.”

On this occasion one of the voyagers asked Hassan: “What is the reason that I do not see thee disturbed?” Hassan answered: “It is because the Múláná, that is, the Imám, revealed to me that no misfortune will befall the passengers of the ship.” At the same moment, the tumult was calmed. On that account, love for Hassan gained the hearts of the whole company, and the vessel went to one of the towns of the Nazaréens. Hassan from thence embarked in another ship, and arrived at the frontier of _Shám_ (Syria), where he landed. From thence he hastened to Haleb (Alep),[639] and then satisfied his desire to go to Baghdad, from which place he betook himself hastily to Khózistan, which country he left for Isfahán: in this way he travelled, concealed and clandestinely, in the countries of Irak and Azerbáíjan, and invited the people to the doctrine of the Ismáílíah, and to the Imámate of Nazár; he sent _dáâis_,[640] “missionaries,” to the fort _Almút_, and to other fastnesses and cities of Rúdbár and Kohistán, that they might invite the people to the true faith: in a short time, a great number of men adopted this religion. Afterwards, having fixed his abode in a place near Almút, he devoted himself entirely to a religious life, to rectitude and the submission to God, which was his very nature.[641] The inhabitants, having heard his followers, were converted to his doctrine, and in the month of Rajeb (December) in the year of the Hejira 484 (A. D. 1091), a troop of the inhabitants of Almút brought this personage into the fort.[642] Finally, when he had entered the fort, a chief, Alí Mahdî by name, who, under the authority of Sultan Malik shah, was governor of this province, found himself bereft of power and was obliged to submit. The adversaries of the Ismâlíah say, that one day Alí Mahdî asserted, “deception in law is allowable,” and gave an account of some deceptions in religious law; but our Sáid declared that, the centre of law being rectitude, deception is not permitted, and all those who practise deception, shall be brought to account for it by God.

Some time after it, Hassan said one day to Mahdi: “Sell to me for three thousand dinars as much of the ground of this fort as a cow-skin will be able to embrace.” Mahdi, having agreed to the bargain, our Sâid made the cow-skin into thin stripes, which he joined together and surrounded the whole fort. He then wrote an order to the Ráis Mazafer, who held a command at the foot of the mountains of Dámâan, and was a follower of his doctrine, to that effect: “The Ráis Mazafer (may God Almighty guard him!) shall pay to Alí Mahdî three thousand dinars, as the price of the fort Almút. Blessing upon the prophet and his descendants; God suffices to us, and it is good to trust our interests to him.”

Having written this, he delivered it to Mahdi, and brought him out of the fort. The latter, some time after, pressed by indigence, presented the writ to the Râis Mazafer, and received three thousand dinars in gold.

Thus at last the affairs of our Sáid were carried, after many difficulties, to the possession of the castle Almút, and in a short time the whole country of Rúdbár and Kohistan fell into his fortunate hands; within thirty and six years, he rose to great prosperity and power. After him seven of his followers held the government, and the duration of the prosperity of this sect was eighty and one years.[643] Our Sáid strove at perfection of rectitude and piety, and the zeal of this lord in upholding the law was carried to such a degree, that he drove out of the fort an individual who played the flute, and in spite of the intercessions of many persons in his favor, never gave him entrance again. During the time of his government, he went no more than twice to sit upon the terrace of his house, and never was seen out of the fort, always occupied with the direction of the affairs of the state and of religion. In his time the fedáyís (his devoted followers) destroyed a great number of the great and noble adversaries of his sect.[644] At last death transported our Sáid from this world of vexations to the gardens of paradise, in the fourth month of the year (September, the beginning of autumn) of the Hejira 518[645] (A. D. 1124-5).

His appointed successor was _Kia Buzerk umíd_.

