CHAPTER XI.
OF THE RELIGION OF THE WISE (PHILOSOPHERS),
IN THREE SECTIONS.
Section I. Of the religion of the philosophers, and of some branches of their questions.
Section II. Of their reputation.
Section III. Of the wise men, and of late philosophers, and of those of that class who existed among all the nations of the children of Adam, and still exist; named in Persian Zirek, and Farzanah; in Hindi Budhvan, Badisher, Set mat, Set pati, Kianisher, Chater, Pah danter, and Jami; in Greek Filsofi; and in Arabic Hakim.
Section I.—Of the religion of the philosophers, and of some branches of their questions.
The distinguished men of that class divide themselves into two sorts: the one are the Oriental, the other the Occidental. As to the religious customs of the Orientals, let it be known, that they are also called Ravákín, and in Persian Keshísh, “the religious,” Pertaví, “the splendent,” and Róshendil, “the enlightened,” and in Hindí Ner mel men and Jókísher: these names relate to sanctity. The Occidentals are called in Persian Rah berí, “way-guides,” and Joya, inquirers;” in Hindí Tárkek.
As to their tendency and opinions—whatever relates to the creed of the Orientals has already been stated in the chapter on the Yezdáníán, who are also entitled Azarhóshangían, but all that is attributed to the two sects is symbolical. The ancient philosophers of Greece, down to Aflátún (Plato), were Oriental; it was Araśtu (Aristotle), his disciple, who then took the lead in the doctrine, the centre of which with this class is the argumentative reason. Both sects, by means of their discussions, cannot explain the nature of the self-existing being; the essence, unity, particularity, and all attributes are inherent in his holy nature, as I have said in the account of the religion of the Hoshanganíans. They have said besides: God is the world in its universality, but in its particularity mutable conformably with the whole, as it has been stated in the doctrine of the Yezdánían. They maintain, the work of God is according to his will; he does; if he wills not, he does not; but a good work is conformable to his nature: because all his attributes are perfection, in which sense they draw necessary conclusions with regard to the nature of God.
“The year of God is that which passeth away; and thou shalt not find a change in the years of God.”
Their creed is: God is not the immediate actor; as it would not be suitable to the dignity of royalty and sovereignty to perform himself every business; but it is proper that he should appoint some one of his servants who, on account of his great knowledge and power, is qualified for business, for the execution of the royal orders and the protection of the subjects. The latter also may, by the Sultan’s order, name another as Vizir or Nawab, for the affairs; every one of these chiefs may instal functionaries or agents; so that the whole administration may be firmly established according to the desire and the order of the sovereign. On that account, God created a first intellect, called in Persian Bahman, that is, “supreme soul,” or Barósú, or Ferósu, or Serósh seróshán, and “the science of truth;” he who produced something “new;” he is also entitled “the true man: ‘God created man according to his image;’” that is to say, pure, uncompounded, like reason, betwixt necessity and possibility,[107] in the centre between both; necessity is on his right side, possibility on his left; the perfect spirit rises from the left, which is the side of possibility. With respect to truth, the image of man is âkl,[108] “spirit of wisdom, the holy spirit, and the image of Eva a perfect spirit: on that account it was said that the forthcoming of Eva took place from Adam’s left side. The Sofis also agree with this, as we find it explained by Shaikh Muhammed Láhají,[109] in his work Sharah-i-Gulshen, “the Commentary of the Rose-bower.” Jesus, the son of God, proceeds from this “holy spirit.” When wisdom manifests itself through somebody, it is called his “spirit of wisdom;” and when impressions of sciences in all creatures have penetrated through its mediation, it is named “arrow;” and as the perfection of the lord of the prophetic asylum is a ray of that jewel, it bears the name of “Muhammed’s light.”
“If not for thee, I would not have created the worlds.”[110]
These are the attributes of its nature, and besides these it has many names. By the intervention of the first intelligence came forth the second intelligence, the spirit and body of “the crystalline heaven;” and the soul of the heaven above the crystalline firmament is called “haváyi mânavi, “the true soul.” By the intervention of the second intelligence, the third, and the spirit and body of the heaven of the fixed stars were produced. In this wonderful way, intelligences and spirits were formed, until the spirits of the tenth class;[111] among these ten bringers of good news (Evangelists) are distinguished; likewise nine heavens were brought into existence, that they may correspond to nine prophets. From the tenth class of intelligences came forth the matter of the elements, and bodies, and the spirits of elemental existence. The philosophers said, that ten kinds of intelligences are enumerated, not because there may not exist any more, but because these are required; and likewise we want the number of nine heavens, without its being prohibited to add any other. The Eastern philosophers however declare themselves against numbering the kinds of intelligences, because, with them every kind of thing has its god, whom they call “the god of the species,” in Persian Dára, the angel of rains, the angel of rivers, to which the following sentence relates:
“Each thing has its angel to whom it is confided, and an angel descends with every drop.”
The Oriental philosophers hold the bodies to be shadows of the uncompounded lights.
“Seest thou not that God has spread his shadow over me?”
According to the sages, the kinds of intelligences and spirits of heaven are the heavenly angels, who have no body nor any thing corporeal, neither feathers nor wings. When an effulgence of the luminous attributes of the self-existing Being falls upon them, it is by the mediating power of this ray, that deeds of wonderful purity proceed from them; and in this production there is no need of a motion, nor of an instrument, in like manner as in the forthcoming of a work of God his will is sufficient. This meaning has been made intelligible to the understanding of the vulgar by saying, that an angel with feathered wings traversed the distance of a road which could not be travelled over in a thousand years. They say also that Isráfíl is one of the powers of the sun; the angel of death proceeds from Saturn; Míkáil from the moon; and Jebríil emanated from the tenth power of intelligence. As often as, on account of the revolution of the heavens or the motion of the stars, something suitable manifests itself in the elemental matter, compounded and uncompounded, it issues into existence by way of emanation from the superior wisdom; and the revelation of the prophet, and the instruction of the perfect to mankind, takes place by the intervention of the last-mentioned angel. On that account there is an intrinsic connexion between the souls of the prophets and this by-standing angel. According to the Eastern philosophers, Jabríil is a god of a kind similar to human nature, and called in Persian Wakhshur, “prophet,” and Serósh pajám sipár, “Serosh, the message-bringer.” In the opinion of the philosophers, the crystalline heaven is the ninth heaven, and the heaven of the fixed stars the throne of God. The exalted rational spirit is without an habitation, and, without being in the body, is connected with it, in a manner similar to that of a lover with his mistress. This doctrine is very ancient with the Orientals, as has been stated in the account about the Azar Hóshangían, but with the first master among the learned, Aristotle and his followers, it is a tradition. According to general consent, the soul is eternal.
“Believe not that those who were killed in the way of God are dead; on the contrary, they are living and nourished at the side of their Lord.”[112]
To unite the soul with the body is as much as to drive Adam from heaven; to long for the body is to bear the commands of Eva; and to perform bad actions is to eat of the forbidden tree; anger is the serpent; lust is the peacock. They hold that Iblis represents the power of imagination which guides us, and the sensual influence which denies the knowledge of words and things consentient with reason, and contends with the power of reason; that what is stated in the law, that all angels prostrated themselves before Adam, except Iblis, signifies that all bodily powers, which are the angels of the earth, are obedient to the soul of Adam, except the power of imagination, that is Iblis, which is rebellious, and sometimes gets the better of judgment. Reason says, that a corpse is to be accounted a mineral, and no wise to be feared; but imagination says: “this is true; nevertheless we “must fear;” and when one finds himself in a house alone with a dead man, it may happen that his mind experiences an agitation of terror. The Súfis too agree with this, as we find it expressed by the venerable Shaikh Mahmúd Shósterí[113] in a chapter of the Merát ul Mohakakín, “the mirror of the investigators of truth.” It is stated in the Akhván ús afá, “the companions of purity,” of Mullá Alí, that there were intelligences and spirits which were not ordered to adore Adam, as being of a higher rank, as it is written in the Koran, that God, the All-just, addressed this speech to Iblis:
“Thou art proud; believest thou thyself to be one of the more exalted beings?”[114]
And this was the occasion on which the angels of the earth were ordered to adore Adam.
The Orientals maintain that when the soul realises, as it ought to do, the conditions of its primitive origin, it obtains emancipation from the bodily bonds, and joins the intelligences and spirits: this exalted dignity is Paradise.
“O peaceful soul, return to thy lord willingly and readily; and whoever desires to meet his lord, let him perform good works.”
In this high state it is possible to behold the face of God. There is another sect which asserts, that the All-Just is visible; they say right; because the rational soul sees with interior eyes: another sect which denies the seeing of God is also right; because he cannot be seen with bodily eyes,
“The eyes attain him, and attain him not.”
But the soul which has left the narrow prison of the body, but has not attained the field of its beatifying residence, unites, for taking a seat, with the body of any one of the celestial spheres with which it has some relation; it finds rest in the higher or lower heavens, according to order and distinction; it is engaged in the contemplation of beauteous forms, and the noble endowments of one who praises God in the delight of that sphere, which, with some, means the fancy of a particular kind, and is blessed by the enjoyment of delightful imaginations and representations. What is stated in the code of law, that the souls of the vulgar among the believers are in the first heaven; this is founded upon the words of the prophet.
“His acquisition is but a known place.”
The meaning of this relates to the different degrees of merit.
By “Paradise” is understood one of the heavens, eight of which are counted, and these are beneath the ninth, which is the roof of the Paradise, as it is stated in the traditions. But, when the souls not yet come forth from the pit of the natural darkness of bodily matter, are nevertheless in a state of increasing improvement, then, in an ascending way, they migrate from body to body, each purer than the former one, until the time of climbing up to the steps of the wished-for perfection of mankind, yet according to possibility, after which, purified of the defilement of the body, they join the world of sanctity: and this final migration (death) is called nasikh, “obliteration.”
“The verses which we have abrogated, we have replaced by others.”
Some call this state Aâráf,[115] “boundary;” which means a wall between heaven and hell, behind which shall be those who in their conduct fell short of goodness, until the time of being permitted to enter into heaven. If the iniquities of the souls predominate, then, descending, they assume the forms of animals corresponding to their prevailing character: thus, the souls of the powerful malefactors and of the furious enter into the bodies of lions; the proud become tigers; the formidable, wolves; and the crafty and covetous appear as little ants; in this manner they are all ravenous, grazing, flying, creeping; and this state of things is called masakh, “metamorphosis.”
“As often as their skin is burnt we renew it with another, in order that they may taste punishment.”
“There is no kind of beast on earth, nor fowl which flieth with its wings, but the same is a people like unto you.”[116]
Sometimes, descending, the souls are united with vegetable bodies; and this is entitled rasakh, “firmness.”
“Under the form which thy master wills.”
Sometimes they enter into mineral bodies, as for instance into metals; and this is named fasakh, “fracture.”
“We let you grow according to your acts.”
The learned Umer Khíyam says:
“Endeavor to acquire praise worthy qualities: for, in the field of destiny,
Thy resurrection shall be in conformity with thy qualities.”
This threefold division they call “hell.” The number of the stories of hell, according to the followers of the law, is seven; that of the simple elements, four; and that of the compound elements, three: altogether seven. Every soul, on leaving the elemental world, enters into one of the stories of hell. According to the Masháyíns, “Peripatetics,” the human soul which, during its connection with the body has contracted bad habits, becomes afflicted and distressed by the impurity of such human attributes as are accounted defects of the mind: on account of the extinction of sensual pleasure which had grown into a fixed habit, the soul is bewildered, and its base customs and qualities bear manifestly upon it under the guise of a serpent, a scorpion, a burning fire, and by all the torments which are recorded in the law-book, whilst, on the contrary, the noble habits of the virtuous shine under the guise of Huris, Kásurs, sons, and youths, and in all the blessings of heaven.
