TheDervishesorOrientalSpiritualism_10551903

T H E D ERV I S H E S ;
O R I E N TA L S PI R I T U A L I S M .
BY JO H N P . B R OWN ,
S E C RE TA R Y AND D RA G OM A N OF T HE L E G ATION OF T HE U NIT ED S TAT E S

O F A M E RI C A AT C O N S TA NT I N O P L E .
T HE M E V LE V E E S H E I K H OF PE R A , C ON S TA NTI NO P L E .
w iflg M smtg -
fou r i llu s t r at i on s .
I I DNTDCfl q z
T RU B N E R AN D co .
1 86 8 .
L ON D O N
R C L A v, S ON ,
A N D TA Y L O R ,
P R I N T E RS ,
B R E A D S T REE T H I L L .
A M E V LE V EE D R VI H
E S OF DA M A S C US .
L I ST O F I LL U ST R AT I ONS .
RA G E
THE M EV LE V E E S H E I K H O F P E R A CON ST AN TI NO P L E
,
B E RR A K TH E AN I M A L ON W H I C H T H E P R O P H ET VI S I TE D
A M E V LE V EE RV I S H
DE OF D A M A S CU S
A K A D I R EE D E RV I S H
TH E H U LO O L I E H , ON E OF TH E O R I G I NA L O R D E R S O F TH E
DE R VI S H ES
A M E V L E V E E, OR U R N I N G D E RV I S H
T
A M E V LE V E E D E R V I S H O F D A M A S CU S D AN C I N G
A N A KS H I B EN D E E
A DE V OU T M U SS U LM AN A T P R A Y E R I N T H E D E S E R T
A K H A LVVET T E E S H E I K H
AN A B D AL M A R A B O O T O R H O LY M AN I N A C RA ZE D STA T E
, ,
M E V L E V EE D E R V I S H E S U N D E RG O I N G P E N I TE NC E
A R U F AE E D E R VI S H I N AN E C S T A T I C STA T E
’
A S H E I KH O F T H E N A K S H I B E N D E ES S U B D U I N G A L I O N B Y
H I S S P I R I T UA L P O I V E RS
S A KA ,
O R WAT ER D I ST R I B U T O R
L I ST O F I LL U ST R A T I ONS .
P AG E
A M EV L EV E E O R C H ESTR A
A B E ST A M E E S H E I K H
R U F A E E D E RVI S H ES R E C I T I N G T H E E V RA D O R P R AY E R S T O
T H E P R O P H ET
R U F A EE D E RVI S H I N AN E C STAT I C ST A TE
G H A Z E E H A SS AN B A B A AN A B D A L O R S AN T ON O F T R I P O L I
, ,
B A RB A R Y
A VVA N D ERI N G KA LE N D E R E E D E RVI S H
A B EK TA S H D E R VI S H I N H A L I N G H A S H EE S H .
D E R VI S H ES O F T H E M E V L EV E E O R D E R
M EV LEV EE D E R VI S H O F D A M A S CU S C R O S S I N G H I S A RM S
B E F O R E B E GI N N I N G T O D ANC E
A K A D I RE E DER V I S H .
PR E F A C E .
TH E Ob j ec t of this volum e i s t o afford informati on in

regard t o t he Belief and Prin c iples of t he D ervishes as ,
well as t o descri b e their various m odes of worshipping

t he Creat or .
That t he Spiritual Pri n ciples of the D ervish Orders

exis t ed in Ara bia previous t o t he time of the great
an d talented I slam Proph et can n ot b e doubted Th e .
historical p or t ion s of the Ol d an d New Testaments were

also well k nown amo n g the Arabs d i ffer i ng traditionally
, ,
however in m any resp e c ts from th e narra t ives of the

,
Sacred Writings ; an d if a c onj e ct ure may be made as

t o the s t arting p oin t of I slamism we would say that it
,
originat ed in the act of p erfec t submission of Abr aham

t o t he will of t he Almigh t y when he de t ermined to
,
offer up his son I saac in ob edience to t he D ivine

command .
The S pir it ualism of t h e D ervishes differing in many

respec t s from I slamism and having i t s origi n in the
,
religious concep tions of I ndia an d Greece p erhap s the

,
informa t ion I have b een enabled t o collec t t ogether on

the subj ec t may n ot be wi t hou t in t erest t o t he reader .
M uch of this i s orig i nal ; an d having been ex t rac t ed

from Orien t al works an d from Tur k ish Arabic and
, , ,
P ersian M SS may b e relie d up on as strictly ac c urate

.
,
.
I n procuring material s from original source s valuable ,
assis t ance has been rend ered m e by personal friends ,

iv P RE F A C E .
members O f variou s D ervish Orders in this capital t o ,
whom I would here express my thanks N ot w it h .
s t anding t he unfavourable O p i nio n en t ertained by many

—principally in t he Christian world— agains t their reli
i
g ou s principles I must in strict j usti c e ad d tha t I
, , ,
have fo u nd these p ersons liberal and in t elligen t sincere , ,
and mos t faithful fr i ends .
I n t he ext racts from th e work s of other au t hors ,
s om e of whom are t oo well k nown t o t h e p ubli c t o

.
requir e more t han t o b e n amed by m e—D Oh s s on S i r ’
William J one s Malcolm Lan e U bicin i and D e Gobi

n eau —
, , , ,
some differen ce s will b e p erceived mostly wi t h ,
regard t o th e estimate placed by each of these upon

“ ”
t he character and influence of Th e D e rvishes i n
t he M ussulman world T 0 these eminent auth ors I am
.
under grea t obligation s an d t ake t h e pre s ent opp or

,
t u n it y of ac k nowle d ging t hem .
T o t h e k indness of D r R os t t he se cre t ary of the

.
,
R oyal Asiati c So ciety in ge t ting my li tt l e work through

,
t he press I am more d eeply indeb t ed t han I can here

,
prop erly express .
As a book of re feren ce I t rus t tha t this imperfec t

,
work will prove of som e us e 5 an d travellers in th e

E as t will p erhap s b e enabled t o learn from i t much
t ha t would be o t herwis e obscure and hidden from
t heir k nowledge M u c h more could have b een added
.
t o i t especially with regard to the D ervish Orders in

,
t he more dis t an t parts of Asia I ndia and Africa ; bu t I

‘
, ,
hop e that so me on e more comp e t en t than m yself will

collec t the i n formation which was b eyond my reach .
T H E AU T H O R .
C ON STAN T I NO P L E, Oc f oéef
-
1867 .
B ERR A K T HE A N I M A L
,
ON W H I C H T H E R O HE T V I S IT ED HE A V E N
P P .
C ON TEN TS .
C H AP T E RI .
I n tr odu cti on —Ab rah am an d M oh a mm e d—Th e S a cri fi ce of I s m a 11

Th e D eceas e of I b rahi m — “
or Kn o w l ed g e o f
”
The A t m b od h a ,
t h e S pi r i t P ag e 1 — 4 8
C H AP TE R I I .
O n t h e O r igi f h
n o t e D ervi s h O r d r
e s — T h e O r igi n al O r d e r s — F o rm s
of P r ay er C a p s & c —Tr a d i t i on s of t h e O r d er s
, ,
.
—
49 7 5
C H AP TE R I II .
N am es of t h e O r ders of D erv i s h es — B r an ch es of t h e O r igi n al

O r d ers a t C on s tan t in op l e P e cu l iar T i tl es given t o F ou n d ers
“
S pi r i tu al O wn ers
”
Th e S fihib i Tes avv u f or ,
of t h e D e r
vis h es 7 6 — 85
C H AP T E R I V .
O n t h e C os tu m es an d T en e t s of t h e D er vis h es — The H ol y M an tl e
of t h e P r op h e t—Th e Ku l ah s , ”
or D ervi s h C a p s 86 — 1 0 5
C H AP TE R V .
S a cr e d B ook s an d the C r e at i on of M an — Th e “
E vlia,
”
S a i n ts 10 6 —1 1 2
C H AP TE R V I .
Th e Ru faees
’
( H owl i n g D ervi s h e s —
) Th e N ak s hiben d ees
11
3
—139
vi C ONT E NTS .
C H AP TE R V I I .
Th e B ek t as he es —Th i
e r C o s tu m e — Thei r Tw elve I m am s —Th e
I n it iat ion of a B ek t fis h ee . P ag e 1 40 — 1 74
C H AP TE R V I II .
T he M elam iy oon s —Th e S e ct ar i an R i t es of t he M u ch Lovi n g

Ta r eek of t he M elam iy oon — O u th ei r A s s embl i es —Th an k s
for F c od — A cqu i s i ti on of t he M ean s of E xi s ten ce 1 7 5 —1 88
C H AP T E R IX .
R eal an d F al s e D erv is h es —Th e

“
Kh i rk a, or M an tl e—Th e
S ton e worn t h e G i r dl e — Th e P os t, o r
“ ”
Palen k , or in
S eat 18 —
9 1 96
C H AP TE R X .
Th e O r d er of t he M ev levees 197 —20 6
C H AP TE R XI .
’
D Oh s s on on t he R is e an d S p r ea d of D ervi s h O r d e rs 20 —
7 2 43
C H AP TE R X II .
L an e s ’
M od ern Egyp ti an s 2 44 — 26 6
C H AP TE R X I II .
Mu s s u l m an S ai n t s 26 7 —29 0
C H AP TE R X I V .
P er s ian D ervi s h es —S pi r itu al E x er ci s es —H as h ees h —Th e O ccu lt

S ci en ces —A L i s t of D ervi s h C on ven ts a t C on s tan ti n op l e
29 1 —3 2 9
1
C H AP TE R X V .
“
L etter s Tu r k e y Th e H in d ee, th e W an d erin g
’
U b icin i s on -
or
D ervi s h es of I n d ia 3 30
—3 5 8
C H AP T E R X V I .
O n t h e T es avvu f, or S pir i tu al L i fe of t h e S oofees —

3 5 9 3 70
C H AP TE R X V II .
A B i og raph y of t he F ou r t h C al ip h
’
A lee 3 71
—4 1 5
TH E D E RV I S H E S .
C H APT E R I .
TH E earliest form or pr i nciple of R el i gion is conn e c ted

, ,
with an intuitive c onvict i on in the mind O f man of the

possession of a soul or spirit indep endent of his body , ,
or corp ore a l existen c e The soul is believed to surv i ve

.
the body and refers to a superior Sp i rit c reative a n d

, ,
pro vi dential in its c h a ra c ter A more perfe c t knowledge

.
and c ommunion with this greater Spi rit or G o d 18 the , ,
O bj ect of man s c ont i nuous asp i rat i on s The senses ( or

’
.
fa c ulties ) of man are p ossessed in common with other

anim a ls These are all i n tim a tely connected with his
.
intelle c tual fa c ulty so m u c h so that when they do not

, ,
exist as in ch i ldhood and advan c ed age or are enfeebled

, ,
by ac c idental causes as in idio c y it is ser i ously a ffe c ted

, ,
The reasoning faculty a n d that of speech seem to be, ,
those whi c h dist i nguish man from or d in a ry a n i mal nature ,
and yet both of t h ese are p o ssessed in a greater a n d ,
less degree by most animals I t i s supposed that the

,
.
“ ”
bra i n i s th e se a t of the in t elle c tual fa c ulty and its ,
op erations are expla i ned by its connex i on w ith th e

n ervous system and the other senses su c h as hear i ng , ,
s eeing and the tou c h The size of the bra i n does not
,
.
increase the reasoning faculty n or t hat of the body t h e ,
other ordinary fa c ulties .
M an thus in his most degrad ed and least intellectual

, ,
condition in his most barbarous state seems to have

, ,
B
2 TH E D E R VI S HE S .
an in t uitive convict i on of the possession of a s ou l ,
and of a future existence after the death of his body .
I t seems not to be d epende n t upon m ental c ulture n or ,
upon a k n owledge of the grea tness of this God and the ,
magn i tude of H is p ower and work s D o es this p er .
c ep t ion extend to any other of H is c reatures veget a ble ,
or animal or is i t restr i c ted entirely to m a n

,
I believe
that the idea is always limited to the fact that there is a
God and that the b elief in a plura lity of Gods is a
,
matter of pure im agination dep endent up on the v a ried ,
c on v i c t i on s and wants of man in the several parts of the

world .
J ust as the soul of m an thus leads him t o believe in

th e ex i ste n c e of God so does i t likewise i mpress him
,
with a c onviction of th e greatness of th e D eity and i n , ,
his helplessn ess to suppli c ate H im in the hour of need

, ,
of suffering and of da n ger

,
This therefore is the .
, ,
original me a ns of c ommun i c at ing w i th the Creator on

the part of the c reature D iv ine provid ences are n ot .
restricted to man only but are experien c ed throughou t

,
all creation The same laws of nature whi c h affect him

.
in this l i fe exten d also to all living be i ngs an d the ,
question may be again repeated wh ether inanimate as ,
well as ani m ate c reation the vegetable as well as animal

, ,
have any percept i on of this fact ?

Leaving the idea of the un i ty of the D ei t y it is found ,
that man has endeavoured to gi ve t o this simple c on

v ict ion a pla c e an d a form On the former there seems
.
to b e a belief in common among all m en that the ,
Creator of all th i ngs ex i sts far beyond the concept i on s

o f the senses an d i nvis i ble t o the ordinary sen ses ;
,
wh i lst the imaginat i on ascribes t o H im innumerable

forms all d ependent upon th e imagination an d the
,
fan ci ed wants of ordinary life With som e H e i s all .
bene v olen c e with others ave n g i ng ; wh ilst som e b elieve

,
that all H i s prov i dences are unchan geable and therefore ,
constitute what i s c alled d estiny and fate others regard ,
them as merciful and adapted to the needs o f th ose w h o

,
implore Hi s c ompassion Whilst H e is c onsidered omni

.
Vad e P s al m cl 6 a n d ot h er s
’
’
. .
,
T H E D ERVI S HE S .
3
poten t in all t hings it is held that H e m ay and does

, , ,
a lter H is laws of nature and so p ermit of oc c urren c es,
wh ic h are called mira c les They even go st i ll farther .

,
and hold that H e grants this p ower to those who i n v oke

H i m so tha t they may effect e qually surprising sup er
,
natural acts .
Besides this communion with God by spiritual m ean s

only and a direct intercourse between the Spirit of th e
Creator and the soul of man many—part ic ularly in
,
the E ast the bir t h place of humanity according to the

—
-
, ,
earliest history bel i eve it possible for him to app m cm z l
n ea r t o God Th i s i s effe c ted by a devout adoration

.
of H im a frequent c alling up on H is Name ; and t he

,
m ethod of doing so has been establ i shed in a regular

system As th i s is p eculiar to the E ast the following
.
,
a c count of the D ervishe s will serve in som e manner

to explain it .
For m ost of the religious creeds of the Moslems

I believe the sour c e or at least parallels may be , ,
found in the Bible and the history of Christian saints

, .
The same thoughts g i ve rise to a similarity of impulses

and of acts ; and this fa c t with many leads the m i n d , ,
t o b elieve in t h eir truthfulness .
A closer application to the contempla t ion of th e

D eity as the on e Supreme Spir i t Creator of all th i ngs , ,
an d omn i po t en t Sovereign of the universe and of the ,
immor t al i ty of the soul of man leads th e mind to a ,
d isregard of t h e his t ory of the human race as a D ivin e

revela t ion I t places the f or m s of worship —s an ct ifi ed
.
i n ou r estimation only by t he assump t i on of their

found er tha t he p ossessed a p osition of d evout com
,
munion w i th the D eity n ot p os sessed by his fello w

crea t ures generally— in a secondary if n ot indeed in , , ,
an un essential point of view They are valued o n ly

,
.
as the creation of the mind of on e who commands

ou r resp ect by his eviden t intention to b enefit his
fellow beings by eleva t ing them from a m ean i ngless
-
idolat ry t o an adoration of th e One only true D eity ,
and by wise moral laws and regulat ion s to gu ide their

“ ”
i gnorant and feeble in t ellects in a p a t hway leading
B 2
4 T H E D E R VI S H E S .
from earth to heaven Although we may b e disposed .
“
to accept the idea that man has an intuitive con
”
vict i on of the existen c e of God th i s same i ntuition ,
gives us n o insigh t into the c ond i tion of the soul i n

its future existence I t n evert h eless strongly suggests
.
the fa c t Of a r i ght and a wrong of good and ev i l ,
a c ts an d of a future re w a rd for the one an d a punish

, ,
ment for the oth er The in s ign ifi can cy of the histori c a l

.
part of the B i ble in compar i son with that which relates

,
’
to man s Spirituality becomes th e more app arent as ,
we pursue the latter I t is in almo st every i nstance .

, ,
only the narrative of temporary human weaknesses ,
O f the empire of the p a ss i ons an d of the feebleness ,
of the s o ul when unsupp orted by the Spirit of the

,
D eity ; O ften offer i ng some of the worst d eed s which

darken an d degrade mank i nd in h is short c areer in
this existen c e These c annot b e attributed to Divin e
.
i n spiration though t h e n a rrator may have be en in spired

,
to record them for a wise and useful purpose The .
spiritual history of man only demands our deepest

attention I n th i s we are led to regard with com
.
lac e n c as n on essenti a l to his future existen c e the

p y
-
, ,
forms and parti cul a r rules of worsh i p established in ,
modern a s well as in ancient times by the variou s ,
i ndi vi duals who fully cons i dered the frailtie s of hum a n

n ature ,
the n ecessity of external app earan ces an d the ,
strength of whatever i s mysterious upon th e mind of

men generally H ow many men and women ha v e
.
b elieved themselves as espe ci ally called upon to assume

the c haracter of prophets an d prophetesses and to ,
app eal to their fellow beings in the lan guage of Divin e -
insp i ration ! We are stru c k by the strange m i x t ure of

good an d ev i l whi c h appe a rs i n the h i story of their ow n
l i ves and by the t ermina t ion of their c areers We are
,
.
lost in the vain endeavour to se i ze upon on e fa c t cal

—
cu lat e d to pro c ure a self conviction of the truthfulness
of their assumpt i on With some we find youth and.

,
manhood devoted to mental instruct i on in a religious ,
point of v i ew and we are therefore led to give t h em

, , ,
ou r resp ect And yet such ins t ruction as this seems

.
6 T H E D ERVI S H E S .
Gabriel & c ; an d in more modern t imes the abode of

,
.
, ,
God has been peopled w i th saints transformed from ,
ordinary corporeal beings 1n th i s world to purely s pi1 it u al

one s i n h eaven ; and we still g i ve them there the same
names wh ic h t hey bore on earth .
R evelation relieves the m i nd of man of mu c h of what

is d ark and c oncealed I t sheds a l i ght up on the m y s t e
.
r iou s and t he unknown and when accepted as a pure , ,
m atter of faith gives calmness a n d repose to the believer

,
.
A fi rm ly seated conviction be it whatever it may right

-
, ,
o r wrong renders its p ossessor tra n quil ; and with it the

,
J ew the Christian the M oslem as well as even the

, , ,
idolater or the fi r e worshipper passes through his c a reer

,
-
in life satisfied with his faith an d meets the hour of his

, ,
departure w i th cheerful confidence R elzgz on in its ordi

'
.
,
nary s i gnification me ans the outward expression of a

,
bel i ef a c c ompanied by various form s of worship an d

,
external ceremonies s r z z z z a /z s m rej e c ts these as non

.
‘
e ssentials an d i s the simple communion of the human

,
soul with the Divine Spirit by means of prayer and ,
contemplation The heart s adoration of the Supreme

.
’
Creator may be audible or silent and ea c h be equal to ,
the other i n point of valu e with H im to whom nothing

, ,
i s s e c ret The inutility of forms and ceremonies i s

.
,
therefore evident and at best may be regarded as human

, ,
con ceptions or as symbols of m ysteries hav i ng for O bj e c t

,
only an i nfluen c e upon the mind and imagination of the

worshipper I f these be c onsidered as insi gnifi c ant in
.
the s i ght of the Alm i ghty they may also be regarded as ,
inno c ent an d harmless These should n ot however .

, ,
tend to withdraw the worsh i pper from the Cre a tor to the
c re a ture I t is imp oss i ble to supp ose God unwilling to
.
hear the suppl ic ations of any on e who appeals t o H im

in a sin c ere and fervid spirit I t is equally i mpossible .
t o bel i eve that H e has pla c ed a barrier to this faculty in ,
the form of a multitude of intermediate c reatures or , ,
that H e h a s g iv en to any on e a power to a c cept or refuse

t he salvation of another The laws of God are equally .
over all and for all and never c an be otherwise than ,
perfec t ly j us t Any asser t io n to the con t ra ry must there

.
,
T HE D ERVI S H E S .
7
fore be attrib u t ed entirely to the imagi nation the vanity

, , ,
an d the weakness of man Some men have been goo d

.
for their own s akes only ; ot h ers have not only been
themselves good but have endeavoured t o i ndu c e others
,
t o b e e qually good so far as weak human nature and the

,
power of the pass i ons p ermit H ere then i s an evident .

, ,
principle of ben evolen c e which alone renders its advocate

,
superior to those who disregard i t That relig i on which .
i s erected on th i s basis rests upon an eternal foundat i on ,
and p ossesse s a D ivin e orig i n ; whilst any other which

in c ulcates str i fe and e n m i ty with all their attendan t evils
, ,
must be held as antagonistic to the des i gn of the Suprem e

Creator an d Judge of the whole human ra c e The .
laws pres c ribe d by the earl i est legis lat is t o f whom we

have an y knowledge Moses impressed upon the minds
, ,
of those whom h e designed to ben efit fi m z the unity o f

‘
, ,
the D eity to whom only man must address his adora

,
tions and n exz t h e prin ci ple of right an d wrong

,
‘
—
towards each ot er or in other words the necess i ty of
h , , ,
m u tual benevolen c e .
T h e subj e c t of Spiritual Powers i s the pri n cipal

obj ec t of the wr i ter in collecti n g the materials of the
present little work No on e so far as h e can learn
.
, ,
has devoted a boo k t o the D ervishes exclusively .
Some accounts of them esp e ci ally of the external,
forms of their worship are found in various writings ;

,
but few have gone farther than these or h ave given at , ,
m ost biograp h ical sket c he s of their more prominent

,
m embers .
Th e subj ect is not a n ew on e I t can be traced in .
th e Old and New Testament as well as in the Koran , ,
and I fully believe is p ecul i ar t o the learned ranks o f

, ,
the p eople of I ndia from when c e it entered into Arab i a

,
and P ersia I t has its origin in t h e belief that man s

.
’
S pirit is a Divine emanation and un der certa i n peculiar

, ,
cir c umstances is possessed of a D i vin e fa c ulty d i s c on

,
n ect e d with his corp oreal part a n d therefore to be , , ,
attributed wholly to his sp i ritual The u n ity of t h e .
D e i ty was the prin c iple of th e Gre eks and the H i ndoos

‘
and the o t her god s were supposed to b e emanations from

8 TH E D ERVI S H E S .
the On e grea t Suprem e D eity called among t he former ,
J ove and the latter Brahm an Amo n g t h e J ews the

,
.
unity was retained a n d amo n g the p eople of Ar ab i a the

,
same prin ci ple has n ot been fors a ken though that of ,
emanations or p e c ul i ar g i fts of t h e Sp i rit of Allah to

,
those who devotedly i nvoke and a dore H im i s sustained ,
to its fullest exte n t The Trinity of t h e Chr i st i an c reed

.
seems to have be en the chief obj ect of M oh ammed s ’
abhorren c e I n c hapter cxii of th e Koran i s found

. .
the w h ole basi s of his do c trin e God is one God H e

begettet h not neither is H e begotten an d there is not
,
”
any on e like unto H im .
Whilst M o s lems rej e c t the div i nity of J esus Christ ,
they fully be lieve in H is m i raculous co n cept i on an d eve n ,

“ ”
c all h im p a r exeellen ee the
,
Sp i rit of Go d , ( R on/z
U llez /z ) they rej e c t th e theory of H is m i ss i on as a

‘
R edee m er an d Saviour and of the Baptism and yet , ,
admit h i m as on e of the m in is ( E vlia ) who s e in t erces

sion with G od is beneficial to those w h o implore D ivin e
mercy .
I cann ot do b etter than h ere quote t h e remarks of

M Gar c in de Ta ssy in h i s prefa c e to the adm i rabl e
.
,
“
translation of t h e p oem Manti c U t t air ( f
‘
one o
the most beautifu l colle c tions of i deas on th e Spiritu a l

ism of the E ast ) to demonstrate th e subj ect before
,
Th e enigma of nat ure has been variou sly explained

by philosophy Great geniuses have arisen i n different
.
pla c es an d in different ages and the ir v aried suppos i tions ,
on this subj ect have been reduced to systems a n d foun d
millions of do c ile followers H owever an authent i c .

,
explanation was needed for th i s great mystery wh i ch

would sat i sfy the m i n d an d the heart .
M ussulman s have sh own a remarkable su btlety in

develop i ng th e mystery of nature T h ey have under .
taken the most serious t ask of showing the alliance

between philosophy an d revelation Pla c ed between the .
Pantheism of the I ndian J ogis and th e Koran wh ic h is ,
somet i mes an i nformal copy of the Bi ble their philo ,
sophers named the S oof ees have establ i shed a Pantheistic

, ,
TH E D ERVI S HE S .
9
—
s c h ool appropr i ate to I slam ideas a sort of esoteric ,
do c trine O f I sl amism wh ic h must be distinguished from

,
I ndian Pantheism t h ough indeed it presents only the

,
errors of the V z lfi n z o and th e S ei n le/zy a

e
‘
Pantheism .
‘
,
as a moral doctr i ne leads to the same c on clusions as

,
material i sm — th e neg a t i on of human l i berty the in d if ,
ference to a c t i ons and the legitima c y O f tempor a l e n

,
I n this system a ll is God exoep l God f fi m r el

f
j y
’
o m e n t
. s , ,
for H e thereby c eases to be G od .
“
The sp i ritual i sm of the S oof ee tho u gh contrary to ,
mater i alis m is in reality ident i cal with it But i f

, , ,
.
the i r doctrin e i s not more reasonable i t i s at least , , ,
more elevated a n d p oeti c al Among the i r authors .

,
there are som e who have endea v oured to form a

con c ord between M ohammedan dogmas and the i r own
pr i nc i ples so as to e s t abh s h for them a character of
,
ortho doxy .
The doctrin e of th e S oof ees i s an c ien t in I slamism ,
and i s much spread espe c i ally among the partisan s of

,
’
Alee ( the fourth c al i ph) Out of it grew the belief in
.
th e infusion of the D ivin i ty i n A lee an d their al ’

,
l egor ical explanation of all religious pre c epts and

c ere monies One I slam writer s ays that the first
.
p erson wh o took the name of S oof ee was Aboo H ashi m

of Koofa in the latter part of the eighth century ; whilst
,
an other de c lares that the seed s of Soofeeis m were

sown in the time of Adam germed in that of Noah , ,
budded in that of Abraham and the fruit comme n ced ,
to b e d eveloped in that of M oses They reached their .
ma t urity in that of Christ ; and in th a t O f Mohammed

produced pure wine Those of its se c tar i an s who loved
.
this win e have so d runk of it as to lose all knowledge

of themselves and to exclaim Praise b e t o m e ! I s
, ,
‘
there any greater than m e 2 or rather I am the ’

,
Truth ( that is to say God ) 1 There is no other G od than

,
’
me 1
“
It is well t o rememb er t hat t he word S oof ee does
not com e from the Greek word a oq mg ( s agwe or z oz s e) ,
as on e might be tempted t o suppose but from the ,
Arabic word roof (wool ) and signifies a w oollen d r es s

, ,
I 0 TH E D E RVI S HE S .
which forms the costume of the D ervishes and Pa

k e er s c ontemplatifs and Spiritualist s
,
From this nam e .
’
c omes that of the S oof ees M n l ez m n z ozf and sign i fies

’
, ,
esp ecially a Tone or n ov i ce who desires to become a

, ,
S oof ee They generally give the name of S dl z k to th e

'
Tet /lo as ,
on e who walks i n a spiritual path
‘
This .
’
’
n ame also s i mply signifies a man They call ball oo .
r
’
slavery or serv i tud e the servi ce of G od and
‘ ’
A oo he who devo t e s h imself to H is servi c e

’ ’
,
or .
the kn ow i ng is the devout contemplator an d

‘
,
’
the kn owledge of G o d is the obj ect of the c ontempla

‘
,
’
tion H e who has reached this knowledge is called a

.
or on e who is brought near to God an expression

whi c h in the end signifies a m in i f eel i s the Div i n e
, , .
attra c tion ; the ecstat i c st a te which i s the result of ,
contemplat i on i s called H ell and its d egrees M olz d nz ;

, , ,
the union with God i s j a fn ; the separation F or k an d ’
the c ontinuation w ith H im S n /ez n ci l They c all the

'
,
.
ignorant or worldly indiv i dual f d nz l and this expression

'
signifies on e wh o is not o c cupied w i th spiritual matters

and a distinction in fervour is thus defined viz ,
.
Love o f God Di ckie w on differs fro m Affe c tion ;

, ,
‘ ’
Friendsh i p M onoooel ; S /z eoé

,
D esire [s i ded é Ar ,
‘
/
,
‘
dour and Wej n E cstasy ’

,
.
’
These are t h e princ i pal expressions use d by M u s s u l

m en Spir i tualists though there are many others which
, ,
”
cannot here be given .
The following extract from a mystical p oem on

Spiritual i sm c ited by th e same author will serve to
, ,
develop the D ervish idea of God and man

“ ’
Man is the m ost p erfe c t of Go d s c reatures ; he i s
the king of nature because he is the only on e in the
world who k n ows himself —kno w s thus the Creator
,
, , , ,
and p ossesses the intelligence of revelation One m ay .
compare God to the sun reflected upon the waters this

refle c tion of light is noth ing other than the l i ght itsel f .
For th i s reason religious m en i ntoxicated with the c up

, ,
of D iv i ne c ommunion exclaim I a m God I n fact ’
man s attributes are of a D ivine character—what d o I

.
, , ,
’
say Z—his substance is tha t even of God The only .

TH E D ERVI S HE S . I I
difference is t hat h e is a casual being wh i ls t God is

, ,
”
th e only necessary b eing .
The following i s a su c cinct accoun t of the do c tr i n e

of the S oo f ees which is generally adopted in the D ervish
Orders
God only exists —H e is in all th ings and all
.
1.
, ,
things are i n H im .
2 . All vis i ble an d invisible beings are an emanation

“
from H im ( d ivin ae p art icu la an d are not ,
really distinct from H im Creat i on i s only a p astime

, .
with God .
Paradise and H ell and all the d ogmas of positive

3 .
,
religions are only so many allegories the spirit of whi c h

, ,
is only known to the S oofi ee .
4 R eligion s are matters of indifferen c e ; they h ow

.
,
ever ser v e as a means of rea c h i ng to realities S om e

, .
,
for th i s purpose are more advantageous than others , ,
among which is the Mussulman relig i on of which the ,
d o c trine of the S oof ees is the ph i losop h y .
( On this subj e c t J el al e d D een er R o om ee the author

, ,
of the Text Book of the Order of the M ev lev ees ,
called the M elnn eoee S lz er eef remarks i n one of his ,
verses I n Whatever place we m ay set our foot we are ,
always Lord within Thy resort I n whatever place or

, ,
.
corner we m ay entrench ourselves we are always n ear ,
to Thee Perhaps we say there is a path which leads

.
, ,
elsewhere and yet let our pathway be whatever it will

, , ,
it invariably l eads to Thee .
5 There does n ot really exis t any d ifference between

.
good and evil for all i s re duced to u n ity an d G od is the

, ,
real author of the acts of mankind .
6 I t is God who fixes the will of man and he is

.
,
therefore no t free in his a ctions .
St P au l s ay s in H eb rew s xi 3 Thr ou gh faith w e u n d ers t an d

. .
,
th at t h e worl d s w ere fra m e d by t h e w or d of G od s o t h at t h in gs ,
w h i ch a r e s een w e r e n o t m a d e of t h in g s w h i ch d o a pp ear Jo h n .
of P a r m a G e n era l o f t h e F r a n ci s can s
,
t h e a u t h or of a cel eb r a t e d ,
C a t h ol i c w or k call ed t h e E t ern al G os p el
,
a n d t h e a t h o r of t h e ,
”
u
I mi t at i on p r o cl aim t h at T o l o s e on es elf in G od is t h e on l y
,
” “
obj e ct t ow ar d s w h i ch m an s h ou l d s t r ive
”
.
2 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
7 Th e soul existe d before the body and i s confine d

.
,
w ithin the latter as in a c age D e a t h therefore should .

, ,
b e the obj e c t of the wis es of th e S oof e

h e — for i t i s t h en ,
that he return s to the bosom of t h e D iv i nity from whi c h ,
he emanated an d he obtain s what the B ood d his t s call

,
the M r od n n or annihilation in God ”

’
, .
,
8 I t i s by th i s metempsy c hosis t h at souls wh ic h have

.
n ot fu lfilled their destination here below are p ur i fied and

,
become worthy of reun i on with God .
9 The
. prin c ipal o cc u p a tion of the S oo ee i s medita
f
tion on the U n i ty and progress i ve ad v ancement so as to ,
“
gradually atta in to spiritual p erfection a n d to d i e in ,
”
God and whilst in this l i fe to reach t o a unifi c ation
,
w i th G o d .
Without the gra c e of God wh ic h they c all F a z z

'
I O .
,
U llei lz no on e can att a in to this spiritual union ; but

,
th i s they assert is pra c ti c able for it is held by them ,
that G o d does not refuse H i s aid to those that fervently

ask it .
M d e Tassy add s that these d octr i nes h ave had their

.
,
partisans in C hristian E urop e ; for the Adam i tes tea c h

that the human soul is an emanation of the D eity im ,
prison ed in bodily organ s from wh ich it must be freed ,
and that the acts of the body are m a tters of in d i fferen c e ,
which have no i nfluen c e on the soul I n the seventh .
century some held that God was in all nature and that
, ,
H is essen c e gave life to it Others maintained that it .
was ne c essary to disengage the soul from t h e we i gh t

o f the faculties so as to arr i ve at an absolute fusion
,
w i th the infallible One and that was only by c ontem ,
p la t ion .
The religious or mystical p oems of the people of the

E ast are mostly up o n this subj ect They s erve to show .
th a t the writers though nominally Mussulmans were , , ,
n evertheless not held by the ties of ordinary religion its

, ,
forms dogmas and ceremon i es to all of wh ic h they

, , ,
attached but little i mportan c e whe n c ompared with the ,
vast idea of the greatne ss o f t h e C reator an d Prov i dential

God of the universe With them th ere is but on e b ook
—
.
,
worthy O f their research tha t of Nature i n eve ry page

1 4 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
As p ark s m ou n t u p w ar d fr om t h e fi ery bl az e
S ,
S O s u n s ar e b orn s o w o l d s s p i n g f or t h fr om Th ee
,
r r
A n d a s t h e Sp an gl es in t h e s u n n y r a y s
Sh i e r ou n d t h e s ilver s n ow t h e p a g ea t r y
n ,
n
O f H eaven s b r igh t ar my gl i tter s in Th y p rai s e

’
.
A mill ion tor ch es l igh ted by Th y h an d

W an d er u n w ea ied t h ou gh t h e b l u e a by s s
r r
Th e y ow n Th y p ow er a ccomp l i s h Th y comm an d , ,
All ga y w i t h l1fe all el oq u en t w i t h b l i s s

,
Wh at s h all w e call t h em ? Pil es of cr ys tal l igh t ?

A gl or i ou s comp an y of g ol d en s trea ms ?
L amp s of cel es t ial et h er b u rn in g b r igh t
S u n s l igh t i n g s y s t em s w i t h t h ei r j oy ou s b eam s
,
B u t Th ou t o t h os e a r t as t h e n oon t o n igh t
, , .
Y es as a d rop of w at er in t h e s ea,
A ll t h i sm agn i fi cen ce in Th e e i s l o s t
W h at ar e a t h ou s an d w o l d s comp ar e d t o Th ee r
A n d w h a t a m I w h en h eav en s u n n u mb ere d h os t
’
, ,
Th ou gh m u l t ip l i e d by my r i a d s an d arra y e d ,
I n all t h e gl o ry of s u b l im es t t h ou gh t ,
I s b u t a n a tom in t h e b al an ce w eigh e d ,
Again s t Thy gr eatn es s — is a cyph er b rou gh t

Again s t I n fi n ity W h at am I t h en ? N ou gh t , .
N gh t b u t t h e effl u en ce of Thy ligh t D ivin e

ou ,
P erv adin g w orld s h at h each ed my b os om t oo

,
r
Y es in my s pi ri t d ot h Th y S pi i t s h i n e
,
r ,
A s Sh i n e s t h e s u n b eam i n a d r op of d e w .
N ou gh t b u t I l ive an d on h op e s pi n i on s fl y
’
E ag er t ow ar d s Th y p r es en ce f o r in T h e e
I l ive an d b r eat h e an d d w ell as pirin g high
, , ,
E en t o t h e t h r on e of Th y D ivi n i t y
’
.
I am 0 G od an d s u rel y Th ou m u s t b e
, ,
Th ou d ir ectin g gu i d in g all Th ou ar t !
ar t ! , ,
D i r e ct my u n d er s tan d i n g t h en t o Th e e , ,
C on tr ol my s pi r i t gu id e m y w an d eri n g h eart
,
Th ou gh b u t an a t o m mid s t imm en s i ty
’
,
S t ill I am s om e t h i n g fa s h i on e d by Th y h an d
I h ol d a midd l e r an k tw ix t h eaven an d ear t h ,
’
O n t h e l a s t ver ge of m or tal b ei n g s tan d ,
C l os e t o t h e r eal m w h ere an gel s h a ve t h ei r bi r t h ,
J u s t on t h e b o u n d ary of t h e s pi r i t l an d -
Th e i b ein g is comp l ete in m e

ch a n of
I n m e is m at ter s l as t gr ad a t i on l os t
’
A n d t h e n ex t s te p is s pi i t—D eity
,
I can comm an d t h e l ightn in g an d am d u s t ,

T H E D ERVI S H E S . 1
5
A m on ar ch an d a s l ave a w orm a God

, ,
VVh en ce cam e I h er e an d h ow 2 s o m arvell o u s l y

,
C on s t r u ct e d an d con ce iv e d u n k n ow n
,
Th i s clod
L ives s u r el y t hr ou gh s om e h igh er en e gy r
F or fr om i ts el f a l on e it cou l d n o t b e .
C r eat or Yes Th y W i s d om an d Thy W or d

C r e at e d m e Th ou S ou r ce of L i fe an d G oo d
Th ou S pi r i t o f m y s pi r i t , an d my L or d
Th y L igh t, Th y L ove, in t h ei r b r igh t p l en i t u d e
F ill e d m e w i t h an imm or t a l s ou l , t o s p r i n g
O e r t h e aby s s of d ea t h, a n d b a d e i t w e a r
’
Th e gar m e n t s of E t ern al D ay , an d w i n g
I t s h e ave n l y fl igh t b ey on d th i s l i t t l e s p h e r e ,
Even in it s S ou r ce, t o Th ee, i t s A u t h or , Th ee .
O t h ou gh t i n effab l e O v i s i on bl e s t
( Th ou g h w o r t h l e s s o u r con ce p t i on s a ll o f Th ee ) ,
Y e t s h all T h y s h ad ow e d im ag e fi ll ou r b r e as t ,
A n d w a ft i t s h om age t o t h e D e i t y .
G od t h u s al on e my l ow l y t h ou gh t s can s oar ,
Th u s s eek T h y p r es en ce . B ein g w i s e a d goo d n
M id s t Th y va s t w or k s a dmi re ob ey a d or e
’
, , ,
A n d w h en t h e t on gu e is e l o q u en t n o m or e ,
Th e s ou l s h all S p eak in t ear s of g r a t itu d e .
Just as some of the D ervishes use i nternal incenti v es

to religious fervour such as the H omis il hereafter
, ,
des c r i bed and b elieve that th e imagination ex ci te d

, ,
by such physical means O btains a glimp se of future

,
spiritual felicity so others enliven th e mental faculty by

,
corporeal ex c item ents I n this view they insp i re ea c h

.
,
other with i n creased fervour by t h e agitation of the body

an d the c on t i nued exercise of the powers of speech ,
which they call invok i ng the D eity or the Z z ler W i th

’
som e su c h as the fi l er/ levees the sens e of hear i ng i s

, ,
excited by the sound of a sweet or harmoniou s mus i c .
At least such to themselves is the performance of their

,
little orchestra and it is used more as a calming or

,
soothi n g elemen t than as an excit i ng on e I f by certain .

,
m ea n s the senses c an b e excited almost to a p oint of

,
frenzy by O thers they may be lulled into a cond i tion

,
almost of inert i a The p ower of the moral influence of

.
the sp i r i tual guid e ( S /z ez é n or M u m /t ill ) is fully ex

“ ” '
plained in the syst em of t he D ervishes and t he subm i ss i ve ,

1 6 T H E D ERVI S HE S .
deportment of his M z n eerls or pupils or dis ci ples i s so

'
, , ,
v 1s ible to t h e O b s er v er t h a t he is almos t led to believe in

'
t h e theory of t h e p ower of the sup erior will over the

inferior an d willing spirit whi c h is so imp ortant an
,
element in their system Nature and its laws are stud i e d

.
a n d understood whilst life and the soul ar e inexplicabl e

, ,
as mu c h so as is t h eir great Author Hi mself The latter .
may possess qualities yet unknown to th e most learned

in the scien ces yet of whi c h some p ersons often the
, ,
least instru c ted imagine they have glimpses from whi c h

, ,
theories are formed totally at vari a nce with natural

”
s c ience and must therefore be qu a lified as spiritual
, , , .
The follow i ng extr a ct from the Oriental work c a lled

’
F u s oos by Muh i ed D een el A rab ee will serve to give
, ,
the ideas of a Mussulman on th e pre c eding :

Man hav i n g been formed by the hand O f his Creator
, ,
ou t of the best of the so i l of the earth became com ,
p osed of all of the v a ried natures whi c h chara c terise the

diversities of vegetable matter whi c h is the natural
produ c t of soil and of a ll that part akes of the four
,
d istin c t elements of n ature fire air earth a n d water

, , , , ,
and a lso possessing the thre e properties a n i mal v ege , ,
table a n d min eral he re c eived the most noble of forms

, ,
and his hum a n m a terial was formed w i th the finest trai t s

that adorn the li v ing creature God blessed H is work .
with t h e g i ft of H is own H oly Spirit and endowed man ,
with th e p owers of intelle c t and of spee c h ; so t h at he

p ossessed the attributes of his ow n Creator Thes e .
p re ci ous gifts were bestowed upon him so as to enable ,
him to comprehend the wondrous work s of his Divin e

Originator and to speak H is praises .
“
Adam thus blessed with D ivine gifts was p ermitted
, ,
to sp eak to his own p osterity in the language of prophe c y ,
and to dire c t it to th e worship of his Creator The .
knowledge which he possessed of h i s creation an d his

Creator has been transmitted to us through his de
s cen d an t s God also gave him p ower over the whole
.
vast universe in whi c h h e was place d and an intellectual ,
capa c ity re quis i te for the acquisi t ion of a k nowledge of

all tha t surrounded him .
T H E D ERVI S H E S . 1 7
As t o those more elevated beings who occupy the

upper c elestial abodes God has g i ven them that kn o w ledg e
,
which i t pleases H im for them to possess They w or .
sh ip p ed in Ad a m an intelle c tual c apa c ity and power

super i or to their ow n n otwithst a nding that t hey do
,
p ossess a knowledge of the hidden and the veiled se c rets

of the D iv in i ty whi c h wa s not known to him They are .
p ermitted to behold the attributes of th e M ost H ig h of ,
w h ich man only knows th e n ame s ; and from their ,
p osition n ear H im are able t o see the exer c ise o f th em

,
over all H is c reat i on througho u t the vast and interm i nable

universe Man was gifted with a mental c apacity be c ause
.
,
h e possessed a knowledge of his own creation and of

th e exalted attributes of h is Creator Why it pleased .
the Almighty to create him ex c ept it b e t o serve H i m

, ,
is unknown to him a n d it does not be c ome h im to s ee k

,
t o p enetrate i nto the mysteriou s Will of H im who sa i d ,
Be a n d it was
,
’
.
Among mank i nd d i fferences of opinion have arisen

with regard t o th e ways of God i n this worl d as well as ,
respe c ting the hereafter an d the c o n d i tion of t h ose w h o

,
exist in H is hea v enly abode Whilst some b elie v e th a t

.
there is n othi n g in existen c e but wh a t i s v i sible to the

sight and to the ordinary organs of vision others
, ,
consider t hat th ere is mu c h that is veiled from sight ,
and whi c h can only b e seen through a nearer approach

to their D ivin e Creator ; an d that this faculty is only t o
b e O bta i ned by a life of deep c ontemplation and a d ora
t ion of H i m and a close spiritual c ommun i on with H is
,
eternal a n d all p ervadi n g Spirit They are consequently

-
d i vided into t w o classes viz — 1

.
, ,
Thos e who attach

,
.
them selves to whatever is cl ear and external 2 Those . .
who seek to p enetrate into th e veiled an d mysti c al ,
ot h er w 1s e into what is purely Sp i ritual .
Of these th e first explain s all that is external as well as

, ,
what is secret by means of the ordinary huma n i ntellect

, ,
or reason they are c al led th e A s nd o i f l in z Z é nz r : and

' '
’
-
t he second devote themselve s t o the ways of Mysti c ism ,
and to pointing ou t the p a ins by which a kn o w le d ge of

the veiled and t h e hidden may be obta i n ed ; thes e are
1 8 T H E D E RVI S HE S .
c alled the AJ nd b z ]ln z z B cz l z n and God in H is merciful

"
’
‘ ’
c ompass i on teaches them through the power of Hi s

, ,
n am es and attributes in D i vine and spir i tual vis i on s

, .
The beginning of the i r hop es is based u pon the verse of

“
the Kora n wh ic h says Y e are of those who are near
,
to an d their termin a t i on Y e are of those w h o

( ,
are th e inher i tors of them who i nherit Paradise and ,

”
remain there perpetually .
I t would be i nteresting to tra c e the growth O f t h e

belief in sa i nts an d other hum an be i ngs to wh om man
has a ssigned a p osition in the other life The oldest .
re c ord of history th e Bible shows clearly that the ear

, ,
liest conviction of mank i nd — that wh i ch was d oubtless ,
handed down from Adam to whom it n o doubt was ,
a D ivin e revelat i on vouchsafed at th e period of his

creation —was stri c tly sp eaking in the U nity of God
,
, , , ,
a n d i n the existen c e of angelic beings c re a ted previous ,
t o t his world or to the first progenitors of th e h uman

,
ra c e To th i s may be ad d ed a p erfe c t k n owle d ge of

.
g ood and evil and the con sequent

, bel i ef in rewards an d
p unishments A conv i ction

. however based upon the , ,
precedi n g of a future cond i tion of happiness or misery

,
a fter thi s life nowhere gives to any on e a pla c e superior

,
t o an other E ach ind i vidual is held responsible by

.
the Creator for his ow n acts a n d the Omniscient and ,

—
All Just rewards or punishes them according to their ,
respective m erits To the truly repentant H is mer c y

.
en d ures for ever God alon e is the Judge and Arbi

.
trator and H is decis i on s are beyo n d appeal or inter

,
cession in the life to come At a later p eriod the sin .

