SECTION II.—OF THE PROPHETIC OFFICE; AND EXPLANATION OF THE PUBLIC DECLARATIONS CONFORMABLE TO THE REVELATION OF INSPIRED PERSONS.

The Súfis say: The prophet is a person who is sent to the people as their guide to the perfection which is fixed for them in the scientific presence (of God) according to the exigency of the dispositions deter­mined by the fixed substances, whether it be the perfection of faith, or another. The Shaikh Hamíd eddin Nagóri* states, in his Sharh-i-ashk, “Commen­tary upon Love,” that Abúdíyet, “devotion,”* and rubúbíyet, “divinity,”* are both attributes of God; as often as the manifestation of divinity came to seize the lord of the prophetic asylum (Muham­med), and the quality of devotion became effaced in him, in this transitory state,* whatever he proffered was the word of God. The Máulaví Mânavi says:

“As the Koran came from the lips of the prophet,

Whoever asserts, he said not the truth is a Kafr (infidel).”

And when he arrived at the quality of divinity, what he then uttered, this is called by them hadís, “sacred saying;” further, what he said with the tongue of divinity, was a hadís. The meaning of the words “from Jabríil” is this, that between these two qualities (devotion and divinity), is a mind which in the manifestation of divinity is giving information from divinity, but in the quality of divinity there is nothing intervening between itself:* hence it is said:

“In love there is no message intervening:

It was itself which acted as its own messenger.”

The sagacious Súfís say, that what causes the revelation of the original Being in the gradations of divinity and in the wisdom of a book, and his appearance in whatever form, is the manifestation of his perfection, and this is of two kinds and in a twofold degree. The first degree is manifestation and exhibition in such a manner that whatever exists may prove complete, and this can take place only in the completeness of form; it is man who, according to the terminology of this sect, is indicated by it, that is, essentiality, which is the union of uni­versalities and particularities: it is said accordingly:

“There is nothing moist—there is nothing dry, that be not in the manifest book (the Koran).” That is: Every thing is contained in the Koran.

Without him (God) there is no strength; it is by him that every thing enters into the area of form and evidence.

“Without thee is nothing in the world;

Ask from thyself, if thou desirest to know what thou art.”

“Every thing has an advantage, which, at the junction of its parts, has been placed in it.”

The second degree is in the perfection of the existence of forth-bringing and exhibiting; so that every thing which exists, as it exists, is made to appear complete.

The seal, or “the last prophet,” in the terminology of this sect, is a person, to whom this office can be appropriated, and from whom the great business may proceed; but, in forth coming it is not allowed to him to be, in form,* all-sufficient in dignity, and in showing this form in the world; this is not con­fined to a single person; but if this excellence is manifested around, it is acknowledged as the seal of dignity in this age. When this condition is established, then, by the before-said interpretation, the moon is said to be the symbol realised in this form, because, in the style of eloquence, it is generally usual to interpret the form of perfection by that of the moon, and “to divide the moon,” means in figurative language to elicit thoroughly the sense from this form, without taking into consideration the instruments of imitation and the arrangement of artful contrivances. Thus was it with regard to the promised lord of the prophetic asylum. The lord Imâm Muhammed núrbakhsh,* “the light-bestower,” in his treatise upon the ascent to heaven, stated: “Know that the lord Muhammed, the Selected (peace be with him!) ascended to heaven with a body, but this body was light, like that assumed in a dream, with which he went into a state of trance, which is an intermediate state* between sleeping and waking, and on that account it is said in the first tradition of the ascent:

I was between sleeping and waking.”

And further:

“God directed thee in the explanation of things revealed to the prophets and saints, upon whom be peace!”

That his being carried from the mosque of Mecca to the mosque of Jerusalem, is an image of the migra­tion of the terrestrial angels from one place to another. To keep the Imámate (or presidence) dur­ing worship is to the prophet an image, that in his religion there are many heirs of the prophet, who are the saints and learned men of the age.

Borák, the vehicle of devotion, is like an image of prayer; the saddle and bridle represent the ready mind and the perfect union of religion. The mem­bers of Borák, of precious jewels, typify purity, candor, affection, submission, humility, and perfect love of God, rejecting all other desire except that tending towards the supreme Being in prayer. The restiveness of Borak, and the aid given by Jabríil in mounting Borák present a similitude of the reluc­tance of the human mind to the wisdom of its knowledge of God, and Jabríil figures the science of divinity.