As _Hussáin Fáni_, one of the trusty companions of our Sáid,[646] with a troop of refîks (followers)[647] brought Kohistán into his possession, one of the Umrás of Malikshah, who was in Rúdbár, besieged several times the fort Almút, and spread slaughter and devastation about, in such a manner that the situation of the inhabitants of that castle having become distressing, they desired to retire into the valley. Our Sáid, exhorting them to patience and perseverance, declared that the Imám, namely Montaśer, had said, the Almutian ought not to desert the place, which should become to them the seat of good fortune. At this very time, that person, their enemy, passed to the other world, and our Sáid was liberated of all anxiety: on which account the fort was named _Buldet-ul ikbál_, “the town of good fortune.”

In the beginning of the year of the Hejira 485 (A. D. 1092), the Amír Arslán sháh[648] moved, by order of the Sultan Maliksháh, the army against Buldet-ul ikbal. As the situation of the inhabitants of the fort became desperate,[649] Abu Alí, who was one of the adherents of our Sáid, and resided in Kazvîn, sent them three hundred valiant men; and this robust body threw themselves by night into the fort, from whence, making a night sally upon the Arslánían, they routed them, and carried off an immense booty.

When the fugitives arrived in the camp of the Sultan, he sent _Kazil Sarúk_, with a strong army to reduce the rebels _in Khorasan_. Hassáín Fáni, _one of Hassan’s chiefs_, having taken refuge with his rafíks in _Múmin-ábád_, the general of the Sultan made the necessary preparations for a siege. When he was upon the point of seizing the splendid conquest, the intelligence suddenly spread of the murder of Khájah Nizam al mulk by the hand of _Abu Táher Adáni_, who was one of the fedáyis of our Sâid; and closely to this followed the report of the death of Maliksháh; on which account this army dispersed, and as the dissension between Barkíarok and the Sultan Muhammed _sons of Malikshah_, occasioned their weakness,[650] the strength of the Ismâílíah was increased, and the forts _Girdkoh_ and _Lámíser_ fell into the possession of our Sáid.[651]

At that time the fedáyis, in order to destroy the learned men and theologians, who entertained a hatred towards the chosen Ismâílíah, and reviled their creed, were dispersed on all sides, and brought a great number of this class beneath the blows of their swords and poniards: on which account the learned men and the theologians of the adversaries were frightened.

When Sultan Barkíárok, the son of Malik shah, died, Sultan Muhammed Doulet[652] succeeded to his sovereignty. The latter sent Ahmed, the son of Nizam ul Mulk, with an army to the country of Rúdbár. In the beginning of the year of the Hejira 511[653] (A. D. 1117) he despatched Alabet Tóshacín shërgír[654] to the assistance of the Vizir; nearly a year had elapsed when they were about to take the fort Buldet ul ikbál; at that time the intelligence of the death of Sultan Muhammed was spread in Atabec’s camp: on which account that army took to flight in the night time.

When Sultan Sinjar[655] had placed the crown of sovereignty upon his head, he sent forces several times to combat the sect of the Ismâílíah. At that time our Sáid Hassan enjoined to one of the Sultan’s servants, who had adopted the creed of the Ismâílíah: “Fix a dagger in the ground near the Sultan’s head; but do him no harm, because thou art nourished by his salt, and it is not right to lay the hand on the master.” The servant did so. When Sinjar awoke from sleep, he saw the dagger, and was very much frightened, but kept this occurrence concealed.

Some days after, the ambassador of our Sáid came to visit him, and said: “If we did not entertain friendship for the Sultan, that dagger, which in such a night was fixed in the hard ground, would have been buried in the soft bosom of the Sultan.” After having heard this, the Sultan’s apprehension increased, and he made peace;[656] wherefore the state of Hassan’s affairs gained strength.

In the meantime, Hossâín Fány[657] became a martyr, by the iniquity of _the Ostad_, “doctor” Hossáín, the son of Hassan, the son of Sabah; our Sáid ordered, that he should be put to death by the law of retaliation. About this time, another son of Hassan was found addicted to drinking wine; by order of his celebrated father, soon after his brother, he drank the cup of death.

Our Sáid, having fallen sick in the year of the Hejira 518[658] (A. D. 1124-5), he appointed _Kia buzerg Umid_ his successor, and committed the dignity of his vizirate to _Abu Alí_; he enjoined these two persons that, in all transactions they should not deviate from the direction given them by Hossan Fakrání,[659] and having thus settled these affairs, on the twenty-eighth day of the last Rabiâ (the fourth month) of the said year, he emigrated to the gardens of Paradise.

