The Dabistan Or School Of Manners

Front matter

THfc

DABISTAJN,

MANNERS,

II

the noble society of Musayhma. lie said and enjoined that, after the birth of a son, the first observance is not to approach one's wife ; die woman and man ought lo turn their mind to God, and if one cannot effect it, he ought at least not to see his wife but once a day. According to the second Fanik, it is allowable to have intercourse with another woman, inasmuch as it is another sort of contract. Muhammed Kuli said : " I saw Musaylima repealic edly in dreams, in which he disclosed what was " unknown to me, and said: When by orders of tc Abu-bekr, Musaylima underwent the death of a tc martyr, and other Khalifs were movers of this " event, therefore the Almighty God made them 44 suffer the curse of mankind ; in the same manner " as he threw the Jews, on account of the murder ct of Jesus, into error and perdition.

' ' The murderers of Musaylima are liars and vil- 44 lains, and so are the murderers of Said Al Sha- 4 < haiHamzah." 1

1 Ham/ah was an uncle of Muhammed, and one of the first abettors of the prophet, he \vas killed bv a servant of the Hubcslu race, called Yahshi, in the battle of Bedr fought by Muhammed against the Korei&h, in the thud year of the Hejira (A. D t>24) ; the same Vahbhi killed Miu>a>- hma with the same spear with which he had pierced Hamza (Abul- /to, >ol I. pp 93,213).

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE UEL1GION OF THE VA HAD! A H AND 1MANA , IN FOIR SECTIONS

SECTION! Of the appearance of the Individual Yahcd, and an account

of his person

SECTION II Upon some of the tenets of Yahed SECTION III Upon some of the sayings of Vahed SECTION IV Upon certain customs, forms of speech, and traditions* ot

this sect

SECTION I. Of the appearance of the individual Vahed, and an account of his person

Vahed Mahmiid was born in Masjuan, a village in the country of Gilan. ! He was learned, active, abstinent, austere, and eloquent; he appeared in the year of the Hejira 600 (A. D. 1205-4). 3 It is said

1 A country between the Caspian and Euxme seas.

2 Herbelot mentions (under the article Giogathai Khan, p. 363) a Mo,hmud, surnamed Tardbi, from his native place Tarab, near Bokhara, as an impostor, who by tricks and false miracles gained so many followers as to be able to seize upon the town of Bokhara, and to make war upon the Moghuls, in the year of the Hejira 630 (A. D 1232). This date makes him a contemporary with the Mahmiid of our text, in which, however, nothing more is to be found for enabling us to identify the one with the other. Such was the terror which the name of Mahmud Tarabi inspired, that the Tartars, being led against his camp, were seized by a panic, and look to flight, in which many thousands of them were slaughtered by the thai when Muhammad's body had attained a greater

perfection, from it Mahmtid arose:

44 We shall icsuscitate thee in a place Mahrmid 6 praiseworthy.' "

The meaning of it is this : When in an elemental matter, the energy conjoins in such a manner that by it an exuberance results in the composition of the mineral form ; then it may happen that it assumes such a superior aptness as to invest itsell with a vegetable guise ; \vhen its faculty and fitness gains a further increase, then the animal vest adapts itself to a suitable shape, and becomes worthy, that the elemental matter, fitted for the dignity of a human constitution, converges to such an excellence as to manifest itself in the perfection of mankind. In this manner, the parts of the human body from the appearance of Adam were progressing in purity, until they attained the dignity of a Muhammed, who is the top of the ladder. In this time, as the perfection and purity advanced , Mahmud appeared. On that account it was said :

u From Muhammed is the flight to Mahmud

"As in the former there is less, and in the latter more (perfection)."

pursuing soldiers of Mahmiid, whilst he himself had been tilled in his camp, by a landom shot of an arrow from the Tartarian army. But his death remained concealed, and his friends spread the rumor of his voluntary but temporary disappearance, His brothers, Muhammed and All, were put at the head of the party, which was soon after overthrown by the Moghuls.

