Mulla Muhammed Amîn, of Asterabád,* gave cur­rency in this time to this religion: they say, after having acquired the natural and revealed sciences, he made a pilgrimage to the temple of Mecca, and after having critically examined the sacred sayings, he adhered to what he thought the right sense, and composed the work Fava-íd Madaníy, “Useful Notes, by a Citizen of Medina.” In the book Danish nameh, Káteb Sháhî, which was written for the use of Dáráí Sekander Dostgáh Muhammed Kalí Kateb Shah, it is stated, that the exalted wish and fur­thermost intentis the knowledge of what is particular to the origin and end, and the explanation of this meaning is contained in the verse of the merciful:

And the tradition of the noble Amír of the believers and the adored Imám (the blessing of God and peace be upon them and upon their holy descendants)

entered into this meaning. The learned, in the maintenance of this station, divided into several sects. The one sect established this station by inves­tigation and evidence; then a division of this sect rendered it obligatory not to say any thing contrary to the possessors of revelation, and these are called Matkalmin,* “scholastics,” for the reason that they have composed the science of scholastic theology, on account of rational considerations, and have enlarged argumentation in the science of scholastic dialectics and theological questions.

Another sect did not bind themselves in their reasoning; they are called Hukmá másháyîn,* “the walking philosophers,” because their first founders followed the stirrup of Arastu (Aristotle),* and at the time when Arastu, as Vizir of Iskander (Alexander) was walking to and from the palace of this king; they took the opportunity of being instructed in sci­ence by this philosopher.

Another sect adopted this doctrine with pious aus­terities. Afterwards, a division of this sect made an application of this doctrine as necessary to the Koran, and took care not to maintain any thing contrary to the companions of the revelation, and these are called Sofis matsherâîn, “orthodox Sofis.” Another sect did not believe this necessary, and these are entitled Hukmá âshrákîn, to whom Aflátún (Plato)* who was the preceptor of Arastú, furnished lessons and instructions of piety.

Another class adopted this doctrine with a view to the precepts of the possessors of holiness, and made it a necessary condition that in all questions about customs, in which reason is likely to err, they should strictly adhere to the sayings of the posses­sors of holiness; and these are called Akhbárîn. The companions of the pure Imáms (the blessing and peace of God be upon them!) all observed this rule, and the Imáms (peace be upon them!) prohibited them the science of scholastic theology, and the science of the fundamentals of religion and law, which have been collected according to the views of the intelligent; and likewise they prohibited the science of jurisprudence, which has been composed as an abstract of opinions, for this reason: because, safe from error, one is inclosed in what is right by the words of the possessors of holiness, and because many contradictions and discordancies occur in the three sciences.* As it is evident and clear that there are no contradictions in truth, so certainly one of the different opinions is false. The Imáms also instructed their companions in the science of scho­lastic dialectics, in the science of the fundam etals of religion and of law, and in jurisprudence; but these three sciences are, in many of the questions, not without contradiction with the sciences which the professors of common religion have combined. The lords of the temple (peace be upon them!) have declared, “that in the three sciences, as received by the generality of the people, truth is that which from us is come to them, and error is whatever originate from their conceptions.” The doc­trine of the Akhbárîn, in after times called Ghái­bet sâry, “the minor absence,” which by some is reckoned among the traditions of the seventy-and-three, and by others among the traditions of the seventy four sects, became diffused among the learned of the Imámíyat; although it was also known among the first of the Ghâibet* Kaberî, “the great absence,” and the companions of the Imáms (peace be upon them!) after having received the three sciences from the people of the temple (bless­ing be upon them!), formed a collection of them in a book according to their direction; it was to this that the people of the temple referred in their belief and actions, until the time of the Ghâibet Kaberî of the Shíahs, and this book, by way of continuation, was brought down to the times of the moderns; the entire work, which was compiled by the trusty friend of the right faith, Muhammed ben Yâkúb al Kalbiy,* (may his tomb be sanctified!) comprehends the three sciences.