Kíá Buzurg Umid, who was originally from the country of Rúdbár, tended, according to the precept of our Sáid, towards devotion and the strengthening of religion.[660]

After him, Muhammed Buzerg Umíd took the government. In the beginning of his reign _Alráshid billah_[661] was killed by a band of fedáyís, and from this time, fearing the swords of the Almútían, the khalifs concealed themselves. Muhammed Buzerg also followed the example of Hassan.

After him came Muhammed, the son of Hassan, the son of Muhammed, who is known under the name _Alí zikrihi-al-sálam_, which means “let peace be upon him.” Concerning Hossan there are many tales. His adversaries assert, that he was the son of Muhammed Umíd, and a class of the Ismâílíah of Rúdbár and Kohistan said that, in the time of the reign of our Sáid, one year after the death of Mont´aser the High, a person called Abul Hassan Sayidí, who had been in the particular confidence of the khalif, came from Egypt to Almut, and brought with him a boy descended from Nazár, the son of Montaśer, to whom the Imámate belonged, and nobody was informed of this secret except our Sáid, that is, Hassan, who treated Abul Hassan with regard and respect, and made the Imám reside in a village at the foot of Almút. After a delay of six months, he gave Abul Hassan leave to depart. The Imám was inclined to the worship of God and to retirement, and united himself in wedlock with a modest woman in the village. When she became pregnant, he committed her to Muhammed, the son of Buzerg Umíd, and recommended secresy in that affair, saying: “When a boy comes to light, take the woman.” Muhammed acted according to the injunction, and during the reign of Muhammed, son of Buzerg Umíd, the belief in the appearance of a son, identified with Alí zikrichi-al salam, gained the way of splendor, and the report was this――that he was the son of Muhammed. Many asserted that whatever deed and action emanates from the Imám is not only lawful but laudable. The son of Nazar, whom Abul Hassan Sâyídí had brought to Almút, when arrived at the age of virility, had connexion with the lawful wife of Muhammed, the son of Buzerg Umíd, and Ali zikrichi al salam was the fruit of it. Although, because proceeding from a prophet and Imám, this action be legal, yet it was not necessary. The relation between Alî zikrichi al salam and Montaśer Billah is derived from this cause. The Ismâílíah acknowledge as a legitimate Imám the victorious by the power of God, Hassan, the son of Mahdi, the son of Ilhádi, the son of Nazár, the son of Montas ar. They call his precious spirit “the resurrection;”[662] because they believe that the resurection takes place at the lord’s time, when men join God, and when the inconveniences of the law are taken off; this meaning is expressed by “resurrection;” and that the lord, at the time of his Imámate, having united the creatures with the Creator, threw off the observances of the law.

It is reported that, when this lord placed his foot upon the cushion of the khiláfet, in the year of the Hejira 559 (A. D. 1163-4), he convoked all the chiefs and nobles of his dominion in Buldet ul ikbál, and ordered that, in the meeting-place of that fortunate fort, a pulpit should be placed towards the Kiblah, and four flags, one red, another green, the third yellow, and the fourth white, should be fixed in the four corners of the pulpit. On the seventeenth day of the blessed Ramzan of the said year, he ascended the pulpit, and unfolding the tongue of prodigious speeches, he said: “I am the Imám of the age; and I took off the hardship of the ordinances and prohibitions from the inhabitants of the world, and I held the commands of the law for nothing; now is the period of the lord of the resurrection; the creatures are to be bound by ties of love to God, and enjoy the external things in whatever manner they like.” He then descended from the top of the pulpit, and, having broken fast, ordered that, in the manner of a festival, all should occupy themselves with mirth and cheerfulness, and playing and gaming; and this fortunate day was entitled “the festival of resurrection,” and made the beginning of a new era. This is also the day on which, according to the reckoning of many historians, the lord _Amír Almumin Alí_, “the Amír of the believers,” was wounded by Abd ul rahmen. As to escape from this world and to join heaven is the object of enjoyment of perfect spirits, so do they on this day chiefly devote themselves to pleasure. The creed of this lord was, that the world is ancient, and time infinite; that the other world is spiritual, and heaven and hell figurative; that the resurrection is the particular death of every one. This lord was stabbed with a dagger in the month Rubiâ (August) of the year of the Hejira 561[663] (A. D. 1165-6) by Hassan, the son of Namvár, who descended from Bavíah.[664] On account of the last will of his father, he occupied the Imámate; like his celebrated father, he upheld the faith.

