Chapter V: Section IV: On Certain Customs, Forms of Speech, and Traditions of

THIS SECT.――Mahmúd has treatises and rules conformable to the law of the prophet; but he interpreted the Koran according to his own creed. Of his established customs are the following: One living in solitude is called _váhed_, “recluse.”[15] Praises are due to the man devoted to this state, whose whole life is spent in holiness, poverty, and retirement; who feels no inclination for connexion; takes little, and no more than necessary, food; such a man will rise to perfection, and become a “váhed,” attaining the divine dignity which leads to that of a “teacher.” If the pious person feels himself inclined to connexion with a woman, let him enjoy her once in his whole life; if he cannot otherwise, once in one year; if he requires more, once in forty days; if this be not enough, once in a month; if still more, once in a week.

A váhed is reported to have given the following information: When one descends from the state of a man to the state of an irrational animal, or from that to a vegetable, or from a vegetable becomes a mineral; in this manner, by reaction of impressions and dispositions, he receives in each state a mark (_mahs_), which he bears from formation to formation:

“Fear the intelligence of the believer, because he sees
by the light of God.”

_Mahs_[16] in the dictionary is interpreted “a computer,” but in the idiom of this tribe it signifies (as just said) that every individual, in his disposition and action, bears a vestige of the disposition of a former state. It is a part of their persuasion, that, when an individual enters for the first time in a society, the name of whatever in the three kingdoms of nature he first brings upon his tongue, is supposed to be the _ihśa_, or “mark,” that in a former state he had been the very thing the name of which had fallen from his tongue.

These sectaries hold, that pilgrims exercise the profession of cheats, wearing a garment marked with stripes, which they call the vest of Kerbála; and that they practise but hypocrisy and deceit. When, according to their low disposition, they descend to the state of brutes, they become animals, which the Hindus call _Galharí_, “squirrel;” and when transformed into vegetables, they become striped pumpkins, or weak jujube-trees; when they undergo the transformation into minerals, they are onyxes. In this sense this sect interprets the _mahs_, or “mark.” Lawyers and governors, who wash hands and mouth, friends of white garments, become geese, which at every moment plunge their head into water; in the state of vegetables, they assume the form of sticks for rubbing teeth, of reading-sticks, and of mats to cover the place of prayer; and in the state of minerals, they figure as hard stones, stones of sepulchres, and magnets. The glow-worms are torch-bearers, who, descending by degrees, came to take this shape. A dog, having been in his former state a Turk of the tribe _Kazelbásh_,[17] and his crooked sword having become his tail, betrays his Turkish origin by coming forth at the call _khach_: which in Turkish means “forth.” These sectaries further say, that the iron by which a prophet or a saint has been killed, is that which acquires excellence.

“Saints, when they desire the voyage to the eternal kingdom,
Desire from the edge of thy blade the _takbír_,[18]
‘magnifying exclamation,’ of death.”

They also hold, that the Imám Hossain from state to state descended from Moses, and that Yezíd (his murderer) descended from Pharaoh. Moses, in his time, drowned Pharaoh in the waters of the Nile, and obtained the victory over him; but in the latter state Moses, having become Hossain, and Pharaoh, Yezíd, the latter did not give to Hossain the water of the _Ferát_, “Euphrates,” but with the water of the sharp steel, deprived his body of life.

These men further assert that, whatever sorts of minerals, vegetables, and animals are black, were formerly black-faced men, and whatever are white, were men with a white skin.

These sectaries all venerate the sun, and profess that he is the Kíblah; and the door of the Kâbah facing the sun refers to this meaning, that the sun is the true Kíblah; they have a prayer which they chant with their face turned towards the sun.

They maintain that, when the period of Ajem takes place, men will direct their road to God, and they venerate these men, and hold human nature to be divine. Their salutation is: _Alla, alla_. When the period of Ajem is completed, men will remain, and they think that the men whom we venerate were superior in rank to those who now exist; on which account the latter continue to form idols similar to men, and worship them. The worship of idols will prevail, until the period of Ajem returns, and this will be its mode of continuance.

