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From the translation of David Shea and Anthony Troyer, 1843. Notes in square brackets [] were added by JHP.
Among the moderns, the chief of the Abadian and Azúrhúshangián sects was Azar Kayván, whose lineage is as follows: Azar Kayvan, the son of Azar Zerdusht, the son of Azar Barzín, the son of Azar Khurín, the son of Azar Ayin, the son of Azar Bahram, the son of Azar Nosh, the son of Azar Mihtar, the younger son of Azar Sásán, styled the fifth Sásán, the elder son of Azar Sásán, the fourth of that name, the younger son of Azar Sásán, the third of that name, the eldest son of Azar Sásán, or the second Sásán, the mighty son of Azar Sásán, or the first Sásán, the son of Darab the less, the son of Darab the great, the son of Bahmán, the son of Isfendiar, the son of Vishtasp, the son of Lohrasp, the son of Arvand, the son of Kay Nishin, the Son of Kay Kobad, the son of Zab, the son of Nauder, the son of Minochehr, the son of Iraj, who was of the lineage of Faridoon, the son of Abtin, who was of the lineage of Jamshed, the son of Tahmuras, the son of Hooshang, the son of Siyamak, the son of Gayomard, the son of Yásán Ajam, of the lineage of Yasán, the son of Shai Mohbul, of the lineage Shai Giliv, the son of Jai Alad, of the lineage of Jai Afram, the son of Abád Azád, of the lineage of Mah Abád, who appeared with splendor in the beginning of the great cycle. The mother of Kayván was named Shirín, a fortunate and illustrious dame descended from the lineage of the just monarch Noshirwan. Through eternal aid and almighty grace Azar Kayvan, from his fifth year, devoted himself to great abstinence in food, and watching by night. Salím thus expresses himself:
"Innate essence has no need of instruction;
How could an artist produce the image in the mirror?"
In the progress of his admirable voluntary mortification, the quantity of his daily food was reduced to one direm weight. On this point, the divine sage Suna'i observes:
"If thou eat to excess, thou becomest an unwieldy elephant;
But if with moderation, thou becomest another Gabriel;
if any person should give way to excess in eating,
Rest assured that he is also vile to excess."
He abode in Qom during twenty-eight years, but removed in his latter days from the land of Iran into India: he remained some time in Patna, where, in the year of the Hegira 1027 (A. D. 1673), he took his flight from this lower elementary abode to the sphere of the mansions on high. Azizi observes:
"Whoever is wise, esteems this mortal coil the obstacle to union with God:
This life is the death of Dervishes: look on (the world of) reality as a friend."
He continued eighty-five years united to the elements of body, during which time he never desisted from the practice of austerities. On this subject Hafiz of Shiraz observes:
"O! my heart, If thou once become acquainted with the lustre of austerity,
Like those who strike the smiling taper, thou canst give up thy head -
But thou longest after thy beloved and sparkling wine-bowl:
Abstain from such desire, for thou canst accomplish better things."
Farzanah Bahram relates in the Sharistan, that from the very commencement of his religious career, Azar Kayvan, having resolved on learning thoroughly the science and systems of the eminent sages of antiquity, on this, the distinguished philosophers of Hindustan, Greece, and Persia, having appeared to him in a vision, communicated all kinds of knowledge. He went one day to a college, where he answered every question that was proposed, and gave the solution of every difficulty: he was therefore entitled Zu-l-ulum, or "the Master of Sciences." Ali Sani Amir Saiyid Ali of Hamadan observes:
"If thou advance even one step from this abode of vain desire,
Thou mayest repose in the sanctuary of omnipotence;
And if thou perform ablution with the water of religious austerity,
Thou canst convert all the uncleanness of thy heart into purity;
This path however is only traversed by the active pilgrim,
How canst thou, the world's idol, perform such a task?"
It is reported that Saiyid Hasan of Shiraz, who was styled "the sage, the embellishment of pure faith and works," one day said thus: ' On a certain day, two followers of the Sufis came into the presence of Azar Kayvan, and pursuing the path of opposition to the Master of Sciences, treated him not as one possessed of perfection. Their teacher, a man equally eminent in theoretical and practical science, who by dominion over the external world had established the relation of spiritual intercourse with the holy prophet, fell one night into a state of ecstasy, and beheld in his trance the effulgent perfection of the prophet, who said to him: 'My son! tell thy disciples that through the assistance of the Only Wise and the Omnipotent, who is independent of all, Ali Kayvan is a completely perfect man, who has attained to the different degrees of spiritual dominion, by the practice of the seven cordial ejaculations, and varied mysterious illuminations, visions, revelations, spiritual realities in his acts and attributes: moreover his evanescent existence, through grace predestined from eternity, has received the boon of divine nature; equally versed in special and general providence; unique in the true knowledge of things from inspection, not contented with the illumination of tradition; the most perfect master of the seekers after truth in matters of worship, seclusion, social intercourse, and whatever is meet and suitable to their state in all kinds of institutes and religious austerities. He is the true philosopher; the physician of the human race; the discipline of religion; the institute of the devout; the interpreter of events; the instructor of worship; the director of those who seek God, labouring diligently in the purification of souls; cooperating in the cleansing of hearts; the spiritual champion of the law; fighting the good fight of faith; the principle of truth; confirmed in the knowledge, source, and evidence of certainty; supported by divine aid in the fundamental points and collateral inductions. Let not thy disciples calumniate him, but esteem him a holy personage, and regard attendance on him as pregnant with happiness: do thou also approach his presence, and use every effort to conciliate his affection.' The teacher having during his ecstacy repeated this panegyric several times, I committed the words to writing, and on the holy man's arising from his ecstatic trance, he summoned me and said: 'Who in this city is Azar Kayvan? The prophet hath praised him exceedingly, and ordered me to go into his presence.' I answered: 'He has lately come hither from the direction of Istakhar:' on which he replied: 'Conduct. me near him.' I therefore accompanied him, but was ignorant of Kayvan's residence. When we had proceeded some time, one of Kayvan's disciples, by name Farhad, came near him and said: 'The master (that is Kayvan) invites you, and has sent me to be your guide.' When we came into his presence, my teacher had determined in his mind to salute him first, but was unable to obtain the priority, as Azar Kayvan had much sooner anticipated him in salutations in the Persian language, and afterwards addressed him in Arabic. We were struck with astonishment. My teacher then repeated what he had communicated to me concerning the vision, on which Kayvan commanded him not to remove the veil of this mystery.'" The teacher, on his return, having called before him his two misguided disciples, recounted the perfections of Kayvan, and enjoined them to abstain from censuring the holy man. For as Sadi says:
"Respecting the thicket, imagine it not unoccupied,
A tiger may probably be couched there."
Azar Kayvan mixed little with the people of the world; he shunned with horror all public admirers; and seldom gave audience to any but his disciples and the searchers after truth; never exposing himself to the public gaze. According to Shaikh Baha Uddin Muhammad of Amil,
"If thou have not guards in front and rear to keep off the crowd,
Aversion to mixing with crowds will be a sufficient safeguard to thee."
Farzanah Bahram relates in the Sharistan, that Kayvan expressed himself after this manner: "The connection of my spirit with this body, formed of the elements, resembles the relation of the body to a loose robe; whenever I wish I can separate myself from it, and resume it at my desire." The same author also thus relates of him, in the text of the Jam-i-Kay Khosraw, wherein are recounted some of his revelations and spiritual communications:
"When I passed in rapid flight from material bodies,
I drew near a pure and happy spirit;
With the eye of spirit I beheld spirits:
My spirit was moving amidst kindred spirits:
In every sphere and star I beheld a spirit;
Each sphere and star possessed its peculiar spirit;
Thus in the three kingdoms of nature I beheld a common spirit.
