In regard to “The Brethren of Sincerity” mentioned above it can be said that the Mohammedans in the East know perfectly well that there exists on earth, among the initiated, a secret hierarchy which governs the whole human race, infidels as well as believers, but that their power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects proceed.
In this hierarchy the supreme dignity is vested in the Khidr. This is a man indeed, but one far elevated above ordinary human nature by his transcendent privileges. Admitted to the Divine Vision, and possessed in consequence of a relative omnipotence and omniscience on earth; visible and invisible at pleasure; freed from the bonds of space and time; by his ubiquitous and immortal powers appearing in various forms on earth to uphold the cause of truth; then concealed awhile from men; known in various ages as Seth, as Enoch, as Elias, and yet to come at the end of time as the Mahdi; this wonderful being is the centre, the prop, the ruler, the mediator of men of ascetic habits and retirement, and as such he is honoured with the name of Kothb, or axis, as being the spiritual pole round which and on which all move or are upheld. Under him are the Aulia, or intimate friends of God, seventy-two in number (some say twenty-four), holy men living on earth, who are admitted by the Kothb to his intimate familiarity, and who are to the rest the sources of all doctrine, authority, and sanctity. Among these again one, pre-eminent above the rest, is qualified by the vicarious title of Kothb-ez-zaman, or axis of his age, and is regarded as the visible depositary of the knowledge and power of the supreme Kothb—who is often named, for distinction’s sake, Kothb el-Akthab, or axis of the axes—and his constant representative amongst men. But as this important election and consequent delegation of power is invisible and hidden from the greater number even of the devotees themselves, and neither the Kothb-ez-zaman nor the Aulia carry any outward or distinctive sign of dignity and authority, it can only be manifested by its effects, and thus known by degrees to the outer world, and even then rather as a conjecture than as a positive certainty.
On the authority of the famous saint of Bagdad, Aboo-Bekr el Kettanée, E. W. Lane[118] states that the orders under the rule of this chief are called Omud (or Owtad), Akhyar, Abdal, Nujaba, and Nukaba, naming them according to their precedence, and remarks that perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called Ashab ed-Darak, that is “Watchmen” or “Overseers.” The Nukaba are three hundred and reside in El-Gharb (Northern Africa to the West of Egypt); the Nujaba are seventy and reside in Egypt; the Abdal are forty and are found in Syria; the Akhyar are seven and travel about the earth; the Omud are four and stand in the corners of the earth. The members are not known as such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often invisible to them. This is most frequently the case with the Kothb, who, though generally stationed at Mekka, on the roof of the Kaaba, is never visible there, nor at any of his other favorite stations, yet his voice is often heard at these places.
Let us add that their great power is supposed to be obtained by self-denial, implicit reliance upon God, from good genii and by the knowledge and utterance of “the most great name.”
Eflaki, the historian, has given us the links of a spiritual series, through whom the mysteries of the dervish doctrines were handed down to and in the line of Jelaludin er Rumi.
Ali communicated the mysteries to the Imam Hasan of Bara, who died A. D. 728. Hasan taught them to Habib, the Persian († A. D. 724) who confided them to Dawud of the tribe Tayyi († A. D. 781) who transmitted them to Maruf of Kerkh († A. D. 818); he to Sirri († A. D. 867) and he to the great Juneyd († A. D. 909). Juneyd’s spiritual pupil Shibli († A. D. 945) taught Abu-Amr Muhammed, son of Ilahim Zajjaj († A. D. 959) and his pupil was Abu-Bekr, son of Abdu-llah of Tus, who taught Abu-Ahmed Muhammed, son of Muhammed Al-Gazzali († A.D. 1111), and he committed those mysteries to Ahmed el-Khatibi, Jelal’s great-grandfather, who consigned them to the Imam Sarakhsi († A. D. 1175). Sarakhsi was the spiritual teacher of Jelal’s father Baha Veled, who taught the Sayyid Burhanu-d-Diu Termizi, the instructor of Jelal.—We shall now proceed with the history.
(To be continued.)
Please note the following correction of previous article: Footnote, page 143, August No. of the Path, should read “Free translation by J. Freeman Clarke.”