And the words which the lord of the prophetic asylum, Muhammed, addressed to All :

' I and Ah proceed from one light , thy flesh is my flesh, and thy body ** is my body."

have this meaning : that the purity and energy of the bodily parts were collected in the prophets and the saints ; and from them the bodies of Muhammed and Ali were kneaded, in such a manner that the chosen parts ofMuhammed's and All's bodies being conjoined and mixed together, the person of Malimud was formed.

SECTION II. AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEIR TENETS. The author of this book heard from a person who was one of the safd, " pure" Durvishes, from the Burvish Bakai Vahed, from the Durvish Ismail, and irom Mizza Taki, from Shaikh Latef ilia, and Shaikh Shahab, who belonged to the Imana, what follows : Any single person is a being which longs after earth ; but other elements also exist with an abhorrence of earth. These sectaries consider the sun as the spirit of fire, and call it the Kabah of worship, the fire- temple of obedience to the holy being. Hakim Khakani says :

l< Kabah of the traveller of heaven,

" zemzem, l sacred well of fire to the world."

1 Zemzem is the name ot a famous \vell at Mecca. According to the

They hol<l the heaven to be air, and the moon to he the spirit of water. They agree upon transmigration in die following manner : when a man dies and is buried, the component parts of his body manifest themselves in the shape of minerals or vegetables, until the latter become the food of animals, or serve as aliment to mankind. These sectaries subjoin: in the food may reside intelligence and action ; for the dispersed ingredients of a body are in the food; intelligence and action collect all in

Muhammedans, it was formed from the source which. God made appear in favor of Ismail and Hagar, his mother, whom Abraham drove from his house, and obliged to retire to Arabia When afterwards the patriarch came to visit his banished son Ismail, and built the square temple, called Kabah, he bestowed upon him the possession of it and the surroundingcountry, since called Mecca. This place became an object of contest between Ismail's posterity and the Arabian tribe of Jorhamides. The latter, after having possessed themselves of it, were attacked by the former, but before yielding it, they threw the sacred black stone, with the two gazelles of massive gold which an Arabian king had presented to the temple, into the well, and then completely filled it up. So it remained until the time of an ancestor of Muharnmed, called Abdal mothleh; he was admonished by an heavenly voice to clear the well, the situation of which uas at the same time indicated to him. This was near the idols Assat and Neilah, which were first to be removed, in spite of their adorers, the Koraishites. The latter, having ceded the well, claimed to share the treasuie which Abdal mothleb had found in it. The new contest was tobe decided by Ebn Said, a famous prophet, who lived on the confines of Syria. Upon the way to him, through a desert, when both parties were dying of thirst, a fountain which sprung up beneath the foot of Abdal raothleb's camel brought about a reconciliation between them ; the well was cleared; the treasure found was couseciatcd to the temple, \ihich in after times gained so much celebrity. iMerbelot after Khondevmr.)

one place, where * they experience no dispersion, although the conformation of the body may be disjoined ; whether in the producing of a mineral, a vegetable, an animal, or a man.* 1 They do not agree upon the existence of a rational unsubstantial soul. They know of no heaven without the elements, and believe the necessary original principle to be a point of earth. Instead of Bismilla hirrehma mrrehim, " in the name of the bountiful and merciful God," they write ct Istedin ba ne fseg "' %llaz% la illah /wi, u I assist myself of thy essence which alone is God ;" and instead of Uysa kamilhh shay a, c< nothing is like it;" they say Ana merkeb almabm, " I am the vehicle of him who explains the " truth/'

SECTION 111. UPON SOME OF THE SAYINGS OF VA'HED. The Mwdn, c balance," is a book which Vahed composed with many others ; it is distinguished by the word naskh and " treatise ;" and each naskh and

1 In ih& translation of this obscure passage between the two asterisks (edit of Calcutta, p 375, 1. 17, 18) I followed the manuscript of Oude, which reads a little differently:

JUJ U treatise has a particular name. In the Mizan, which is reputed among the naskhs, it is stated, that the materials of the world existed from the very beginning, which signifies from the first appearance of afrdd, " rudimental units (monades?)/' which are primordial, that is to say, the root of the before-said state, until the lime when these rudimental units, tempered together, became vegetables ; thence rose animals, which are called dabtah ul ares, " the rep- " tiles of the world/' Thus it existed until man was formed. The first mentioned state might have extended to sixteen thousand years ; so that eight thousand years of the said number may be the period of Arabia, which is the superior, and eight thousand years the period of Ajem (Persia), which is the inferior period. In the sequel, when the said world, which is the era of the first mentioned rudimental units, had been so constituted as to admit the formation of man; then the duration of life, comprising the period of man, was to be also sixteen thousand years ; of which eight thousand years should revolve for eight perfect prophets of Arabia, and other eight thousand years for eight perfect teachers of Ajem. Further, when the cycle of the two formations shall be completed, then the turn of the fundamental units is to reappear. After twice the said eight thousand, that is, sixteen thousand years, according to simple computation, when a perfect cycle of mankind and the world, in sixty-four thousand years, l on conditions exterior and interior, manifest and hidden, shall have been completed, then an entire period shall have received the seal.

SECTION IV. ON CERTAIN CUSTOMS, FORMS OF SPEECH, AND TRADITIONS OF THIS SECT. Mahmud has treatises and rules conformable to the law of the prophet ; but he interpreted the Koran according to his own creed. Of his established customs are the following : One living in solitude is called vahed, lt recluse." 2

1 The period of rudimental units, vegetables, and

reptiles . , 16,000 yeats.

The period of mankind . 16,000

Both periods 32,000

Multiplied by . .... 2

Total . . . 64,000 years.

2 It is not clear whether above is meant a hermit, or a monk of a distinct order Monachism is not sanctioned by the strict rule of Islam, but it appears to be the natural spontaneous growth of Asia. In the first year of the Hejira (A. D. 622) forty-five citizens of Mecca associated ^ith forty-five inhabitants of Medina in a sort of confraternity, and pledged themselves to community of property, and to a regular daily performance of religious practices in a spirit of penitence and mortification : they >\ ere called Sufis, of ^hom hereafter. Abu bekr and All formed and presided over similar congregations. The latter conferred the presidency of it, under the mysterious name tfKhilafet, upon Hassan Bas'ri ( mentioned m vol. II p. 389, note 1). Some of their successors deviated from the rules of this first establishment, and, m the course of time, a multitude of monastic orders >\ere founded, each headed by a chief called

Praises are due to ilie man devoted to this state, whose whole life is spent in holiness, poverty, and retirement ; who feels no inclination lor connexion ; takes little, and no more than necessary, food ; such a man will rise to perfection, and become a ' c vahed," attaining the divine dignity which leads to that of a " teacher." If the pious person feels himself inclined to connexion with a woman, let him enjoy her once in his whole life ; if he cannot otherwise, once in one year; if he requires more, once in forty days ; if this be not enough, once in a month ; if still more, once in a week.

A vahed is reported to have given the following information: When one descends from the state of a man to the state of an irrational animal, or from that to a vegetable, or from a vegetable becomes a mineral; in this manner, by reaction of impressions and dispositions, he receives in each state a mark (ma/is), which he bears from formation to formation:

" Fear the intelligence of the believer, because he sees by the light " of God."

JHr or Shaikh. One of the most celebrated orders was that founded m the year of the Hejira 37 (A D 657) by Uweis Kami, a native of Karn, in Yemen. The most distinguished m the Ottoman empire are thirtytwo in number, founded between the years of the Hejira 449 and 1164 (A. D. 776 and 1750). Three of them descend from the congregation ol Abu bekr, and the rest from that of All fSee Tableau general de I' Empire othoman, tome IV me , l re partie, par d'Ohsson, p, 617 et seq.)