As their spirit was mutually communicated to each other.
I attained the knowledge of all existences,
And was associated with the great Srosh Ramah.
But when I reached a great elevation,
Splendor from the Almighty gave me light;
As the radiance increased this individuality departed
Even the angelic nature and the principle of evil disappeared
God only existed, there was no sign of me (or of my individual existence):
I no longer retained intellect or recollection of spirit:
I discovered all my secrets to be but shadows;
I then returned to the angelic intelligences,
And from these intelligences I came back to the spirit;
And thus at last to bodies also summoning me.
In this manner I became powerful, wise, and sublime,
Until I descended from that high degree -
Upon the road by which I had gone up, I returned to my body
With a hundred divine favors deriving splendor from that assemblage;
The dignity of the Supreme Lord is too exalted
For intercourse with his servants to be worthy of him.
By his effulgence intellect becomes (illumined) like the earth or sun;
He is elevated too high for his servants to hold intercourse with him:
If the spirit receives Illumination from him,
It becomes beside itself, and its speech is 'I am without intellect' -
The world is a drop which proceeds from the ocean of his existence;
What is the dropping dew? it is Himself (God);
Thou art not the dropping dew, but only a drop among the drops of it.
I know not what to say, as the result of all is deficiency:
Through love he confers bounties on his servants;
As it is proper to raise up the down-fallen
His love renders the mendicant a man of power.
The world is but a ray emanating from the sun of his face:
The just Creator addressed me in kind words,
And conferred on me the splendor of a Yazad;
None but He can duly praise Himself,
As He cannot become the object of speech or hearing."
Kayvan was master of noble demonstrations and subtile distinctions: one of the Moslem lawyers having asked him: "Why dost thou forbid thy followers from eating flesh, slaying animals, and injuring living creatures?" He thus replied: "The seekers of God are named the peculiar people of the heart; and the heart itself, the true Kaabah therefore, what is an abomination in the sanctuary formed of water and clay cannot a fortiori be suitable to the true Kaabah: that is, the eating of animals and the slaughter of living creatures. A great man says:
"I have heard that a sheep once thus addressed the butcher,
At the moment he prepared to cut off her head with his sword:
I now behold the retribution of every bush and bramble of which I tasted;
What then shall that person not experience who eats my fatted loin?'"
Kayvan also said: "If you think proper, keep your tenets secret wherever you happen to be, concealing them even from your brethren in the faith; as they, for the confirmation of their system, will make you publicly known." Azizi also says:
"As long as thou canst, communicate not thy secret to thy friend;
For that friend has another; beware therefore of thy friend's friend?"
Some one asked him: "In the schism of Abad Ansari, which faith shall I adopt, and whose arguments must I regard as true?" Azar Kayvan replied: "Remain in the same faith that, until the present time, God doeth as seemeth good to him; and for the time to come he will do whatever he thinks proper." Urfi of Shiraz says,
"Thy essence is able to call into being all that is impossible,
Except to create one like thyself!"
He once said to a holy man: "The knowledge of evanescent objects is not properly knowledge, but bears the same relation to reality as the mirage of the desert to water: the searcher after which obtains nothing but an increase of thirst. Shah Subhan says:
"Men favoured by fortune drink the wine of true knowledge;
They do not, like fools, quaff the dregs of infidelity;
The science acquired in colleges and by human capacity
Is like water drawn out of the well by a sieve."
They once observed to Kayvan: "Notwithstanding the great exertions made by his highness the sincere and faithful Akbar, and the grand justiciary, the caliph Omar, and the possessor of the two lights, Os'man, in the way of the faith proved by miracles, and their mighty labors in diffusing its institutes, the Shi'ites are opposed to these great personages?" He replied: "The mass of mankind are acted upon by time and place, in opposition to the seekers after truth. It is also to be observed that the people of Iran have adopted the Shi'ite faith; and as the above-mentioned great personages destroyed the fire-temples of that nation, and overturned their ancient religion, therefore rebellion and envy have remained in their hearts."
Two learned men having a dispute concerning the superiority of the chosen Ali, " the Elect" (whose face may God honor), over the two Shaikhs and the Lord of the two lights (Osmar), (upon all of whom be the mercy of the Almighty) having referred the dispute to Kayvan, he observed:
"All four are the four perfections of the prophetic edifice;
All four are the four elements of the prophets' souls."
"The distinction between the two exalted parties is difficult, as two of them claim supremacy on the celebrity (drum) of being fathers-in-law to the Arab founder of religion; and the other two are fitted for dignity, by being sons-in-law to the apostle of the Arabs. But whereas all things are objects of the Almighty's regard, the excellent Ali, 'the Lion of God,' was esteemed so pre-eminent an object of divine favor among the Moslems, that want of faith and ignorance induced many to worship him as the true God, until this great personage openly disclaimed such a pretension. Also during the pontificate and caliphate of Sadik, 'the faithful witness,' the powerful Abubeker, 'the separator,' the grand Omar, and that of Zu-l-Narain, 'the Lord of the two Lights,' error misled many to such a degree, that they denied their authority, until these legitimate directors asserted their claims to that dignity."
He returned an answer of a similar description in a dispute between a Jew, a Christian, and a Musselman, who were arguing about the superiority of their respective prophets; some acknowledging Jesus as God, the others as the Son of God. One day as a Christian and Musselman were disputing with each other, the former allowing the death of Jesus, and the latter believing him to be alive, Azar Kayvan said: "If a person who knew not the direction of a road which formed his destination, should in the course of his journey come to a dead body lying down, and a living person seated, from which of the two ought he to inquire his way?"
As the disputants both replied, "from the living person;" he then said to the Muselman: "Adopt thou the faith of Jesus, as according to thy belief he is living." He then added: "By life is meant the life of the rational soul: in this Mohammed and Jesus are on an equality; call your prophets the 'eternal living:' for life means not the perpetuity of this body fashioned out of the elements, which cannot accompany us beyond a hundred or a hundred and twenty natural stages (years)."
Azizi says:
"If the domestic fowl should fly along with the fowls of the air,
It could not proceed in flight beyond the summit of the wall."
A hermit once came into Zu-l-Ulum's presence; he pronounced a panegyric on the opposition to sensual passions exhibited by pious Moslem believers: and then added: "There is no limit to the opposition to these passions: even the unbeliever through the practice of austerities finally becomes a Moslem." He also added: "An exemplary unbeliever had become able to work miracles: a Shaikh went to him one day and asked: 'By what route hast thou attained to this dignity?' He replied, 'By opposing the suggestions of the passions.' On which the Shaikh answered: 'Now turn to Islam, as thy soul has admitted infidelity.' On hearing which the unbeliever became a follower of Islam." Kayvan observed: "The Shaikh must have been an infidel, as his soul was still seeking after Islam, or the true religion."
Urfi says:
"Lay aside the recollection of (these words) belief and unbelief, as they excite great disputes;
For according to our (supposed) bad doctrines, all persons think aright."
A person once came to Zu-l-Ulum; and said: "I propose embracing the profession of a Dervish, and breaking asunder the chains which bind me to the world." Kayvan replied, "It is well."
Some days after, he returned to Kayvan, and said: "I am at present engaged in procuring the patched tunic, cap, wallet, and other things necessary for my profession." Zu-l-Ulum observed: "The profession of a dervish consists in resigning everything and abandoning all manner of preparations, and not in accumulation of any kind."