,
fulness of the human passion s and the feebleness of

the min d of man are apparent in the necessity of a
M ed i ator b etween G od and man as shown in the ,
s y mbolic sacr i fi c es pres c ribed i n the laws of Moses .
Among the R oman s and Greeks to whom re v e a led ,
religion was u n kn own the system of c elest i al h i erarchy ,
seem s to have been a matter of p oetical imag i nation ,
whi c h supposes th a t ea c h element must be under the

esp ecial direction of a t i tular deity These from t i me .
t o t ime becoming more an d more numerous some were ,

9
placed in h i gher an d some in lower p ositio n s ; and all

,
c onne c ted as emanation s from a One Suprem e D e i ty

, ,
who reigne d over and c omman d ed all of th e others T o .
t h ese however were ascribed human attr i butes a n d

, ,
h uman passions ; so that th e wh ole system is read i ly

seen t o be wholly in c onsistent w ith the character and
attributes of the One D i vine Creator Besides that th e .
existence of th e greater part of these gods is due to

human imagination assemblies of m en believed that they
,
could confer honour upon indiv i duals by d eifying th em ,
or,
in other words conferri n g up on th em p osition s of
,
emin ence in t h e heavens Su c h is the ruling prin ci pl e

.
of what we call Mythology To these gods were ascribed

.
var i ous character i stics an d varie d p owers over certain

,
elements I n the hour of danger men app ealed t o

.
them for su cc our an d safety ; and even c onsul t ed them

when desirous of penetrating i nto th e dark an d h i dden
Future The gods and goddesses became the patrons
.
and patron esses of credulous mortals an d to ea c h was ,
assigned c ertain distin c t forms which ha v e been h and ed ,
down to our tim es in th e masterly works of art n ow

ex i sting .
I t would t herefore app ear that th e sys t em of modern

saints and saintesses —s o to sp ea k —is totally differen t
from the original faith of Adam and his descendants
p ossessing revelation and this i s a continuation only of
,
that of M y thology The resemblan ce a t least i s s o

.
, ,
s t riking tha t i t is imp ossible to attri bute it to any other

origin .
“
This modern system of sain t s varies amo n g dif
feren t p eople and the d egre e to wh i ch i t has a ttained
,
among the D erv i shes an d Mussulmans in general is , ,
seen in the followi n g chapters Among these prayers .

,
are offered to the sa i nts for their inter c ession with the
prophets ; and prayers are also p resented t o them in
the view of in creasing their influence over the D eity .
As it is no t generally supp osed that t h e souls of man

kind will remain for ever i n a con dition of wret c hedness ,
far from the presen c e of a merciful God prayers a1 e

o ffered up t o H im i n behalf of t hose w lio i t i s sup
,
C 2
p osed,
are still expiating
. their sins in u nha p piness in ,
the hop e that the offering of suppl i cations will be accept

able to th e Alm i ghty and induce H im to pardon a n d
,
forgive Prayers for those st i ll in life seem to be only

.
for the i r worldly happ i ness and prosp erity without any ,
reference to their future ex i sten c e ; though they m ay

b e in the des i re and hop e that they lead l i ves of purity
‘
so as to mer i t hap piness hereafter R evealed religion .
teaches by examples that the s i ncerely devout m ay

, ,
pray for the living in the full exp ectat i on that t h e i r

,
prayers will be h eard a n d ac c epted ; wh i lst I bel i eve

i t d oe s n ot ad m it of the e fli cacy of supplicat i on for
t hose who having departed th i s l i fe have entere d up on
, ,
the res p onsib i lities of the i r mortal career Th i s may .

,
therefore have g iv en rise to the bel i ef in the necessity

,
o f p ossessing patron saints and saintesses already in ,
heaven and th erefore ne a r to the D e i ty whose inter

, ,
cession may be i nvoke d .
A study of the subj ect t o which the following c hapters

relate has gi ven rise to the preceding reflections all ,
of which are n o t n ecessar i ly those of the D ervishes

, ,
.
P erhaps I sh ould apologize for thus expressing them ,
an d for n ot hav i ng allowed th e p atient read er to form

his ow n c onclusions from the p erusal of what I have
collected .
I n con c lus i on these may b e sum m ed up in th e idea

,
that there is but One God th e Creator of all thi n gs , .
When God c reated man H e was pleased to g i ve him ,
faculties wh ich H e did no t g i ve to any other of H i s

creatures ; these were give n h im in the perfe c t v i gour
of manhoo d and n ot i n infancy to be develop ed an d
, ,
strength e ned in after years as is now the c ase they ,
cons i sted of R eason and Speech Man was c reated .
with a p erfect kno w ledge of his ow n c reation possessed

the fa c ulty of reasoning thereon and of communi c ating ,
that knowledge to his p osterity wh ic h he did an d , ,
i t has i n t h is manner come d own to ou r time Go d .
also was pleased to gift man with an existence whi c h ,
we may suppose H e did not g i ve to any other of H i s

,
creatures H e gave him an ex i s t ence like H i s ow n ,

.
G od made it known to him is to deny th e existence of

God and H i s creation of m an and leaves the im a gina ,
t ion to wan der without any gu i de i n sear c h of a sp on

, ,
t an e ou s c reation or a self c reating nature whi c h ulti

,
-
mately n evertheless terminate s in t h e c onviction O f the

, ,
“ ”
absolute necessity of a Great F i rst Cause wh ic h is ,
n one oth er than the Almighty .
With th i s knowledge of our ow n creation we are le d ,
also to b elieve tha t m an orig i nally p osse ssed a p rofoun d

conviction of evil and good of right and wrong 11n , ,
biassed by the in fluen c es of the hum a n passions Wh en .
these began to affect him he lost much of the knowledge

,
with which he was originally gifted Just as these tend .
to withdraw him from God so his spirit influen ce s h im to

,
approa c h H im To c a ll up on H is holy n a me a n d to
.
,
praise H im is what re n ders man in this life similar to th e

,
angels in hea v en We need n ot ask why God was please d

.
to create him with t w o such a dverse ch a ra c teristics for

it i s evident that they are inherent to knowledge an d
ign orance to good and ev i l to merit and demer i t With
, ,
.
o u t them he would have been p erfe c t in knowle d ge have

b een p erfectly good and pure would have h a d n o duty
t o p erform towards his D i vi n e Creator other t h an to
pra ise H im ; in fact he would have been possessed o f
,
all the ch a ra c teristi c s of Go d H imself and have been ,
entirely a sp ir it dwelling upon earth .
I n sp i r a l ion is a subj ect upon whi c h dep end s the whole

theory O f th e p rophets and of the s a ints and c on se quen tly ,
op en s up on a vast field for the imaginat i on I nde p endent .
o f the i nfluen c es which the D ivine Spirit is believed to
exer c ise upon that of man Or i ental Spir i t u alism fu lly

,
teaches that good men do not only have an influence upon

h i m wh i lst an o ccupan t of thi s life but that the former ,
m a and do exer c i se on e upon those who invoke thei r

y
sp i ri ts after their d eparture by m s p 1r1n g them for benefi c ial
,
purp oses This i s therefore a subj e c t only c on sidered

.
secondary t o th a t of t h e creat i on of man and of his being ,
gifted with an ever exist i ng soul -

.
T o p ossess the g i ft of ap p roach i ng God in prayer ,
an d to en t er t ain the conviction that H e w ill and doe s

hear as well as answer our prayers doe s not n e c es sar i ly ,
imply that God in sp ir es an y on e The po w ers o f the .
passions a r e allayed and the purer impulses of the Sp i rit ,
are u n restra i ned A c onvict i on of our ow n helple ssness

.
an d in s ign ifi can cy O f our impotence to help ourselves

und er c ircumstan ces of n eed or of peril— n atura lly leads
u s to seek for some on e w h o is able t o aid and pro t ect
us That One we feel can o n ly b e G od We therefore
. .
c all up on H im not only for ourselve s but for those whom

, ,
.
we d e sire to benefit or to suc c our as the C reator and ,
D i spenser of all providences I s this impulse to be at t ri .
buted to a d i rect influen c e of the Spirit of God or in , ,
other words to H is insp i ration ? I n reply i t may be said

,
that revealed relig i on teaches us that the Spirit of G od

d oes even s l r ioe with man evid ently so as t o indu ce him ,
to w i thstand the temptation s of the fi es /z and obey ,
D ivine influence s all tending towar d s his present an d

,
future welfa re D o those who accept and O bey these

.
influen c es be c om e t h ereby gifted w i t h c haracteristi c s o f

a super h uman nature in t h is life an d are consequent ly ,
peculiarly holy ? I f we analys e the history of the p ro

”
phets we find that e v en if they were n ot a lways th em
, ,
selve s pure and faultless t h ey endeavoured t o benefit ,
their fellow m en and forasmuch rece i ved What is c alled

-
i n spira tion That God loves wh a tever is good an d a bhors

.
,
what is ev i l c annot be doubted by any on e wh o entertains

,
a proper c on c eption of H is character ; but the whole

h istory of m a n shows us by i nnumerable examples that , ,
t h e b en e fi t s to be d er i ved from a submission to H is

-
influe n ces are n ot o f this l i fe but of t h e future T h e ,

.
most holy men have pro spere d but l i ttle i n t h is world ,
and m et with the m ost c ruel an d painful of deaths I f .

,
therefore men acquired superhuman p owers through

,
“ ”
in spiration it is natural t o suppose that they would
,
exercise them for th e ir own preservat i on I n o u r entire .
ignorance o f the fu ture we pray to G od for ou r n e ces s i

,
ties an d prote c tion or in other word s to bles s ou r ow n

,
labours and those of ot h ers w h o labour for us and whe n ,
we re c e i ve them we a ttribute the results as an answer to

ou r prayers When they are n ot grant ed we m u st eit h er
.
,
24 T H E D ERVI S HE S .
suppose tha t G od has n ot h eard us or n ot been pleased ,
t o grant o u r reque sts We even beli e ve in the effi c a c y

.
o f th e prayers of others in ou r b ehal f Are th ese more .
e ffi cacious w hen the prayers are o f a good than when o f

a bad person ? I f th e former we are le d to bel i eve in
,
“
the i ntermediation of those whom the world c alls living
”
sa ints ; or of human beings who on account of the ,
purity of their lives in this world p ossess a superior ,
degre e of i nfluence with the Creator of all mankin d .
To deny this i s to deny th e many examples off ere d in

support of it i n revealed religion Not only among th e .
D ervishes but other religions holy p erson s are held t o

, ,
p ossess an d exercise spiritual p owers which apperta i n

only to the Omnip otent Creator and are worshipped ,
accordingly by their followers disregardful of th e fa c t ,
that at t h e m ost th ey are only the mediums of D ivine

, ,
providen c es They are suppos ed to be able to p erform

.
w hat are c alled m ir a cles These superhuman p owers are

.
even a t tributed by many persons of great intelle c tual at

t ain m e n t s t o t he bon e s of t h e d eparted and these are ,
b elieved to possess th e power of c h anging an d arre s t i ng

“ ”
t he providences of G od Thus we see that in spirat i on
.
l eads even t o the belief in the p ower of the animal p ortion

o f man — t hat which b elongs n ot only to d umb brutes but ,
—
to inanimate creation over the sp i ritual thus reversing ,
t h e w hole t h eory o f sp iritual rel i gion .
Th e Dervishes hold the saints in exal t ed estimation .
They fully bel i e v e that some holy i n dividuals possess

g reat spiritual powers whils t yet
,
in this life and t h at ,
“ ”
t hose w h o foll ow in the paths pointed ou t by them ,
all however bowing t o the sam e universal Creator m ay

, , ,
profit by their intercession w ith H im They believe that .
blessed spirits are ever aroun d them and l i ke that of the , ,
Omniprese n t D eit y k n ow no parti c ular pla c e of abode

,
.
,
and m ay therefore b e invoked an yw here They n ever .
t h ele s s venerate th e pla c es of th eir interment as locali ,
t i e s san c t i fied by the presence of their rema i n s Th ey .
d o n ot however attribute any miraculous p owers t o

, ,
”
their bones With them. in sp i ration i s the fruit of
,
rayer an d devo t ion in connexion w ith holy l ives and

p ,
T HE D ERVI S H E S . z
5
that it is m os t ly dur i ng slumber whe n the physical facu l

'
ties are lulled in an incomprehen sible mann er that t h e ,
sleeper sees visions and receives D i vine influen c es I t .
was at such time s as thes e that the prophets wer e

spoken to by G od and c ommand ed to proclai m certain
,
Di v ine truths which w ere n ecessary to t h e fu ture welfare

“ ”
and happin ess of mankind The se truths are h eld .
to b e i ncontrovertible an d are therefore declared in

,
succin c t terms having the form of proverbs and maxims

, ,
and have therefore the force of co m mands .
A B RA H A M AN D M O H A MM E D .
IN the course of the ob servation s offered in th e presen t

work allusion is sometimes made to c erta i n prin c iples
,
conta i ned in or d edu c e d from the Koran which not , ,
being either originally taken from the O ld or N ew

Testament re m ain a matter of Spe c ulation To a good
,
.
Mu ssulma n for whose min d the Koran offers a d istin c t

,
fi eld of belief these are naturally attributed wholly to

,
i nspiration Som e of th ese ideas are certainly very

.
sublime The prophet of I slam i sm en tertaine d the

.
mo st elevated and exa lted ideas of the D eity ak i n to ,
th os e so beautifu lly expressed in the Psalm s of D avid .
H e c alled himself of th e Sect or Faith of Abraham ,
thus form i n g a d i stinction betwe en what he considered

to be the religion o f this p atriarch and the J ews p er
s on ally .I n t he second chapter of th e Koran it i s ,
stated
Say We believe in God an d in wh a t has been sent
t o u s fro m o n h i gh —t o Abraham I smail I saac Ja c ob
, ,
, , , , ,
and the twelve tr i bes We believe in t h e books g i ven

t o M oses an d J esus —t o those given t o th e prop hets by
.
the Lord We m ake n o difference between them and

.
,
we g i ve ourselves up t o God .
“
Would you say that Abraham I smail I saac Jacob , , , ,
and t h e t welve t ribes, wer e J ew s or Christians ? Tell

then Who is more k

, God or you ? And who
n owing —
i s more culpable than h e wh o c on c eals the truth
confi ded to h i m by God ? H e is not indifferent to what
you d o .
“
Thes e gen erations have all gone by They have .
received the fru i ts of their works as you w ill of yours , .
N 0 on e w i ll ask y ou an a c count of what they may have

d on e f
’
And i n the th i rd c hap ter :

Abraham was n either J ew n or Christian H e was .
pious and g i ven up entirely to God and d id not ass o

, ,
”
c i ate any other p erson than One i n th e Godhead .
“
Those who hold to the Faith of Abr a h am are those
who follow h im ; su c h i s the Pr O ph e t of t h e True B e
’
”
liev er s and God protects those who are faithful to h i m
,
.
I n the verse preceding this latter the word Je w is ,
Ya nood and Christi a n N as r d n ee or N a z a rene ; wh i lst

, ,
that wh i ch expresses the idea t h at Abraham was pio u s

an d submissiv e to God is the H a n ef ee M u ssulman or ,
as by som e translators a M ussulman of the [Ja n e/ ee ,

f
( orthodox ) rite .
The quest i on thus arises Was there a p eople in the ,
prophet s time who w ere n either Jew Christi a n or

’
, ,
I dolater an d whose dogmas formed the basis of his

,
p e c uliar pr i n c iples ? I f s o wh at were those principles

, ,
and from what s ou rce d e riv e d ?

Oriental tr a ditions contain much more m inute details
ab out I brahim ( Abraham ) than the Bible H e is s u p .
p osed to have live d in the reign O f K i ng N e m r ood

( N i mrod ) on e of w ho se ,
confident i al o ffi cers his fa ther
Azar was T h is king and all his p eople were i d olaters

. .
I t was a tradition of those times that a c hild would be

born who would b e t h e c ause of the destruct i on of his
,
k i ngdo m To prevent this the ki n g or d ered on a

.
, ,
particular o cc asion all of t h e men O f his city o f Babel

,
to be removed outside of its walls and th e fem ales to ,
remain within ; but a s Azar was on e of the king s

,
’
O ffi cers and was stationed inside on e of the gates his

, ,
wife j oined him t h ere The k i ng s astrologers h ow .

’
ever having been able to learn th i s fact commun i cated

, ,
T H E D ERVI S HE S . 2 7
it t o him ; an d con se quently the child born to Azar ,
was concealed in a c ave until he reached t h e age of ,
pu b erty .
O n issuing from this confinement h e was stru c k ,
with the gra n deur of the world and the c el estial b odies ,
and impressed with contempt for the absurdity of t h e

worship of idols H e therefore refu sed at a ll times
.
, , , ,
t o worship th em and be c am e the obj e c t of the a nger

,
of King N e m r oo d Called before him h e boldly told

.
,
the king t h at hi s idols were only the work of man s ’
hands whilst the Great Creator of the U n i verse was

,
the only tru e God an d Author of man s own existence

’
and c onse quently the proper obj e c t of his adoration

, ,
.
F i nd i ng an opportunity he destroyed all of the idols , ,
ex c ept on e th e largest ; and having pla c ed the axe

, ,
with which he had knocked off their heads in t h e

m du t h of th i s one said that probably h e had d estroye d
,
the others which argument rather forc i bly struck the

,
worsh i pp ers O n another occas i on he asked the king to

.
afford him an exhibition of h i s p ower saying t h at the Go d ,
whom he adored not only brought man i n to ex i sten c e

in th i s world but gave him another in t he life to c ome
,
.
The king produ c e d two criminals an d having put on e ,
to death pard oned the other ; meani n g thereby that

, ,
h e could take away and b estow l i fe Abraham next .
asked him to cause the s u n to rise and set and th e ,
plan ets t o app ear wh ic h were t h e d a i ly works of his

,
God ; and this the king being unable to e ffect th e

,
,
king s anger becam e in c reased and he determined to

’
put Abraham to death F or this purpose h e had an .
i mm ense fire prepare d an d cast h i m i nto it God , .

,
however did n ot forget H i s faithful se rvant a n d sent

, ,
H is c elestial messenger the a n gel j ebr ail ( Gabriel ) , ,
[ sign i fying the po er o f God to h i s rescue After

‘
w .
the king and his people saw that A braham was prote c ted
by a po w er hitherto unknown t o them many of t h e ,
l a tter adopted his faith an d worshipped th e only On e ,
true God .
“
This fi delity of Abraham to the Creator amidst ,
a l a rge numb er of idolaters a c quired for h i m t he title ,

2 8 THE D ERVI S H E S .
the Klz a leel the frien d or s i n c ere advoca t e of G od

'
’
of
‘ ’ ‘
, ,
by which h e i s still known among Mu s s u lm an s fi t
“
I n the course of time h e took S a r a /z or S a r a /z a ,
“
n am e signifyi n g the pleasant or agreeable to wi fe ;
‘
, ,
and as she prov ed to b e barre n according to the ,
Oriental custom still i n practice she gave him her

, ,
handmaiden H aj ir or H agar from H ej er e to fly from

, , , ,
or escap e ; the sam e root from which i s derived t h e

’
well kn own word H ej ir a or Flight of the Prophet
-
, ,
‘
,
a n d from whi c h the Mu ssulman p eriod i s taken H aj ir .
having born e him a son named I sm ail or I shmael or ’
,
’
th e heard of G o d from S ern ii to hear and A id God

,
’ ’
, , , ,
she b eca m e the obj ect of the envy of her mistress and ,
Abraham was compelled to rem o v e her into a remote

part of the country ( Arabia) Th ere God h eard he r .
vo i ce an d prote c ted her from d eath by thirst and star

,
vation The well so much revered by Mussulmans

.
, ,
called Zen z z em at M ek k eh was erected for her especi al

, ,
b en efit I brahim when conveying H aj i r and I sm ai l

.
,
’
from the Land of Sham wh e re he resided t o the sp o t , ,

,
on which M ek k eh stands was guid ed by the angel ,
j eo r d il and ,
directed to stop precisely where this c ele
br at ed well st i ll exists A tre e spra n g up at the time .
,
t o shelter th em fro m the heat of th e sun and t h ere ,
h e left them H aj i r i mplored h i m n ot to aban don

.
h er and her helpless ch i ld in so de solate a place an d ,
though he was much a ffected by h er appeal h e told her ,
that su c h was the will of God conveyed to him during ,
his sle ep in a dream She on hearing this resign ed her .

, ,
s elf u p t o God s supreme w i ll H e left her n ear to the

’
.
B a il el H a r d in and to the spot designed for th e K e oe/z ;

’
n e i th er of which were yet in existen c e Th e first simply .
signifie s the H oly H ouse and the latter The Cube ,

’ ‘
.
The destitute cond i tion of H aj ir and her c h i ld is

o n e of the most touch i ng narrat i ves O f the Or i en t ; only
’
s urpassed by tha t of the i ntended sacrifi c e o f I sm a il by
Abraham in obed i en ce to the c omm and of God

,
.
I t i s related that having consume d all of th e food left

,
w it h her by Abraham hunger and thirs t caused her milk ,
Ja m es ii 2 3 . .
H a j i r was n ot long left in this condition A t r i be of .
Arabs c alled the B en i f er /z e/n whilst on their way from ,
Y emin t o S h am attracted by th e un exp e c ted appearan c e

,
of b i rds ho v ering around t h e stream were del i ghted to ,
fin d so u seful a prov i sion for themselves and their

animals These were d i st a nt relation s of Abraham but
.
,
possessed n o k nowledge of his flight w i th H aj i r an d

I sm a il an d mu c h les s Of the well of Z emz em on a spot
’
, ,
w here they had previously only foun d dry soil .
Soon after this and after hearing the h istory of H aj ir

,
a n d h er son I sm ail J
’
erh e m with all h i s people and flo c ks
, , ,
e st a blish ed themselves on the spot n ow known as M ekkeh

With them came t h e tribes called Ka l ir a an d M ez a n z en bin
A rn r a the c hief of which was S en z ed d bin A 7n ir and
’ ’
, ,
thus f ormed the earliest resid ents of that c ity among ,
whom I sm a i l grew up and foun d aid and sustenance

’
.
From them he learned th e Arab to n gue .
“
Abraham was informed through a visit of the angeli c ,
visitor J ebr ail of the prosp erou s c ondition of H aj ir and

, ,
I sm ail an d on ce a year paid them a vis i t on a swift

’
, ,
”
footed animal called B er ri /e from B or is or Lightni n g , ,
.
Th i s i s the sam e name wh i ch th e prophet g a ve to th e

animal on wh i c h h e procee d ed from earth to heaven
in th e n i ght called the M r cij or Ascension I n the ’
,
.
shorte st imaginable sp ace of t i me h e saw and heard ,
much i n the seven heaven s through which he passed ,
and the whole aff air is n ow supp osed by the m ore

intelligent Mussulman s to have been only a vision ,
l ike the revelat i on of St J ohn . .
On the fl e et footed B or d é Abrah am annually made

-
a vis it to H aj ir and her son The latter had reached the .
a e of fifteen when his mother died and aided by the

g , ,
Beni Jerh em he laid her beloved rema i ns i n M ek k eh

, ,
close by the black ston e which is so much revered by all

the fa i t h ful and was deeply affe c ted by the loss of so
,
affect i onate and devoted a mother After this he planned .
the d esign of emigrating from that country and to pre ,
ven t this h i s fr i ends m a rried him to on e of the most noble

o f the daughters of the afore n a med tribe
-
.
It is a ma tt er of t rad i tion that I sm ail was an excellent ’

3 I
cavalier and an ad roit hunter I t h a ppened that Abra .
ham according to his habit that year mad e h i s annual

, ,
vis i t to M e k k e h and during I sm ail s absen ce in search of ’ ’
game arri v ed at his door Knocking at i t his son s wife .

,
’
made her appeara n c e and n ot kn owing the stranger , , ,
failed to O ffer him the u sual to k en s of resp e c t an d ho sp i

t ality due to him wh ic h giv i n g him offence he departed
, , , ,
bidding her de scrib e his appearance to her husband on

h is return and t hat he re c ommended him to c hange the
,
sill of his door I s m a il o n learn i ng what had occurred

.
’
, ,
imm ediately recogn i sed his father Abraham and in the ,
advice to c h ange h is sill a command to d i smiss his wife ,
which h e forthw i th d 1d H e next m a rried another wife .
from among the maiden s of the sam e tr i be and on th e ,
return of h i s father h e was gra tifie d by h i s dutiful obedi

.
ence to h i s w i shes On the se c ond occas i on I sm ai l s wife ’ ’
—
.
was m ost attenti v e t o her gu est O ffered him hospital i ty ,
and pressed h i m to partake of a meal got ready for him .
This latter Abraham however d e c lined dismounting to , ,
partake of an d so had t o d i n e seated on his animal

, .
Th e cause of this was th at he had formally promised

Sarah when h e visite d H aj ir an d I sm ail n ot to d i s
’
, ,
mount After dining as aforesaid h i s daughter in law

.
,
- -
brought water and washed his h ands and feet and ,
c ombed h i s ha i r M u c h as sh e b egged him to descen d

.
from his animal h e p ersisted in his refusal but so far

, ,
gratified her as to rest on e of his fe et on a ston e n e a r

her d oor an d th e print of it remaine d up on it O n
,
.
departi n g Abraham bad e her tell her husband on his

, ,
return from the c hase that the sill of his door was goo d
, ,
and he must be careful n ot to c hange i t O n hearing .
what had occurred I sm ail was ext remely grat i fied and
,
’
informed his wife that the unknown stranger whom sh e

had entertain ed was none other than his father Abraham .
In conform i ty with his recommendation h e n ever ,

”
duri n g his lifetim e married any other wife .
C onnected with the history of Abraham whose rel i gio n , ,
the I slam prophe t de clare s in the Koran was his ow n , ,
m ent i on may be made of the c hildren borne to him by

Sarah viz [s lz dé ( I saac ) and Ya leoob or Ja c ob The same
, .
,
-
’
,
.
3 2 T H E D ERVI S H E S .
work from w hich th e present Arab i an tradition i s derived

( R f
eoz el es S e a) a dds that by the great,
favour o f the
Almighty H aj i r w a s m ad e ill u strious among women and
, ,
Sarah ardently also d esire d to have a son so that the ,
p rophetship m ight b e cont i nued in her offspring

’
“
About this time the an gel j eor d il or Gab r ail was
'
'
, ,
s ent with several ot h er c elesti al messe n gers to destroy the

p eople of Lot c alled L ooz They be c ame the guests of
,
‘
.
Abra ham in t h e for m of men and he k i lled a fatted calf for ,
their entertainm ent They refu sed however to partake .

, ,
of it unt i l they should be made a c quainted with its pri c e .
Abraham in reply said that in the beginn i ng its pri c e was

, ,
the b enedi c tion st i ll used by all Mussulm ans esp e c ially ,
by D er vi shes I n t h e nam e o f God the merciful and

,
‘
,
t h e clemen t and i n the end Blessed b e God for H is

,
’
,
’
b ount i es N ot w i thstanding this a c t of pi ety whi c h

.
,
G ab ra il gre a tly applauded the angels p ersisted in n ot ,
p artaking of the food much to the alarm of their ho st ,
for in those times whene v er a guest entertained hostile

,
d esigns he would refu se to eat with their obj e c t Fully

,
.
aware of A braham s fears they i nformed him who they ’
were and the obj e c t of th e i r D iv i n e mission G abr ail

,
.
also g ave good n e w s to him that G od in H is great , ,
mer c y would g i ve h i m a n d Sarah a son Now Sarah

,
.
heard this from behin d a c urtain and sm i led an d this , ,
circumst a n c e is alluded to in the Koran H i s wife was

standing by an d laughed We gave her the good n ews
,
.
that ( sh e should be a r ) [s —
’
li d lz and afterwards Ya leooo ,
.
By some it is sa i d that she laughed on account of the

utter improbability of her b earing ch i ldren and by oth ers ,
because she knew they were a n gels an d was rej oi c ed that ,
they were sen t to destroy the s i nful p eople of Lot Be .
th i s as it m ay t h e angels k n e w what was passing in her

,
mind for address i ng her they observe d Do you no t

, , , ,
‘
know h ow the Almigh ty created Adam without father or

mother and that from him all h i s race i s descended ?
,
’
Soon after this Sarah bore I s h ak i n the hundredth year -
, ~
o f her husband s age and i t i s t ra d it ion e d th at o n the

’
n ight of his birth he b e h eld a thousand shooting stars
pass before his sigh t in the fi rm am en t and having asked ,

T HE D ERVI S HE S .
33
a n gel J ebra i l the meani n g of s o uncommon an

of t h e
o c currence learned that from his son then born a thou
,
sand prophets would descend Abraham pr aised God .

,
’
and begged that h i s other s on I sm a il s h ould also be the , ,
obj ect of H is Divine favour A voice was heard to reply .

,
0 Abraham from I sm ail shall proceed on e prophet

‘ ’
, ,
who se intercession mankind to the end of tim e will im , ,

’
p l or e and w h o will
,
be the crown of all prophets Abra .
ham blessed and thanked G od for H i s mercies ( Koran

xiv . Praise be unto G od w ho hath g i ven me in
‘
,
my old age I sma il and I S hak for my Lord hears suppli ’

,
cations I t i s relate d that Abraham was ni n ety n i ne

.
years of age when he was directed by in spiration t o cir

c u m cis e h i mself an d that he circum c ised I sm a il at thir
’
te en and I s h ak at on e year of age : som e s ay that th e

-
form er w as three years older than the latter whilst others ,
say fourteen I t was after the Divine intimation that

.
through thes e the prophetship would be c arried down ,
that h e was directed t o offer on e of them up as a

s acrifice .
T HE S A C RI F I C E OF ISMA IL ’
.
O n this subj e c t there exist confli cting s t atements r e

’
garding which of the t w o sons I s m é il or I s h fik it was ,
-
, .
Some of the A s li d os of t he bless ed Prophet the com -
mande r of the faithful Omar bin el Khat t ab A le e bin Abu ,

’
,
’
T alib and others of the Td oi een ( those who were their

,
’
followers ) Ka bel A hbar Sa id b in J M es ro ok

’
eb e er
’
, , , ,
’
Abu l Z eh e el Z ehree Sa d and others narrate that it was
-
, , ,
I s hak On the other hand som e of the A s na os an d

-
.
,
-
’ ’ ’
Td bi een such as Abd Allah bin Abbas Abu H u rair eh
, ,
Abdullah b i n Omar Aas and A b u Tofail Amir bi ri

,
’ ’ ’ ’
, ,
V aileh as well as one of the eminent of t he latter

, ,
’
I m am el H ud a J a far bin M ohammed bin Sad u ik ,
Sa id bin e l Mu s eeb Yoos u f bin Mihran Mu j a hi d and

’
, , ,
Sh a bee all declar e that it was I sm ail

’
,
Many proo fs are .
bro ught t o susta i n the t w o statements T he composer .
of the prese n t work s ays t hat aft er having examined them ,
D
34 T H E D E R VI S H E S .
all with much c a re h e has conclud ed ( th ough God only

,
kno w s the truth ) that the son to be offered up w a s

I s m ai l’
.
“
I t i s n arrated that I brahim h a d vo w ed th at if th e
M ost H igh should favour h im wi th a son he w ould off er ,
up to God a s a c rifice and that aft er this both I sm ail and,

’
I S h ak were borne to him

-
H e had however forgotten .
, ,
his v ow an d one night when sleep i ng at M ek k eh or The , ,
Place O f Sacr i fi c es he had a d ream in w h i c h some on e

, ,
said to him that i t was the command of God h e sh ould

offer u p his son as a sacrifice Waking up h e c ollected .
,
his t h oughts and aft er ponder i ng over t h e oc curren c e

, , ,
de c ided in h i s own mind that it was not o bl i ga tory upon

him On the following night however h e had pre c isely
.
, ,
the same dream and the same aga in du ring t h e third

, ,
an d at the same tim e he he a rd a vo i c e a sk ing him how

h e could permit Satan ( S /z a il ri n ) to mislead him from his
obedien ce to God On awaking h e bad e Sarah to wash
.
,
I sm a i l s head a n d ano i nt i t and dress him neatly and

’ ’
, ,
to I sm ail h e spoke ’
My dear boy take some c ord a n d ,
a Shar p knife and a cc o mp a ny me for the purp ose O f

, ,
colle c ti n g wood on th e mountain After this they s et .

’
ou t toget h er and on t h e way I blees ( or The Tempter) went

,
to I br ah i m in the form of an a ged man an ad v iser w h o , ,
in quired of him where he was go i ng an d th e former r e ,
pl i ed that he was going t o the foot o f th e mountain where ,
bu s i ness c alled him I bl ees remarked O I bra h im Sa t an

.
, ,
h as tempted you and induced you to O ffer up I sm ail as a

’
sa c rifi c e to n o purp ose whilst the whol e world will b e ,
come filled with his race ali v e N otwithstand i ng th ese .

’
words I brah i m knew through his ow n sp i ritual powers

, ,
as a prophet an d by th e aid of D ivi ne Light that the

, ,
spe a ker was Satan in d i sgu ise an d he ex c laimed O , ,

‘
enemy of God depart from me for I must O bey th e

, ,
c ommands of th e Most H igh I b le es both d i s a ppointed .

’
and s c or nful departed and having found I sm ail he a d

, ,
’
dressed h i m D O you n ot know where your fa ther is taking

,
you ? U nd er t h e pretence of c utting wood he intends ,
to sacrifi ce you misled by I blees who has induced himto

, ,
believe that his slumbers were of the Merciful I sm ail .

’ ’
35
to th i s repl i ed Can any father sa c rifice his own son ?

,
Whatever God has commanded and my father d ec i ded ,
t o exe c ute I shall most cheerfully conform to

’
.
,
Thus I blees was unable to misl ead either th e father or

the son a n d he n ow returned to H aj ir ( H agar) to whom
, ,
he related h ow t h at I brah i m with the pretext of c utting ,
woo d on the mountain had taken I sm a il t here for th e

,
’
purp ose of sacr i ficing him H aj i r replied Can I brahim .

,
be so cruel as to k i ll h is s on he who is so human e

even to his en emies ? But be th i s as it may let your ,
statement be false or true it c on c erns himself and m y , ,
duty i s to submit to h i s will On this I ble e s desp onding .

’
, ,
left and thus the M ost H igh preserved I brahim an d hi s

,
family from the tempter .
“
Now it is n a rr a ted that I brahim reache d a place
c alle d S i gn and there he told I sm ail of his dream i n
,
’
the following word s : 0 my dear son I saw in my ‘

,
dream that I should put you to death ; reflect u pon it ,
an d tell m e your op i nion I sm a i l a n s w ered 0 my .

’ ’
,
‘
father whatever you have been c ommanded to d o let it

,
H ow c an you my son resign yourself

’
be d one .
‘
, ,
thu s to so dreadful an end ? asked I brahim and I sm a i l ’ ’
only replied My father God will enable m e to bear i t

,
‘
,
w i th pat i ence and added Ti e my hands and my feet

,
’
,
‘
,
so th a t when I am struggling in death my blood may ,
not fall upon you ; Sharp en also well the knife th a t I , , ,
may soon be freed from life ; turn my face downwards ,
that lest you beholding my struggl es may be deterred

, ,
from the D i vin e commands through paternal pity an d , ,
so deviate from your duty C onsole my aged and b e .
loved m other H aj i r for my death w i th the assurance

, , ,
that I terminated my earthly career in the path O f God

On th i s I brahim was greatly affected and c ried ou t
, ,
aloud : O G od during all my life the mention (Z ikir )

, ,
of my pet i tion an d devotion t o T h ee has ascend ed up

to Thy abode ; in my O ld age Thou hast given m e a ,
son ; many months and years I h ave grieved for his

absence ; if this deed be according to Thy divine w i ll ,
w h o am I that I S hould oppose it ? bu t if it be n ot I

, ,
will repent of so sinful a de s ign .

’
D 2
All t he angels an d Spir i ts upon earth and in the ,
heavens beheld the submission ( I s lam iei ) of I brahim

,
an d I sm ail and heard the devotion of the paren t ; an d

’
they wept and c ri ed aloud I brahim pressed h i s knife

, .
to th e throat of his s on but i t would no t c ut and turned , ,
upon its S i de and j ust then an unknown vo ic e was

,
heard saying ,
Thou hast verified thy dream
,
‘
an d
another bidd i ng him loo k behi n d him an d d i recting
, ,
h im to sacrifice whatever appeare d t o his sigh t in the ,
pla c e of his ow n child .
“
Turni n g round I brahim p erceived a large ram ,
descending t h e mountain This ram i t is said had .

, ,
pastured for forty years in the garden of Paradise

( f en n el ) while others state t hat it was the same an imal
t hat the ma rtyr H a oeel (Ab el from H eoele or any on e , ,
taken away by d eath ) had O ffered up in sacrifice and ,
which G od had preserved for this occurre n ce I brahim .
ran after the ram and so p erformed the solemni t y ob,
served at t he presen t time c alled the j en z r e/z by the , ,
pilgrims t o the Ken n whe n they thro w stones ( at the ,
de vil) for he also cast stones at th e animal as he pur

,
sued it Th e f ern r en of the people of M ohammed ( the

.
Prophet ) has its origin in this occasion There are .

,
however three f ern r e/z s called the first second an d

, , , ,
t hird .
“
I t is related tha t I brahim thre w seven s t ones a t the
ram and at the third j en z r eli he cau ght it H e then
,
.
conveyed it to the spot of sa c rifices at M ek k eh called ,
M in d and prepare d t o sacrifice it The angel Gabriel

,
.
n ow app eared and freed t he hands an d feet of I sm a i l

’
, ,
an d s a id t o him Wha t ever you may desire to ask

,
‘
of God ask i t n ow f or this i s a holy moment

,
and
,
so raising up h i s hands he prayed : O Lord of the

, ,
un i verse I implore that Thou w ip es t away from Thy

,
registers the sins of any of Thy servants about t o die

w h o believe in Thee an d in Thy un i ty
’
.
“
When I brah i m had finished his sacrifice he cam e ,
b ac k t o his son I sm a il and beheld tha t the angel J ebrail

’
had loosed his hands and feet and learned tha t he had ,
prayed in b ehalf of t he believing ; he was grea t ly re

preserving I sma il from b e i ng sacrificed is because the ,
Light of the prophetship of that seal of all prophets ,
M ohammed was on the brow of that fortunate youth ;

,
that all of the prophets from Adam do wn to tha t S eal ,

’
( M ohammed ) S hould b e of h i s race

,
Khaleel praye d .
to G od and a m essage was sent to h im by revelation

, , ,
saying that all of the prophets wh i ch he beheld S hould

surely spring from the loin s of his s on Among these .
I brahim s aw M ohammed Alee bin abi T al i b an d the ’
son s born e t o him by the pure F at im eh I brahi m .
in quired w h o it was that he s aw n ear to M ohammed

fillin g s o em in en t a posit i on and was informe d that it
‘
was H osain th e son of Alee bin abi Tal i b t he pro

,
’
phe t of th e l a tter times and th e l i ght of all th e prophets ,
the son of th e daughter of Mohamm ed Mustafa I .

‘
’
ha v e a greater affect i on replied I brahim for tha t
, ,
‘
figured soul than for I sm ail though the son of m y ’

,
ow n loins an d G od thereon continued I have ‘
accepted of H osain on account of the d evotedness oi

I sm ail ’
.
’
“
Thus accordin g t o the s t a t emen t of t he I m am
,
J a fer the great sa c rifi c e was H osa i n bin Alee an d

’
,
’
the ram was fi gurative of that sacrifice which was to

com e in after years ; for he remarks with m u c h correct ,
n ess what could a simple ram be that G od should c all

, ,
it th e Great Sacrifice in the H oly Koran ? The second

application of th i s remarkable o c currence is tha t Adam
was the original builder an d found er of th e Ken /1 that , ,
after his death Seth ( Sh eet h ) repaired it an d all mankind

, ,
p e rform ed the solemn ceremony of th e Ta n ( if ( walking /
round ) aroun d it j ust as the people of M ohamm ed d o at

,
th e present ti me o t he o c cas i on of their p i lgrimage a

n ,
—
duty c o m manded by t he M ost H igh When th e deluge .
o f Noah approached by Go d s p erm ission angels de ’
scended from heaven and removed to the summit of th e

,
m ountains b oth the Bla c k Stone which A d am brought

ou t of Paradise ( f en n el ) and the other stones which h e ,
collected for the Ke oelz in the mountain s

’
I t is related that when Adam b e c ame bent w ith th e

blows of his disobedience t o G od ( Koran xx 1 1 9 ) h e .
39
d e scended from the Blu e Paradise t o t hi s world an d for ,
a great length of time wept tears of regret ; and in his

a ffl i ction prayed — O Thou w h o hearest the c rie s of
,
‘
those w ho weep under all circumstan ce s : I n o m ore

,
h ear the voi c es of the angels and th i s a ffli c tion is gr eater ,

’
th a n all others The vo ic e of God was h ea rd saying
.
,
0 Adam ! ou t of regard for thy po sterity I have caused

a hou se of j oy t o d escend from heaven to earth around ,
which alwa ys make it your d uty t o perform the Ta z odf

( o r circuit
) j u
,
s t as the ang e ls i n heaven m ake c i rcular
process ion s around the Great Ar c h (or Throne ) I t is

at th i s moment thy duty— even obligatory—to go at once
.
,
t o that house there le t thy heart be fre e from all other

imaginations than thos e of love and affec ti on for m e .
’
Adam imme d ia tely proceeded t o th e K e oen A llan ( V erse ’
in Persian ) . The pilgrim on the Ke b eh road seeks for

‘ ’
a sight of the D ivin e c ou n tenance of H im who is th e

’
m aster o f t h is h o use .
“
Filled with re flectio n s a s he wen t h e m ade n o le ss ,
than fifty Fars an gs between each o f his steps s o that in , ,
th i s w a y he s oo n p a ssed o ver a gre a t d istance and

, , ,
rea c hi n g the obj ect of h i s d e s i res beheld a house con ,
structed ou t of on e red ruby the t w o doors of wh i ch were ,
of green emeral d s the o n e looking t o the east and th e

, ,
other to t he west By D ivine command an angel app eared

.
,
and taught Adam the ceremonies requ i red at th at holy

sp ot Whilst Adam was thus e n gaged the angel showed
.
,
h i m self t o him an d said 0 Adam ! the M ost H igh has

, ,
b een ple as ed w i th your c ondu c t y our performan ce of the ,
h oly H aj j or pilgrimage and h as forgiven your s i n s

, , .
’
“
I t is sa i d that on the o c c asion of the D eluge t he
, ,
an gels conveyed this hou s e up t o the heaven s ; and

another narrative relates that after it had s ubs i ded a s m all
mound of red earth pointed ou t its location around which ,
the p eople p erform ed the on which a cc ount th e

Great Judge of all necessities (G od ) a n swered t heir prayers ,
unt i l the time when Khaleel ( I brahim ) by D ivin e c om ,
mand re c onstru c te d it I n the view of having th i s pious

,
.
ser v ice rema i n in the fam i ly of Khaleel God commanded ,
the angel J ebrail t o accompany him from Sh am t o M ekk eh ,

40 T H E D ERVI S HE S ‘
and employ I sma il and his mother on tha t edifice Thu s .
both the father and the son who are the very best of the ,
human ra c e ren ewed the foundation s of that H ouse of

,
M er c y and invited all mankin d t o visit i t

,
.
“
On Kh aleel s arrival at M ek k eh he found I sma il
’
employed in making a rrows and h aving made known ,

’
to him God s commands he chee rfully ac c epted them ,
.
I brah i m des igned to re constru c t the house in its previous

dimensions H e was aware of what these were at th e
.
time of Adam but on this subj ect there are various

a cc ounts ea c h of which ar e given i n the work c alled the
,
R enee! el A lz i d b and from all o f them it would seem that

,
the angel J ebr ail mad e them k nown to I brahim I sm ai l .

’
brought the earth and C la y and his father constructed th e

,
H ouse of God ; and in this way it rea c hed such lofty

dim ensions that the latter was n o longer a ble to raise
the sto n es as h i gh as its walls H e therefore had t o .
mount upon a ston e for that purpose and the print of h is ,
feet has still rem ain ed on i t The stone in quest i on i s .

,
at the present time called the M a ncini i [or a nirn ( a place

,
of Abraham ) U pon reaching the elevation of the Bla c k

.
Stone whi c h the angels had preserved from the effects of

,
’
the D eluge by conveying it t o t h e summit of the moun tai n

called A on K ebees they went and brought it then c e an d
, , ,
taking it from them I brah i m put i t in its pla c e When

, .
this stone first c ame from f en n el it was whiter than sno w ,
or milk but it has been di scoloured by conta c t with the

,
hands and fa c es of the disobed i ent to the A lm igh t y fi t

“
Anothe r tradi t ion states that wh en the edifice had
rea c hed a certai n elevation I brahim bade I sm a il bring ,
’
him a stone of an excellent a n d agreeable form whi c h ,
S hould remain as a S i gn to the people and that thoug h , ,
the latter brought on e his father did n ot like it and was

, ,
about departing for another when he heard a voi c e ,
saying , O I brahim ! on M ount Abu Keb ees there i s

‘
N ear t h e A l M a id d n , an an ci en t h ipp od r om e of C on s t an t i n op l e ,
t h er e i s a s m a ll m os q u e, call ed M eh m ed P as h a Jam a s s i, w h i ch
“ ”
w a s or igi n a ll y a G re ek ch u r ch I n t hi s m o s q u e I S a fra gm en t of
.
t h e cel e b r a t e d H aj i r oi E s w a d , o r B l a ck S ton e, b r ou ght from

Mek k eh , an d p laced h ere by it s fou n d er .
TH E D ERVI S H E S .
’
41
’
depo sited So proce eding to the sp o t he foun d
’
on e .
, ,
an d brought away himself the Black Stone ; a n d as

, ,
I sm a i l was absent at the moment he only learned t h e ,
facts from his father on his return On the terminatio n .
of their work they bo t h prayed t o G od to bless an d
a c cept of their labours which H e was pleased to do I t

,
.
was then that the angel J ebr ail app eared and taught them
the solemnitie s of the Ta z odf of the M en d s ik ( sa c r i fices )
, ,
of M ount Arafat the R ein eef ern r eli cast i ng o f t h e stones )

’
, ( ,
th e S a oe an d the S /z ay ee ( sacre d symbols) all of whic h ,
are S u n n et ( commanded by th e Prophet ) to th e pilgrims

of Mohammedan p eople to the present time ,
.
Before I brahim departed from M ek k eh for Sh am he ,
appointed I sm a i l to be his K/z aleef elz or C alip h ( s u cce s s or) , ,

”
an d i t is said that h e reached the age of 1 2 0 years .
T H E D EC EA S E OF I B RA H I M .
By some it i s said that after th e de a th of Sarah I bra

, ,
him took another w i fe from the land O f Canaan by who m ,
he had Six sons From these sprang so many i ndividuals

.
as to greatly increase the number of his children and

grand c h i ldren as well as of the tribes
,
The prophet . .
,
—
ship however remained w i th I s h ak and I s m fi il I brahim ’
.
,
be c ame ex c ess i vely wealthy in flocks and herds H e i s .
supposed to have been the first p erson whose b eard

be c ame whi t e with age a c ircumsta n ce so mu c h to his
,
surpris e as t o cause him to ask G od in prayer the cause , ,
o f s o extraordinary an occurrence and in reply heard , , ,
that it was a S ign of seriousness of mind and respect ,

.
H e thereon asked tha t the former might be increased .
I brahim i s said also t o have asked of G od that h e

might not b e required t o leave this l i fe before h e him
self re qu ested it ; an d that his prayer was gran t ed .
N ow when the time approached for his departure the ,
Angel of D eath app eared t o him in the shap e of an ,
aged man ; and when according t o his prin c iples of

,
hospi t ality he had food placed before him he remarked

, ,
40 TH E D E RVI S H E S “
.
and employ I sm a il and his mother on t ha t edifice Th us .
both th e father an d the s on w h o are the very best of th e ,
human ra c e renewed the foundation s of tha t H ouse of

,
M er cy and invited all mankin d to visit i t

,
.
“
On Kh aleel s arri val at M ekk eh he found I sma il
’
employed in mak i ng arrows and h aving made known ,
to him God s commands he cheerfully accepted them

’
, .
I bra h i m des i gned t o reconstru c t the house in its previous

dimensions H e was aware of what t hese were at th e
.
t ime of Adam ; but on this subj ect ther e are various

a cc ounts ea c h of which ar e given i n the work c alled the
,
R enz el el A /z oab and from all of them it would seem that

‘
the angel J ebrail mad e them known t o I brahim I sm a i l .