The travelling by steps up to heaven, means the gradual elevation by steps, which are remembrance, rosary-beads, praising and magnifying by exclama­tion, God and the like, by which the heart arrives from this nether world of sensuality to the upper world.

By the first heaven, which is that of the moon, is understood the arrival at the station of cordiality. The opening of the heavenly door by an angel, and the appearance of Jabríil, is figuratively the victory of the heart over remembrance, as will be explained in the sequel. The arriving at the heaven of Aíá­red , “Mercury,” is the image of elevation on the regions of cordiality on account of meditation on the knowledge of God, as —

“One hour's meditation is preferable to seventy years of exterior worship.”

The arrival at the heaven of Zaherah, “Venus,” signifies elevation of the upper angels, on account of the delight and beatitude which are produced in the interior by the love of God. The arrival at the heaven of the sun is to be interpreted as the elevation in the inner sense, on account of accomplishing the precepts of the faith, and the promulgated orders, which are derived from it. The arrival at the heaven of Meríkh, “Mars,” denotes the elevation which may have taken place in consequence of the war made upon the spirit of fraud. The arrival at the heaven of Mishterí, “Jupiter,” offers an image of the elevation on account of purity, piety, and absti­nence from any thing doubtful, which are manifested by these steps. The arrival at the heaven of Zehel, “Saturn,” is to be understood as the elevation from the state of spirituality to that of mystery by the blessing of exertion and sanctity, by choice or by force, which means overcoming a difficulty.

The arrival at Falek sábetab, “the heaven of the fixed stars,” is an image of the elevation by the blessing of firmness in the faith, and evident proof of diligent permanency in good practices, and fidelity in the love of God and of the people of God. The arrival at Falek atlas, “the crystalline sphere,” is to be interpreted as the elevation to the utmost boundary of the angels by the blessing of interior purity, and a heart free from all desire except that after God.

The remaining behind of Borák, the arch, and Jabríil , in each station indicate the meaning, that in the worlds of the upper spirits, and the empyreal heaven, there are certain extents of spiritual facul­ties, and limits of imagination, so that no body can deviate from the station of comprehension, and

“The place of his acquisition is a place known.”

The explanation of this is, that, as the elemental body cannot deviate from the elemental world, and the soul, however composed it may be, cannot make a step out of the nether dominion, as well as the heart cannot leave the outer skirts of the upper angelic courts, so that the mystery never comes forth from the middle of the upper dominion, and the spirit cannot make a step out of the extreme ends of the upper regions into the âalem-i-jabrút, “the highest empyreal heaven,” and the hidden cannot transgress the empyreal world. Hence proceeds the sense of ghaib al ghaiyûb, “evanescence of eva­nescences,” the mysterious hidden.

The Enka, upon the mount Kâf,* is divinity, and there is annihilation into God. He does not allow plurality nor partnership of eternal beauty and strength, and from that exalted station there is no descent. When a bird or man is annihilated, a name is always without a designate object. Vás el, “the perfect master of union,”¹ finds in this sta­tion by annihilation into God emancipation from the confinement of visible existence, and acquires with an eternal mansion the intimate connection with God, and an exit from the garment of servi­tude, and becomes endowed with divine qualities. In the station of transition into God, Jabríil is the image of wisdom and of manifest knowledge, on which account it has been declared—

“There are moments when I am with God in such a manner that nei­ther angel nor archangel, prophet nor apostle, can attain to it.”

When at the time of transition, science, compre­hension, knowledge, and all qualities are cancelled and vanish, then transitory knowledge unites with the perfect science, the dangers of mankind are car­ried off and disappear, before the rays of light of the supreme Being. And this is the kind of knowledge which Jabríil revealed. Above this station resides the absolute Being. Again, ascent and descent, and letter and sound denote the meaning that mankind comprises all qualities—the high and the low; by the exigency of its united properties, at times drowned in the ocean of unity, man is bewil­dered; and, at times, yielding to this prevailing nature, he associates with women. Know what Shaikh Aziz Nasfy says: Men, devoted to God's unity declared, regarding the expression táí asmavat, “the folding up heaven,” that “heaven” signifies something that is high and of a bountiful expan­sion* with respect to those who are below it, and this, causing a bountiful communication, may take place either in the spiritual or in the material world; the bestower of the bountiful communication may be from the latter, he may be from the former, world. Further, any thing may be either terrestrial or heavenly . If thou hast well conceived the sense of the heavenly and terrestrial, know that mankind has four nishá, “stages,”* in like manner as the blasts of the trumpet are four times repeated: because death and life have four periods. In the first stage, man is living under the form of a thing; but, with respect to qualities and reason, he is a dead thing. In the second stage, under the form of mind, he is a living thing, but, with respect to qualities and rea­son, a dead thing. In the third stage, under the form of mind, qualities he is a living thing, but, with respect to reason, a dead thing. In the fourth stage, under the form of mind, qualities, and rea­son, he is a living thing. In the first stage, he is entirely in the sleep of ignorance, darkness, and stupidity, as