Jelál eddin, of the same family, made a martyr of his father by means of poison. As he obtained the Imámate in an undue manner, and seized the government by usurpation, he also abandoned the religion of the Ismâilíah. After eleven years, in the month Ramzan of the year of the Hejirah 618[665] (A. D. 1221-2) he died of dysentery.

After him, Ala eddin Muhammed, son of Jelál eddin Hassan, put to death all those who, by orders of Jelál eddin, had given poison to his grandfather, and who had also participated in the opinions and behaviour of Jelál eddin; he conformed himself to the manners of his ancestors, and denied those of his father. He let himself be bled without the advice of a medical man, and as too much blood was taken from him, he was overcome by melancholy.

The Ismâílíah say, that prophets and saints cannot live free from bodily defects: thus _Músi_ (Moses) was a stammerer, _Shâyeb_ (Jethro, father in law of Moses) was blind, and _Ayúb_ (Job) was full of plagues. It was in the time of the lord Ala eddin Muhammed, that Náśer Motashem, who was the lord of Kohistan, and to whom the book _Akhlák Naśeri_[666] is dedicated, sent Khájah Náśir to Almút. Hassan Mázinderáni was contrary to Ismâílism; he made Alá-eddin a martyr (by killing him). In the time of Ala eddin there was among the learned men of the age the shaikh Jamál Gíli: in Kazvin, occupied with the instruction of the people, he was in secret addicted, and made proselytes, to the creed of the Ismâílíah; on that account, Alâ-eddin showed him respect, and conferred favors on the inhabitants of Kazvin, to whom he said that, if the shaikh did not live in that place, he would carry the ground of Kazvin in a beggar’s wallet to Almút; but the learned, who were not Ismâílíah, did not acknowledge an Ismâílíah shaikh. In giving an account of his (Ala-eddin’s) death it was said:

“The ornament of faith and religion, the polar-star of the elect
of God,
He whose threshold was the Kiblah of hopes,
In the year six hundred and fifty-one[667] (A. D. 1253) he went
to the Lord,
At night, on Monday, on the fourth day of Shavál (the tenth
Arabian month).”

After Alá-eddin Muhammed, it was Rukn-eddin Khúrshah who became king in Almút. He put to death Hassan Mazinderání with his family, and burnt their corpses.[668]

Holagú khan[669] overcame Rocn-eddin: the latter demanded to be sent to the court of Maikú khán, which demand was granted; on the journey he attained the extremity of his life; his reign did not last one year.

In Almút had been dug several reservoirs which were filled with vinegar, honey, and wine; these things and all stores, which had been deposited in the time of our Sáíd, that is, of Hassan Śabáh, were found without any alteration: all were astonished, and the Ismâílíah thought this event to be one of the miracles of their Said.

* * * * *

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ALI ILAHÍAN.

In the east of Kohistan, not far from Bakhtá, is a place called _Arníl_,[670] and also _Armal_; the king is there entitled _Abáb_. They say: as it is evident to the swimmer in the sea of the realities of events, that the door of intercourse is closed between the beings below and those above, and no intercourse is opened between the elemental and the heavenly beings, so are the temporal beings and those of eternity destitute of the bonds of relationship, and no connexion exists between those confined, and those unconfined, by space; therefore they are ordered to know God by investigation of wisdom and of the divine law, and to worship the divinity. The angels on high and the prophets below have the faculty of knowing the substance of the blessed verses, but not the divine Being itself:

“We do not know thee as thou shouldst be known.”