Further, when Muhammed ben Ahmed Aljanáîd, who was eminent in analogy,* and Hassen ben Hassáîn ben Alí, ben Abí âkîl, a lofty scholastic theologian, appeared, and were violent jurists; in their time, the circle of teaching and learning the common reli­gion being in the colleges and schools, they studied the book of theology, and the book of the funda­mentals of the common religion; but as they did not possess all the expertness required for the science of the fundamentals of religion and for that of theology, which were derived by tradition from the Imáms, they adapted to the common reli­gion some among the subjects of scrutiny in the sci­ence of scholastic theology, and in that of the fun­damentals of theology: and made choice of a doc­trine which was a mixture of the doctrine of the Akhbárîns and of that of the common religion, and so laid the foundation of rational dialectics.* After them, Shaikh Mafíd, “the beneficent Shaikh,” (the mercy of God be with him!) that is, the Shaikh Abú Jâfr, on account of heedlessness and of the good opinion of those two eminent men, conformed him­self to them, and he formed, in scholastic theology and in fundamental jurisprudence, a system of doc­trine, mixing with that of the common religion that of the Akhbarîn, and that of the Aśulîn, “solid rea­soners;” on that account, the learned of the Imá­míyat sect divided into Akhbárîn and Asulîn. Like­wise Alámah hallî, “the most learned ornament,”* that is, Shaikh Jemál eddin mátaher, has exhausted to the utmost this subject, in the discussion about prophecy and unity, and at last the sharh movákef,* “explanation of the stations” and the origins of the book of religions and attributes have also been elu­cidated by it. When shaikh Mafíd, istáz-îlm alihadî, “the teacher of the science of direction,” that is, Saíd Mírtasí, lived, and was the istáz rais al taifah, “chief teacher of the sect,” this religion was dif­fused among the learned of the Jmámîyat, until the time of the most learned of the East and the West, Alá­mah-hallí ; and as, penetrating into the depth of knowledge, he, Alámah-halli, surpassed in the sciences Ebn Janaíd, and Ebn abî âkîl, and the shaikh Mafîd; they gave a greater expansion and currency to the mixt religion in the book of scholastic and fundamental theology, and in the controversial dialectics relative to faith and law, established the mixt religion. As the ahádís,* “traditions” of the common religion, on the subjects of revelation and unity, were not exempt from adulterations, they published the series of traditions in their own book, divided into four parts. And Alámah-hallî (the mercy of God be with him!) on account of heedless confidence divided into four parts the traditions of his book, and the book of the sect of the Mahakah, “the asserters of truth,” in such a manner as was also manifested by the Ilm ilahadî, “the science of the direction” (revelation), and the ra-is (chief) of the sect, and sikat al islám, “the trusty friend of the right faith,” and head of the Shaiks, Alsadik, “speaker of truth,” that is, Muhammed Ebn Bábúyah* Alkamî; and others: hence the whole tribe Mahakah professed this as true, and, after Alámah-hally, the shaikh Shahîd awl, “the first witness,” that is, the shaikh Muhammed maki, made it the rule of his reli­gion, and laid the foundation of his literary works upon it; after them, the sultan Almadkakín, “the sultan of the refiners” (acute investigators), shaikh Alí (the mercy of God be upon him!) conformed himself to them, and Al âalem al rabánî, Shahid-alsánî, “the learned of the world, the doctor of divinity, the second witness,” that is, the shaikh Zin eddin “the ornament of the faith, Jabel al âamlî (the mercy of God Almighty be with him!) took also the rule of this religion. This was until the time arrived for the learned of the moderns, in the science of Muhammedan traditions, and the science of biographies and characters of persons to whom the traditions were handed down, and the most pious among them, the master of the whole in the whole, that is, Mirza Muhammed of Asterabâd (may the light of God illume his tomb!). He said:* At last, as a sequel to this, he (Jabel) instructed me, a humble individual, in all the sciences relative to the traditions, and gave me this injunction: ‘Revive thou the religion of the Akhbárîn, and if any doubt arise, that creates an opposition to this creed, discard that doubt.’ And this doctrine has fixed itself in my mind. But it was decreed by the Lord of Glory that it should be manifested through my pen. After­wards, having received all the praised sciences from the greatest of the learned, I, humble indi­vidual, during some years staying in the splen­did town of Medina, bowed my head under the collar of meditation, and humbled myself at the door of the temple of the Lord of Glory; I sought refuge with the spirits of the sacred place of the companions of prophecy, and I repeated afresh the sacred sayings, and the book of the common religion; that is, that of the opposers to the Imámíyat, and the special book, that is, that of the Imámíyat; in order to perfect myself in pene­tration and meditation; so that, by the favor of the Lord of Glory, and by the benedictions of the prince of prophets (Muhammed), and of the pure Imáms (the blessing and peace of God be upon them all!) by the direction of him, to whom obe­dience is due, I conformed to what was right, and succeeded in composing the Faváid madaníy, ‘The Useful Notes, by a Citizen of Medina.’” Sub­quently, Muhammed Asterabádí had the honor of being instructed by the most noble of this sect; after­wards they approved his composition, and congratulated the author upon it. (The mercy of God be upon them!)”