Mahs ' in the dictionary is interpreted ' a coin- " puter," but in the idiom of this tribe it signifies (as just said) that every individual, in his disposition and action, bears a vestige of the disposition of a former state. It is a part of their persuasion, that, when an individual enters for the first time in a society, the name of whatever in the three kingdoms of nature he first brings upon his tongue, is supposed to be the ihsa, or " mark," that in a former state he had been the very thing the name of which had fallen from his tongue.

These sectaries hold, that pilgrims exercise the profession of cheats, wearing a garment marked with stripes, which they call the vest of Kerbala ; and that they practise but hypocrisy and deceit. When, according to their low disposition, they descend to the state of brutes, they become animals, which the Hindus call Galhari, ' 4 squirrel ; " and when transformed into vegetables, they become striped pumpkins, or weak jujube-trees ; when they undergo die transformation into minerals, they are onyxes. In this sense this sect interprets the maks, or "mark." Lawyers and governors, who wash hands and mouth, friends of white garments, be-

1 (jssr* mahs and Ls-J ihsa, are demed from the same root, xaa* has, u making an impression," ihsa is interpreted in Richardson's Diet., new edit., " numbering, computing."

conic geese, which at every moment plunge their head into water ; in the state of vegetables, they assume the form of sticks for rubbing teeth, of readingsticks, and of mats to cover the place of prayer ; and in the state of minerals, they figure as hard stones, stones of sepulchres, and magnets. The glow-worms are torch-bearers, who, descending by degrees, came to take this shape. A dog, having been in his former state a Turk of the tribe Kazclbash, ' and his crooked sword having become his tail, betrays his Turkish origin by coming forth at the call khach: which in Turkish means " forth." These sectaries further say, that the iron by which a prophet or a saint has been killed, is that which acquires excellence.

" Saints, when they desire the voyage to the eternal kingdom, ** Desire from the edge of thy blade the tafc&r, 2 ' magnifying " * exclamation,' of death."

They also hold, that the Imam Hossain from state to state descended from Moses, and that Yezid (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 Pha-

1 This Turkish word signifies <4 ted head," and is applied by the Turks to the Persians, who, since the time of Ismail Sofi, the founder of the present dynasty of Persia, wear a red tuiban with twelve folds around u, in honor of the twelve Imams.

2 This consists in exclaiming " God is greatest '

raoh, Yczid, ihe Litter did not give to Hossain the water of the Feral, 4 ' Euphrates," but with the water of the sharp steel, deprived his body of life.

These men further assert that, whatever soils 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 Kiblah , and the door of the Kahah facing the sun refers to this meaning, that the sun is the true Kiblah; 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: Alia, alia. 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.

Mahmiid called himself a Vdhed, 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 Mcthnnul . as was said :

u The time is come, the accomplishment of sayings is Mahmi'ui " Whatever reproach the Arab threw upon Ajem, it is over "

His disciples are dispersed in the four quarters oi 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 Abas, son of Shah Khodabendah Safavi, put many of them to death. The belief of the Mahmiidian is, that Shah Abas, when he had met Tarab and Kamal, who were perfect Vahadis, 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 Amin: ' ' Shah Abas was a perfect Amin, and killed whomtc ever he did not find well founded in this creed. 14 Thus, he admitted me to his society, and desired 1 ' me to remain in Is fahan ; when I did not consent ' 4 to it, he granted me the expenses of my journey to " India." It is said, that in these times Shah Abas came on foot to visit the place of Hossem's martyrdom, that is, Kerhdla, where he said to Tarab: 4< I " feel pain from my foot journey/' Tarab answered: " This is owing to the inconsistency of " thy natural intellect; for if the Imam for whose

" sake thoii hast performed the journey joined God, " why seekest thou the nether place of his rnartyr- " dom; and if he has not joined God, what hast thou " to hope from him? Find thou a living Imam." The Shah asked : " Who is the living Imam?" The baint answered : '' L" The king replied : " Well, ' I shall fire a ball from a gun upon thee; if it " lakes no effect, I will follow thee." Tarab gave this answer : " Your Imam, Riza, 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 Karaal openly professed the creed of Tarab, the king associated him with the latter. '

