The type of this characteristically Persian figure seems scarcely to have varied from the time of Abú Muslim to the present day, when the dá'í of the Bábís still goes forth on his perilous missions between Persia, his native land, and Syria, where his spiritual leaders dwell in exile. These men I have described from personal knowledge in another book,* and I have often pleased myself with the thought that, thanks to these experiences, it is almost as though I had seen with my own eyes Abú Muslim, 'Abdu'lláh b. Maymún al-Qaddáḥ, Ḥamdán Qarmaṭ, and other heroes of the 'Abbásid and Ismá'ílí propaganda. But if the type of dá'í is, so far as we can judge, almost unvarying in Western Asia, it differs very greatly from that of the European missionary, whose learning, knowledge of character and adaptability to circumstances fall short by as much as his material needs and national idiosyncrasies exceed those of the dá'í.
The dá'í commonly adopted some ostensible profession, such as that of a merchant, physician, oculist, or the like, and, in this guise, arrived at the place where he proposed to begin operations.* In the first instance his aim was to impress his neighbours with a high idea of his piety and benevolence. To this end he was constant in alms-giving and prayer, until he had established a high reputation for devout living, and had gathered round him a circle of admirers. To these, especially to such as appeared most apt to receive them, he began gradually and cautiously to propound his doctrines, striving especially to arouse the curiosity of his hearers, to awaken in them a spirit of inquiry, and to impress them with a high opinion of his wisdom, but prepared at any moment to draw back if they showed signs of restiveness or suspicion. Thus he speaks of Religion as a Hidden Science, insists on the symbolic character of its prescriptions, and hints that the outward observance of Prayer, the Fast, the Pilgrimage, and Alms-giving is of little value if their spiritual significance be not understood. If curiosity and an eagerness to learn more are manifested by his hearer, the dá'í begins an explanation, but breaks it off in the middle, hinting that such divine mysteries may only be disclosed to one who has taken the oath of allegiance to the Imám of the age, the chosen representative of God on earth, and the sole repository of this Hidden Science, which he confides only to such as prove themselves worthy to receive it. The primary aim of the dá'í is, indeed, mainly to secure from the proselyte this allegiance, ratified by a binding oath and expressed by the periodical payment of a tribute of money. Of the questions whereby he seeks to excite the neophyte's curiosity the following are specimens:—
“Why did God take seven days to create the universe, when He could just as easily have created it in a single moment?”
“What in reality are the torments of Hell? How can it be true that the skins of the damned will be changed into other skins, in order that these, which have not participated in their sins, may be submitted to the Torment of the Fire?”
“What are the Seven Gates of Hell-Fire and the Eight Gates of Paradise?”
“Why were the heavens created according to the number Seven, and the Earths likewise? And why, also, is the first chapter of the Qur'án composed of seven verses?”
“What means this axiom of the philosophers, that man is a little world (Microcosm) and the World a magnified man? Why does man, contrary to all other animals, carry himself erect? Why has he ten digits on the hands, and as many on the feet; and why are four digits of the hand divided each into three phalanges, while the thumb has only two? Why has the face alone seven apertures,* while in all the rest of the body there are but two? Why has he twelve dorsal and seven cervical vertebræ? Why has his head the form of the letter mím, his two hands that of a ḥá, his belly that of a mím, and his two legs that of a dál, in such wise that he forms, as it were, a written book, of which the interpretation is the name of Muḥammad (M.Ḥ.M.D.)? Why does his stature, when erect, resemble the letter alif, while when he kneels it resembles the letter lám, and when he is prostrate* the letter há, in such wise that he forms, as it were, an inscription of which the reading is Iláh (I. L. H.), God?”
“Then,” says de Sacy,* “addressing themselves to those who listen to them, they say: ‘Will you not reflect on your own state? Will you not meditate attentively on it, and recognise that He who has created you is wise, that He does not act by chance, that He has acted in all this with wisdom, and that it is for secret and mysterious reasons that He has united what He has united, and divided what He has divided? How can you imagine that it is permissible for you to turn aside your attention from all these things, when you hear these words of God (Qur'án, li, 20-21): “There are signs on the earth to those who believe with a firm faith; and in your own selves; will ye not then consider?” And again (Qur'án, xiv, 30), “And God propounds unto mankind parables, that perchance they may reflect thereon.” And again (Qur'án, xli, 53), “We will show them our signs in the horizons and in themselves, that it may become clear unto them that this is the Truth.” … And again (Qur'án, xvii, 74), “Whosoever is blind in respect to [the things of] this life is also blind in respect to [the things of] the other life, and follows a misleading path.”’”
Finally, by some or all of these means, the dá'í prevails upon the neophyte to take the oath of allegiance, saying* —
“Bind yourself, then, by placing thy right hand in mine, and promise me, with the most inviolable oaths and assurances, that you will never divulge our secret, that you will not lend assistance to any one, be it who it may, against us, that you will set no snare for us, that you will not speak to us aught but the truth, and that you will not league yourself with any of our enemies against us.”
The full form of the oath will be found, by such as are curious as to its details, at pp. cxxxviii-cxlvii of de Sacy's Exposé.
The further degrees of initiation are briefly as follows:—
Second Degree. The neophyte is taught to believe that God's approval cannot be won by observing the prescriptions of Islám, unless the Inner Doctrine, of which they are mere symbols, be received from the Imám to whom its guardianship has been entrusted.
Third Degree. The neophyte is instructed as to the nature and number of the Imáms, and is taught to recognise the significance in the spiritual and material worlds of the number Seven which they also represent. He is thus definitely detached from the Imámiyya of the Sect of the Twelve, and is taught to regard the last six of their Imáms as persons devoid of spiritual knowledge and unworthy of reverence.
Fourth Degree. The neophyte is now taught the doctrine of the Seven Prophetic Periods, of the nature of the Náṭiq, the Sús or Asás and the remaining six Ṣámits (“Silent” Imáms)* who succeed the latter, and of the abrogation by each Náṭiq of the religion of his predecessor. This teaching involves the admission (which definitely places the proselyte outside the pale of Islám) that Muḥammad was not the last of the Prophets, and that the Qur'án is not God's final revelation to man. With Muḥammad b. Ismá'íl, the Seventh and Last Náṭiq, the Qá'im (“He who ariseth”), the Ṣáḥibu'l-Amr (“Master of the Matter”), an end is put to the “Sciences of the Ancients” ('Ulúmu'l-awwalín), and the Esoteric (Báṭiní) Doctrine, the Science of Allegorical Interpretation (ta'wíl), is inaugurated.
Fifth Degree. Here the proselyte is further instructed in the Science of the Numbers and in the applications of the ta'wíl, so that he discards many of the traditions, learns to speak contemptuously of the state of Religion, pays less and less heed to the letter of Scripture, and looks forward to the abolition of all the outward observances of Islám. He is also taught the significance of the number Twelve, and the recognition of the twelve Ḥujjas or “Proofs,” who primarily conduct the propaganda of each Imám. These are typified in man's body by the twelve dorsal vertebræ, while the seven cervical vertebræ represent the Seven Prophets and the Seven Imáms of each.
Sixth Degree.—Here the proselyte is taught the allegorical meaning of the rites and obligations of Islám, such as prayer, alms, pilgrimage, fasting, and the like, and is then persuaded that their outward observance is a matter of no importance, and may be abandoned, since they were only instituted by wise and philosophical lawgivers as a check to restrain the vulgar and unenlightened herd.