“Darkness upon darkness——”

In this stage he awakes from the first sleep; in the second stage, from the second; in the third, from the third sleep; in the fourth stage, from the last sleep; and in this awaking of the heart he becomes thoroughly and entirely awake, and acquires perfect possession of himself, and knows positively that all he had known in the three pre­ceeding stages was not so: because truth, having been but imaginary, was falsehood; and that heaven and earth, as they had been understood before, were not so. Further, in this stage, earth will not be that earth, and heaven not that heaven, which men knew before. This is the meaning of the words:

“On the day when the earth shall be changed into something else than the earth, as well as the heaven, and when all that shall be mani­fested by the power of God, the only one, the Almighty.”*

And when they arrived at that station and pos­sessed positively the form of mind, qualities, and reason of an individual, certainly they knew by means of revelation and inspiration, that except one there is no being, and this being is God, the glorious and sublime; they were informed of the real state of things from the beginning to the utmost extremity. In the account concerning the obscuration of the moon, and sun, and stars, they said: that stars have their meaning from the beginning of the light, which is produced in the hearts of the intelli­gent and select; that the sun denotes the utmost fulness and universality of light; and that the moon, a mediator between the sun and the star,* from all sides, spreads their tidings. Then the sun is the universal bestower of abundant blessings; the moon is in one respect “a benefactor,” in another respect, “benefitted.” As often as the sun's light, which is the universal light, manifests and spreads itself, unity of light comes forth; the light of the moon and that of the stars is effaced by the light of the sun. From the beginning, the prophet says, that—

“When the stars shall fall,

And in the midst,

When the moon shall be obscured,”

And when the select associate with the bestower of abundant blessings, that

“When the sun and moon shall unite,”

there remains no trace of istifáset, “diffusion,” nor of afáset,* “profusion.”

“When the sun shall be folded up.”

It was said that the earth of the last judgment signifies that earth on which the creatures of the world will be assembled, and that earth is the exist­ing mankind, because the permanence of all beings is not possible upon any other earth. Further, there will be the day of the last judgment, and the presence of the inhabitants of the world is not intended, nor possible, upon any other earth but the actual earth of mankind. Moreover there will be Friday,* and truth will be separated from falsehood upon no other earth but upon the earth of the actual mankind. Then, there will be the day of the last judgment, and no mystery among mysteries will be manifested upon any other earth but that of actual mankind. Afterwards, there will be the day of rip­ping open the secrets, and upon no earth will a retri­bution be given to any body but upon the earth of the actual mankind. Finally, there will be the day of faith.

The lord durvish Sabjány gave the information, saying: With the Súfí's heaven is beauty; certainly the other world of objects of beauty is to be referred to the beauty of God; and in hell there is majesty;* necessarily the other world of objects of majesty is referrible to that of God; and the Jelálían, or “those to whom majesty applies,” will be satisfied in like manner as the Jemálian, “those to whom beauty appertains.”* Further, it is said, hell is the place of punishment; this means that if an object of beauty be joined to majesty, it becomes disturbed; in like manner majesty is made uneasy by beauty. From the lord Sabjáni comes also the information that the sagacious declare: Phârâoh was worthy of the name of God, and in him the establishment of divinity gained predominance, as well as in Moses the establishment of divine mission. On that account the lord Imám of the professors of divine unity, the Shaikh Mahí-eddin gave in several of his compositions the proof of Pharáoh's faith, and declared him to be a worthy object of veneration, as well as Moses. It is said also, that the land of Arafat* signifies the land, which is sought by those who made a vow, and conceived the desire, of pilgrimage, and with their face turned towards this land, with the utmost effort and endeavor proceed upon their way and journey; if in this country they meet with the day of Arirfah, that is, “the ninth day of the moon,” and accomplish the pilgrimage, they are then con­sidered as having become pilgrims, and to have found the fruit of their journey, and fulfilled their desire, as is said:

“He who reaches the mount Arafah has accomplished the pilgrimage.”