Sirá[´t], “the bridge of the last judgment,” signifies nothing else but the temperature of power; as it has been established in the doctrine of Ethics: for instance, the excess of courage is temerity, a deficiency in it is cowardice; a medium between both is valour and, as to keep the middle tenor, is very difficult, this has been emblematized by something which is finer than a hair and sharper than the edge of a sword, and by three arches, which indicate the due mixture of three powers, viz.: knowledge, courage, and lust. Under hell is meant elemental nature.
We shall pass to the interpretation of the gates of heaven, the number of which is eight; that of the gates of hell, seven. It is established that there are five external senses and five internal; but all of them are not apt to perceive without the assistance of inference and imagination; because it is imagination which perceives the forms, and inference completes the perception of sensible things. The two internal with the five external senses, make seven. If they attend not to the commands of reason, each of them goes for imprisonment to that hell which is under the heaven of the moon, and if they listen to these commands, they reach with the ninth rank of intelligence the eight gates of heaven for salvation and emancipation, as well as enter the Paradise which is among the heavens.
“As to him who disobeyed, and preferred the worldly life, hell shall be his abode; and as to him who feared the being of the Lord and refused to give up his soul to concupiscence, Paradise shall be his abode.”
Upon the angels of punishment.—It is to be known, that there are seven rulers of the world over the seven stars which revolve within the twelve signs of the zodiac; seven and twelve make nineteen, and over these nineteen rulers, that is, managers of the world, are other nineteen inspectors. In the space of the nether earth are seven powers of vegetation, viz.: that of nourishment, watering, birth, retention, attraction, mildness, and repulsion. There are twelve powers of animal life, viz.: five external, five internal senses, and two powers of movement, namely, lust and anger. Mankind, as long as they remain in prison beneath the heaven of the moon, and not severed from sensuality and its ties, is indispensably and continually subject to the impressions of the upper and nether rulers, and to sufferings; but if it rids itself of these conditions, it enjoys freedom in this and in the other world.
Nakir and Monkir point to our praise-worthy or blameable conduct. The body is a tomb, and so is the belly of the mother, and the interior part of the heaven of the moon.
An account of the pages of human Actions and their recorders; and of the Descent of Angels and demons to the Good and the Wicked.
Know that, of every speech or action which is said or done, a mark is made by them; and when, in any one of them a repetition occurs, the mark becomes permanent, as it may be assimilated to what takes place in acquiring a knowledge or learning an art. As the marks of good and bad actions of mankind are determined, so every body shares accordingly pleasure or pain. Words or deeds, one by one, being revealed and described, establish conviction; so that disavowal becomes impossible. This is the office of two recorders, the one of whom stands to the right and the other to the left; whatever of one’s speeches and actions is praise-worthy, this is called “angelic;” and whatever is blameable is named “satanic.” This is what the prophet of Arabia said: “From goodness arises an Angel, from badness a Satan.” The balance typifies the rule of justice in the retribution of conduct, so that there may not be any disparity; the basins of the balance contain the good and bad actions; if the basin of the first descends heavy, everlasting heaven is bestowed; if it ascend light, hell.
“He whose weight is heavy, shall be admitted to a delightful life; and he whose weight is light, shall fall into hell.”
Praiseworthy speeches and actions are the properties of dignity, steadfastness and peace of mind; blameable words and deeds belong to perturbation, doubt, and want of conviction; he who acquires composure and dignity of mind, obtains the grace of God; this grace is the treasurer of paradise, who is Razvan, “the porter of heaven;” but doubt and perturbation are the leaders to misfortune and to disdain; and disdain is the treasurer of hell, who is called Málik, “the keeper of hell.”
An account of mountains and seas, and of what occurs upon the earth of the last judgment.
It should be known, that a mountain can be the emblem of a body, which is as overgrown with wool, and the seas can signify the elements; or it may be proper to call the mountains “elements, which are opaque,” and the seas “the skies.” Besides, from a mountain, bodies can be desired; as it may be the station of angels, and from the sea angels proceed. Attempting to investigate the nature of God we meet with a veil, and this veil is darkness. The only light we find is, that whoever travels over the stages of materiality and spirituality, attains rest in the seat of purity,
“Near the mighty King.”
The veils of darkness are like colored wool raised up.
“The mountains shall become like carded wool of various colors driven by the wind.”[117]
He lifts up the immense veil before the light, as then the contradiction, the mutual opposition, and the unsuitableness of conduct which arises from the sensuality of the body, vanish at the passing away of the body; conformity and concord, which belong to unity and harmony, manifest themselves; certainly nothing of repugnancy and no sort of apprehension remains; the poison of serpents and of scorpions is no more; the wolf associates with the sheep, the falcon with the little partridge, and confidence between those who feared each other, appears;
“When the animals will unite.”
When there is no body, there is no death. This is what the prophet declared: “On the day of resurrection death will be summoned and annihilated;” he likewise said: “On the day of the last judgment hell will be made visible:
“Hell manifests itself to whosoever looks.”
On no other day but this, hell, as it is, can be seen; because one who is plunged in the ocean, how can he see the ocean? It is when he rises above the waves that he can distinguish them:
“A spirit appears better on the border of an expanse.”
I have now given an explanation about the streams of heaven and hell; the pleasures and pains during the time of the soul’s progress and regress. The running streams signify life, which the celestial community enjoys; milk is the cause of nourishment in early infancy, and is more excellent than water; because, although its use be at times salutary for all, yet, in different circumstances, it is not so for all. Rivers of milk signify rivers of knowledge for noble persons; they proceed from the origin and development of sciences, and from these rivers is derived the enjoyment of the celestial beings, whose state may be compared to that of infancy. Honey is the cause of recovery to the sick and afflicted, and is more excellent than milk, because its advantage is reserved to a certain number only; and rivers of honey in heaven are emblematical of rivers of noble sciences; and the enjoyment of the select in heaven is derived from these rivers. Wine is the cause of the removal of terror, and fear, and sadness; and is more excellent than honey, because it is prohibited to the people of the world, and permitted and legal to the inhabitants of heaven; and it is a purifying draught of the water of Paradise:
“Their lord made them drink a purifying beverage.”
And rivers of wine in heaven signify rivers of knowledge, for the nobles, among noble personages, and their enjoyment in heaven is derived from these rivers:
“There will be rivers of limpid water, and rivers of milk,
The savor of which shall not be altered; rivers of wine
Will be a delight to those who drink of them;
And there will be rivers of purified honey.”
For the inhabitants of hell are four rivers, in opposition to those in heaven; they are called “that of heat; that of water, blood, and matter; that of liquid pitch: and that of poison;” that is to say: death, ignorance, simple ignorance, and compound ignorance; for it is said:
“These are the similes which we propose to men; the wise only understand their explanation.”
Account of the tree TUBA, which is in heaven, and the tree ZAKUM, which is in hell.
It is to be known that Túba[118] is a celestial tree which sends branches into every corner of heaven; and this is an emblem of the tree of wisdom, from which branches extend to every corner—to any body, whether it be elemental or imaginary; that is to say, to every mind which is illumed and warmed by a ray of the sun of wisdom; it is by this light that his speech and conduct answer the exigency of wisdom, and that he considers well the end of his actions; so that he has never to repent of any one of his words or deeds, which is a sign of knowledge.
The tree zakúm[119] represents the tree of nature, a branch of which extends to every corner, that is to say, whatever power a man (actuated by it) exerts, he never considers the end of the action which he does, and has therefore always to repent of his words and deeds, which is a sign of ignorance.
As to an explanation about the Har and Kasur, it is to be known that both names relate to secrets of hidden things and sciences, which are concealed from the eyes of the profane by a veil, or by the pavilions of sublimity:
“The Hur and Kasur are concealed in the pavilions.”
The hand of men with an elegant and fanciful conception has never reached, nor shall ever reach, them.
“Nobody has ever touched them before, neither men nor genii.”
For these Hur and Kaśur belong to men endowed with sanctity and truth; as often as these perfect personages approach them, they find also virgins, and enjoy each time a pleasure such as they never had before; because each time they meet with the beginning of a new meaning, finer than the former, although they obtain these objects before their death.
It has been stated by some sages that, when they were intent upon some high undertaking, they declared after its conclusion: “How can emperors and their sons enjoy such a happiness, which is still to be increased when all impediments will be removed.” Know, men attached to exterior evidence said, that whatever is commonly believed of the last judgment, and what is connected with the soul of the world, implies nothing else but that, from the time when the Almighty God brought forth out of nothingness into existence, the heavens, the stars, the material bodies, the three kingdoms of nature, and the essences, the duration of the world shall extend to that period when he will again plunge the whole into non-existence, and this shall be “the other world.”
The learned say besides, that the composition of the human body, and its conjunction with the soul, make but one period of time, although birth and life appear two distinct periods; the one comprising the sensible and perceptible world, the other the rational and intellectual world: for
“Whoever is not born twice, shall not enter at the same time into the kingdom of heaven and that of the earth.”[120]
This is the speech of the Lord Jesus, and with him the present and the future world have also a twofold signification, also both a particular and a common one. As to the particular—there is something external and internal in every one; body and soul in every one; this is his present and future world. As to the common signification—there is an external and an internal world, that is, the material world is the present, and the future is the internal world. As to what is stated in the ostensible law, that the earth has seven stories and the heaven also seven, the interpretation of this is, that the earth is divided into seven regions, whence is concluded that the heaven also is divided into seven, separate from which they account the Kersi or Arsh, that is the ninth heaven. As to what is said, that on the day of resurrection the heaven will be folded together,
“On the day on which we shall fold the heavens, as the angel folds the book (of good and bad actions of men), we shall replace them as they were formed at the beginning of the creation. The heavens will then be folded by his grace, power, and strength,”
And the earth changed into another.
“One day we shall change this earth into another earth.”
And after this change the earth and heaven will be annihilated; the earth will be like pure silver, and upon this earth no sin whatever will be committed: in all this, the day of resurrection, heaven, and hell are rendered present. As to what is asserted that this earth will be changed into another—the Orientals say, this is meant to relate to a vision which is called the region of symbolic truth. And the rendering present heaven and hell; this also refers to an attribution of good and bad. Whoever assumes the form of Hur or Kásur, serpent or scorpion, is rendered happy or miserable. As to the transmutation of the earth—this needs no interpretation: what wonder is it that the culture of a region passes into that of another country; and the passage from the region of the sensible into that of allegory is evident in the transformation of the folded heavens. It has also been maintained that “the book of God” is one thing, and “the word of God” another: because the word is derived from the world[121] of commands, which has its purport from the invisible and rational world; whilst the book is from the world of creatures; that is, the material world; the word, when written down, becomes a book; a command which is brought to pass becomes an action; and this is, with these believers, the meaning of the words: Run fa yakun.
“(God said) ‘Let it be,’ and it was.”
The world of command is devoid of contradiction and multiplicity; it is pure in its essence but the world of creatures contains contradiction and multiplicity, and no atom of all atoms of beings is out of the material world.
“There is nothing fresh or dry but in the true book (the Koran).”
Besides, the world of forms and of perceptible things is to be considered as the book of God, and every thing as a Surah, “a chapter,” of the Surahs of this book; the alternation of days and nights, the changes and alterations in the horizon and in the phenomena are the vowel points of this book; the days and nights of this book, Surah after Surah, verse after verse, letter after letter, follow each other, as in writing the lines are read in succession; thus thou proceedest, from line to line and from letter to letter, until thou findest the meaning which is hidden in the subject of the words and expressions, until thou knowest and renderest evident to thyself the purport of the book:
“We shall show our verses (of the Koran) in the horizon (every where), and in their souls, until it become evident to them that it is the truth.”
And when thou understandest the book and hast satisfied thy desire, certainly the book is then closed and put out of thy hand.
“On the day on which we shall fold the heavens, as the angel folds the book—the heavens will then be folded by his grace, power, and strength.”
And it was said, “On the right hand,” that it may be manifest, that those who are at the left can have no share in the possession of heaven.
