Hitherto we have suffered from the exiguity of bio­graphical details, but now we are rather embarrassed by Scope, size and contents of the Ṣafwatu'ṣ­Ṣafá. their abundance. The Ṣafwatu'ṣ-Ṣafá, it is true, probably contains all that can now be known about Shaykh Ṣafí, but it is a volumin­ous work, containing some 216,000 words, and written in a fairly simple and direct style without much “stuffing” (ḥashw) or rhetorical adornment, so that anything approaching a full analysis of its contents would in itself constitute a volume of considerable size. It is lamentably deficient in dates, and in general deals rather with the spiritual than the material aspects of the life of Shaykh Ṣafí and his director Shaykh Záhid-i-Gílání. Stated as briefly as possible, its contents are as follows:

Introduction (in 2 sections). Shaykh Ṣafí's advent foretold by the Prophet and by former saints, such as Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí.

Chapter I (in 11 sections, two of which are further sub­divided). Early life of Shaykh Ṣafí. His genealogy. Por­tents preceding his birth. His birth and childhood. His search for a spiritual director. He finally meets Shaykh Záhid of Gílán. His life as a disciple of this holy man. His succession to the supremacy of the Order. His spiritual affiliation up to the Prophet. Characteristics and miracles of Shaykh Záhid.

Chapter II (in 3 sections). Some of the miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí, whereby he delivered men from the perils of the sea and of deep waters, of mountains, mist and snow, and from foes, bondage and sickness.

Chapter III (in 3 sections). Some of the miracles wrought by the favourable or unfavourable regards of Shaykh Ṣafí.

Chapter IV (in 6 sections, two of which are further sub­divided). Some of Shaykh Ṣafí's sayings, and his explana­tions of verses of the Qur'án, traditions of the Prophet, utterances of the Saints, and allegorical verses of the poets.

Chapter V (in 3 sections). Some of Shaykh Ṣafí's miracles connected with the Jinn, with animals, and with inanimate objects.

Chapter VI (undivided). Ecstacies and devotional dancing of Shaykh Ṣafí.

Chapter VII (in 5 sections). Various miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí, such as thought-reading, foretelling future events, converse with the dead, etc.

Chapter VIII (in 27 sections). Further examples of the virtues, powers, pious actions, effective prayers, intuitions and views of Shaykh Ṣafí, vouched for by his son Shaykh Ṣadru'd-Dín.

Chapter IX (in 2 sections). Last illness and death of Shaykh Ṣafí.

Chapter X (in 3 sections). Posthumous miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí.

Chapter XI (in 3 sections). The fame and greatness of Shaykh Ṣafí and his vicars (Khulafá) throughout the world.

Chapter XII (in 2 sections). Miracles wrought by Shaykh Ṣafí's disciples.

Conclusion.