If they have not arrived in this land on the said day, they have not accomplished the pilgrimage, they have not become pilgrims nor fulfilled their desire. If this matter be well understood, it neces­sarily follows that the land of Arifát signifies the actual earth of mankind, because all beings, heavenly and earthly, are upon the way of travelling, until they arrive at the dignity of mankind, and when they arrive at it, their journey and voyage is accom­plished. If on this earth, which is that of the actual mankind, they arrive on the day of Aráfat, which means the knowledge of God, they have attained their wish at the Kâbah, they have accomplished their pilgrimage, and become pilgrims.

Haj, in the Dictionary, is interpreted kaśed, “aspiring to,” and kaśed, in the law, means the house which Ibrahim the prophet (the blessing of God be upon him!) built in Mecca, and, in truth, this means the house of God, according to these words:

“Neither the earth nor the heavens can contain me, but only the heart of the believing servant.”

Besides, the Mobed says:

“At the time of prayer the dignity of man is shown;

Profit by this time, as perhaps fate may seize it.”

The sagacious Súfís said: Every action of the actions commanded by law denotes a mystery of the mysteries. Ghasel, “bathing,” means coming forth by resignation from foreign dependence. Waśu, “ablution,” indicates abandonment of great occu­pations. Mazmaza, “rinsing the mouth,” refers to the rapture caused by the sweetness of remem­brance. Istinsak,* “washing the nostrils three times, by inhaling water out of the palm of the hand,” denotes inhaling the perfumes of divine bounty. Istinsar, “drawing up water through the nostrils and discharging it again,” signifies throw­ing off blameable qualities. Washing the face, has the meaning of turning our face to God. Washing the hand is withholding the hand from prohibited things. Washing the feet has reference to giving precedence to diligence upon the carpet of devo­tion. Standing upright signifies experience in the earthly station. To be turned towards the Kiblah is a sign of offering supplications to the divine majesty. Joining both hands denotes the bond of an obligatory engagement. Keeping the hands open during prayers means holding back the hand from all except what relates to God. The Takbír,* “pious exclamation,” signifies respect to divine commands. Kerát, chant­ing (the Koran or prayers), is perusing the divine signets upon the tables of fate, preserved in the heart by means of the interpretation of the tongue, and the renewal of information upon the boundaries of commanded and prohibited things. Rukuâ, “bowing the head with the hands upon the knees,” represents the state of resignation and submission. Sajúd, “prostration,”* indicates investigation of the divine Being, and dismissal of all pretension. Tash­ahhud , “ritual profession of religion,” refers to the state of resignation and humility. To sit down and to stand up before God five times means understanding and appreciating the five majesties, which are: divinity, grandeur, dominion, power, and love of humanity. Two rikâts,* “attitudes of devotion in the morning,” are indicative of God's absolute being and of reality. Four rikâts relate to four efful­gencies, which are impressiveness, agency, inherence of attributes, and substantiality. Three rikâts, imply separation, union, and union of unions, viz.: separation, in viewing the creatures without God; union, in viewing God without the creatures; and union of unions, in viewing God in the creatures, and the creatures in God; so that the view of the one may not to the heart be a veil to the view of the other. Keeping the fast refers to the purity of the interior. The sight of halál, “the new moon,”* is seeing the eye-brows of the perfect spiritual guide. Aíd, “a feast,” is the knowledge of God. Kurban, “sacrificing”* (killing victims), denotes annihilating the brutal spirit. Rozah, “fasting,”* has three degrees. The first degree is guarding the belly and the sexual organs from what is improper; the second degree is guarding one's self from unbecoming words and deeds; the third degree is guarding the heart from whatever is contrary to God. Jahad, “holy war upon unbelievers,” signifies combating the spirit of deceit. Múmen, “right faith,” implies adherence to whatever is essential to the true wor­ship of God, and tendency to it by any way which God wills, for—

“The road towards the idols is formed of the great number of sighs of the creatures.”

The lord Aín ul-Kazat said, he has learned upon his way, that the essence of all creeds is God, and that of all creeds of the sophists is this:

“All shall perish except his countenance (that is God's); all that is upon the earth is perishable.”

And the meaning of the verse of the merciful is, that at a certain time he will be nothing, because on that very day all is nothing; and this very opinion is the principal part of the creed of sharp-sighted men. In the takwiyat mâni, “the strengthening of sense,” the lord Aín ul Kazat, saheb-i zúkí, “pos­sessor of delight,” said that the mood of the verbal noun is in progressive efficiency at all times, whilst perdition of all things at all times is also constant, but has no determined future time: consequently this perdition, which is an indetermined tense, does not imply that the contingent efficiency is per­dition in a future time.