The change of the earth is thus interpreted, that mankind has two states: at first a terrestrial body and a heavenly nature, subject to the dictates of passion and of lust; and in this state all creatures are in the troubles of imagination, and pride, and conceitedness. Then takes place the first blast of the trumpet for the sake of rest, in order that the terrestrial, who are subject to the qualities of the body, and the celestial, who possess those of a higher nature, may both of them become dead to the troubles of imagination, pride, and conceitedness, unless a few of the qualities of the former state remain alive; as this, on account of these very qualities, may be indispensable by the power of necessity.
“And the trumpet was blown, and all the beings who were in heaven and upon earth were troubled, except those whom God willed (that they should not).
The second blast of the trumpet will be for recalling all men to life, so that the terrestrial, who are endowed with the qualities of nature, may resuscitate from the death of ignorance and the sleep of heedlessness, and rise up; that they may avert their face from material objects and bodily pleasures, which are understood under the name “world,” and devote themselves to reasonable pursuits and spiritual enjoyments, which are essential, so as to know every thing in its real nature: which is
“Then the trumpet shall be blown, and instantly they shall resuscitate, and see.”
In this state, the body, world, and the nature of reason and law, are broken.
“The earth was illumed by the light of his Lord; he placed the books, and he brought the prophets and the witnesses.”
Then the earth of darkness shall be changed into the world of light, and the heaven of nature into the sphere of spirits:
“On the day on which the earth shall be changed for another earth, as well as the heavens; and it shall then be known that there is but one God, the Almighty.”
The obscuration of the stars, and the extinction of the sun’s and the moon’s light are interpreted, that the stars signify the external and internal senses, each of which is in its corresponding sign in heaven; the spirit of animals and the light of the moon are referred to the light of the soul; as the human soul has in fact no light of its own, but solicits an abundant loan of it from the sun of reason, and diffuses it according to its own deficiency. It is said, that when the human soul manifests itself, then sensuality remains out of its action;
“When the stars shall be obscured;”
And when the light of reason breaks forth, then the human soul also is dismissed from its action, and when the benefitted unites with the benefactor, then an incomparable form shows its face;
“He reunited the sun and the moon.”
And when the light of God shines forth, that is, when “knowledge is infused,” which is equivalent to revelation, manifesting itself, then reason and sight are removed from the action, which they call
“When the sun shall be folded up.”[122]
There are fifty stations in the field of judgment:
“Present is the Creator and the master;
At every station another question;
Whoever gives his answer with justness
Shall reach his station with rapidity.”
The stations are in their order as follows: five external and five internal senses; seven powers of passion and lust; three spirits of nature, that is, of minerals, vegetables, and animals; four humors; three kingdoms of nature; four elements; eight temperatures; seven forms of imagination; the other four will be stated on another occasion.
The book of God signifies knowledge. As to the last judgment and the resurrection of bodies, intelligent men said, that each atom of the atoms of a human body, which are dispersed, will be all collected on the day of resurrection, and restored to life, and at this hour there will be no question put about any thing done, but what is come to us from the prophets and saints, this we must believe. The learned say besides, that the question is here about the soul, which on the day of resurrection returns (to its origin), and this substance is pure, and does not require to be suitable to any dimension, color, or place, but is independent of all these, and on that account fit for sciences and knowledge of all things; its extreme excellence is to be able to collect for review all things from the first origin to the last extremity, and to know that whenever it attains that degree of perfection, it has returned to the place of its origin; and this is the knowledge of purity, which is remote from the defilement and mixture of what is material. The learned assert besides, that the night of power, “the night on which the Koran was sent down,” refers to the beginning, and the day of resurrection to the place to which one returns; because the nature of night is to conceal things of which few may have information, and the nature of day is to bring to view things of which all may take notice. Further, the whole of the notions and powers of primitive creation is contained in the knowledge of God, who is understood under the name of “primitive, permanent, and predestinator.” Every body possesses not this knowledge; it was then on account of the belief that the predestinations were concealed in it, that “the night of power” was said to be “primitive,” and as in the place to which one returns (that is at the resurrection) every thing concealed shall become manifest, and every one be informed of it, on account of this belief, this place was referred to “day.” As on this day, all are to rise from the tomb of the body, and to awake from the sleep of heedlessness, it was called “the resurrection.”
According to the learned, Kâbah (the square temple at Mecca) is an emblem of the sun, on which account it is right to worship it; and the well Zem zem[123] signifies likewise “the great luminary,” as Hakím Khákání said relatively to both:
“O Kábah, thou traveller of the heaven!
O Zem zem, thou fire of the world!”
Hajer ul ásvad, “the black stone at Mecca,” represents the body of Venus, which on the border of the heavens is a star of the planets. Some have interpreted the resurrection of the bodies in the sense of the learned, who referred it to the revolution of the heavens, and to the influences of the stars upon the terrestrial globe.
“Every external form of things, and every object which disappeared,
Remains stored up in the storehouse of fate;
When the system of the heavens returns to its former order,
God, the All-Just, will bring them forth from the veil of mystery.”
Another poet says:
“When the motion of the heavens in three hundred and sixty thousand years,
Shall have described a minute about its centre,
Then shall be manifest what had been manifest before,
Without any divergence to the right or to the left.”
The great revolution with them, according to the word of Berzasp, the disciple of Tahamúers, is of three hundred and sixty thousand solar years: that is, as the motions of the heavens take place in a circle, their positions are necessarily determined; when, according to that revolution, the positions of the heavens manifest themselves so that from the contiguities, the adwár and ikwár,[124] “the cycles,” the zatk and fatk, “the shutting and opening,” from the conjunctions of the whole and from the unions, all parts of the phenomena show the very same necessarily determined position, in its reality without increase and decrease. In the books of the Persian sages is stated that, as the motions of the heavens are circular, certainly the compasses return to the same point from which the circumference began to be drawn, and when at a second revolution the compasses run over the same line upon which the former circumference was drawn, undoubtedly, whatsoever has been granted in the former circumference, shall be granted again; as there is no disparity between two circumferences, there will be no disparity between their traces; because the phenomena, having returned to that order in which they were found in the beginning, the stars and heavens, having made their revolution about the former centre, the distances, contiguities, appearances, and relations having in no aspect been contrary to the former aspects, certainly the influences which manifested themselves from yonder origin shall in no manner be different.
This is called in Persian mahín cherkh, “the great circle;” and in Arabic dawrah-i kabra.
Fárábi[125] says: the vulgar form to their own sight their belief according to the shape of their imagination, and will continue to form it so, and the place of their imaginations will be a body of the heavenly bodies. The venerable Shaikh Maktul tends to establish in his demonstrations, that the heavenly bodies are places of imaginations of the inhabitants of heaven, and that beneath the heaven of the moon, and above the globe of fire is a spherical body, without motion, and this is the place of the imaginations of the inhabitants of hell.
It is to be known, that this sect hold the world to be eternal, and say that, as the sun’s light is to the heaven, so is the world to God. Nothing was that had not been, and nothing will be that is not. Further, according to the expounders of theological law, the world is a phenomenon of time. The philosophers assert, the meaning of that phenomenon is “procreation;” and the phenomenon of procreation is not contradictory to “permanency;” infinite permanency coalesces with time.
[107] امكان imkan, “possibility,” signifies that, the existence or non-existence of which, is the necessary consequence of the essence of a thing. The philosophers distinguish by name four sorts of possibility: 1. imkan zati, “possibility with respect to essence;” 2. imkan istidadi, “possibility by disposition,” also called mokúni, “eventual;” 3. imkan khaz, “special possibility;” and 4. imkan âam, “general possibility.”—(See on this subject Jorjani’s Definitions, Notices et Extraits des MSS., vol. XI pp. 82-83.)
[108] The word âkl has a manifold and therefore often vague meaning; it corresponds sometimes to Holy Ghost. I thought it right to translate it hereafter by “intelligency,” in the double acceptation of “unbodied spirits” and “wisdom;” and also by “reason.”
[109] His whole title is Shemseddin Muhammed ben Yahja, ben Ali Lahjáni, a native of Lahjan, a town in the province of Gilan. He wrote in A.D. 1474 a work under the title Mefat-i-hul âjaib fi sherh-i-Gulshen-raz, “the Key of Marvels, in explanation of the Mystery of the Rosebower.” The latter work was quoted vol. I. p. 82.
[110] See vol. I. p. 2. note.
[111] I shall attempt to sketch, in the smallest possible compass, the fundamental ideas of Asiatic cosmology, which are rather confusedly stated in the text.
According to the Dasatir, God created primitively, immediately, and singly, the supreme intelligence; this produced the second intelligence, with the primitive soul and body; the second intelligence brought forth the third, and the corresponding heavenly sphere, with soul and body; and so down to the tenth intelligence, to wit that of human reason. The modern Orientals kept the first-born supreme intelligence, which to the Muhammedans was sanctified by the verse of the Koran, saying: The first being which God created was intelligence, and established a double series of descending intelligences and ascending heavenly spheres, as follows, according to the ancient and modern system:
| COSMOLOGY | ||||
| OF THE DASATIR. | OF THE MODERN ORIENTALS. | |||
| Intelligences. | Spheres. | |||
| The Ist intelligence. | ||||
| II | The Ist intelligence. | The IXth heavenly sphere. | The uppermost Heaven. | |
| III | II | VIII | That of the zodiac, or of fixed stars. | |
| IV | III | VII | That of Saturn. | |
| V | IV | VI | Jupiter. | |
| VI | V | V | Mars. | |
| VII | VI | IV | the Sun. | |
| VIII | VII | III | Venus. | |
| IX | VIII | II | Mercury. | |
| X | IX | I | the Moon. | |
| XI | X | The human. | the Earth. | |
The difference between the system of the Dasatir and the latter consists only in this: that the first enthrones the first supreme intelligence, or reason, above all nine heavenly spheres, and assigns to the second intelligence with its soul and body the ninth sphere, in which the latter system places the first intelligence, and the third intelligence corresponds to the eighth sphere, and so on; each intelligence is placed in the first system, one sphere higher than in the latter; so that the numbers of intelligences and spheres, counterparts of each other, do not form a perfect Dekas, which mutually meets in the sacred number five, but they make an Endekas. Besides, the Muhammedan philosophers call the soul of the second intelligence “the truth of truths,” and identify it with Muhammed, who is said to have declared: The first being which God created was my light.—(See upon this subject Heidelberger Jahrbücher der Literatur. 1823. Erste Hälfte, pp. 313, etc.)
[112] Koran, chap. III. v. 163.
[113] Shosterí, or Tosterí, “native of the town of Shoster or Toster,” is the surname of Abu Muhammed (above Mahmud) Sahal Ben And. He is reputed as one of the principal chiefs of the Sufís; he was a disciple of Zu al nun, and condisciple of Jionaid. He died in his eightieth year, in the year of the Hejira 283 (A. D. 896).
[115] Aâráf, the plural of ârf, from the verb arafa, “to distinguish between two things, or part of them:” some interpret it as above, “a wall; any thing that is high raised, as a wall of separation may be supposed to be.” In the Koran, chap. VII. entitled Al Aâráf, v. 44, it is called “a veil,” to wit: “Between the blessed and the damned there shall be a veil, and men shall stand on Al Araf, who shall know every one of them by their mark, and shall call unto the inhabitants of Paradise, saying: ‘Peace be upon you:’ yet they shall not enter therein, although they earnestly desire it.” It appears a sort of purgatory for those who deserve neither hell nor heaven. In this sense it is taken above. Others imagine it to be a state of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and saints, among whom there will also be angels in the form of men. But, on the day of universal judgment, all those who are confined in this place shall prostrate themselves in adoration before the Lord, and hear these words: “Enter ye into paradise; there shall come no fear upon you, neither shall ye be grieved.”—Ibid., v. 47.
[116] Koran, chap. VI. v. 38.
[117] Koran, chap. CI. v. 4.
[118] Túba, says Herbelot, according to the Commentators of the Koran, is a word derived from the Ethiopian language, and means properly “eternal beatitude.” The Tuba, as the heavenly lotos tree, or tree of life, occurs in all mythologies, in the Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, and Scandinavian. This tree is represented upon the coffin of a mummy which exists in the imperial cabinet of Vienna; a deity pours out from its branches the paradisiacal fountain, which, according to the Muhammedans, issues from the roots of the tree of life.—(See The Mines of Orient, vol. V.)