’
brought the earth and C la y and his father constructed th e ,
H ouse of God ; and in this way i t rea ched such l ofty

dim ensions that the l a tter was n o longer a ble to raise
the sto n es as h i gh as its walls H e therefore had t o .
mount upon a stone for that pu rpos e and the print of his ,
feet has still rem ain ed on i t The stone in quest i on i s .

,
a t the present time called the M a é arn i f o

,
r a niin
( a place
of Abraham ) U pon reaching the elevation of the Bla c k
.
Stone whi c h the angel s had preserved from the effects of

,
’
the Deluge by conveying it t o the summit of the mou n tain

called A on K ebees they went and brought it thence an d
, , ,
taking it from them I brah i m put i t in its pla c e When

, .
this stone first came from f en n el it was whiter than snow ,
or milk but it h a s been discoloured by conta c t with the

,
hands and faces of the disobed i ent t o the A lm i h

g t yfi
t
“
Anothe r tradi t ion states that wh en the edifice had
rea c h ed a certai n elevation I brahim bade I sm a il bring ,
’
him a stone of an excellent an d agreeable form whi c h ,
S hould remain as a S i gn to the people an d that thoug h , ,
the latter brought on e his father did n ot like it and was

, ,
about departing for another when h e heard a voi c e ,
saying ,
O I brahim ! on M ount Abu K eb ees there i s
N ear t h e A l M a id d n , an an c en t h o ro i ipp d m
e of C on s t an t n o e, i pl
m ll m q
t h er e is a s a o s u e , ca e
“
ll d
M eh e as h a Ja m a s s i,
”
m d P
w h ch i
w as o r igi lly
na a G r e e k ch u r ch In th s os u e 1S a fr a me n
. i m q
of g t
l b d
t h e ce e ra t e H aj ir el E s w a d , or B ack S on e, rou h t fro l t b g m
M ek k eh , an d a ced h er e
pl by
it s fou n er d .
‘
41
’
dep o sited So proce eding to th e spot he foun d
’
on e .
, ,
and brought away hims elf the Black Stone ; and as

, ,
I sm a i l was absent at the momen t he only learned th e ,
facts from his father on his return On the terminatio n .
of their work they both prayed t o G od to ble ss an d
a cc ept of their labours wh i ch H e was pleased to d o I t

,
.
was then th a t the angel J ebr ail app eared and taught them
the solemnities of the Ta z odf of the M en as ilz ( sa c r i fices )
, ,
of M ount Arafat the R ein eef ern r en cast i ng of the stones )

’
, ( ,
th e S n ee an d the S nay ee ( sacre d symbols) all of whic h ,
are S u n n et ( commanded by the Prophet ) to the pilgrims

of M ohammedan p eople to the present time ,
.
Before I brahim departed from M ek k eh for Sh am he ,
appointed I sm ai l to be his [( lz a leef elz or C alip h ( s u cce s s or)

’
, ,
”
and it is said that he reached the age of 1 2 0 years .
TH E D EC EA S E OF I B RA H I M .
By som e i t i s said that after t he de a th of Sarah I bra

, ,
him took another w i fe from the land of Canaan by who m ,
he had Six sons From these sprang s o many individuals

.
as t o great ly increase the numb er of his c hildren and

‘
grand c h i ldren as well as of the tribes

,
The prophet .
ship however remaine d w i th I s hak and I sm a il I brahi m

, ,
-
’
.
be c ame excess i vely wealthy in flocks and herds H e is .
supposed t o have been the firs t person who se beard

b e c ame white with age a circumstan ce s o much to hi s
,
surprise as t o cause him t o ask God in prayer the cau se , ,
of s o extraordinary an o c currence and in reply heard , , ,
tha t it was a S ign of seriousness of mind and respect ,

.
H e thereon asked tha t the former might b e increased .
I brahim is said also t o have as k ed of G od tha t h e

might n ot b e re quired t o leave this l i fe b efore he him
self re quested it ; an d that hi s prayer was gran ted .
N ow when the time approached for his departure the ,
Angel of D eath app eared t o him in the shap e of an ,
aged man ; and when according t o his prin c iples of ,
hospitality he had food placed before him he remarked

, ,
tha t the ha n ds of his guest trembled very much s o t hat ,
he was unable to partake of the provisions an d through ,
feebleness he raised them even to his nose a n d ears

, ,
in place of c arry i ng them to his mouth I brahim .

,
surprised a t su c h a specta c le of human weakness in ,
quired of the aged man its c ause an d was told that ,
it was the c onsequen c e of ad vanced age f H e n ext

asked h im h ow ol d he was and the old man replied ,
that he c alculated his ye ars were even less than those

o f I brahim ; the latter thereon observed that there was
no t mu c h d i fferen c e between the i r ages and he wondered ,
wheth er or n ot he would be subj ect to the same degre e

“ ”
o f feebleness . Ye s you will said the guest ; an d
, ,
I brahim after some moments of reflection having

, ,
prayed to G od to relieve him of this life a u d its in

fi rm it ie s
,
the A n gel of D eath convey ed his soul to
Paradise ( or F er d
a ee s — the plural of the Arabic noun
F er d oos ) .
An other tradit i onis that when the Angel of D eath

, ,
( )
’
A z r ail appeare dto I brahim the latter as k ed h im ‘
whether i t was possible for on e friend to wish to take

away the soul or life of a n other friend ; and that this
question ha v ing been by the angel c onve y ed t o God
, , ,
he was commanded to reply I s it n ot natural that ,
a fr i end s hould ardently desire t o see the fa c e of his

”
friend ? O n this he consen t ed freely to depart and was
, ,
buried in the fi elds of Kh airoon by the s i de of Sarah ,

.
“
I n tho se days hospitality was much exercised an d
, ,
n ot only were the guests t reated w ith great generosity
in the houses of their hosts but were p rovis i oned on ,
t h eir departure I t is n arrated that once I brahi m

.
,
enterta i ned an aged indi vidual whom he c onducted to ,
his residen ce but as he as c ertaine d that his guest was

,
an infidel ( Kaj i r ) he did n ot lay before him the choice

,
providen c es of God and drove him away The M ost

,
.
H igh thereon addressing I brahim said : O I brahim ,

‘
,
this infidel has for many years enj oyed my bount i e s

, , ,
and ye t served i dols ; and n ot for even on e d ay have

I deprived him of them H ow much less t hen does .
, ,
i t become you as my friend and apostle t o cu t him

, ,
44 T HE D ERVI S H E S .
‘
b ra t e d H is t oire d es Arabes of C ousin de Perceval ,

“
states that it simply signifies Orthodoxy or the r e
, ,
”
ligion of Abrah a m I n t h e sam e work ( vol i p
. . . .
t here i s the following O ba id alla h son of J a h sh

’
, ,
though est a blish ed at M ekk eh was n ot a K ora is h it e ; ,
but on his father s S i de des c en ded fro m Asad son

’
of Kh o z a im a and belonged to the K orais h tr i be

,
through h i s m other O m aim a the daughter of Abd el ,

’
M ot t alib After fru i tless e fforts to reach the relig i on of

.
Abraham or Orthodoxy ( E l H a n eef eey a ) h e rem a ined in

, ,
d oubt an d uncertainty until M ohammed c ommen c ed ,
pre a c hing I t was then that Oba id allah decided to r e

.
’
cogn i se I slam i sm as the true religion whi c h he sough t

,
after H e therefore embraced it but soon a fter abj ured

.
,
i t as will b e seen else w here to devote himself d efi n i

, ,
”
t iv ely to Christianity .
H e was one of four p ersons w h o on the o cc asion of ,
t he fest i val of the Arab i dols p ubl ic ly denounced all ,

“
parti c ipation in such a fa ith saying Our c ountrymen
, ,
wa lk in a false path and are far from the rel i gion of

,
Abraham What is thi s preten ded divinity to which

.
they immolate v ic tims and aroun d wh i ch they make ,
solemn process i ons ? A mute and i nsens i ble block of

ston e incapable of doing good or evil Let u s seek the
,
.
true faith of ou r fa ther Abraham and to find it l et us if ,
it b e necessary even wander over foreign lands

,
.
M de P erceval adds with regard to the n ew do c tr i n e

.
,
proclaimed by Mohammed — “
Th i s was n ot a n ew
°
religion which he announ c ed but the an cient religio n , .
”
of Abraham restored to its primitive pur i ty .
Thus the researc h es into the history of the Arabs

, ,
by this emin ent wr i ter fully establ i sh the fact that in

, ,
the traditional ac c ounts p ossessed by them of the patri

ar c h Abraham M oh a mmed found the basis of his n ew
,
faith ; an d that wh a tever i s n o t clearly of this origin

must be sought for in other tradition s drawn from I ndia ,
and Greece ; or as h e so repeatedly declares in the

,
“ ”
Koran in Divine I nspiration
,
.
TH E D E VI R S H ES .
45
“ “
T HE ATMB OD H A , OR KN O W L E D G E O F T HE S P IRI T .
I n the chapter on the S oof eeis m of th e D e rvishes as ,
well as t he ot h ers relating to them t he reader will find ,

.
a strong analogy of do ctrin e with that of the p eople of

I ndia as shown i n the Va lan i a An interesting article
,
.
of the j ou r n a l A s ia t iq u e of Paris ( J anuary con ,
t ains much on this subj ect clearly showing that th e ,
p e c uliarities of the Ta r eet a is have their origin in the

writings of the Sanskrit authors ; and i t may n ot be
am i ss to quote som e of the more striking of these
parables .
B r a / m a t he chief divinity of the Ved a s or sacred

, ,
writings of I n dia i s the great Spir i t from which all th e

,
others are emanations H e i s the source of all the

.
Panth eistic do c trines of the believers in him .
M irn an s a is the desire t o know or the “

Div i n e ,
scien c e in other words th e contemplative and mystical ,
theology of Brahma The fundamental idea of the

.
Ved an t a i s that B r a /i nt er is the Absolute Spirit an d the ,
Pure Being I t is also the doc t rin e which any on e must

.
know and deeply s t udy who desires t o asp i re to the

f ourt h degree of a rel i gious life —or w h o w i she s t o ,
b ecome S a n ny as ee a perfect asceti c The rel i gion of

‘
.
,
B r oarn a is too compendious an d c ompli c ated t o b e

ex pla i ned in detail a n d such is n ot th e obj e c t of the
,
presen t short not i ce I ndeed t here has b een of late

.
, ,
years s o mu c h wr i tten on the subj ec t by the philolog i sts

,
of E urope that it would be presumptuous t o d o more

,
than refer the reader for more minute information t o t h e

, ,
many interesting work s now existing in its various lan

g uages Suffice
. i t t o say that these p oin t ou t the source
,
and origin of whatever i s Pantheisti c and mysti c al in the

doctrines of the D ervish Ta r eeé a z s which are not stri c tly ‘
,
M ussulman an d tha t aft er p ene t rating through Nor t hern

,
I nd i a into Persia they have spread over Asia wherever

, ,
t hese sects have b een establish e d It would even see m .
that t he Polytheis m of I ndia i s t he origi n of all the

fabled gods an d goddesses of t he people of Northern
E urop e . The Panthe i sm of the on e becomes t he m y

t h ology of t h e other shaped i nto varied forms depen d en t
, ,
upon the clim a te the c h aracter of the season s an d th e

, ,
varied produ c tions of nature of each of the de grees of

latitude through whi c h it passed The i nfluence of .
lan guage over the human mind i s greater th a n at firs t ’
seems apparent The S a n s kr it a dead la n guage of I ndia

.
, ,
is on e part i cularly adapted for the expression of the m ost

m i nute details of mysti c al ideas — qu i te without a parallel ,
i n the great family of idiom s used by m a n kind I n it .
the human imagination found an able and willing servant ,

—
so capable o photographing s o to speak the leas t
f —
t a ngible of i ts produ c tions that it in time b ecame the
sacred lan gu age of I ndia —that of it s b ook s and n ot
,
’
, ,
that spoken by its p eople I ndia has rivalled Greece in.
—
her p h ilosophers each has had her tea c hers and h er
s c hools both undire c ted by D ivin e Light though th e
, ,
intuit ive refle c tion s of reason and intelligence seem t o

have p enetrated into t h e remote and misty future which
“
so deeply i nterests mankind Their ancient wisdom .
i s still the O bj ect of the studies of the c urious even in ,
modern times ; an d th e human m i nd still fettered an d ,
unfreed from th e weight of long centur i es of Slavery in

m atters of rel i giou s faith is unable to c ast O ff the dogmas
,
O f a sp i ritual and mystical character wh i ch like the , ,
c louds O bscure the light of the One only true D ivin i ty

, .
Mankin d deified at on e p er i od is san ctified in an other ,
an d b oth in Ved a n lis rn and S oofeeis m we find the idea ,
carried so far as to declare that the spirit of man when ,
properly pur i fied by contemplation religious fervour an d , ,
ecstatic love becom es even that of God from whom it

, ,
i s declared it is an emanation E ven the most reasonabl e .
of th e D ervish Ta r eek a is hold that by means of a certain
form of worship differing with each on e the c reature

, ,
app r oa enes his Creator and that t his is the obj ect of his
,
adorations H is Sp i r i t be c omes even absorbed in that of

.
the Div i nity The soul is a Div i n e emana ti on in corp o

.
rated in a h uman form I t exists in five conditions viz

.
, .
it i s awake it dreams i t is plu n ged in slumber it fills a

, , ,
s t ate of half death and finally even p erfectly separated

, ,
7
from the body During th e third state it is

. ab sorbed ,
re -
already i n the Divine S p i ri t After dea t h it must pass .

,
through several new existen ces V irtuous souls oc c upy .
S pheres s u p er i or to th a t of this world and enj oy the ,
fruits of t h eir good works whilst the guil t y on es are ,
condem n ed to fill condit i on s inferior to that of humanity .
The D ervish thus interprets t h e vers e of the Koran

lxviii 1 8
. My p eople in the eternal l i fe will rise
up in companies ; and holds that wicked p eople who
h ave degr a ded humanity i n this life will l iv e again in the
shape of animal existence to w hich it h as becom e de ,
based The final effort of man in the Ved an z a is hi s

.
‘
pass a ge to th e world of Brahma when h i s soul will be ,
delivered from all human ties and return to its origi nal ,
sour c e and be confound ed with his prin ci ple Th e .
D ervish by a seri es of mental contemplation s and fervid

efforts return s to the divine spirit of Allah —and even
,
, ,
for example the M et/levee as he whirls round a c cord i n g

, , ,
to the rn od n s prescribed by his founder or P eer believe s ,
t h at he i s Spiritually d rawn ne a rer to God ; or t h e R nf d ee as ’
he howls t h e Z i/t ir supposes t h at he becom es holy an d i s ,
absorbed in the Sp i rit of the A llah whom h e t h us i nvokes .
The C r a va n a M a n a n a an d N id id ny as a n a ( condit i on m e
, , ,
ditation and contemplation ) are n othing other than th e

, ,
S ein a n z n r a keoe/z
,
and the Z it r of the D ervish
, ,
Ta r eena z The B od /t a of the Brahman i s the ]l7n a n d th e

‘ ’
,
.
nan a is the M e r i el of the D erv i sh without which i t

j f
’
is n ot possible to eman cipate and free the soul The .
B eard s /mes bel i eve that God is in all th i ngs and that th e ,
soul after its separatio n from the human frame may enter
, ,
into the body of an an i mal for whi c h reason they are ,
unwilling to kill any liv i n g c re a ture lest it c ontain th e ,
soul or spir i t of a late human being This i s the prin c iple .
of t h e Suprem e Master Brahma who penetrate s all things , .
The M a n as i s the A n as ir E r oe of S oofe eis m viz th e four

’ ’
, .
great ele m ents of fire air earth and water whic h are
, , , ,
supposed to compose th e body an d constitute the inter ,
n al fa culty of c omprehen sion whilst th e np d d/z i or sub ,
tile flu i d is the invigorating element of l i fe different

, ,
from th e p r an as or ar ea l l which is kn own to th e

l
,
/
,
48 TH E D E V R I S H ES .
D ervish as t he N f ies or N efs the origin al eman at io n ,
from the Creator and wh ic h , after a ser i ous and 1m p r es

,
s ion al invocation of H im be co m es s o holy The A le7n ’
—
.
,
z M es al
“
o r ,
world o f fan c y th e A le7n i Kfz ey d l the ,
" ’
,
“
world of illusion form an i mporta n t part of the Brah
, .
mani c system All is sa i d to be transitory in this world

.
illusory ; an d there is nothing t rue an d re al but B r a /17n d ,
which word with So ofeeis m i s equivalent to A lla li

Brah m a has n o resemblance with the world —noth i ng
, , .
really exists but he if anyth i ng else be produced other

than he it is vai n and illus o ry like th e mirage in the
, ,
” “
d esert .The eye of science ( spiritual ) contemplates the
Livi n g Be ing ( w i th the D ervish H ay t ie Kayy oorn the ,
‘
Living and th e but the eye of i gnoran c e
cannot contemplate H im n o m ore than a blind man can ,
”
b ehold the sun H e who undertakes the pilgr image of
.
the Spirit whi c h is in himself penetrates all w i t hout

, , ,
regard either t o the s t ate of the s k y the country or time ; , ,
d i ssipating col d and warmth securing t o h i mself a p er ,
p e t u a l happiness free from all impurity

, frees himself ,
completely from works becomes omnis c ient p enetrates , ,

” “
all and 15 immortal H e w h o renoun c ing all labour
.
, ,
re a
,
c hes the state or cond i tion called p a r a m a / mn s a or the ,
as c et i c of the last degree frequents the t eer z lz a of the ,

‘
Sp i ri t knows all in all things through t h e proper nature

, ,
of t h e sovere i gn Spir i t be c omes immor t al viz absolutely

, , .
”
free .
Such i s the parallel be t ween t h e principles O f Brah

m anism an d Soofeeis m and which have evid ently be c om e
,
e n grafted on the ex Mussulman systems of some if n ot

-
in d eed all of the modern D ervish sects The M an l ié et

,
.
Ta ir of F ar e e d u d D een Attar and the M es n eoee S fi er eef

’
,
of J ell al ed D een er R oom ee furnish mu c h to c orroborate ,
the convi c tion that these Mussulman authors drew their

insp i ration from the religious reveries of the H indo os .
E ven the mystica l ( ”meals of H afi z are d eeply imbued

wi t h t he same .
49
C H AP T E R I I .
ON O R I G I N O F T H E D E RVI S H O R D E R S —T H E OR I G I NA L
—
TH E .
O R D E R S ; F O RM S O F P R A Y E R ; CA P S ET C TRA D I T I O N S O F
, .
T H E O RD E R S .
TH E word D er z ois fi or D er vis li i s from t he Persian

lan gu age and is writ t en
,
I t i s composed of
t w o syllables D er and Vis /z
,
The firs t or D er i s the
.
, ,
“
sam e as the E n glish word door an d has the same ,
s ignification Vis /z i s probably from t h e Persian verb

.
Vi/z z en t o b eg
‘
.
,
V arious meanings are assigne d t o the t w o syllables

“
taken toge t her Some say it means the s i ll of the
.
“ ”
d oor ; others those w h o b eg from door t o door
, ,
“
whilst there are many w h o d eclare that it signifies in
“ ”
t hought or deep meditation using t h e d er as a ,
Pers i an prep ositi on in and n ot as a substan t ive and

, ,
”
the ois fi as though t .
I am inclin ed t o give t o t he word t h e signification

“
n ow almost universally a c cepted which is a p oor , ,
”
fellow who goes from door t o door for assistance .
This is evidently t h e on e in use all over t he E ast ,
in I ndia Bokhara P ersia Turk ey Syria and E gyp t

, , , , , ,
in fa c t wherever t his class of p eo p le are known t hough

,
in those coun t ries wh ere the Arab i c lan guage is Spoken ,
D e rvishes are k nown as F a keers plural F a k ir a; and in ,
Turkey the latter is oft en used though of course e rro ,
n e ou s ly in the singular s ens e

, .
Th e D e rvishes say tha t t heir original orders were

twelve in number They t rac e b ack t heir source as
.
follows
Al lah ( G od ) .
J ebrail ( An gel Gabriel) .

5 ° T H E D ERVI S HE S .
M ohammed ( the Proph et) .
Alee ( the fourth Caliph )

’
.
Abu Bekir ( the fi rst Caliph ) .
’
From the Caliph Alee they say de scended , ,
H assan el Bahr ee .
M aru fi K erh ee .
Su r ay ee Sak at t e e .
D au d ee Ta e e .
n a d ee Bagdade e
J y
u
’
.
H ab eeb e e A j e m ee .
Abu Bekir Shib lee .
Abu l M ub arek M ah z u m ee
’
.
’
Abd u l K adir G hilan ee .
And from Abu Bekir the first Caliph ,
S elm an e e F arsee .
Th e twelve original Orders are

’
1 The R u fa e e
. .
2 The Sa d ee
.
’
.
3 Th e.S u h r a v e r d ee .
4 The Shiban ee
. .
5 The .M ev l e v ee .
6 The Kad ire e

. .
7 The .N a k s h ib e n d ee .
8 The V ais e e
.
( which lat t er they say are a n

,
l i M ohamm ed ) ,
-
.
9 The J . elv e t t e e .
I O The Kh alvet t e e
. .
1 1 The Bedawee
. .
12 The D u s s ook ee
. .
The D ervish from whom I derived th e preceding i s

a m ember of th e order of the K ad z r ees ; and as there
'
i s mu c h esp r it d e corp s an d r i valry among the various

Orders he may have been biassed i n fa vour of those
,
wh om he placed highe st in the list .
Vl ad il l K ad ir G aild n ee was the founder of th e sec t

t o whi c h my frien d and ass i stant belongs and I may here ,
add as a word of i n formation regarding Ar abic surnames

,
such as the present tha t A é d signifies the s er va n t ; u l

,
’
i s the Arabic article and preposition Me an d of Me , ,
and Kad ir the P ow erf u l, which is on e of t he I slam

,
5 2 TH E D E RVI S H E S .
this and d eclared tha t for on e he would refuse t o b ear

,
h im . J u st then the Prophet miraculously created a

,
child an d as there was some frui t on a high shelf of

’
the room he asked Alee to reach it down for t he child
,
.
’
Alee attempted t o d o it but was n ot high enough and , ,
the Prophet place d the C hild on hi s neck so ,

’
as t o reach the frui t Alee having submi t ted to this
.
,
’
‘
Se e se e ! exclaimed t he Prophet y ou already b ear
, ,
‘
the person I allud e t o on your neck This child was .

’
’
Ab d u l Kad ir ee himsel f ”
.
I f th ere b e really but twelve original Orders these ,
have many branche s The principal branches are said .
to b e descended from H as a n cl B a s r ee and it i s ,
these which are prevalent n ow in the Ottoman E mpire .
S ome others are from S elz nd n i F ar s ee The M evle vees .

,
the N a ks /l ié en dees and the B eki d s lz ees are thus said

'
to be d escen d ed from A é n B ekir es S id ik the first ,
C aliph The B eé t as aees are all d eemed to b e S ayy id s

.
,
o r d es c endan t s from the family of the Prophet The .
Tes leenz id s t ( a white ston e ) worn on the ir n ecks has

/
, ,
its origin from Abu Bekir who they say on ce having used , , ,
language whi c h gave offence to the Prophet rep ented ,
o f it and in m emory of his fault fastened a small ston e

,
aroun d his n ec k and when h e came to chapel put it

, .
i n the presence of th e Prophet into his mouth to ,
prevent himself from speak i ng improperly T he B et .
t as fi ees are all A leeide ( D ervishes )

’
.
The [( li alvellees wear leggings call ed S oni aé in , ,
memory of those worn by the Prophet in the battle

of B ed r i ( l an d and great care is taken by them n ot
,
to soil them They are in the form of boots and made

.
,
of b lack leather .
I n the earlier times of the D ervishes their Orders ,
have names or titles di fferent from those of the present .
These were mere expl i cations of their tenets or prin

cip l es and it was only at a later p eriod that they took
,
the names of their founders .
I will there fore m ention a few of these ti tles but ,
refrain from digressing on a part of my s u bj ect foreign

to t he O bj ect in View .
53
1 . T he H a la l/cell or t hose who , by devou t con t empla

,
t ion became inspired by G o d

,
.
2 . The [li i/z a d z ea or thos e .
w h o deem G od ever present ,
and fill th e m i n d of H is wor

shippers w it h n o other idea than
of H imself .
3 Th e Vas oolie/c : or t ho se
.
w h o b elieve that by con stan t

d evou t contempla t ion of G od
t hey b ecome peculiarly c on
n ect e d with H im even in t h e
,
p resen t life .
4 . The or t hose
w h o keep their minds con
s t an t ly filled with a devout love
for G o d .
5 The T
.elf een ieb o r those
w h o reach Go d by prayer and ,
by t h e means of con stant de

v ot ion .
6 The Z a r eeé ieb

. o r th o se
T HE
w h o by con stan t contemplation
H U L U L L I E PL
of the i r found er, or their imm e

dia t e S beikb , enter into h is spiri t, an d dwell with it .
The W a fi d ei n e/i : or t hose who con s t antly

'
7 . con
template the unity of G od .
I have much en deavoured t o find a sensible cause for

t he p ec u liar forms prescribed by the found ers of th e
various Orders of prayers an d co stumes but without ,
success Some wear c ap s of p eculiar shap es many

.
,
made up of gores or sections calle d by th e D ervishe s

, ,
Ter a a word sig n i fy ing a ba n d on varying in n umb er in

, ,
di fferen t Orders F or in stance whilst th e B eal as b ees

.
,
wear five or seve n Ter f s the N a é s b iben d ees have eighteen

,
.
Som e of their cap s b ear inscription s mostly verses of ,
the Koran an d some are made in the shap e of a rose

,
.
Others wear a turban of blac k whi t e or green colour , ,

.
The colour of t heir man t les also varies They have a .
variety of p rayers t hough gene rally these are the sam e

,
as those of all o t her Mussulman s and are followed

“
by on e for the Prophet his family and fr i end s their , , ,
founder an d the reigning sovereign I n fa c t I have

,
.
,
only been able to learn that they all ow e the i r origin

to t h e will of the i r founder c a lled by them the P eer , ,
a P ers i an name signifying E ld er T o som e of the i r .
customs an d parts of their dresses also a miraculous

origin i s assigned wh i ch I d o n ot doubt i s p erfectly
, , ,
sat i sfactory to themselve s .
Some of the m stand upr i ght when performi n g the

“
Z ikir or
,
call up on t h e n ame of Allah others sit ;
some form a C i rcle and put their hands on the shoulders
,
of t heir companion s t o the right and left and shake ,
their b odies forward an d aft t o the right an d t o the left , ,
the i r an i mation and ex ci tement i ncreas i ng as the cere

m ony proceeds S ome c ry ou t the Z ikir with a loud
.
“
voi c e as als o the M ussulman C onfession of Faith ( z a
,
ilab a illa A lla b ve M o/z a rn rn ed R es ool A lla /t ) There i s ,
n o God but Allah ( ifi e God ) and M ohammed i s Me ,
prophet of Allah ; whilst others like the M evlevees , ,
( c alle d by travellers from E urop e the D anc i ng or Turning

D erv i shes ) m ove round in a q u a s i mysti c c i r c le in pro
,
-
found silen c e m entally reciting the same I have been

,
.
told that the custom of these latter refers t o the har

m on iou s move m ent of t he un i verse and tha t the soft ,
music of their order is symb olic of tha t of the spheres

.
but I am inclined to doubt it .
These t w o dist i n c tions of voca z ive and con fernp la f i ve ‘
D ervishes are said to refer to the c ommand of the Prophet

to Abu Bekir the firs t caliph wh i lst concealed together in
, ,
”
a cave to re cite the Z i kir in silen c e so as n ot t o b e
’
, ,
heard by their pursuers and to Alee the fourth cal i ph ’

, ,
when he inquired of h im what he ought to do so as to

re c eiv e Div i ne ass i stance — “
t o call loudly God s nam e
’
”
without ceas i ng .
All of these forms of worship are of M ohammedan

origin whilst many of the pr i nciples of the Orders date
,
back to a much more remote p eriod an d may b e there ,
fore des i gna t ed as S oofi eis rn , of which more w ill be sai d

hereafter .
As a gen er al ru le n o D ervish w h o h as n Ot b een th e

’ ’
’
S beié li ( c hief or master ) of a Tebé ie/z can wear a turban ,
folde d round h i s cap The turban i s called S a r i/e [m arri ed

.
,
an d D es id r A S b eié b may however nam e a large num

.
, ,
ber of K ba leefebs or deputies ( suc c essors ) all of whom

,
”
,
can wear t he turban a roun d the i r ca ps These are c on .
s e quently cons i dere d as honorary S beil lz s o r masters ’
,
.
The cap i s called by mo st of the orders K a la /z .
The R af a ees wear twelve Ter é s and th e colour of

’
th e She i kh s turban i s black They perform the Zik ir

’
.
standing upright The hall in wh i ch they worship

.
ca lled the S er /z eed K/z an eb .
M E VL E V E E .
The wear a t all whi t e or yellowish cap ,
withou t any Tcr ies and t he colour of t he S beié lz s turban

,
’
i s gre en be c ause the se are gen erally S ayy id s or d es cen

, ,
dants of t he Prophe t As afore s t ated th ey p erform

.
-
their prayers standing upright an d in silence turn i ng , ,
round fro m east t o west O n Sunday and Fr i day they

.
p erform a prayer call ed t he l s nz i f ellal seated in a circle , ,

5 6 TH E D ERV I S H E S .
t ime s T his prayer i s simp ly t he word A llab Their

. .
hall i s called t h e
M E V L E VE E .
The K ad ir ees wear four Ter ks in t h eir cap em b r oi ,
dered Their S b eié fi s have each seven Ter as and the

.
,
c olour of the i r c ap i s white if they b e not S ayy id s They .
move round th e hall standing upright their hands placed ,
on the should ers of their n eighbours Their hall i s .
c alled t he Ter fi eed K b an e/i .
The B ed a vees have twelve Ter as in t heir c ap ; th e

c olour is red and they perfo rm their rel i g i ous exer c ise s
,
like th e R uf a ees Their hall i s also called t he Ter b eed

’
.
Kb an e/z .
T h e D n s ooé ees have no fl r bs t he colour is white an d

,
they p erform on foot .
The S a d ocs have twelve Ter ks ; th ey we ar t urbans of

’
a yellow i sh colour and p erform on foot ,

.
Th e K/ca l venees have n o Ter ks in th eir Ka la /z or c ap

' ‘
,
it is however divided into four an gles ; the colour i s

, ,
whi t e yellow green or other and t hey pray on foo t

, , , ,
.
57
The N a as fi iben d ees

have f our Ter as ; colour generally
whit e though they may wear any other : th e cap i s
,
always embroidered and origin ally conta i ned a verse of

,
the Koran They perfor m seated a prayer called t he

.
N A KSH I B EN D EE .
[é lz lds times On e remarkable peculiari ty of this

.
order is that when t hey assemble t o perform this prayer

,
they divide among th eir number pebbles ; an d as

ea c h on e recite s an M bld s h e lays d own in t h e circle
,
on e of these as eviden ce of the fact until all are recited ,

.
The f elvez lees wear twelve Ter ks th e colour of th eir

‘
cap i s green an d all may wear turbans They perfor m

, .
on th eir knees th e Z ik i r an d the [s rn i j ellal .
The H a n z z avees or otherwise called the lif e/am eey oon s

, ,
have n o distinction O f co s t ume cap nor belt They , ,

.
all p erform seated an d in silence contemplating th e

, ,
Divin e Spirit and seeking for N oor or D i vine Ligh t

, ,
.
Th e B a ir arn ees S fi a ban ees & c all are li k e the Ki m/

,
’
, .
The B ebi d s bees have four an d twelve Ter ks their colour

is white and green They have n o special form of prayer
.
,
n or position ; bu t i t i s said t ha t t hey p erform like the
N a les b iben d ees .

58 D ERVI S HE S
“
T HE .
Some say t ha t there are as many as S1X t y d i fferen t Orders

o f D ervishes an d others even a hundred each bear i ng
, ,
the nam e of its founder I t would s c arcely repay on e the

.
t rouble to endeavour to enumerate them a n d the i r sha d es ,
of differen c e . I n the Order of the B ea d s /f ees there are ,
bran c hes from the orig i nal sto c k some more panthe istic ,
t han the others an d I presum e that the same may be

,
said of some of the other Orders A few have been pro .
h ibit e d at Constant i nople such as the B eé t as /z ees on

, ,
a c count of the i r t oo intim a te conn exion with the J anis

s a r ie s though at the present t i me th ey are not molested
, , .
They do n ot generally bear a good reputation and are ,
said to be qu i te athe i sti c an d n ot mu c h attached to the

,
principle of the Koran nor firm b el i evers in the pro

,
p h e t ic miss i on o f M ohammed They generally are war m .
’
A leeid es o r follo w ers of the C aliph A lee and are there
’
, ,
”
f ore S oofi eeis ls or ,
I slam Spiritualis t s which will be ,
allud ed to later in this work .
I am not aware that any on e has writ t en either a his

t ory or an ac c ount of th e variou s Mussulman rel i gious
o rd ers kn own under the t i tle of D er vis b es The subj ect .
seems to be on e of an original ch ara c ter and interesting ,
t o the public an d espe c ially to the travellers in the E ast

, ,
who have n o m eans of acqu i ring any informat i on regarding

a class of i ndividuals Whose forms of worship str i ke their
c urios i ty .
Th e d ifli cu lt y w hich lies in the way of collect i ng facts

respe c ting the D erv i sh orders will be apparent to Or i e n tal
students an d indeed I feel that I have been presumptuous
,
in ven turing to assum e so serious a t ask T o all t h i ngs .
there is however a b eginning and th ou gh my humble

, , , ,
sketche s may app ear i mp erfect n evertheless they w i ll ,
serve as a nucleus to the labours of those who succeed me .
I have endeavoured t o obtain my informat i on from the

in os t authentic sources w it hin my rea c h both oral an d ,
written a s well as pr i nted To O ffer a criticism on the

, .
b elief of my M u ssulman friends ( for among th e D er

v is h es o f C o n stantinopl e I have several est i m able and
valued friends) to draw compar i son s between what may be

,
calle d t he religious superstit i ons of M oham m ed anism and

a theis m of t h e mos t condemnable charac t er an d t his ,
may b e said of th e B eards /l ees w h o from som e reaso n , ,
or other n ot q uite clear t o m e are h eld in small reput e,
among oth er Mussulman s even those belonging to t h e

,
other D ervish ord ers N 0 on e in C on stantinopl e m ay

.
consider himself at all complimented when he i s calle d

” “ ”
a F erm as on or a B ek t as h ee n o more than a Pro ,
tes t ant i s when called a M ei/z od is z by a devou t C atholi c ‘

,
or a Voll a ir ea n by an ordinary C h ristian .
I nspire d with the mos t laudable desire t o withdraw

his peopl e of Arabia from th e wors h ip of idols Mo ,
h amme d pro c laime d to t h em the adoration of an

U n iversal D eity th e Creator of all things and a perfect
, ,
resignation t o H is D ivin e will .
Th i s D e i ty must have been already well k nown in

Arabia prev i ous to the advent of M ohammed as a
,
prophet under the nam e of A lla /z ; a word m ost probably

,
d erived from the H ebrew of E lo/z in z I t is comp osed .
of two Arabic word s ai the art i cle Me and lab or

, , ,
A la b which together is n ow written A lla b : I t i s formed

,
in Arabic of only four letters A l l b called four , , , , ,
mystical letters marking in a peculiar manner the

,
D ivin e E ssence .
I need n o more than rem i n d t he reader tha t th e

Arab i c language is derived from the H ebrew and that ,
it is a Semitic ton gue I t i s therefore compose d of

.
radical l etters t w o three or four of which forming all

, , ,
the words of th e language under certain grammatical ,
r ules
.
The defi n ition w h ich M ohamme d gave t o this D ei ty ,
when interrogated there on by the J ews and Christian s ,
the Magi and other id olaters i s se en in on e of the

, ,
chapters of the Koran— the book c on t ain i ng his in

spirations— and calle d the [la/d ds or the m ost pure
“ ”
,
.
H e there says
“
I t i s that G od w h o is uni que self existing from
, ,
-
whom all c reatures re c eive their existen ce ; wh o doe s

n ot beget nor was begotten ; an d w h o has n o e qual
,
”
amongst all tha t exists .
T he lat t er par t of thi s definition shows t ha t he under

T H E D E RVI S HE S . 61
s t ood t he C hris t ians of Syria and Arabia as b elieving

in more than on e G od Whether or not the nature of .
the Trinity was ever prop erly explained t o him cannot ,
n ow b e as c ertained b u t it is clearly see n that i t was

,
unsatisfac t ory t o him s o m uch s o tha t during the whole ,
of his career h e condemned in the strongest term s t he , ,
T rinity as a syste m of false relig i on as much t o be

'
, ,
a voided as the worship of fire an d o f idols H e deno .
m in at e s the Christians in the Koran as fl l n s b r z b een or ,
t hose wh o associate others with God Th e i dolaters he .
calls S a n d i m or t hose w h o ac t ually worship i dols made

'
b y th e hand of man .
This comprises all t ha t h e had in view t o comba t or

refute in other religions and it has t hu s b een explained
,
by an em i nen t writer on hi s faith

“
The God whom I adore and who should be adore d ,
by all is a uniqu e D eity simple in H is essence and

, , ,
s eparated from all other beings by attributes p e c u l i ar

t o H imself H e is sel f exist i ng and has n o n eed of
.
-
anyth i ng for H is existence ; and all things exist by

H i m H e does n ot beget ( thi s is against the op i nion
.
’
o f the J ews who believe that
,
Ozair or E sdras was the
s on of God ) ; H e was not b egot t en ( whi c h is against
th e Chr i stian s w h o b elieve that J esus Chr i st born of
, ,
th e V i rgi n Mary i s the Son of God an d i s God ) and

, , ,
that H e has n o e qual ( whi c h replies to the M agi of

P ersia followers of Z oroaster an d M an es and bel i evers
in the t w o equal prin c iples of p ower—Orom a s d es and
, ,
Ahriman —the Good and E vil Spir it s and D eities ; as

well as again s t th e Arabian i dolaters w h o sustained that ,
t here were certain spirits calle d t he B en a n H a s ba which ,
were the companions and associates of G od ) .
This God he declared to b e withou t beginning or end ,
and so far superior to H is creatures that no on e coul d

have any conception of H i s immen sity Though H is .
p ower an d essen ce pervades every part o f H is creation ,
H e is wholly invisibl e to ord i nary m ortal eyes an d H is ,
power and magnitude can only b e comprehended by

“
witness i ng H is works One eminent writer says
. A ll ,
t hat t he mind , t he sense and t he imagina t ion of m an ,

can fancy regarding H im be it ever s o solid falls at

, ,
”
once before H is maj es t y Another de c lares
. D o not ,
fatigue yourself with any ideal con cep tion s of H i m for ,

”
it i s all a useless lab our
'
A celebrated Mussulman
.
writer says it is imp ossible t o form any i dea of God ,
because H e i s sup erior t o all comparison s and there ,
are n o terms of human language which can convey any

’
i dea of H is magnitude A lee the fourth C al i ph wh o
.
, ,
am ong th e Arab s was a man of much education an d

.
,
serve d as an amanuensis for the Prophet whose daughter ,
he married is sa i d t o have observed that he w h o knows

,
himself kno w s God ; an d the sam e id ea is confirme d

in the words ,
Thy soul is a cunn i ng pro of and an invincible argu ,
ment of the existence of God

,
.
“
By reflection thou knowes t thyself thou knowes t ,
that thy existence is the wor k and t ha t there must b e ,

”
a worker .
Another s t ates ,
The existen c e of G o d bei n g t h e sam e as H is essen c e ,
know then tha t thy b eing which receives its exis t ence
,
”
from H im is the pro of of thy existence
,
.
The Founder of the Ord er of the M evlevees an d the ,
author of a celebrated mystical work called t he Ad el/t ,
72
To what purp ose are all t he efforts O f th e human

m in d to c omprehen d tha t Being who is above all com
b i nat i on all distinct i on ?
,
H e is a tree w i thout branch es or b ody or roo t s to , ,
whi c h the mind can be atta c hed .
“
H e is an enigma for whi c h n o na t ural n or meta
physical mean i ng C an b e foun d ; n or of whom a satis
factory explanation can b e given .
“
Wh o has ever found in H is existence any mystical '
symbolical or demonstrative comparison

,
“
H e i s i nfin i tely above the c apacity of ou r under
—
standing Of ou r i magination ; an d we los e ours elve s
i n vain conj ectures whenever we see k t o comprehend
H im or even t o susp ec t wha t H e is
, .
“
It is, t here fore , in vain for us t o see k for words by
T H E D ERVI S HE S . 63 ,
whi c h t o d iscu ss properly H i s being All tha t w e m ay .
”
do i s to adore H im i n respectful silen c e .
I n the view of st i ll further explaini n g wh at Mohamm ed

'
understood by A llali I may be permitted to add that

,
the un i ty O f God i s alluded to in the 89 t h c h a pter of

the Koran where God i s sai d to have sworn by th e p a ir
,
and imp a ir ; the first are H is creatures and the s econ d ,
H imself ; an d on e of its verses says We have c reated ,
all things double ; bu t we say that God is on e and

”
un i qu e.
A Persian writer states tha t n o on e S houl d say I ,
b e c ause that prop erty belongs alone to G od ; and a

Turkish proverb add s that Whoever other than ,
God says I is a Satan ; because he who says I must

, ,
b e a demon ; for n on e but G od can us e that word

w i th truthfulness as all things came from H im all are
, ,
in H im and obey H im H e only i s self existent

,
— .
”
.
A pious Mussulman and an author of celebrity u sed

, ,
t o decla re When I say God I have sa i d all th i ngs ;

‘
, ,
”
for all else is but folly or the fan cy of foolish desires
, .
Another states Since my heart i s t u rned towards

,
”
G od sp eak to me of n othing else than H im
, .
A lla b i s therefore define d as Omniscient and O m ni

potent and pervad es all Hi s creation I t is not held
,
.
that H e is in any particular pla c e I would n evertheless .

, ,
express my conv i ction that M ohammed was not pan

theistic in th e modern sense an d much less that h e
, ,
b elieve d in the modern metemp sy c hosis H e however , .