The Imám Muhammed Núr bakhsh stated, that all those who are reckoned to have seen God as particular servants near to him, have said the truth; because the rational spirit, which means that of mankind, is pure and uncompounded; on that account it is not prevented from seeing God, and those who speak against the sight are also right, because the eye cannot see the mysterious blessed Being on account of his solitude. An investigator of truth has said: Those who assert the solitude of God are right: because the blessed Being is solitary. And those who speak of his corporeity, and consider God as one of the bodies, such as fire, air, water, or earth, say right, because he is in every sort of beings. Likewise, those who hold him to be good or bad, are not wrong; because nothing exists with­out him, so that what happens can happen but by his order. And those who as cribe the bad to them­selves are right, because in practice they are the movers of their works. So it is with other opinions, such as those who consider God as a Father with regard to all existing beings, and this opinion is true.

The Sonnites recognise Abu Bekr (may God reward him), as a khalif on the strength of his per­fection: this is sufficiently founded. But the Shí­âhs oppose that on the supposition of his deficien­cies. Besides, every body may, conformably to his own conceptions, have some objection to Abu Bekr. In the same manner, concerning the future state, there are contradictory creeds of nations, and histories of their princes in the world adopted as certain. All these contradictions of the inhabitants of this world are to be considered in this point of view—that they are more or less belonging to truth.

The Súfís maintain that vilayet, “holiness,”* in the Dictionary signifies vicinity (to God), and in the public circle to be chosen by the people of God, is evident prophetic mission, and interior faith is incite­ment to prophecy; the prophet is its faith, and the incitement of the faith of a saint is the mission of a prophet, and the faith of an apostle is the comple­tion of the apostleship. Inspiration takes place without the intervention of an angel, and revelation with the intervention of an angel is the revelation appropriate to the prophet. Inspiration is also appropriate to him.

The pious Sajan Sajání says, the perfection of sanctity is the period of a Mahdí's time; hence all those among the saints who claimed the dignity of a Mahdi, were divine. In the same manner as every malady of the body has a curative medicine, so every malady of the spirit has also its means of cure. Thus, as the pulse and the urine are indicative of the state of bodies, so dream and vision indicate the state of the spirit. On that account, the devotees relate the visions to their Shaíkh, who is the doctor of the soul.

The Súfís say, that upon the way of pilgrimage there are seven mertebah, “degrees.” The first degree consists of penitence, obedience, and medita­tion, and in this degree the light is, as it were, green. The second degree is the purity of the spirit from satanic qualities, violence, and brutality; because, as long as the spirit is the slave of satanic qualities, it is subject to concupiscence, and this is the quality of fire. In this state Iblis evinces his strength, and when the spirit is liberated from this, it is distressed with the quality of fierceness, which may be said flashing, and this is conformable to the property of wind. Then it becomes insatiable,* and this is similar to water. After this it obtains quietness, and this quality resembles earth.* In the degree of repose, the light is as it were blue, and the utmost reach of one's progress is the earthly dominion. The third degree is the manifestation of the heart, by laud­able qualities, which is similar to red light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the middle of the upper dominion; and in this station the heart praises God, and sees the light of worship and spiritual qualities. With the pure Súfís, “the heart” signi­fies the form of moderation which keeps the mind in such dispositions that it may not at all be inclined to any side towards excess and redundancy, and the possessor of his mind whose fortunate lot is such a station, is praised as “the master of the heart,” or “the lord of the mind.” The fourth degree is the applying of the constitution to nothing else but to God, and this is similar to yellow light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the midst of the heavenly malkut, “dominion.” The fifth degree of the soul is that which resembles white light, and the utmost aim of its progress is the extreme heavenly dominion. The sixth degree is the hidden, which is like a black light,* and the utmost reach of its progress is the âálemi jabrút , “the world of power.” The seventh degree is ghaiyúb al ghaiyúb, “the evanescence of evanes­cence,”* which is faná, “annihilation,” and baka, “eternal life,” and is colorless; this is absorption in God, non-existence, and effacement of the imagi­nary in the true being, like the loss of a drop of water in the ocean; and “eternal life” is the union of the drop with the sea, and abstraction from all except the proper view of the heart, or separation from the idle images which prevented the salik, “traveller,” in the midst of existence from distinguish­ing the drop from the ocean. Faná, “annihila­tion,” is of two kinds: partial, and universal. The partial consists in this: that a traveller is effaced at once, or that, by gradation, several of his mem­bers are effaced, and then the rest of his members. The senses and faculties pass first through the exigency of sukr, “intoxication,” and, secondly, through that of sahu, “recovery from ebriety.” The universal annihilation consists in this: that all existences belonging to the worlds of malik, malkut, and jabrút, “of the angels, of dominion, and power,” are effaced at once, or by gradation: first, the three kingdoms of nature are effaced; then the elements; further the heavens; afterwards, mal­kut , “dominion;” finally, jabrut, “power.” Pro­ceeding, the traveller experiences first the exigency of a sudden manifestation* of majesty, and, secondly, that of beauty.