Among the Imámíahs it is decided that the Imám Muhammed, son of Hassan Askery,* is still alive, but concealed from view; they divide the time of his absence into two epochs;* namely, “the minor and the greater absence.” The minor absence, which extends to seventy-three years, falls into the time of Mâtemed Abásí,* in the year of the Hejira 266 (A. D. 879); the greater absence took place in the time of Rásí, the son of Mukteder Abásî.* The distinction between these two epochs is that, during the minor absence, there were a registrar and delegates as intermediates between the pious persons of the religion and the Imáms, whilst, dur­ing the greater absence, the appointing and establishing was broken off. The first Vakîl, “delegate, agent,” was Osman, son of Said ul Umrul Asadi, in the holy place (of Medina); after him, by com­mand of the lmám of the time, his son, Abu Jâfer, took charge of the office, which he held about fifty years; after him came Abu'l Kásem Hossain Ebn Rúh Ebn Ali Baher Nóubakhtí, who bequeathed his place to Abu'l-Hasan Alî Ebn Muhammed Samírí, and this was the last Vakíl. When he was sick, the Shíâhs asked him: “Who shall after thee be the Vakíl of the holy place?” He wrote his command by a last will, by which he abolished the charge, and the command is as follows:

O Ali, son of Muhammed Samiri, may God increase the recompense of thy brothers with regard to thee, for thou art dead, and between thee and me there are six days;* there­fore arrange thy affairs, and propose to nobody to fill thy place after thy death; certainly the complete absence is now accomplished, and no further manifestation shall take place but after the permission of God, the most high. He men­tioned it, and this after a long delay, and the obduracy of hearts, and after the filling of the earth with violence. And there shall come from among my people one to be a witness; but he who desires it before the coming forth of a Safiani and the Sihat, he is a deceiver, and ought to be avoided. There is no power and no strength but one God, the most high and most great.

Abul-Hasan died in the middle of Shâbán (the eighth month of the year), in the year of the Hejira 328 (A. D. 939).

It is to be known, that the tradition among the Shiâhs of the Imámiyat-âsulín sect is divided into four parts: sáhíh, “authentic;” hasen, “elegant;” músik, “strong;” and sâíf, “weak.”

An hadís sahih, “an authentic tradition,” is one, the authority of which goes back to mâsúm,* accord­ing to the narration of an âdil Imám, “a just Imám,” in the description of whom the árbáb-i-hadis, “the masters of history,” have used the word âdil, whether the narrator be one person, or whether there be more than one, provided in the description of them all the same language has been used.

An hadis hasen, “an elegant tradition,” is one, the authority of which goes back, like that of the hadis sahih, to the mâsúm; but, according to the narrative of a venerable Imám, in this way, that although, in regard to the narrator of it, the words sikah âdíl, “trusty and just,” have not come down to us from the historians, yet they have praised him in other words.

An hadis músik, “a strong tradition,” is that, in the description of whose narrators the words sikah âdil have been used by the historians, but some or all of the narrators of which are not Imámís, “fol­lowers of Ali.”

An hadis sâíf, “a weak tradition,” is that in which none of these three conditions are found; viz.: 1st, the inference from the commendation of sikah âdil; 2nd, a praise other than these two words; and 3rd, the qualification sikah âdil, with erroneous belief on the part of the narrator.

A tradition is either in regular succession, or not in regular succession. A tradition is in regular succes­sion, when a great multitude on the authority of a great multitude make the same narration, until it reaches to the mâsúm, in such a manner, that the number of each multitude, in each particular age, shall have been so great as to exclude the idea of their having combined in telling a lie. A tradition is without a regular succession, when the num­ber of narrators does not, in all or several stages, reach to that multitude, as before said, and this kind of tradition is called, in the peculiar idiom of the masters of history, the information of one. Among the Akhbarians, there is no such arrangement and classification of evidence, and God knows the truth.

