Another sect adopted this doctrine with pious austerities. Afterwards, a division of this sect made an application of this doctrine as necessary to the Koran, and took care not to maintain any thing contrary to the companions of the revelation, and these are called Sofis matsherâîn, “orthodox Sofis.” Another sect did not believe this necessary, and these are entitled Hukmá âshrákîn, to whom Aflátún (Plato)[564] who was the preceptor of Arastú, furnished lessons and instructions of piety.
Another class adopted this doctrine with a view to the precepts of the possessors of holiness, and made it a necessary condition that in all questions about customs, in which reason is likely to err, they should strictly adhere to the sayings of the possessors of holiness; and these are called Akhbárîn. The companions of the pure Imáms (the blessing and peace of God be upon them!) all observed this rule, and the Imáms (peace be upon them!) prohibited them the science of scholastic theology, and the science of the fundamentals of religion and law, which have been collected according to the views of the intelligent; and likewise they prohibited the science of jurisprudence, which has been composed as an abstract of opinions, for this reason: because, safe from error, one is inclosed in what is right by the words of the possessors of holiness, and because many contradictions and discordancies occur in the three sciences.[565] As it is evident and clear that there are no contradictions in truth, so certainly one of the different opinions is false. The Imáms also instructed their companions in the science of scholastic dialectics, in the science of the fundam etals of religion and of law, and in jurisprudence; but these three sciences are, in many of the questions, not without contradiction with the sciences which the professors of common religion have combined. The lords of the temple (peace be upon them!) have declared, “that in the three sciences, as received by the generality of the people, truth is that which from us is come to them, and error is whatever originate from their conceptions.” The doctrine of the Akhbárîn, in after times called Gháibet sâry, “the minor absence,” which by some is reckoned among the traditions of the seventy-and-three, and by others among the traditions of the seventy four sects, became diffused among the learned of the Imámíyat; although it was also known among the first of the Ghâibet[566] Kaberî, “the great absence,” and the companions of the Imáms (peace be upon them!) after having received the three sciences from the people of the temple (blessing be upon them!), formed a collection of them in a book according to their direction; it was to this that the people of the temple referred in their belief and actions, until the time of the Ghâibet Kaberî of the Shíahs, and this book, by way of continuation, was brought down to the times of the moderns; the entire work, which was compiled by the trusty friend of the right faith, Muhammed ben Yâkúb al Kalbiy,[567] (may his tomb be sanctified!) comprehends the three sciences.
Further, when Muhammed ben Ahmed Aljanáîd, who was eminent in analogy,[568] and Hassen ben Hassáîn ben Alí, ben Abí âkîl, a lofty scholastic theologian, appeared, and were violent jurists; in their time, the circle of teaching and learning the common religion being in the colleges and schools, they studied the book of theology, and the book of the fundamentals of the common religion; but as they did not possess all the expertness required for the science of the fundamentals of religion and for that of theology, which were derived by tradition from the Imáms, they adapted to the common religion some among the subjects of scrutiny in the science of scholastic theology, and in that of the fundamentals of theology: and made choice of a doctrine which was a mixture of the doctrine of the Akhbárîns and of that of the common religion, and so laid the foundation of rational dialectics.[569] After them, Shaikh Mafíd, “the beneficent Shaikh,” (the mercy of God be with him!) that is, the Shaikh Abú Jâfr, on account of heedlessness and of the good opinion of those two eminent men, conformed himself to them, and he formed, in scholastic theology and in fundamental jurisprudence, a system of doctrine, mixing with that of the common religion that of the Akhbarîn, and that of the Aśulîn, “solid reasoners;” on that account, the learned of the Imámíyat sect divided into Akhbárîn and Asulîn. Likewise Alámah hallî, “the most learned ornament,”[570] that is, Shaikh Jemál eddin mátaher, has exhausted to the utmost this subject, in the discussion about prophecy and unity, and at last the sharh movákef,[571] “explanation of the stations” and the origins of the book of religions and attributes have also been elucidated by it. When shaikh Mafíd, istáz-îlm alihadî, “the teacher of the science of direction,” that is, Saíd Mírtasí, lived, and was the istáz rais al taifah, “chief teacher of the sect,” this religion was diffused among the learned of the Jmámîyat, until the time of the most learned of the East and the West, Alámah-hallí; and as, penetrating into the depth of knowledge, he, Alámah-halli, surpassed in the sciences Ebn Janaíd, and Ebn abî âkîl, and the shaikh Mafîd; they gave a greater expansion and currency to the mixt religion in the book of scholastic and fundamental theology, and in the controversial dialectics relative to faith and law, established the mixt religion. As the ahádís,[572] “traditions” of the common religion, on the subjects of revelation and unity, were not exempt from adulterations, they published the series of traditions in their own book, divided into four parts. And Alámah-hallî (the mercy of God be with him!) on account of heedless confidence divided into four parts the traditions of his book, and the book of the sect of the Mahakah, “the asserters of truth,” in such a manner as was also manifested by the Ilm ilahadî, “the science of the direction” (revelation), and the