They also hold, that the Imám Hossain from state to state descended from Moses, and that Yezíd (his murderer) descended from Pharaoh. Moses, in his time, drowned Pharaoh in the waters of the Nile, and obtained the victory over him; but in the latter state Moses, having become Hossain, and Pharaoh, Yezíd, the latter did not give to Hossain the water of the Ferát, “Euphrates,” but with the water of the sharp steel, deprived his body of life.
These men further assert that, whatever sorts of minerals, vegetables, and animals are black, were formerly black-faced men, and whatever are white, were men with a white skin.
These sectaries all venerate the sun, and profess that he is the Kíblah; and the door of the Kâbah facing the sun refers to this meaning, that the sun is the true Kíblah; they have a prayer which they chant with their face turned towards the sun.
They maintain that, when the period of Ajem takes place, men will direct their road to God, and they venerate these men, and hold human nature to be divine. Their salutation is: Alla, alla. When the period of Ajem is completed, men will remain, and they think that the men whom we venerate were superior in rank to those who now exist; on which account the latter continue to form idols similar to men, and worship them. The worship of idols will prevail, until the period of Ajem returns, and this will be its mode of continuance.
Mahmúd called himself a Váhed, and declared himself to be the Mahdy promised, whose appearance was predicted by the prophet; he said, that the religion of Muhammed is cancelled, and that now the true faith is that of Mahmúd: as was said:
“The time is come; the accomplishment of sayings is Mahmúd:
Whatever reproach the Arab threw upon Ajem, it is over.”
His disciples are dispersed in the four quarters the world, and in the whole country of Iran a great number of them resides, but they dare not make themselves known, because the King, now the inhabitant of heaven, Shah Abás, son of Shah Khodábendah Sáfaví, put many of them to death. The belief of the Mahmúdíán is, that Shah Abás, when he had met Taráb and Kamál, who were perfect Váhadis, and taken information from them, wanted to publish them as his own, and on that account killed them both. They subjoin that, although he had great pretensions, yet he never attained perfection; because, on account of the world and ostentation, he had destroyed the perfect. The author of this work heard from an Amín: “Shah Abás was a perfect Amín, and killed whomever he did not find well founded in this creed. Thus, he admitted me to his society, and desired me to remain in Iśfahán; when I did not consent to it, he granted me the expenses of my journey to India.” It is said, that in these times Shah Abás came on foot to visit the place of Hossein’s martyrdom, that is, Kerhála, where he said to Taráb: “I feel pain from my foot journey.” Taráb answered: “This is owing to the inconsistency of thy natural intellect; for if the Imám for whose sake thou hast performed the journey joined God, why seekest thou the nether place of his martyrdom; and if he has not joined God, what hast thou to hope from him? Find thou a living Imám.” The Shah asked: “Who is the living Imám?” The saint answered: “I.” The king replied: “Well, I shall fire a ball from a gun upon thee; if it takes no effect, I will follow thee.” Taráb gave this answer: “Your Imám, Rizá, died by the grain of a grape; how shall I resist the ball of a gun?” At last the Shah fired upon and killed him. As Kamál openly professed the creed of Taráb, the king associated him with the latter.[19]
It is reported, that one of the Imanás came to Hosséin Khan, of Shám, and having converted him to his creed, he heard the following speech from him: “One day, when during the Maheram they read the history of the martyrdom of Hossein, and he too (Hossein Khan) was weeping, Shah Abás said: ‘You, why do you cry, as if it were the Shámlús (that is to say, the natives of Shám) who did the action?’ The answer was: ‘We do not cry on account of Hossein: but because from our number also fine youths were killed.’”
“With the same eyes with which you look on us,