A merchant through penury having assumed the dress of hypocrisy, appeared in a Shaikh's garb, and many persons devoutly regarded him as a holy man. He one day came before Kayvan and said: "Often have wretches plundered me on the road: it was however for a good purpose, in order that by embracing the life of a dervish I might attain the great object of salvation." Azar Kayvan replied: "Be not grieved, as thou art now plundering mankind by way of retaliation."
"The society of Urfi pleases not the superior of our monastery;
Because the superior is a foe to the intelligent and Urfi to the stupid."
At present some of Kayvan's disciples, as far as the author's acquaintance extends, are about to be enumerated.
Farzanah Kharrad, of the family of Mahbud, who had been the khan salar (royal table-decker or taster) to the equitable monarch Nushirvan, and put to death through the sorcery of a Jew and the calumnies of a chamberlain, as recorded in the Shah Namah of the king of poets, Firdausi, and in other histories: Kharrad joined himself to Kayvan in the bazaar of Shiraz, and practiced religious austerities for many years. Farzanah Khushi has often mentioned in conversation, and has also frequently repeated in the Bazm-gah-i-Durveshan, "the Dervish's banquetting-room," the following circumstance: "I one day beheld Kharrad and Ardeshir (a descendant of Ardeshir Babegan, and one of Kayvan's disciples), standing face to face and mutually opposing each other: whenever Ardashir wished to smite Kharrad with a sword, he appeared like a stone, so that when the sword came into contact with his body, it was instantly broken to pieces." -- In the year 1029 of the Hejirah (1620 A. D.) he became reunited to the pure uncompounded spirit. Buzurgi says:
"What is the soul? the seminal principle from the loins of destiny:
This world is the womb: the body its enveloping membrane:
The bitterness of dissolution, dame Fortune's pangs of childbirth.
What is death? to be born again an angel of eternity."
Farzanah Farshid wird was one of the Parsi village chieftains: his pedigree ascended to Farzanah Shedosh, who was one of the fifth Sassan's disciples. He also became attached to Azar Kayvan in the same place as Kharrad, and devoted himself to the service of the Almighty; Khushi relates as follows: "Farshid wird and Bahman used to stand facing each other; every arrow which Bahman discharged against Farshid wird, he used to cut in two with his sword: and whenever the latter let fly an arrow, Bahman with activity and address threw himself to one side and avoided it. But this is still more wonderful: whenever Bahman shot off a musket, Farshid let fly one at the same instant, and ball met ball, so that they both remained unhurt: sometimes also when Farshid Wird shot off his musket, Bahman used to move rapidly on one side." In the year 1O29 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1619) he hurried away from this abode of the elements to the skies. The Khajah Hafiz speaking on this subject, says:
"He never dies whose heart is quickened with love divine;
But remains forever stamped on the records of our eternal world."
Farzanah Khiradmand was descended from Sam, the son of Nariman: he joined Zu-l-Ulum and gave himself up to religious austerities. Khushi thus relates: "I once beheld Khiradmand while standing face to face to Rustam (who was descended from Bahram Gur, and was one of Kayvan's distinguished disciples), assume the form of a dragon, and shower out fire from his mouth, to such a degree that a strong palm was consumed by its violence."
In three months after Bahman's death, Khirad-mand was restored to his original place. Buzurgi says:
The skillful and intelligent artist
Should have in this world two successive lives:
So that in one he might acquire experience,
Which he could carry into effect by another experiment.
Of these illustrious personages they have recorded many miraculous and mysterious deeds; such as, in the upper world, hiding the sun's disk; causing him to appear at night; taking the stars visible in the daytime: and in this lower world, walking on the surface of water; making trees productive out of season; restoring verdure to dried-up wood; causing trees to bow down their heads; also showing themselves between heaven and earth in the form of lightning; and such like: and, in the animated world, metamorphosing animals; rendering themselves invisible to men; appearing under various shapes and forms: some of which wonders have been recorded in the Bazmgah-i-Durveshi Khushi. They relate that these great personages were to such a degree enabled to divest themselves of corporeal elements, that they quitted the body at pleasure: also that they had acquired from the court of Heaven the knowledge of all sciences whether known or occult, and consequently had the power of exhibiting such wonderful works; having rendered, by the efficacy of their austerities, elementary matter subject to themselves. The author of these pages beheld these four holy personages, Kharrad, Farshid Wird, Bahman, and Khiradmand, in Patna, on which occasion they bestowed their benedictions, and imparted to him the glad tidings of the means of obtaining the great object, or final salvation.
Shaikh Saadi says:
"It becomes the truly wise to pass every day in the exercise of holy zeal,
And to offer up prayers for the prosperity of dervishes."
Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, was descended from Gudarz, the son of Hashwad. When Azar Kayvan had proceeded to Patna, in this sage's latter days, Farzanah Bahram came from Shiraz and devoted himself to the practice of religious austerities. He was a man who had attained the highest degree of knowledge in logic, natural philosophy, the abstract sciences, and theology, which he had most attentively studied as far as set forth and expounded by sound reasoning in the Parsi, Pahlavi, and Arabic: in practical and theoretical science he was unequaled; being profoundly skilled and a perfect philosopher in all the objects of science and morality: among the Moslem doctors, he had established the relations of external tuition with Khajah Jumal-Uddin Mahmud, one of the disciples of the Mulla Jalal Dawani. Farzanah Bahram is the polished author and compiler of the book entitled Sharistan-i-Danish, wa Gulistan-i-Binish, "the pavilion of knowledge and the rose-garden of vision." In the Sharisian, he thus tells us: "Through the aid of Azar Kayvan, I reached the invisible, the angelic, the empyrean worlds, and the seat of the Divinity, and attained to union with him through revelations of the four-fold kind -- impressive, operative, attributive, and essential." The Mobed Hoshyar relates: "I have heard Farzanah Bahram relate as follows: I was one day standing in the presence of Azar Kayvan, and conceived in my heart the wish that he should tell me what occupied my secret thoughts. The venerable personage unfolded the secret thoughts of my heart, and afterwards said: 'O, Farzanah! it is an easy matter for me to know the secrets of the soul; but then what purpose does thy tongue answer? in order that thy tongue may not be useless, I shall for the future suffer thee to speak.'" He assumed the dress of a merchant, but people imagined it was for the purpose of concealment, and that he gave himself up to Alchemy. In the year of the Hejirah 1034 (A. D. 1624), he ascended from this lower abode of darkness to the pavilions of light. The sage Sunai says:
"Wherever intellect and divine knowledge are found,
The death of body is the birth of soul."
The Mobed Hoshyar is the author of the Sarud-i-Mastan, "the songs of the intoxicated." He was born at the port of Surat; he traced his pedigree to the invincible champion Rustam, the son of Zal, and was a man of exceeding bravery, heroism, and experience; perfect in generosity, sagacity, the termination of disputes, right reason, and sound experience. If his history were detailed at full length, It would become necessary to write another Shah Namah concerning his victory at Girdun, his defeat of Ali Yakah, and such like.