,
believed tha t the spirit of man was of a D i vin e origin ,
bu t made a w i de distinction be t ween th e life which all

c reation enj oys and the breath of l i fe possessed by
,
human beings I n t his sense a writer tells u s as a

.
tradition that M oses having asked of G od where H e

,
was he receive d the reply

,
Kn ow t hat when y ou seek
,
”
for m e you have already found m e .
I t is rela t ed tha t an Arab of th e desert b eing as k ed

h ow he k n ew there was a God answered ,
“
By the same by which I kn ow from the t races in the
sand tha t a man or an animal has passed over it I s .
n ot t he heaven dec k ed wi t h i t s brigh t s t ars the earth

,
with i t s fer t ile fields the sea wi t h i t s numerous w aves

,
su ffic i ent proofs of the exis t ence an d t he greatness of a

”
Crea t or ?
A n other child of t h e deser t in reply to a similar ques

,
tion said,
I s there any kin d of a t orch to behold the brigh t ness

of t he Aurora ?
And to a companion w h o had m e t with a serious mis
,
fortun e against whi c h his ow n c ares were unavailable he ,
said
There is n o o t her recourse or refuge from G od t han
”
in H im .
I n the D ervish a cc epta t ion of A llab H e i s their All in

,
all To t hink of H im at all times to contemplate H is

.
,
maj esty and power and to c all upon H is name for aid
,
and succour during the i r mortal existen ce to adore an d

worship H im in the m os t devout manner and thereby ,
i n crease the i r ow n san c tity and consequent spiritu al

p ower —is the basis of all their belie f They consid er
,
.
it h ighly me ri t orious to pronounce audibly or m en t ally , ,

T HE D ERVI S HE S . 65
H is holy nam e most frequently and even go so far as to ,
strive to d o th i s in a s h ort space of time I f any on e .
ca n c all up on the name of A ll a b a hundred times in a
minute it is h eld to b e still more meritorious to d o so

,
double t h at number of times in the s ame p eriod of time .
They believe that G od or All/a b will and d oes manifest , , , ,
H i mself to the devout worshipp er in a sp ecial m anner

whilst so occupied and that around the heart a D ivin e
,
light or ZVoor is shed in ans w er to his fre quen t calls

, , .
Also that the word A lla fi b ecomes distinctly i mpressed

upon the heart i n letters visible t o the spirit u al eyes of
the devotee .
The faith or rel i gion which M ohammed proclaimed t o

his brethren of Arabia he calle d the D een cl I s lam or ,
the obl i gation of p erfect submission to the D ivine w i ll

and de c ree s of A lla b H e considered the word D een .
to b e the only tru e an d correct faith the r i gh t path lead ,
ing to eternal happin ess .
The word [s lam is fruitful i n d efinition s all derived ,
from th e same radical letters s l 771 S a la m a among , , , , ,

“ ”
which is S a lam compliment or
,
”
salutation and ,
p eace ; and S ald rn ez salutat i on or safety From it

‘
, .
also is framed the p as t parti c iple M os lem and its plural , , ,
a n oun of multitud e M n s a lnz an an d the feminine n oun

, , ,
M os lifn eb all s i gnifying th ose wh ose fa i th is a belief in

,
D ivine decrees and humble submissio n t o the will of

,
The author of the M l bn evee S fi er ee

f afore men t ioned
-
“
s ai 8
I n wha t ever place we m ay be we are Lord subj ect , , ,
to Thy c ommand s ; b e we wherever we may w e are ,
always with Thee We say to ourselves P erhap s we

.
,
‘
’
may find a path leading elsewhere H ow vain is th i s .
idea for all paths lead ever t o Thee

,
.
The O p ening chapter of the Koran commences Lead ,
u s O Lord in the right path that is in t h e t ru e path

, , , ,
’
of I s lam ; and in the C hapter called A n a ni the Lord ,
“
s ays ,
This i s th e true path fo ll ow it and seek none , ,
”
o ther for they will m islead you
,
.
This men t ion of a P al /z is e vide n tly t he orig i n and

F
bas i s 0 1 the paths ( Tar if ai ) of the D ervis h es I men t ion .
them as Orders or S ects but th e proper and correct term

, ,
is P a i bs All these are different pathways lead i ng to th e

.
same A llab j ust as an Oriental p o et says

,
Though w e ,
may each look ou t of d i fferent windows we all se e the ,
same on e great sun source of light an d warmth , .
I n th e c hapter of th e Koran called I brah eem there ,
i s th e following
R eligion i s like un to a tre e— li k e the palm — tree the ,
roots of wh ich are in the depths of the ground and i ts ,
branc h es raised towards heaven and which by D ivin e , ,
order gives fruit in its tim e On the contrary i mpiety

,
.
,
i s a w i cked plant l ike the coloq u in t which is ou t of the

, ,
ground for it is easily pulled up on a c coun t of p ossess

,
ing n o roots t o sus t a i n i t .
An I slam author says there are four ki n ds of p ersons

who serve G od — “
The w i se through a spir i t of obedi
en c e the p enitent through fear the devout through desire
, , ,
and th e j ust from a sin c ere love for H im .
I n on e of the C hapters of th e Koran i t i s forbidden t o

comp el any on e to abandon his own faith for that of [s lam
but in another produced at a later p eriod of the Pro
,
p h
’
e t s mission it i s ordere d
,
that war should b e carried
o n agai n s t all those who d id no t b elieve in it — th e J ews
,
Christians M agi a ,
n d —
Sabean s either to compel them
, ,
t o embrace it or pay h i m ( M ohammed) tribute as a

,
temporal sovereign .
So in t imately is an account of the D ervishes conn ected

with th e history of M ohamm ed the proph et of the Arabs , ,
and now of th e whole Mussulman world that some par ,
t icu lar allusion t o him seems to m e h ere n ecessar y N0 .
one c an p eruse th e Koran w i thout being impressed w i th

a high estimate of his character as a religious reformer
an d a law giver espe c ially when they rememb er h i m only
-
as a ca m el d r iver ( the title of reproach generally given

-
to him by Chr i stian writers ) H ow different his origin .
an d early history w hen compared to that of M oses who ,
was brought up a t th e court of Pharaoh among the ,
l earned and wise of E gyp t ! All Mussulmans say that he

could neither read n or write and we have no knowle d ge ,
c ee d e d in co rrecting their abuses and withdrawing them ,
from their idols c annot b e denie d ; and his religious

,
pri nciple s are still honoured by a vast p ortion of the

human race in Asia Africa and E urop e There are
, , .
reflections in the Koran which would do honour to an

educated theologian an d his follo w ers are taught to ex
,
e ct only his i ntercession as a s aint in heaven w i th the

p
A lla b whom he himself ad ored an d worshipped Although .
'
many of the Arab s of his time p ossessed much mental

ab i lity — many of them were even p oe t s — they p ossessed
n o literature and had but small m ean s of extending an d
,
p erpetuating knowledge Thrown at an early age upon

.
h i s ow n resour c es M ohammed evidently a c ted upon pri n

,
cip l es of ho n esty and uprightn ess and i t has n ever bee n ,
shown that h e deviate d from them or abused the con ,
fi d en ce of his employer wh o subsequently marr i ed h i m

, .
H e grew up t o manhood p ossessing the resp ect of all of

,
his ac quaintance s and relati ves and it i s only a matter ,
O f surprise that k n owing th e valu e and util i ty of le t ters

, ,
h e n ever applied himself to learn t h em A S a mer .
c hant he is sa i d to h a ve made se v eral j ourneys into

Syria . D uring these h e became acquainted with the
Christian i t y of the Greeks an d the faith of the J ews .
H is unfa vour a bl e impressions of th e former are seen

from his continual con demnation O f it in the Koran .
H e probably vis it e d their church es an d witn essed the ,
reverence p aid there to the images of the saints of the

Gree k s ; he there learned the do c trin e of t h e Trinity ,
without howe ver be i ng abl e t o c omprehend it an d in

, , ,
his ow n conscience denounced both as unworthy of his

r espec t .
There i s n o reason t o b el i eve t ha t M ohammed received

any rel i gious instru ct i on eith er from the J ews or the
C hristians The Arabs doubtlessly possessed a kno w
.
ledge of the Old an d New Testaments especially of t he ,
former and many traditions regarding the earl i er history

,
of mankind some of which differ w i dely from the a c

,
coun t s given in the Bible Few C opies of the N ew Testa

.
men t must have existed among them j udg i ng from the ,
li ttl e allusion t o any of its charac t ers by t he Koran .

T H E D ERVI S HE S . 69
M ohammed s innumerable myst i cal an d p h ilosophical rea

’
s on in gs are totally distin c t from the writi n gs of thos e

who compose d t he Bible The story that h e procure d .
th e Bibli c al kn owledge which i s comprise d in the Koran

from a J ew is t oo baseless for b elief an d ev i den ces its ,
origin in the malice and hatred of the earlier de n un

cia t or s of his faith There i s really n o p roof existing
.
t o show that the Koran i s due to any other source than

hi s ow n in spiration ; and whatever it contain s o f goo d
or evil mu st therefore b e attributed t o n o on e else than
, ,
himsel f .
M ohammed does n ot rej ect eith er t h e Old Testam ent

or the N ew H e believed i n the Prophets who precede d
.
him an d that tho se w h o were so d ire c te d left each his

,
o w n book Whatever in the i r b ooks did n ot agre e with

.
th e i nformation p ossessed by him b e attr i buted t o the ,
p erversion of m or e r ecen t copyists As to the N ew °
Testam ent of the Chr i stian s it woul d seem t h at he ,
believed these had perverted i ts original contents on im

p ortant p oints an d so made J esus Christ t o say ma n y
,
things regarding H imself which are n ot true This has .
l ed many Mu ssulman s to b elieve that there ex i sts another

N ew Testamen t containing n on e of the change s intro
,
d u ced they say by modern Christ i an s an d I d o n ot

, , ,
doubt but that they really e n t ertain this convi c tion .
M oh a mme d declared that J esu s Christ was of a m ira cu

—
lou s origin tha t h e was born of a virgin an d that h e ,
was b oth a Prophet and th e Sp i rit of God Kooli A lla fi

”
, ,
yet he denies in strong term s t h at H e i s God H e .
says m oreover that Chr i st foretold his coming when H e

, ,
”
said ,
I will send a C omforter & c This appears in ,
.
the chapter of the Koran called S af when Christ says ,

“
to th e J ews 0 children of I srael ! I am H e whom
,
-
G od has sen t to ver i fy and accompli sh all that has been

revealed before m e in the law of M o ses , and t o announ c e
a nother envoy w h o i s t o com e after m e an d w h o will
,
”
bear t he n ame of A b m ed .
M ohammed d eclares him self t o b e th e las i of th e Pro

phe t s an d that his mission is th e s eal of all t h ose who
,
p receded him I n t he third ch apter of t he Koran i t i s

.
said t ha t t he angel Gabriel was sent t o M ary t o announce

“
t o her ,G od announce s t o y ou H is w or d ( Kelam el o r ,
Word ) who se name will b e Christ or M essiah J esus and

, , ,
who will be your Son worthy of all resp ect in this world
,
and i n the other .
Again it i s stated therein 0 M ary God has elevated

, ,
f‘
, ,
pur i fie d and very particularly chosen y ou among all the

,
women in the world 0 Mary submit t o your Lord ; .

,
p rostrate yourself b efore H im and worship H im with all ,
those other creatures wh o adore H im This i s a great .
”
secret wh i ch I reveal to y ou .
I n another chapter called the l Ves d are th es e words

, ,
Th e M e ssiah i s J esus Son of M ary the E nvoy of , ,
God H i s w or d wh i ch H e an n ounced to M ary and t he

, , ,
”
sam e J esus i s th e Sp ir it pro c eeding from H i m .
By the word Sp ir it an eminent Oriental author says i s

m eant ,
H e i s endowed with a Spiri t whi c h pro ,
’
c ee d e d immed i ately from G od without the medium of ,

”
any o t h er cau se .
I n the C hapter las t allud ed to t here is the following

sta t ement which shows that M ohammed considered the
,
M es siah i n the l i ght only O f on e of God s creature s an d ’

,
n ot as G o d H imself The M e ssiah does n ot disdain

t o b e and to call H imself the Servan t of God as d o the ,
angels the n earest to H i m

,
.
M ohammed commenced proclaiming his mission in

t he fort i eth year of h i s age H i s inspirations were re .
t ain e d in his memo ry and long after they were forgotten

, ,
by those t o whom h e delivered them orally he n ot ,
unfre quently renewed t hem sh owing thereby the great ,
strength of his m em ory They were however written .

, ,
d own by his s on in — law an d n ephew Alee an d by

-
,
’
,
’
Othm an both of whom b ecam e cal i ph s or v ic ars of hi s
, ,
missi on after hi s death Thus th e Koran was only c om

,
.
p le t e d in twenty t h re e years
-
The elega n t constru ction .
o f th e Koran its p erfe c t grammat i cal formation an d the

, ,
almost p oetical beauties which it contains have always ,
b een the admiration of its read ers an d though in pros e ,
it is suscept i ble of an into n a t ion which almos t amounts

t o a rhythmical measure .
71
The word Koran i s from t he Arabic rad i cal b r a , ,

“
t o read and conformably with the grammar of that lan

, ,
“ ”
guage the obj ec t read is [f u r an or otherwise a book
,
-
, .
Mohammed de c lare d that its c ontents in the form of in ,
spirations c ommenced descending from heaven u nder the

, ,
charge of the angel Gabriel during th e moon or m onth ,
O f R amaz an in the n i ght called the L a ilel cl Kad er or

, ,
”
the Night o f Power It has always been th e subj e c t
.
o f discussion among pious Mussulmans whether or n ot ,
the Kor a n was c reated or emanated directly from G od

, ,
and this especially during the t i me s of th e Abbas i d e

c aliphs . H is ow n son in law Alee b elieved that it
- -
,
’
was created like any o ther of God s creation s an d , ,

’
having a c ted as th e Prophet s amanuensis in writing it
o u t he ought t o kn ow b est
,
.
Af ter M ohammed s death the chapters an d verse s

’
o f t he Koran were mu c h dispersed and Abu Bekir , ,
th e first ca liph had them colle c ted in on e volum e

, ,
whi c h h e named the M as /z af a title still us ed by many ,
wh en alluding to it There are seven or i ginal copi es

'
m ent i on ed by its comm entators — t w o made at M edinah , ,
o n e at M ekk e h o n e at K oofa on e at Bassora and on e

, , ,
in Syr i a an d another called the Vu lgat e Tha t made

,
.
by Abu Bek i r i s con s i dered the primitive an d was ,
referred to for corrections by o t h ers Th e C aliph .
’
Othm an copied it Off himself and s o did the Caliph ,
’
Alee ( the original ) a i de d however by another friend
, , ,
o f the Prophet S everal chap t ers were abrogated and

.
,
the se now form a volume into which t hey have been

collected called the M ens n ba l ( or the
,
“
o n e of which a D ervish frien d assure s me is n ow in

, ,
the library of the R oyal M osque of Sul t an Bayazid of

C ons t antin ople There are also other C opie s of it in
.
—
existence o n e a t Bassorah and it would be worthy of
,
tran slation into on e of the E urop ean language s .
M ohammed died without any male heir I t is uncertain .
whether he had any desire t o form a dynasty H e was .
—
ev i dently warmly attached t o h i s son in law and nephew -
,
’
Alee the fourth of the direct caliph s or vicars of his
,
’
mission Th e regular caliph s were Abu Bekir Omar
.
, ,
T HE D ERVI S HE S
’
72 .
’
Othm an an d Al ee called th e [( b a laj a R ds bid ee n or t h e
,
’
, ,
d i rect or regular c aliphs They were all ele c ted by t h e

.
M oslem s of M edineh and were m en of great mental ,
abil i ti es — of s i mple and frugal habits and worthy to

, ,
follow their illu striou s Proph et and carry out the prin ,
cip les wh ic h he had inculcated .
Oriental writers represent that Ale e asp i red to becom e ’
the successor of his un c le and there is n o room t o ,
doubt but tha t such would hav e been sat i sfactory t o h is

de c eased relative t o wh om he had rendered the mos t
,
c onfidential an d imp ortant se rvices both with hi s p en ,
an d his sword But re p ublics are ap t to forget th e

.
c la i ms of their great men to th eir s u ffrages an d p opular ,
favour i s often carried away by t h e c urrent of events ,
and to be b estowed upon tho se w h o n e i ther expe c t nor

m erit it E minent men are allowed by them to descen d
.
to their gra ves in disappoin t m ent too O ften c arrying ,
with them even th e m emory of their great de eds an d , ,
in the hour of peril an d misfor t une thes e cry out l i ke , ,
the blo od of Ab el from the ground to the hearts of their ,
c ountrymen wh o thus n egle c ted them whilst living SO

,
.
i t was with Alee and the wrong done t o h i m st i ll d i v i des

’
,
th e Mussulman world into two distinct sect i on s M ost o f .
the D er v ishes however are A leeid es wh o as w i ll b e shown

, ,
’
, ,
h ereafter revere his memory as well as depl ore hi s fate

, ,
.
The most influential memb ers of th e C itizens of M e

dineh were th e A n s ar s or tho se who had been the ,
“ ”
fa i thful assistants of the Prophet The widow of the .
Prophet als o st i ll resided there n a m ed A y is /z a an d her ,

’
i nfluence was very great among the devoted followers of

h er late husband Thi s lady was the daughter of th e
.
second caliph Omar I t i s worthy of remark that th e

,
’
.
Prophet as well as hi s dire c t su c cessors had Chr i stian

, ,
and idol a trous servants in their servi c e an d that it is ,
n owh ere m ent i oned that any violen c e was ever used to
induce them to be c om e M o slems .
’
The D erv i shes de c lare that the Proph et design ed Ale e
as hi s suc c e ssor and they attach a mystical signifi c at i on
,
to the intimate connex i on which existed between them .
They say tha t the Proph et on many o ccasions decl ared

, ,
T H E D ERVI S H E S .
73
’
I am th e H ouse an d Ale e i s m y D oor , They .
ascribe to Ale e all that is m etaphysical i n their faith

’
that i s my s z ical and sp ir il n a l and s ome go s o far as t o

,
‘
declare h i m sup erior i n thi s respe c t even t o th e Proph et .
The warmer devotees of Soofeeis m call him A lee el ’
’ ”
Jld lz ee or
,
Alee the Divine ,
.
On the d e c ease of Omar t h e Moslem s were again ’

,
called upon t o elect his suc c e ssor an d th eir choice fell ,

’
up on O thm an though Alee st i ll refused to w aive what
’
,
h e considered t o b e his righ t Se eing however the will .

, ,
of th e p eopl e he acquiesced in their d ecision an d paid

, ,
hom age t o h i s more fortunat e rival H i s partisan s were .
g reatly di sappointed and aid ed by th e

, widow of th e ,
Prophet fermente d trouble to th e new c aliph

,
N ow .
commenced t he first dissen sion s amongs t Mo slems which ,
have had so direful an effect up on their polit i cal an d

religious c areer I t i s n ot i mprobabl e th a t differen c e s of
.
in terpretation had n ow also begun on passages of th e

Koran and t ha t sectar i anism had i ts origin at this
,
early p eriod .
O n t he final su ccession of Ale e the fourth c a liph h e ’

, ,
b egan hi s administrat i on by rem oving from o ffi c e all

those who had b een appointed by h i s pred e c e ssor with ,
ou t any regard t o their past emin ent services elevated ,
C hara c ters an d d i stinguish ed qualification s

,
This h e .
did contrary to the adv i ce of h i s friends an d t he wiser

,
of th e c itizens of M ed in eh wh o saw in such a course , , ,
the seed s of future p a rty strife as w ell as d isregard of ,
th e welfare O f the whole commun i ty by men ambitiou s ,
only of attain i ng to p ower s o as to p u nish others f or th e ,
wrongs don e to t hemselves .
The s a d fate of Alee i s well k nown t o m os t r eaders

’
of E astern h i story H e and nearly all of hi s family

.
, ,
were put to death by an Arab gen eral nam ed Mu avieh ’
wh o seiz ed up on the calip h a t without asking t o b e

ele c te d to i t This v i olen ce i s the or i gin of t h e presen t
.
two I slam se c t ions t he S acc os an d the S n n n ees as well ’
as the i r varie d subdivis i on s — am ong whi ch are t h e

, ,
D er vi sh Orders .
It seems t o m e ne ces sary t o add a few remarks on t h e

personal charac t er of the Caliph Ale e With whose his t ory ’
is conn ected s o much that is intere sting in an a c count of

.
the D ervish Orders I t is ho w ever d esired to l i mit .

, ,
them as mu c h as p ossible t o his p os i t i on as a seceder

, ,
from the original principles of the Prophet H i s bio .
graphy is so made up by them of the marvellous and

the incred i bl e that it rivals the p osition assumed by the
,
Prophe t h i mself an d strongly confl i ct s w i th his ow n

,
remarks con c erning him I f bu t a small p ortion of what .
they relate about him b e corre c t th e Prophe t would ,
certa i nly have clearly stated his d esire for him to s u e

ce e d him and even proclaim ed him as such previou s to
,
his deceas e .
’
Alee i s my bea n id ea l of t he m os t c hivalrous of war
’
riors in t h e t i m e s of the Prophet who i n conse quen ce , ,

”
o f his valour called him the ,
L i on of God and h i s ,
sword t h e g i ft of th e Prophet is revered throughout

, ,
th e I slam world under th e name of Z il f a r k a in I n t he .
coat of arms of th e Shah of Persia a l i on i s seen holding ,

’
a s w ord in his p aw in m emory of Alee Th e Prophet ,
.
is said to have on on e important o c c asion wrapp ed

, ,
his ow n mantle around hi m self an d Ale e an d d eclare d ’

,
that they were on e spirit .
O n another o c c asion h e i s said to have d eclared

Alee i s for me an d I am for him ; he i s to m e what
,
Aaron was t o M o ses I am the city in which all k n ow

”
l edge is containe d an d Alee is i t s p ortal ,
’
.
I t i s from a m ong the d es c endants of Ale e t ha t the ’
more d evout M oslems expect the M ead ee w h o i s to r e ,
appear on earth i n co m p any with the Proph e t E l i as on ,
t he se c ond coming of C hrist This b el i ef i s c onn e c ted

—
.
w i th th e p artisan s of the m etempsy c hosis among ,
whom the m o s t prominent of the D ervish Orders are

the B eé l as /z ees .
The S /z ee a M o slems rej e ct th e calip h at s of Abu Be k ir

’
,
’
Omar and Othm an and commence d i rectly w i th th a t of
,
’
,
’
Ale e whom they call the first I m am After h i m are eleven
—
.
,
others completing th e full number o twelve the last

,
f ,
b eing the M eb d ee afore m ent i oned The D ruses de c lare -

.
that t he founder of t heir religion H ak im bi E m r I lla /z , ,

76 TH E D E RVI S H E S .
C H APT E R I I I .
AN author of much celebri ty for his Orien t al studies

( V on H ammer ) says i n reference to the D ervish Orders
, ,
“
that the tombs of the Sheikhs an d D ervishes who have
acquired a certain celebrity by th e foundation of an .
Order or by the sancti t y of their lives are n ot l ess

, ,
importan t in the O tt oman E mpire t han those of heroe s

and con querors .
’
D ur i ng th e reign of t he Sultan Othm an these I slam ,
m onks formed a community more powerful an d redoubt

able than that latterly of the U lem a or D octors of H oly ,
Law . N O monks in I slamism an expres sion of the

‘
,
’
Prophet which should have been su fficient to preven t [
a ll innovation s and imitation s of the m on a ch aeis m of t he
H i ndoos an d th e Greeks bu t th e natural disp o sition of

th e Arabs for a solitary and contemplative li fe c ause d
them soon to forget this precept an d the other phras e ,
’
of th e Koran Poverty i s my pride was the argumen t
, ,
which t h i r t y years after the death of the Prophet i

, ,
that on which his s e c tar i an s based the origin of the i r

n umerous monasterie s ; since th e Order of Fakeers
( poor ) an d o f D ervishes ( s i lls o f the door ) so mul
t ip lie d in Arabia Turkey an d Persia that they rea c hed
, , ,
the numb er of se v enty t w o exclus i ve of an e qual num -
,
”
b er of heret i c s ects .
The follow i ng are th e n ames which this writer gives

t o th e Ta r eeé s or Orders existing previous t o th e foun
,
dat i o n O f th e Ottoman E mpire

1 U wa i s
. . 8 N oorb ak s h ee or .
2 . Olw an ee . Su h erw e r d e
3 . E d h em e e .
9 . Ku b r aw e e .
4 . B e s t a in e e . 10 . Sh a d allee .
5 . Sak e t t e e . 1 1 . M evlev e e .
6 . Kad ir ee . 12 . Bed aw ee .
7 . R u faee .
TH E D E RVI S H E S .
77
After t he foun dation of t he E mpire t here were the

,
13 . N ak s h ib e n d e e . 2 5 U
. m m ee S in an n e e .
’
14 . Sa dee . 26 Jelv et t e e
. .
1 5 B e k
. t as h ee . 27 U s h ak e e
. .
16 Kh alw et t ee
. . 2 8 Sh em s e e
. .
17 Sa in e e
. . 29 Sinan U m m e e
. .
1 8 B ab a e e 0 N e a z ee
.
y .
3 .
y .
19 B airam e e
. .
3 1 M
. u r a d e e .
20 E s h r efee
. .
3 2 N
. o o r e d d een ee .
21 Waifay ee
. .
33 J.e m a l e e.
22 Su n bu llee
. .
3 4 E s h rak e e
. .
G u lch en n e e N i lla h
’
23 . .
35 . m e t u ee .
24 Yagit b as h ee
. .
3 6 H
. a i d a r ee .
Of the thirty s i x Orders twelve are anter i or to the -
found a tion of the O ttoman E mpire ; th e t w en t y four others -
have been insti t ute d s i nce th e

commencemen t of the four
t ee n t h century down t o th e ,
middle of th e fifteenth The .
first viz the N ak s h ib en d e es

,
.
,
’
was founded by Othm an in ,
A D . 1
3.19 an d the Je m al e es ,
un der Ahme d I II in A D . . .
1 75 0 .
Thirty seven years after t h e -
” ”
Flight or E m i gration
,
( j
D ) f t h e Prophet
’
e r a b o ,
t he Archangel Gabri al or
J ebrail app eared t o U wa i s a ,
native of Karu in Yemin , ,
and commanded h i m in t he
nam e of t he Lord t o r e
nounce t he world and t o ,
d evote himself t o a life of

p enitence I n h onour of t he .
Prophe t w h o had los t t w o , KH W AL E T T EE .
t eeth in th e bat tle of O b od ,
U wais h ad all of his t ee t h

extract ed an d re quire d t he S am e s acrifice of hi s dis
,
cip les fro m which i t may b e readily unders t ood t ha t h e

,
mad e few proselyt es among the fanatics of Arabia The .
Sheikhs Olw an I brah i m Ed h em Bayazid o f Bestain and

, , ,
Sirre e Sak et t y f ollowe d the example of U wais and

, ,
founded the Orders which took the i r names gi v ing them ,
th e several rules of d i scipline The most celebrated .
of t h ese religious persons i s the P eer of th e Kad ir e es ,
named Abd u l K adir Gh ilan ee who had been propo sed

’
,
as guard i an of the tomb of th e great I m am Abu H an eefeh

’
o f Bagdad . After the decease of Abd u l K adir his mau
s oleu m was surrounded by those of the m os t reno w ne d
mystical Sheikhs These tombs are those of Junaid Shub
.
,
lee H asan K erh ee H osain Mansoor S i rree Sak e t t e e a n d

, , , ,
others Of the most celebrat ed followers of Abd u l K ad i r

.
’
are Ju w aid of Bagdad Abu Bekir Sh u blee an d th e gr eat

, ,
mysti c al writers M u h ee ed D een al A ra b e e and Sadr ed ’
D een o f Kaniah in Asia M i nor These tombs have .
”
given rise t o the nam e of the City of Saints p ossessed ,
by Bagdad and n o doubt t o the religious fanatic i sm

, , ,
of its inhabitants Bagdad has always b een th e obj ect

.
of the veneration of Mu ssulman s i n gen eral and th e ,
variou s D erv i shes in particular an d these often wander ,
from C on stant i nopl e through Syria or Asia M inor to ,
pray o ver the tomb s of the pious an d holy m en whose

remain s are there interred .
The Order of the R af aees named after th e founder ’
, ,
S a eed A lz m ed R nf d ee is the most generally k nown t o

’ ’
the foreign ers visit i ng C on stantinople The members of .
this sect offer the sp ecta c l e of the mos t startl i ng self

tort ure they p erform acts of j ugglery such as swallowing ,
swords and fire expose p arts of their bo dy to the flames

, ,
dan ce in the most grotesque p osition s and frightfully ,
contor t their limb s The l i ve s of these recall the a ncient

.
E truscan priests of the sun m ent i oned in the eleventh ,
chapter of the f En eid and twenty eigh t h verse

,
-
.
B R A N C HE S OF TH E O RI G I N A L O R D ER S O F D ERVI S HE S
AT C ONSTA NT I N O P L E .
Of the twelve original Ord ers there ar e a number

’
of b ranches called F er r n , a t C on s t antinople whose ,
T HE D ERVI S H E S .
79
P eer s Founders are buried t h ere ; am ong these are

or
the S n n bn llees a t Khoj a Mustap h a Pasha and at
, ,
P s a m a t ia .
The E r d ebellees , b etween th e ga t es of the ci t y, T op

k ap p u an d Selivr ia K as s u s s u , on the roadsid e .
The U mmee S in a n , at the M os que of E yub , i n t he

quarter of th e a m aj ila r .
The U s b a aees , at [rem P as /ca , an d t he valley of

U z a n Vold a .
The H a d ay ees , or f elvez z ees , a t Scutari ‘‘

.
The Kd d ir ees , at T op k h an eh, an d th e name of t he

’
Peer was I sm ail er R oom ee .
The M ella m iy n n s have a she ik h at Ps am a t ia n ow living .
Once a year they go t o the Obie M a d a n above the Navy

Y ard , to the grave of [d r ees ee M n b i a f , here a sheikh
ee w
me ets them They have also an other at Scutari w h o it
.
,
i s said n ever goes ou t of his premi ses They are now

,
.
called H a m z a vees T h ey pray over the graves of the

.
H oly D ead ”
I t m ay b e h ere m entione d t hat M u s s u l
.
man s i n gen eral pray a t the tomb of those whom they

repute Sa i nts ( Evlia ) and implore their in t ercessi on in
,
their ow n behal f I f at an ord i n ary grave it i s for t he

.
,
b enefit of the soul of the deceased the place and actual ,
cond i tion of which is unknown to the prayer I f the .
deceased however be in Paradise the prayer is conveye d

, , ,
as an offer i ng t o th e h appy soul from th e prayers if it b e

i n hell it aid s it ou t of that place of punishm en t
,
.
There is a H a d eei b or t radi t ional saying of the Prophet

, ,
t o t h i s effect I f your hearts b e oppre sse d with sorrow ,

”
go see k consolation a t t h e grave s of the holy d ead
, .
M any of t h e Teké ebs of th e D ervishes are erected a t or ,
even over th e tombs of eminently piou s s h eik h s or other

, ,
holy men Their remain s offer additional a t traction to

.
th e public Grea t care i s t aken of t hem and much

.
,
respect ev i nced for them by t h e costly shawl s and em

broidere d clo t hs spread over t he t ombs wholly irrespective ,
of the c ivil or o fficial p osition whi ch the d eceased may

have occupied Lamp s are kep t burni n g before them
.
,
as an emblem of the spiritual ligh t wh i ch th ey S he d

around t h em , an d vo w s are offered up a t t h em by p as s er s a
by or visitors calle d M z er in th e view of procur i ng

, ,
rel i ef through th e i r saintly i nterce ssion from si c kn ess , ,
misfortun e sterility & c W i th ea c h vow a c ommon rag

, ,
.
i s tied on the iron bars of t he tomb as an earnest of th e ,
vow M iraculous results are de c lared to have o c curred

.
at thes e tomb s quite equal to those of th e greater Chris

,
t i an saints Lights are O ften seen to float over them or

.
,
to lead to the m an d the living holy Sheikhs by means of

, ,
their spiritual p owers of vision acquired by long m edi ,
t at ion and prayer often are enabled t o dis c over th e ,
graves of d eceased holy m en long aft er t hey have b ee n ,
los t t o human k nowledge .
P E C U L I AR T I T L E S G IVE N T O T H E F O U ND ER S O F S OM E O F
T H E O RD ER S O F D E R VI S HE S .
Kad z r ees —'

“
Abd u l Kadir Ghila n e e 1s c alled t he Sul t an
.
’
e l E v lia or th e S overe i gn of th e Saints

M evlevees —Ahmed er R ufa ee is called Abu e l Ale
.
,
’ ’
.
”
main or the Parent of the Two Worlds wh i ch alludes
, ,
t o th e temporal an d sp i r i tual world s .
B ed aw ees — .
“
Ahm ed el Bed awe e is called Abu 1 Ai ’ ’
”
nain the Parent or Father of the Two Sources in refer
, ,
ence to his c onnexion with t he two original Orders of

’
Ale e an d Abu Bekir
—
.
’
S a d ees or f e ba Sa d ed D een el Jeb aw ee i s
’
,
z oees
called Abu l F u t ooh or the Father of V ict i ms

’
, .
D oos aaees I br ah e em ed D oos ak e e i s called the

.
”
S heikh u l Arab or the Sheikh of th e Arabs
’
, .
“
THE S AH I B 1 TE SAR R U F ,
S P IRI TU A L OWN ER S O F OR
T H E D E R VI S H E S .
”
I left M edineh s o rel a t ed t o me on e of my D ervish,
friends an d went t o the M es bb ed i one or the H oly Tomb

“
, ,
’
o f the fourth C alip h Alee I rema i n ed there three days ,
visiting and p erforming my prayers over it I had read .
in a wor k called t he Ta ba kai i S ber va lee m en t ion of t hose

‘
,
p ers ons w h o are called th e S ci /z ib i Tes ar r nf an d wished ,
to l earn something about them I had heard th a t there .
was on e of the s e named f em el ed D een Koof ee who fr e

, ,
’
u e n t e d the tomb of Alee
q .
“
On leav i ng Bagdad I passed by Koofa where the , ,
I m am ( C aliph ) Alee was m artyr i zed by [bn M elj en

’
I .
met J emel ed D een on h i s way ou t t o the D esert and im

, ,
mediately got off my hors e an d approached him for the ,
purp ose of kissing his hand I w a s behind him at the .

,
distan ce of a dozen paces h e turning roun d looked up ,
at m e and cried ou t in a loud voi c e A r r n b cl A lla/z

, , ,
’
G o i o God I was fr i ghten ed and trembled from emotio n

.
,
and stoppe d s o that I was u n able t o kiss his han d

,
.
H e was a p erson of middle stature p erfectly naked ,
hi s beard w a s scanty only a little hair on his chin of a

, ,
feeble frame and of som e forty to forty fi v e years of age

,
-
.
H is ha i r was also scanty I returned to K oofa s o a s to .

,
visit i ts M esj id or chapel erected on the sp ot of Alee s

, ,
’ ’
martyrdom I i nquired at the do or where th e p erson

.
, ,
s lep t whom I had seen and he showed m e a spot n e a r ,
t o the tomb of the son of the brother of A lee name d

’
M u s li m ibn i Oé a il adding that h e always slept there on

,
a mat made of date palms with a stem for a pillow I , .
n ext asked what h e did what he ate an d drank and h e , ,
answered that he really did n o t know for every even i n g ,
he came in to sleep and early l n th e morning left again

,
for the D esert without ever sp eaking to any on e I n

,
.
A H 1 2 6 0 this p erson died an d in his pla c e anoth er

. .
, , ,
name d B ed er ed D een es S a bir filled his place His ,

.
n ative place is called D ar es S oor ve H a d d cl A r d , ,
and he w i ll live t o A H 1 2 80 After h im an other will . . .
com e named f f ns a in ed D een M ebf e/z ee who will then

, ,
b e th e Kb alem i E vlia or Vellay a t h e last of t h e , ,

‘
sain t s .
’
My friend explain ed t o m e t hat these p erson s are

considered as bei n g the chief of the numerous S ab ib i
Tes ar r cs w h o live in the world and t o who m i s given
, ,
a spiritual command over souls similar t o t he t emp oral ,
authority of sovereigns and other rulers over t he bo d i es

of mankind .
by or visitors calle d j Vez er in the view of procuring

, ,
rel i ef t hrough the i r saintly i nterce ssion from S ickn ess , ,
misfortun e sterility & C W i th ea c h v ow a c ommon rag

, ,
.
i s tied on the iron bars of t he to m b as an earn est of th e ,
v ow . M iraculou s results are de c lared to have o cc urred

a t these tombs quite equal t o those of th e greater Chr i s
,
t i an saints Lights are often seen to float over them or

.
,
to l ead to the m and t he living holy S heikhs by means o f

, ,
their Spiritual powers of vision ac quired by long medi ,
t at ion and prayer often are enabled t o dis c over the ,
graves of d eceased holy m en long after they have b e en ,
los t t o human k nowledge .
P EC U LIAR T I T L E S G IVE N T O T H E F O U ND ER S OF S O M E O F
T H E O RD ER S O F D E R VI S HE S .
Kad ir ees — “
Abd u l K adir Ghilan e e is called the Sultan
.
’
”
cl Ev lia or th e S overe i gn of th e Saints
—
.
, A
“
M evlevees
’
Ahmed er R u faee is called Abu e l Ale ’
”
main or t he Parent of the Two Worlds wh i ch alludes
, ,
t o th e t empor a l an d S p i ritual world s .
B edaw ees — Ahmed el Bed awe e is calle d Abu 1 Ai

.
“ ’ ’
”
nain the Pare nt or Father of the Two Sources in refer
, ,
ence to his c onnexion with the t w o original Orders of

’
Ale e an d Ab u Bekir
—
.
’
S a d ees o f e ba Sa d ed D een el Jebaw ee i s
’
r z vees .
,
called Abu l F u t ooh or the Father of V ic ti ms

’
,
.
D oos a kees I brah e em ed D oos ak ee i s called the

.
”
S heikh u l Arab or the Shei k h of th e Arabs
’
.
,
“
TH E
‘
S AH I B S P I R I TU A L OWN E R S O F
1 T ESAR R U F , OR
T H E D E R VI S HE S .
I left M edineh s o related to me on e of my D ervish ,
friends and went t o the M es bb ed i one or the H oly Tomb

“
, ,
o f the fourth C aliph Al ee I rema i n ed there three days ’

,
visit i ng and p erforming my prayers over it I had read .
in a work called t he Ta bak al i S aer va lee men t ion of t hos e ,

I n conn exion with this b elief he expla i n ed t o m e that ,
the ch i ef of all these individual s is c a lled the K u l u b ,
c entre or axis ; h e is unique of his kind ; on his right

and left are t w o p ersons called the U m en a plural of ,
E m n ee or E m een t h e
,
Faithful
,
When the on e i n the .
m i ddle dies the on e on hi s l eft succeeds h i m an d the

, ,
on e on t h e right takes his pla c e The latter pl a ce i s .
th en filled up by a p erson called the E vl cid ( plural of ’
Vei led ) . These are four in number There are also five .
others called the E n var (plural of N oor or l i ght ) who

, , ,
suc c e ed to the E vl ad or m id dle There are also s even

, .
“
A lf/zy ar ( plural of Kb a ir or t he good who succee d ,
t o the E n var There are forty others called the S /z u /z ed a

.
plural of Sh eh e e d the By som e they are

( ,
— ’
-
“
c alled the P ij cil i G ba i b or the Absent On e s ,
These .
have a D ai r e/z or C ir c le divided into thirty parts e qual

, , ,
to th e days of th e month The circl e has a N orth .

,
“
S outh E ast an d West an d on each day they all togeth er
, , ,
wander over th e surface of th e globe which i s the ,
D ai r e/z in a certain dire c tion of th e c ompass fixed for

, ,
each day o f the mon t h of wh i ch they all p ossess a p erfect

,
knowledge through the d a l a written in this c i r c le

,
.
The celebrate d author M u h e e e d d een el A rab e e has ,

’
,
written a d eta i led ac c ount of these an d M oll aJ am ee on e , ,
of th e m ost celebrated o f th e Persian poets c omments ,
upon t hem in t h e book called the N uf a /z al el U n s or t h e ,

“
Breath of Man .
Any on e consulting th e t ables of t he c ircle s o as t o ,
as c ertain where the R iz al i Gb a i b are proce eding and ,
thus l o ok to th em for Spiritual aid w i ll i t i s said h e , , ,
sure to m eet with success My informant assures m e .
th a t D ervishes b elieve firmly in their existence M ek k eh .
i s their centre and p o i n t of departure and to wh i ch p lace ,
they return da i ly All the tra n sa c tions of mankind come

.
'
under their j urisd i ction an d are dec i ded up on sp i ritually

, ,
previous to being carried into execution temp orally by

the rulers of the ear t h They are the N aibs and Va keels
.
,
or deputie s of t he prophets and saints w h o have left th i s

world an d God makes k nown to them H is supreme will
, ,
with regard t o t he ac ti ons of men E ven t he design s of .

T HE D ERVI S H E S . 83
individuals dep end up on their f avour for if they d o n ot

favour them unexp ec t ed ob stacles will ar i s e t o frustrate
,
them .
Bes i des the preceding t here are oth er spiri t ual b eings
, ,
called the A lm é ls p eople whos e i ntelle c ts are supposed

’
,
by the publi c t o be weak and tha t th ey are even maniacs,
of a harmless character Many of t hese are in this .
world where t hey often exerci se a strong influence

, ,
though u n known in their

tru e character Their num .
ber i s limited to seventy ,
and they succeed t o th e

forty R if e? ! e! Gfi a i b
'
There are also e i gh t y

others calle d the N 21
,
k eé ci ( plural of Afa k eeb)

’
or magistra t es wh o su c ,
c e e d t o th e seventy and ,
are all taken from the

most worthy of m ank i nd .
There have been and ,
it i s supp ose d still are ,
m any p erson s b eari n g t he

title of A bd cils though it ,
i s not kn own w i th any d e

gre e of certainty whether
or n ot they b elong to
the seventy The s e are.
A D AL B ,
som etime s to b e seen

in the public streets wandering abou t in a s t a t e of
nudity— or n early s o—and se em t o b e idio t s O thers
,
p osse s s all t heir facul t i es and are very in t elligent but , ,
ret i re from the ord i nary intercourse w i th mankind an d ,
live on mountains in caves and other deserted places

, , ,
cultiva t ing i ntimacy wi t h wild beasts over which they ,
exert a remarkable spiritual p ower s o as to render t hem ,
p erfectly harmless an d t hey are much revered for the i r

sanctity There were several c elebrated Abd als in As i a
.
M inor during th e earlier Ottoman sultan s .

WA ND ERI N G D ERVI S HE S .
Th e D ervishe s whom on e m eets in C onstantinople

and throughout the E ast generally dressed e i ther p e cu ,
'
liarly or shabbily a nd wearing e i ther a ti g er or le opard s

’
sk i n over their should ers an d beari n g a cup called , ,
K es /z é ool in their hand are from I ndia and Bokhara

, , .
They are n ot always D erv i she s bu t are simply F a keer s , ,
or men w h o prefer to remain poor and m i serable than to

devot e th emselves to an honest call i ng They are sup .
p osed to have aban doned the pleasure s and attra ct i ons

o f the world an d to b e totally divested of all huma n
,
ambition for t he love of God Sometimes if questioned

,
.
,
as t o the obj e ct of their vagab ond life they repre sent ,
that t hey are i n the fulfilm ent of a vow visiting certain

, ,
holy tombs and sp en d much of the i r time in prayer and

,
meditation . M any of them h owever belong to th e , ,
orders of th e K es /z z ees and S u fi er vem ees and thos e from

‘ ’
,
Bokhara t o the N ak s hib en d ees an d Kad iree s Beggary is .
forbidden in nearly all of the orders Some of thes e .
p i ous D ervishes go as far as H ungary to v i sit the tomb

o f a Santon named G 22! B e
,
ibd .
The K a len d ers are not an Order On e of the D er .
v is h es o f the K é d z r ees was named S fi e/z é d z z K a lem z er ee

’ '
’
,
as also another of the M evlevees called S /z em s ed D een ,
Ta é r eez ee K a le/z a er ee Those who c arry with th em a

’
.
c rooke d horn calle d the L ijj er and call ou t Yd !

,
‘
,
belong t o t he Order of the B eé fd s /z ees .
There are still an other class supposed by many to b e ,
D ervishes bu t who are not so They are kn own in

,
.
C onstantinople by the name of Thes e

may be seen sitting in small shops often dressed some ,
wha t like D ervi she s and wearing green turbans They

, .
are D z zw z z n er s and tell where lost obj ects may be found ,
how the affections of erring husbands may be restore d

t o their wives & c The drawings on an open hand
,
.
,
stuck up in the windows represe n t the hand of t he ,
Prophet, in whi c h are writ t en Ay a t s or verses of the ,
Koran . Their divinat ions are made by m eans of t he

86 T HE D ERVI S HE S .
C H APTER IV .
TR AN SL AT I O N O F A TR AC T ON TH E C O ST U M E S AN D T E N ET S O F
T H E DE R VI S H E S .
R E S P E C T I N G t he cos t umes an d t en ets of the Ta r eeks , or

Orders of th e D ervishes th e earliest m ention is found
.
’
made by A é a a l/a fz A m a r ee, a faithful friend and com
’
p an i on of t h e blessed Prophe t , on th e occasion of h is

flight from M ekk eh to M edineh .
By this p erson i t i s relate d th a t M ohammed B akir ,

the fifth I m am , and a successor as well as a de scendant
’
of Alee, the fourth direct caliph , gave the name of
’
[r s /z em or R obe of U prightness , t o on e o f the
garments worn at this p eriod by pious and holy m en ;
an d that J a fer S adik the sixth I m am also a lineal
’
, ,
’
descendant of th e same Alee and son of M ohammed
B akir gave the nam e of E r kz em z E vlz é t o those good
’ ' '
, ,
m en who wore that garment F or the c orrectn ess of this .
relation however we can only place ou r t rust in Allah

, ,
.
The p erfect M u m / ad s or Superiors of D ervish Tee , ,
K or convents were boun d to m ake th i s known

’
ez e/z s
, ,
' '
to the E r k z Zm z E vlz ei or C olumn s of Saints

'
,
and t o
their you thful d is c iples the M w eea s they should p oint ' ’
,
their appropriate places i n the Telz é z efi s an d expla i n to

'
them how to wear an d th e meaning of their Teij or

’
, , ,
cap and their Kfi z r é ez or man t le They should only put

'
, ,
.
’
them on after hav i ng been invested by the E r k z eif z z A z 7z
' ' ’
or E lders of the Teé é z efz s o t hat the use of them would

’
b e legitimate Should the latter b e ignorant of this

.
knowledge the M in /z ed must expose them as imp ostors

,
and in that case t o inter c ed e for them is a crime e qual

, ,
t o blasph emy .
O n being publicly s elec t ed as t he M u m /z z d of a Tek

'
fez e/z , the guide of a painfu l career an d the depositary

’
of all the se c rets and tradition s of his Order he mus t ,
hold the following d i scourse

“
Brethren ! Y e w h o are designed t o become in
eternal life the heads of the Ass em bly of the Believers in
t h e bl esse d Prophet an d o f t h e Water Carriers of the
,
fountain of [( ew er t he ble sse d martyr Alee — elevate

,
’
,
the standard of your Order in every seat and in th e ,
C oun c il of H eaven Be c areful above all th i ngs to

.
, ,
learn who ar e impostors and who are genuine memb ers ,
of your Order so that non e but t he latter be fou n d

,
”
a m ongst y ou .
H e must i n q uire for his duties of the mos t emin ent

K /z ez lcif a /s or V icars of the Order an d so be c ome fully
, ,
ac qua i nte d with its c hief se c rets I n t he eye s of the All .
J u st p overty i s preferable to worldly advantage H e w ill .
cause him to drink of the wat ers of S els ebz l and K em er ;

'
put on him apparel made of the satin and silk of

Paradise and enj oy the delightful pleasures o f th e
H oer ees and G h olam s of eter n al Paradise —in t ox i cate d
,
w ith the del i ghts of tha t exalted abode .
As to the M u lelz z z s or imp o s t ors the Prophe t of Allah

’
'
, ,
“
has sa i d ,
They shall su ffer an xious desires for this
”
world and for etern i ty Yet through the gra c e of God
.
, ,
and by faith in the Prophet they shall also b e shown ,
favour an d sp iritual d i re c tion The impostor i s on e who .
i s not known to the goo d M ew /n d this latter has never

1
,
taken him by the hand and h e i s on e who does n ot ,

' '
follow the commands of th e E r k z ei fl z 7 1272 or superior ,
o fficers of the Order who do n ot die spiritually b efore

,
their physi c al death an d w h o only we a r the rags of

,
indigen c e for p ersonal gratification Of such i t has .