[119] This tree is imagined to spring from the bottom of hell. There is a thorny tree, called zakúm, which grows in Tahâma, and bears fruit like an almond, but extremely bitter; and therefore the same name is given to this infernal tree.—(See Sale’s Koran, pp. 104, 310.)
[120] This seems an incorrect quotation from St. John’s Gospel, chapter III. verse 3, which is as follows: “Jesus answered and said unto him (Nicodemus): Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”—Further, v. 5: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”—V. 6: That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit, is spirit.”—V. 7: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again.”—V. 8: The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the spirit.”
[121] The word âalem, “world,” has here (as it occurs with the corresponding Sanskrit word loka) the meaning of state, “condition.”
[122] Koran, chap. LXXXI. v. 1.
[123] A well at Mecca, see this vol., p. 14-15, [note 1].
[124] ادوار و اكوار are the cycles or revolutions of years, according to which the astrologers pretend to prognosticate the accidents of human life. Every adwár consists of 360 solar years, and the ikwár of 120 lunar years; the whole art consists in finding the combination of these years, and their respective relations.
[125] Abú Naśr Muhammed Ebn Turkhan al Fárábí, a native of Farab, a town situated on the occidental confines of Turkestan, afterwards called Otrar. He is esteemed as the greatest philosopher among the Muselmans, and at the same time the most detached from the world. To him is attributed the translation of Aristotle’s Analytics, under the title of Anoluthica. Avisenna confessed to have derived all his science from him. Ghazali counts Fárábi and Avisenna among the philosophers who believed the eternity of the world, but not without a first mover, which doctrine is believed by the Muselmans to be atheistical. Fárábi died in the year of the Hejira 339 (A. D. 950), according to Ebn Chal and Abulfeda, quoted by Pococke (p. 372); according to Herbelot in Hejira 343 (A. D. 954).
Section II.—Of the Reputation and the Truth of the prophetic Dignity.
Know that, when individuals of mankind want to associate in the concerns of life, they find it indispensable to have recourse to customs, regulations, and religious faith, in order that they may be concordant, and that oppression may be excluded from their transactions and associations, and the order of the world preserved. It is requisite to refer the customs and regulations to God, and to proclaim that they proceed from God, in order that all may adopt them. On that account the necessity of theology and of a prophetic mission became evident, in order that the institutes for the government of the creatures may be established, and, by means of mildness and severity, men might be induced to be concordant, and the different conditions of the world arranged. And such an institutor is named “illustrious sage;” his precepts are likewise celebrated; among the eminent moderns, his title is that of “prophet,” or “legislator,” and that of his precepts “the law.” But his deputy, who is a judge, ought to be a person distinguished by divine grace, that he may promote the instruction and arrange the affairs of mankind; such a man is called by the wise “an universal ruler,” and his precepts are entitled “the practice of the empire;” the moderns gave him the name of Imám, and to his precepts that of Imámet. The unusual customs, which are called mâjazát,’ “miracles,”[126] and kirámát, “prodigies,”[127] have been submitted to investigations from which it results that the vital spirit, or soul, is the cause of the accidents which are manifested in our body, such as anger and violent emotion. It may be that the vitality attains such a force in every manner, that its relation to this world of depravity becomes of that nature as is our relation to our own bodies: then its desire proves the cause of the accidents; it brings about what it wishes in this world. On that account, all the learned agree on this point, that, in every respect, the soul is of an extreme ingenuity and sagacity, so that, of whatsoever kind the knowledge may be to which it turns its attention, it renders itself master in one day of the whole science, and the power of its memory is such, that it recollects whatever it has heard but once, and, to whatsoever object it directs its look, the soul will give an account of it, of the past as well as of the present. Another power of the soul is to know, either in a dream or by ilhám, “inspiration,”[128] an event before it takes place. A further power of the soul is, to discover the purport of whatever it sees. All this together is the attribute of the soul. When, on account of pious austerity and struggles in the cause of God, one’s sensual spirit is kept in due temperature, it becomes like an essence of heaven, and his rational soul borrows as much as possible from the heavenly spirit, in the same manner as a polished mirror receives the image from a painted surface. Whatever comes forth from the rational soul in the way of generality, of that the rational soul gives an account by means of images in the way of particularity, and brings it home to common sense by way of allegories. And when comprehended by common sense, it becomes evident, and there is no difference between what comes to common sense from the exterior or from the interior; on which very account some have entitled it the common sense, as being sensible from both sides. Further, he whose constitution is better tempered, and whose power of imagination and common sense is brighter, he, after being freed from worldly dependencies, will possess a righter fore-knowledge, such as that in sleep: for sleep also is suitable to prescience, and the revelation of some prophets was received during sleep.
Upon the meaning of Revelation and Inspiration.
Some of the novices who feel themselves in this state, comprehend at once something which they did not understand before; they suppose they are as if hearing something from within, and this they call “a voice from an invisible speaker.” It has been said that, in miracles and supernatural events, there is no doubt of our spirit being the phenomenon—which manifests itself in the human body from men, tal excitement and exultation; then it may happen that the spirit receives such a force and perfection, that its relation to the world of corruption be like our relation to the body whence its desire may be the mover in this exterior world.
There is another wonderful science and property of things. The lord Shaikh Abu Alí[129] says in his book, “the Ascent to Heaven:” All the spirits are subject to more perfect intelligences, except “the Holy Ghost,” who is the mediator between the self-existing Being and the first intelligences, and this is “the command;” and the word of God means “the revelation,” which the Holy Ghost makes by the intervention of perfect intelligences, and which is manifested by the prophetic spirit; whence, whatever is the speech of the prophet, all is the expression of the word of God, and his word is futile by itself, and the name of holiness comes from God alone.
Upon the Interpretation of the Miracles of the Prophet.
The learned possess a great number of versions on this subject, but the best of all interpretations is that of the lord raís, the wise Abu Alí Síná, who declares: “So said the prophet of God, Muhammed, the selected (peace be upon him):[130] “One night I slept in the house of my father’s sister;[131] it was a night of thunder and lightning; no animal uttered a sound; no bird was singing; no man was awake; and I slept not, but was suspended between sleep and waking: the secret meaning of this might have been, that it was a long while before I became desirous of understanding the divine truth. Under the shield of the night, men enjoy greater freedom, as the occupations of the body and the dependence of the senses are broken. A sudden night fell then, and I was still between sleep and waking; that is, between reason and sensuality. I fell into the sea of knowledge; and it was a night with thunder and lightning, that is, the seven upper agents prevailed, so that the power of human courage and the power of imagination sunk from their operation, and inactivity manifested its ascendancy over activity. And lo! Jabrííl came down in a beautiful form, with much pomp, splendor, and magnificence, so that the house became illuminated; that is, the power of the holy spirit came upon me in the form of the command, and made such an impression upon me, that all the powers of the rational soul were renewed and enlightened by it. And what the prophet said in the description of Jabrííl, “to have seen him whiter than snow, with a lovely face, black hair, and on his forehead the inscription: ‘There is no God but one God;’ the light of his eyes charming, the eyebrows fine, having seventy thousand curls twisted of red rubies, and six hundred thousand pearls of a fine water,” that is, he possessed so many beauties in the eyes of pure reason, that if an impression of these beauties was made upon a sense, it was able to perceive those which have been described, and the purport of the words: “there is no God but one God,” appeared in a determined light: that is he whose eyes fall upon his perfections is removed from the darkness of infidelity, and doubt, and worldly connection; and in such a manner he feels himself fortified in the certitude of the Creator, and attains such a degree of virtue, that hereafter, upon whatsoever creature he looks, his faith in God’s unity will be enhanced by it. And such were the charms of the angel that, if one possessed seventy thousand curls, he would not attain to his beauty; and such was his rapidity, that thou wouldst have said, he was flying with six hundred wings and arms, so that his progress knew neither space nor time.” “What he said came upon me, and he took me to his bosom, and gave me kisses between the eyes, and said: ‘O thou sleeper, how long sleepest thou? rise!’ That is, when the power of holiness came upon me, it caressed me, opened the road of its revelation, and exalted me; a certain delight which I cannot describe diffused itself in my heart, and transported me to devotion. The angel then continued: ‘How long sleepest thou?’ that is ‘why indulgest thou in the delusions of falsehood? thou art attached to the world, and, as long as thou remainest in it, and before thou awakest, knowledge cannot be obtained; but I, from compassion towards thee, shall be thy guide on the road. Rise.’ I trembled at his words, and from fear jumped up from my place: that is, from timid respect for him no reflection remained in my heart and mind. He further said: ‘Be calm, I am thy brother, Jabrííl;’ thus, by his kindness and revelation, my terror was appeased. But he unfolded more of his mysteries, so that fear returned upon me. I then said: ‘O brother, I feel the hand of an enemy.’ He replied: ‘I shall not deliver thee into the hand of an enemy.’ I asked: ‘Into whose?’ He answered: ‘Rise, and be glad, and keep thy heart within thyself:’ that is, preserve thy memory clear, and show obedience to me, until I shall have removed the difficulties before thee. And as he spoke I became entranced and transported, and I proceeded on the footsteps of Jabrííl; that is, I forsook the sensual world, and by the aid of natural reason I followed the footsteps of holy grace.” What the prophet said: “I saw “Borák upon the footsteps of Jabrííl,” signifies, the practical reason which triumphs by means of the power of sanctity, and by its assistance gains the ascendancy over this world of corruption: for from the heavenly intelligences proceeds practical reason, which is the supreme king and assistant of the soul, at any time when it may be required. It is to be compared to Borak for this reason, because it was the illuminator of the night, and the vehicle of the protector, who on that journey wanted it: on that account the prophet called it Borák. And as to what he further said: “It was greater than an ass “and smaller than a horse;” this means, it was greater than human reason, but smaller than the first intelligence. And “Borak’s face was like that “of a man,” signifies, he had a propensity for human order and much kindness for men, as a family by its manner and likeness among men has a bearing to kindness and arrangement. What the prophet stated of “a long hand and long foot,” means that his benefit extends to all places, and that his bounty keeps all things new. What he stated: “I wanted to mount Borák, but he resisted until Jabrííl gave assistance; then he became obedient to me;” this implies, I was under the influence of the corporeal world; I desired to associate with reason; but this was refused until the power of sanctity washed off by a bath the entanglement of ignorance and the hinderances of the body, so that I became pure, and by such means attained the bounty and advantage of practical reason.
What the prophet further said: “When I proceeded on the way,[132] and had left the mountains of Mecca, I saw a wanderer following my steps, who called out: ‘Stop!’ But Jabrííl said: ‘Hold no conversation; go on.’ I went on.” By this the power of the imgination is indicated; that is: when I became free of the sight of my limbs and every thing belonging to me, and yielding no more to sensuality, and thus proceeded, the power of imagination, upon my steps, called out to me to stop; for the power of imagination is dextrous, and certainly is great, exerting itself in all affairs, and serves in lieu of intellect to all animals; but it is not right to allow imagination too much liberty, because it then descends to an equality with animals, and disorders its noble nature; further, whoever is assisted by the grace of God, follows not, on all occasions, the imagination. As to what the prophet said: “Behind me called out a woman, deceitful and beauteous: ‘Stop until I join thee!’ Jabrííl also said: ‘Go on, and beware of stopping:’” this means the power of imagination, which is deceitful and bedecked, resembling a woman, to whom most natures are inclined, and who keeps men in her bondage; besides, whatever she does, is all art, without foundation, and contaminated by fraud and deception; nay, the very business of women is artifice and fiction: the power of imagination is not otherwise seductive. To continue: the lies and false promises of women being so many lures, they render mankind their slaves with their show, and never keep their faith; so that all they affect turns out to be futile. Thus, when a man follows the steps of imagination, he never attains true intelligence, as he always remains upon the track of outward ornament and in the bondage of corporeal appearance, without reality.
