HISTORY OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS SHAIKH ABU ALI HUSSAIN, THE SON OF ABDULLAH SINA (GOD BLESS HIS GRAVE!)* — The father of Abu Alí was a native of the environs of Balkh, and his mother was Sitára. Abu Alí was born in the year 333 of the Hejira (944 A. D.)* When he had attained his eighteenth year, he was conversant with all the liberal sciences. They relate, that Amír Nuh, the son of Manzur Sámáni,* in a grave malady, when the doctors knew no remedy, was restored to health by the salutary power of the songs of Abu Ali. When the Sámánían were in distress, he directed himself towards Khórasan, the king of which country, Alí, the son of Mámun Mas­sar, received Abu Ali with perfect favour. When Abu Ali was accused before the Sultan Mahmud Sabak tegín,* of being opposed to the religion and creed of the ancient wise men, and when the Sul­tan showed a disposition to apprehend him, the Shaikh was alarmed and fled to Abyúverd; the satel­lites of the Sultan followed him with pictures and descriptions of his person, which were well drawn, and sent by the Sultan to all parts of the kingdom, in order that the magistrates and head men of office, by means of this picture might bring the fugitive before the Sultan. The Shaikh, informed of it, fled towards Jorjan (Georgia). By means of the reme­dies of the Shaikh, many sick were cured. Sham­sen ul mâlí Kábús, the son of Vashamger,* had a nephew on his sister's side on a sick-bed, all the remedies applied by the physicians proved useless; by order of Kabus, they brought the Shaikh to the pillow of the sick; but, in spite of all his cares and observations, the learned physician could not dis­cover the cause of his illness. The Shaikh said to himself: “This young man may be in love, and from exceeding pudicity keep his secret unclosed.” On that account he ordered the names of all the places and towns to be written, and one after another to be read before the patient, whilst the Shaikh held his finger upon the pulse of the young man. When they pronounced the name of the abode of the beloved, the motion of the pulse of the enamoured was perceptible; the Shaikh ordered also the names of all the private houses to be read; at that of the object of his desires, the pulse of the desirous became disturbed; moreover they began to read the names of the inhabitants of the houses; when they arrived at that of his idol, the pulse of the adorer again beat higher. Mazheri of Kashmir says:

“The pulse of the loving beats higher, agitated only at the name of the beloved.”

Thus, the perfect science of Abu Alí found the true remedy: he said to one of the head men near Shams ul mâlí: “This young man is in love with such a girl, in such a house, and there is no remedy but the gratification of his desire.” After trial, the truth of these words was found.*

When the Umras and the ministers of state with­drew from the obedience of Kábus, whom they imprisoned, the Shaikh retired into the country. Some time after, he betook himself to Ráí.* Majed-dóu­lah Abu Táleb Rustam, the son of Fakher ed dóulah Dalímí, the Hakim (governor) of Rái,* showed him great regard and honor; the Shaikh restored Majed ud-dóulah from the malady of melancholy to good health.

When Shams ed-dóulah made war upon Helál,* son of Bader, son of Hasnávíah, who came from the capital of the right faith (Mecca), he defeated the army of Bâghdad. The Shaikh went from Rái to Kazvín,* and from thence to Hamdan.* Shams ed-dóulah was cured of a colic by the remedies of the Shaikh, whom he then raised to the dignity of a Vizír. The chiefs of the army conspired against the life of Abu Ali; he fled, and remained concealed during forty days. Meanwhile, the malady of Shams ed-doulah returned; the Shaikh, having come forth from his place of concealment, delivered the Sultan from his illness, and was again raised to the Vizirat. After the death of Shams ed-doulah, the throne was filled by Bahá ed-dóulah, the son of Táj ed dóulah.* The Umrahs requested Abu Alí to accept the Vizírat, but he refused his consent. About this time, Aláded-dóulah, the son of Jâfer Kakyuah,* sent from Iśfahan an invitation to the venerable Shaikh to join him; but the Shaikh declined to come, and con­cealed himself in the house of Abu Táleb, a dealer in perfumes. Without the example of any other work before his eyes, he composed his work, entitled Shafá, “remedy,” treating the whole of physics and metaphysics.*

Tájed doulah, having assumed the name of Ala­ved-dóulah, kept the Shaikh, by this assumption, employed in a continual succession of affairs. When Alawed dóulah conquered the country of Tájed ud dóulah, he brought the Shaikh to Iśfahán.* Towards the end of his life, a disease of the bowels seized the Shaikh, and gained strength, on account of his active life in the service of Alawed dóulah, and of the expeditions of his enemies. The patient was carried in a covered chair. When Aladed-dóulah came to Hamdán, the Shaikh felt that nature had exhausted her strength, and could not resist the force of the malady; on that account, having desisted from apply­ing any remedy, he took a bath, and having distributed his property in alms to the poor, the indigent, and the necessitous, he turned his mind to God and the elect of the divinity; at last, on a Friday, in the month of Ramzán, of the year 427 of the Hejira (1035 A. D.), he passed from this deceitful world to the residence of happiness.* A great man said:

“From the globe of black clay to the summit of Venus,

I traversed all the difficulties of the world;

Every tíe which was fastened around me, on account of deceit and illusion,

Was loosened—except that of death.”

The extraordinary and astonishing actions per­formed by Abu Alí have been described in the book about the application of remedies in several histo­ries,* few of which are reproduced in these pages; and so much only with the intention to prove shortly to the candid reader, that Shaikh Abu Alí never came to Kachmir, about which intelligent and inge­nious men in all countries agree.

“There is no house which may not be the house of God”