,
bee n said ,
They die b efore th e close of their live s .
TH E H O L Y M A NT L E OF TH E P ROP H ET .
I t i s said tha t the holy Prophe t had a particular fr1end ,
n amed Ow e ns to whom h e commanded that his mantle

'
s hould b e gi ven T his m antle is made of a coarse

.
woollen material I t is a long rob e w i th a collar and

.
, ,
wid e sleeves reaching low bene a th the knees .
This p erson was much beloved of the Prophe t ; and

when the latter had a tooth kn ocked out in a battle with
the Arabs Owais had all of his thirty t wo in number
, ,
-
pulle d out in token of s ympathy for the loss sustain ed

by the Prophet H e felt n o p ain from the operation
. .
On this o c casion God cau sed to grow in Arab i a a fruit

c alle d M 005 5 until then unkn own as a provision for
, ,
Owais .
Th e charge of this man tle h a s ever since remain ed in

th e family of Owais and a descendant of his n ow a , ,
youth (A D . and con sequently a minor has c harge

.
,
of it at C onstantinople U ntil he reaches the age of .
puberty a Vekeel or deputy appo i nted by th e Sultan as

, , , ,
c aliph a c ts for him Once a year it is carried in pro

,
.
c ession to t h e Old Seragli o where it is exhibite d to a few ,
sele c t Mussulman s an d after receiving their adorations

, , ,
i s replaced in i ts particular build i ng .
The mantles of the D ervish Order s are all symbols of

t hat of the Prophet .
“
TH E K u LA H s , OR D ERVI S H C AP S .
Before th e pre sent world existed there i s sai d t o have

’
been a spiritual world called in the Arabic tongue A lem z ,
“ ”
E m dfi or ,
World of Sp irits I n th e sam e b elief a .
“ ”
soul i s con sidered as b eing a N ear or Light withou t , ,
body or substan c e .
Th e soul of M ohammed th e bless ed Prophe t i s said , ,
to h a ve already ex i sted in that world of spirits an d th e ,
C reator there placed it in a vas e a lso m a de of light i n ,
t h e form a d opted by the D ervishes esp ecially those o f ,
th e Order of the M evlevees for their Ka la é or cap I t ,

/
,
.
therefore is held to be of a D i v i ne origin As afore .
stated th e K a la /z is mad e of a certain number of gores

, ,
c alled Ter /e ea c h s i gnifying a sin abandoned an d th e

,
’
,
las t on e is called t h e Ter k z Ter k or t h e abandonment ,

or bir t h of t he blessed Prop h et has t he following verse ,
in rela t ion t o t he Sheikh K ai /lim e .
W h en ever h e p ers pi red e ach d rop b ecam e a r os e

, .
E a ch d rop a s i t fell w a s gath er e d a s a t r ea s u r e ’

, , .
The rose of the Sheikh is therefore a sign of th e Pro

phet hi m self like in the p roverb
, Th e son i s the
se c ret of his father .
’
On the d eath of my Sheikh Alee al Werhid ee h i s su c ’ ’
c essor was E s chr ef Z adeh a follo w er of Abd u l K adir ,

’
.
One nigh t whils t in m y cell after sunset employed in

, ,
reci t ing t he Z z é r the ros e of my Order came into my

’
mind and I reflected th at there was a difference between

,
the roses of Bagdad an d St am b ool an d I tried to com ,
p rehend the cau se By di v ine favour it b ecame clear to

.
m e I thought why t h e E s chr efees have n o rose and

.
,
suddenly the form of on e appeared b efore me After .
terminating my prayers I hasten ed t o trace ou t i t s shap e

, ,
and d ecided in my ow n mind that it should b e the i r

rose I wrote ou t also som e of its secrets and dre w the
.
,
c olours of various roses and nam ed my little work Th e , ,

‘
R e s alah of the Gul ab ad

’
( Treatise o f the H om e o f the

R ose ) .
Th e r os e on t h e h ea d h on ou r s t h e w earer ,
I t p oi n ts t o t h e p ath of Kadir G h ilan ee .
The word G a l or rose is writ t en in the Orien tal

, ,
characters with o nly two letters named K af and L a m , ,
or K and L These are t he first letters of the t w o l i n e s

o f the verse of the Koran
“
( thirty seventh vers e of th e -
thirty ninth chap ter) :

-
I s n ot God above all t o p ro
t e ct H is servant ? The in fi d els will seek to alarm t hee
with th e idols : bu t h e whom G od leads astray will
n ever more find a gu ide t o the true path God is full .
of goodness toward s H i s servants ; H e gi v e s fo od to

”
whom H e w i sh e s H e is strong and p owerful
The form of the rose of Bagdad is as follows —I t has
.
t w o outsid e and t w o i nsi d e rings and three circles an d , ,
i s made of gree n cloth T he firs t circl e s i gnifies .

9 1
“
or God s Law as reveale d by H is Prophet
’
th e secon d
sign ifies th e Ta r eeé ez i or Path of the Ord er ; the t h ird ,
signifies the M a r if ei or Knowledge of God ’

The
,
.
t hre e together are a sign that their acquisition h as b e

stowed t h e H al or c on dition known as th e H a k eena i or
, , ,
“ ”
Truth Th e holy word H ay or The Living God
.
, ,
manifes t e d t o on e Sheikh has for its colour gr een and , ! ,
f or this reason the rose is m ade on c loth of that colour .
The circles are wh i te and the reason is that th i s same ,
is a sign of p erfect submiss i on to the Sheikh ac c ording to ,

“
th e trad i tional word s of the Prophet The D ivine law i s ,
my word the path i s my acts the Knowle d ge

i s the ch i ef of all things ; and the Truth is my condi
”
t ion Whoever k nows these secrets must assume the
.
d i sposition of the moral laws of God and t he chara c ter ,
of the D ivin e nature The blessings whi c h will accom .
pany him in eternal life are thos e of everlasting fel i city

an d n ever ending aid -
The axis of the Lord the She i kh I sm a il er R oom ee , ,
may G od bless t o him h i s se c ret l— was originally of

the K h alv e t t e es I n a dream or v i s i on he b ecam e th e
.
,
K/z a ieef en or suc c essor of Abd u l K ad ir LG h ilan e e He ’

.
adopte d this rose as a sign of the seven Names of God ,
and their bran c hes The seven colours adopte d by h i m .
are emblem s of the E n n ew or Lights of the se sam e

‘
s even Name s ; its eighteen Ten és or gores are embl ems , ,
of the eighteen numeral values of the two let t ers of the

Arabic word I f y or the Living ( God ) The roses given
, ,
.
to the Sheikhs o f the Ord er have n i n eteen Ten/es emblems ,
o f the letters of the B ikin i/[ a n S ner ee f an d j Z E m i

’
en n et e s e
( u se d as N il s /end s or charms ) I n i ts c entre is the M n nn r i .
S oleei n ez n ( Sol i man s s eal ) th e B elief of f il e U n kn ow n

‘ ’
, ,
wh i ch has s i x le t ters S 1 i 772 ( z n signifying tha t the , , , , , , ,
holy Sheikhs are blessed with s i x p ecul i ar qual i fication s ,
v iz — S m ean s freedom from all d efect ; L

. gentlene ss ,
of disposition ; Y the p ower of S p i ritual vis i on ;

, M 1
famil i ar i ty with hi s companion s A the pious chara c ter ,
of praying at midn i ght ; ZV tha t his prayers and h i s ,
re ctitude all b elo n g t o God This la t ter he c alls the .
N a bin a N es z a een , a par t of t he four t h verse of the first

’ ’ ‘ ’
chapter of the Koran Thee d o we worship an d of

, ,
Thee d o we ask assistance .
The same writer adds on the subj e c t of th e myst ic al ,
R ose of the Ord er of t h e K ad irees that H e w h o rep oses ,
i n the cradle of D i vin e pardon the Sultan of Sheikhs

E s h reefz ad eh R oom ee —may Allah bl ess h i s secret 1
, ,
states,
The emblem s of the M o st H igh comprised in ,
said rose are as follows : There are three ser i e s of

,
l eaves ; th e first has five l eaves H y a 2 refer to th e , , , ,
five v i rtues which he said belong to the followers of

,
I slamism Th e secon d series has six leaves emblems

.
,
o f the Six c hara c teristics of Faith ; and t he t h ird series

has s even l eaves referring t o the holy c rown — tha t
,
m oth er of the Koran — i e th e s even verses of the . .
or first verse of the Koran The full n umb er eighteen .

, ,
all allu d e t o th e cir c umstance that th e blessed Prophe t

brought m er c y to e i ghteen d i fferent world s I t has four .
c olours yellow wh i te red an d black all c hosen from

, , , , ,
other rose s signify i ng t he same as aforesaid H oly Law

, , ,
th e Ta r eek d i ( Paths ) knowledge an d tr uth ,

I n th e ,
.
centre are th e seven p etals all alluding to the seven ,
n ame s of Al lah The en t i re rose must be embro i dered

.
o n felt of camel s ha i r in referen ce to th e felt m antle

’
( H irkah ) presented by the blessed Prophet to that

Sultan of faithful lovers Va is e! K or d n ee The gre en ,
.
cord surroundi n g t he rose i s an emblem of the on e

l iv i ng Go d .
’
The d escription is followed by a prayer of which thi s ,
i s a tran slation
Bless us O Lord with Thy blessings in b oth worlds
, ,
.
Amen O Thou wh o art the blesse d of all the bles t

Thou best of all aiders —on whom b e the D i v i ne sat i s
,
.
fa c t i o l
n — ou r Lord and M aster M ohammed who created
the ro se ( Al V erd ) by his ow n knowledge —on his fam i ly
, ,
an d comp anio n s g i ve p eace to them on th e Great Day

,
o f Judgment — to all the prophets those sent from G od

the saints — the pure in heart —th e martyrs —an d
, , ,
— , , ,
those who follow in t h e right path and raise u s up wi th

them all through Thy great mer cy
,
.
Th e copyis t calls himself The F akeer t h e [Ja neen , ,

was th en t wenty t w o years of age Any on e he e xplained

-
.
, ,
can b e admitted at eighteen The She i kh of t he convent .
had a o r ol d man hi s servant also a D ervish , ,

.
To th i s p erson he had made known his intention and he ,
had prom i sed to mention it to the She i kh O n e day t he .
latter called me into h i s private room and dire c ted m e ,
to p erfor m two R in é is or gen u fl exion s and t o recite the

’
I s iagnf ei r or Prayer of Pardon on e hundred time s as

, , ,
also th e S a iid i i S aiei m or prayer t o the Prophet for his ,
intercession the same number of times and then b e

, ,
attentive to what I sh ould b ehold in my dreams I did .
th i s that sam e night and th en lay down t o sleep when, ,
I dreamed that all th e brethren of the Jennie/z had

assembled in i t an d were p e rform i ng th e Zinn I amo n gst
, ,
t h em They l ed an i ndividual to the Sheikh w h o put an

.
,
A r m kien or felt cap on his head ; th ey nex t d i d t h e

, ,
same to an other p erson and then led m e t o the Sheikh , .
I said to t h e p erson who conducted m e t hat I already ,
h a d becom e a D ervish N ot satisfied with my assertion .

,
h e p ersisted in leading m e on an d th e Sheikh having put ,
th e sam e c ap on m e made m e a D ervish ,

.
On the following m orning after performing my prayers , ,
I went to the Sheikh an d told him my dream H e , .
’
d irecte d m e t o procure an A m kien and havi n g put it ,
o n my head I truly becam e a D ervish

,
in the presence
o f the whole fraternity —they all performi n g the Teé éeer , ,
in wh ic h h e j o i ned .
“
The Sheikh now presen t ed m e w i th a cop y of the
E w a n or Litany of th e P eer or founder of the Order
’
, , ,
and directed me t o read it I t was th e on e usually used

by all of the fratern i ty —esp ecially d ur i ng the holy
.
‘
,
n i ghts . I n ext p erformed the usual prayers such as the

’
,
Z inn & c and u sed the Tes been or R osary ; and when
, .
, ,
e v er I had a dream told it to my She i kh who dire c te d , ,
m e to recite su ch or such prayers indicated by the ,
nature of the dreams .
I remain ed thu s for five years The numb er i s n ot .
fixed for the M n r eea or neoph y t e as this part of his ’

, ,
career dep en ds up on his abil i ty and the nature of his .
dreams At t he close of tha t t ime , t he Sheikh gave m e

.
95
the B a i a i or gi v ing of the hand in a p ecul i ar manner

’
, ,
viz his right hand clasp ed in min e w i t h the two thumbs

. .
,
raised up against each other H e bade me also repeat .
after h im the tenth verse of th e forty e i ghth chapter of

the Koran as follows — V erily they w h o g i ve the e
-
‘
, ,
their hand an d take an oath of fidelity swear it t o God

, ,
the han d of G od is upo n t heir hands ; an d w hoever

violates such an oath does it to h i s ow n hur t and unto
,
him who keep s it faithfully will b e given a magnificent

’
re c ompen se .
“ “
I tr u ly believe h e adde d tha t I have frequently
, ,
seen th e P eer of my Order in my drea m s Spirits se e .
each other though n ot w i th the eyes ; we may see in

, ,
o u r dream s p ersons whom we have never seen in ou r

,
li v e s and know them distinctly I have n ever s een

,
.
,
on c e th e p ortrai t of my P eer and yet I would kno w his

, ,
p ortrait among a thousand others in consequence of ,
having seen him so often in my vision s I fully bel i eve .
in dream s ; they all h ave a m eaning F or instance if .

,
on e dream s that h e becomes rich in worldly stores it ,
mean s that hi s prayers w i ll b e accepted in the other

life ; and if h e dreams tha t he has fallen in filth it ,
signifies that he will eve n tually b ecom e wealthy To .
dream that an y on e has received base an d vile treatment

from another s i gnifies that h e will receive grea t bene fi ts
,
”
from the same person .
My friend related th e follow i ng to m e

“
I n the year of the H ej ra 1 2 6 8 ( A D I left . .
C onstantinopl e with a brother of my ow n Order for

E gypt by steamer in tending to visit the two H oly C ities
, ,
( M e k k eh an d M edineh ) This was done on the r ecom

.
,
m en d at ion of ou r Sheikh in consequen ce of a dream ,
whi c h both of u s had seen in wh i ch we clearly and ,
distinctly beheld th e blessed Prophet of I slamism I .
still retain a vivid impression of his app earance dressed ,
as an Arab wear i ng a mantle over his shoulders and of

, ,
a thoughtful an d deeply in t elligen t coun t enan c e H e .
looked at me wi th a stern though pleasing gaze and , ,
then gradually disappeared from my s i ght .
“
We too k goods wi t h u s for sal e and from Alexandria ,
and Cairo went to Suez whence we sailed for J idda ,

.
From this place we travelled t o M ekk eh and performed ,
the p i lgri m age We next went t o M ed i neh an d remained

.
,
there three years open i ng a sh 0 p for the sale of ou r

,
goods We left M ed ineh for Bagdad w i th Ben R a s h ee

.
‘
, ,
an Arab She i kh of the Jeb b el Sh em m ar tribe H e was .
also the E me er or command er of the H aj j ees or pil grims

, , ,
who had c ome from Bagdad the most of whom were ,
P ersian s on their way to the H oly C it i es Su c h p i l gr i ms .
hire cam els of the She i kh t o c om e and return ; and he

makes much money from such persons in th e following
manner On rea c hing a spr i n g of water in the d esert
.
,
h e en camps and tells h i s pilgrims that he cannot proceed

,
farth er w i thout purch a sing the right of passage from a

n e i ghbouring tr i be w h ich threatens to r ob them unless
,
a certain sum is made up by the company for it We all .
exp e c ted th i s and a c cordingly were prepared for it th e

,
sum was colle c ted but th e Sheikh kept it for his ow n

,
use We had with us food for n i n ety days We finally

. .
reached the country of the Sheikh called ZVej a famou s ,

’
,
for its fin e breed of horses I t is a fine fru i tful land .

, ,
very cold in winter and having a n abundance of water , .
I rea c hed B ag d ad in some n inety days and rema i ned ,
there thre e years in the Teé nie/z of my own Order

, ,
’
wh ere i s th e tomb of ou r P eer Abd u l K ad ir Gh ilan ee , .
We d i d n ot engage in any business but lived on th e ,
bounty of th e N a keeb or Sheikh of th e fl é kie/z who , ,
i s a l i n eal d e scendant of ou r P eer From thence we .

,
returned to C on stan tinople through Kerk oot M osul , ,

'
D y arb ek ir U rfa H alep and E s ca n d er oon where we

, , , ,
took ship for St am b ool .
“
When I was at Ker kooz in th e province of Sh eh r a z or ‘
, ,
near to M osul I visited a Teké ien of the K ad ir e e Order

, ,
for the purpose of s eeing a Sheikh of much repute and ,
great Spiritual powers The Sheikh presided o ver the .
Teé é ien in question .
“
When I reached the Teé é ien a large number of ,
M n r eeas or n eop h ytes ( disciples ) wer e present all ap

’
, , ,
pearing to b e much excited by t he power or t he spell

of t he Shei k h s o much so a s t o rise and dance
,
sing
son of the Prophet) of Ghilan ee in Persia of which he

was a native—ou who m b e the Divine Satisfaction
, ,
“
Whe n the Mu r e ed or d i sciple d esirous of b ecom in g a
,
D ervish is seated with his h a nd i n that of the Sheikh and

, ,
i s desirous of expressing his repentance and take upon ,
himself t he engagement ( Ahd ) from the Sheikh it is n e ces ’
sary that the P a keer be of an a c tive mind brilliant in ,
t hought of good repu t e n ear in approach to God of a

, , ,
good heart of a meek d emeanour among m en of serious

, ,
dep ortment easy to acqu i re knowledge prepared t o

, ,
teach others w h o are ignoran t disp osed to trouble n o ,
on e though they trouble h i m ; to speak only of those

,
things which belong to his faith generous of his m eans

’
t o avoid wha t i s forbid d en and wr ong ; t o be careful in
refraining from wha t is doubtful ; to aid those w h o are
strangers ; to be a paren t t o the fatherless to be of a
pleasant countenance ; t o be gentle of heart j oyful of ,
spirit t o b e agreeable an d happy even in p overty n ot

t o exp ose his secrets to others nor to destroy them to ,
be gentle in con duc t and of inter c ourse to be bountiful

,
of h i s benefits kind i n lan guage f ew i n his word s ; to

, ,
be p atient w i th the ignorant and to refrain from doing ,
them any wro n g to show respect t o great and small to

b e faithful to those who confide i n him and to keep ,
aloof from all duplicity ; t o b e str i ct in his religious

duties ; to refrain from sloth and slumber ; to sp eak ill
of n o on e ; to be sedate an d easily satisfied ; thankful
for benefits bestowed ; much in prayer an d fasting ;
truthful of ton gue ; perman ent in abode to curse n o
on e ; without c alumny hatred or stup i di t y ; of a pure
, ,
heart and careful of the p erf ect performan ce of all th e

,
religious dut i es of his order ; and t o be as corre c t i n

thought as in deed .
“
After utter i ng this ad v ice to the M u re e d the Sheikh ,
should holding his h a nd in h i s ow n recite the F eiz i/z a

, ,
’
‘
once ( r s t Ch a pter of the Koran ) ; the tenth chapter ,
entitled Assistance ‘
th e first ten vers es of the 4 8t h
chapter called the V ictory the 5 6 t h verse of the 3 3 d
,
‘
chapter called the Ah z ab and the r 8ot h 1 81 5 t and

,
‘
, ,
18 2 d verses of the 3 7 t h chapter of the Kora n .

99
The Shei k h n ex t o ffe rs th e followi n g prayer called ,
the [s i ignf ei n or for Pardo n

I beseech The e O Great G od t o pardon m e Thou
’
, , , ,
like whom there is non e other ; I repen t of my sins t o

Hi m I ask o f H im t o pardon m e an d accept of my re ,
en t an ce ; to lead me i n the true path ; and t o have

p
’
mer cy o n all those w h o repent of their s i n s .
After this
“
‘
Accept my oa t h of fealty or t h e same oath which ,
the Prophet of God adm i n i stered t o th e A s — lz é és ( C om

’
panions ) of his mission .
The Sheikh next resuming his instruction s bids t h e ,
M u ree d
All Mussulman s are boun d to o ffer u p their d evo
tions to g i ve alms to give religious advice not t o believe
, , ,
in an y assoc i ation with God ( Father Son and H oly , ,
Gho st ) not to dri n k win e n ot t o waste the i r mean s n ot

, , ,
t o commit adultery n ot to kill for food what Go d has

,
f orbidden and not t o calumniate any on e

,
I comman d .
o n ow to observe these as implicitly as the dead body

y u
i s submissive t o the hands of the on e who prepares it

for intermen t R ebel n ot against what y ou know has
.
bee n commanded thee of God nor commit what i s for ,
bidden Make no inn ovations in your prayers commit

.
,
n o sins and dist i nguish between th e wrong and the

,
true pat h and tha t wh i c h leads to salvation Bear your

,
.
She i kh ever i n mind in this world and in th e other The

,
.
’
Prop h et i s ou r prophet and th e S h eikh Abd u l K adir
,
Ghilan ee is ou r P eer ; the oath of feal t y i s th e oath of

’
God this han d is the hand of th e Sheik h Abd u l K ad ir ,
’
and the D irector of the True Path i s in your hand .
The Sheikh adds

I am the Sheikh of Abd u l K adir I accep t ed t hi s’
hand from him an d n ow with it accep t of y ou as on e of

,
his disciples .
’
The M u r eed rej oin s

And I also accep t of y ou as such .
’
The She i kh responds

I therefore do n ow admi t y ou .
’
The Sh eikh n ext pronoun c es the Z ié r which t he ,
H 2
I 00 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
M u ree d rep eats after him thre e t i mes The Sheikh n ext .
bid s him recite the F iz z i/z a which he does w i th the Sheikh

‘
, ,
together w i th a prayer for the Prophet called th e ,
S a iei i i S et /d in
. The M u r eed k i sse s the hand of the
She i kh which act i s called the M n s ezf a na and does t h e
’
, ,
same to all of the D ervishes p resent The Sheikh n o w .
offers up a prayer ( th e [s i igfif é fi for the pardon of the

s i n s of the n ew di sc i ple and addre ss i ng the company
, , ,
adds
The accep t ance of this initiation by the M u r eed is a
source of future advantage to him th e Prayer which we
have offered up for him is for the submission of h i s body
t o his Spiritual W i ll j us t as when the Angels before
, ,
ad dressing the Creator prostrate themselves humbly ,
before H im So in l i ke manner has he by his accept

.
, , ,
a n c e of this B a i a i subm it ted t o my rule

’
,
Our Sheikh .
has said : I t is n ot prop er for the Sheikh to sit in the

os i of pillage nor t o gird on the sword o f benevolence
p , ,
until he becomes qualified by the following twelve

qualities
. 1 The qualit i es of Allah ( each having t w o) .
. 2 Those of the Prophet ditto .
.
3 Those of Abu Bekir ( Caliph ) ditto
’
.
.
4 Those of the C aliph Omar d itto .
a
’
.
5 Those o f the Caliph Othm n ditto .
’
6 Those of the Caliph Alee
. ditto .
The qualities of Allah are t o cover up and forgive .
Those of the Prophet to interced e and ac c ompany .
Those of Abu Bekir truthfulness and benevolen c e, .
’
Those of Omar t o comman d and forbid .
’
Those of Othman to feed the p oor and t o pray
, ,
when others sleep .
’
Those of Alee to be knowing and brave
,
.
I f these qual i ties be not possessed by the Sheikh he ,
is unworthy of the submission of the Mu reed and the public ,
n eeds to have re c ogn i sed them i n h i m You must follow .
u n der h i s banner when he does and if he does not Satan ,
has made him his friend and he w i ll n ot part i c ipate i n the

,
be n efits of this life or the one t o come I t is related of

,
.
the blessed Prophet t hat when a Shei k h gives spiri t ual

,
I O2 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
At the expiratio n of th i s p eriod t he pupil on the ,
direc t ion of his friend t he M u r eed brings with him an ,
or small felt c ap without any gores When , .
this i s done the M u r eed c arr ies it t o the Sheikh who ,
consents t o receive him and orders t he M u r e e d t o attach ,
a G u i or rose to it This is a rose of eighteen poin t s

.
,
called Ter ks which are the number of t he letters of the

,
”
word s Bismillah er R ahm an er R aheem ( I n the n ame ,
o f G od the Clement and the M er c iful ) or the numeri c al

, ,
value of the letters of the word 1101 ( Living G od ) n 8 , ,
and y 1 0
,
I n their centre is t he figure of the M u lt a r
.
’
i S oia irn ci n or Solomon s Seal which i s two triangles
, ,
crossed Q The rose to be at t a c hed to the cap or

.
K il ia n is placed by the Sheikh in his bosom he takes it

w i th h i m to a mosqu e or to his Teé k z e/z the day or nigh t
'
, ,
a t w h ich his disciples assemble to perform the Z ié r .

_
Whilst se a ted on the f os i ez é ee or sheep sk i n mat th e , ,
M u r e ed condu c ts the pup i l before him the M u reed kisses

the hand of th e Sheikh the pupil does the sam e kneeli n g , ,
b efore the former who i s also on his kn ees Th e Sheikh

,
.
n ow takes off the cap usually worn by the pup i l and , ,
putting in its place the A r ez k ien rec i tes the A lia nn E é éer ’
thre e times .
I f the Ta r eeé be the K d a ir ee this is the customary form

’
,
o f i nvestiture of a neophyte ; i f the P nf d ee the Sheikh

’
fills a c offee cup w i th water from the sacred well calle d

-
Z emzem at M ekk eh or in its place with any other water

—prays over it and gives i t t o the pupil t o drink if th e
,
,
, ,
the She i kh orders an oke of dates to be brought

t o him and places them on th e p os i a nee beside him
,
He .
n ext takes on e of these dates in his hand and after tak i ng ,
ou t its seed breathes on it and recites a prayer an d

, ,
p uts the date i nto the mouth of the pup i l On each side .
of the latter i s a M u r ee d balan c ing him a n d themselves ,

“
from right to left re c it i ng t h e prayer ,
La ilah é ill a ,
”
Allah . The Sheikh also balances or rocks himself at
t he same time and in the interval the pupil swallows
,
t he d ate .
They all now rise and the pupil ha v ing becom e a , ,
Mu r eed or D ervish kisses t he hand of t he Shei k h

, .
In all m az es t here are bu t three grade s

, of D er
v is h es
1The Shei k h
. .
2 The Kh aleefeh ( vicar of t he f ormer )

. .
3 The. M u re e d s i
There is n o fee required for t he initiation ye t all t he

M u ree d s are supposed to aid in t he support of the Sheikh ,
and the o ther expenses of the Ten/eie/z and th ey seldom ,
visit him without bringing h i m a presen t There are no .
officers whatever t o any Ten/d en except the Shei kh he

alone dire c ts and comman ds absolutely and mu s t use all ,
his influence for the i nterests and welfare of his M u re ed s .
There is no purser or c lerk nor any sum for the public

, ,
use or charitable purp oses in or ou t of th e Tekk ien .
The Mu ree d s live in the world and ga i n the i r livelihood ,
as they please ; but the Sheikh has n o other o c cupation

than the servi c e of his ow n Tené ie/z an d trusts t o Provi
dence for a support — as the D ervishes express it —A ld
,
,
”
bez b ”na n on t h e door of A llah
‘
.
,
I may here add that of the t w o hun dred or more , ,
Tekieiens in C onstan ti nople some fifty only a r e p ossessed ,
of suffi c ient wealth for their support By far the greater .
numb er are poor Their resources consi st in Wn koofi

.
,
or real estate b equeathed to the m by private individuals ,
or gifts from the sovereign I t has frequently happened .
that the reign i n g Sultan becomes an honorary m ember

of an Order of D ervishes and sometimes attends its ,
religious exer c ises They are more disposed t o j oin the

.
M evlevees than any other Order on account of the con ,
n exion of this Order with th e earliest Sultans of t he
Ottoman family .
The B a i a z or election of the Mu reed by placi n g of

‘
’ ‘
, ,
hands on his head or the hand of t he Sheikh i n his han d

, ,
in s ome cases only takes place several years after h i s

,
original admission t o t he Order The p erio d much .
d epend s upon the will of th e Shei kh and the degree of ,
k nowledge and spiritual acquirements of the M u reed .
The Sheikh or the Mu ree d is held to se e in a vision ,
either the Prophet Alee or the P eer of t he Order and ’
t hi s cere m onial is t he only on e of which the secret if ,

i ndeed exist s has n ot been divulged t o me The

on e , .
M u re ed at t hat t i me takes an oath never t o divulge it

, , ,
and n ot t o commi t certa i n ordina ry sins I believe .
there is no secret sign of recogn i tion by which on e

D ervish can tell another The costum e fully expla i n s .
t he Order to wh i ch the D ervish belo n gs and the Kn Za/z ,
or c ap and the [
,
( fi ir ka or mantle as well as th e H ew er ,
or girdle are the principal parts which des i gnate him

, .
Among the P ent ax/ mes an arm is l eft ou t of the sl eeve

,
o n c ertain occasions signifying , I come t o y ou in pure ,

”
amity and without any desire to seek profi t
,
.
P E NI T E N C E .
Of the Kcia ir ees t he cap i s called T[if or crown and

’
, ,
the belt K emer These may be of an y colour green is

,
.
,
however mostly used The c ap is also c alled a z cz n

,
.
’‘
.
At their devotions after recit i ng the F d i i/z ez the D ervishes

, ,
take each other by th e shoulder and turn round in the ,

“ ”
hall of t he Teé é ie/z calli n g ou t,
H ay A llan ! Thi s ,
10 6 T HE DE VR ISH ES .
C H APT E R V .
THERE is much in the belief of the D e rvishes which has

its origin in the ordi n ary religion of I slamism None .
venture t o separate themselves from t h e t enets p r om u l

gated by the Prophet in the Koran but rather seek to ,
spiritualize i t s language and evoke hidden an d c on c ealed

,
meanings from isolated verses without consulting the ,
sense of the entire chapter or the oc c urrences which ,
gave rise to it They declare t hat most parts of the

.
Koran have a hidden inner or spiritual sign i fi c anc e , , ,
calle d by them M a ein d e B a ien ee in addi t ion t o t he

’ ’
, ,
ordinary conception called M a ez n d e Z cinir ee

,
’ ’
.
From a rep eated and careful p erusal of som e of thei r

mysti c al or spiritual writ i n gs I conclude that their ap ,
pre ci ation of t h e Koran and religion in general is as , ,
follo w s The Koran and all other pious books including

.
, ,
of course th e Bible an d Testament are divide d in to

, ,
three or even more divisions viz what is h i storical

, , .
,
biograph i cal and purely spiritual

,
R el i gi on is con .
s id er ed t o b e the external parts of the worship of God ,
and i s liable to change according to the teachings of ,
individual prophets or other pious men such as the ,
P eer s of their numerous Ta r eeé s or Orders These are .
conformed to i n consequen c e more out of personal re

, ,
gard for those who e stablished them and wh ose good ,
will in the spiritual world will be propitiated by the i r

observan c e than as a duty t o God The h i storical an d
, .
biographi c al portions of th ese books may even c omprise

errors omissions and exaggerations and even may have
, , ,
been more or les s c hanged from t i me to tim e by copyist s

wh ilst tha t wh ic h is purely spiritual and essential to t he
s oul of man commenced with his creation has always ex ,
is t ed u nchanged and will so continue t o the end of t ime

, .
T HE D ERVI S HE S . 10 7
I n various verses of the Koran it is cl early enunciated

that the soul or spiri t of man has a D ivine orig i n and ,
emanated directly from t he Great Spirit of G od ; whilst

the body of man was crea t ed from the earth on whi c h
he dwells After G od had created Adam he breathed
.
,
upon him t he breath of life an d that di ffers widely fro m

,
the life or existence of ordinary animal nature The .
former i s etern al whilst the lat t er is temporary and

, ,
ceases with the flesh of wh i ch the body i s composed .
All bod i es therefore come from the earth of whi c h

, , ,
t hey are made and return t o i t after death ; whilst the

,
spir it of man came from the Grea t Sp i rit of G od and ,
r eturns to H i m after t he de c ease of the body

,
.
With regard to c reation their best writers s t a t e t ha t

,
t here are four distin c t on es

1
. The creat i on of Adam from th e clay or mud of , ,
wh i ch the earth is compose d .
2
. The creation of E ve from a r i b or part of Adam ,
.
3
. The creation o f the hum a n spe c ies — that i s the , ,
children of Adam an d E ve by natural propagation

,
.
4 The creation of J esus Christ by a sp ecial breath

God c onveyed to a virg i n Mary—by the angel
.
o f —
G abrail .
I t is believedtha t the spiri t of man commune s d i rectly

with the H oly Sp i rit of God — and t hat the latter also , ,
communes with the former n ot only in visions but even

, ,
in wakeful hours always for good and never for evil

, , .
H oly and pious men hold frequent in ter c ourse with God ,
by contemplatio n meditation and prayer ; and there is

, ,
”
n o more sacred duty than the invocat i on or call i ng
up on H is name called t he Z ié r already fre quently
, ,
alluded to in preceding chap t ers This frequent invo c a .
tion renders the breath of man additionally holy and ,
gives to i t a spir i tual or sup erhuman p ower By th i s .
intercourse with God men reach a superior and more

,
sublime charac t er ; lead i ng holy and as it were sinless , ,
lives they become friends of God and assum e an intimate

, ,
connexion w i th H im even in the present life A man

, .
fully impressed wi th the possibil i ty of attaining to su c h a

position na t urally enough regards all that is conne c ted
with the transient existen c e of this world as insign i ficant ,
and unworthy of any serious consideration and regard .
H e becomes ind i fferent t o the ordinary pleasures and

rat ifi ca t ion s of life ; his m i n d is supposed to be con
g
t in u ou s ly absorbed in th e on e whole obj ect of his life ,
and to revert at all times to the c ontemplation of God .
The more dest i tute he i s of worldly goods the less his ,
mind i s c onne c ted with the ordinary c ares of l i fe and h e ,
is left fre e to devote h i s entire existence t o commun i on

w ith the Creator and H is D i v i ne Spirit H e i s proud of .
a destitute and impoverished condition as it i s a sure ,
outward proof of h i s spiritual sup eriority and excellence .
This is in str i ct ac c ordan c e with a remark of the Prophet

”
My p overty is my pride and i s the or i g i n of all those
,
wandering Orders of D ervishes or more correctly simple

, , ,
F akeer s of the E as t .
T HE EVLI A OR S A I NTS .
The D ervish Ord ers put full faith in all t h e grades of

spir i tually superior men and angeli c bei n gs The former .
c ompose what are ordinarily termed saints or friends of

“
Allah These i n th e Koran are designated as the
.
friends of God who fear nothing ; they are n ot subj e ct

to any affliction be c ause they entertain the true faith ;
,
they have lived consistently with it and in exact ob e ,
d ien ce w ith God from whom they receive a reward in

,
” “
this life and in the other .They are those who among
m en are the nearest un i ted to G od and who consequently ,
” “
enj oy H is most intimate presence Those w h o having
.
,
been the enemies of themselves in this life be c ome the ,

” “
friends of God in the other They are the t i t le of
.
the book of t h e law of God ; the demon stration of all

the t ruths and mysteries of fa ith their external appearance
leads us to an observance of the laws of God and their ,
inter i or inc i tes us t o abandon and de t a c h ourselve s from

“
all the pleasures of th i s world They commenced
.
their career before the beg i nning of time and labour ,

I I O TH E D ERVI S H E S .
return again t o this world and an i ma t e n ew human form s ,
and even that th e Sp irits of others existed among celestial

bei n gs i n the D ivine presence prev i ous to the i r com i ng ,
t o th i s world Moha m med is supposed t o have been on e

.
’
o f these and the fa i thful admirers of Alee the fourth ,
Caliph attr i bute to him a similar distinction This is

, .
—
the or i g i n of the m etempsychosis or the transmigration
of souls —a point of do c trine wh ic h has been greatly
abused and changed from its original interpretatio n
, .
A mong the B eki é s nee D er vis ner a belief is generally ,
entertained that t hose spirits which have during their

exi stence in man never loved nor obeyed God ar e ,
d egraded t o c ontinue in th i s world in an animal form of ,
existence and on the decease of their human form

, , ,
enter the bodies of certain an i mals ; but the i r con

d em n at ion to this kind of exi stenc e i s n ot defined and ,
i s hidden from mort a l comprehension G od alone i s .
said to fix and know the extent of its continuance .
M an thus by a sinful an d vi c iou s life actu ally debases

, , ,
himself to a bru t e ; an d it is held at the death of the , ,
body or at th e final day of j udgment ri ses up aga i n in

, ,
the form wh i ch he held i n t his world .
“
M ohammed c alled him self the P er eoi or Sent o f ,
”
G od .H e is also n ow called by his followers in Arabia ,
the N ebee or Prophe t and in Persia and Turkey the

, , ,
“
P a zga m éer or H e who bears a message from G o d
,
to mankind The Turkish lan guage as far as I k n o w

.
, ,
has n o other word su fficiently sign i fi c ant of h i s missio n ,
and s o has adopte d that of the Persians H is mission .
was to c all men from the errors of ido lat ry— the worship
o f fire an d the belief i n the existen ce of Three Gods
,
—
( Father Son an d H
,
oly Spirit ),
to the adoration o f O ne
G od only A lia /i H e declared that each of the others

,
.
who preceded him with D ivin e messages was sent for ,
sp eci a l purp oses and having ac c omplished his mission

, , ,
returned to God Jesus Christ he d eclared was n ot

.
, ,
killed by t h e J ews ; that anoth er p erson resembling ,
H im was put to d eath in H i s stead and that H e w i ll

, ,
return again at the Judgment Day Of the fam i ly of

,
.
’
Alee the fourth direct Caliph his followers in par
, , ,
TH E D E R VI S HE S . I I I
t icu lar, believe that t he twelfth I m am called the M eiz a ee ,

’
,
“ ”
or Spiritual D i rector will reapp ear for th e benefit
,
of the faithful They say tha t he disappeared in a mys

.
t er iou s manner in a cave and that he will come again ,
into existence together w i th Chri st for the purpose of

, ,
overthrowing the Antichris t and uniting C hr i stianity and ,
I slamism It is this belief in th e reapp earance of holy

.
p ersonages wh i ch gave rise t o the rel i gion of the Dru ses ,
whose founder B i E m ir A iiez fi after h aving already

, ,
existed in th i s life in another form returned as the ,
C aliph and R eformer of Egy p t and having mysteriously , ,
disappeared will reapp ear at a future period

,
.
As to th e Prophet Mohammed all Mussulman s an d the ,
D ervish Or d ers assert that he existed before the creation

of this world and that had i t n ot been for him it would
,
never have been created that he was c reated ou t of l i ght ,
or N ear referring I presume only to his sp ir i t

, ,
They ,
.
declare that his coming was fully pred i c t ed by Chris t ,
an d the follo w ing is supp osed t o b e an extrac t from the

[nj eei or New Testament
,
I n the latter times a child will b e born who will be ,
a bearer of a message from God ( Paigam b er) an d n ever ,
utter an untruth H i s b i rthplace will be M ek k eh and he

.
,
w i ll emigrate t o M edineh his name w i ll be M ohammed ,
and his character praisable Those who in c lin e to him .

,
I believe w i ll go to the paradise or f en n ei of th e fa i thful

, , ,
h ez w ill be in this world an avenger an d a con queror .
H e will c onquer the lan ds of the K a is er i R oom or the ,

”
E mperor of Constant i nopl e .
A pious commentator on t h e preceding says t ha t t h i s

extra c t taken from the real an d tru e Testament has b een
, ,
copied and widely spread ; t hat amo n g the J ews an d

C hri stians some said that he had n ot yet c om e and others ,
t h at though he had truly come they did n o t put fai t h

, ,
i n him and so blasphem ed aga i nst t he prediction of

,
Christ .
Another ext rac t from t he real Tes t amen t is said t o be

the following
“
A ch i ld will com e in t o t h e world of th e Korais h ,
family w h o will b e the Lord of t he t w o worlds Thos e

, .
I I 2 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
whom he will call t o the true faith will never en t er the

fires of hell (Jeh en n em ) H e will be the messenger of
.
the la t ter t i mes and his name be M ohamm ed on whom

, ,
w i ll be the p eace and sat i sfact i on of the Mos t H igh

God .
Both of these ext rac t s were given to me by a D ervish

frien d an d in his n ote he ad d ed that a mon k ha v ing
,
~
p e rused them was convinced of their t ruth fulness and ,
embra c ed the true fai t h Wha t language t hey are in I

.
-
a m u n abl e t o say .
1 14 TH E D E V R IS H E S .
at the sill of t h e door by on e of its M u reed s an d i t s flesh ,
i s eat en in common by all the members of th e Teé kie/z .
The wool i s made into a belt c alled Tay éen ci for t h e , ,
u s e of the n eophyte .
i l/ engn my i s the n am e of th e ear ri n gs of the n ew -
Dervis h I f only on e of hi s e ars is dri lled he i s called

.
,
a H as a n ee from H asan on e of the sons of Alee if

, ,
'
’
both he is called a H u s az n ee from h i s Second s on Thi s

, , .
i s l eft opt i onal w i th him .
Ka n a i i d s nee i s th e name of the ston e w h ic h they

’ ‘
wear in th e c entre of their belt s This is figurative of .
t h e means which p oor D ervishe s u se t o appe a se t h e

crav i ngs of their sto ma c hs for food I n place of on e .
stone , there may b e as m an y as four in number though ,
it is supposed that b efore th e D ervish i s called u p on by

h unger to c ompress his stomach with so many th e on e ,
o ver the other Providence will have procured him food

,
.
The shap e of th e cap of the R u fae e previous to his ’
m aking the B a a i or fi n al init i at i on

i
’
— when he accepts of
,
H a z re t i R u fa ee as hi s P eer and the a c tual head of the

’
t
Teé é ie/z as hi s i ll nr s iz iei or Sheikh —is a p erf ect c i rcl e or

,
'
, ,
r a th er t w o c ircles the on e w i thin the other and between

, ,
th e two are the initial letters of the word s composing h i s

s i x Ter ks Within these is another circle much resembling
.
,
a w heel with its spokes After the initiation a cap som e .

,
wh at similar differing only i n form is used

, ,
.
T h e i r Prayers are as follo w

I n the n ame of Allah th e M er c iful an d th e Clem ent ,
.
Say Allah is One H e is the E tern a l God ; H e was

, ,
never begotten n or has H e ever begotten ; nor h a s H e

,
any on e equal to H im self — Kora n ci i .

,
.
I n t h e n am e of Allah the Mer ci ful and th e Clement .
Sa y I seek a refuge in God from the break of day ;

, ,
a ai n s t the w ic kedness of those b e i ngs whom H e has

r
created : against the evil s of the dark night when i t

c o m es upon us ag a inst the wi ckedness of sorcerers who
bre ath e up on knots again st the ev i ls of c urious w h o
e n vy u s ”
— .Koran C 111 ,
.
I n the n ame of A llah t h e M erciful an d th e Clement , .
Say I see k a refuge in the God of mankind the King of

,
TH E D ERVI S H E S . 1 I5
m en ; the G od of all men ; again st the Wi ckednes s of

him who suggests evil thoughts an d develops them ,
w h o breathes ev i l i n to the hearts o f mankind ; against

the genii ( ev i l spirits ) and again st men
,
”
— Koran c iv .
, .
I n the name of Allah th e M er ci ful an d the Clement

, .
Pra i se be to G o d the sovereign M aster of the un iverse

, ,
t h e Clem ent an d th e M erciful the Sovereign of th e day

of retribut i on . I t is The e whom we adore an d i t i s of ,
Thee that we i mplore help D ire c t u s in the t rue p ath

.
in the path of those o n whom Thou b es t ow es t Thy bless

ings a n d n ot those who have incurred Thy displeasure
,
nor those w ho have wandere d away from The e in t o dar k

ness — Koran i
.
,
.
I n th e name of Allah the M erciful and the C lemen t

, .
This i s the b ook of whi c h there is no d oubt : it i s the

direction p ointe d ou t to tho s e who fear the Lord ; of
those who put their fa i th in h i d d en thi n gs who observe
exa c tly th eir prayers and give bountifully of th e goo d
,
t h i n gs whi c h have been bestowed up on them of thos e

who bel i eve in t h e revel a t i on which has b een given to
thee ( M ohamme d ) and to t h o se who have preceded th e e
,
the other pr o p h ets ) ; of those who belie v e in the truth

(
of the l i fe t o c o m e They only will be led by their Lord
—
.
( to heaven ) they will be o f the happy Koran ii .

,
.
The 1 5 7 th verse of the same chap t er Y our God i s

the un i que Allah there is non e othe r H e i s the Clement
and the M erciful .
The 2 5 6 t h verse of t he same : Allah i s the o n ly

'
God there is no other God than H im H e is the living

a n d the everl a sting H e k nows n o drows i ness nor slum ;
ber all that is in the h eaven s or upon the earth , belongs

f
to H im Wh o can inter c ede ne a r H i m without H is

.
,
permission ? H e knows who is before thee and w h o is ,
b ehind th ee an d no man learn s o f H i s k n owledge

,
ex c ept that whi c h H e wishes him t o l earn ; H is thron e

extend s throughout the heaven s an d over th e e a rth a n d
, ,
the c harge of them gives H im n o trouble whatever H e .
is t he most high and the m ost exalted

,
”
.
The 2 86 t h verse of the sam e All t h at i s in th e

h eavens and upon t he earth belo n gs to God ; w he t her
,
-
I 2
1 16 TH E D ERVI S H ES .
y ou expose your ac t s in t he gr eat day ( of j udgment ) or ,
whether you conceal them H e w i ll surely c all you t o a n ,
accoun t for them ; H e will pardon whom H e please s ,
and punish t hose whom H e ple a ses God is all powerful .

-
.
Th e prophet believe s tha t the Lord has sent him ; the

fa i thful believe in God H is angel s books an d th e , , ,
prophe t s whom H e has sent They say We have heard .

,
—
,
and we obey pardon our sins O Lord w e will return

, , ,
t o Thee G od impo ses u pon each soul a bur d en a c

’
.
cording t o its strength ; t hat which i t has d on e will b e

alleged against or in favour of it L ord p unish us not
,
.
.
,
for the sins of forgetfuln ess or of e rror Lord d o not ,

.
,
place u po n us the burden wh i ch Thou hast i mposed

up on those who lived b efore ou r time s Lord do not .
,
burden u s beyond what we are able to support blot ou t

o u r sins — pardon u s —
,
have pity on u s —have pity on u s ,
and pard on us Thou ar t ou r Lord and give u s vi c tory

, ,
over the in fi d els .
( I am ) That God beyond who m th ere is n on e other

, .
-
Koran lix part of 2 2
,
. .
Then follow the var i ous t itle s of God for whic h , ,
Koran vii 1 7 9 is c i t ed as author i ty

,
.
,
.
E rm a ei ff a, i ne B ea n i if ni N a mes f G
’
as n or q oa ;
n in ezj i n i ne in n u m ber
-
.
1 . Allah God .
E r R ahm an The Mer c iful .
E r R aheem The Clemen t .
E l M alik The Possessor .
E l Ku d oos The H oly .
E s Sal am The S a v iour .
E l Mumin The Giver of faith .
E l M u h ay m in The G i ver of safety .
E l A z eez The Strong .
E l J ebb ar The Absolute .
E l M u t ak ebbir The Giver of great ness .
E l Kh alik The Creator .
E l B aree The Producer of s o uls .
E l Mu s a v v ir . The G iv er of forms .
E l Ghaffar The Pardoner .