The author of this book heard from the durvish Sabjání, that what the prophet has revealed, viz.: “that earth and heaven will go to perdition,” signifies “annihilation,” not as people take it in the common acceptation, but in a higher sense, “annihilation in God;” so that God with all his attributes mani­fests itself to the pious person, who becomes entirely annihilated. Eternal life, which is the opposite of annihilation, has also four divisions. The first degree is eternal existence with God, when the pious person from the absorption in God returns, and sees himself âyin vajud, “a real being,” endowed with all qualities—

“Who has seen himself, saw God.”

If in absorption he keeps consciousness, there remains duality behind.

In the abridged commentary upon Gulshen raz, it is stated, that there are four kinds of manifestations. The first is ásárí, “impression,” by which the abso­lute being appears under the form of some corporeal beings, among which the human form is the most perfect. The second kind is Afâalí, “belonging to action,” when the contemplative person sees the absolute being endowed with several attributes of action, such as creator, or nourisher, and the like, or sees himself a being endowed with one of the attributes. The manifestations are frequently colored with lights, and exhibit all sorts of tints. The third kind is sifátí, “belonging to attributes,” when the contemplative person sees the absolute being endowed with the attributes of his own essence, such as science and life, or sees himself a real being, endowed with these attributes. The fourth kind is zatí, “essence,” in which, on account of manifesta­tion, annihilation takes place, so that the possessor of this manifestation participates in a condition in which no trace of himself remains, and no conscious­ness whatever is preserved. It is not necessary that the manifestation be colored in a vest of light, or that every light be a light of manifestation. It may happen that a light proceeds from a prophet, a saint, or a creature. The symptom of manifesta­tion is annihilation, or the science (that is intimate knowledge) of the object manifested at the time of manifestation. The evidence for the truth of mani­festations is derived from the Koran, or from tradi­tions.

“I am God, the Lord of creatures.”

Moses heard the voice from a bush,* and the chosen prophet said:

“I saw my Lord under the most excellent form.”

The writer of these pages heard from the durvish Sabjáni that the Hindus aud other nations, having formed and adored as Gods various different images, this is founded upon the fact, that eminent persons among them were impressed with manifestations; and in such a manner the ten ávatárs became the counterfeits of these manifestations; some of the ávatárs held themselves to be divinities, because they have been the masters of these manifestations; that the Jews and other nations acknowledge God under bodily forms proceeds from the like manifes­tations. Besides, that Pharâoh declared himself to be a God, comes from a like manifestation:* because Pharáoh, under his own form had seen God; on that account the lord Imám Múheddín Shaikh Mahí-eddín, in some of his compositions, exhibited proofs of Pharâoh's religion, and rendered this personage illustrious. Moses saw God under a bodily form, and did not find himself like that (exalted) being; but it was under his own form that Pharâoh saw God, and found himself like that being. Jesus declared himself the son of God; because he found himself the son of God Almighty, in a like mani­festation.

Hajab, “the veil,* is of two kinds: the one, of darkness, is that of a servant, like morality and exte­rior occupations; and the other is the veil of light which comes from God; because traditions are veils of actions; actions, veils of attributes; and attri­butes, veils of the essence of revelation, which relates to mystery, dependent either upon exterior form or inner sense. The first kind of truth is called Kashef surí, the “exterior revelation;” the second kind is the Kashef mâní, “inner revelation.” The exterior revelation takes place by means of sight, hearing, touch, smell, or rapture, and is dependent upon temporal traditions; this is called rahbániyet, “way-guarding,” because the finding of truth according to investigation is contemplation, and some reckon this investigation among the sorts of istidráj,* “miracles permitted by God for hardening the hearts of sinners,” and of makr Ilahí, “divine fascination.”