It is reported, that one of the Imanas came to liossein Khan, of Sham, and having converted him

1 Shah Abbas L has been already mentioned in <i note (vol II. p 146), where, according to sir John Malcolm's History of Peisia, the duration oi his reign is stated to have been forty-three years; his age seventy; and the date of his death A. I) 1628; somewhat differently from Herbelot, who makes his reign foity-five, his age sixty-three, and the date of his de.ith A D 1629 Abbas I , called the Great, on account of his magnificent buildings, and his skilful interior policy, was veiy much dttached to the religion of Ah, which was always, until oui days, dominant in Persia ; his taking possession of Baghdad, JXudjef, Kerbelah, Kalinin, and Samerah, wheie the remains of Ah and his descendants are buued, was more agreeable to the Persians thtin the whole of his othei conquests; dressed with the mantle of the saints ot Arbeh, that is of Soft and Haidar, ancestors of the present Persian lungs, Abbas was almost adored by his subjects This renders the recital above, respecting his religious zeal, very probable It will be remembered that this Shah sent su Geoige Shirley as his ambassador to England; and that king Jamca I. dispatched sir Diodmoie Cotton on an embassy to Pei&ia, in lo his creed, lie heard the following speech from him: "One day, when during die JVl'aherani they C4 read the history of the martyrdom of Hossein, and " he too (Hossein Khan) was weeping, Shah Abas " said: * You, why do you cry, as if it were the " ' Shdmlus (that is to say, the natives of Sham) who " 'did the action?' The answer was : ' We do not < . < cry on account of Hossein : but because from our u ' number also fine youths were killed.' "

'* With the same eyes with 'which you look on us, ' With the same eyes is it. that we look on you."

The Duniahs, a particular sect, so called in the language of the Imanahs, think slightly of Hossein. On account of their meanness, they made no progress in the religion of Mahmiid Ami, one of the Muselmans of Shiraz, told the author of this book in Lahore : ' ' I once reviled Mahmiid ; at night I saw 1 * him in a dream ; he approached me with a light- " ning-flashing lace, and said: ' Hast thou perused 4< ' my works?' 1 answered, * I have.' He sub- <l joined : ' Why dost thou speak abusively of me? 44 ' If thou perseverest in this manner, I will chastc * tise thee.' "

It is reported by the Vahadis, that Khajah Hafiz of Shiraz professed also this creed. As Mahmiid dwelt a long time upon the border of the river Riidares, the Khajah said :

<( zephir 1 when thou passest over the border of Rudareh

" Irapnnt luses upon thr ground of that nvci, and peifume the an " with musk "

A person called Fakher eddin, who was one of ihis sect, gave the information that, according to the report of the Duniah, Mahmud threw himself into aqua fortis ; ' but this rumor is false, and proceeded from rancor. A great number of learned and pious persons, who were contemporaries of the founder of this sect, or lived soon after him, followed and professed his doctrine.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE RELIGION OF THE RoSHENIAN : IN THREE SECTIONS.

SECT I Of the appearance of Miyan Bayezid, and some of hi*

sayings

SECT II Some account of his proceedings SECT III Account of his sons

SECTION I. Of the appearance of the lord Miyan Bayezid.