1 1 8 T HE D ERVI S H E S .
E l M et een Th e Solid .
V ale e The Fri end .
E l H ameed The Praisabl e .
E l M u h z ee The Calculator .
E l Mu b d ee The C omme n cer .
E l Mu ee d
’
The R e suscitator .
RI M u h ayy ee The R eviver .
El M u m eet The Destroyer .
E l H ayy The E tern al .
RI Kayy oom The E verlasting .
El V aj id H e who fi n ds .
The Glor i ous .
El W ahid Th e U n iqu e .
E s Samed The E verlasting .
69 . E l K adir Th e Powerful .
E l M u k t a d ir The G i ver of power .
71 . E l M u k a d d im The Preced er .
7 2 . E l M u ak h ir The Follower .
73 . E l Ev v el The F ir s t .
74 . E l Akhir The Last .
75 . E z Z é hir The C lear .
76 . E l B at i n The Secret .
E l V ale e Th e Go v erno r .
7 8 . E l M uta al ’
The M ost Hi gh .
79 . E l Berr Th e Ben i gn .
80 Et T evv ab
. The Cause of repe n tan ce .
81 E l M u n t ak im
. Wh o tak es v engean ce .
82 E l A foov
’
. The Forg i ving .
83 E r R aoof
. The Prop i tiou s .
84 M alik e l Mulk
. The Possessor of p ossess i on s .
’
Z oo l J elalee The Possessor of greatness
I kram an d hon our .
86 E ] M u k s it
. The E qu i t abl e .
E l J ami ’
The A ssembler .
88 E l G ha n e e
. The R i c h .
89 E l M u gh en n e e
. The Bestower of wealth .
9 0 E l M. ani The Preventer .
9 1 E d D
. a rr The H arm er .
9 2 E n N
. é fi
’
The B en efi t er .
9 3 E n Noor
. The Ligh t .
E l H ad e e The Guide .
94 .
E l
’
B e d ee a The C ommencer .
95 .
6 E l B a ke e The E nder .
9 .
E l V a r it h Th e H eir
97
.
.
8 E r R e s h e e d Th e D irec t or .
9 .
E s S a b oo r The Patient .
99 .
“ ”
th e Beautiful N ames f G o d
These f r in i j eiai o r ,
o ,
are used as invocat i ons or as c alls upon H im They

,
.
are ninety nin e in number an d figure in th e Tes beeii o r

-
, ,
R osary of all M ussulman s

There is .
still another list ,
reaching to as many as I t i s p oss i ble that I ha v e

not i n som e few case s g
,
1v e n their exa c t i nterpretatio
,
n ,
an d some of them differ but slightly from the others in

m ea n ing .
A RU FA EE
’
DER V I S H IN AN E C S TAT I C S TAT E .
i s a comm on prayer of many of th e

Th e follow i g n
’
D er v ish Ord ers and espec i ally of the R u faee s

,
attr i butes O God are holy without any doubt ;

Th y , ,
I abs t ain f rom comparing Th ee t o anything else ; I

declare that Thou art ou r —

Lord tha t Thou ar t On e
, ,
an d all things prove it T h ou art One and knowest n o

.
,
d iminu ti on ; Thou art subj e c t t o n o dise a s e ; Thou art

kno w n by Thy goodn ess an d Thy knowledge ; to Thy
knowledge there is n o l i mit none can pr a i se Th ee t oo
much ; Th ou art the F i rst —the E verl a sting an d without ,
any Beginning Thou art th e Last an d the Ben evole n t , ,
and w i thout any end . Thou hast n o genealogy n o — ,
sons Thou can st never do wrong ; Th ou rev olv e s t with

the cycles of t i me Thou n ever w eak en es t with age all
Thy c reatures are submiss i ve to Thy greatness an d to
Thy commands ; Thy fi a i is the letters B and E B e ’
,
‘
,
the pure i n heart behold Thy beauty by means of th e

Z inr ( the rec i tal of H is nam e ) and bless Thee with the
,
Tniri ies ( the rosary is d ivided into thirty three parts ,
togethe r maki n g the full ninety nine) ; Thy guidance

-
d i rects them l n the right path through the same means

, ,
they live in p erfe c t love in Thy b en efi cen t para d ise ,
Thy scien ce i s everlasting and knows even the numbers

,
o f the breaths of Thy creatures Thou see st and hearest

the movements of all of Thy creatures Thou hearest even
the s t ep s of the an t when in the dark night it walks on
bla c k stone s ; even the birds of the a i r praise Thee in
their n ests ; the wild b easts of the desert ad ore The e ;
the most secret as well as the most exposed thoughts of
,
Thy servants Thou knowest ; Thou a r t secur i ty for

,
Thy faithful ones ; Thou s t ren gt h en es t and g i ves t to

others victory and rej oicest their hearts Th y Z iier
, ,
gives p ower an d overthro w s c oncealed harm s and s o

, ,
d o the Aj a is ( verses ) of Thy b ook ( when born e on th e

p erson as charms ) ; Thy commands uphold the heaven s ,
and support t h e earth ; an d Thy s c ien ce has c ircum

vented the ent i re globe ; and Thou art merciful and
b en efi cen t to Thy sinning creatures .
Like unto Thee O God n ever has anything

, ,
exis t ed ; Thou hearest an d seest all th i ngs O Lor d .

,
preserve u s from evil ( this i s rep eated three t i m es ) .
Thou can st allow even the oc c urren c e of e vil things

great and good G od ! bless ed b e Thy h oly counc i ls .
H ave mercy up on us O Lord and give us victory

, , ,
I 22 TH E D ERVI S H E S .
which are b e t ween them H ave m ercy on ou r a ffairs

.
,
and up on all Mussulman s O Lord of all worlds ,

.
O God may Thy praises be upon ou r Lord M o

,
hammed and h i s fa mily an d friends according to the

, ,
’
number of years of this world s existence and of those ,
worlds whi c h are to be and of all that Thou kn owe st

,
relative to this Thy world ,

O God may Thy praises
.
,
be upon the soul of our Lord M ohammed amongst all ,
the other souls in his body among all the other bodies
, ,
.
and i n h i s illum i nated grave an d up on h i s name amongst

, ,
all other n a mes .
“
O God may Thy pra i ses b e upon ou r Lord the
, ,
possessor of the sign of the Prophetship up on h i s ba c k

( a mole ) an
,
d the c loud ( wh i ch alw a ys a c compan i ed and
pre served h im from the heat of the sun ) ; on the i nter

cessor and the pitying and th e embassy ( the Koran ) on
,
him who i s more beauteous th a n the sun and the moon ,
a c cording to the go od deeds of Abu Bekr Omar ,

’
,
’
O t h man and H yder ( Alee ) to the number of t h e plants
,
’
of th e earth and the leaves of the trees ; on the good

o n e— the possessor of the place in Par a dise M
( a /earn z
an d of the tongu e of eloquen c e ; he wh o

comes w i th prea c hing and intelligence and pity and up on ,
his family and fr i end s M ay th e best of Thy pra ises be

.
upon h im ac c ord i ng to the v a st am ount of Thy great

,
knowledge — to the number of the words wh i ch Thou

,
hast wr i tten the ment i on s made of T h y name and of

,
-
those who make mention of Thee of those who

forget Thee ; of those who i n assemblies bless The e
wit h innumerable breaths (n ef s ) upon Thy Prophet who
enl i ghtened the hearts of those who p ointed out a p a th
( a r ee/e) to each friend ; who came i n tenth ; wh o was
T
sent in mercy to the world to inter c ede for sinn ers ; ,
according to the mer i ts of the blessed Prophets and ,
their gre atness according to his ( Moh ammed s ) influence

’
w ith Thee t h e all p ow erfu l ; on him t h e most blesse d

,
~
of all the prophe t s of tho se who are resign ed to T h ee

o n him ,
who is Thy Frien d ( su c h is the bless i ng of all
Mussulmans ) ; on his fathers ; on I br ah i m the sincere ,
fri end of Allah ; up o n M ama ( Mo s es ) h i s bro t her w ho , ,

3
spake with The e ; and upon I srael ( Jesus ) the Faithful ,
o f God ( E r P eon A iia n

( E i E m een
) who was the ,
Spirit )
on Thy se r vant an d prophet Sol i man and his father , ,
D av i d an d on all the other prophets an d envo y s and all

, ,
t ho se who submit to Th ee on all those wh o people the

heavens and the earth t hose wh o call up on ( Z iler ) Thy
name as well as those who forge t Thee Praises b e u p on
,
.
the fountain of Thy m ercy ( the Prophet) the amount of ,
Thy j u d gm en t d ay on the m easure of Thy path ( Ta r eeie)

-
—
, ,
o n the ornament of the crown of Parad i se the brid e

of the other world —the sun of holy law whose words
,
~ -
—
, ,
are d eeds th e intercessor for all ma kind the I m am

,
~
n — ,
,
—
of all the Prophet of pity ou r Lord M oham m ed ,
upon Adam and Noah on I brah i m the i ntimate frien d ,
of God h i s brother M oses and t h e Spirit of God

,
-
, ,
f er n s ; o n David and Sol i man Z ek e r iah Y ahya ( I saiah )

an d on all the i r offsprin g —tho s e
, , ,
an d Sheb
who c all up on Th ee as well as those wh o forget The e ,
.
“
O ou r E ternal God of m er c y Thy pra i ses b e u pon ,
Thy p eople wh o spread op en their han ds to gl orify

Thee —
,
,
T hou bestower of all good t h i ngs ; Thou par
don er of all things sins an d faults ; Thy pra i ses b e , ,
up on our Lord w h o i s th e best of all those hav i ng good

,
disp os i tions u p on h i s offspring and friends an d th e

,
-
good men of thi s world ; pardon u s w h o are now

present Th ere is n o God than Allah and M o h ammed
.
,
is th e Prophet of Allah and I brahim i s th e int i ma t e ,
fr i end of Allah .
“
O our Lord O Prophe t of God H e whom we
! —
desire —wh o gi v es u s from out of H is abundan c e ; t h e
,
Possessor of t i me Thou help er in th e hour of n eed ,
Thou purest of all prophets —th e J ew el of the U n i verse ,
who el ev a tes atoms int o world s ; Thou refuge of th e

p o or t h e E ye which b ehold s all the past ;
Thou all seeing I h ave pra i se d Thee O Prophet of
-
, ,
God I have believed in Th e e and in Thy su ffi c iency ; ,
Thy goodness c omes u p on u s kindly and with Thy ,
ex c ellence it i nvites u s t o call up on Thee approa c hes u s ,
t o Thee .
“
T hou s and s of prayers b e upon T he e ( t hre e t ime s
1 24 T HE D ERVI S HE S .
rep eated ) — ,
up on t he r oo t h 8ot h and 1 0 9 0 t h ( th i s , ,
refers t o the belief that in the 2 2 80 t h year of the H egira

the world will end ) ; praises b e up on him who i s the
true l i ght A in n ea ei M u s t ap h a ( Prophet ) the Lord of
,
’
,
-
all prophe t s h i s offspr i ng and all h i s friends O G od

,
.
,
have mer c y up on all the faithful One tho usan d prayers .

,
and o n e t h ousan d salutat i ons be in the great secret ,
of T h y Prophet O Thou affectionate b e n efi ce n t

.
, ,
lead us in ou r belief ; Thy praise be upon Thy p er

fe e t Son ( the Prophet ) in the j udgment day — during the ,
~
f a —
length o d ys in the mo de ( sign or seal ) of his p r o
,
h e t s h i —o him who was shielded by a c loud

p p n o n
Mustapha —for the sake of Allah —Thy secret on his

, ,
-
, , ,
s ecrets ; b esto w up on u s thy favour O Must apha b e , ,
sto w thy counten a nce up on us for H is sake and thy , ,
o n ; pity o u r weakn ess es

w — elevate us thro u gh thy p eace ,
( three times ) O Prophe

. t ! help u s ( thre e times ); we
bel i eve in thee O thou fr i en d of G od ! intercede for
.
us -
w e know that H e will n ot rej e ct thy inter c ession .
Thou O Lord art Allah —favour u s as Thou knowest

, , ,
b est ( three time s ) There i s n o God but All a h and

.
,
”
M ohamme d i s the Prop h et o f Allah .
The patie n t reader will have p erceived much in thi s

lengthy prayer p eculiar t o the belief of th e D ervishes
enerally though a great part of it is purely Mussulman
g ,
.
TH E N A KS H I B EN D E E S .
The Or d er of the N a ks iz iben a eee i s on e of the most ’
extens i ve whi c h exists in the E ast and p arti cularly in ,
the O ttoman emp i re They have a work i n Turkish .

,
“
c alled the R es /i inai a in ei H ey ii i or Drop s fro m th e
’
/
,
”
Fount a i n of Life w h ich is n ot only a p erfe c t biogr a phy
,
o f their found e r M ohammed Bah a ed D een but also a

, ,
d etailed ac c ount of h i s p ecul i ar Sp i ritual d octrines .
M D H erb ilot states that N a k s /z iben a was h i s surname ;

.
’ ’
that he w a s the author of a work entitled M a nam ai

( S i i i in gs
) on variou s subj ects con n ected with elo quence
,
an d ac ademic s t udies ; and ano t her calle d A ar da ei ’

The cont i n uation of the descen t is as follows —Abul

K asim K erk ian ee left his p owers t o his pupil Kil e/ a ,
’
Alee F er m en d e e ; his K na ieef en ( su c cessor ) was K/z oj a
Yu s oof H e m d a ee n — that of t h e latter was his ow n ser
,
vant Abd u l Khalik Gaj d ivan ee ; after him Khoj a

’
’
A rif R ivk e r e e— after him M ohamm ed F a g n a v e e —after ,
h i m Ale e R am e t n ee— after him M ohammed Bab a Sem

’
s a s ee — after him th e E mir Sa eed Gul n after him the

a — ’
Khoj a Bah a ed D een N a k s h ib e n d — after him Allay e d ,
D e en el Attar— after him N i z am ed D een K h amush

’
after him Sultan ed D een al Kas hgaree — after h im

’
—
Oba y d U llah Sam a k a n d e e after him Sheikh Abd Allah
r
’
a l L a h e e —after h im Sheikh Sa eed Ahm ed al B ok h ar e e

’
— after him Sheikh M ohammed C h eleb ee nephew of ,
A z ee z — after him Sheikh Abd el Lateef nephe w of

’
,
M o h amme d C h eleb e e— may Allah ble ss their secrets

From the N aks /z ié en a ee Order evidently sp rang th e’
Order of the N eer ba k fi s iz ees ; for th e same author add s

t h at the E mir Sultan Shems ed D een der i ved from Sa eed ’
’
’
Alee father of M ohammed bin Alee el H u s ain e e el
,
B okh ar ee they deri ved from th e S a eed M ohamm ed ’
N oorbak h s h ee The Kna ieef e/i of E mir Bokh ara H asan

.
,
Khoj a V an s Kh alefe eh V alee S h ems ed D een are all

’
m entioned i n the S neé a ik These derived from I s hak .

-
d
’
h e f rom Sa H a
’
J e la l ee ,
eed Alee e m n ee h e from ,
M oha m m e d Kh erk an ee he from Allay ed D evlet Sem e ,
n an ee h e from
,
Abd u r R ahm an A s faran e e he from
’
,
’
Ahmed Ju rk an ee he from Alee bin Sa eed Lall a he from
,
’
Nej m ed D een Kubr a he from O m ar b i n Yas s erb e d ,

’
lis s e e he from Abul N e d j e eb Sh er v er d e e and down

, ,
,
”
through the whole succession .
T h e same author in alluding to the author of th e

,
N a ks iz ié en a ees says
’
,
“
T h is p eopl e ( Taif e/i ) p olish the exterior of the i r
m i nd s and intellects w i th p i ctures and being free from ,
the rust and w i les o f life are not of those who are capti
v a t e d by the vain colour i ngs of th e world as varied as ,
those of th e c han geful chamele on ; and as N ak s h iben d

drew in comparable pictures of the D iv ine Science and ,
pain t ed figures of the E ternal I n v ention , w hich are n ot

TH E D ERVI S H ES . 1 27
imperceptible h i s followers are becom e cele bra t ed by

,
”
the title of the N a ks niaen a ees , The Painters ’ ’
“
From the w ork before all u de d to called Drop s
‘
,
”
from t h e Fountain of Life it would app ear that the ,
’
originator of this order wa s O baid Allah and that Bah a ,
ed D een N ak s h iben d was only a learned writer on its

princ i ples The membe rs of t h e order are called Kno
.
j ga ia n s,
or the teachers The K h a le efe h s
(
. or successors
)
a n d the disc i ple s of O b ai d Allah were Va iees and their
’
,
holy to m bs are scattered over various par t s of the farther

E ast in M erv Samarkand S i nd Bokhara an d through
, , , , ,
o u t Pe rs ia w h er e they are mu c h visited for the purp ose

, ’
of seeking sp i ritual insp i ration from the re v ered remain s

o f the sainted m en which they c ontain V ariou s m em bers .
of the Orde r gave rise to varied points of bel i e f and on e ,
declared that the soul would and do es return to thi s , ,
world in a n e w body As this b orders closely upon the

.
th eory of the metempsychosis i t is treate d up on in various ,
—
ways all spiri t ually Another teache s the n ece ss i ty
.
of t h e K /z a i aei o f profoun d m edit a t i on on the D eity

, ,
whi c h he says must b e so p erpetu a l an d co n tinuous as ,
to absorb c ompletely the m i nd s o much so that when ,
e v e n i n the midst of a c rowd the m editator ca n ,
hear no voi c e or other sound E very word spoke n by .
others will then app e a r to him the Z i/ér and so will ,
even his own words w hen sp oken on oth er subj ects , .
But to attain to th i s the greatest attention and labour is

necessary .
0
As advi c e to a Mu re ed or disciple the following in , ,
s t r u ct ion s a r e given by a m ember of the Ord er respe c t
ing the Z iiz r w h i c h he says i s a union of the heart and

,
the tongue in c alling upon God s nam e I n the first ’

.
pla c e the Sheikh or teacher must with his heart recite

, , , ,
“
There is no God but Allah and M ohammed is the ,
Prophet of Allah whilst t h e M u r eed keep s his at t ention

”
,
fixed by pla c ing his heart oppos i te that of the Sheikh ;

he mu st close h is eye s keep his mouth firmly shut and ,
his tongue pressed against the roof of his m outh ; his

te e th tight against ea c h other and hold his breath then , ,
with great force , accompany the Sheikh in t he Z ié r which ,

2 8 T HE D ERVI S H E S .
h e must recite with his heart and n ot with h is tongue , .
H e must ret a i n his breath pat i ently so that within on e ,
resp i ration h e shall say the Z ié r thre e times an d by th i s ,
means allow hi s heart to be imp ressed with the med i ta

tive Z ié r .
The heart in this manne r is kep t c onstantly o ccupied

, ,
w i th the i dea of th e M ost H igh God ; it will be filled

with awe love and respect for H im and if the p ractiser
, , , ,
a rr i ves at the po w er o f continuing to effect th i s wh en in ,
t h e c omp a ny of a cro w d the Zié r i s p erfect ,

I f he can .
n ot d o this it is c lear that he must continue his efforts

, .
The heart is a subtle part of the human frame an d is ,
apt to wander away after worldly con cern s s o th a t the

‘
easier m ode of arriving at the proceed i ng i s to compress

th e bre a th and keep t h e mouth firmly c losed with the
,
tongue forced a ga i nst th e lip s T he heart i s shaped l1k e .
th e c one of a fi r tree your meditatio n s should b e for c ed

-
upon it whilst you mentally rec i te the Z ié r

,
Let the .
“
La be upward the to th e right and the
, ,
“
whole phra se L a ( there i s no God but Allah )
b e formed upon the fi r cone and through it to all th e
-
m embers of the whole fra m e a n d they feel its warmth , .
By th i s mean s the world and a ll its attractions disapp ear

,
fro m your v is i on and y ou are e n abled to behold th e

,
excellen c e of the M ost H igh Noth i ng must be allowed .
to distract your attent i on from the Z iar an d ult i mately ,
you retain by i ts m edium a prop er conception of the

, ,
”
Ten neea or U n i ty of G od
’
.
,
The cone shaped heart rests in the left breast and

-
cont a ins the whole truth of man I n deed it signifies the .
” ’
whole truth it comprises th e whole of man s existence
,
wit h in itself and i s a comp endium of man ; m a nk i nd

, ,
great an d sm a ll are but an exten sion of it and it i s of

, ,
humanity wh a t the seed is wh i ch contain s within i tself a

whole tree ; in fine the essen c e of the whole of God s book
,
’
and of all H is secrets is the h e art of man Who ever finds .
a way to t h e heart obta i ns his desire ; to find a w ay to

the heart is by a heartful Service an d the he a rt accepts ,
o f the serv ic es of the heart I t is only through t h e .
fatigues of water and ashes that the M u re ed reaches the

mind s of their t emporal rulers or whether they u sed ,
them for their own private purposes so as to con ciliate ,
th e more rel i gious or fanatic they su c ceeded in reachi n g

,
adv anced ages and a p ea c eful end of their remarkable

careers When the ruler of the count1y has n ot c are d
.
to ord er the execution of th e Sheikh w h o declared him self

“ ”
possessed of these spir i tual po w ers he has s i mply ,
exiled him from his capital or his t err i tory an d p er

, ,
m it t e d him freely t o exer ci se h is powers and renown i n

some less obj ectionable local i ty These powers can
.
o n ly b e acquired through the long instruct i on of a

superior spiritu a l d i rector or Murshid or A s naé i Yekeen
, ,
-
‘
for whom the d i sciples ever retain a most grateful remem !
brance and attachment .
Among the pra c tices of thes e p owers i s the faculty

of foreseeing comin g events —of predict i n g their o c cur
ren c e—of preserv i ng individuals from the harm and evil
which would otherwise certainly re sult for th em —of
assur i n g to on e person success O ver th e machination s
of an other s o that h e may freely attack him and prevail
,
over h i m — of restor i ng harmony of sent i ment between

those who would otherwise b e relentless enemies —of
know i ng when others have devised harm aga inst them
selves and through certain sp ells of preserving them
,
selve s and causing harm to befall the ev i l minded an d -
even of causing the death of any on e aga i nst whom they

wish to pro c eed All this i s done as well from a distan ce
.
as when near .
I n other parts of the world and among other pe ople

, ,
th ese attainments would h ave been attributed to sorcery

an d w i tchcra ft in modern times they would b e ascribe d
to Spirit i sm or magnetic influences either of the spiri t
, ,
or of th e body ; but to the i nstru cted D ervish they all

der i ve their or i g i n in th e sp i rit of the holy Sheikh— the
special gift of the great Sp i rit of God wh ic h commen c es ,
with the spiri t of man from which i t dire c tly emanated .
The condition or disposit i on n e c essary for these e ffects

is c alled the H ai ( state or frame ) and is much the sam e
, ,
a s that required by th e magnetized and the obj ec t of , -
his O perat i on The p owers of the body are enfe ebled

.
TH E D ERVI S H E S . 13 1
by fasting an d m en t al fatigu e in prayer an d th e 1magi ,
nat i on kept i n a fervid state fully impressed with th e ,
c o n vi c tion that such p ow e rs are really po ssessed by the

Sheikh an d that h e can readily exer c ise them over the
,
willing mind and body of the d is c ipl e H ow the Sheikh .
can produce such stra n ge results on a distant and u n

c onsc i ou s p erson i s left to the admiration and 1magina
tion of the faithful discipl e as an in c en tive t o exertion s ,
in th e sam e tru e path as that o f hi s She i kh .
T o exerc i s e the p ower of the will it is n ecessary t o ,
contract th e t houghts sudd enly up on the obj ect designed

t o be effected so p erfectly as t o leave n o room for th e
,
min d t o dwell possibly up on any other ,

Th e mind ,
.
m ust n ot doubt for an instant of t he success of t his

, ,
effort nor the p ossibility of failure i t must in fact be

, , ,
completely absorbed by the on e sole id ea of p erforming

t h e determination strongly ta k en and firm ly r elied u po n , .
The p erson must from tim e to time practis e this an d , ,
as they proceed they will be able t o see how mu c h p ro

,
p in q u it
y ex i sts between themselves and t he H az r et i
A s m a ( G od and h ow much th ey are c ap able of e xer

c ising this p ower .
As an example t he author O f th e B erni/i ii; n arrate s

,
¢
the following
“
I n my youth I was ever with ou r L ord M ol ana ,
Sa e ed e d D een Kas hgh ar e e at H er eed I t happ en e d

’
.
that we on e day walked ou t together an d fell in with

, , ,
an assembly of th e inh ab i tants of the plac e w h o were

engaged in wrestling To try ou r po w ers we agreed t o .
,
’
aid with ou r powers of the w i ll on e of the wre stlers
‘
,
so that the other should b e over c ome by him and afte r

doing so t o change ou r design in favour of the d is com
,
fi t e d individual So we stopped and t urning t oward s

.
,
th e part i es gave th e full influen c e of ou r united wills t o

,
on e an d immediately h e was able t o subdue h i s oppo

,
n ent As the p erson we chose ea c h in turn conquered

.
,
t h e other Whichever we w illed to prevail be c ame the

.
most p owerful of t h e two an d th e p ower of ou r ow n ,
will s w a s thus clearly m anife sted .
On another occasion two other p erson s p ossessed of , ,
K 2
r3 2 T H E D ERVI S H E S .
t hes e sam e p ow ers fell in with an assembly of p eo ple

, ,
at a place occup i ed by prize fi gh t er s To prevent a n y -

.
of the crowd from passing between and sep a ra ting us we ,
j oined ou r h ands together Two p ersons were eng aged .
fighti n g ; on e w a s a p owerfu l man whilst the other was ,
a spare an d weak p erson The former readily over c am e .
the latter ; a n d seeing this I prop osed to my c omp a nion , ,
to a i d t h e weak on e by the p ower of ou r w i ll s S o h e .
bad e me a i d h im in the proj ect wh i lst he con c entrated ,
his p owers upon the we a ker p erson I mmediately a .
won d erful oc c urrence took place ; the thin sp a re man ,
seiz ed upon his giant like O pponent and threw him upon
-
the ground with surprising force Th e crowd cried ou t .
w i th astoni shment as he turned him over o n his ba c k

, ,
a n d held him down w i th mu c h appare n t ease N 0 on e .
p resent ex c ept ourselves kn e w the cause Seeing that

, ,
.
my compan i on s eye s were much affe c ted by the effort

’
whi c h he had made I bade h im remark how perfe c tly

,
suc c essful we had been an d adding that there was no ,
longer any n ecessity for ou r rema i n i ng there we walke d ,

”
a w ay .
Just as i t i s im p os s ible t o c onflict with the Koran so

fi ,
“ ”
i s it to conflict with a n A r if or knowing person p os
’
, ,
sesse d of t h e power of th e will H is p owe r c onfl ic ts .
w ith that o f others but there i s no c on fl ict ion in his

,
d esign s nor is it essential that the person to be assisted

should be a believer ; he m ay be eve n an infidel for , , ,
fa i th is n ot neede d to the p erform a n c e O f the des i gn of

the willer Just as is the influen c e of the pure heart
.
,
so i s that of the breath of the w i cked E ven the m ost .
p owerful prin c es of t h i s world do not prosper wi thout

ass i stance The Sheikh on c e left for S a m a rk a nd for the
.
,
p urpose of hold i ng a c onvers a t i on wit h t h e so v ere i gn of

th a t pl a ce M i rza Ab d U llah bin M irza I brahim bin
,
’
“ ” “
Mirza Shah rokh .I says the writer was then in his
, ,
serv ic e and went wit h h im O n arriving an o fficer of

,
.
,
Mirz a Abd U llah w a ited u p on him and the Sheik h ex

’
,
p la m e d to h i m the obj ect of h i s vis i t and added th a t , ,
h e d i d not do u bt but mu c h advantage would be derived

from t h e interview .
1
Tash k end and he immediat ely set ou t to find h i m there .
So soon as ou r She i kh heard of his approa c h he set ou t ,
for F ark at The Mirza came to Tashkend and n ot

.
, ,
finding the Sheikh there proceeded to F ark a t As h e ,

.
a pproached the latter place ou r Sheikh went ou t to meet ,
him When th e Mirza saw the Sheikh his countenance

.
,
changed and h e exclaimed : By Allah ! y ou are cer

,
‘
t ain ly the same p erson whom I saw in my dream He ’

.
threw himself at the She i kh s feet and with mu c h anx i ety ’
implored the a i d of his prayers The Sheikh was ex .
t r e m ely gracious to the Mirza s o that the latter became ,
greatly attached to h i m .
Later when the Mirza desire d t o collect a force and

, ,
mar c h aga i nst Samarkand he rev i sited ou r Sheikh and , ,
b egge d h is p e rmission and assistan c e in favour of his

’
c ampa i gn The Sheikh asked him with w hat obj e c t h e

.
designed making it I f he added it i s to enfor c e the

,
’
,
la w of God and to act in a human e manner you will be

, ,
s u ccessful The M i rza declared that it was and t h e

’
'
,
.
She i kh then bade him dep art with h i s commendabl e in

tentions By some it is rela t ed that th e Sh e ikh t old the
.
M i rza When you are opposite your opponents do not ,
atta c k them until you p erce i ve a flight of c rows c om i ng

u p from your rear I n conse qu ence of this admonitio n
.
’
when the Mirza Abu Sa ee d was opp osite the for c e s of ’
M irz a A b d U llah the latter ord ered h is cavalry to make

’
an attack upon the troop s of the latter ; but A bu Sa eed ’
d id n ot attempt to m eet them until a large fl i ght of ,
crows came up from behind them an d so soon as these

appeared h i s troop s hearts became filled with j oy and
,
’
courage and falling upon those of Mirza Abd U llah

,
’
,
c ompletely overcam e them I n th e defeat M irz a Abd .

,
’
U llah w a s thrown off h i s horse and ta k en captive and , ,

”
hi s head cut off .
From the preced i n g may b e seen th e Spir i tual p owers

of a holy man wh o can by their a i d commun e with
,
p ersons w i dely separated from h i m pre d ict c om i ng ,
events an d a i d those i n who se welfare an d success he

,
fe els a pious i ntere st for good .
H asan Bahadur was on e of the c h iefs of the coun try

5
of Mamen in Turkistan and the p eople of Mamen

, ,
fo rm ed a num erous trib e H e relates that When Sultan .

‘
Abu Sa eed marched with h i s forces from Tashkend to

’
Samarkan d I was with him we m et M irza Abd U llah

,
’
on the banks of th e r i ver B u lu n goor drawn up in array ,
I was near to the M irza and ou r troop s numbere d som e ,
only wh i lst t h ose of t he Mirza were well armed

, ,
and in excellent con dition At this mom ent some of .

,
o u r m en went over to t he Mirza wh i ch troubled greatly ,
the Sultan an d alarmed him s o that h e c alled ou t to

, ,
”
me H o H asan what d o y ou see ? and I replied that
, ,
I saw the Khoj a ( the Sheikh ) pre c edi n g u s Th e Sultan .

,
o n this s w ore by A llah that he likewise saw him

,
I bade .
him be of go od cheer for we would prevail over ou r ,
enemies At the same mome n t ou r troops made a c harge

.
again st their opponents and i n half an hour all of the ,
for c es of Mirza Abd U llah were beaten and he fall i ng

’
, ,
i n to the hand s of his en emies was put t o d eath On ,

.
that sam e day Samarkand was taken ,

.
’
“ ’
The Sheikh h imself states that when Mirza Abd U llah ,
was taken priso n er I was on my way to Tashkend , ,
and s aw a wh i te bird fall from a height to the ground .
Thi s was c aught and killed from which cir c um stance I ,
k new that M irza Abd U llah had j ust met his fa te ’

The .
’
Khoj a after this proceeded on th e request of Sul t an Abu ,
Sa eed to Samarkand
’
,
.
Mir z a Baber bin M ir z a B a ik er b in Mirza Shahro k h

came with troops from Khorassan again st Samar
kand Sultan Abu Sa e ed went to the Sheikh an d told
.
’
,
him : I have n ot su fficient troop s with which t o meet

‘
him —what shall I d o 2 The Sheikh quie t ed his app r e ’
h en s ion s When M irz a Baber crossed the A b A m ooee

.
,
’
Sultan Abu Sa ee d M irza sen t a charge of troop s to m eet
h i m and having repulsed him th e M irza fled to Turkistan
, , ,
and fortified h i mself I n th i s View he loaded h i s camels

.
,
to d epart which be c oming kn own t o the She i kh he has

, ,
tene d to go to the dr i vers and in great anger com , , ,
m an d e d them t o put off the i r loads then going to the

Mirza he asked him where he was going
, D o not go .
‘
anywhere h e said t o t he M irza for there is n o n eed of

,
’
,
13 6 T H E D E R VI S H E S .
such a proceeding ; your busin ess i s here an d I will b e ,
resp onsible for the result ; b e of good c heer for it i s my ,

’ ’
business to overcome Baber Abu Sa e ed s officers were .
’
much troubled by t h i s language on the part of the Sheikh ,
an d some of them throwing their turbans on the ground

, ,
de c lared that they would a ll be s a c rificed The M i rza .

,
however had entire fa i th in the Sheikh and would n ot

, ,
l i sten to any on e else ; he stopp ed his for c es an d p r e ,
pared to m eet those of Baber whose o ffi c ers nevertheless , , ,

’
t h ough t that Abu Sa ee d would certainly fly before him .
“ ’
The Sultan Abu Sa ee d conforme d to the word s of th e
She i kh an d comm ence d fortifyi n g himself Mirza Baber
,
.
c am e near to S amarkand an d sent forward Khaleel H in

,
doo with his ordnan ce as far as its gates A few Persian s .
came ou t of th e city and fought them M i rza Baber .
h a d no m en i n armour and Khaleel H indoo was taken

,
prison er and whenever he sent men aga i nst the strong

,
walls of Samarkand the inhab i tants made sall i es an d

, ,
cut off the ears and nose s of all th e captives who fell
i nto their hands so that m any of h i s p eople having
,
return ed to his camp in thi s mut i lated con d i tio n spread ,
alarm among the others I n th e course of a few days .
a dise a se broke ou t among h i s cavalry from which many ,
died an d spread a malar i a throughout the camp greatly

, ,
to the d istress an d ann oyan c e of h i s ow n p eople so that ,
very shortly he sent the M ol an a Mohammed M u am m a ’
( a Sheikh ) to o u r own Sheikh t o treat for p eace M ol an a .
M ohammed on m eeting ou r Sheikh grea t ly praised the

, ,
M i rza Baber and said he was a pr i nce o f the most

,
exalted sent i ments ; an d ou r Sh eikh i n resp onse tol d , ,
him that the a c ts of his forefathers had done h im m uch

harm an d w i thout th i s he might have effected great
,
things th a t in their t i me he h imself was a p oor Fakir

, ,
i n H erat together with a great number of similar p er

,
sons all of whom suffered much from the i r p erse c ution s

,
.
F inally peace was mad e a n d M irza Baber made it a

, ,
matter of stipulat i on that h e should b e p ermitted to

c on ci liate the goodwill and profi t by the prayers o f ou r
pious She i k h from whos e spiri t ual p owers h e had met
,
wit h s o much lo s s and d is com fi t u re .

1 3 8 T H E D ERVI S H E S .
wonderfully calme d and kep t in p erfec t subj ectio n until

, ,
a formal d ocum ent of p a cifi cat ion was drawn up by th e

She i kh and sign ed by t h e pr i nces .
'
On another o cc as i on an einp ioy e of t h e Sheikh w hilst ,
travelling i n Kh a t ay with a Ker w i n ( caravan ) laden with

goods was attacked by Kalmu c ks and through the won
, ,
d erfu l p o w ers of a sword belongi n g to the Sheikh h i s ,
p ious master he p ut the whole ban d of robbers to flight

,
when all of his companions had given themselve s up as

lost O n his return having related this surpris i ng affair
.
,
to the Sheikh the latter expla i n ed it t o h im by the fa c t

, ,
that having subm i tted his ow n feeble will to that of t h

,
“ ”
M ost H igh a superhuman p ower of the will was
,
granted him by wh i ch he overcam e his en em es

,
i .
Ma n y i ndiv i dual s who have seriou sly wronged an d

oppressed his fr i end s received pun i s h ments through th e
p owers of the Sheikh Several i n stances are related .
wherein some su c h even fell s i ck and died or were ,
only restored to h ealth by op en declarat i on s of r e

p e n t an ce and implori
,
n g his prayerful intercession wit h
God H is spirit seems to h a ve ac c ompan i ed those in
’
whose welfare h e took an active interest an d enabled ,
t h em to commu n e w i th h i m though far d i stant from ,
h im . H i s p ower of hearing them was well known to

his frien ds and several i n stan ces a re c ited to prove the
,
fac t H is p ower of affecti n g the health of those wh o

.
i nj ured h i m or his fr i en ds was greatly increased whilst

h e was ex c ited by anger and on such o c cas i on s h i s ,
whole frame would b e c onvulsed and his beard move ,
about as if moved by electricity On learn i ng deta i ls of .
c ruelty done to innoce n t i n dividuals the Sheikh would ,
be stra n gely affected so much so that n o on e dared to

,
address him unt i l the paroxysm was passed ; an d on

su c h o cc a s i ons he n ever failed to commune spir i tually
with the sovere i gn or prin c e in su c h a m ysteriou s mann er ,
as to inspire h i m to deal j ustly with the guilty p erson ,
and se cure his m er i ted punishm ent .
“
Through h is mysti c al powers ma n y p erson s were
impresse d w ith the unrighteousness of th eir course and ,
having rep ented of t he same became good and p i ous ,

an d firm believers in hi s Sp i ritual influences These .
p o w ers were always conn ected with his prayers a n d it ,
was during t hese that he was enabled to assure the

p arties interested of the i r salutary results and the ac ,
c ep t a t ion of their d esires . I t scarcely ne ed s t o b e

added that these prayers were in c onforman ce with
,
I slamism an d were offered up to Allah whom h e

, ,
adored an d to wh ose sup rem e w i ll h e attributes his

,
p owers H e co n stan t ly per formed the Z i/ér j e/i r ee or

.
,
“ ”
audibly c alled God s nam e and th e fre quent repeti
’
,
t io n of th i s prac t i c e fi t ted him for such holy purpo ses .
Sometimes he would affect t h e mind of the ind i vidual

upon whom he exercised his p owers in such a manner ,
as to throw him into a species of trance after w hich he ,
c ould rememb er nothing that h e had previousl y k nown ,
and cont i nued in this state until the She i kh chose to

restore h im to the e n j oymen t of his ordinary facultie s .
N otwithstand i ng all of these em i nent p owers this gre a t ,
Shei k h is reputed t o have sp ent the latter days of hi s life

at H erat i n extrem e indigen c e much slighted and n e
,
gle e ted by those who h a d so admired h i m whils t i n the

v i gour of his career A ll fear of his mystical i nfluence s
.
s eems t o have disapp eared an d i t i s n arrated that these

,
greatly d ecl i ned wi t h his ordinary s t ren gt h of min d and

body .
C H APT E R VI I .
THE B E KT A S H E E S
TH E D ervishe s b e a ring this denomination derived it ,
from th e nam e of the foun der of the Ta r eeie or P a th H e , .
was a native of Bokhara I t woul d seem that there were

.
t w o p erson s o f th i s name B e/ei as ii the preced i ng on e

, ,
adding to his n am e K oeiee or servan t ( of God ) and w a s

, ,
t h e author of a mystical work c a lled B os i an a i K/z iy ai

“
( The Gar d en o f M enta l R eflect i on s in mu c h repute
a mong spiritual Mussulme n The other I S called H ay ee
.
B eni ay a and l i ved in As ra M i n or during th e re i gn O f the

,
Ottoman sovere i gn Sultan Mura d I in A H 7 6 3

,
As . . . .
this Order of Dervishe s was i ntimately c onne c ted with the

O ttoman mili t ia kn own as the j a n is s a r ies now destroye d
, , ,
som e part ic u l a r n otice of h i m seems necessary even in ,
a work like the presen t .
H istorian s n arrate that H aj ee Bekt ash o r B egi eis n ’
blessed the n ewly instituted troop s an d named them ,

”
New Troop s ( the signifi c ation of the
'
a n i C ner ee or
,
word j a n is s a r ies ) whilst others dispute it V on H amm er

,
.
says they adopte d for a he a d dress the white felt cap of th e

-
D erv i sh H aj ee B egt as h the founder of an or d er spread

,
over t h e Ottoman empire ; th a t the Sultan Orkhan a c ,
c ompanied by the n ew renegades ( of whom the J anis

S a t ies were c omposed
) met
,
him i n the vill a ge of Su l1j a y
K e n ariy oon near to A m a s s ia to implore h i s bened ic t i on

, , ,
an d th e gifts of a sta n dard an d a flag for his n ew forces .
The Sheikh put the sleeve of his mantle over the head of
one of the soldiers in such a manner that it hung down
behi n d h i s ba c k an d then d e c lared the following pro
,
p h ec y The militia wh ic h you h a ve j ust created shall
be called Ya n ee C /z er ee its figure shall be fair and

,
-
R oom ; A kiz eean i P omn , or th e

on e -
Bro t hers of
-
R o om and the other, th e A ba d ian i R oom , or t h e

’
- -
’
‘
A ba d ir or A s cet e s of R oom
’
Th ere i s also on e
_
.
more branch , called the H en z B aj iy an i P oeni , or t h e - -

-
’
‘
Sisters of R oom H aj e e B egt as h chose th e B eij i
.
j an i
-
R-
oan i amo n g the B a i a a rs , and made o v er his
principle s of spiritual p ower t o the [mea n A n an u r ( a ’
lady of the latter name ) , and then died Although it .
is stated by the Bekt ash D ervishes that h e gave th e

Ta j ( c rown or cap ) to the j a n is s a r ies , the assertion i s
c ertain ly false Th i s white cap already ex i sted in the tim e

.
o f Orkh an h i m self at B al ej ik I d o n ot wish t o ga i nsay .
w hat I have already related in the preceding chapters ,
an d p ers i st in the assertion that th e white felt cap of

th e Bekt ash D ervi shes was taken from the Jan issaries .
Th e impuls i on for i ts adopt i on was g i ven by a Sheikh of

the Order of the B ek t as h e es named A bd el M o os a w h o ’
, ,
having formed the d esire t o make a campaign j oin ed ,
the Janissaries and on e day b egged from th em an old

,
felt cap wh i ch on e of them loaned him This he put on

,
.
h is head an d after havi n g made the campaign returne d

, ,
to his ow n country wearing it so as to S how that h e

, ,
wore the same head dress as tho se wh o fight for the

Faith When h e was interrogated as t o i t s name h e
.
,
said it was called B né m e/z A i if Taj i e a cap which

‘
-
.
,
n e v er b ends and i s ever upright and worn by those

, ,
who fight for the tru e faith Th i s i s the t rue orign of

the cap of th e Jan issar i es .
Near th e city of Angora in a village called B e/ei as n ,
éy ooy i s the tomb of B eki as n much revere d by all of

,
, ,
h i s num ero u s followers scattered over the greater p art

o f the O t toman empire Over it has been ere c ted a
.
pretty mau soleum an d a Teé é ie/z the O bj ect of ven era ,
t i on an d visits from pious M ussulmen gen erally .
The Sheikh H aj ee Bekt ash re c eived his spirit u al educa

tion from Ahmed Y es s ev ee B alkh ee a native of th e c i ty ,
of Balkh The lineal descent of the Order is as follows

.
Ahmed Y es s ev ee from
Y o os u f H am a d an ee h e from ,
E bi Ale e a l F erm a d ee he from

’
,
T H E D E R VI S H E S . 1 43
Ab u l K asim Ku rk an ee h e from
’
,
Ab u l H asan H ar rak ian e e he from

’
,
Abu Ya z e ed B e s t am e e he from ,
J a far ibn M ohammed S adik ( who was of th e ra c e

’
and family of the I m am H usai n on e of the unfortunate ,
son s of the fourth an d las t of the direc t C aliphs Alee ) ,

’
,
he from
M ohamm ed ibn Abu Bekr h e from ,
Selm an i F ars ee h e from the She i kh of t h e t w o d iff erent

Ta r eeies viz —
,
,
the on e of
.
Abu Bekr es Sid d ee k ( first C aliph ) an d the o t her of ,

’
Alee ( the assumptive fourth Caliph ) .
A é n B e/er es S idd eek receive d his e d u cation direct from

the holy Prop het .
This Ta r eeé i s there fore c alled the S iriz ieeieieii ( Faithful ) ,
from Abu Bekr and the A ieen ieii ( A lee vid e ) from Alee
,
’ ’ ’
.
All of the se p erso n s are known as t he S nei/e/z s or ,
E lders and as the M a r s /l id i Kain ii or p erfect “ ‘
, ,
“
spiritual instructors who teach to others the ,
tru e
”
p ath which leads mankind to Allah There are h ow .
,
ever said to b e many su c h paths for th e holy Prophe t

, ,
said in a H a aees or tradition al assertion collected an d

’
, ,
preserved by h i s earlier follo w ers

“
The paths leading to Go d are as numerou s as th e
breaths of H i s creatures .
H aj ee Be k t ash Jan N oosh Shahb az i Kalen d ere e

, , ,
J ell al i B ok h ar e e Lokm an Kalen d er e e were all dis c iple s

, ,
of Ahmed el Yes s ev ee Of thes e all were of th e Ord er of

.
,
the N ak s hib en d e e and at a later p erl od founded each a

,
separate Order .
n No osh is buried at Khor as an J ell al B k h a

J a o r ee
and Shahb az i Kalen d er ee at Simna near Kurdistan , ,
an d th e Persian frontier With th e ex c eption of J ell al .
B ok hare e they all wore the costum e of the Ord er of

,
H aj ee Bekt ash ; and the only d i fferen ce i s that Jan

Noosh wore twelve Ter iz s o r gore s in his cap J ell al
‘
B ok h ar e e on e Shahb az seven and Lokm an Kalen d ere e

, ,
four .
R egarding the principles of t he O rder of the B ek t as h ees ,
the following will serve t o give s om e explanation .

1 44 TH E DERV SH ES I .
“
T h ere are s ix A /z é id /n , or C omm an d s .
1 . Liberality .
4 H ol y L a w
. .
2 . Knowledge .
5 S.u bmission .
3 . T rut h . 6 C ontemplatio n
. .
There are six E r nian , or C olumns .
1 S c ien c e
. .
4 Th a nkfu lness
. .
2 M eekn es s
. .
5 C all i ng on G od
. .
3 C ontentme
. n t . 6 R etire m e n t
. .
C on struction s are s ix ( H en ri
) .
1 R epentan c e
. .
4 I ncre ase of S piritu ality
. .
2 Sub m ission
. .
5 C o n tent m ent
. .
3 Fidel
. i ty . 6 Seclu s i on
. .
Wisd oms are also six

1 Knowledge
.
4 Fidel i ty . . .
2 Liber al i ty 5 R eflect i on
. . .
Approa c h to D ivin e
Science 6 F aith in G od
. . .
Ev idence s of the Ord er are s ix ( E s pai ) .
I Be n evolen ce 4 Aba n do n ment of Pas

~
. . .
S ions .
’
2 God s P rai s e
.
5 F ear of God . . .
3 A .b a n do n m en t of Sin 6 Ch eerfulness of Spirit . . .
R egardi n g the cap , cloak , an d girdle , called by the

B ek t as h e e s th e t h re e poin ts , or prin ci ple s , th e following
is legend a ry .
The ang el Gabri el once vi site d th e holy Prophet ,
d u ring the war called the G/z a z ez i A /ZZC ei and asked h i m

‘
/
,
w h a t he was o cc upied in and he replied i n recit i n g ,
t h e verse s of th e Kora n sh av i n g h is beard a n d cutting

his h air —Via e Koran xlv i ii 2 7
,
.
’
By D i vi n e p er
,
. .
m ission th e angel brought a razor from h ea v en an d c ut

, ,
t h e h a ir a n d sha v ed the b e a rd of the prophet H e next .
p ut a cap on his head a cloak over h i s shoulders and a

, ,
girdle around his w a ist H e h a d a lready d on e this to .
two other p ersons viz to Adam w h en he left t h e

,
.
,
“
said We have created the seven h eaven s in sev en folds
,
and seven e a rths i n the s ame form all ou t of light ,

.
H e then commanded all of t h ese to worsh i p H im whi c h ,
they do cont i nually re volv i ng round H is holy thron e

,
.
T he P eien k i s very u s eful and the She i kh of the Order ,
puts it on and off each seven times saying , , ,
1. I tie up greed i ness an d unb i nd gen erosity , .
2 . I tie up anger and unbind meekn es s ,

.
3 . I tie up avari c e and unbind piety ,

.
4 . I t i e up ignorance and unbin d th e fe ar of God , .
5 . I tie up passion and unbind the love o f God , .
6 . I tie up hunger and unbind ( spiritual ) c onte n tme n t , .
“
7 . I tie up Satan i sm a n d unbind D ivinen ess , .
When putt i ng it on a di s ciple he says to h i m I n ow , ,
bind up thy waist in the path of God O , holy name .

