SECTION THE FIRST: OF THE RELIGION OF THE SON­NITES.—The author of this book was informed by respectable persons of the Sonnites (the mercy of God be upon them!) and saw in their books, namely, in the doctrine presented by the imam Mohammed Sheh eristanî,* where it is said, that in sign of revela­tion the verses of the high prophet (upon whombe blessing!) show the right faith; that his religion will divide into seventy and three sects,* and that of this number one shall obtain salvation, and the rest shall share darkness and perdition. It was asked: “Upon what people shall the sun of salvation shine?” He answered: “It shall shine upon the people of the Sonat* and Jamáât.”* It was further asked: “Who are the people of Sonat* and Jamáât?” He said: “Those who walk the road upon which I am to-day a traveller, and by which my successor shall pro­ceed.” The same book treats also of the Sifátîah,* a great number of which sect has from all times acknowledged the greatness of the divine nature, whose attributes are omniscience, power, life, hear­ing, sight, providence, command, majesty, bounty, profuse liberality, greatness, and magnificence; they make no difference between the essential attributes and the attributes of operation; because in logic, according to their definition of the words, both these attributes are but one; they maintain that some of the attri­butes are proclaimed by the evidence of the blessed revelation; and these they call attributes declarative: for instance, the hand, the countenance; these they do not interpret in a particular sense, but they say, these attributes are found mentioned in the sacred book, on which account these attributes are called declarative. Whereas the sect called the Mâtazalah* deny the attributes, and the ancients maintain them by arguments; the latter are called Sifátiah, and the Mâtezalah are entitled Mâtalah; but these last employ exaggeration in their arguments to such a degree that they approach the boundary of a mere image. Some use more restriction with respect to the attri­bution, which is indicated by the actions of God. Information derived from the sacred book devolved equally to both sects; but some interpret these words in a manner that they may appear probable, whilst others are firm in their interpretation, say­ing: “We know by the application of the intellect that nothing can be like the Lord's divine power, and that at all times nothing of what is created can be like him, and firmly convinced of it, we think thesewords are to he considered as a mere simile, such as: ‘God seated upon his throne,’ or such as ‘I created you with my hand, and I preserve you.’ Except these words, which are to be considered as a mere simile, we know no other meaning, and to know thoroughly the meaning and interpretation of it, we feel ourselves perplexed; but, in spite of this perplexity, we deny the like­ness of the created beings and the Creator, on account of the extent of the divine power.”

The sect called Jamáâtî, which belongs to the moderns, amplified what the ancients had main­tained, and said, that necessarily an evident sense is to be ascribed to these words, and by means of a commentary an agreement was obtained upon the proper bearing which the text of the sacred book has, so that we may without difficulty interpret it, or establish the evident meaning of it. They always fell into a pure simile, and in such an acceptation, they are in opposition to the ancients. Whatever, as a pure simile, is taken from the sacred book of the Jews, this is also not received by all the Jewish tribes, although the readers of the Koran, having found some such words in the Old Testament, employ the simile as an argument, and in this belief are the Shîâh. Some fell upon the side of excess, and some upon that of deficiency; but others of the sect, which by exaggeration* exceeded all bounds, declared as vain any comparison with the Lord Almighty, whilst the sect which happened to take the side of deficiency and error compared something which is created to the Lord God. When the Mâta­zalah and the Matakalmán,* “scholastics,” appeared, then some openly turned their face from exaggera­tion and deficiency in which they were, and became Mâtazalah. And some of the ancients, inasmuch as they attached themselves to the imagery of certain words which are to be considered as a mere simile, fell into an error; but the sect of the ancients in general did not oppose the interpretation of those words, and made themselves no objects of contention and blame on account of the simile. It was the example of the theologians and of the Imáms of the right faith, the Imám Ans Ebn Málik,* (the peace of God be upon him!) who said that the words: “God was seated upon his throne,” are evident; the attri­bute is unknown, and the faith to be placed in it is necessary. The question thereupon being a novelty, and carried to such a state, the Imáms AhmedHanbal* and Dáúd Jśfaháni,* (the mercy of God be upon them!) and the Jamáâtî, who followed them, came to a final conclusion, until the time of Abd-Alah Kalabî, and Abî al Abas Kalánasî, and Háres Jben Asad Mahá­sebi .* Although these were of the ancients, it hap­pened that, by devoting themselves to scholastic the­ology, they became inflamed with it, but were not able to expound the creed of the ancients, in such a manner as to impart, by means of arguments, clear­ness to the fundamentals of theology, and their fervor and activity became doubled and increased, until by the intervention of the Shaikh Abu 'l Hasen Asharî,* and by his instruction in the precepts of rectitude and perfection an opposition appeared, and a dispute arose, and enmity displayed itself. Ashâri inclined to their side, and by opening roads to the fundamentals of theology, he lent strength to their endeavors, and this creed became the religion of the Sonnites and the Jamáât. The title of Sifátíah, which they bore as a title of honor, was changed, and they called themselves Ashârî. As the Ashârîáh and Keramiah* are among the establishers of the divine attributes, they are acknowledged as two sects of the totality of the Sifátîah. The principal point among the precepts of the Ashârîs is, that every being that may really exist must be perfect, that it may answer its own purpose; perfection is a necessity of existence, and the Lord Almighty is the real being: the necessity of the Lord God is always right, and the law by him is a salvation acquired, so that the faithful believers shall in the other world, by a beneficent necessity, become exalted:

“God said: ‘Some countenances shall on that day look towards their Lord.’”*

They say besides, that if he gave access to heaven to all creatures, or sent them to hell, it would not be unjust; because tyranny can be exercised every where except in his empire. They maintain also, that the office of an Imam becomes firm by union and election, not only by manifestation and establishment: because, if there was manifestation, it did not remain occult, and the excitements occa­sioned by the report of it were abundant. Upon the plank of the children of Sáâdah* they united to elect Abubeker; after having established Abubeker, they chose Omar; and after consultation Osman, and after­wards their choice fell upon Alî (the blessing of God, the Highest, be upon them all!). The order of their succession in the office of Imam was according to the order of their excellence.