“And as to what the prophet stated: When I went on, Jabrííl said: ‘If thou hadst waited until she had joined thee, thou wouldst have become a friend of the world,’” this means: that worldly affairs are without reality, brittle and soon decaying, and that worldly occupations have a value but in conjunction with the views of a future state; inasmuch as occurrences and appearances are a deception, and are esteemed as adjuncts to the secrets of a high intelligence; and whoever devotes himself to the former rests behind the higher intelligences, and, in the illusion of vanity, rests imprisoned in the pitfall of ignorance.
And what Muhammed said: “When I left the mountains and these two persons behind me, I went on until I reached the house of sanctity (Jerusalem); and as I entered it, a person came to me, and gave me three cups—the one of wine, the second of water, and the other of milk. I wished to take that of wine, but Jabrííl forbade it, and pointed to that of milk, which I took and drank:” the meaning of this is: When I freed myself from sensuality, and knew the state of imagination and deception, and resolved in myself to enter the world of spirits, then I saw three spirits in the house of sanctity—the one was that of animal life, the second that of nature, and the other that of rationality. I wished to proceed on the footsteps of brutishness, and compared it to wine, the power of which is seducing, clouding, and ignorance-increasing, like passion and lust, and wine is the darkener of the two other powers. And he compared nature to water, because from it is derived the support and stability of a person, and man depends upon the temperament of the agents which act in the body;[133] water is also the vital strength of animals, and the promoter of growth and increase. And the rational spirit he compared to milk, as being a salutary and agreeable nourishment, and promoting welfare. And as to what he said: “I wished to take the wine; but he forbade it, that I might take the milk:” is in allusion to most men, who, being badly disposed, do not desist from obsequiousness to two spirits, those of nature and brutishness; and whoever is badly disposed demands what is material, and the pleasure and enjoyment of these two spirits are of this kind.
“The Prophet said farther: When I arrived there I entered the mosque, and the crier called to prayer; and I stepped forward, I saw an assembly of prophets and angels standing to the right and the left; every one saluted me, and made a new covenant with me.”[134] This means: When I became freed from all converse and concern with brutishness and nature, I entered the mosque, that is, I retired into the inmost of the soul; by “crier of the mosque” is understood the power of remembering and praising God; by “one’s Imám,” meditation; and “the angels” mean the powers of the inmost soul, such as abstraction, memory, praise of God, and the like. Further, “saluting them” refers to the comprehending of all the mental powers. Thus, when one wishes to mount up to the terrace of a house, he must first have a staircase by which he may, step after step, ascend, until he attains the summit of the terrace; in like manner also are these refined powers to be considered as ladder-steps, upon which, the one after the other, a man ascends until he arrives at his aim.
“And what the prophet said: When I became free, I raised my face upwards, and I found a ladder, one step of which was of silver and the other of gold:”[135] this means, from the external to the internal sense; “gold” and “silver” denote the superior value of the one over the other.[136]
“And what he said: I arrived at the heaven of the universe; the gates yielded and I entered. There I saw Ismâíl seated upon a throne, and a crowd before him, with their eyes fixed upon his face. I made my salute, looked at him, and went on.” By “heaven,” is understood the moon; by “Ismâíl,” the body of the moon; and by “the crowd,” those whose conditions are under the influence of the moon.
“What Muhammed said: I entered the second heaven;[137] there I saw an Angel excelling all others; by his perfect beauty, he captivated the admiration of the whole creation; one half of his body was of ice and the other half of fire; and yet there was no counteraction nor enmity between them. He saluted me, and said: ‘Be welcome! All things and riches are thine.’” This means: it was the heaven of Mercury; and the import of this is, that every star has a determined influence, either auspicious or inauspicious; but Mercury acts in both ways; with an inauspicious connection inauspiciously, with an auspicious one auspiciously; so that one half is good and the other half bad.” The “welcome,” and the gift of “prosperity and riches,” mean: the power of the mind, and the multiplicity of sciences which the star bestows.
What the prophet said: “When I arrived into the third heaven,[138] I there saw an Angel, equal to whom in excellence and beauty I had seen none; placid and joyful, he was seated upon a throne; and a circle of angelic effulgency was diffused about him.” This was the heaven of Venus, and it is not necessary to comment its beauty: it denotes gladness and festivity.
Further: “When I entered the fourth heaven,[139] I there saw an Angel, surrounded with royal pomp, seated upon a throne of light; I made my obeisance, to which he replied with entire haughtiness, and, from pride and majesty, he bestowed neither word nor smile upon any body about him. When he answered my salute, he said: ‘O Muhammed, I see all things and riches in thee: glory and happiness to thee.’” That is, “the fourth heaven,” the residence of “this angel,” means the sun; he represents the conditions of kings and great personages; his “smile” is his influence upon good fortune; and his “congratulation” signifies his bounty for any body’s prosperity.
“In continuation: When I arrived at, and entered, the fifth heaven,[140] I happened to have a view of hell; and I saw a black region, and, on its borders was seated a terrific and dark Angel, who was engaged in the business of punishing bad men.” That is “the fifth heaven, with its angel,” signifies “Mars;” this planet denotes the state of criminals and of blood-shedding men; and by “hell” is understood any account and description of the conditions which are appropriated to them.
“Moreover, When I entered the sixth heaven,[141] I saw an angel sitting upon a throne of light, occupied with counting his prayers by beads, and with uttering benedictions; he had wings, and curls set with jewels, pearls, and rubies. I bowed before him, to which he returned blessings and congratulations, and wishes of joy and prosperity, and said: ‘I give thee perpetual blessing.’” That is, “the sixth heaven,” and “its angel,” signifies “Jupiter;” and he relates to persons of rectitude, abstinence and knowledge; his “wings and curls” signify his light and rays; and his “blessings,” his auspicious influence; for he bestows great felicity, and all sorts of good prooceed from him.”
“To proceed: When I attained the seventh heaven,[142] I saw an angel seated upon a throne of red rubies; not every one had access to him, but he who approached him found a kind treatment. I made my reverence, and he returned an answer by blessing me.” This is understood to be “the seventh heaven,” and “that angel” was Saturn. He is averse to greatness; but, whatever impression he makes is perfect and entire; and when he shows favor it is greater than any other; “every one cannot approach him:” that is, it happens seldom that one falls in with a fortunate situation, but, if it occurs, the happy result is such as to surpass all others.
“In sequel: When I proceeded,[143] I arrived at the heavenly mansion of the angel Jabrííl; I saw a world full of light and splendor, and such was the effulgency that my eyes were dazzled. To the right or left, to whatever side I turned my looks, they met with angelic spirits, engaged in devotion. I said: ‘O Jabrííl, who are this class of beings?’ He answered: ‘these know of no other fixed business but praying, counting their beads, and visiting churches.’”
“There is for him, on the other side, but one place known.”
“By the ‘eighth heaven’ is understood the heaven of the fixed stars, and there are the constellations; “the churches” mean the twelve signs of the zodiac; each community of them inhabits a determined side; they do not combat each other, as the southern have no business with the northern, and each has his fixed situation: some of the constellations are in the zodiac, some to the south, and others to the north.
“Besides, the prophet said: I saw five mansions greater than any thing else, which spread their shade over earth and heaven.” He denotes here the great heaven, which in its interior incloses all the other heavens, and is the greatest of all spaces.
Again, saying: “When I proceeded, I saw four seas, the waters of each being of a different color,” he implies an account of essentiality, corporeity, materiality, and exteriority; inasmuch as this account is generally perplexing, the idea of every one being conceived in a different way, and each way interpreted by every one.
And what the prophet said: “I saw angels much occupied with beads and prayers and all taken up with the precious sentence, There is no God but one God:” this refers to pure spirits who are free from matters of desire, and spotless; and every man who is remote from the world, wise, pure, and disengaged from all ties, when he separates from the body, is transported by God Almighty to the place and mansion of angels, and invested with everlasting beatitude. And the prophet assimilated him with angels, because they are seats of purity and devotion; that is, remote from corruption and perdition, and from the disturbance of sensuality, intent upon avoiding anger, and raised to the dignity of angels, perpetually engaged in the exploration of secret knowledge; they likewise never look upon the nether world, because, the body being in conjunction with mean and noble spirits, when a person fixes his sight upon low stations, he becomes liable to feel the attaint of necessity, and to search for expediency among circumstances; but when he effects his separation from them, he attains the noble perfection of himself, he becomes beatified, and immersed in delight and tranquillity, in such a manner that he never throws a look upon the inferior world, because, this bodily form being taken off from him, he then, by increase of knowledge and comprehension, acquires dignity and nobleness.
“Some are upon their knees, and some prostrate themselves.”
Some are spiritual, some praisers of God, some bent before him, some holy, and some purified cherubim, conforming in customs, lords, and princes.
“Still more: When I left this assembly, in my progess I arrived at a sea without borders; howsoever I strained my sight, I could not perceive any boundary or shore; and at this sea I saw a river, and an angel who was pouring the seawater into the river, and from thence the water ran to every place.” By “the sea,” he implies the first intelligence; and by “the river,” the first spirit.
“Likewise: On the level of that sea, I perceived a great desert, greater than which I had never seen any space, so that, in spite of my endeavor, I found neither the beginning nor the end of it.” That is: I could not assign a limit to what was more extensive than any thing else, as the comprehension of a pure being belongs only to a perfect intelligence.
“In continuance: On the level of the sea and the desert, I saw an angel surrounded with every grandeur, splendor, and pomp, who guarded both halves with facility; he called me to him, and having joined him, I asked: ‘What is thy name?’ He answered: ‘Mikáil: I am the greatest of all angels; whatever is difficult, ask it from me; and whatever thou desirest, demand it from me: I will satisfy all thy wishes.’” This means: When I had learned and considered all this, I understood the first command. And the Angel represents what is called “the Holy Ghost,” and is said to be “a cherub.” Whoever has access to him and receives his assistance, evinces himself as wise, and participates in spiritual enjoyments.
“And also: When I had set myself free from saluting and questioning, I said: ‘To arrive at this place I experienced much trouble, and my purpose in coming here was to attain knowledge, and the sight of God Almighty. Grant me guidance, that I may satisfy my desire, and then return home.’” That is: by the pure command, which is the holy word, he wished that, as, after the study of nature, his inward sight was opened to clear evidence, he might behold every thing such as it was; he wished that he might find the absolute Being, the first cause, the self-existing necessary Being, the supreme good; and that he might know his unity so that in him multiplicity cannot exist.[144]
“What the prophet further said: That angel took me by the hand,[145] and gave me a passage through several thousand curtains into a world, where I saw nothing like what I had seen before, until he brought me at last near the Lord of glory; then the command came to me: ‘Approach.’”[146] This means: that the holy God is exempt from body, substance, and wants, which are found in this world.
“Again: In that majesty I immersed my sense and motion, and found entire relaxation, contentment and tranquillity.” That is: I acquired such a knowledge of his purity and of his beneficence, as no living being can comprehend with his sense: for he may have a clear perception of bodies, and observe forms and images; a substance endowed with a memorial intelligence conceives ideas; but the self-existent, necessary Being is out of this category, and cannot be understood by sense, imagination, and memorial power; in his majesty there is no motion, because motion is a change of existence; but the self-existent necessary Being is such as to be the mover of all things.
“The prophet said further: From fear of the Lord I forgot all things I had seen and known before, and I felt such an exaltation, inspiration, and inward delight, that thou wouldst have said: ‘I am intoxicated.’” That is: When my intelligence found access to the knowledge of unity, I considered and investigated the parts, and from this study the rational soul derived such enjoyment, that all the powers of brutishness and nature desisted from their action, and such an immersion into unity manifested itself, that there remained no consideration for the science relative to substance and bodies.