,
p ossessed of all kn owledge W h oever kn ows H is nam e

”
w i ll become the N aib or successor of the Sheikh ,
He .
“
n ext offers up th e following prayerful address Ther e :
i s n o God but Allah M ohamm ed i s the P r ophet of A llah ,

1
’
Ale e is th e Va iee or friend O f All ah Abu Muslim t h e
, ,
nephew of Alee i s the sword of Allah ; M eh d ee i s the

’
,
m aster of the [n u i m afl and the A m een or co n fidan t o f ,
Allah M oses is th e Word of G od J esus i s the Spir it of

.
,
God an d N oah i s the s w ord of God I t i s n ot t o b e

,
.
open e d by Alee excepting w i th t he s w ord c all ed Zoolfak ar

’
.
Our first Va iee or Founder i s B eiei d r/i the m iddle t h e

, , ,
D erv i sh M ohammed an d the last was Must apha th e , ,
own er o f the K iz eié ei o r writing The kno w ledg e of

‘
,
.
’
the world i s to kno w th e S ii ir a i or holy law th e ,
Ta r eeiz ai or n ew path an d the M a r zf ei or n ew sc i enc e

’
, ,
”
of spiritualism T hese are the portal s of ou r Order
. .
The Sheikh also add s as i nst ruction Ther e are 4 0

M a é anz s or seats 3 6 0 degrees 2 8 M en z iis (place s of
, , ,
rest ) 1 2 spheres 2 4 hours 4 P ar is or c hapters 7

, , , , ,
c li m es 4 Ka rars,
worlds 7 S eba i i Al es ii vee o r
, , ,
Ay a is ( verses ) calle d the mother of the Koran 7 Letters

, , ,
7 F a tihas ( first c hapters or O pen i ngs ) of the Koran all of ,
these are c alled H ai ( disp os i tions ) and not Kai ( sayings ) , .
Ther e i s but on e l i g h t t h e truth i s the moon an d thes e ,
were given to Adam H e who has found the scien ce of .

TH E D E R VI S H E S . 147
0
hi s body called th e f im i Vuj eoa ( or the co u nterpart

ow n ,
’ ’
of himself i n a spir i tual sense ) knows his Lord ; for the ,
holy Prophet has said To kn ow thyself is t o know t h e ,
Lord .I n this is compr i se d a k nowledge of thy ow n

’
”
secret an d that of thy C reator
,
.
The l atter is a Mussulman idea that eve ry on e in this

worl d possesses a P eer in the spiritual existen ce calle d ,
the i ll es d i or equal w h o dies forty days p revious t o his

, ,
temporal self T h e M es ai i s supp osed to kno w every

.
t hing and to teach th e temp oral body t o which it belongs

,
by visionary forewarnings I t i s also bel i eved ( 0 11 a .
verse of the Koran ) that G od d oes n ot m ake saints of

the ignorant H e first h a s them taugh t by the M es ai
.
,
an d then make s them to b e E z iia ( the plural of Vaiee r

,
or saint
) I t therefore
. fills the place of a guardian
spirit or angel The temp oral body thu s becomes by
,
.
,
its m ean s freed from all darkn es s and moreover is tran s

, ,
ferred i n to a N oor or l i ght t o others I t i s then a com

,
.
plainer for the wo es of m an kind (E bi i D er a ) i ts pl edge ’
“
of faith finds its place and i s a faithful on e in God , .
T HEI R C OST U M E .
H a ia er ee
’
i s a vest without sleeves and with a streak ,
of a di ff erent colour somewhat re sembl i ng in form a ,
word supp osed t o be that of the fourth C aliph Alee

,
’
.
I t should also have t w elve lines on it signifying the

, , ,
t w elve I m ams .
K/z ir é a is a cloak or mantle without a collar an d , , ,
with the same streak as the ve st .
Ta iben a is a g i rdle whi c h i s worn around the waist

7
an d i s made only O f white woollen materials .
K a in ber ie/i i s a cord also worn around the waist to , ,
wh i ch is atta c hed a sto n e This latter is round or o blo n g .

,
mostly of crystal called N ej e f The cord has thre e

,
.
buttons or knots the first kn ot i s called E i bagnee ( hand

tie ) the second D ii bagnee ( tongue tie ) an d the third
,
-
B ei bagnee ( re i n tie ) These serve to rem i n d t h e we a rer

-
.
t h at he must n either steal lie n or commit forn ic ation , ,

.
L 2
M en goos n are the earrings wh i ch are pu t in the ear s

of th e new disciple I f only on e ear i s drilled i t is
.
called H a s a n ee from on e son of Ale e ; and if both are

,
’
p i er c ed they are called H u s a in ee from the other son of

,
the sam e Caliph I t is op tio n al with him

. .
Ta j is the name o f the cap wh i ch all wear i n c om

m on . I t is m a d e of white felt an d is in four parts Th e
,
.
first shows that th e wearer has g i ven up the world th e

se c on d that he has abandoned all hopes of P a rad i se
,
t h e t h ir d that h e d isda i n s all hyp ocr i sy and mean s that

, ,
the D ervish cares n o t w h ether he is seen or n ot pray i n g ,
a n d is wholly i ndifferent t o public opin i on th e fourth i s

the total aband onment of all the pleas u res of life an d ,
that h e belongs t o an d i s fully satisfie d with Allah alon e .
Their nam es also are Sner ee a i Ta r eeé a i H a neek a i and

,
’
, , ,
Th e Sheikhs all wear t h e Ta], with twelve Ter as

'
whi c h are of four K ap oor or doors These twelve allu de

,
.
to the twelve I m am s an d the four t o the four preced i ng

,
reat pr i n ciples o f myst i cal spiritu a lis m

g
.
K a n an i Tar /l ee ( ston e of contentment ) i s th e n ame of

th e stone worn in the belt or girdle an d i s c om m em o ,
r at iv e of the stones which p oor D ervishes were wont to

I t is con sidered t o be th e Sign of th e Kna ieef a i or ,
su c cession of th e ble ssed Prophet and when he appointed ,
a She i kh to succeed him h e mad e a c ap of th e form of

the celebrated s w ord of Alee named Z eoif a iear After ,
.
this th e cap assumed other forms p eculiar to th e four

, ,
c hief Ta r eeks or Orders ; on e w a s called th e M a iinee

, ,
on e th e S a if ee on e the S nu r nee an d on e th e H a i a u /ee

, ,
.
The cap of H aj ee B ekt as n i Va iee i s of twelve T erk s , .
H e made a second called the Taj i j a n n oos /z o f n i n e

T erk s and another was worn i n Pers i a of seven Terks
, , ,
c alled the S a yy ia i f eid i after the eminent man of that

’
,
name . This person was the founder of the Order of

the j eiaiees w h o have n o Teé ieiens in C onstantin ople
, ,
though members of it often go there from Persia as

travellers There is still another cap sometimes worn by
.
the B ek t as h ee s called S /z a nbaz i Ka ien a er ee after the

,
’
,
founder of th e K a ien z ier ees made of seven Terks of , ,
wh i te felt said t o have be en as sumed by a Shah ( ki n g) of

,
Balkh named E z i/z em and i s c alled therefore the E a iz e

, ,
’
m ee . H e i s said to have abandoned his thron e so as t o

b ecom e a D ervish I t i s also sa i d that t o h i s tim e the
.
,
D ervis h es were all called after j u n a ia ee a holy m an of ’

,
that name res i d ent i n Bagdad an d there was then but ,
on e Ta r eeie or Order , .
As a d etailed descr i ption of t h e cap I may ad d that , ,
the cap i s called the P eer i n h onour of the founders of

the various Ta r eeé s an d that on it was ori grn ally wr i tte n
, ,
All things will perish save Hi s ( th e Omniscient s ) face,

’
,
”
and to H im w i ll all return taken from the last line s of ,
t h e 2 8t h chap t er of the Koran .
Aroun d t h e t op was written th e Ay a t a i H u r y ee from ,
the 2 d chapter of the Koran an d ending w i th the 2 5 6 t h ,
verse .
Around its edge s was written th e 3 6 t h chap t er of th e

Koran called the S aor a i Yas ee
, .
I n side was written the 4 1 5 t c hapter of the Koran ;

“
n ear its edge the 5 3 d verse We will c ause ou r mira c les ,
”
t o sh i ne over the different c ou n tries of the earth .
On its front th e 1 0 9 t h verse of the 2 d c hapter TO

, ,
God belongs the east and the wes t ; t urn t o whichever

T H E D E R VI S HE S . 1 5 1
side you will y ou w i ll m eet H i s c ountenan ce ; God i s

,
immense and kno w s all things

,
.
On the other side was written the M ussulman C on fes

sion of Fa i th There i s n o Go d but Allah and
, ,
” ’
M ohammed is the Prophet of Allah and Alee i s the ,
”
Va lee or Friend of Allah
,
.
Beh i nd i t was wr i tten th e 2 9 t h verse of th e 2 d chap t er

“
of the Koran God taught t o Adam the name s of all
,
beings afterwards H e brought t h em before t h e a n gels

, ,
and said to them N a me them to him if y ou are s i ncere

,
.
’
A stone which the B ek t as h ees w ear suspended on their

n e c ks is calle d the Yes ieein Tas /z ee or Stone of Su b m is ,
”
s i on
. On e of the i nterpretation s given regarding i t is ,
that it is worn in remembrance of the bestowal of F at im eh ,
the daughter of the Prophet upon hi s nephe w Ale e I t ,

’
.
is said that on this occasion her father took her hair in

, ,
’
h is hand and giving it into that of Alee delivered her u p
, ,
to him .
I n their ears they wore anothe r ston e called the

M engoer iz Tas nee of this shap e e or that of a new moon
, ,
’
in rem embrance of th e horse s h o e of Alee Around -
.
the i r wais ts they wore belts c a lled K a m aer ia made of ,
d ark coloure d goats wool or hair with several knots w h ic h

-
’
, , ,
passing through a ring atta c hed to on e end of i t serve to ,
fasten i t T h ese kn ots are called as afor es t a t e d

. .
On their legs they wear leath er gaiters c alle d B aia é , ,
from on e of t h e princ i pal disciples of Bekt ash n am ed ,
Baba Omar ( D olak e e ) who wore them

’
,
.
Suspended from their belt is a small bag called j iié en a ’

,
mad e after the following form 5 on which is embroidere d

the n ame of Al ee and serves to conta in p a p ers and
’
,
book s I t is said that the Prophet gave s u ch a bag to

.
his uncle H amza in M ek k eh ,

.
A B egt as h e e is not allowed to b eg ; and if he ever

does i t i s after fasting th ree days an d then only at seven
, ,
doors I f t hese gi v e h im nothing he must cease W h en

. .
begging they are called S eiin an after H az re t i Selm an i

‘
, ,
F arsee and must carry the i r Kes izgooi or beggar s c up

, ,
’
under their c lothes .
An Or i e n tal frien d g i ves th e follow i ng extract from a

1
5 2 T H E D ER VI S H E S .
j our nal k ept by him duri n g an excursion in Asia M inor

!
referring to the found er of this Order .
T ooz k y Oy i e Salt V illage situated in a vol c a n i c

,
. .
‘
,
’
part of the cou n t ry cont a ins about one hun d red houses
, ,
t h e i nhab i ta n ts of whi c h ar e all grazers and possess many ,
c attle sheep a n d Angora goats

, ,
Th e n ame orig i nates .
from th e s a lt m i n es about a quarter of an hour d i stant ,
an d whi c h are still worked A c cord i ng to tradition th ey .

,
h ave been created by the famou s H aj ee Bekt ash the ,
founder of t h e Order of that n ame who on passing ,
through th i s v i llage was regaled wit h uns a lted m eat .
When h e a sked the c a use of t h e absen c e of savour to hi s

m eat h e was infor m ed that the i n habitants had no sal t
, ,
w h ereup on h e struck upon th e ground with his stick ;

and s o p rod u ce d m i raculously a salt mine , U p to the ,
.
present tim e annually about,

batm an s lbs ) .
o f salt a r e deli v ered to th e Teie/eie/z opp osite on the river ,
K i zil I rmak near to the village of H aj ee Bekt ash wh ere

, ,
also th e shr i n e of this founder is to be s een On the .
h eight whi c h d ominates the c i t y there is a number of ,
buildings amo n g wh ic h is a M osqu e and the tomb of

, ,
Sayyidi G h az e e Batt al a M e d r e s eh and a ,

in ,
habited by some four or fi v e D erv i shes of the Bekt ash

Order A veran dah built of marble lead s to the inter i o r
.
, ,
o t t h is building and the t ra v eller is shown here two relics

,
of H aj ee B ekt ash viz in the well the impression of his

,
.
,
m outh and teeth wh i ch t o j udge from the size m ust

, , ,
ha v e been of the d i mens i ons of th ose of a b u ffalo ; and in

”
the entran ce gate an impression of hi s hand and finger
,
.
T h e h a ll of a con v ent or Te/ii ien o f the Bekt ash e
Order is always a squ a re I n its c en tre is a stone with .
eight corners c alled the M a ia an nan in w in c h on

,
’
, ,
o cc as i ons o f ceremony st and s a lighte d c a ndle around ,
t h i s are twelve p er ry or p os i a é ees s e a ts con sisting of white ,
sheep skin Whene v er a M u r e e d is to b e init i ated the

.
,
candle i s remo v ed fro m the stone and o n e is pla c ed in ,
f on t of each of th e p om Amo n g the expl a nations give n

r
.
of this stone is the follow i ng : The Prophet used to put

a ston e i n his girdle to suppress by its pressure th e , ,
Dr . Mo rd t m a n n .
is asked by the She i kh whether if h e break s it he is , ,
willing to come un d er the sword of A lee ( th e Zooif a nar ) ’

,
and h e an swers in t h e a ffirm a tive and adds that h e may ,
be cut a sunder by the sword of ou r s een i Veiay ei or ,

” ’
supreme spiritu a l chief who is Alee This is on e of ,
.
the se c ret vows of the Order The number twelve i s a .
mystical on e for the B ek t as h e e s for whenever any on e ,
m akes a vow called the N ez r he always in c urs the

,
.
,
p enalty of twelve punishments Sh ould h e fa i l to keep it

h e swea rs by the twelve pays money in twelves an d , ,
strikes twelve blows as a pun i shment Th i s I am told .

, ,
is done simply in imitation of th e pra c t ic e of the Founder .
Th e Z ié r U iia /z or Prayers of the Brethren in the Tek

,
Az ien are always silent and have it i s said the following

'
, , ,
origin
I t is related as coming from Alee—may G od ble ss h im ’
with H is D i vine Satisfaction l I o n c e asked of th e

Prophet O Prophet of Allah instruct m e in the shortest
,
‘
,
way to God and facilitate m e in th e proper way to

. ,
’ ’
worship H i m H e replied O Ale e t h e proper way i s
.
,
‘
,
to mentio n or call upon H is Name

,
I asked h ow I .
’
s h ould mention Hi m and he answered Clo se your eyes

, ,
‘
,
and l i sten to m e repeat i ng after me z a iiiana iii A iiaiz

, ,
’
( there is n o God but A lla h ) These word s the Prop.h et

uttered thre e times w i th his eyes closed speaking wi t h a ,
”
loud voice and I im i tated him
,
.
’
I t is said th at once when th e Prophet and Alee were
alon e t oget h er t h e former k n elt and Alee did th e sam e ’
‘
, ,
before him s o that their knee s met The Prophe t com

,
.
m en ce d re c iting the pre c eding three times the first tim e ,
w i th h i s fa c e turned over his left shoulder th e seco n d ,
with h i s fa c e o v er h i s breas t and the t h ird with his face ,
turn ed to h i s left s h oulder ; h i s eye s were closed and his ,

“
v oice raised c on firming his H a /iees or s ay i ng The best
, , ,
of m entions or prayers i s Th ere i s n o God but Allah ’

.
,
T h is form of prayer is c alled t h e j e/z r ee or Audible a n d , ,
i s common to many oth er Orders also The silent one is .
c alled the [iii/f ee and h a d its ori gin in the comm ands of the
,
Prophet t o Abu Bekr w hen they were concealed together

fro m th eir en emies i n a cav e It m ay be adde d t he 4 ot h .
TH E D ERVI S HE S . 1
55
verse of the 9 t h chapter of the Koran i s the basis of t h e

“
form of prayer of all the D ervishe s i e They were bot h ,
. .
in a cave and he ( th e Prophet ) said t o his compan i on

, ,
Be not grieved for God is with u s H e has caused h is

, ,
protection to descend from on high and su stain ed him ,
with invisibl e armies an d h e overthrew t he word of the

—
,
in fi d els . f d
The Word o G o i s much th e h i ghest H e i s ,
p owerful an d w i se .
’
The memb ers of a B ek t as h e e Teé é ien who O ffer th e ,
name of an i ndividual t o the Sheikh for ac c eptance are ,
c alled R eap er s or Gu i d es those who a c company him in

,
the Teé nien during th e initiation are called Teiy u in an s

'
, ,
or I nterpreters an d the latter are armed with a weapon

,
called Teéaer of this shap e H

,
Th e cord whi c h is .
put roun d hi s n eck when first entering the Teé é ien i s

, ,
called th e D eiz éen a or Tay ben a The horn w h ic h the

’ ’
,
.
B ek t as h ees blow i s called the L uf er ; it is also called

after on e of the tit le s of G od Vez iooa or the Lovi n g
’
, , .
O n e of the secret sign s of the Order are i n the two

“ ”
words Teer a u an d Tooia n Far an d near sign i fying , ,
”
near in affection an d far in c onceit The se c on d Tie .
“
called B ag l or B en a is in the word s
l
/ , H e was the
’
, ,
Sovereign of th e Teineen ( Sp i ritual or Mystical ) in s t ru c

tors of all the P eer s or foun d ers of Orders and of their
, ,
”
vows and i ts execution i s th e A /i a i Vefei (p erformance ’ ‘
’
,
o f v ow
) .
TH E TW E L VE I M AM S O F TH E B E KT AS H E E S .
I t is related that the blessed Prophet tol d his con fi

dential companion s ( th e A s nabs ) that he d id n ot require -
of th em e it her the p erforman c e of the N a n n ie ( prayers ) ,
the S a t/ in ( fas t ) the H aj j (p i lgrimage t o M ek k eh ) or

, ,
the Z eky ai ( bestowal of alms to the poor) but only that ,

”
th ey shoul d look after the members of his family .
The Prophet had but on e daugh t er F at im eh whom he , ,

’
married to his n ephew Alee The A leeid e D ervishes ’
.
,
and espe ci ally th e B ek t as hees de c lare tha t t he Prop h et ,

”
d es i gned him to b e his successor ( Kaleefeh ) or Ca lip h ,
whils t t h e orthodo x Mus s ulmans deny i t This daughter .

b ore t w o sons named H asan and H usain t o whom the, ,
Prophet who had n o male children was warmly attached

, , .
These are the first I m ams of I sl a mism for althoug h many ,
deny the i r rights of s u cce s s m n their dire c t des c en t from ,
the Prophet surrounds them with a halo of veneration ,
respect and a ffection H asan was poisoned a n d lies

,
.
,
interred at M edineh an d H us a in was k i lled by Y ez e e d ,
bin M u av ieh and is buried at K erbalay , .
The fourth I m am was Z ain el A b e d ee n an d son of ’

,
H usain ; he was k i lled by M erw an the son of Yez eed , ,
and is buried at M edineh .
The fifth M o h am m ed B akir was kill ed by H ush am

, , ,
’
son of Abd u l Malik an d interred at M edine h , .
’
The sixth J a fer es S adik was killed by M ansoor i
, ,
Kufr and is buried at M edineh

,
.
The seventh M oos a el Kias im was k illed by H aroon , ,
er R a sheed with poisoned grap es and i s buried at

, ,
Bagdad The spot is still called E i Kia z z ein a in

. .
The eighth was A le e M oos a er R iz a he was k i lled

'
by the C aliph Maimoon and i s buried at Khorassan , ,
n o w called the M es / M ed i A ia
’
.
The n inth M ohammed Tagh ee was killed by the

, ,
C aliph M os t ak eem an d is bur i ed at Semara n ear Bagd a d , ,

.
T h e tenth Alee N akh i was k i lled by the C alip h

’ ’
, ,
M os t ak eem and is interred at the same pla c e

,
.
Th e eleventh H asan el A s k ere e was killed by th e ,

’
C al i ph M u t a a m m id and is buried at the sam e p la c e

’
,
.
The twelfth M e h d e e who i s said to have myster i ously

, ,
dis appeared the 1 5 th day of Sha b an an d the 2 6 6 t h year ’

,
of the H egira at Semara an d there is a cave at that , ,
place from w hich it is supposed he will reappear All the , ,

.
D erv i shes confidently expe c t this and so d o most devout ,
Mussulmans and that he will reign as a temp oral sovereign .
T h ese were all s on s of the I m am H u sa i n H asan .
also h ad children The grand c h i ldren of both es c ap ed .
from these massacres an d from them des c ended the ,
S ayy ia a z or the S ay y id s ( Cids ) w h o wear green turbans

’ ‘
/
, ,
as a fam i ly dist i n c tion a colour which i t is sa i d Allah , , ,
commanded the Prophet to use There were two kind s .
of S ay y ias ( sometimes called also E n z eer s commanders )

’
,
TH E D E R VI S H E S .
22 . F or the F en aee, or cap .
2
3 . F or ditto .
A Tery u in an , of the T e s leem t as h

'
24 . .
25 . Ditto .
26.
27 .T ek b eer, o n
A the Al ef lam - -
ed , the T e n n o oreh ,
t he P elen k .
2 8 O n the P e le n k
. .
2
9
—
.
’
3 0 . A f iain
ie -
eu .
3 1. Ka in ber ia .
3 2 . ditto .
33 Ten n oor eii .
34 . M en goos h .
35 . C ni r ag, or candle a fter the , or ceremony

at the outer d oor .
3 6 Di t to
. .
37
7)
39 . O n the C /z eiiié or whip .
Kes /igooi, beggar s cup

’
40 . .
P os i a é ee of the N ai b .
42 . of the cook .
43 . C /z a /z a r Var , or four direct Caliphs .
44 . K a r aan , or sacrifice .
45 . On asking p ermission of the Sheikh to go to the

table .
46 . On sprea d i n g the table .
47 . On the table .
48 . O n his seat at the t able .
49 O n the M a iz ianj ee or s w eeper , of the hal l of the

Teké z e/z
i u in an , or the G u s u i, ablutions
'
5 0 T e
.
y or .
5 1 On. the d oor .
5 2 . D ar i M an soor .
53 . Drink giver -
.
54 . S a i d in
( salutation ) .
55 . Attendants .
5 6 . Flag an d Lamentations for the cruel fate

of H asan and H usain .
TH E D E R VI S H E S . 1 59
5 7 .O n the Flag .
5 8 . C h ir ag o f the C entre Ston e .
59 .O n empty i ng the K es izg ooi on t h e t a ble .
6 0 On the fl baer the P ig/w e and th e C /z eiiié p e

.
, , ,
c u lia r in struments used by the B ek t as h e es when on a
long j ourney .
6 1 When putting on the girdle

. .
6 2 On the A s /z ic i M eng oos n or love for the horse shoe

’
-
.
,
of Alee used as an ear ring

’
-
.
,
6 3 On the j ernj ern eiz or s kin thrown over the shoulders

.
,
o f the B e k t as h ee s when travelling .
6 4 On the Terj u in an i D a ia ie or l eggings

.
,
.
65 . l eu en ie or long sh i rt worn by them ,

.
66 . M u iiyj e/z a wide dress worn by the m ‘
,
.
( T h ese t w o latter refer to the garm ents worn by th e

P rophet w hen h e declared Alee is my body blood soul ’
, ,
”
an d flesh : my light and his l i gh t are on e )
67 . Of the D enéen a or the rope wh ic h is put round ’
,
the dis c iple s ne c k when first introd u ced into a Z en/rim

’
.
6 8 On the S iz er bei or drink

.
,
.
6 9 Ear r i n gs
.
-
.
7 0 . Sacrifice .
7 1 .On Shaving .
7 2 On entering a Teé iz ie/z

. .
73 . the door .
74 . som e steps .
7 5 O n approaching the Shei k h

. .
The following are translation s of a fe w of t he preceding

p r a yers Some
. o f them are ordinary I slam prayers an d ,
many so closely resemble each other as n ot to be of any

particular interes t as explic a tive of th e D er v ish Orders .
“
The word Teiy u n z d n or I nterpreter has also the
'
, ,
signific a tion of a prayer though o n ly with relation to ,
sp i ritual i sm .
Tei y u in an of the d oor sill

'
1 .
I have pla c ed my head and soul ( heart ) on the sill of

the door of repentance so that my body may b e pure as ,
gold My re quest 15 that you O Sheikh deign to turn

.
, ,
”
you r ey e s f or an in stan t on this F a k ir .
2 . Terj u rn an on present ing an offering to the Sheikh

The an t brought as an offering t o Soliman ( son of

David ) t he th i gh of a grasshopp er ; thou O Sheikh art
, , ,
Soliman and I am thy an t pray ac c ep t of my h u m bl ,
O ffer i ng .
on saluting th e Sheikh and D ervish es

'
3 T ei.
y u in ez n
S u iain a ia i/e ( peace to th ee ) O ye followers of th e ,
t rue path ye elders of the light of truth ye disc i ples of

true k n owledge .
4 On ask i n g forgi v en ess of a fault

I have failed O She i kh —
.
pardon m e for the sake of

, ,
A iee ei M u r t ez a with whom G od was satisfi ed ; for the

’
,
sake of H asan the martyr of Kerbel a I have wronge d

,
.
myself O Sheikh !,
On putti g th e cap c alled F en aee x

5 . n on ,
Sign of th e glorious V ais el Kur a ; of Kamber the

groom of the sublime Alee — O f those who are dea d ’
, ,
o f the great family of t e I m am R iz a permit m e to

h —
put on this cap for I fully belie ve in i ts ef fic a cy .
6 O n putting on the eight angular stone called the

.
-
Tes ieein i d s /z
O Allah the rites of the E r en ier ( disciples ) have
,
be com e my faith n o doubt now ex i sts in my heart ; o n

”
p utting on the Tes ieen z I have given myself up to The e .
7 D itto on t h e ear ring

-
.
E n d of a ll in c rease r i ng of the n e c k of all prosperity

, ,
toke n of those who are in Parad i se gift o f the marty r ,
Shah ( H usa i n ) curses upo n Y e z ee d (w h o killed him )

,
.
8 A Tek beer of t h e Tes ieein i as /i

.
A llah Allah ! I n the name of Allah the M erciful ,
and the Cleme n t ! G od command e d him ( M oses ) to

strike the ston e with thy staff and twelve fou n tains were ,
suddenly op ened by the blow ( 2 d c h a pter of the Koran

a n d 5 7 t h verse
) We sent a .cloud over your heads ,
we sent y ou manna and qu a i ls saying E at of t h e , ,
delicious food w hi c h we h ave sent y ou y ou have more

wronged yourself tha n m e Koran i i 5 4 . . .
n z ea and t h e P eien /e
A th e f
’
9 . Te/éé eer of A i i i a -
God has been sat i sfied with t h e believers who have

g i ven t h e e the i r hand un d er the tree a s a sign o f .
fidelity H e knew the thoughts of the i r hearts

. He .
1 62 TH E D E V R I S H ES .
women (the Prophe t s fi rst w i fe ) of F at im eh —th e twelve ’
— th e leaders of the Saints —th e son s

,
f
hearts o the P e e r s
o f Al ee and the I m ams H asan an d H usain —for th e

, ,
’
,
f ourteen p ure victims son s of the I m am H usain and ,
the family of B i VI M ( This refers to the circumstance .
th at th e Prophet once collected under his u se o r cloak

’
Alee H asan and H usain an d F at im e h h i mself being
, , ,
the fifth ) For the love of the H a z r et i Kl wn é iar th e

.
,
K u i u b i E u i ia i May it burn and enlighten to the las t

o f days the love o f a
H j ee B ea m V a i ee — by th e beauty ,
’
of the Prophet and the p erfection o f Alee H oo
I
5 D itto
.
Ligh t of the sa i nts light of the h eaven s M ay this

sp ot b e like the m ountain of Ti mer ( S i na i ) where Moses ,
s a w the divine light an d worshi p pe d it ! Whenever thou

,
art lit may the l i ghter offer up a prayer for M ohammed

,
and Alee ’
16 D itto of the C i el/in ( stick )

.
D eath t o all those who believe in the Trinity Say

,
—
it does n ot op en except by Alee there is n o sword but ’
,
~
that of Zoeif a iz ar ”
( This is fro m .a verse o f the Koran ) .
17 D i tto of th e K es ngoei
.
Poor of the door of Alee beggars of the Kes ngooi of ’
th e D er k ian ( Tennien) ; S en ez i ( bo n d ) of th e lovers

I n th e name of Alee ! H oo D ost ! Ay Vallah
’
1 8 D i tto of the P os i x
.
I loo k upon the fa c e of a fa i r friend O elevated .
man ( the Sheikh ) t h ou hast th e two lines ( the eyebrows )

, ,
”
thy seat is the seat of the E iies i ( This refers to the .
1 7 r s t verse o f the 3 d chapter of the Koran I t is the i r .
belief that the l i ght of the prophets d es c ended from

G od upon the foreheads an d bet w een the eye s and the ,
pious D erv i sh closing his eyes be c omes absorbed in

, ,
thought so as to produce in i magination at least on

, , ,
his ow n forehead the for m and figure of the P eer of h i s

,
Ord er This A y a i or verse is c ons i dered as forming an

.
! k r d r or vow of fa ith
,
T he p es i a k ees of the four a n gels.
f
are t h e seats o G o d — these are r s t S iz er ee a i 2 d Ta r ee , ,
’
, ,
.
k a z 3 d H z keek a i an d 4 t h M a r ifet )
“ ’
‘
.
,
i
,
By the present ,
.
the A in i f e/n E v en le r ! H oo
’
an d the absen t
1
9 D i
. tt o of the K u r bd n
By the sacrifi ce of I sm a i l ( I shmael ) ord ered by God ,
through the angel Gabriel ! H oo D ost A y Vallah l

20 D itto of the Table
. .
( Thi s is entirely the 8 th an d 9 t h verses o f the 77 t h

c hapter and th e r 1 4 t h verse of the 5 t h chapter of the
,
Ko ran ) .
2 1 Ditto in entering the Teé é ie/z for the pu rpose of

.
,
asking hospitality
“
Allah i s ou r frien d ! Joy t o t he dwellers in t he
Teké ie/z / Love to tho se wh o are j oyful ! T o all those
F a k eer s n ow presen t ! To the P eer s and the U s i aa s
’
( mas t ers ) T o th e. N ay ibs T o t he dwellers in th i s .
hou se of the Shah ( Alee ) ’
22 The fo llowi n g i s t he G u ibeng or grace before

.
,
m eals of the Order,

“
O G od ! O G od ! by th e horn of the archangel
I s rafe el — by the m eani n g of Kamber — by the light of the
M esj ia ( Prophe t) and the M i/z r a é and the [Win ber ( altar
’
,
and pulp i t th e former pointing tow a rds M ek k eh ) — by

, ,
o u r So v ereign P eer H aj ee Bekt ash V alee S er ver Gene

(
ral ) —by the Breath of the 3 the 5 the 7 and the 4 0
, ,
true Sa i nts —w e thank The e H oo

, , , ,
Th ese n umbers refer to the P ij ai i Giz a ib ( or t he u n

seen men ) who every morning are supposed to attend
,
at the Ke abe/i ( Caaba) of M ek k eh and w h o wander

’
-
over the whole world by Divin e comman d t o s u p erin , ,
ten d the a ff a irs of mankind Of the fi rst thre e on e i s

—
.
,
c alled the K u b o C entre the secon d and third the

i r , ,
(f i n en a or the Faithful
,
One stands on the right and .
th e other on the left of the K u i b and they all stand on ,
the summit of the They are also called t he

E /z i i Tes a r r uf ( Owners or Masters of D est i ny) and t hey ,
never l eave M ek k eh There are also four others c alled .

,
E vi aa ( the Great or E m i nent ) who wander over the

’
world The seven are c alled the A nny/ai r or the V ery

.
'
Good who equally w ander O ver the surface of t he globe

, .
The 4 0 are called the S nu nea a or the V i ctims an d

‘ ’
, ,
their mission is equ a lly the sa m e There are also 7 0 .
others called t he B u rieia ( plura l of A é a ai ) or the ser

,
’
,
M 2
1 64 TH E D E V R ISH ES .
ants of Allah ; also eight called th e M i keba or t h e

‘
v , ,
D e puties and their duties are much l 1ke tho s e of the

,
others .
All of these go to M ek k eh every m orni n g an d report ,
the result of the i r previou s day s peregrinat i ons t o th e ’
K u i b or C en tre offer up prayers a n d s et o u t ane w

, , .
The H orn of the B ek t as h e e s called the L uyj er alluded

f
, ,
to in the prayers is t h e shap e of a w i ld goat s horn I t

,
’
.
is probably in remembran c e of the horn of the angel

[s r af eei By it the fratern i ty are c alle d to refreshment and ,
w arn ed of danger I t is as aforementioned also called

.
, ,
Ya Via ooz i ( O Loving God )

’
On th e Asiati c sid e of the Bosph orus inla n d from ,
the town of Cadi Ky oy ( an ci ent Chalcedo n ) i s a small ,
v illage called M er /ieu en Ky oy mu c h visited by p i ous as

, ,
well as simply superstitiou s M u ssulmans on account o f a ,
tomb which it conta i n s ; This tomb contains the dust of

a D ervish of the B ek t as h e e Order nam ed Azb i Ch aush ,
’
on c e a publi c messenger of the government i n the time of

the She i kh u l I slam V annee and the reign of Sultan Ahmed
, .
Th i s C /z au s n or m essenger was or d ered to c a rry into

, ,
exile to the town of I llim iy eh an indiv i dual nam ed

, ,
M u s r ee N iaz z ee E ffendi On their way th e m essenger

.
p er c e i ved that whenever h i s prison er p erformed the

,
B z s rn iiia /i prayer his fetters fell off h i s wr i s t s and sup

'
, , ,
posing he had a se c ret method of effecting this doubled ,
them Notw i thstandi n g this precaution the sam e thi n g

.
,
o cc urred H e therefore be c ame aware that it was t o be

.
a ttr i buted ent i rely to his great san c tity a n d his respe c t ,
for h i m be c ame in con sequen ce very profound .
After rea c hing I llim iy eh he resigned h is o ffi ce of ,
Ch aush an d resided there with thi s pious m a n some

,
fifteen years At the expirat i on of this p eriod the exile

.
,
told h i s c ompanion that h e w a s about to die H e pre .
sented him w i th his fl s ieein i ds /z which h e had alway s ,
worn around his ne ck and the Ken z er or g i rdle from his

, , ,
waist and begged h i m to return to St am b ool where hi s

, ,
wife was about to marry anot h er p erson and t o eat of ,

.
her Zer a a P iidfi ( or wedding d ish ) H e r eached th e

’ ‘
.
capital j ust as the weddi ng was about to be c on s u m

therein is a true believer and whoever depar t s from i t is ,

”
an infidel w h o disbelieves G od .
This is said to be the S piritual signification of the s 5 t h

verse of the 2 d c hap t er of th e Koran E nter into th i s .
city enj oy the weal t h wh ic h is there to your entire satis

,
fa c tion ; but on enter i ng prostrate yourselves and say , ,
Pity us O Lord ! an d H e will pardon your S ins for he

, ,
has said H e will bestow ou r g i fts up on the j ust

, .
’
Alee and those who follow him w i ll find salvation in

’
, ,
”
the Day of Judgment .
T HE I N 1T 1A T 10 N OF A B E KT AS H E E .
The Mu r ee d must be well re c ommen d ed to the Murshid

( She i kh ) o f th e Tekk ie/i by two members of the fraternity ,
c alled the R eap er s or guides previously ment i on ed On ,

.
the n ight appointed for h i s reception he take s with ,
him a sheep for sacrifi c e and a sum of m on ey ac c ord i ng

,
t o hi s means as an offering to the Sheikh which i s sub

, ,
sequently divided among the funct i on aries of the Tekkien ,
twelve in number The sheep i s sa c rifi c ed at the s i ll of

.
the door and a rope is made from i ts w ool an d put

, ,
round his n eck The rema i nder i s preserved for th e

.
p urpose of being made into a Ta iii en a for hi s sub sequent

’
u se The flesh is kep t for the m eal of which all par

.
,
ta k e after the ceremon y As the m eetings of the Or d er.
are all secret c are i s t aken that n o l i steners are c oncealed

,
about the Tek k ieh and t w o of the fratern i ty keep guard

,
outside th e door Three others are en s er vice in sid e

.
,
the Teké ie/z .
The M u reed is deprived of nearly all his c lothing an d ,
c are i s taken that he has nothing on h i s p erson of a

metalli c or miner a l ch a ra c ter show i ng th a t on entering , ,
the order an d offer i ng h i mself to the Murshid h e makes

, ,
a voluntary sacrifi c e of the world and a ll its wealth an d ,
other attra c tion s I f he designs taking the M uj a r r ea

.
’
[t r ai n or V o w of C el i b a c y he is str i pp ed entirely n aked, ,
whilst in case h e d oes n ot his breast alon e is bared

‘
, ,
.
The rop e is put around h l S n ec k and h e is led into ,

th e h all of th e Tekk ieh by t w o Terj u n z an s or S piritual ,
interpreters en s er n iee i n side of it

,
H e sees before him
,
.
t w el v e p ersons all seated on e of them is the M ursh id

, ,
( Sheikh ,) and before ea c h a l i ghte d lamp o r candle H e .
i s led to a stone of twelve angles in the centre of the hall ,
c a lled the M a ia ein Tri s /z and directed to stand u pon it

’ ’
, ,
with hi s arms c rossed on h i s breast an d h i s hand s resting ,
o n his should ers This is called B oy u n Kes in e/e or

.
,
“
bending the n eck i n h umble re sp ect and p erfe c t sub
”
m i ssion . H i s ri g ht great t o e i s pres sed over the l eft
great t oe an d his head is incl i ned t owards his right
,
should er his w hole body leaning toward s the Sheikh

,
.
One of th e Teiy u i n an s addressi n g the Sheikh an

'
, ,
n o u n ces to him that he has brought h i m a Kooi or slave , ,
a n d asks whether he will ac c ept of him to wh ic h the ,
S h ei k h acquies c es Addressi n g th e She ikh he rep eats t h e

.
,
following prayer after the guid e

“
I have erred — pardon my fault O Sh ah ! for th e
, ,
sake of th e a c cepted on e of th e exalted p la c e ,
for the sake of H usain the m artyr o f Kerbel a I have , .
done wrong to myself an d to ou r lord a n d I implore , ,

”
p ardon of him .
H is fault is in h av i n g deferred b ecom in g a m em be r of

the Order The Sheikh recites the prayers pres c ribed in
.
the L i tany aforementioned and the disciple respond s t o ,
them from t h e sam e taught him previously by the t w o ,
R eap er s who recomm end ed him t o th e Sheikh

,
At the i r .
con clu s io n t h e t w o Tery u in an s lead h i m off the stone and

’
, ,
holdi n g him by the arms con duct him t o the She i kh , ,
before whom he bows low an d then prostra t es himself ,

.
H e then k n eels before the She i kh in a p eculiar positio n ,
the former t ak i ng his han d into hi s own .
The M a ia cin Tris /i represents the altar on whi c h in

’
obedience t o the D iv i ne co mma n d [br a/ri m ( Abraha m ) ,
was ab out to o ffer up his son I shm a il ( I saa c ) The ’

.
kneeling p o s i tion of the M u r ee d is tha t which it is sa i d , ,

’
was taken by Ale e before the Prophet his kn ees tou c h i ng ,
those of the Sheikh ; each h old s the other s r i ght hand ’

,
th e t wo thumb s raise d up in the form of the letter A iif

( )
a, t he first o f the Oriental alphabet H e places h is .
1 68 TH E D ERVI S H E S .
’
ear n ear t o t he Sheikh s m outh and the latter recites to ,
him th e r o t h verse o f the 4 8t h c hapter of the Ko ran

Those who on giving th ee their hand swear to thee
—
, ,
an oath of fi d elit y swearing i t to God ; the han d o f

,
G od i s placed on the i r h a nds Whoever violates hi s .
oath does so to his h urt an d h e who rem a ins faithful to

, ,
”
it w i ll re c e i ve from God a magnificent reco m pense
,
.
The two R eap er s who c onducted th e M u r ee d to the

Teniéie/z remain outside of the door armed with the
, ,
w eap on formerly described c all ed H aber , .
Som e say that as the B ek t as h e es believe in a certain

,
principle of a Pantheistical character the Sheikh whisp ers ,
i n the ear of the dis ci ple a do c trin e t o wh i ch h e mus t

c on s ent under the p enalty of death and that he must
, ,
“
adm it that there i s n o God m ea n i ng however that , , ,
all livi n g nature i s Go d but others d eny it and from a ,
go od D ervish source I have l earned that it i s n ot c orre c t .
I have also been told that ther e are oth er se c rets of

the Order which are imparted by the Sheikh to the
M u re ed und er a fearful p enalty in c ase he imparts the m
,
but as these are n ot pr i n ted nor even written they are , ,
known only t o t h o s e of th e Order Th ese form the .
Her ar n ain e/z or vo w s of th e fratern i ty

,
The B e k t as h ee s .
”
call the Sheikh A lee an d t h e R eap er M ohamme d
’
, , ,
t hus placing in their spiri t o mysti c al category the

‘
, ,
Prophet lower th an the C alip h I t i s also s a id that th e .

,
M u ree d before h is a c ceptan c e is placed under surve i l

, ,
lance for a full year an d has imp arted to him c ertain

,
false secrets S O as to test his powers of fid elity H e is

, .
,
d ur i ng this period c alled a M eiz a iut i e on e who is be i n g

, ,
. .
,
ver i fi ed I n the m eant i m e he fre quents the Tené ieiz but

.
,
l earns none of the real mysterie s of the Order Non e .
a re present a t the init i ation beyond the She i kh the ,
represent a t i ves of the other eleven I m ams and the Te; ,
j u m iz n s
. I t i s c a lled the Har ar ; a n d wh enever a D er
v ish i s asked to wh om h e m a d e his h e name s

the P eer or founder o f the Ord er and not t h e S h eikh , .
N o other reply is ever e xp ected or give n ,

.
I am also informed that each Sheikh est a blis h e s a

par t icular S ign by which the members of his own Tekkie/z
- 1
’
hammed is my R eap er Alee is my
M u r s nia ( Spiritual guide )
’
.
The Sheikh then asks him

”
D o you accept of me as your M urshid ? ( in the
place and as the representative of Ale e ) ’
.
The M u re e d replies ,
I accept of thee as my Murshid .
The Sheikh respo nds ,
I then accept of the e as my son .
These word s may s eem to be of little import yet they ,
have to devout Mussulman s a sign i fi c at i on of an impious

a n d awful nature for they place the blessed Prophet an d
t h e Koran infer i or to Alee and the She i kh as h i s r ep r e
’
, ,
s e n t at iv e in the pla c e of the Prophet

, .
After having been on c e adm i tted as a D er v1s h the ,
o nly salutation on enter i ng the Tet iz ie/z is to incline th e
head gently t owards the S h eikh an d lay the r i ght han d ,
a cross the breast near to the ne c k in S ign of p erfe c t

, ,
s ubmission to him When meeting in public I am

.
,
informed and have verified it by observation that D er

, ,
v is h es recogn i se each other by placing the r i ght hand ,
a s if un intent i onally on the c hin Some an d I b el i eve

, .
,
it is a general rule on entering a Teniz ie/z or meeting a

, ,
brother pl a c e the right hand upon the h eart and with

, ,
a gentle inclination of the body ex c laim y e H ee , , ,

”
E r en ier l
“
The reply is Ay Va iia ii s ne/u m ( or ) P eer in z
,
.
“
The former m ean s O H i m ( God or J ehovah )
, ,
”
Eren s ( noble fello w s and the latter G ood by Allah , , ,
my S iz a n or my P eer , .
On making an i nquiry of th e health they say Keifl er , ,

“
j uni eu s nier i in ( H ealth my J oys ) and the reply is A
, y .
, ,
Va il a le E r en ier inz E r en s )
( G ood
“
by Allah my , ,
.
On me eting they say , H ee D es i E r en ier ( H im , ,

“ ”
friend Er en s ) an d th e reply i s
, ,
Ay Va iia /z E r en ler , ,
.
”
O n departing to t a ke leave they exclaim Ay Vaiia /z l
, , ,
and the re sp on se is H ee D es i ,
.
I may here a d d that these salu t ations are common t o

,
o th er Orders than the B ek t as h e e s though generally in , ,
p riva t e life they ,

all u s e the ordinary I slam o ne o f ,
TH E D ERVI S H E S . 1 7 r
” “
S u iain A ia ié u n z , Pea c e b e with y ou , and the reply
“ ”
is , A ia ik u in es S a iain , W i th y ou b e p e a c e .
The following extrac t from the same M SS is explica .
tive of some of their forms I t i s the address of the .
M u r s nia to th e neophyte
’
C ome near and learn the mann er in whi c h we lead

y ou in the Tru e Path to All ah Th ose w h o com e to the .
Avowal are well un d erstood by u s hearts respond to

,
hear t s on e p erson is needed who kn ows the way to b e

pursued —on e to in i tiate — and on e to a c t the part of
, ,
a friend ; those to be presen t w i ll all b e there ( in the

Teé é ieiz ) and we then lead the M u r e ed in the Path on e
,
on h i s r i ght and on e on his l eft w h o are called P ee p er s , ,
and remain by your side three p ersons act as servants ,
called P er e cz n efi s and so n ow we op en the wonderful

’‘
, ,
Teieé ieii for labour Twelve p ersons must be there well

.
,
knowing the four C olumn s of the Ord er ; give up all

worldly knowledge and co n fi de your souls to us ; th e
,
K eep er s conduct you to the [ Mr ( or th e M a in an Tit s /z ) ’

,
and there you make your v ow Y ou th en know what a .
M u r s nia is and we also know the same ; you enter by

’
,
the four doors ( the C olu m n s ) and serve under them with ,
warmth an d fidelity ; b e n ot a hypocrite or w e will ,
know how to pu n ish y ou the M ur s nia will address y ou ’
from the texts of the A /z a or C ovena n t ( Koran vii

’ ’
,
.
receive his w ords with all your heart or he will cut o ff ,
your head I f those who know not G o d or th e P eer

.
, ,
l earn from y ou y our secrets y ou will be led by them ,
to t h e prison and the asylum of the insa n e or caus e

, ,
your death and w e will be with you in the hour of

,
merited punishme n t Be careful not t o follow th e

.
dictates of your p ersonal passion s an d so wrong the four ,
C olumns of ou r Order ; your pla c e will at first be that of

the lowest d egree and if y ou are fa i thful we will raise
, ,
y o u t o the Ple i ade s assoc i ate only w ith those who lik e ,
yourse lf have l earn ed the secrets an d taken t he vow of

,
ou r Order ; others w i ll divulge what y ou tell them ,
d enou n ce y ou t o the publi c and cause u s t o d egrade y ou ,
for your weakness Follow in the path and keep the

.
,
secrets of the E r en s an d s o sustain th e h igh standing of

,
the Order whatever comes t o your heart regarding the

true path keep it for communion with u s ; t o us y ou

,
have m ade your v ow and fro m u s learn the kn owledge ,
wh i ch you an d we must possess .
“
Whenever your true fr i ends th e R enper s an d the ,
brethren prese n t are of o n e m ind and he a rt they b e

, ,
c ome E ni i B a ii or m embers of the family of th e ,
Prophet ( a d egre e ) su c h as th ose who were E /z i i

A ba or tho se w h o were covere d by him w i th his mantle
’
( a degree ) o r all of the 3

,
-
the 4 2 an d th e 7 3 in num , ,
b er ( a d egree ) Th e P e/zp er s m u st have a sword the

.
,
Z eeij a niei r
‘
your offering to th e M u r s iz ia mu st be con s is ’
fen t w ith your m eans an d will form your j Viz r ( votive ,
o ffering ) ; p lace this in the hand of the b earer of th e

Teeé er it is to clean se your heart and fill it w i th purer
, ,
thoughts ; on e half of it is for the s ee/z ( Sheikh who ,
represents Alee ) and th e rest w i ll be d i vided into four

’
p a rts of which the half is for the Eren s and th e other

, ,
half for the expense s of the Te/ek ie/z .
’
The night of meeti n g i s called that o f the A in i f ein ’
,
the five p ersons ( the R e/zp er s and th e P er e ei n e/i s or

"
Terj u n i é n s ) mu st all be of on e soul and of the d egree ,
o f th e E /z ii A M for they are th e lights of the c ongre

’
i an d are c alled A Z enr a S n e er

( r H as
’
g a t o n ,
i ee
e p o , ,
s an ) S —
z r ei i K u er ii
n
,
a fi P eer
( H usai n
) and the H a
( th e ,
-
M eh d e e ) .
They say tha t there are four distin c t worlds th e fi rst ,

-
A ieiu i —M is a i or the world o f d ream s or as s im u la

,
t i on s ; t h e s econd the Aieiu i Ej s a 7n the present or ,

’
- -
w orld of bodies th e thi rd the A iei u i M eiieeei or

, ,
’
-
world of angeli c b eings ; and the fourt h the Aie7n ,

’
i— N as eei or th e world of m ortals Man s e x1s t en ce ’

.
,
i s divided into three p a rts wakeful existen ce when all ,

-
,
t h e mental fa c ultie s are v i gorou s ; S leep when the ,
faculties o f life are lulled or anni h ilated but th e sp irit ,
i s wakeful ; an d death wh en th e body h a s entirely ceased ,
t o p ossess a n i m at i o n o r existen c e and the spir i t is fre ed ,
from its mortal ties Th e Aienz i M is a i i s also a state .