That so comparatively small a portion of this voluminous work should be biographical is disappointing but not sur- Characteristics of Muslim hagiographies. prising, for how can those who regard themselves as belonging to the Timeless and Placeless (Lá Makán) be expected to trouble them­selves about dates or similar details? All these hagio­graphies, indeed, have a similar character, and deal chiefly with the pious sayings, devout practices and supernatural achievements (karámát) of those whose lives they record. That these karámát * have an interest of their own in con­nection with Psychical Research has been recognised by D. B. Macdonald in his excellent book on The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam * and by Cl. Huart in his Saints des Derviches Tourneurs. * The latter classifies the psychical Psychical phenomena. phenomena recorded in his original, the Maná-qibu'l-'Árifín (composed about 718/1318, only some thirty years earlier than the Ṣafwatu'ṣ-Ṣafá , which was very probably modelled on it), as follows: dreams; knowledge of future events; second sight and divination of hidden objects; thought-transference; lumin­osity of bodies, human and inanimate; automatic opening of closed doors; ubiquity; anaesthesia and immunity against poisons; action on material objects at a distance; production of the precious metals; abnormal muscular, digestive and sexual powers and physical enlargements of the body; shifting features and instability of countenance; apparitions; psychotherapy; replies to difficult questions; conversions to Islám; sermons to animals; vengeance of the Saints; mental alienation; protracted seclusion and fasting; talismans; sudden disappearances. Examples of all, or nearly all, of these phenomena are to be found in the Ṣafwatu'ṣ-Ṣafá, while a smaller but fairly representative selection is contained in the Silsilatu'n-Nasab, but a detailed examination of them, though not without interest and value, would be out of place in this volume. It must be noted, however, that certain aspects of these Muslim saints, as recorded by their disciples and admirers, are to Western minds somewhat repellent; their curses are no less effective than their blessings, and their indulgences no less remark- Repellent characteristics of Muslim Saints. able than their abstentions, while grim jests on the fate of such as have incurred their displeasure are not uncommon. Thus a certain prince named Siyámak, son of Shírwánsháh, when setting out for the Mongol camp (urdú), spoke in a disparaging manner of Shaykh Záhid's disciples, and threatened on his return to pull down or burn their monasteries. When this was reported to the Shaykh he merely remarked, playing on the prince's name, that Siyámak would become Siyáh-marg (meaning “the Black Death”); which saying was duly fulfilled, for, having in some way incurred the wrath of the Mongol sovereign, he was, after the barbarous fashion of these people, wrapped up in black felt and kicked or trampled to death. * To Shaykh Záhid, on the other hand, Gházán Khán * the Mongol Ílkhán showed the greatest respect, especially after the saint had exhibited his powers of mind-reading, which so impressed Gházán that he insisted on kissing his feet.

Externally the life of Shaykh Ṣafí, especially after he became the disciple of Shaykh Záhid and settled at Ardabíl,

Shaykh Ṣafí's childhood. was not very eventful. As a child he was serious, unsociable and disinclined for play. At a com­paratively early age he appears to have got a “concern” about religion, and to have seen visions and held converse with the Unseen World. Finding no adequate direction in Ardabíl, and hearing the fame of Shaykh Najíbu'd-Dín Buzghúsh of Shíráz, he desired to go thither, but, having finally overcome his mother's opposition to the journey, arrived there only to find the saint dead. * While at Shíráz he made the acquaintance of many notable saints He meets Sa'dí. and darwíshes, and of the celebrated poet Sa'dí, of whom, however, he seems to have formed but a poor opinion. Indeed he appears to have treated the poet with scant civility, even refusing to accept an auto­graph copy of his poems. Finally Ẓahíru'd-Dín, the son and successor of Shaykh Buzghúsh, told Shaykh Ṣafí that no one could satisfy his spiritual needs except Shaykh Záhid of Gílán, whose personal appearance and dwelling- He becomes the disciple of Shaykh Záhid of Gílán. place on the shore of the Caspian Sea he described to him in detail. Four years elapsed, however, ere he was successful in tracking down the elusive saint, then sixty years of age, by whom he was cordially welcomed, and with whom he spent the next twenty-five years of his life.

Shaykh Záhid's full name, as given in the Ṣafwatu'ṣ-Ṣafá, is Táju'd-Dín Ibráhím ibn Rawshan Amír ibn Bábil ibn Account of Shaykh Záhid. Shaykh Pindár (or Bundár) al-Kurdí as-Sanjání, and the mother of his grandfather Bábil is said to have been a Jinniyya. The title of Záhid (“the Ascetic” or “Abstemious”) was given to him by his Director Sayyid Jamálu'd-Dín for reasons which are variously stated. He gave his daughter Bíbí Fáṭima in marriage to Shaykh Ṣafí, to whom she bore three sons, of whom the second, Ṣadru'd-Dín, ultimately succeeded his father as head of the Order. The author of the Silsilatu'n-Nasab was one of his descendants, who were collectively known as Pír-záda and apparently continued to enjoy high consideration during the whole Ṣafawí period.