In short he entered the service of the great philosopher Azar Kayvan and his eminent disciples, being associated with them in the doctrine of self-knowledge; from the commencement of night to the rise of the world-illuminating sun, he slept in the attitude of Murdah Khasp. Now the terms Murdah Khab, Murdap Khasp, and Saonos, are terms applied by the Sipasian to the following mode of sleeping: the devotee rests (having thrown his legs beneath him) on his knees, pressing to the ground both heels as far as the great toe: and applying the extremities of the knees to the earth, he keeps his seat on the same; he is then to lie on his back, keeping the points of his fingers on his head; after this, he is to look intently between the eye-brows, and carry into practice the Habs-i-dam, or imprisonment of the breath. The Durvesh Subahani, one of the great Sufis, used to say: "Such was the sleep of the prophets." They also say: "The prophets of old used to sleep on their backs, with their faces directed towards the Heavens:" which is the same as the position before described. Hoshyar had attained to the power of suppressing the breath for one watch (three hours). Shaikh Saadi says:
"They who restrain the soul from sensual pleasures
Surpass in heroism both Rustam and Zal."
Hoshyar was not scrupulous about what he ate; never turning away his face from whatever was set before him: he however most diligently shunned the practice of cruelty to living creatures, and avoided superfluities and excess of every description. Hafiz of Shiraz on this head says:
"Addict not thyself to cruel pursuits, and do whatever else thou pleasest;
As in our law there is no sin except that of cruelty."
In the year of the Hejirah 1050 (A. D. 1640) he was delivered from the bondage of body in the capital named Akbar Abad. The Mobed says:
"Truly the body is a narrow sepulchre which entombs every spirit,
When that tomb is entombed, thou beholdest a wall, that really is no wall;
When the tomb is entombed, the living spirit is freed from its prison.
Alas! O Mobed, the sovereign of the body knows of no restriction."
The Mobed Hoshyar, who was conversant with the visible and invisible worlds, master of the esoteric and exoteric doctrines, was the interpreter of the Jashn-i-Sadah (the festival of Sadah), from which work his superior talents are evident: he derived his descent from the sage Jamasp. In the year of the Hejirah 1056 (A. D. 1626) the author of this work met him in the delightful region of Kashnim. He used to support himself on the extremities of his fingers, so that his body came not into contact with the ground, in which position he continued from midnight until dawn. On the subject of penance Hafiz says:
"O, my heart I couldst thou but acquire a knowledge of religious austerity,
Thou wouldst be able to abandon women like smiling torches."
The Mobed Sarosh, the son of Kayvan, the son of Kamkar, who was styled Namdar, or "the illustrious," on account of the celebrity of his knowledge. The Mobed carried his lineage on the father's side to the venerable prophet Zartosht, and on his mother's, to Jamasp the Sage. He was equally conversant with the theoretical and practical sciences and was master of the languages of Arabia, Persia, and Hindustan; he had travelled over most of the habitable world; his nights were passed in prayer; his conduct was always pure. On coming into attendance on Kayvan, he was illuminated by the sun of his knowledge, and during his attendance on Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, he acquired the Arabic language. His age reached to sixty years; in short he was a saint elect, who in the course of his life never looked on a woman; his mouth was never polluted with animal food of any description; he sought seclusion from the world, and limited himself to a small quantity of food.
"If thou didst but know the pleasure of abandoning pleasure.
Thou wouldst never more talk about the pleasures of sense."
He is the author of many admired literary works and compilations; such as the Nosh Daru, "sweet medicine;" the Sagangubin, "dog's honey," and the Zartosht Afshar, "the companion of Zartosht," and such like. It was heard from an eminent doctor, named Muhammed Mahsan, who said thus: "I heard from him (Kayvan) three hundred and sixty proofs confirmatory of the existence of the Deity: but when I wished to commit them to writing, it was no longer in my power." People relate all manner of miraculous stories about him; such as his creating what was not previously in existence; revealing secret matters, and concealing what was evident; the acceptance or fulfilment of his prayers; his performing a long journey in a short space of time; his knowledge of things hidden from the senses; and his giving a description of the same; his appearing at the same time in places far distant from each other; bringing the dead to life, and depriving the living of vitality; his being enabled to hear and understand the language of animals, vegetables, minerals, etc.; to produce food and wine without any visible means; to walk on the surface of water, also through fire and air; and such like.
The author met him in Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1036 (A. D. 1627).
Firrak Kari, the attendant on the venerable Shidosh (an account of whom shall be soon given) was a person, whose essence was adorned with science and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordinary probity and sound understanding, said thus:
"I once received some injury from the peasantry of Achan, a district bordering on the public and sacred place of Kashmir: speaking of this to Yazdan Silai, a disciple attached to the Mobed Sarosh, I said 'the people of Achan have grievously afflicted me,' and stated to him the criminal conduct of this wicked set of men. He answered:
'Do you wish that the Almighty should overwhelm with floods the cultivated grounds of these wretches?' I replied 'Certainly.' It then began to rain so exceedingly, the loftiest and strongest-built houses were overthrown; from the overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings and tilled grounds; and the fields of these men themselves were nearly destroyed by the waters at the very commencement." The Maulavi Manevi says:
"As long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction,
God never brings calamity on any people."
The rains still continued, which Sarosh having observed, he was exceedingly wroth with his disciple and reproved him; and that same day the rain ceased. Firrah Kari used to say, "Mobed Sarosh was acquainted with the desires of my heart, and possessed power over men's minds." He also related the following story concerning him: "At the time of arriving in the caravanserai of Balik, in the city of Tarkhan, the men of that place wished to act wickedly towards us, and practise oppression. I explained the nature of their conduct to the Mobed, on which he retired into a corner. That same night there appeared in the air men whose heads reached to the heavens, whilst their feet touched the earth. The people of the city were seized with consternation and desisted from oppressing us, and the merchants at, the same time bestowed freedom on those who had been captives for many years."
The Mobed Hushyar relates: "Being in want of a few direms, I went to Yazdan Sitai, the disciple of the Mobed Sarosh; on this he stretched forth his hand, and taking up some broken pottery, formed twenty heaps of it: having breathed on these a few times, they all became gold Mohurs: these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them in the course of my ordinary expenses." He also relates: "Yazdan Sitai constructed a house of such a kind that, when any one entered, he beheld the sun; and when the holy man sat with his friends, he appeared as a crocodile coming to the river-bank, which was about to snatch away all present. He sometimes threw into the fire towels on which the flames had no effect: he frequently repeated something, stirring his lips, and so rendered himself invisible; be used sometimes to appear in the air, and used to say: 'I am actually at rest, although I appear otherwise.'" Shidosh, the son of Anosh, said: "We were once seated near him when he placed a taper in a basin of water; there immediately appeared some peacocks turning towards the water, plunging their heads into it, and displaying all their beauty, whilst we remained in utter astonishment." Shidosh also says: "I once beheld him disporting in the midst of a blazing fire." Nay, the writer of these pages has seen him swallow fire. The Mobed Hushyar says: "He once exhibited a sight, so as to make a house appear filled with serpents and scorpions." He used also to lay on the breast of a person plunged in sleep, something of such a nature as to make him return an answer to every question proposed to him. The Mobed Hushyar also relates: "I once beheld the Hakim (the Sage) Kamran of Shiraz, in the feast of joy and hospitality made for the reception of an Iraqi friend, light a match: on this, all the Lu- lees them in the house stripped themselves naked and began to dance, whilst we looked on at a distance. The sage said: 'This we have learnt from Yazdan Sitai: as I give no invitation to Lulees, and no others can be prevailed on to commit such indecency, I therefore tried the experiment on the party of them assembled in this place.'" Many other things of a similar nature are related concerning Yazdan Sitai.