This is what the crier proclaims. On that account it is necessary to the Almighty God and eternal Lord that he should descend from the dignity of purity and from the station of unity and absoluteness, and that, according to the abundance of his clemency, he should, in every period and revolution of time, unite his spirit with a bodily frame, in order that his creatures may behold this holy and exalted Lord, and, in whatever manner he ordains, acknowledge and reverence him; the precepts and traditions of history are published to that effect. As the manifestation of a spirit in a bodily form is a possible fact, and the learned agree upon it, and as it is stated in the account of the travellers upon the road of salvation to the city of the true faith, so is it determined that a pure spirit may assume a bodily likeness; thus is the appearance of Jabrîl in the form of an ape-dog[671] an instance of it, and thus, on the occasions of wickedness, is the appearance of Satan, or a demon in a human form. Besides, it is in the power of the Almighty to manifest himself in the best, the most perfect body.

The individuals among men are, during the business of life, formed dependent on their mutual wants. To this sect it is an indispensable rule to associate all together, in order that no oppression may take place towards each other in their communities, and that the order of the world may remain upheld. It is indispensable that this great rule be derived from God, the Lord of glory, in order that all men may adopt it. On that account, the government of the supreme Judge has found necessary that, by power of his perfection, a canon, having been revealed among the different classes of mankind, should be agreed upon for the regulation of the creatures, in consequence of which the purpose of the conditions in the affairs of the world might be settled. Further, by the assistance of reason and instruction, there is in this age no other moon or sun in the sphere of perfection but ALI MURTAZA, “the chosen.” Truly, the _illiterate prophet_[672] (Muhammed) esteemed this blessed personage equal to several learned apostles, and saw praiseworthy qualities of a prophet united in that virtuous existence. Hence it follows, that men possessed of sight behold him sometimes come down from heaven in the shape of the father of mankind (_Adam_), and reckon his time to be that of one who inhabited the floating ship of Noah, and place him as far back as that age when a martyr, in the garment of Ibrahim, he was playing with the fire _into which Nimrod had thrown him_; another time they find him in the dress of the speaker with God, _Moses_, and the words of that Lord:

“He who knows himself, certainly knows God,”

confirm that the pure spirit of that embodied soul, and wisdom, represented in a person, is the Creator of the world, worthy of praise. And the sentence:

“God created man according to his image,”

relates to the same, as Adam, the holy father of mankind, the Just, is nobody else but _Alí Murtazi_. And the saying:

“I saw the Lord in the shape of a man,”

refers to that eternal being, merging into a body, as he has manifested himself in the prophet’s visible form under the shape a powerful man; and the honor of the prophet’s presenting his shoulder by the assistance of the divine grace to the foot of that leader, relates but to this, that reverence is due to him, as that truth-speaking and truth-singing poet sung:

“The prophet, in breaking down the idols, had no other desire
But that his shoulder might be placed beneath the foot of the chosen;
And the house of the worshipped Kâbah be filled with his presence.”

[673]These sectaries also say, that in every revolution of time, the Lord God was united to the body of a prophet or saint, namely, from Adam down to Ahmed[674] and Alí, in which manner they explain the transmigration of the divine light. And some of them say, that the manifestation of God in this age took place in Aly alah, and after him in his descendants, and they acknowledge Muhammed and Alí as prophets and the mission of Alí alah. They assert, that when God saw that the business did not go on well by the prophet, he came to his assistance, as it were, by way of zeal. The author of this book saw a person from among them, called Ahmed, who said, that the Koran which is among them does not deserve confidence, as it is not the book which Alí Alah had given to Muhammed; but is the composition of Abu bekr, of Omar, and Osman. The author saw also one named Shams-eddin, who said: Certainly the Koran is the word of Alí alah, but having been collected by Osman, it ought not to be read. Some were seen among them who asserted that the verse and prose, ascribed to the Amir of the believers, _Omar_, were collected by Alí, and inserted in the Koran, and to these they attach a superiority over the Koran, inasmuch as they came from Alí allah to the creatures without foreign intervention, whilst the Farkan, _Koran_, was delivered into the hands of men by means of Muhammed.