Some derived the commands relative to the other world from the revelation, and confined their desires to faná, “annihilation, and baká, “eternal life.” The author of this book heard from Sab­jana that the exterior revelation concerning tempo­ral actions is called “monastic institution,”* because monks belong to the exterior people; and its wor­ship is, according to rules, relative to every thing exterior; and its purpose, on account of service, directed to the retribution of deeds, reward of heaven, adherence to a particular prophet, and the like. Further obedience is an indication which bears towards temporal actions; on that account its revelation is connected with temporal concerns. The devout Muselman follows also the rule of monastic life, and the Christian is not without partici­pation in absorption and eternal life.

It is to be known that in the service of a king there are two confidential Amirs, who are not friends, but entertain enmity against each other. They may bring their own friends before the king. So are the prophets appointed at the court of God; if not so, how would the absolute Being have divided the extent of his empire by religion, if this were to be confined to one person? Another opinion is that of a pious philosopher, who contemplates the light of God in all objects of this and the other world, and turns not his regard from the least atom; he raised this belief to a high estimation; and to him remained no rancor of creed or religion; whoever, in the service of faith and morality is not freed from duality, and whoever says, the state of Muselmans is in dignity higher than that of Christians, knows nothing of the real Being. Whoever said of him­self: “I attained a height of knowledge equal to that of Mâruf Kerkhi,* said nothing else than this: the variety and multitude of the rules of prophets proceed only from the abundance of names, and, as in names there is no mutual opposition or con­tradiction, the superiority in rank among them is only the predominance of a name.”

The Súfis say: The spirits of the perfect men* after separation from their bodies, go to the world of angels. The saints are directed by the interpreta­tion of the Korán, and the vulgar people by the commentary upon both. Some maintain that the Saints do not subject themselves to it, but are tena­cious only of this verse:

“Adore God, thy Lord, until attaining certitude (himself).”

The Shaikh Nájem eddin Kabra* said: When dis­tinguished persons abandon the ceremonies of the worship, this means that these ceremonies which are performed by prescription, are contrary to them, because in worship no difficulty or inconvenience is to take place, but only joy and pleasure to be derived from it.

The lord Saíd Muhammed Nurbakhsh says, in the account of apparitions: The difference between baroz, “apparition,” and tanásokh, “transmigra­tion,” is this: that the latter is the arrival of the soul, when it has separated from one body to take possession of another, in the embryo which is fit for receiving a soul in the fourth month, to be reck­oned from the moment when the sperma fell and settled in the womb; and this separation from one body and junction with another is called maâd, “resurrection.” An “apparition” is when a soul accumulates excellence upon excellence and an overflow takes place; so that by beatific vision it becomes visible; that is, it may happen, that a per­fect soul, after its separation from the body, resides years in the upper world, and afterwards, for the sake of perfecting mankind, joins with a body, and the time of this junction is also the fourth month to be reckoned from the moment of the formation of the body, as was said upon transmigration.