The author of this book writes what he has learned of the religion of the Akhbáríns from the Amíns of this doctrine, one of whom was Muhammed Razái Kaz­víní. They call themselves Akhbárín, “dogmatic Traditionists,” because they place the centre of their belief in the prophetic book,* and employ no reasoning. Mulla Muhammed Amín, after having acquired the requisite theoretical and practical knowledge and that of the law, went to Mecca and to the revered places, and he declared openly, that contro­versial dialectics belong not to the rule of the ancient Shiâhs. The author of this book writes what he has heard from pious persons, the confidents of secrets of this sect; whoever desires to know more of it, may have recourse to the book Faváid Alma­díniy , which is the composition of the last mentioned writer.

The following passage is said to be found in the sacred writings:

“God take compassion on the man of whom I know whence he ‘comes, where he is, and whither he goes.”

My desire is God himself, and as an indication of it is my perception of him, the scope of which is the return to him. Afterwards we ought to have the knowledge of three perceptions. The Imánah con­form themselves to the religion of the community which is composed of the people of the temple; but it is required that we acquire in Medina the knowledge of what the prophet is, and that we enter through the doors (chapters) of sciences, in which twelve Imáms are to be praised; whatever further is behind this religion will belong to that of the here­tics. Of the two other religions, the one is that of the people of pious austerity; and this again is divided into two sects: the one comprehends the ancient Ashrákíán, who did not follow the prophet; and the second consists of the Matákherîn, “the moderns,” who, known under the name of “Sufis,” believe the prophet, and in theory and practice conform themselves to him and to the Imáms. They say, the prophet showed the way of righteousness and revealed the hidden; and the Imáms also taught purity, which from them was conveyed to us; the Imáms, by their pious austerity, promoted the purity of manners, and practised abstinence from food and sleep; the lord of the prophetic protection committed this religion to Alí; and Alí was the delegate of this pious austerity, the chief master, the Amir of the true believers; Hassan Baśri* was one of the devoted followers of the Amír, and Báyazîd was the disciple of the Imám Jâfr sadek;* Mârúf Kœrkhí, “the celebrated of Karkh,”* gave the hand of devotedness to the Imám Reza.* Similar to them is the sect shigref, “the venerable,” who think themselves the vice-regents of the Imáms, and lieutenants of the prophet (the peace of God be upon him):* their say­ings deserve no attention, as in our religion there never was a lieutenant, whatever from a spirit of vanity they may assume. These men are professedly monks, and these are numbered among heretics.

The second sect is that of the Istidlal, “the arguers,” and of old* they were called Masháyín, “the walkers, peripatetics;” they did not follow the prophet, and the moderns call them Matkalemín, “scholastics.” These sectaries are said to mix the principles of the true faith with the belief of the peripatetics, and are also reckoned heretics:* because the true religion is that which the lord pro­fessed, and this is the religion of the Akhbárins.

Mulla Muhammed Amîn* addressed a crowd of mujtahids,* “casuists,” who make a profession of ratiocination (discussion), in the following terms: — “You agree and acknowledge, that the ancient believers and the religion of old knew of no conten­tious arguing; and that the ancient way and the old religion which prevailed in the time of Muhammed and of the Imáms (the peace of God be upon them!) is the way of the Akhbarîns. Further, we have like­wise a satisfactory proof, that our way is the con­stant religion; but try to combine a demonstration in the way of reasoning, and show to us by whose direction from among the possessors of holiness you adopted your creed, whilst after Muhammed (the peace of God be upon him!) no other prophet is to appear and to bring another religion? In like man­ner it has not been stated, in the book of the prophet and in the sacred sayings of the Apostles and of the Imáms, that the relators should, in practice act at discretion, and after the disappearing of the Imám, make a profession of ratiocination. More­over, it is positively understood that you have mixed your principles with the principles of the Sonnites and Jamáat, and your creed has taken the nature of oxymel, which is neither honey nor vinegar; and you are neither Sonnites nor Shiâhs; and this is the manner in which the moderns exercise reasoning as a profession, that, in the time of religious zeal, they went and helped themselves to the acquisition of knowledge from the books of the adversaries (schis­matics), and a similar desire has taken hold of your hearts. Afterwards they threw out of their books what appeared reprovable, but nevertheless mixed something of it with their own faith.”