There is besides a sect among them which is called the _Ulvíahs_.[675] They themselves derive their origin from Alí allah, and in their creed participate with that of the just mentioned sect: they say, that the Koran which is now among men, is not the word of Alí allah, because the shaiks (Abu bekr and Omar) employed themselves in its transposition, and at last Osman cast the whole away; as he possessed eloquence, he composed a book in his own way, and burnt the original Koran, wherefore these sectaries, wherever they find this book, consign it to the flames. Their belief is, that when Alí allah left the body, he was united with the sun; that he is now the sun; and having also been the sun before, he was for some days joined to an elemental body. They further maintain, that on this account the sun was moving by his order, inasmuch as he is the real sun; wherefore they call the sun _Alí allah_, and the fourth heaven _Daldal_.[676] They are worshippers of the sun, whom they hold to be God Almighty. They are a respectable tribe, and a division of them pretend that they can call upon the sun, who answers them, and affords them protection in their affairs.

Abd ullah, one of them so named, reported, that among his relations was a man called Azíz, upon whom, when he pronounced with fervour Alí allah, and gave himself up to an ecstatical song or dance, no sword could take effect. Thus, when one of the incredulous denied this, Azíz became warm, and took to calling out “Alí allah” in such a manner that foam settled upon his lips, and he cried to the denier: “Strike, O accursed!” The latter aimed several blows with a sword at him, but effected nothing. This person has now joined Alí allah in the other world.

Among these sectaries it is not permitted to kill any living being, nor to eat any flesh, as Alí allah said:

“Make not of your bellies the tombs of living beings.”

And the animals which the Koran permits to be killed, and the flesh which he allows to be eaten, is that of Abu bekr, of Omar, and Osman, and of their followers, and all prohibited things, they say, have reference to these three persons. With them, Iblis, the serpent, and the peacock are symbols of these three, and likewise Shedád,[677] Nimród, and Phárâún are they. These sectaries admit prostration before the image of Alí allah; the breaking and worshipping of idols relates, according to them, to the said three individuals, as Alí allah called the Shaikhs the idols of the Korêsh. They agree upon transmigration, and say, that when Alí appeared in former times in the form of a prophet, those three also made their appearance in the shape of deniers, and after them many others will come.

[549] The Zaydíyat derive their name from _Záíd_, son of
Alí, son of Záín el-abeddin. They are subdivided into three
branches, according to others into five, under as many
chiefs. I shall only mention three. The first, the
_Jarudíyat_, think that the Imámate was destined by the
prophet to Alí, but that after the two sons of the latter,
Hasan and Hosain, the sacred office was uncertain in their
children, and that those only who rose, sword in hand, were
Imáms; they do not agree upon the last Imám, still expected.
The second branch, the _Salaimaniyat_, admit the right of
Abubekr and Omar to the Imámate, but declare as infidels
Osman, Zobeir, and Aisha. The third branch, the
_Báíteriyat_, are for the most part in accordance with the
second, as to what regards Osman. These three branches are
heretics in the dogmas only, but, in jurisprudence, they
follow almost all the orthodox doctrine of Abú
Hanifáh.――(See _Journal asiatique_, 1825, tome VII. p. 32.
Art. de M. de Hammer.)

[550] Túsí is the name of several celebrated men from the
town of Tús. There are two towns of that name: the one in
Transoxana, in the domain of Bochára; the other in Khorasan;
the latter consists of two towns, one is called _Tabaran_,
the other _Núkan_.――(_Abulfeda_, _Annales Moslemica_, vol.
III. p. 375.) We know several authors named _Abú Jâfar_, to
whom the words above quoted may be attributed, none with the
surname _Túsí_. The author above meant is perhaps _Abú Jâfar
al Tabarî_, celebrated historian, born in the year of the
Hejira 224 (A. D. 838), deceased in 310 (A. D. 922).