Mahmúd called himself a _Váhed_, and declared himself to be the _Mahdy_ promised, whose appearance was predicted by the prophet; he said, that the religion of Muhammed is cancelled, and that now the true faith is that of _Mahmúd_: as was said:

“The time is come; the accomplishment of sayings is Mahmúd:
Whatever reproach the Arab threw upon Ajem, it is over.”

His disciples are dispersed in the four quarters the world, and in the whole country of Iran a great number of them resides, but they dare not make themselves known, because the King, now the inhabitant of heaven, Shah Abás, son of Shah Khodábendah Sáfaví, put many of them to death. The belief of the Mahmúdíán is, that Shah Abás, when he had met Taráb and Kamál, who were perfect Váhadis, and taken information from them, wanted to publish them as his own, and on that account killed them both. They subjoin that, although he had great pretensions, yet he never attained perfection; because, on account of the world and ostentation, he had destroyed the perfect. The author of this work heard from an Amín: “Shah Abás was a perfect Amín, and killed whomever he did not find well founded in this creed. Thus, he admitted me to his society, and desired me to remain in Iśfahán; when I did not consent to it, he granted me the expenses of my journey to India.” It is said, that in these times Shah Abás came on foot to visit the place of _Hossein’s_ martyrdom, _that is, Kerhála_, where he said to Taráb: “I feel pain from my foot journey.” Taráb answered: “This is owing to the inconsistency of thy natural intellect; for if the Imám for whose sake thou hast performed the journey joined God, why seekest thou the nether place of his martyrdom; and if he has not joined God, what hast thou to hope from him? Find thou a living Imám.” The Shah asked: “Who is the living Imám?” The saint answered: “I.” The king replied: “Well, I shall fire a ball from a gun upon thee; if it takes no effect, I will follow thee.” Taráb gave this answer: “Your Imám, Rizá, died by the grain of a grape; how shall I resist the ball of a gun?” At last the Shah fired upon and killed him. As Kamál openly professed the creed of Taráb, the king associated him with the latter.[19]

It is reported, that one of the Imanás came to Hosséin Khan, of Shám, and having converted him to his creed, he heard the following speech from him: “One day, when during the Maheram they read the history of the martyrdom _of Hossein_, and he too (Hossein Khan) was weeping, Shah Abás said: ‘You, why do you cry, as if it were the _Shámlús_ (that is to say, the natives of Shám) who did the action?’ The answer was: ‘We do not cry on account of Hossein: but because from our number also fine youths were killed.’”

“With the same eyes with which you look on us,
With the same eyes is it, that we look on you.”

The _Duníahs_, a particular sect, so called in the language of the Imanahs, think slightly of Hossein. On account of their meanness, they made no progress in the religion of Mahmúd. Azízí, one of the Muselmans of Shiráz, told the author of this book in Lahore: “I once reviled Mahmúd; at night I saw him in a dream; he approached me with a lightning-flashing face, and said: ‘Hast thou perused my works?’ I answered, ‘I have.’ He subjoined: ‘Why dost thou speak abusively of me? If thou perseverest in this manner, I will chastise thee.’”

It is reported by the Váhadís, that Khajah Háfiz of Shíráz professed also this creed. As Mahmúd dwelt a long time upon the border of the river Rúdáres, the Khájah said:

“O zephir! when thou passest over the border of Rúdáres,
Imprint kisses upon the ground of that river, and perfume the
air with musk.”

A person called Fakher eddin, who was one of this sect, gave the information that, according to the report of the Duníah, Mahmud threw himself into aqua fortis;[20] but this rumor is false, and proceeded from rancor. A great number of learned and pious persons, who were contemporaries of the founder of this sect, or lived soon after him, followed and professed his doctrine.

