Gate the ninetieth. Reciting the Eshem Vehu[510] is attended with countless merits: it is necessary to do this at the time of eating bread, of going to sleep, at midnight, on turning from one side to the other, and at the time of rising up in the morning.
Gate the ninety-first. You must not put off the good work of to-day until the morrow, for God declared thus to Zardusht: “Putting off the duties of this day until the following, brings with it cause of regret. O Zardusht! no one in the world is superior to thee in my sight. For thy sake I have even created it;[511] and princes earnestly desire to diffuse the true faith in thy life-time. From the age of Kaíomars to thine, three thousand years have elapsed;[512] and from thee to the resurrection is a period of three thousand years: thus I have created thee in the middle, as that point is most worthy of admiration. Moreover I have rendered obedient to thee king Gushtasp, the wisest and most prudent sovereign of the age; whose eminence arises from science and perfect morals, not merely from high birth and lineage. I have also given thee a volume such as the Avesta, and in like manner a perspicuous commentary on it. Expect not that, after thou hast passed away, others will perform good works for thee. Know that Gokhastah or Ahriman has expressly appointed two demons, named Tardiness and Procrastination, for putting off the performance of good works to a remote and future period.”
Gate the ninety-second. Whatever is polluted by a dead body must be purified by Pávyáb water according to this rule: gold once; silver twice; tin and copper thrice; steel four times; stone six times; earthen and wooden vessels must be thrown away. Pávyáb signifies to wash with certain forms of prayer.[513]
Gate the ninety-third. Shew vigilant attention to the fire of Adar Behrám, and to his attendant (genii); light up the fire every night and cast perfumes into it.
Note: Var (Adar) Behrám[514] is the name of the angel, the lord of victory, and the bestower of triumph.[515]
Gate the ninety-fourth. The Gáhámbars, which are six in number, must be observed, because the Almighty created the world in six periods or times, the commencement of each period having a particular name; in order to celebrate each of which commencements, they pass five days in festivity and rejoicing. According to the statement in the Zand, the righteous Hormuzd created the whole world in the space of one year.
The first Gáhámbar is called Mídúyzaram, as on the day Khúr (the 11th of the month) Ardibehisht, God commenced the creation of the heavens, which was terminated in forty-five days.
The second Gáhambár, called Midyúshaham, began on the day of Khúr, in the old month of Tir, in sixty days from which God completed the creation of the waters.
The third Gáhambár, Pitishahím, commences on the day of Ashtád (the 26th) of the old Shahrivár, in seventy-five days from which God terminated the creation of the earth.
The fourth Gáhambár, called Ayad sahrím, begins on the Ashtád of the old month of Mihr, in thirty days from which the creation of all plants and trees was completed.