“Again: I felt some impressions of God’s proximity, so that I was seized with trembling; and I heard the command: ‘Proceed,’ and I proceeded. Then came the word: ‘Fear not nor be disquieted.’” This means: When I was initiated in the mystery of unity, I learned that the self-existent necessary Being is without the divisions of this world; I trembled at the boldness of my journey, which had attained such a height and distance; and I apprehended failing in the proof of the unity; but I heard the words: “Come nearer;” that is: dismiss thy pondering, fear, and terror; for such is the proper state of a believer in the unity of God, to be continually immersed in a spiritual ecstacy, so that he may never fall back into the disgrace of brutishness, and fear and hope belong to the state of brutishness.
“Moreover: I drew nearer, and upon me came the blessing of the Lord, such as I never had heard before;” that is: I received the revelation, the true words of the self-existent, necessary Being: and his speech is not like that of creatures by letters and sounds; no! his speech is evidence of knowledge, by itself pure, communicating to the spirit what he wills in a universal not a particular way.
“Further: The command came: ‘Say thy prayer:’ I replied: I cannot; for thou art thyself such as thou hast said.” This means: When he was able to perceive the excellence of the belief in the unity of God, he found the truth of the words of the self-existing necessary Being; he then felt such delight as he had never experienced before; he knew that the self-existing necessary Being is worthy of all prayers, but he felt at the same time that he could not express his prayers with the tongue, because an arrangement of letters is required for every thing which falls from the tongue, but that which has no connection except that of parts and the whole, is not suitable to the true, necessary, and self-existing Being, as he is not conceivable, either in parts or in a whole. The prophet knew that his prayer could not properly come from the tongue, as it is no business of the senses, but belongs properly to reason; but reason knew that an object highly deserving to be praised requires a praiser worthy of it, one whose knowledge may be adequate to the power of the being to be praised, so that the speech may prove suitable to the intention. The self-existent necessary Being is an object of unity without an equal, therefore the praise of any one will never be worthy of him. Besides, the prophet trusted also to God’s knowledge, for he is all knowledge, and the knowledge of him is the theme of prayers to his being without letters and sound, and not by reason: he himself is his own ornament; he himself is his eloquence.
What the prophet further said: “The word came to me: ‘What dost thou wish?’ I said: ‘Leave to ask whatever comes into my mind, so that my difficulties may be removed.’” This means: that when God asked: “What dost thou wish,” and I said “leave,” it was knowledge I wished: because in this journey no other consideration but that of pure reason had remained, which was to approach the majesty of the self-existent Being, and to understand his unity, which cannot be obtained but by the gift of knowledge. The prophet wished to be rendered worthy of him, and by full knowledge to acquire the dignity required, that he might then exhibit every difficulty that occurred, and receive a categorical answer. For the guidance of mankind, he composed the rules of the law in words which came suitably to the ears of men, so that at the same time the meaning of them was fixed, and the veil of advice remained upon such things as are not required to be known; what proved also an assistance to that knowledge, was the journey, consequently to which the law was given, and the account of which was drawn up for publication in such a manner, that the sense of it was obvious to none but to the investigators of truth.
The prophet also said: “When I had performed all this, and returned home, on account of the rapidity of my journey, I found the bed-clothes still warm.” That is: he performed a journey of reflection, and travelled with his mind; the purpose of this voyage was, by the consideration of the created beings to attain at the self-existent necessary Being; and when he had completed his mental task, he returned back into himself; he needed not a day for this business, but in less than in the twinkling of an eye recovered his former state; whoever knows, understands why he went; and whoever knows not, looks in vain for an expedient. It is not right to communicate these words to an ignorant or low person, because the enlightened alone can enjoy this fruit.”
So far the words of the example of the wise, the Shaikh Abú-âlí Sína.
In the book of the investigators of truth is to be found, and from the tongue of the intelligent the information has been received, that the moon is one of the archangels, and cherubim of God. Being a celestial body, he cannot be cleft, and the supremacy of his power is not subject to absurd changes of form, nor does he undergo them. Conseqently, the fissure of the moon, which is mentioned in the Koran, is an evident allegory, the sense of which is obvious; because every star and sphere has an internal foundation, called “reason,” so that of the moon among all bears the title of “superior wisdom.” It is also established in the fundamentals of the philosophers among this sect, that the utmost dignity and perfection of man, attributable to corporeity, is that which unites and coalesces into one, “with superior wisdom;” whoever attains that degree, comprehends also any other to which he may proceed, without any new study for it; and no degree of human perfection and no knowledge is excluded from it. Hence, whenever this matter is understood, the fissure of the moon typifies nothing else but renunciation of the external for the internal, which is the “superior wisdom.” As the lord prophet (the peace of God be upon him!) is the master of the lunar sphere, to cleave (or divide) the moon means to attain to the innermost recess of the moon. But this creed belongs to the learned of the Masháyin, “peripatetics;” the Ishrákían say, the true solution of this enigma is contained in their fundamental science; viz.: light is the type of the primitive creation of the world, and they divided whatever is contained in it, in two parts: the first is a light, in which there is not the least mixture of obscurity and darkness, proper to corporeal matter; the second sort of light can be mixed with some material darkness. The first sort of light, pure in a general and real acceptation, originates from primitive matter, and, according to their showing, emerged absolutely free from parts; but the second sort of light is mixed with obscurity, and throws rays on all sides; its knowledge can be comprehended by generalities and particularities, whence by its power it passes into action. In their metaphysics it is also settled, that the furthermost stretch and connection of beings, and the utmost term of completion, consist in this, that knowledge, may become manifest in the whole by generalities and particularities, so that nothing may remain deficient in any degree of power. Whenever this matter is settled, then the moon in their language signifies a mixed light, with this property, that it brings into action all the knowledge hidden in its efficacy, and by means of the reflection of rays elicits perfection.
Whoever is well founded in these notions acquires the faculty that all sciences, whatsoever they may be, come forth from him. It is then the moon which signifies mixed light, and the rending asunder of it means the arising of sciences and excellence, and their manifestation; that is, bringing forth all that is within, by means of breaking its exterior form.
As to fixing the seal of the prophetic office, and to completing the apostleship, so that after the prophet of Arabia no other may appear, they said what follows: The seal of the prophetic office means the acquisition of âkl fâal, “superior wisdom;” that is: whoever obtains it, and makes the proper use of it, possesses the seal of the prophetic office: because the first prophetic dignity is his intelligence, which is the real (intrinsic) Adam, “man.” The prophetic seal is the tenth rank of intelligences,[147] and that which is reared up by superior wisdom renders the prophet’s knowledge vain, and takes his color: that is to say, if one hundred thousand prophets like himself realise in themselves the person of superior wisdom, they are possessors of the seal, the last prophets, because it is superior wisdom, which is the seal, and they know themselves to be mahu, “effaced,” and superior wisdom to be existing.
But the Ashrákían say, that the first prophet is the majesty of the cherubic light, that is the first intelligence, and the possessor of the prophetic seal is the Lord God of the human race, that is, the intelligence which legislates the human race. Further, whoever found grace with the Lord of mankind, and became his near attendant, his Káim makám, “vice-regent,” although the authority of such a person be vain by itself as delegate, yet he, too, is called the possessor of the prophetic seal (the last prophet): so, as Azizi said:
“From head to foot, my person became my friend: hence, if I wish
To see the friend, I place the mirror before me.”
Kásam Khan said:
“I will in such a manner make myself one with thee, that if one day
Thou seekest thyself, thou mayest find me within thy tunic.”
As to the interpretation of what they say, that the prophet had no shade—this refers to an able son: as after Muhammed (the peace of the Highest be upon him!) the prophetic mission did not devolve upon a son of his: hence the saying that he had no shade. It is also said, that never a fly sat upon the body of the prophet; which means that he never was tainted by avarice.
[126] معجزة, mâjezet, is an extraordinary thing, operated by prophets for the confirmation of their prophecy.
[127] كرامة, kerámet, signifies a prodigy, or sign, manifested by any pious person without his claiming prophetic dignity.—(See Pococke. Specim. Hist. Arab., p. 186. 1st edit.)
The Asiatic Doctors admit that extraordinary things may be operated by men who pretend to be deities, prophets, Valis (Saints, of whom more hereafter), and magicians, who are supposed to command demons. Thus they quote Pharaoh, who arrogated divinity to himself, and performed miracles, and thus it shall be with the Antichrist. Celestial favors granted to Valis are believed by the orthodox Muhammedans, upon the strength of the Koran and authentic traditions. To these are added innumerable tales accredited among the superstitious, some of which are ingeniously combined with a moral lesson. Jâmi, in his Lives of Sufis, quotes the following words of another illustrious personage, whom he does not name: “The principle on which all is comprised is, that, when a man performs an extraordinary action, renouncing something which other men are wont to do, or which he himself was wont to do, God also, on his part, by a sort of compensation, changes, in that man’s favor, something in the ordinary course of nature. It is that which the vulgar call Kerámet. But distinguished men understand by this word the divine favor which gave a man aid and force to renounce the things to which he was accustomed. This is what we understand by Keramet.” This explanation differs from that given above. The whole doctrine relative to this subject is united with that of Sufism, which is hereafter to be developed.—(See Notices et Extraits des MSS., vol. XII. pp. 357-369.)
[128] الهام, ilhám, means what is thrown in a man’s mind by way of emanation, or with the exclusion of diabolical suggestions; that is, not by way of thought and reflection. It is also explained, a knowledge which rises in a man’s heart and excites him to action without his demanding a prodigy, or the investigation of a proof for believing the truth of what is so revealed to him.—(See Definitions of Jorjáni, Ext. et Not. des MSS., vol. X. pp. 76-77.)
[129] Avisenna. (See, upon this celebrated personage, vol. II. pp. 168-175.) He and Al Fárábi, before-mentioned (p. 170, [note 1]) are, according to the concurring opinions of the Arabs, the most distinguished chiefs of the Arabian philosophers, properly so called. The logic of Avisenna has been translated by Vattier, 1658.
[130] The ascent of Muhammed to Heaven has been mentioned (vol. II. p. 339). The prophet gave no explicit account of it in the Koran, yet traditions of what he himself had related of it, although not without various versions, are preserved, and believed with equal faith as the verses of the sacred book themselves, in which frequent allusions occur to the circumstances and events of which Muhammed’s voyage to Heaven is composed. These, indeed, however absurd they may appear to unbelievers, contain the fundamentals of the Muhammedan mysticism. On account of this importance, I shall add to the notice given above, by Avisenna, some particulars contained in the narration published from original sources by the Baron of Hammer Purgstal Gemäldesaal moslimischer Heersher. IIIter Band. 1837, Seite 81, etc.)
[131] Muhammed was sleeping in the house of Omm Hani, the daughter of Abu Thaleb, in the sanctuary of the Kâba, when Jabríl awakened him; the angel called Mikail to bring him a cup full of water from the sacred well Zemzem (see vol. III. pp. 14-15. [note 1]). Jabríl cleft Muhammed’s breast, drew his heart out, washed it, and, with three cups from the sacred fountain, infused into him faith, knowledge, and wisdom. He then conducted him out of the sanctuary to a place between Safa and Merva, where he made the prophet bestride Borak (see vol. II. p. 339), which, as the Angel said, was mounted by Abraham.
[132] The ride proceeded to Jerusalem; a troop of Angels surrounded them on all sides. On the way Muhammed was called to successively by two men, the one of whom was a Jew, the other a Christian, and by a seductive female; the prophet did not stop at the voice of either.
[133] This obscure passage appears to allude to a glose found in the Desátir, English transl., p. 183. After having said that there are four elements, the Commentator subjoins: “The water is of the shape of a ball, the half of which being broken, is filled with water, so that the water and earth together compose one ball. And as the elements penetrate into and affect each other, a sort of middle nature is produced, which is called constitution or temperament. If a body that is united with a temperament has the probability of subsisting for a protracted time, and of retaining its compound substance, it is called ‘permanent,’ or ‘perfect;’ if not, ‘imperfect,’ or ‘wanting permanence.’”—Lower down: “And there can be no temperament so equalised that the elements in it should be exactly of the same quantity and mode. And in proportion as a temperament more nearly approaches equality, the soul bestowed on it by the Originator of being is more perfect.”