An example of what was said about the ancients is to be found among the possessors of the sacred sayings, the Imam Ahmed Hanbal* and Dáúd Ebn Ali Muhammed Jsfahánî* and the Jamáâtî of the ancients (the blessing of God be upon them!) who proceeded as leaders upon the high road of the ancients, such as Málik Ans and Makábil Ben Solîman, and persevered upon the high road of peace, saying: “We made oath by the book and the Sonna, and we were no opposers to the interpretation;” there­fore they placed confidence in the book of God, and the Sonnites said: “We know that the Lord Almighty is not like any thing that is created, and none of the created beings is like the Lord Almighty;” and they were very careful of the simile, and said: “Whoever makes a motion with his hand in reciting these words:

‘I created with my hands,’

“or extends his finger, repeating these words of the sacred sayings:

‘The heart of the believer is between two fingers of God the Merciful.”

“it shall be necessary to cut off his hand.” They said besides: “We persevere in the interpretation of it, because there is a remedy for the heart, which remedy proceeded from the heavenly revelation; namely,

“They whose hearts are inclined to error will follow that which is parabolical therein (the Koran), out of love of schism and a desire of the interpretation thereof; yet none knoweth the interpretation thereof, except God. But they who are well grounded in knowledge say: ‘We believe therein the whole is from our Lord.’”*

“And we are safe from doubt, and the interpretation of the command is fixed in our thought; by com­mon consent the word about the attributes of God Almighty, interpreted according to opinion, is not to be depended upon; it may sometimes happen that we interpret it contrarily to the will of the Lord God; we always fall into doubt and some deviation from truth; but we say what the men firm in knowledge say: that the whole is from the Lord, the Almighty God; we manifested this belief externally, and internally we acknowledged it as true; we consign it to the Lord, the Almighty God, and we are not perplexed by the abstruseness of this knowledge, because to pos­sess it, is not imposed upon us by the law of the faith.” Some have carried scrupulousness to that degree, that they do not interpret in Persian the words “hand, countenance, and strength;” but, like the Hashaviyat Ashâriah, they enjoined that whatever is contained in the Koran about strength, both hands, countenance, arrival, meeting, supremacy, and the words in the sacred sayings, such as:

“God created Adam after his own image.”

and other expressions therein of a similar sort, are to be read in the very terms of the original, so that the words which there openly bear upon solid bodies, are understood by them in such a manner as to answer the belief of the religious sects and the attri­bution.

The author of this book heard, in the year of the Hejira 1048 (A. D. 1638) in the royal capital of Lahore, from Mulla Adel, of Kashghar, that he (the Mulla) has read in the revered book of his faith, and also the lord Mawlána Abd al rahmen Jámî* has stated, in his noble verses, that by the right faith it is neces­sary to believe in our heart, and to confess with our tongue, that the author of existence is independant, absolute, and without wants; and that his being is free of matter and without a form, and that he is better than whatever can be imagined; he existed primitively whilst the beings were in the mansions of nothingness; after which, as an object everlasting, he remained firm, and no other being but he is always, and one; but his greatness, his attributes, and his names are without measure and number, although in a thousand parts he is but one; in these however he is not confined; the qualities of his majesty are not perceived by the eye; and no being but he has life inherent in his qualities; but he lives nei­ther by his spirit, nor breath, nor body, although he be living by himself. He is another universe, endowed with such a knowledge that the world has no superiority over him, and his omniscience compre­hends the totalities and the parts, the inhabitants and the places, and the town of existence, in such a man­ner that not a grain of sand is without his knowledge; he is the author of every thing by his will, and the actions of all things may be voluntary, such as the doings of mankind; or natural, such as the inclination of a stone, and are all produced by his will.

“Not a thorn pricks without his will;

Not a thread is broken without his direction.”

He is strong, and possesses a perfect power; without the help of instruments he performs every thing; from nothingness he brings forth beings; he hears without an ear; he sees without an eye:

“He hears the petition from afar and near;

He sees, be there light or darkness.”

He speaks, but his speech comes not from his throat, nor from the tongue and the palate; but what he announces or withholds is nothing more than his speech; and his silence is eloquence.

“When God, the Almighty, without words and letters

Spoke to nothingness sublime mysteries,

Nothingness was moved by delight at these speeches,

Dancing through the area of existence”

The emergencies of the world, good or bad, are all from his disposition; and the actions pleasing or repulsive, are all his creation.

“The good and evil, if they be the necessities of predestination,

The one is contrary, the other conformable, to his pleasure.

He does what he likes, and knows of no hinderance nor favor;

Who is possessed of power like his?

Justice and virtue tend towards him,

Injustice is foreign to his actions.”