Khoda Joi was a native of Herat, who had passed many years in the service of exemplary and holy men; he relates: "I once saw in a vision holy personages come around me and say: 'Depart and seek a spiritual guide free from prejudice.' During many years' search I was unable to discover such a character: but having once seen in a dream, 'that Azar Kayvan of Istakhar was one of that description:' I went near him in company with Farzanah Khushi."
Khoda Joi excelled in the knowledge of Parsi and Arabic; he avoided altogether animal food of every description; he could suppress his breath during four watches (twelve hours), and was in the habit of practising the Hubs-i-dam; he never slept at night, nor ate more than fifty direms weight of food. He never gave utterance to a lie, and whatever. He stated had reference to exalted objects and pursuits: even these were uttered only at the solicitation of his friends. He is the author of the volume entitled Jam-i-Kay Khosraw, "the cup of Kay Khusro," an admirable commentary on the poetic compositions of Azar Kayvan, and also containing his visions. He arrived in the delightful regions of Kashmir in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1631), where the author met him: in that same year this distinguished personage hastened from this abode of evanescence to the mansions of eternity. Hafiz of Shiraz says:
"O joyous day, when I depart from this abode of desolation;
I then seek my soul's repose and follow the adored object:
Fluttering about like a solar mote in the atmosphere of that lip,
Until I attain at last to the fountain-head of the radiant sun."
The Mobed Khushi is the author of the Bazm-Gah (or "banqueting house"), in which treatise when describing the stations of Azar Kayvan's illustrious disciples and most eminent followers, who are twelve in number; he enumerates them in this order: Ardashir, Kharad, Shiroiyah, Khiradmand, Farhad, Suhrab, Azadah, Bizhen, Isfendiar, Farshidwird, Bahman and Rustam: the daily food of each of these individuals was much below ten direms weight: and they carried the austerities recommended by Kayvan to the utmost limit, so that no others of his disciples attained to the same rank as these twelve persons. Of Farhad, Farshidwird, and Bahman, some account has been given in the preceding part of this work.
in the Bazm-gah, Khushi thus states respecting himself: "In the days of my youth, it was my anxious desire to find a spiritual guide. I therefore had recourse to the eminent doctors of Iran, Turan, Room, and Hindustan; that is, to Moslems, Hindus, Guebers, Christians, and Jews. They all said to me: 'Quit thy present faith and pass over to us:' but my heart felt no inclination to change of religion, to adopting another, and abandoning opinions, as they did not afford me sufficient light in the object of my pursuit.
"Whilst a person beholds not the water, why pull off his slippers?"
"Such is the language of the prejudiced; although each of these doctors praised himself as being free from its influence: I afterwards beheld; in a vision, a mighty river from which streams and canals issued forth, all of which after many windings returned back in to the same great river, and were confined within its two banks. I abandoned the great water, and in order to allay my thirst, directed my steps towards the rivulets in search of water: but as the banks of their channels were difficult of access through slime and mud, and carrying a bowl, I could not reach the stream, and remained in great perplexity. At length my father came up and said: 'Entreat God to conduct thee to the water.' A voice then reached my ear: 'This man has abandoned the river, and directed his face towards the rivulets.' On my directing my steps towards the river, a blessed Angel said to me: 'The great river is Azar Kayvan; the small rivulets are the doctors.' I then knew that the slime and mud of the banks, the bowl, and the rivulets refer to prejudice and envy: therefore, being accompanied by Khoda Joi, I joined myself to Azar Kayvan, and discovered the object of my inquiries." Hafiz of Shiraz observes:
"Whither can we turn our face from the high-priest's threshold?
Happiness dwells in his abode, and salvation within that portal."
Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, was called Bahram the Less: the Arzhang Mani (the gallery of Mani) is the production of his genius: he was in attendance on Zu-al-Ulum, but attained to communion with God and to perfection, in the service of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) the compiler of these pages met with Bahram the Less, the son of Farhad, in the imperial city of Lahore, in perfect health, but in the same year that sage bade adieu to this world. He was a man who found repose in God, and avoided all intercourse with society: he was learned in all the theoretical and practical sciences, and eminently conversant with the languages of Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and Europe: by him were translated into Persian, that is, into Farsi mixed with Arabic, the works of the Shaikh Ishrak Shuhab ud din Maktul, which treated of the Ishrakian tenets; his time was employed in transcribing books, from which source he was obliged to derive his scanty support. He never slept at night; in the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1658) the author beheld him with Hushyar at Lahore; during the entire night, the writer of these pages sat in his presence, and from morn until evening Hushyar remained before him; whilst the above-mentioned Farzanah, seated on both knees, with his face to the east, never moved: people have witnessed in him many things of this description. They say that he used to remain seated two or three days after this fashion, neither eating bread nor drinking water; he never laid his back on the ground; his food consisted of a small quantity of cow's milk; his lips were never polluted with any other substance, and even this he swallowed at intervals of two or three days.
"Be thou as a goblet, free from the contamination of body,
Be thou earth in the footsteps of the pure.
As from this earth thou mayst come to dust,
Break through the dust, and attain the human nature.
The Mobed Paristar, the son of Khurshid, who was originally of Isfahan, assumed the elements of body in Patna; the Mobed, when a youth, was accepted by divine favour, and through the aid of the Almighty became one of the Yekanah Bin, or "seers of unity." Having in his early years entered into the service of Azar Kayvan, he obtained a perfect sanctity through the society of his holy master's disciples. He however devoted himself chiefly to the Mobed Sarosh: he was the author of the Taprah-i-Mobedi, or "the Sacerdotal Kettledrum.". In the year of the Hejirah 1049 (A. D. 1640) he came to Kashmir, where the author of this work was admitted into his society. From the nightfall until sunrise, the Mobed Paristar gave himself up to the Saraist, which in the celestial language, or the Dasatir, they call Faro, or "downward:" this rite, according to them, consists in elevating the feet in the air, and standing on the head; which position is called in Hindi Kapal Asan or "head-seat." He of a sudden quitted the body and entered the bowers of Paradise. A Mobed has said:
"If thou be a wanderer upon the path of spirituality,
Fix not on the (external) robe, the motion of thy heart,
For nothingness will be the dwelling of thy body:
Although in reality thou continuest to move."
The Mobed Peshkar, the son of Khurshid, was also born in Patna, and one year younger than Perishtar (his brother). He became unrivalled during his age, in the Hindi chaunts and poems of that sect. He was the servant of the leader Azar Kayvan and his disciples, and whilst in the service of the Mobed Sarosh he attained the knowledge of God, and of himself, and he became eminenty divested of prejudice and exempted from human infirmities: being totally unfettered by the bonds or chains of any sect whatever, and studiously shunning the polemic domains of prejudice: in short, the eulogium of one creed and the abhorrence of another, entered not into his system. He came to Kashmir with his elder brother, with the purpose of departing from thence to Kathay: he was noted for the imprisonment of the breath, concerning which the Mobed Hushiyar said: "He once suppressed his breath and plunged into the water, where he remained immersed during two watches (six hours), after which interval he again raised his head above the surface."
HEMISTICH: "Wherever he may be, O God, guard him in safety!"