[15] It is not clear whether above is meant a _hermit_, or a
_monk_ of a distinct order. Monachism is not sanctioned by
the strict rule of Islam, but it appears to be the natural
spontaneous growth of Asia. In the first year of the Hejira
(A. D. 622) forty-five citizens of Mecca associated with
forty-five inhabitants of Medina in a sort of confraternity,
and pledged themselves to community of property, and to a
regular daily performance of religious practices in a spirit
of penitence and mortification: they were called _Sufis_, of
whom hereafter. Abu bekr and Alí formed and presided over
similar congregations. The latter conferred the presidency
of it, under the mysterious name of _Khiláfet_, upon _Hassan
Baśrí_ (mentioned in vol. II. p. 389, note 1). Some of their
successors deviated from the rules of this first
establishment, and, in the course of time, a multitude of
monastic orders were founded, each headed by a chief called
_Pir_ or _Shaikh_. One of the most celebrated orders was
that founded in the year of the Hejira 37 (A. D. 657) by
_Uweis Karní_, a native of _Karn_, in Yemen. The most
distinguished in the Ottoman empire are thirty-two in
number, founded between the years of the Hejira 149 and 1164
(A. D. 776 and 1750). Three of them descend from the
congregation of Abu bekr, and the rest from that of
Alí.――(See _Tableau général de l’Empire othoman_, tome
IV^{me}, 1^{re} partie, par _d’Ohsson_, p. 617 et. seq.)

[16] محص _mahs_ and احصا _ihśa_, are derived from the same
root, حص _haś_, “making an impression;” _ihśa_ is
interpreted in Richardson’s Dict., new edit., “numbering,
computing.”

[17] This Turkish word signifies “red head,” and is applied
by the Turks to the Persians, who, since the time of Ismâíl
Sofi, the founder of the present dynasty of Persia, wear a
red turban with twelve folds around it, in honor of the
twelve Imáms.

[18] This consists in exclaiming “God is greatest.”

[19] Shah Abbas I. has been already mentioned in a note
(vol. II. p. 146), where, according to sir John Malcolm’s
History of Persia, the duration of his reign is stated to
have been forty-three years; his age seventy; and the date
of his death A. D. 1628; somewhat differently from Herbelot,
who makes his reign forty-five, his age sixty-three, and the
date of his death A. D. 1629. Abbas I., called the Great, on
account of his magnificent buildings, and his skilful
interior policy, was very much attached to the religion of
Ali, which was always, until our days, dominant in Persia;
his taking possession of Baghdád, Nudjef, Kerbelah, Kásmín,
and Sámerah, where the remains of Ali and his descendants
are buried, was more agreeable to the Persians than the
whole of his other conquests; dressed with the mantle of the
saints of Arbeli, that is of Sofi and Haidar, ancestors of
the present Persian kings, Abbas was almost adored by his
subjects. This renders the recital above, respecting his
religious zeal, very probable. It will be remembered that
this Shah sent sir George Shirley as his ambassador to
England; and that king James I. dispatched sir Drodmore
Cotton on an embassy to Persia, in 1626.

[20] This was the manner of death chosen by Mokanna, in the
year of the Hejira 563 (A. D. 776). This upstart prophet
(see note 1, p. 3), being pent up in a mountain-castle by
the forces of the khalif Mohadi, without hope of escape,
poisoned the garrison and his family, and then plunged into
a vessel full of aqua fortis, which consumed every part of
his body except his hair; he hoped that, from his
disappearance, he should be supposed to have been taken up
to heaven. One of his concubines, who by concealment had
escaped destruction, and had seen every thing, revealed what
had taken place; but many of his followers continued to
believe in his divinity and future reappearance.

I shall here remark, that destroying human bodies by means
of aqua fortis is an ancient practice, mentioned in the
Desátir (Engl. transl., p. 29), and accounts for the fact of
so many funeral urns being found in Asia without ashes in
them.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE ROSHENIAN: IN THREE SECTIONS.

SECT. I.――Of the appearance of Miyan Bayezid, and some of his
sayings.

SECT. II.――Some account of his proceedings.

SECT. III.――Account of his sons.