1 This was the manner of death chosen by Mokanna, in the year of the Hejira 563 (A D. 776) This upstart prophet (see note 1, p. 3), being pent up m a mountain-castle by the forces of the khalif Mohadi, without hope of escape, poisoned the garrison and his family, and then plunged into a vessel full of aqua fortis, which consumed every part of his body except his hair; he hoped that, ftom his disappearance, he should be

In the Halnamch, a true work from Bayezid's pen, it is stated that the lord Miydn Bdyezid Ansdri was the son of Shaikh Abdullah, who descended in the seven (li generation from Shaikh Sirdj-eddin Amdn, and that, in the latter time of the dominion of the Afghans, he was born in the town of Jalendher in the Panjab. 1 A year after this event, the blessed lord Zahir-eddin Bdber Pddshdh, having obtained a victory over the Afghans, conquered Hind. In the history of the Moghiils it is recorded that, in- the year of the Hejira 932 (A. D. 1525) 2 the blessed lord supposed to have been taken up to heaven One of his concubines, who by concealment had escaped destruction, and had seen every thing, revealed what had taken place ; but many of his followers continued to believe in his divinity and future reappearance.

I shall here icmark, that destroying human bodies by means of aqua fortis is an ancient practice, mentioned in the Desatlr (Engl. transl , p 29), and accounts for the fact of so many funeral urns being found in Asia without ashes in them

1 Ans'ar signifies " protectors, defenders," and is a word particularly applied to the citizens of Madina who assisted Muharnmed when he \vas obliged to fly fiom Mecca Herbelot mentions as one of the most illustrious who bore this surname Abul Abbas Ahmed ben -ibdallah, without the date of his birth or death, a Spaniard who wrote a Commentary upon the Modllakat, or poems suspended in the temple of Mecca ; another who wrote upon physiognomy; and a third who composed a treatise upon coffee The last was, according to Silvestre de Sacy (see Chrestom ar.> 1. 1 p. 441), originally from Madina, a native of Jejireh, and wrote hi the yeai of the Hejira 966 or 996 (A. D. 1558 or 1587). The family and native place of the above-mentioned Ansan, were in the Panjab, although iut> ancestors might have come from Arabia.

2 This was m 1526. See vol. II p 249 )

Baber Padshah defeated Ibrahim Khan Afghan. In the before-said Halnameh is to be found that the mother of Miyan Bayezid was called Banin, and that the father of Banin and the grandfather of Abd nllals were brothers, and had their residence in the town of Jalendher . Miyan Bayezid was born in this place . The father of Abdullah asked Banin, the daughter of Muhammed Amm, in marriage for his son Abd ullah. The father of Bayezid Abd ullah resided at Kanigaram, which is situated in Kohistan (the hilly country) of the Afghans. 1 When the conquests of the Moghuls began to extend, Banin also came with Bayezid to Kanigaram. Abd ullah had no liking for Banin, on which account he repudiated her; and Miyan Bayezid experienced many sufferings from the enmity of another wife of Abd ullah, and from the son of the wife of Yakub, besides the carelessness of his father.

It was the custom of Miyan Bayezid that, whenever he went to tend his own field, he took care also of the fields of others, and guarded them. From his infancy he felt a disposition towards the first cause, so as to investigate " the heavens and the " earth are here; but where is God?" When Khajah Ismail was blessed in a dream by a revelation, he devoted himself to austere practices of

a The dbttict ot Kanigaiam is on the bouierb of kanddhar piety, and ninny persons who partook in his exercises, derived benefit from them . Bayezid wished to become his disciple ; but Abd ullah forbade it, saying : " It is a disgrace to me that thou shouldst be " the disciple of the meanest of our relations; go 4 ' to the sons of Shaikh Bahd-eddin Zakarid. ' ' 1 Bayezid replied : " The character of a Shaikh is no inhe- " ritance." Finally, Bayezid was called by a mysterious influence to sanctity, and passed through the gradations of sh&xiftt, " external law;" hakiket, " re- " ality;"mdn/ei, " true knowl edge ;"ku/rbet, kC prox- " imity ;" vdsalet, " union;" and seMnat, "dwelling " in God." Many men joined him, at which the envious were vexed, and he invited to him the crowd which had not attained the same degree. With Bayezid lineage obtained no respect, but only knowledge and virtue were valued, as

" Paradise belongs to the servants of God, let them " Be halshis, i negroes,' and hell is for the depraved, ** Let them be sa'tds of Koresh extraction "