Shidosh, the son of Anosh, descended from the prophet Zartosht by his father Anosh, who was styled Farhosh, ;"the splendor of intellect," was one of the sincerely devoted disciples of Azar Kayvan: Zarbad was also descended from the same divine apostle Zartosht, and finally became a man of opulence, although at the beginning of his career he only possessed the pangs of destitution. They both came one day into the presence of Azar Kayvan, and lamented the hardship of their forlorn state; on this Azar replied: "Proceed with a small stock to the quarter of sunrise, traverse the eastern borders, and dispose of it with speed towards the descending sun, as your condition, through this depressed site of difficulty will be changed into the means of affluence." Nearly at the period of giving these instructions, Azar Kayvan having withdrawn from this earthly tabernacle, hastened to the resting-place of the spheres, and these two Jupiter-like stars, the unrivalled splendor of the world, set out as directed. At length, through the efficacy of Kayvan's enlightened spirit, the state of these pilgrims continued to obtain an ascendancy, until they became possessed of great opulence. Hafiz says thus:
"They who by a look convert clay into the philosopher's stone, what great matter if they bestow a single glance on me."
After this, Zarbadi sent to Patna an ancient servant, Farrah Kari by name, to conduct his daughter to the musk-scented pavilion of Shidosh, the illustrious son of Anosh. After this event, Farrah Kari and Shidosh, proceeded from Patna on a commercial adventure, and formed the plan of setting out from Kashmir to Kashgar: they were however obliged to remain some time in Kashmir: but on the first moment of moving from Patna, there arose in the breast of Shidosh an anxious wish for attaining the knowledge of himself, the investigation of his ancient abode, ascertaining his natural light, and exploring the march of the invisible world: as from the very first, this bright Jupiter, through the entreaty of Kayvan (Saturn) had directed his steps to the region of atoms and the abode of elements of the celestial and terrestrial parents: consequently, when Kayvan had abandoned this bodily frame, he sat down with his disciples,
"Choose thou companions who are better than thyself,
In order that thy understanding and faith may increase."
He consequently devoted himself to religious exercises, listening in the first place to the voice called in Persian azad avi "the independent voice," in Arabic, saut-i-mutluk, or "the absolute sound;" and in Hindi, anahid. When he had duly practised this rite. he directed his eyes, opened wide between the eyebrows, which in Hindi they call teratuk, until the blessed form of Kayvan was clearly manifested: he next contemplated that form, until it actually was never more separated from him; he at last reached the region of intellect, and having passed through the six worlds, arrived in the seventh, and in this state of entrancement obtained admittance to the Almighty presence; so that, during this abstraction from self, the annihilation (of every thing human) and the eternity (of the spiritual) was joined to his existence. Sâdi says:
"O youth! enter thou this very day into the path of obedience,
For tomorrow the vigor of youth comes not from the aged man.".
One morning at the dawn of day he said thus to the author of the Dabestan: "Yesterday in the gloom of night, directed by the light of spirit, I departed from this external body, and arrived at the mysterious illumination ever replete with effulgence: the chamberlain of truth removed from before me the curtains, so that on quitting this mortal nature and leaving the visible world, I traversed the angelic sphere. The supreme independently-existing light of lights became revealed in all the impressive. operative, attributive, and essential radiance of glory: this state of imaginary being disappeared, actual existence was clearly witnessed." Hafiz says:
"The perfect beauty of my beloved is not concealed by an interposing veil;
O man!, thou art the curtain of the road: remove away."
Shidosh, though far removed from receiving pleasure by dainty food, still appeared always in magnificent dresses: his audience always diffused the fragrance of perfume; he even clad in handsome dresses his head domestic servants, and other dependents, nay his very porter and doorkeeper. He used to say: "My state proceeds from the splendor of Azar Kayvan's aid: to feel contempt for such a capital would be highly improper; and not to make use of it would be an abomination before my benefactor; for otherwise, I derive no pleasure from fine raiment." As to his abstinence in point of food, and his shunning of female society, what has been mentioned is sufficient on these heads. Shidosh Bihin was a youth of a finely proportioned person, and beautiful countenance; the following was the rule observed by him: he never attached merit to any strange creed, but endeavoured to divest himself altogether of prejudice, and maintained very little intercourse with the generality of mankind: when he formed an intimacy, on the first day he testified only a small degree of warmth; he exhibited greater attention on the second; so that he daily made greater advances in the path of friendship; progressively increasing his love and affection: as to what has been stated relative to his displaying no great degree of warmth on the first interview, the same proportion obtained when he shewed a decrease of warmth to some; that same would be reckoned very great in any other. He always asserted, that in the society of friends, their intercourse must not be separated from meditation on God, as whatever is, is but a radiancy emanating from the sun of his essence: the visible and invisible of the world being only forms of that existence. Rafiah says:
"If angels and demons be formed from one principle,
The husbandman, the spring, the seed, and the field must be the same:
What has his unity to dread from the plurality of the human race?
Although you tie the knot a hundred-fold, there is only a single cord."
Shidosh was seized with so severe an illness in Kashmir, that his case surpassed the art of the physician: as Urfi says:
"What physician can there be, if the Messiah himself be taken ill?"
All the people about Shidosh were disconsolate, but he remained cheerful of heart, and in proportion as the symptoms became more aggravated, his cheerfulness increased, and he frequently recited these couplets from Hafiz:
"O joyous day, when I depart from this abode or desolation,
Seeking the repose of my soul, and setting out in search of my beloved:
Dancing like a solar mote around the atmosphere of her lips,
Until I reach the fountain-head of the radiant sun."
On the day of his departure from this temporary halting-place to the eternal mansion of repose and the exalted seat of happiness, his disconsolate friends and affectionate domestics were deeply afflicted; but Shidosh retained his cheerfulness and thus addressed them with an expression of delight: "I am not grieved at this disease of body, why then do you grieve? nay ought you not to wish that I, having quitted this gloomy abode of phantasy, should hasten to one beyond the confines of space, and the mansions of intellect may become united to the truly existent and independent (first cause)." The Maulavi Manavi says thus:
"If death be a human being, say to him, 'draw near,'
That I may closely fold him in a fond embrace.
From him I extort by force eternal life,
Whilst he but snatches from me the Dervish's party-colored dress."
He then lifted up his hands and directing his face to heaven, the Kiblah of prayer, recited the following blessed couplets from the sahifah al Auliya, "volume of the Saints," written by the Imam Muhammed Nur Baksh.
"Whether we are directors or guides
Still do we want to be guided, on account of the infancy of our steps.
We are but solitary drops from the ocean of existence,
However much we possess of divine revelation and proof.
I am far from the great reservoir of drops,
Convey me, O God, to the boundless ocean of light!."
On reciting these lines he closed his eyes. The Shaikh Abulfaiz Faiyazi says on this subject:
"The droll became a fountain, and the fountain grew into a river,
Which river became reunited to the ocean of eternity."
This event occurred in the year of the Hejirah 1040 (A. D. 1629): his affectionate friends expressed their grief in the following manner:
"Thy brilliant hues still exist in the parterre,
Thy fragrance still survives in the jessamine,
The sight of thee is put off to the day of resurrection
It is well but it forms the theme of many a tale."
The author also in his elegy on Shidosh thus expresses his grief:
"Since Shidosh departed from my sight
That which was a receptacle of eyes became a receptacle of rivers;
Had my eyes been a channel, they would have become a river-bed:
The resting place of the bird was the paradisian sphere:
From this lowly nest he departed to the nest on high.
He was truly free and sought no stores except those of holy freedom.
He abandoned his body to corporeal matter, and his spirit joined the spiritual region.
His soul was united to the sublime being, the creator of souls,
Soaring beyond the limits of heaven, earth, and time."
If the author attempted to describe the learned and pious Abadiyan who were seen in the Dadestan Aursah, this treatise would never be brought to a conclusion; he now therefore proceeds to mention some others, who though professing a fault different from the Yezdanian or Abadiyan, yet walked according to the institutes of Kayvan's disciples, and attained their great object, the knowledge of God: and although this class is too numerous to be fully described, a few of the eminent personages are now about to be mentioned.