[134] In the temple of Jerusalem, Muhammed was saluted by choirs of angels and prophets, as the first of interceders before God, the last of prophets, and as one who will assemble the people on the day of judgment.
[135] From the temple, the prophet was conducted by Jabrííl to the rock upon which Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac. From them rose a ladder to heaven; not only were the steps alternately of gold and silver, but also, on one side shone edifices of emerald, and on the other palaces of ruby.
[136] Here Jabrííl took Muhammed upon his wings and flew with him to the gate of Paradise, which was guarded by a legion of Angels. In the first heaven he saluted Adam, who sat between two gates, and was looking now to the right, now to the left; when to the right, he laughed, when to the left, he wept; for the right hand led to heaven, the left to hell: the first father’s joy or sadness followed his children going to either side.
[137] In the second heaven, Muhammed saw Jesus and St. John at his side. They returned his salute.
[138] In the third heaven was Joseph, the ideal of beauty.
[139] In the fourth heaven was Idris (Enoch).
[140] In the fifth heaven resided Aaron.
[141] In the sixth heaven appeared Moses.
[142] In the seventh heaven, Muhammed saluted Abraham, as he saluted the holy persons before-named, who returned his salute.
[143] Jabrííl then conducted Muhammed to his own usual residence. There was the heavenly lotus tree (the tree of knowledge), around which a divine light was diffused, and legions of angels were ranged. Beneath the roots of the tree four sources were flowing: the first, Kawser, spirituous, like wine; the second, Selsebil, sweet, like clarified honey; the third, the source of mildness, like the purest milk; and the fourth, the source of mercy, like liquid crystal. Jabrííl offered to the prophet three cups, made of diamond, saphir, and ruby; the first filled with honey, the second with milk, the third with wine. The prophet tasted the first, drank the second, and declined the third, in which he was approved by the angel.
[144] I followed here the manuscript of Oude, which reads: و شناسد وحدت او چنانکہ دروی کثرت نکنجد
[145] From the mansion of Jabrííl they proceeded to the heavenly tabernacle, called baitúl mâmur, “the house of delightful culture,” and formed upon the model of the ancient Kâba, which, during the deluge, was carried by angels up to heaven and placed perpendicularly above the modern sanctuary of Mecca. Seventy thousand angels were always going out and in to worship. In entering it, Jabrííl gave the precedence to the prophet; they arrived at a golden veil, which the angel touched. Here the Angels sang: “There is no God but God; and from behind the veil the voice of God answered: “I am God, and no God exists but me.” The Angels added: “Muhammed is the prophet of God;” and God confirmed it by the words: “My servants say the truth; I have sent Muhammed as my apostle.” Now, Muhammed was raised up by angelic hands; Jabrííl remained behind. The prophet proceeded through seventy thousand veils of light and darkness; each veil had the opacity of a thousand years, and as many years separated the one from the other.
[146] Now he had attained the green rail with green cushions, illumed with a green light clearer than that of the sun. Muhammed was then called to approach; he adored; saw the Lord in the most beauteous form; and received the revelation of the Koran; before all three objects: 1. the five daily prayers; 2. the final verses of the second Sura of the Koran; 3. forgiveness of all sins, except that of idolatry, for his people. Here the Almighty pronounced the words: “If it had not been for thee, the world would never have been created.”—(See vol. I. pp. 2-3). A drop flowed from the throne into the mouth of the prophet, who by it imbibed all the knowledge of the anterior and posterior world. All the Angels joined in a chorus, singing: “There is no God but one God, and Muhammed is his prophet;” and the great concert terminated with the words of the Koran, (chap. II. v. 285): “The Apostle believeth in that which has been sent down unto him from his Lord, and the faithful also. Every one of them believeth in God and his Angels, and his Scriptures, and his Apostles. And they say: ‘We have heard and do obey; we implore thy mercy, O Lord! for unto thee must we return.’”
[147] See [page 143] of this volume.
Section III.—Of the Successors of these Philosophers, and the chief Followers of this Creed.
Of this class, several learned men were personally known to the author of this book, but he will give an account of those only who were well founded and skilled in this creed. First, the doctor in theology, Hírbed, whom the author visited in Lahore. This doctor was a descendant from the family of Zardúsht, the prophet of God; he was conversant with Persian, showed great proficiency in Arabic, and in other sciences, in Shiraz, and held intercourse with learned Frangis. At last he came to India; always devoted to austerity, he led a pure and holy life. He composed hymns in Persian, Hindi, and Arabic, to the majesty of the light of lights, the powerful luminaries, and the stars. He acknowledged as a Kiblah the splendor-shedding bodies, and made his own, in spirit and word, the work of the lord Shaikh Maktul. Secondly, the doctor Manír was met by the writer of this work, in the year of the Hejira 1053 (A. D. 1643-4), in Kabul; he was one of the Sáíds of Shiraz, but entered the elemental world in Irâk Ajem; he was skilful in sciences, and lived as a chaste independent and pious man; like Hirbed, he abstained from all sorts of animal food, and sang the hymns which go under the name of Shaikh Maktul, in praise of the luminaries, and venerated the stars; and both these persons paid homage with the sun, refulgent with light. The third was Hakím dostúr, who in 1054 of the Hejira (A. D. 1644-5) came to Lahore. He drew his origin from Ispáhan, but was born in Balkh; he studied in the service of the followers of Mulla Mírza Khan; then, having gone to Iran, he held intercourse with Mír Muhammed Báker dámád, with Shaikh Baháv-ed-din Muhammed, with Mír Abúl Kásem Kandersaki, and with other learned men and Ulamá of Shiraz, not without great profit to himself; he attached himself to the rule of the Masháyín, “peripatetics,” and repeated the prayers which were written by the chief of this persuasion in praise of the self-existent Being, the intelligences, and spirits, and stars; and he was very zealously addicted to the worship of the heavenly bodies; although without pious austerity, yet he abstained from wickedness, and kept the way of moderation; according to the custom of merchants, he travelled a great deal. A fourth was Kámrán, of Shíraz. He also followed the creed of the Masháyín; he possessed the natural and revealed sciences; and after having acquired excellence, he happened to find himself at the mountain which is near the sea-ports of the Frangis; he took a great liking to their society, and was attracted by the religion of the Nasáreans: on that account he studied the Gospel, and derived great profit from their doctrines. Afterwards he went to India, where he contracted friendship with some Rájas; he became fond of their religion; read, with learned Brahmans, the sástras of the Hindús, that is, their scientific books, and in these also he became a master of art among the learned of India. Although ostensibly he adopted the said faith, yet he remained attached to the religion of the ancient philosophers. He showed great aversion to lying, thieving, debauchery, and unnatural love; and, according to the custom of the wise, forbore from killing animals; but now and then he indulged in a draught of wine, saying that it is very salutary. He was wont to sing hymns, which are in use among the Yúnian philosophers, and are now translated, in praise of God, the high intelligences and spirits, and the stars. He accepted no gift from any body; he was employed in trade, but he contented himself with a competent capital. Mír Abú ’l Kásem Kandarsakí called him “a brother dear as life,” nay, wrote to him as to an “elder brother.” In the year of the Hejira 1050 (A. D. 1640-1) he retired to solitude at the Serai Fargh, “the fortunate palace,” near the heaven-built town of Akbarabad. It is said that, in his malady, he bestowed all he possessed in gift upon the Durvishes, and the ready money upon the Brahmans of Vichnu, and the like, who never hurt a living being. He delivered garments into the care of one named Muhammed, that this man might distribute them among the poor upon the road of Kachmir and Kabul, where the cold is severe, which Muhammed did; he there collected forage and provisions, which were given to cows, asses, to travellers, and the indigent, because they carry loads; he also confided scientific books to one called Húshíar, that he might give them to doctors devoted to science, and Húshíar so disposed in Agra of the works which he had received, and sent them to his friends. During his mortal malady he was constantly engaged in reading the Alhíyát shafá, “the hymns of recovery,” and in translating the Asúlújía,[148] “Theologia,” and he sang cheerfully: “I believe in the divinity of the most high Creator, the prophecy of intelligence, the Imámet of the spirit, the heaven as a Kiblah, and the liberation of philosophy, and I detest the free-thinkers, and other religions.” At the moment of death, he pronounced the names of the self-existent Being, of the intelligence and spirit, and of the stars, and the by-standers also joined him in chorus, until he had left the mortal garment. His life exceeded one hundred years, and he had preserved his strength and his faculties entire. He gave these directions to Húshíar, that after death to be burnt would be preferable, but, if the people prevented it, Húshíar should bury him with his feet to the West, as all distinguished personages, such as Aristotle and his followers, repose in the same way. Húshíar executed his will, and also, according to his direction, burnt at the head of his tomb, during a whole week, every day and every night, a lamp to the honor of the star which at that time ruled over him, and distributed the food and raiment which are appropriated to that star among the Brahmans and necessitous, who all prayed to render the star propitious, in order that the soul of Hakím Kámrán might be united with the pure spirits. Húshíar went afterwards to Agra, and I saw a book in the hand-writing of Húshíár, in which was stated, that he, after Kámrán’s death, saw him in a dream clothed in a fine garment, and sitting by the side of the lord Mashterí, “Jupiter.” Húshíar asked him: “How camest thou to this place?” He answered: “The pure spirits, when they saw me free from worldly desires, drew me to them, and by the aid of their intercession, I was made one of the angels.”
The creed of the Hakíms Hírbed and Manír, with regard to the reality of inspired persons, was, that these celebrated men were perfect sages, and masters of an excellent condition; by their words and deeds they reached the state of perfection, on which account they treated mysterious questions relative to theoretical and practical wisdom with the confidence of pure truth; but for the sake of the vulgar, they used a typical and allegorical language, leaving it to other sages, the able chiefs and saints of their persuasion, to explain the law and the religion: this is the creed of philosophers.