“It should be known that some things proceed from the exigencies of the faith: thus the dissentient as well as the consentient use the same prayers, and even the unbelievers admit, that in these Muham­med is necessarily honoured. Several things are among the exigencies of the faith, as for instance the office of an Imám, as the dissentient and consentient know that, in point of faith, acknowledging the Imáms is indispensable for strength, firmness, and unimpairable stability. It should be known that, whatever is established from the verses of the Koran renders the conforming of the action to it indis­pensable; but what is expressed in an allegorical or ambiguous sense, we have not the capacity of under­standing; it is then evident that this is particular to the prophet and to the Imáms, and we should not meddle with it; further, we ought to conform our actions to the tradition of the prophet and of the Imáms. As many traditions are opposed to each other, and the distinction therein is arduous; on that account, if two traditions present themselves to our view, such as to be contrary to each other, then the Imám affords the believers a firm rule, which proves to the understanding a protection from error. The truth is, that when two traditions happen to contradict each other, good Theologians refer them to the incontrovertible authority of the Koran; the tradition which is conformable to a verse of the Koran, is that to which they refer the action, and ascribe to religious zeal* the other tradi­tion, and if this does not coincide with the incon­trovertible authority, as it exceeds your power to decide the dubious question; fix then your eyes upon the creed of the opposers, and observe by what rule they are actuated.* Whatever is contrary to them, this tradition they should reckon to be truth; and whatever agrees with the opposers, they should acknowledge as belonging to religious zeal; and if both these traditions in the creed of the opposers were laudable, they should consider, that a thing which according to them deserves pre-eminence, is the contrary of that which they ought to take. And if one says: “You have many opposers, and there are seventy-and-two sects whose opinions are conflicting with each other;” I answer: “The Imám declared that they ought to proceed upon a road contrary to that upon which the victorious, the rulers, and the learned among the opposers, walk; and if, nevertheless, it may appear to all that they find themselves upon the same road; there are then two laws: according to whichever of the traditions they act, it does not matter in that tradition in which way it comes from the mâsúm,* provided, without doubt, it comes from the Imám; and the Imám is a person to whom obedience is obligatory. Moreover, by whichever authority they act, they must conform their action to the direction of the Imám. Another thing is to be said: “Have patience until the time of the happy meeting with the Imâm.” If any body says: “We have no option to act or not to act; how long shall we wait? the coming of the Imám is not determined?” This is the reply: Having already acted, why should it be said: “Have patience?” This has reference to the precept: “If thou art in business, act peaceably; and if devoted to religion, follow the rites of the most com­prehensive religion.” Should any one say: “To conform my actions to this rule is also subject to discussion,” we answer to that: “This is the rule the Imám has established; if there be discus­sion, it is therefore the Imám's, not our's.” To weigh a religious doctrine is the same as to compare two traditions contrary to each other: we found, for instance, that “as to purity of wine, there are are two colors.”* The wine is in the traditions; we then made reference to the incontrovertible authority of the Koran; we found no verse decisive about it; and in the allegories we saw, that wine is called uncleanness, and how many meanings are attached to uncleanness; and as we had the power of understanding the truth, the ambiguity disap­peared. We made reference to the creed of the opposers to the right faith: they acknowledge wine to be impure. Then we took the contrary of it, and reckoned the wine to be pure, as the traditions announce the purity of wine. Further, the tradi­tion which denotes the impurity of wine, we ascribed to religious caution. And it is to be known that the Mujtahíd ought to conform his actions to his opinion; but opinion is shabhah, “doubt,” and is so called (very like shabah, “an image”), because it is vain, and “truth-like.”

The religion of the Akhbarín consists in the conviction that, without an exception, whatever they have heard from the Imám is to them dalîl-i-katáí , “a final, decisive proof” (cutting off all further questions); moreover the practice fol­lowed by the Akhbarins, is the terík-í-katáí “the final religion;” and katáí, “final,” is that which does not depend upon mere opinion. The modern among the Shiâh said, that it becomes the Muj­tahed to conform his actions to his opinions, and that it is incumbent upon others to submit to his doctrine: this religion is not ancient; as to the rest, the practice of contentious arguing and restlessness is an error.