[551] The twelve Imáms are as follow:
I. ALÍ, khalif and Imám, was murdered A. D. 661.
II. HASAN, eldest son of Alî, khalif and Imám, poisoned
A. D. 669.
III. HOSAIN, the second son of Alí, killed in battle
A. D. 680.
IV. ALÍ, surnamed _Zin alâbedin_, eldest son of Hosain,
died A. D. 712.
V. MUHAMED BEKER, son of Alí, poisoned A. D. 734.
VI. JAFR SADIK, son of Muhammed, died A. D. 765.
VII. ISMÁIL, son of Jáfr; see hereafter the account of
the Ismâilah. Herbelot names, as the seventh
Imám, Mussa, the second son of Jáfr, surnamed _al
Kiadhem_, “the debonnair,” and also _saber_, “the
patient,” and _ámin_, “the faithful guardian.”
The latter died A. D. 799.
VIII. ALÍ REZA, son of Mussa, poisoned A. D. 816.
IX. MUHAMMED, son of Alí Reza, called also _Abú Jafr
Muhammed_, died A. D. 835.
X. ALÍ ASKERÍ, son of Muhammed, poisoned A. D. 868.
XI. HASAN, son of Alí Askerí, died poisoned A. D. 873.
XII. MUHAMMED, son of Hasan, surnamed _Mahadi_,
“conductor, director;” he is supposed to be still
living, and expected to appear with the prophet
Elias, at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

It may be remarked that, of the twelve holy men, seven died a
violent death, and two in an unknown manner.

[552] I follow here the French translation of the Arabic
text, made by M. Garcin de Tassy.――(See _Journal asiatique_,
_mai 1842_, pp. 436-439.)

[553] _Ad_ was an ancient and potent tribe of Arabs in the
province of Hadramaut. They chiefly worshipped four deities;
_Sakia_, supplying them with rain; _Háfedha_, preserving
them from all dangers abroad; _Rázeka_, providing them with
food; and _Sálema_, restoring the sick to health. Frequent
mention of them occurs in the Koran.

[554] The tribe of _Tamud_ dwelt first in the country of the
Adites, then removed to the territory of Hejr, where their
habitations, cut in the rocks, are seen at this day. (See
Sale’s Koran, vol. I, pp. 7. 9. 196. 199.)

[555] Moavia.

[556] Koran, chap VII. v. 165.

[557] Allusion to the twelve Imáms. See their names, pp.
367. 368, note 1.

[558] Allusion to the twelfth Imám, named Mahdi. See
hereafter a further explanation.

[559] The word _Akhbarín_ is frequently employed to
designate “the transmitters of historical traditions,” in
opposition to مُحدثين _muhad-disin_, “transmitters of
traditions relative to the prophet;” but above it is
employed as the name of a distinct sect. I shall translate
it by “dogmatical traditionists.” It is taken in a much
wider sense by the author of the Dabistán, who does not fix
the precise epoch of the origin of this sect, but only says
that it was in after times called _ghaibet sari_; of which
name an explanation will be given hereafter.

[560] _Amin_, “faithful,” is a title given to many Imáms,
Shaikhs, and Mullas.

_Asterabad_ is the capital of the province of Georgia; some
Oriental geographers place the town in that of Tabaristan,
and others in that of Mazendaran, as these three provinces,
which together formed the ancient Hyrcania, were often
united under one denomination. Herbelot mentions two authors
with the surname _Asterabadi_, both commentators of the
Arabic Grammar Cafiah, which seems to have no connection
with the religion above mentioned.

[561] See note, p. 327, note 1.

[562] _Ma sha yín_, may be deduced from مشى _máshí_, “walking,
going,” and alludes to the peripatetic philosophers, who
were followers of Aristotle, and were wont to discuss
walking up and down in the Lyceum of Athens. Referred to
مشايهء _mashíyi-at_ (from مشيئ _mas’hiyí_), “willing,
wishing, desiring,” the word may signify knowledge-desiring
philosophers; مشايع _musháíâ_, means “a follower, adherent,
companion.”