The prophets of Persia, such as Abád, Zardusht, and the like, are called Vakhshúr; the apostles of the Yonán and of Rome are Aghásá daimún (Agatho demon);[149] Hermes, and the like, whom they name “possessors of fame;” the prophets of the Hindus, such as Ráma, Krishna, and the like, are entitled Ava társ; and the prophets of the Turks, such as Aghríres and Aghúrkhan, are distinguished by the name of Abulmas. The prophets of Islám, from Adam, the father of mankind, to Muhammed, are called resul. In like manner the prophets of other nations were distinguished by titles such as buzerg, “great,” or sádik, “pure.” They said: it is right that no other prophet should come after the one: which is signified by the seal of the prophetic mission, that is, “the utmost dignity of mankind.” Ibn Makanâ Sáheb-i-Mah Kashgher,[150] also was reckoned among the prophets, and such was the controversy which arose about the head-khaláfet, the distinction, precedence, and rejection of the lords among each other, that it has not yet been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. They said that there were four celebrated doctors; if a controversy arose, this is nothing less than what is proper to mankind, as no man can be free from the attributes of his race; on that account they abstained from reviling the case of Môávíah, but they said that he was a great personage. But the creed of the Hakím Dostur was, that the prophets of the Persians, Hindus, Yonans, Turks, and Arabs, and such people, were promoting the establishment of a sort of knowledge and of some sorts of sciences; the philosophers, exerting themselves by the aid of the reasoning faculty, become founders of theoretical schools, and also lend their assistance with respect to theology. The scope of an Hakím is, that his reason may direct its laborious efforts towards all quarters, and, inasmuch as may be in its power, to bear a resemblance to the Lord God, the self-existent Being. The utmost endeavor of the prophets is, that the order of the world may be evident to them, so that they may, according to this order, arrange the affairs of society. But this order of affairs cannot be exempt from the excitement of desire, terror, and dubiousness; although, certainly, whatever the masters of law and religion have combined into a system, may be explained by what certain eminent philosophers have exhibited. Among other things it is said, that the world is very ancient, and its eternity without beginning and end indubitable. In the sequel, a learned Hakím raises pretensions to inspiration, excites others to the adoption of a creed which he endeavors to render firm. But Hakím Kámzán assented to no inspiration, he said:—In ancient times, sages established customs and regulations for the order of the world, and, as long as the inhabitants conformed to them, there was not the least oppression in their doings; until finally they collected into a nation, worshipping pleasure and bent upon worldliness; then arose concealment of truth from the people, union by the strength of parentage, combination by fraud, and enveigling by means of enchantment and the like, by which idiots were drawn into a net. When those who implored protection were seized by the oppressors, helpless, the prudent among them bent down their heads; because when the strong become masters of the day, men submit to them on account of their being superior to the weak people, who have timid souls; thus they accepted their dominion by force, and contention ensued in the world. Moises was held to be an enchanter, and called rabí Moises; rabí being the name given by the Jews to the learned; Jesus was accounted a physician, and entitled Hakím Jesus, son of Joseph, the carpenter; Muhammed bore the name of “the prophet of God, the king of the Arabian poets;”[151] Krishna went under the name of Avátar chahnál,[152] that is, the “incarnation of the lewd, and devoted to women.” And thus the celebrated prophets were distinguished. The intelligent know well that the most high Creator does not articulate words, but the sacred dictates which the vulgar receive are to be thus considered—that, if those books which they call “heavenly,” such as the Koran, were really the words of God, which were delivered in time past to our ancestors, such as to Adam and Noah, it would be right that they should be also communicated in time to come to future generations, expressing, viz.: that in such a time and year, and month and week, on such a day, at such an hour, a person shall appear, in such a town and such a street, tribe sprung from such a one, with such a name, and such an aspect. But such an account is not to be found in the Koran; it is only by the interpretation of his followers that many traditions about Muhammed are current. The same may be said of other prophets. For if it were stated in the book of Jesus, that at the determined time, as we have just shown, there shall appear a person whose name in Arabia shall be Muhammed, sprung from the father Abd ’ulla and the mother Amíná, from the children Hashem and Korésh, inhabitants of Mecca; and he shall be the last prophet of the age; all the Christians should acknowledge and believe in him. And in the same manner there should have been, in the book of Moses, a prediction of Jesus, and a further account of events which took place at his appearance. But this is not the case, except that the followers of Jesus seize, in figurative language, on whatever may suit their persuasion. Thus it happened that one of the Afgháns applied the words: “Say, there is but one God,” to himself.
He further said: “If I agree to their prophetic mission, whence was it shown that this people were prophets? for, if pursuant to their claim to prophetic office and legislation, we adopt what at every time is held out as legal, why are their fundamental articles of faith in contradiction to each other with respect to the knowledge of the self-existent Being? Thus, in the Pentateuch of the Jews, God has a body, and corporeity; and the Christians believe Jesus a son of God, and the Muhammedans according to the Koran believe God to be without an equal, and not to be described. If God be similar to what he is represented in all these books, he is not unlike a man who does not know himself, and at each time gives an account of himself, which he varies, and of which he repents. If they say, the real sense is the same, the figurative expression and interpretation only change, it is not less evident, that the books and the prophets have been sent for the purpose of leading men to God, and not to instigate them to rebel; or, after having proclaimed his word, to combat each other by controversy. He commands the sacrifice of their blood and property for the common good. And if they say, the servants cannot disagree about the knowledge of God, why then is it written in the books that they must know him in that, and in no other way? and why do we perceive such a contradiction in the deeds, and frequently in the words, of the celebrated prophets? The intelligent man can no longer recognise them by their noble actions.
Somebody said to the Hakím Kámrán: “Give me in substance the belief of the Sonnites and the Shíâhs.” He replied: “The creed of the Sonnites is, after the praise of God the most high, and the attributes of the prophet, blessing and mercy of God upon all transgressors and sinners, men, and women; and the creed of the Shíâhs is after the praise of God, and the attributes of the prophet, the curse of God upon all believers, men and women; and Muselmans, men and women.” And he had much to say about this subject.
Abu ’l Hassan Taheraní, surnamed Isfahán, son of Gháib báig, surnamed Iâtimad eddoulah, became a follower of Kámrán, by the persuasion of the friends of the latter, as the author of this book perceived in a letter, written by Rafiâ ’l Kader to Hakím Kámrán, in which the former declared himself the disciple of Kámrán, whom he called his master, and addressed in a suitable style. Thus was also Zemán Baig born, in Arghún, his father, a native of Kabul, was surnamed Mahábet Khán, who, by his gravity, bravery, and wisdom, acquired a high rank among the Omras of the Indian Sultans. He was in a friendly connection with Kámrán, and in the letters which the mighty khan wrote to Hakím Kámrán, he showed him great respect, and professed himself his disciple. It is said that, at a banquet, Mahábet Khan declared the saying of the prophetic asylum—
“I was a prophet, and Adam in water and mud—”
to be without sense. Further, whoever acknowledges the prophetic mission of Muhammed accounts it to begin after the prophet’s fortieth year, and whoever does not acknowledge it, is free in this opinion. Muhammed said: “I was a prophet, and Adam in water and mud.” Kámrán went seldom into the houses of this sect, and kept himself at a distance from them. When, yielding to a thousand entreaties, he visited them, he changed his usual dress, sat only a moment with them, and rose immediately; he never ate with them, nor accepted he any thing from one of this sect. When asked upon his keeping himself at a distance from them, he said: “The spirit of brutishness and savagery holds its mastership over you, and I cannot always associate with brutes and beasts of prey.” He remained even a long time without seeing them. But Abd ul rasul frequented him, and, conformably to Kámrán’s advice, detached himself from worldly desires, and crushed anger and lust in his mind. On that account Hakím Kámrán, having conceived friendship for him, taught him first the rules of grammar and etymology, then the Sherah Shamsíyah, “Commentary upon Shamsiyah;”[153] besides the physiological part of the Commentary upon Hedáyah al hikmet, “the Guide to Science,” composed by Hossain, son of Mâyin eddin Maibedí;[154] further, matters relating to the Commentary upon Hikmet al âin, “the Science of what is “essential,”[155] and afterwards the Commentary upon Tajeríd,[156] “Divestment of what is accessory,” with marginal notes; also the physiological part of the Commentary upon Isháret,[157] “Indications (allegorical, symbolical, and others);” and, finally, the Ilahyat shafa, “the Hymns of Recovery.” Thus also, Mulla Yacúb read with him the Taherir, “Writings” of Euclid, and a Commentary upon Tazkerah,[158] “Commemoration;” and was attached to him. Likewise Mír Sheríf, having read the Mutavel,[159] “Development,” and the Tafsir, “Explanation,” of Baízavi,[160] resolved to follow his school; and, what is more astonishing, Mulla Usám read with him the illustrations and demonstrations which are in the fundamentals of Hanifa’s religious law, and adopted his faith. But Mulla Sultan, although he acknowledged his high rank of excellence, never adhered to him. And Hakím Kámrán said: “What is not understood, becomes a subject of dispute.” Thus Mulla Sultán followed with intense application the study of the soul, and the chain of demonstrations relative to it, but he said: “I am not able to understand its nature, and am, in that respect, like a parrot.” Among the able disciples of Hakím Kámrán was Hakím Mershed, who passed through all degrees of science before him, and possessed his entire confidence.[161] Hakím Kámrán was wont at that time, when he gave lessons of science, to wash his head, hands, and feet, to burn sweet perfumes, and to turn his face towards the sun, in which his disciples imitated him. He did not confer his instruction upon every body, but refused it to the depraved, the oppressors, and the voluptuous; nor did he hold intercourse with low persons.
[148] اسو لوجي is supposed to be one of Aristotle’s works, which is said to have been translated by Abenama, a Saracen, from Greek into Arabic. This translation was found in the library of Damascus, by Franciscus Roseus, and at his request rendered into Latin, by Moses Koras, a Jew, but in a very barbarous style. This interpretation has perhaps never been published. Soon after, or about the same time, Petrus Nicolaus ex Castellaneis Faventinus, a medical man and philosopher, translated the same work from Arabic into Latin; this new version was published with a dedication to Leo X., in 1718, by the above-said Franciscus Roseus. As it did not appear a sufficiently neat composition, Jacobus Carpentarius Claromontanus Bellovacus, a Parisian philosopher, who was ignorant of Arabic, published, in 1571, an emendated edition, or rather a meta-phrase of this work, under the title: Aristotelis libri XIV de secretiore parte divinæ sapientiæ secundum Ægyptios. Some preferred to the latter the more exact although less elegant version of Petrus Nicolaus, new editions of which appeared in 1591 and 1593—(see upon this subject the Bibliotheca Græca of Fabricius, edit. of Harles, vol. III. pp. 278-279, and the preface of the edition of Carpentarius). The Arabic text of the work is in the Royal library of Paris, under the title: ثيو لوجيا.
[151] ملک اشعرای عرب. This is not quite correct: Muhammed introduces in his Koran (ch. XXXVI. v. 69) the Lord saying: “We have not taught Muhammed the art of poetry; nor is it expedient for him to be a poet. This book is no other than an admonition from God, and a perspicuous Koran.” The Arabian prophet, according to the best accounts, liked to hear poetry read, but never perused any himself, although he frequently spoke in the metre called رجز rijez. The only Arabic verse which he often repeated was the celebrated one from the poem of Lebid:
Is not every thing, except God vain?
Aisha, his favorite consort, declares in the traditions, that he hated verses, and never recited one correctly. One day he attempted to quote the known verse of an Arabian poet:
The days bring to thee news that thou dost not know;
And some man brings news the spirit of which he doth not understand.
But he altered somewhat the order of the last words. “Prophet of God!” said Abu bekr, “the verse runs not so.” Muhammed answered: “I am no poet.”—(Gemäldesaal Mosl. Herrscher, Iter Band, Seite 230.)
[152] छलन chhalana, “tricking, deceiving.”
[153] Shamsiyah, “the sun’s course, ecliptic,” is the title of a treatise composed upon logic by Nagmeddin Ali Ben Omar al Kazvíní, who was a disciple of Nusir-eddin al-Túsí. The said work is dedicated to Khogiah Shams-eddîn Muhammed, perhaps one of the twelve princes called Sarbedarian, who reigned thirty-five years in the town of Sebzvar, in Khorassan, and in other places which they had conquered.—(Herbelot.)
[154] Maibed is a town of Persia, the native place of Kází Mir Hossaín Ibn Mâyin eddin, above-mentioned. He is one of the commentators of the work above quoted, which is divided into three parts, comprising logic, physiology, and theology, and was composed by the Shaikh Asir eddin Mifazzel, son of Omar al Abheri. The author died in the year of the Hejira 660 (A. D. 1261).
[155] The author of Hikmet al âin was Najem eddin Abu ’l Hassan Ali, son of Muhammed, surnamed Dabiran al Katebí al Kazvíni. He was a disciple of the celebrated Nasir-eddin Tusi, and died in the year of the Hejira 675 (A. D. 1276).
[156] We find, in the Bibliographical Dictionary of Haji Khalfa, several titles of books beginning by the word Tajerid.
[157] There exists a work entitled Isháret, composed by Asir-eddin Mifazzel, before-mentioned.
[158] The Tazkerah was written by Nasir-eddin Tusi.
[159] The Mutavel denotes a Commentary, the author of which is Sâad-eddin Taftarani (or “Tagtarani,” according to Herbelot), upon the work Meftah al alúm, “the Key of Sciences,” and which is entitled Talkhís al Meftah, “Explanation of the Key.”
[160] Baizaví is the surname of Nasir eddin Abu Said Abdalla Ben Omar, a native of the town Baizah, in the province of Fars, about forty-five miles distant from Shiraz. He was a Kází, “judge,” of the last-named town, from which he passed to Tauris, where he died in the year of the Hejira 685 or 692 (A. D. 1286 or 1292). He composed a literal Commentary in two volumes upon the Koran.
[161] Here a play upon a name is omitted: جون كامران بہ تجرد کامران است: as Kámrán, in business, is Kámrán, “fortunate.”