Muhammed Ali, of Shiraz was the fellow-student of Shah Futtah Allah, and he traced his family to Azar Kayvan: he however attained perfection through the society of Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, and had also traversed the seven climes. A thief came to his house one night, on perceiving whom Muhammed Ali pretended to fall asleep on his carpet, so that the robber might not suppose him to be awake, and continue his pursuits without apprehension. The robber searched the house carefully, but as all the effects were concealed in a secure place, he was unable to get at them. On this Muhammed raising his head, said to him: "I laid myself down to sleep, that thou mightst accomplish thy desires, whereas thou art in despair: be no longer uneasy." He then arose and pointed out the place where all the things were stored away: in consequence of this generous proceeding, the robber abandoned his infamous profession, and became a virtuous character.
Muhammed Said of Isfahan was a Saiyid descended from Husain, who attained his great object through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad. He once said to the author: "The first time I obtained the honor of admittance to the audience of the distinguished Farzanah, he rose up on seeing me, and showed the proper respect due to an honorable person, directing me to be seated on the most distinguished couch. Some time after, entered a naked Fakir, but Farzanah Bahram moved not from his place, but pointed him to a seat in the slipper-repository. I felt this scruple; surely the highest distinction is due to the Dervish. Farzanah then turning his face to the wall, which was ornamented with paintings, said: 'O, lifeless figure, thou art seated on high; but external form confers not distinction; but Dervishes enjoy a rank, when their bodies are under the control of their souls, and their souls united with the supreme object of love; even in this assembly they are seated with me in my heart.' On hearing this, I turned into the right road." In the year of the Hejirah 1045 (A. D. 1654), he abandoned this elemental frame in Lahore.
Ashur Beg Karamanlu is also one of those who obtained the gift of spiritual intelligence through Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, notwithstanding the total absence of regular studies: by the exertion of his innate powers, he, like the other Yekanah Bin "seers of one God," attained communion with God. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1636) the author conversed with him in Kashmir, and inquired into the nature of his intercourse with Bahram. He answered: "I went by way of experiment to Farzanah, and he thus directed me: 'Whether alone or in a crowd, in retirement or in public, every breathing which issues forth must proceed from the head; and on this point there must be no inattention.' He also said: 'Guard the internal breath as long as thou canst, directing thy face to the pine-formed heart, until the invocation be performed by the heart in the stomach; also thy invocation should be thus 'God! God!' Meditate also on this sentiment: 'O Lord! none but thou forms the object of my desire!' When I had duly practised this, and found its impressive influence, then from the bottom of my heart I sincerely sought God. After some time he enjoined me to practise the Tawajjah-i-Talkin, 'turning to instruction:' that is: 'keep thy soul in the presence of God, divested of letters and sounds, whether Arabic or Persian, never removing thy mind from the pine-formed heart.' By conforming to these instructions, I have come at last to such a state, that the world and its inhabitants are but as a shadow before me; and their very existence as the appearance of the vapor of the desert.'"
He was truly a man who had entirely withdrawn from all external employments and concerns; never mixing with the people of the world. If a person deposited food before him, he took only the quantity he thought proper, and gave away the remainder; he never polluted his hand with money in gold, silver, or copper; and he frequently passed two or three days altogether without food and never requested anything.
Mahmud Beg Timan, so called from the Timan tribe of Arang in Lahore, joined himself also to Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, and as the precepts of that sage were entirely congenial to his mind, he commenced his religious profession under him, and became one of the Yekanah Bin, "seer of one God," and "knowing God:" thus without the aid of books he attained to the knowledge of the Lord, and notwithstanding the absence of written volumes, discovered the actual road. In the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1637), whilst in Kashmir, coming out of his cell one day, he saw before him a wounded dog, moaning piteously; as the animal was unable to move, he therefore sold the only two objects he possessed, his carpet for prayer and his rosary, with the proceeds of which he purchased remedies for the dog. That same year, he said to the author: "On the first day of turning my heart to the mental invocation of God, I had scarcely performed it ten times, when all evident influence was manifested: at the moment of the first part, called nafi, of the sentence, my human existence disappeared; at the time of the second, called asbat, a determined sign of divine grace became visible: my sentence was this: 'There is no God, but God." After this manner, several of this sect, by the diligent practice of faith, attained to the knowledge of God.
Musa and Harun were two Jews, to whom Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, gave these names: they were distinguished by a profound knowledge of their own faith, and highly celebrated among the Rabbins, who are a particular sect of Jewish teachers. On their introduction into Bahram's society, they were fascinated by his manners, and through his system of faith acquired the knowledge of themselves. They applied themselves to commerce, and neither in buying or selling did a falsehood proceed from their lips, as is the custom of merchants They have thus recorded: "To whomsoever Bahram, the son of Farhad, uttered a single word about the path of religion, he became immediately fascinated by his manner: also whoever beheld him felt an attachment to him; even the hardened infidel who approached him, humbled himself, and we have often witnessed such events: for example, the Mulla Muhammed Said of Samarkand, who was our intimate friend, through excess of prejudice hurried once to revile him: at that moment, Bahram had retired from Lahore in to a burying-ground: when the Mulla approached, he found himself irresistibly impelled to run forward and laid his face on Bahram's feet: and on Bahram's addressing a few words to him, immediately embraced his faith. I afterwards questioned the Mulla about the exact nature of this conversion from infidelity, and he replied: 'I no sooner beheld him than I fell at his feet; and when he addressed a few words to me, I became enraptured with him.' The Mullah always styled Bahram 'the plunderer of hearts.'
One day the author asked Musa, "is Kasun thy brother?" He replied, "people say so." I then asked, "who is your father?" he answered, "our mother knows that."
Antun Bushuyah Wavaraj was a Frank, zealous in the Christian faith, and also possessed of great property; through divine aid, he conceived an attachment to the society of Dervishes, and for the purpose of acquiring knowledge held frequent conferences with them: through his having discovered the path pointed out by the son of Furhad, he altogether resigned his worldly concerns, assumed the profession of a Kalander, [1] and denied himself the use of clothes: Farzanah always called him "Messiah." He used to appear perfectly naked, and never wore clothes either summer or winter: he abstained altogether from animals of every description: be never solicited anything, but if a person brought food or drink before him, if it wore not animal food, he would eat part of it. One day, although an evil-disposed person smote him so that his limbs were wounded, yet he never even looked at his oppressor; when his persecutor had departed, I, the author, came up as the people were speaking of the injury inflicted on him; on my enquiring the particulars from himself, he replied "I am not distressed for my own bodily suffering, but that person's hands and fists must have suffered so much." The Imam Kali Warastah, "the humble,." says:
If the thorn break in my body, how trifling the pain!
But how acutely I feel for the hapless broken thorn!"
[1. A Kalander is person of religions pretensions, a sort of dervish not generally approved by the Moslems - (Herbelot).]