[563] The Orientals give to Aristotle the surname of
_Ilahíyún_, “the divine.” They attribute to him more than
one hundred treatises upon different matters. The greatest
part of his works, such as we have them, have all been
translated into Syriac and Arabic; it was through this
medium, that the great philosopher became first known in
Europe.

[564] The Orientals attribute more than sixty-five treatises
to Plato. They relate that, being asked what he thought of
this world, he answered: “I entered into it by necessity; I
dwelt in it with admiration; and I leave it with contempt.”
Al Ghazali (before-mentioned, see p. 349, n. 2), among other
distinguished Orientals, wrote a book, called _Monketh_,
upon Greek philosophy, not without condemning several of its
dogmas.

[565] The author mentions three sciences, viz.: فان قلام
_fán kalám_, “the science of scholastic theology;” فن اصول
فقہِ _fán ás ul fikah_, “the science of the fundamentals of
religion and law;” and فن فِقہ _fan fikah_, “jurisprudence.”
We have already explained the first (see note 1, p. 327);
the four fundamental articles of the faith have been also
enumerated (see note 1, p. 324); but the _fikah_,
“jurisprudence,” although stated as distinct, in reality
comprehends the two first, and in addition shows only the
practical application of them. Al Ghazali, quoted by Pococke
(pp. 200-201, etc., 1st edit.), after having said that this
world is created for furnishing assistance on the way to
future life, in order that men, with a due check on
cupidity, may take as much of this world as may be
sufficient for a viaticum, and after having declared, that
the jurist is to be the director of the king in the mode of
retaining the people in due order, subjoins: “This science
(the law) belongs to religion, although not by itself, yet
by the intervention of the world. For the world is a field
which is sown for the future, nor is religion put into
practice, if not by the world. But religion and government
are twin-brothers; religion is the foundation, and the king
the guardian; but what wants a foundation, verges to ruin,
and what has no guardian, goes off into nothing, etc., etc.”
The same intimate junction of religion and civil law, which
is acknowledged to prevail in the legislation of the Hindus,
as well as in that of the ancient Hebrews and Persians, has
passed into that of the Muhammedans. Just as the Vedas with
the first, the five books of Moses with the second, the
writings of Zoroaster with the third, so is the Koran with
the fourth, the foundation of their code, and contains what
we may call their whole civil and canonical law. With
respect to the last-mentioned book, as it contains likewise
all the articles of faith, it follows, that a doctor in law
is also a doctor in theology; or a _faki_ is at the same
time a lawyer and a theologian: hence the word _al faqui_ in
the language of the Spaniards, who have preserved to our
days, in their character and manners, not a little of their
former conquerors, the Saracens.

[566] Upon _ghaibet_, “absence, disappearance, concealment”
(see hereafter, p. 383, an explanatory note).

[567] Muhammed ben Yâkub is the author of the book entitled
القاموس _Kámús_, “the ocean of the Arabic language.” He was
born in the year of the Hejira 729, A. D. 1328, and died in
816, A. D. 1413, surnamed Al Shirazí, and Al _Firuzabadí_,
the last is a town situated in the environs of Shiraz, the
capital of _Fars_, or Persia proper. I do not, however, find
elsewhere the title _al Kalbi_, “cordial,” joined to his
name.

[568] The term in the text is القياس _al kíás_. Abu Hanifa
and his commentators are commonly called _ahel al kíás_,
“men of analogy,” because they applied the process of
analysis to the study of sacred tradition, and rely more
upon deductions of human judgment than upon a rigid fidelity
to the precepts of the Sonna.

[569] I render in this place by “rational dialectics” the
word اجتهاد _ijtihad_, which signifies properly, according
to Silvestre de Sacy, an opinion in religious matters,
founded upon reasoning, and deduced from the Koran or the
Sonna, by way of comparison or induction. It may therefore
be interpreted, as in the sequel, by “ratiocination,
discussion, contentious arguing, reasoning, etc., etc.” It
signifies also “study, effort, war against infidels.”――(See
also upon _Istihad_, _As. Res._, vol. X. p. 492.)

[570] علامه حلى is a surname which never occurred to me in
any other book which I have consulted, and the translation
of which does not satisfy me.