ra-is (chief) of the sect, and sikat al islám, “the trusty friend of the right faith,” and head of the Shaiks, Alsadik, “speaker of truth,” that is, Muhammed Ebn Bábúyah[573] Alkamî; and others: hence the whole tribe Mahakah professed this as true, and, after Alámah-hally, the shaikh Shahîd awl, “the first witness,” that is, the shaikh Muhammed maki, made it the rule of his religion, and laid the foundation of his literary works upon it; after them, the sultan Almadkakín, “the sultan of the refiners” (acute investigators), shaikh Alí (the mercy of God be upon him!) conformed himself to them, and Al âalem al rabánî, Shahid-alsánî, “the learned of the world, the doctor of divinity, the second witness,” that is, the shaikh Zin eddin “the ornament of the faith,” Jabel al âamlî (the mercy of God Almighty be with him!) took also the rule of this religion. This was until the time arrived for the learned of the moderns, in the science of Muhammedan traditions, and the science of biographies and characters of persons to whom the traditions were handed down, and the most pious among them, the master of the whole in the whole, that is, Mirza Muhammed of Asterabâd (may the light of God illume his tomb!). He said:[574] “At last, as a sequel to this, he (Jabel) instructed me, a humble individual, in all the sciences relative to the traditions, and gave me this injunction: ‘Revive thou the religion of the Akhbárîn, and if any doubt arise, that creates an opposition to this creed, discard that doubt.’ And this doctrine has fixed itself in my mind. But it was decreed by the Lord of Glory that it should be manifested through my pen. Afterwards, having received all the praised sciences from the greatest of the learned, I, humble individual, during some years staying in the splendid town of Medina, bowed my head under the collar of meditation, and humbled myself at the door of the temple of the Lord of Glory; I sought refuge with the spirits of the sacred place of the companions of prophecy, and I repeated afresh the sacred sayings, and the book of the common religion; that is, that of the opposers to the Imámíyat, and the special book, that is, that of the Imámíyat; in order to perfect myself in penetration and meditation; so that, by the favor of the Lord of Glory, and by the benedictions of the prince of prophets (Muhammed), and of the pure Imáms (the blessing and peace of God be upon them all!) by the direction of him, to whom obedience is due, I conformed to what was right, and succeeded in composing the Faváid madaníy, ‘The Useful Notes, by a Citizen of Medina.’” Subquently, Muhammed Asterabádí had the honor of being instructed by the most noble of this sect; afterwards they approved his composition, and congratulated the author upon it. (The mercy of God be upon them!)
Among the Imámíahs it is decided that the Imám Muhammed, son of Hassan Askery,[575] is still alive, but concealed from view; they divide the time of his absence into two epochs;[576] namely, “the minor and the greater absence.” The minor absence, which extends to seventy-three years, falls into the time of Mâtemed Abásí,[577] in the year of the Hejira 266 (A. D. 879); the greater absence took place in the time of Rásí, the son of Mukteder Abásî.[578] The distinction between these two epochs is that, during the minor absence, there were a registrar and delegates as intermediates between the pious persons of the religion and the Imáms, whilst, during the greater absence, the appointing and establishing was broken off. The first Vakîl, “delegate, agent,” was Osman, son of Said ul Umrul Asadi, in the holy place (of Medina); after him, by command of the Imám of the time, his son, Abu Jâfer, took charge of the office, which he held about fifty years; after him came Abu ’l Kásem Hossain Ebn Rúh Ebn Ali Baher Nóubakhtí, who bequeathed his place to Abu’l-Hasan Alî Ebn Muhammed Samírí, and this was the last Vakíl. When he was sick, the Shíâhs asked him: “Who shall after thee be the Vakíl of the holy place?” He wrote his command by a last will, by which he abolished the charge, and the command is as follows:
In the name of the bountiful and merciful God:
O Ali, son of Muhammed Samiri, may God increase the recompense of thy brothers with regard to thee, for thou art dead, and between thee and me there are six days;[579] therefore arrange thy affairs, and propose to nobody to fill thy place after thy death; certainly the complete absence is now accomplished, and no further manifestation shall take place but after the permission of God, the most high. He mentioned it, and this after a long delay, and the obduracy of hearts, and after the filling of the earth with violence. And there shall come from among my people one to be a witness; but he who desires it before the coming forth of a Safiani and the Sihat, he is a deceiver, and ought to be avoided. There is no power and no strength but one God, the most high and most great.
Abul-Hasan died in the middle of Shâbán (the eighth month of the year), in the year of the Hejira 328 (A. D. 939).
It is to be known, that the tradition among the Shiâhs of the Imámiyat-âsulín sect is divided into four parts: sáhíh, “authentic;” hasen, “elegant;” músik, “strong;” and sâíf, “weak.”
An hadís sahih, “an authentic tradition,” is one, the authority of which goes back to mâsúm,[580] according to the narration of an âdil Imám, “a just Imám,” in the description of whom the árbáb-i-hadis, “the masters of history,” have used the word âdil, whether the narrator be one person, or whether there be more than one, provided in the description of them all the same language has been used.
An hadis hasen, “an elegant tradition,” is one, the authority of which goes back, like that of the hadis sahih, to the mâsúm; but, according to the narrative of a venerable Imám, in this way, that although, in regard to the narrator of it, the words sikah âdíl, “trusty and just,” have not come down to us from the historians, yet they have praised him in other words.