It is stated, in the abridged commentary npon Gul­shen-raz, that the soul cannot be without a body. When it is separated from the elemental body, it becomes a shadowy figure in the barzakh, that is, in the interval of time between the death and the resur­rection of a man;* this is called “the acquired body” The barzakh, to which the soul is trans­ported after its separation from this world, is another place than that which is between the spirits and the bodies. The first is called ghaib imkaní, “the pos­sible disappearance,” and the second ghaib maháli, “the illusive disappearance.” All those who expe­rience the possible disappearance, become informed of future events. There are many contradictory opinions about the illusive disappearance, which is the annunciation of the tidings of an extraordinary death. The lord Shaikh Muhammed Láhejí stated, in his commentary upon Gulshen-raz, that in the histories and accounts before-said is to be found, that Jábilká is a town of immense magnitude in the East, and Jábilsá a town of the utmost extent in the West, opposite to the former.* Commentators have said a great deal upon both. According to the impressions which I, an humble person, have received upon my mind relative to this subject, without copy­ing others, and conformably with the indications, there are two places; the one, Jábilká is âalemi-misal, “the “world of images,” because on the east side the spirits emerge into existence. Barzakh (another name for it) is between the invisible and the visible, and contains every image of the world; certainly there may be a town of immense greatness, and Jábilsá is “the world of similitude.” Barzakh is there the world in which the souls reside after their separation from the worldly station, all suitably to their deeds, manners, and words, good or bad, which they had made their own in the worldly station, as is to be found in the sacred verses and traditions. This Barzakh is on the west side of the material world, and is certainly a town of immense great­ness, and opposite to it is Jábilká. The inhabi­tants of this town are gentle and just, whilst the people of Jábilsá, on account of the wicked deeds and manners which they had made their own in the worldly station, well deserve to be distinguished by the title of oppressors. Many entertain the opinion that both Barzakhs are but one; it should however be stated, that Barzakh in which the souls will abide after their separation from the worldly station is to the right of that Barzakh which is placed between the pure spirits and the bodies: because the gradations of the descent and ascent of beings form a circle, in which the junction of the last with the first point cannot be imagined but in the movement of the circle, and that Barzakh which is prior to the worldly station, with regard to the graduated descent, has a connection with the anterior worldly station; and that Barzakh, which is posterior to the worldly station, with regard to the graduated ascent, has a connection with the posterior worldly station. Further, whatever be the form of manners of the souls in the posterior Barzakh, this will also be the form of deeds, consequences of manners, actions, and qualities which had been owned in the worldly station, in opposition to the former Barzakh. Then the one is a stranger to the other; however, as both worlds, inasmuch as spiritual essences of light, being different from matter, are comprised in the visionary forms of the universe, they may be taken for synonimous. The Shaikh Dáúd Káíśerí relates that Shaikh Mahi-eddin of Arabia (may his tomb be puri­fied!) has stated in the Fatúhál, “revelations,” that Barzakh is different from the first; and the reason that the first is distinguished by the name of “pos­sible absence,” and the latter by “illusive absence,” is, that every form in the first Barzakh is contingent, and depends upon exterior evidence, and every form in the last Barzakh, is inaccessible to the senses, and admits of no evidence but on the last day of the world. There are many expounders to whom the form of the first Barzakh appears evi­dent, and who know what takes place in the world of accidents; however, few of these expounders are informed of the news of death.

The author of this book heard from Sabjáni, the learned in the knowledge of God; that the belief of the pure Súfis is the same as that of the Ashrákían, “the Platonists;” but the Súfis have now mixed their creed with so many glosses, that nobody finds therein the door to the rules of the prophet, and the ancient Saints. Sabjáni gave the information that the essence of God Almighty is absolute light, abso­lute brightness, and mysterious life; that he is pure, and free from all colors, figures, shapes, and without a prototype; that the interpretation of the eloquent and the indications of the learned are deficient in the account of that light which is without color and mark; that the understanding of the learned and the wisdom of the sage is too weak for entirely compre­hending the pure essence of that light, and as, con­formably to these words:

“I was a hidden treasure; but I wished to be known, and I created the world for being known.”

The essence of God the most High and Almighty showed his existence, so that, except him, there is no real being. In this employment of manifestation, he entered into contemplation, whence the sage calls him the first intelligence; because this lord of expansive creation considered every being according to the scope of propriety; and when the Almighty Being of expansive creation had examined every form inasmuch as by his power it was possible that such a form might appear, he fixed his contempla­tion in this employment of manifestation, so that what is called “the perfect spirit” is nothing else but himself. From Sabjana the information has been received and found in books that Abul Hassen Surí said: God Almighty rendered his spirit beau­teous, then called it “truth,” and made revela­tions, and brought forth names to the creatures; the absolute being has two heads: the first is itlák sarf,* “absolute excellence,” and vahedet mahs,* “unmixed unity;” the second is mukayed va kasret va badáyet,* “compass, abundance, and primi­tiveness.” This, according to the greatest num­ber, relates to unity. Further is âkl-kulli,* “the universal spirit,” which incloses all realities which are (as it were) concrete in him, and this is called ârsh-i-majíd,* “the throne of glory” (the ninth or empyrean heaven); he is the truth of mankind, and between him and the majesty of divinity there is no mediator according to the wise, although some admit a difference. Sabjání said, this indicates that they wish no separation from the Lord of grace may ever take place. Moreover, the universal spirit, which embraces all realities in the way of expansion, they call ârsh-i-Kerim,* “the throne of mercy,” and lawh-i-mahfúz,* “the tables of destiny.” Besides, there is the universal nature, penetrating all material and spiritual beings, and this is called âikáb,* “vicissitude.” With the philosophers nature is the noble part of bodies, and Sajani stated, the penetrating nature in spirits indi­cates and signifies that there is one divine Being, and the rest nothing else but shadows. Finally, there is an essence of life, which the philosophers call hayúli, “the first principle of every thing mate­rial,” and the Súfis call it enka.