Ram Bhot, a Hindu, was a learned Brahmin of Benares; on joining the son of Farhad, he desisted altogether from his former rites, and began to follow the path pointed out by Bahram. The Mobed Hoshyar says: "I have often heard wonderful stories concerning him; a person named Muhammed Yakub was so ill, that the physicians having given up all hopes of his cure, his relations, in their affliction, had recourse to an ignorant woman who reckoned herself a skilful personage: I went one day near Ram Bhot, and found him reposing his head on his knee, on which this reflection passed across my mind: 'if Ram Bhot be one of the elect, he can tell whether Muhammed Yakub is to remain or pass away.' He raised up his head, and looking on me with a smile, said: 'God only knows the hidden secrets; however, Muhammed Yakub is not to depart: in another week he will be restored to health.' And truly the thing came to pass as he had declared." Through his guidance Ram Chand, a Kshatri, one of the chiefs of the Sahan Sakal, adopted the faith: and through the instruction of these two individuals, many of their tribe embraced the independent faith as promulgated by the son of Farhad. The word Sah in Hindi is applied to "a possessor or powerful person," and the Sakhal are a division of the Kshatri, an Indian cast or tribe. In reality, if the writer attempted to enumerate the numbers of different nations who zealously adopted the doctrines and ritual of Bahram, this work would become exceedingly prolix; he must therefore resist from such an undertaking. The author of these pages has heard from Farzanah Bahram, the son of Farhad, as stated on the authority of Farzanah Bahram, the Son of Farhad, that one day the Shaikh Baha-ud-din Muhammed Amali, who was a Mujtahad "a champion," of the sectaries of Ali, came near Kayvan and obtained an interview: having thus become acquainted with Kayvan's perfection and wisdom, he was exceedingly rejoiced and happy, and recited this tetrastich:
"In the kabah and the fire temple the perfect saint performed his rounds,
And found no trace of any existence (save that of God);
As the splendor of the Almighty sheds its rays in every place,
Knock thou either at the door of the kabah or the portals of the temple."
After this interview, he became the diligent follower of Kayvan, and resorted to the disciples of the Master of all Sciences.
Mir Abulkasim Fandaraski also, through his intercourse with Kayvan's disciples, became an adorer of the sun, refraining from cruelty towards all living creatures. It is well known that being once asked: "Why dost not thou in obedience to the law go on the pilgrimage to Mecca?" He replied: "I go not on this account, as I must there slaughter a sheep with my own hand." At present the author proceeds to describe with the pen of truth a summary of the institutes of the Amezish, "intercourse," held by the Abadian Dervishes with society. Those who adopt this rule call it the Amezish-i-Farhang, or, "the intercourse of science," and Mezchar, or "Stranger's remedy." When a stranger to their faith is introduced to one of their assemblies, far from addressing harsh observations to him, they pass eulogiums on his tenets, approve whatever he says, and do not omit to lavish on him every mark of attention and respect: this conduct proceeds from the fundamental article of their creed, as they are convinced that in every mode of belief, its followers may come to God: nay, if those of a different faith should present them a request respecting some object about which they disagree, that is, solicit some act by which they may approach God, they do not withhold their compliance. They do not enjoin a person to abandon his actual profession of faith, as they account it unnecessary to give him useless pain of mind. Moreover when any one is engaged in concerns with them, they withhold not their aid from his society and support, but practise towards him to the utmost extent of their ability, whatever is most praiseworthy in this world and the next they are also on their guard against indulging in sentiments of prejudice, hatred, envy, malice, giving pre-eminence to one faith above another, or adopting one creed in preference to another. They also esteem the learned, the Dervishes, the pure of life, the worshippers of God in every religion, as their trusty friends; neither styling the generality of mankind wicked; nor holding worldly-minded persons in abhorrence they observe, "what business has he who desires not this world's goods to abhor the world?" for the sentiment of abhorrence can proceed from the envious alone. They neither communicate their secrets to strangers, nor reveal what another communicates to them.
A person named Mihrab was among the disciples who followed the son of Farhad, in the year of the Hejirah 1047 (A. D. 1637); the author, who was then in Kashmir, thus heard from Muhammad Fál Hasiri: "I once beheld Mihrab standing in the high road; at the moment when a Khorasanian, seizing on an old man by force, obliged him to labor for him without recompense, and placed a heavy burden on his head: at this Mihrab's heart so burned within him, that he said to the Khorasanian, 'Withdraw thy hand from this old man, that I may bear the burden whithersoever thou desirest.' The Khorasanian was astonished, but Mihrab, without paying any farther attention to this, took the poor man's load on his head, and went along with his unjust oppressor, and on his return from that person's house showed no symptoms of fatigue. On my observing to him, 'This oppressor has heaped affliction on a holy priest and judge like thee!' He replied, 'What could a helpless person do? the load must be conveyed to his house, and he was unable to place it on his shoulders, as it was unbecoming for him; nor was he able to give money (which is difficult to be procured) in payment of his labour: he of course seized on someone to perform his work. I applaud him for granting my request, and feel grateful to the old man for complying with my wishes, suffering me to take his place, and transferring his employment to myself.'
Hafiz of Shiraz thus expresses himself:
"The heavens themselves cannot remove the weight confided to us;
The lot of labour fell to my hapless name."
Mah Ab, the younger brother of the above Mihrab, was seen by the compiler of this work in attendance on the son of Farhad, and in the year of the Hejirah 1048 (A. D. 1638) he thus heard from the Mulla Mahdi of Lahore: "Bahram having one day sent him on some errand to the bazaar, he happened to pass by the house of a person in the service of Alim Uddin of Halsub, styled Wazir Khan; the soldier was thou chastising his slave, saying: 'Thou hast fraudulenty sold one of my captives.' Mahab coming near the soldier, said to him 'Withdraw thy hand from this slave, and accept me in place of him who has run away.' Nay, this request was so importunately urged, that the soldier finally accepted the offer and desisted from beating his slave. However, when the soldier had discovered Mahab's spiritual gifts, he permitted him to return home, but Mahab would not quit him. A week after this event, Farhad said in my presence, 'I know not where Mahab is;" on which, resting his head on his knees, he directed his heaven-contemplating attention to the subject, and the instant after, raising up his head, said Mahab is in the service of a certain soldier, and has voluntarily resigned his person to servitude.' He forthwith proceeded to the soldier's abode and brought back Mahab." Many similar transactions are recorded of these sectaries. Muhammed Shariz, styled Amir ul Umira, a Shirazi by descent, thus says
"Through auspicious love we make perfect peace in both worlds,
Be thou an antagonist, but experience nothing but love from us."
It is to be observed that Halsub is a place in one of the districts of the Parjab.
A short notice of the Amizesh-i Farhang, or institute of the Abadiyah Dervishes, having been thus given, we next proceed to describe with the pen of truth the chiefs and rulers of that religion. But it is always to be borne in mind that the faith of the princes of Persia, whether of the Abadian, Jaian, Shaian, Yesani-an, nay of the Peshdadian, Kayanian, Ashkanian, and Sassanian dynasties was such as has been described; and although the system of Zartosht obtained the pre-eminence, yet they have by means of glosses reconciled his faith with that professed by Abad, Gayomard, and the system of Hooshang, called the Farhang Kesh or "excellent faith;" they regarded with horror whatever was contrary to the code of Abad, which they extolled by all means in their power, as Parviz the son of Hormuz, in his answer to the Roman emperor, thus expresses himself:
"We feel no shame in professing our ancient faith,
No other creed in this world can compete with that of Hooshang.
The whole object of this code consists in promoting justice and love:
And contemplating the numbers of the celestial spheres."
They give Mahabad the names of Azar Hooshang A Hooshang, Hooshang, and A Hosh. It is also recorded, that the Almighty bestowed on the princes of Ajam prudence, sagacity, and perfection of intellect, whereby their theories were connected with practical results, and their words quite in harmony with their deeds, so that their rule over this revolving world for so many thousand years was entirely owing to the efficacy of the above-mentioned principles and covenants.
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