’
- -
o f ecs t at icis m when the spirit or soul has perception s

, ,
though th e body i s not l u lled by sleep of spirituality ,
or o f the b eautiful in thought I t then may have .

T H E D ERVI S HE S
”
1 74 .
virtue s this li fe as well as of acts of supererogatory ex

of ,
ce llen c e are d eem ed by them essential t o the p ath

,
whi c h they a dopt and i n this they care but little for the
,
commendat i on and adm i ratio n of the publi c for all their,
acts a r e p erformed in referen c e only t o the Divine sat i s

faction .With them sin cerity free from all hypo c risy
, , ,
i s th e essential obj e c t of their live s and God only is the

,
j udge of the i r c ondu c t They absta i n from all possibl e

.
rebellion against H i s command s the i dea even o f w h i ch

,
is a sin ; t h ey are sai d to expose good and conceal evil ,
an d a mo n g them are persons of great ex c ellence o f c ha

rac t e r commendabl e for all the virtue s and excellences
,
o f life ; but yet th e veil or curtain of mor t ality is n ot

withdrawn from their eyes and their vision is that which
,
belongs only t o temporal ex i sten c e They therefore

.
, ,
do n ot po sses s the same d i s t inc t p erc ept i o n as the

S oofli eh s of the Divine unity .
C H AP T ER VI I I .
TH E M E L AM I Y O O N S
TH E original found er of thi s order in C on s t an t inople ca m e

fro m B roos a H is name is Sheikh
. H amza an d o n that ,
account th ey are sometimes c alled H am z av e es T he .
author of the Order i e the P eer c ame from Persia an d

,
. .
, , ,
hi s tomb i s in the cemetery of Silivria Capusu beyon d ,
th e walls of the capital T hey s ay that t h e c hief of all

.
th e Orders is H as an B a s ree of Basrah w here h e d i e d , ,
and that h e recei ved his spir i tual powers d irectly from
’
A lee .
Th e Melét m iy oon s had a Tek k ieh in Scutari in the

‘
D iz i/iier s called that of H immet Efendi ; another in

'
,
St a m b ool at Yan e e B ak ch ee n ear N ak k ét s h Pasha

’
Th e
, .
”
latter i s called H immet Zei d eh T ek k ieh s ee and i s in ~
app earance li k e any common dwell i n g I t bears at .
pre sent the nam e of B air ain ieii A n other at Kassim .
P asha n ear K ollak s iz i s called

,
Sachle e H ashim
,
E fend i Tek k ieh see On e of their great m en i s buried

.
at the cemetery of Shahid le r ab ove the Castl e of E u rop e , ,

’
o n th e B osphorus ; he was named I sma il Ma s h ook ee
’
.
Ano t her Tek k ieh existed in C onstantin ople at Ak Seray , ,
c alled Oglan la r Sheik h ee I ts Sheikh was I brahi m .
E fen d i and was im m ediately b ehin d th e eerp s a e g a r a e

,
’ ’
o f tha t locality H e was put t o death by order of Sultan

.
Sol i man I on account of his writings wh i ch were con

.
,
s id e r e d anti orthodo x I t i s said tha t h e had forty

-
.
M u ree d s all of whom vo luntarily were de c apitated at

, , ,
the same time that he was pu t t o d eath O n the tombs .
o f t h e Mel g m i o on s are p eculiar sig n s t he origin a n d S l g

y
-
n ifi cat ion of whi c h I have n ot been able t o learn F or .

’
i nstan c e , tha t of E l H aj ee Omar Aga d eceased A H
on ,
. .
1 1 2 2 an d that o f A bb aj i e l H aj ee Abdullah Aga d e ’
, ,
c eased A H 1 1 3 7 which have been shown to m e th ere

. .
, ,
i s a d ouble triangle o f thi s shape X Others have a .
S ingle triangle thus A and som e with the addit i on of

, ,
one or m ore dots above and ben eath the angles M any .
have also t h e M u /z r i S u ieen z an or Soliman s S eal

“ - -
,
’
thus on e triangle c overing a n other i f bu t w ithout

, , ,
d ots o r p oi n ts Some say that the original Order was

.
the Kna ie ei ees from whom de scended the B airam e es an d

, ,
from these the H am z av ees by whi c h nam e the M el a ,
m iy o on s are n ow k nown in C on stantinople .
Like th e Order of the B ek t as h e e s that of the H amza ,
vees is almost und er prohibit i on at C on stantinople ,
though fro m widely d i fferent causes The latter it i s .

,
s a i d hold their m eetings in secret in houses in no w ise

, ,
f e s e m b lin g Teé é ie/z s and for thi s reason it is thought by

’
some p erson s that they are Mussulman Freemasons I t .
h as even b een said that th e M elam iy oon s have severa l

,
lodges in th e O ttoman E mpire under warrants from a ,
Grand Lo d ge existing on the Lake of T i berias i n Pales ,
ti n e where it was taken after the destru c tion of J erusalem

,
.
Th e word M eiain iy een signifie s the c ondemned

“ ” “ ”
,
or
“
the reproa c hed —a t i tle assumed by thi s Or d er
”
,
.
Their Litany sh ows them t o be a very sincerely pio u s

se c t c on sc i ent i ous i n all the i r dealings an d living mu c h
, ,
for themselves and the i r do c trin e w it h out any regard for ,
the O pi n ion of th e world They even d i sregard exter n a l .
appe a rances so much so that any p oor a n d miserable

, ,
obj e c ts as destitute of intelle ct as of th e ga rme n ts n e ce s

,
sary to cover their p erson s is n o w called in St a m b ool ,
a M eiai n iy een .
Sheikh H am za was put to d eath on a F ei u /z or religio u s ,
s enten c e of the M u f t e e Abu S aoud A H 9 6 9 H is r e ,

. . .
ma i ns are buried n e a r the Siliv r ia G a te i n a spot kn own ,
only to his brethren an d parti c ul a r friends As h is .
ac c us a tion was a stran ge on e and l i ttle u nderstood by ,
th e public h e is generally con sidered either as a very

,
revered martyr or as an impiou s disbeliever in I slam

,
ism . H is crime was tha t of n eglect m g to rep e a t in

‘
con t emplat i on an d supplication and t h e old m an
’ ‘
,
’
bad e m e d o the same w h i c h I did thinking only of , ,
Allah After som e time I opened my eyes and saw a

.
,
l i gh t turning roun d the ci r c le an d I c ried ou t A ila li P at ,

‘
th e sam e i nstant the feeling that my heart was filled w i th

the love of God be c ame so impressed upon m e that
I swooned away a n d was quite senseless for an h our
, .
A t the end of t h i s time I revived and looking round ,
m e found that all t h ose who had been with m e had

disapp eared ex c ept th e old m a n wh o as pre v iously
, , , ,
was engaged a t h i s work and my fa t h er who sat n ear ,
m e My fath er so soon as I c oul d r i se bade m e go

.
, ,
w ith him M y heart was still filled with age I kissed

.
,
th e h an d of the old man an d so as to con c eal myself I ,
wr apped my c loak o v e r m y breast at seeing whi c h t h e ,
old m an told m e n o one c ould see it and that I must ,
strive al w ays to keep it th ere .
On our way I tried to think who our Sheikh was and

, , ,
though I had n ever seen him wondered whether I should ,
e v er behold his fa c e at the s a me time feeling a war m ,
affection for him I was as h amed to ask my father who

.
h e was but my affe c tion for him in c reasing I was on e

, , ,
Friday requested to a c comp a ny my father to the mosque

,
S ofi a/z an d there p er for m our prayers

”
o f Ay e; ,
After .
these were terminated we left the m osque ; my fath er ,
co v ered himself and looked b eh i nd h i m with mu c h

,
respect on a cc ou n t of some p erson then present Just .
t h en I p er c eived an age d man come ou t of the m osque

, ,
w ho ,
in p assing saluted us and inqu i red of my father
, ,
w h o I was and wh ether I was n ot his son

,
H e looked .
fixedly at me and immediately I felt like a j ez i en or

, ,
crazed p erson the people in the way colle c ted roun d u s ,
and my fa ther told them that I was suffering under a

compla i nt whi c h at times th u s a ff ected m e I had to .
be conveyed h om e where I rem a in ed in a state of ,
insen sibility A fter my re c overy I a sked my father wh o

.
,
th e i ndividual was whose regard had so stra n gely

impre ssed me and h e told me t hat he was ou r Lord an d
,
C hief I d rees ee Alee E fend i the [fi ne i Z a nz an an d

,
’
, ,
t he bestower of the j ez ee/z i R a nz n an and that th e ,

TH E D ERVI S H E S . I 79
bre thren whom we had seen at th e Ker /é C fi es /u n efi were

”
his disciples .
A Tr an s ia i ion of i /z e R is a/en (p pa m n i ei or i r aei

) f
o
i fi e H a m z avees , ei /z er w is e fen ow n a s i ne M ei ain iyoen ,

w r ii i en éy L u i ee Ef en d i Z aa en A o
’ ’ ’ ’
a u i B ak ee, w ne is
ou r iea a i i /z e m os q u e of Ey ooo ei A n s ar ee,— on w fi ein be

7
i fi e D ivin e s a i isf a ei ion H e en i er ea i ne [( a ien a er Knan efi

’ ’
.
’
in i ne v iein iiy of i fi e s a ia n z es eu e, n ea r ine Teé é ien of i ne
D nena r a iees .[f is i oin ois n ea r i o iis d oor w ay H e w as .
r an nen Or d er , a n d s u bs e u en i i
'
or igin a iiy o f n B i y j n ea
’
i e a e oi
i na i o f i ne M i
ei e n z ieii s T/ i is R is aiefi eon i a in s , in a ei a ii
.
’
,
i fi e r ii es of i ne i a ii er Or d er , i neir in i er eeu r s e, a n a g r ea t
’
’
iou ef or Gea .
C H APT E R I .
T H E SE CTA R I AN RI T E S O F TH E M UC H L O VI N G TA R E E K OF TH E
M EL A M I Y O O N .
The fo llowing i s the advice which the F a k eer or elder ,
member of the Tareek gives to the d i s c iple ,
I f after having p erformed the A ii k id in i S ner ee a i or

,
’
,
’
religiou s ordinan c es the L eu ez z irn i Ta r ee/ea i or exigen c ies

, ,
o f th e Order any one commits an act grow i ng ou t of th e

,
feebleness of the human pass i ons and contrary to the ,
S ner ee a i an d t h e Ord er and p ermits h i mself t o u s e

’
,
improp er language or c ommits a S infu l a c t he w i ll be

, ,
expelle d from the Ord er ; he w i ll not be p ermitted t o

re enter it ; but i f after this he a c kn o w ledges his fault
-
, , ,
and promises n ot to commit the sam e again and ,
begs to be restore d t o his place the way t o arri v e at i t ,
will b e p ointed ou t to him and he will renew his B e a i ,

’
,
or confirmation H e must conform strictly to the com

mands given him — to the law of G od —the A é vai or
.
, , ,
dire c tions of the i nspired Prophet and the Ta r eeé a i of the ,
saints ; he will und ergo the d i sciplinary punishment of

the Order t o b e r e accepted as before in all love I f
,
-
.
,
N 2
on the contrary h e refuses t o d o th i s he mus t remai n

, ,
for ever rej ected .
God forbid such an occurrence Should any on e wh o

believes i n th e E n ? i Ten/z eea or U n i ty of th e D iv i nity ’
, ,
s o far err as to ad mit the erron eous do c trine of the

Va /z a ei ei Vuj eefi
’
or th e existence of the D ivin e
,
Creator in all things of H is creation and thus fall from ,
t h e true path into i mp i ety persis ting at the s a me time , , ,
in the corre c tness of his course adding that E i oa ii ea ii ,
U iia fi and E i z a ii aa ii U iia /z i t i s t h e duty of every ,
correct person t o str i ve by gentle mean s to withdraw , ,
h i m from such an error by s h owi n g him h i s faul t an d

,
th e d a n gers which he i ncurs an d telling him clearly that , ,
s o long as h e con tin ues i n such a s i n he cannot b e of us ,

.
H e m ust also be cu t off from all intercourse with his

former fr i ends an d a ss o c iates so that no on e will ,
commun e w i th him Th ey must e v en a v oid his presen ce

. .
Sh ould the Almighty i n H is bountiful mercy again draw

, ,
h i m in to the true path an d he repen t of his sin the , ,
whole fal se doctrin e of hi s heart will disapp ear and he ,
again become a br i ght light H e will come to his Sheikh .

,
and admit his s i ns an d return to th e discipline of the

,
Order . The S eas ai i S eofi en or pu n ishments of th e ,
S oof ees are n u m erous and are all well known t o the
, ,
She i kh so that he can pres c ribe them accord i ng to

,
the fault whi c h t h e err i n g on e may have committed .
After this h e i s r e admitted an d th e past i s forgotten

,
-
,
.
“
Alas that wh i lst at on e tim e it was so n e c essary to b e
se c ret in t he matters of our Order everything has become ,
publi c U p t o th e time of th e venerable M ohammed

'
H ashim on e of th e Sheikhs of ou r Order there was n o

, ,
n eed for se c re c y : the A a ao i Ta r eeé a i or moral rules of

’
,
the Order and the A /z é iai n i S na r ee a i or holy com

’
, ,
man d s of the law were brilliantly exe c uted by the

,
F akeer s an d n o referen c e was ever m ade to the j udges

,
and gove rnors of the sovereign everyt hing was done by

th e c omm and of th e Sheikh s of ou r Ord er ; the faulty
admitted their errors and sin s rep ented of them and , ,
suffered their expiation i n this w orld s o as not to do s o

P an th eis m .
of them is prescribe d on e A m e n am e or title of G od , ,
an d th ey are also c alled the A i oar i S eoi a n O God ’

.
,
all favour is from Thee so i s the true path of love an d ,
sanctity ; Show then this true path to those who see k

after the All J ust to those lovers of th e All Beautifu l
-
,
-
a n d lead them to the obj ect of their desires ; preserve
them from S h a me and ind i ffer en ce intox i cate them w i th

th e win e of reun i on to Thee and love ; open t o their
sight a glimp se of Thy perfe c t be auty ; O thou Living
On e Thou Aider through thy Fr i en d ( the Prophet ) and
, , ,
the Seal of the u n iverse on w hom be prayers an d salva ,

”
tion and on his family an d all his friends Amen
,
. .
T H EI R A SS E M B L IE SON .
When ever those who follow i n this path an d who love ,
t he unique God to the number of t w o or three or more

, , ,
meet together and j oin in the Ten /z eea and the Z ier an d ’
,
their hearts are occupied with their worldly affairs they ,
should on their way to th e place of m eeting employ their

, ,
minds with thoughts of God i n all sin c erity and purity , ,
an d also beg their P eer to lend t h em his sp i ritual aid so ,
that when they reach the meeting they may all small a n d , ,
great with humility and con trit i on embra c e the ha n d of

, ,
each other and devoutly j oin in the contemplation of th e

,
D eity and turn their faces toward s the Gra c e of the A ll

,
J ust ( H a nk ) the ever ris i ng love of Allah w i thout har

,
-
b ou r in g in the tongue in the mi n d or otherwise any , , ,
thoughts resp ect i ng worldly concerns but with p erfect , ,
hearts and active Spirits t ake part in thes e p ious ,
ceremonies .
They mu st n ext offer up th ose pray ers which are con

f ormable w i th the rules of the Order seat themselves , ,
and if there be amo n g them any on e possess i ng a plea

,
sant voi c e let him peruse ten verses of th e great Koran

, ,
and interest t h e company w i th some a c count of t he p r o

p h e t s and sa i nts o r even of the Deity ,
N o o n e must feel .
con cern abou t his worldly affairs all their remarks must
be relative to the love of G od of pious fe rvour ( here ,
the name u sed is f ers een wh i ch s i gn i fies craziness or

/
, ,
that condition in which the mind and in t ellec t is t aken

’
away from the bo dy by D iv in e favour as in idiots ) ; n o ,
o n e not o f th e Order must be adm i tted an d shoul d any ,
such b e presen t t h e pecul i ar gift of God (F a iz U lla /i )

,
will not rest there After this the a ssembly must disp erse
.
,
an d each return to his proper worldly occupation E very .
o n e must even whe n thus employed preserve in his

, ,
heart the love for God Should other thoughts than th e s e

.
enter his mind he mus t forsake his occupat i on an d seek

,
converse with the E ni i P en a ( those who ha ve abandoned

t he world ) an d the F u é er a ( D ervishes ) and they mu st
"
not b e satisfied with themselve s unt i l t h ey have in t h i s

manner freed their h earts When they casually mee t .
each other let their conversation be al w ays about God

, ,
and n ever c onsider the m selves as be i ng superior to an y

on e else ; but on the contrary regard t h emselves as
—
, ,
poorer lower and m ore humble than all others as in

, ,
signi ficant even as an ant Following th i s course they

, , .
,
must as much as p ossible withdra w from all inter c ours e

, ,
wit h t h e world seek to gain their liv i n g hon estly alway s

, ,
endeavouring to lead sp i ritua l lives They must n ot .
d ivulge th e se crets t o the i r families ( wives a n d ch i ldren ) ,
nor to any on e who i s n ot a seeker of the trut h ( Taiio

s eer/1) and ask for assistance in attaining to the p a th of
,
God ( H a k k) I n that c ase violenc e must not b e used

.
toward s him who does divulge t h em to another in th e

Vie w of engaging h im to j oin the Order and find s that
he refuses but such c ases are rare .
T H A N K S F O R F O OD .
I t is on e of th e rul es of th e O rder obliga ,
t ory o n all i ts m embers whene v er he i s at meals w i th a

,
brother or even alone to retain in his heart the remem

, ,
bran c e of God and after the conclusion o f his meal to

, , ,
offer thank s to G od in a d evou t prayer For th i s pur .
p ose,
h e must s i n c erely turn h i s thoughts to H im ,
and pronounce the Z ier U iia /i ( Koran xxiv 3 7 3 8 .

,
“
M en celebrate H is praises whose tra ffic do es n ot ,
di v ert their mind s from rem embra n c e of H im ,
from th e observa n ce of prayer an d from th e gi v ing of ,
alms w h o fear the day wherein man s h eart and eyes

,
’
of them is prescribe d on e A s m a n am e or title of Go d , ,

“
an d t h ey are also c alled th e A i r/ ar i S eoi a n O God ’
.
,
all favour is from Thee so i s th e true path o f love an d ,
sanctity ; Show then this true p a th to those w h o see k

after the All J ust to t h ose lovers of th e All Beautifu l
-
,
-
and l ead them to th e obj ect of their desires ; preserve

them from sh a me and ind i ffer ence intox i cate them w i th
the wine of reun i on to Thee and love ; open to their
sight a glimp se of Thy p erfect be auty ; O thou Living
On e Thou Aider thro u gh thy Fr i en d ( the Prophet) an d
, , ,
the Seal of the u n iverse on whom be prayers an d salva ,

”
tion and on his family an d all his friends Amen
,
. .
T H EI R A SS E M B L IE S
ON .
When ever those who follow i n this path and wh o love ,
t he unique God to the n umber of t w o or three or more

, , ,
meet together and j oin in the Tee /z eea an d the Z iar an d ’

,
their hearts are occupied with their worldly affairs they ,
should on their way to the place of m eeting employ their

, ,
minds with thoughts of God i n all sin c erity and purity , ,
an d also beg their P eer to lend t h em his sp i ritual aid so ,
that when they rea c h the meeting they may all small and , ,
great with humil i ty and co n trit i on embra c e the ha n d of

, ,
each other and devoutly j oin in the contemplation of th e

,
‘
D eity and turn their faces towards the Gra c e of the A ll

,
J ust ( H a kk ) the ever ris i n g love of Allah without har

,
-
b ou rin g in the t ongue in the mi n d or otherwise any , , ,
thoughts respe c t i ng worldly concerns but with p erfect , ,
hearts and a c tive spirits t ake part in thes e p iou s ,
c eremonies .
They mu st n ext o ffer u p t h ose pray ers which are con

formable w i th the rules of the Order seat t h emselves , ,
and if there b e amo n g th em any on e possess i ng a plea

,
sant voice l et him peruse ten verses o f t h e great Koran

, ,
and interest t h e company w i th some a c count of the pro

p h e t s and sa i nts o r even of the D eity
,
N 0 one must feel .
con cern ab out his worldly affairs all their remarks must
be relative to the love of G od of piou s fervour ( here ,
the name u sed is j ez oen wh i ch s i gn i fies craziness or , ,
t hat condi t ion in which t he mind and in t ellect is taken

shall b e troubled so that Go d may recomp en s e t h em

,
ac c ording to the utmost m erit of what th ey shall have

wrought an d add unto them of H is abundan ce a m ore
,
ex c ellen t reward ; for God b es t o w et h on whom H e

pleaseth with out so that the food of whi c h
he has partak en may strengthen h i m with th e love of
God . Thu s ea c h m outhful speaks with the tongue and
, ,
“
says ,
O God give u s the favour of an humble an d
,
faithful b eliever I n case you do not d o th i s you will

.
,
have d one violence t o th e truth ; the food will prove

“
ungrateful to you an d se em to say Th i s violent p er
, ,
”
son has aban doned H im an d it w i ll compl a in against ,
you to th e G i ver O f all bounties Shoul d th e food .
b e veget a bles or meats and you seem to ask whether ,
—
they can speak learn from t h e verse ( Kora n xv ii
, .
“
T h e seven heaven s an d all that they conta i n as well
, ,
as th e earth cel ebrate H is praises There i s nothing

,
.
which do es not pra i se H im but y ou do n ot comprehend

the i r songs of praise God i s humane an d i ndulgent . .
Those who d o u nderstan d the i r praises are the sp i ritual ,
r —
the devoutly l ov i ng an d the p e fec t through the a t t ri
,
butes of th e prophet s and the saints I n case of n eed .

,
they c ause e v en those wh o d o n ot believe to hear H i s

prai se s When thi s o cc urs and come s fr om th e bl essed
.
,
Prophet i t is c alled a miracle ; and if from th e sa i nts

, ,
a favourable d emonstration When the prophets call .
in fi d els t o the true faith they are or d ered t o p erform ,
mira cle s as an evidence of their conversion I t is not

,
.
prop er to aspire to the performan c e of m i ra c les or ,
favourable demonstration s except when di

r ect ly ordered by God and H e w i ll de c i d e as t o the
,
n e c essity The saints are fe w in number ; they are

.
empowered to make an i mals vegetable an d e v en in ,
an imate things sp eak ; and su c h are found 1n th e history

,
of the i r lives .
A C QUI S I T I ON
O F T H E M E A N S O F E X I ST E N C E .
The fa i thful who devoutly seek for the path o f G od and

,
the love of H im w 1ll find rega r d ing the acquis i tion o f

, ,
the mean s of existence i n the H a aees the say i ng of the ,

’
,
“
Prophe t ,
The seeker of gain is the friend of God .
Th ose who are bus i ly engaged in the daily a c quis i t i on of

th eir own existence i n this world m ust in th e event of , ,
their acquir i ng mu c h wealth return to their h om es r e , ,
j ec t from the i r min ds the idea of the valu e o f gold and ,
turn their thoughts w i th deep piety a n d with a pure

,
h eart to w ard s God —giv i ng the m s el ves up entirely for

, ,
th e time to feel i n gs of devotion .
There is a differen ce in the sentiment of pious e cstasy .
Ec stat i c fe eling i s derived from a dee p c ontem p lat i on of

th e heart of God and of th e M u r s /z ia A sen se of sin
,
’
.
c ere sat i sfa c t i on is the resul t and th e person feels a ,
conv ic tion of p ersonal helplessn es s wh i c h he will enj oy ,
i mmensely This k i nd of feel i ng is most ac c ep t able to

.
God E cstasy i s also that state of the heart which ar i se s

.
from a fer v ent desire to dri ve away from i t all anx i ety
about worldly store I t com e s from a profou n d c on
.
t e m p la t ion and reflection of th e D eity and an absorption ,
in s i ncere p rayer to H im : from te ars an d a s i ght of

rep entan c e ; from the p erforman c e of th e Zinr ; from a
c onvuls i ve m ovemen t of the body ; from a frequent
repet i tion of the word H oe ; from a seek i ng d evoutly
after the sam e state and when in t h is sear c h ,
from th e op ening of a d oor to the seeker through wh ic h ,
he re c eive s what i s c alled t h e f ez een i R a /z rn an or the - -
m erciful attra c tion of God an d i s filled with i nten se ,
j oy an d d elight The termination of this ecst a tic state is

.
c alled Vej a the close of this i s c alle d the Vey a a in ( two

’ ’
'
Vej a s ) m eaning world ly and eter n al ecstas i es which

’
, ,
l eads to the Vuj ooa or undying state of existence ’

, ,
i n which there i s n o death R egard i ng this subj ect I .

,
“
have been given two H a a ees es of the Prophet ’
j ez oei .
,
or attraction comes from the attra c tion of the All M er

,
-
c if u l a n d th e recipients of this grace abandon all care

,
or thought of this world an d their future existence , .
I t i s related that the Caliph Al ee when absorbed in ’

,
this state was told that he h a d los t hi s senses H e im

, .
m ed i ately fell down i n prayers of thankfulness to God ,
de c laring that h e h a d at las t reached th e cond i t i on

mentioned in the Prophet s H ad e es above sta t e d ’
.
Th e se c o n d H a d ees s ays The faithful do no t die ;

p erhaps they become translated from this p er i shable
”
world to th e world of etern a l existence .
I t is said that o n this ac c ount D er vi shes implore th e

help of the E e iia or Saints Th i s st a te howe v er must
,
.
, ,
n ot be S h own t o strangers or the public i t is proper to

be enj oyed in private amongst the lovers of the same
, .
When engaged in con v ers a tion about the Tee /t eed

( u n ity of God
) with th e brethren and the heart is in,
i t s ap p ropri a te state there i s n o i mpropriety i n exc i ti n g

,
t h e o cc urrences of t h is e c stasy but among t h e brethre n ,
to excite it in the view o f ha v in g it Spoken of to

,
their praise an d that they are E ni i A s /z k ( lovers o f

,
’
G o d ) i s hypo c risy equal to th at of S ni r t ei ( say i ng that

,
/
God has an assoc i ate ) for it w i ll ha v e had its sour c e

,
entirely in the per s en a i ambit i on of t h e individual an d ,
n ot i n the sp ir ii u a i I t gives r i se to all kind s of spiritual

.
disease a n d when your S ins are taken into a c count at

th e D ay o f J udgment th e tri c k s o f your body will by
, ,
th e excellence of G od b e m ad e apparent and seem like

, ,
d ark sp ots on the surfa c e of pure m i lk H owever it may .

,
be add ed that those w h o d o fall into such errors are n ot

,
fully p erfe cted in the brotherhood Be side s t h e se the .

,
saints are the E M i P en a w h o have given up all c are ,
for this world ; and th e i lf uiz niis een or the free d from ,
worldly an xiet i es are pure and faithful and not l i able to

, ,
thi s sin T h ey may e v en u se those m embers of the body

.
which provide for its wa n ts but their hearts must never ,
t h ele s s be always o c c upied with G o d

,
They arrive at .
n oth i ng through the medium of m ental superiority

( s ci en c e or k n owledge) ; n o on e c an c omprehend their
real state through the ordinary sour c e s of c alculating
intelligen c e as they are only comm i ssio n ed t o be se ekers
,
of piety through the d e ep est sin cerity of th e h eart and ,
t hrough the S piritual gui d a n c e of the Sheikh who i n , ,
consequence keeps them always in his pious rem em

,
bran c e ( his prayers ) .
O God ! fac i litate u s t hrough the favour of t h e

”
E /z i i F en a and th e B a nd
‘
Th is B a ieiz ( a c on dit i on in which t here is n o death ) i s

such as are worldly employments wh i ch c onceals their

-
real c haracter fro m public g a z e s o th at those whose

,
S piritualism has not been touched with K eni )

( c ollyrium
o f the light of M ohammedanism are unable to d i sti n
,
guish them and to re c ogn i se in th em the tru e saints

,
of G o d . Thus it is onl y through the l i gh t of M oham

,
m e d a n is m that the saints recognise each other ; n on e

other can d i stinguish them ; an d for this re a son the
lovers of God ( U s es /Zak (i i/an) have abandoned all
c auses of hypocrisy .
C H APT E R IX .
RE A L AN D F A L S E D ERVI S HE S .
T R A N S L AT ED F R O M A MS .
TH ERE i s as much difference bet w een the real an d false

D ervish a s between heaven an d earth Th e right mind ed .
-
man can re c ogn ise th em and draw the dist i nc t ion , .
“
T o th e question What i s true rep entance shown
,
” “
by ? the reply i s Goodn ess o f heart ,
and this i s
qualifie d by the abandonment of all prid e a n d preten
s ion a n d by follow i ng a line of str a ightfor w ardness i n the
,
”
Path of the M ost H igh The number of the columns
of th e Path are six —viz 1 R epentan ce 2
.
R esignat i o n
. .
, .
,
3. Fi d el i ty to th e Order 4 I n crease o f i nternal devotion

,
.
,
5. C onten tm ent with your lot and 6 D evou t retirement ,

.
from th e world Th e Precepts of the Order are also

.
—
six in numb er vi z 1 Kn owledge 2 Generosity 3 . .
,
.
, .
N earn ess to God 4 Fidelity 5 M editation an d 6 Tru st

,
.
,
.
,
.
in God The R ule s of the Order are e qually Six— 1

. .
Kn owledge 2 M eekn ess 3 Patience 4 Submission t o

,
.
, .
,
.
superiors 5 Good breeding an d 6 Pur i ty of heart

,
.
, . .
—
The R ule s of th e Ta r eeiwi are six viz 1 Benevolence . .
,
2
. Calling up on G od ( th e Zié r ) 3 Abandoning evil ( the ,
.
w e) 4 The aband oning of all worldly enj oyments

,
.
,
5. Fear o f God and 6 Love o

,
f G od . .
The ablution of the Ta r eeé ei is a total abnega t ion of all

worldly goods and contentment with the will o f the
,
“
Sheikh Th e truthful ablu t ion is t o increase i n love
.
f or God .
A question was on ce put t o the I m am Ja fer as t o the ’
p eculiar c haracteristics of a F a k eer

( D ervish ) an d he ,
replied I t i s the charac t eristic of the Prophet and of

, ,
love for he h as said in a H ad ees Bear t he charact eris ,

I 9 0 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
’
tics of God t he t ree of which is straightfor w ardn ess an d
, ,
its fruit i s to know on e s self I ts j ewel is utter p overty ’

.
,
o r a total disregard of sel f Now on e who possesses .
these certa i nly knows himself an d can do anyth i ng he ,
pleases but ab a nd ons all for devotional retiremen t

,
.
The C al i ph A le e has said ’

Whoever knows himself ,
‘
,
kn ows h i s God .
’
The f ork or abandonme n t required by th e Ta r eekei

, ,
i s thus explained — T o abandon the world its c omforts

and dress — all things n ow and to come —c onformably
,
, ,
“
w i th t h e H a a ees of t h e Prophet i e ’
The world is for ,
. .
bidden to t h ose of the l i fe to come the life to come is

forb i d d en to those of this world and both are forbidden
”
to the true serva nts of God which is thus explained ,
The true D ervish in heart not only willingly aban

don s all th e j oys and ple a sures of the world but he ,
i s will i ng also to gi v e up all hop e of the pleasures of

Parad i se an d to b e sat i sfied with the enj oyment d e
,
rived from a submissive and d evout co n templation of

the b eauty of God and the hop e of attain i ng t o that ,
pr i vate Para d ise occupied only by the p i ous the holy , , ,
and the prophets .
Abando n ment of the world i s al so to n eglect to comb

the hair to regulate the eyebrows to cleanse th e beard
, ,
and mousta c he s ; an d whoe v er pays attention to thes e

p ersonal c omforts has already determined to return to
the world and given up the hop e of seeing G od here
,
after Not to shave the h ead in the presence of th e

.
i ll u r s nia shows that the M u re e d knows himself To

’
.
,
“
suspen d a C /z er iz na or cir c le to the ne c k means I have
‘
, , , ,
resigned myself entirely to the will of God for blessing ,
or for pun i shment to suspend the M en iroos /z or e ar ,
r i ngs to the ears s i gnifies I believe the language of th e

, , ,
sa i nts i s that of the M ost Hi gh an d that their words are ,
m y laws or my M en k eos /z an d is ever hung over my

, ,
”
heart I f ever any one i s asked whose son and D ervish
.
h e i s he mu st reply I am the s on o f M ohammed Alee

, ,
’
,
the proof of whi c h i s in the H od ees I am of that p eo p l e ,

”
t o wh ic h I belong .
The E r ieian or C olumns of the Order are b ase d u pon

‘
, ,
m eter th e letters which form its nam e i a j ; its upp er ,
surface K ioien ; its ablutions its key its relig i ou s duties

, , , ,
c ommand ed by God i ts servi c es d i rected by the Pro :
phet ; its soul its i nter i or —all have their respe c t i ve

, ,
s ig n ifi ca t ion s .
1 The [s i n ii Parabl e m ean s to c hange ev i l deeds

.
/
, ,
and action s to those of an exalted and p i ous nature .
“
The Kioie/z Th e p ositio n fa c ing you at prayer
'
2 .
,
d i recting to M eé neiz is the Peer or founder of t h e

”
, ,
Order .
“
3 The
. K en ar or border ,
is t he faculty o f S piritual ,
c o m mand in both w orlds viz t o pray with a d evout ,

.
h e art to God for the release of any on e in danger for ,
God a cc ep ts an intercession for the latter and it rel i eves ,
him from th e danger .
4 The L enger or
. c apacity mean s to point ou t ( by
, ,
the Sheikh ) the tru e path to his dis c iples .
”
5 The
. K ei i nz e/z o r Letters o f th
,
e word T ci
f ( i a
m ean s t o implore p ardon from God a cc ording t o t h e

“
A y u i or verse of the Koran
,
God is t h e ri c h but we , ,
”
are th e poor .
“
6 The K u ooen or
. Summi t of the Cap means the
, ,
p oint of truth wh ic h sign i fi es that the own er knows all

,
“
th i ngs ; the Summit of the Sphere of the U niverse
( God ) allowing the obser v er to se e an d know all t h ing
”
7. Th e G /z u s i A blution mean
,
s n ot to mingle w i th ,
t he public and so rema i n pure

,
.
8 The K iieea or Key m ean s t o open the secre t an d

’
.
, ,
di ffi c ult The Sheikh interprets and explains by it all

.
d ream s and v i sions of his d i sciples .
”
The F a r z o r Oblig a t i on m ean s the conversa
9.
, ,
tion an d commun ic at i on w 1t h the P eers and the brethren

“
10 The S u n n ei
. Order of th e Prophet mean s , ,
hon our and respe c t .
“
1 1 The y an or Soul means to keep t h e comm and
.
, ,
ments of the Peer or Sheikh and to absta i n from hurting ,

'
the feelings of any on e and to w i thdraw from the world , .
“ ”
1 2 The i ll u n ai or Dying mean s t o touch the living
‘
.
, ,
crea t ure s hand s as on the ini t iation of a Mu reed

’
, .
’ “
13 .The F er Branch or D ecoration i s t o refrain
, ,
from all females .
“
On t h e Taj is written Th ere is n o G od but H im th e ,
“
L i ving an d the E ternal I n the front i s written All
.
,
”
t h ing s p erish ex c ep t th e fa c e of God I n the middle .
,
I swear by the learned book ( Koran ) .
There i s another question as t o the number of the

Taj s . These as a for es t a t ed are t w o viz that of the
, , ,
.
l earned an d that of the i gnorant The former mean s t o .
’
strive to reach th e secrets of M ohamm ed and Alee for ,
t h e blessed Proph et has said I a n d Ale e are made of ,

’
”
the same light and t o s ee that they are made of on e
,
light and the All J us t at th e same time D o not there

,
-
.
,
fore understan d like those who wear th e crown of the

,
i gnorant And yet God kn ows all w i th goodness

. .
“
TH E K H IR KA ,
OR M A NT L E .
I t is related that the I m am Ja fer hav i ng been in ’
t er roga t e d on this p oint of sp i ritual i ty an d wh at i s the ,
tru e faith of this garment — its K ioien an d G/i u s i its ,

“ ” “ ” “ ”
existen c e prayers an d divine obligation
,
its ,
”
duty as pres c r i bed by the Prophet ( S u n n ei ) ; its
soul as well as the proper method of putting i t on
,
th e body its c ollar an d i nter i or an d exterior he repl i ed

, , ,
as follows .
I ts p o i nt of fa i th is to regard it as a cover i ng for th e

faults and weaknesse s of others
I ts K ioie/i i s the Peer
I ts Gnu s i the ablut i on from S n s i
I ts prayers are manhood ( among the D ervish es I am ,
informed th ere are male an d female chara c teristics from

, ,
wh ic h a man i s called manly and also ,

’
“
I ts obligations are the forsaking of the sin of
cupidity
“
I ts duty t o b e easily conte n t ed and satisfied with
,
’
’
one s lo t i n l i fe
1
“ ’
I ts soul t o give one s word and k eep i t s acredly
‘
,
’
I ts key the Ted deer ;

,
’
I ts putting on or tyi n g an inducemen t t o serve

‘
, ,
’
o thers ;
“ ’
I ts p erfec t ion upr i ghtness and correctn e s s of con
‘
,
duct
’
I ts border is the condition of a D ervish
’
The edges of its sle eves the Ta r eek d l , or Order ;
‘
,
,
’
I ts collar s u bmiss i on to God s will 5 ’
I ts exter i or light and ,

’
“ ” ’
I ts interior secre c y ,
.
On the c ollar i s writte n Yd A z eez Yd I L d f eef Yd ’

, ,
H a keem On its bor d er Yd I Va /z eed Yd ! F er d Yd I

.
, , ,
S a t / m il . On the edges of its sleeves Yd ! Ka bool Yd ! , ,

“
S /l a k a r Yd I Ker eem , Yd lif t er s /l id Also the v i sible
, .
“ ”
and th e inv i s i ble The former all u des t o thos e who
.
are visibly submerged in the goodnes s and mercy of God ,
and th e latter s eclusion .
A real D ervish is he w h o desire s for him self no t h ing ,
h as n o egotism and is mee k an d lowly and will i ng to

, ,
a ccept all th i ngs as coming from God The gains of a .
D e rv i sh are seclusion and ret i rement refraining fro m the ,
utteran c e of all profan e l a n g uage reflection co n tentment , , ,
patience s i len c e an d resignation an d to watch and obey

, , ,
the will of Allah ; t o keep the c ommands of the M u r

to war w i th his own wild passions to c ha n ge his
ev i l feelings for those whi c h are good and t o b e faithful ,
to his Order according to Koran xxix 6 9 : We lead

, ,
.
in ou r paths all those who are j ealous i n propagat i ng

ou r faith an d God is with those who do good We
, .
m ake the lesser war ( of this world ) and also the greater ,
( upon our
”
o w n w i ld passions
) an d th i s i s the true word ,
of God .
The better c ond u ct i s that of the pious an d th e worse ,
that of the imp i ous The Man i s h e w h o serves (girds .
up h i s loins ) To serve the Peer for the scie n ce of the

.
,
Lord i s half of the p a th o f a D ervish accordi n g t o the

, ,
“
ax i om Th e s er vi ce o f k i ngs i s on e half of the path
"
, ,
T o gird up t h e loin s is to serve t he P eer i n su c h a

,
manner as n ever t o neglect his orders so long as h e

1
9 6 T HE D ERVI S H E S ;
TH E P OST, OR S EAT .
Th e P 05 1 ( or skin seat of the P eer ) with i t s head feet , , ,
right an d l eft side has its c on ditio n m i ddle soul law

, , , , ,
truth & c ,
.
The head signifies submissivene ss .
The fe et servi c e
The right—the right hand of fellowship a t initiation s
.
.
,
The l eft ho n our ,

.
The east secrecy ,

.
The west religion ,

.
The con dition ( obligato ry ) t o b ow the head before

the E r em .
The m i ddle is love .
The M d r dd i s to s ee the b eauty O f G od

'
The soul is the Ted deer .
The law i s t o b e absorb ed in D i vin e Love and

adoration s o th at the soul leaves the h eart ( body) and
, ,
wanders away among the other Spir i ts w ith whom it

symp athi ses .
Th e Ta r ee/eez i s to enter into that which has been

‘
established .
The M e r zf el is th e fear of the P eer

’
.
The H a k ee/eez i s whatever th e Peer orders to be done

‘
and is the indubitable duty of hi s disciples .

C H APT E R X .
TH E O RDE R O F TH E M E V L EV E ES .
TH E founder of this eminent ord er o f D ervishes 1S

M old rz d D eere M od d m m ed e! B d
j
’ ’
eZZd Z ed d ee er P eew ee .
I t is commonly called by fore i gners T h e D an c ing or ,

”
Whirling D erv i shes from t h e p eculiar n ature of the
,
d evotions .
H e was as his na m e designate s a native O f the city of

, ,
Balkh an d was born in the 6 t h day O f the month of

,
R eb e e u l E v v e l A H 6 0 4
’
,
I n the work a fore q u ot e d
. . .
,
c a lled the N df d d d z e! U m by M oll a j ame e it is stated

‘
, ,
that the spiritual p owers O f this c elebrated Peer were

develop e d a t the early age O f S ix years and that thos e ,
S p i r i tual forms and h idden figures viz t h ose a ngel i c ,

.
be i ngs wh o inscr i be the acts of mankind and the piou s ,
r ms and illustr i ous men who are co n cealed beneat h the

f i
d omes O f H onour be c ame v i s i ble to his sight and drew
, ,
allegori es before h i s eyes M o/d fl d B e/z d ed D eere Velez !

.
’
writes as an example of the cir c um stance that once on

, ,
a Friday j el a l e d D een was at B a lkh on t h e roof of a

, ,
house in company w ith some other youngs t ers of h i s

ow n a ge when on e of them asked him whether it woul d
,
n ot b e p oss i ble t o j u m p from the pla c e on which they

stood t o anot h er house top J el al e d D ee n replied that
-
.
su c h a movement would be m ore su i table to dogs and

c ats an d other S i m i lar animal s but w oe to the human
, ,
being who should attemp t to assimilate himself to them .
I f you feel yourselves c omp etent to d o i t let us j ump ,
upward s towards heaven and then setting the example , ,
he sprang upward s and was i mm ediately lost from t h eir

,
S ight . The yout h s all crie d ou t as h e disappeared ,
b u t i n a momen t more he returned greatly altered in ,

compl exion and changed in fi gu re an d he informed

, ,
them that whils t h e was yet talking w i th them a legion ,
of beings clothed in green mantles seized him from
amongst them and carr i ed him in a circle upward s to

,
“
wards th e skies ; they showe d m e strange things of
a cele st i al character and on your c ries reach i ng us they ,
”
lowered me down again t o the earth .
I t i s also narrated that during th i s year h e only par

took of food onc e in three or four days When he .
went t o M ek k eh he communed with the She i kh P er eed ed ’
D een A t z d r then at N is h ab or Th i s Sheikh gav e h i m

’ ‘
.
,
— “ ”
an [s r d r n d m e/z or Secret E pistle in th e form of a
, ,
book whi c h h e always carried up on his p erson

,
.
The H az r ez z M evlevee viz J el al e d D een stated that

'
‘
,
.
,
he was not of th e body which th e A s /z z k s or D evout ,

’
,
“
lovers of G od beh eld ; P erhap s I am that J oy and
,
D elight whi c h the M u re e d s experi en ce when they cry ou t ,

‘
Allah Allah therefore seek that delight an d taste of ,
that j oy hold to i t as to r ic hes and be thankful that it ,

”
i s me . H e once i s sai d to have remarked that a bird
which flies upward does n ot rea c h th e sk i es yet it rises ,
far above the roof o f the hous e an d so escapes S o it ,

.
i s with on e w h o becomes a D ervish and though he does ,
not become a p erfect D ervis h still he be c ome s far ,
sup erior to common men and far exalted above ord i ,
nary beings H e likewise becom es freed from world ly

.
cares an d anxieties an d i s exh i larated ab ove all ordinary

,
human sensations .
E ach Ted/r eed o f every Order of D e rvishes has a

particular day or d ays in the week for t h e p erforma n c e ,
O f t h e religious exercises o f the brethren A S there are .
several Ted é z e/z r of the sam e Order in C onstantinopl e

'
the brethren O f on e are thus enabled to visit and take

par t in the ceremonies of the others The bre t hren .
Of other Orders frequently j o i n in the service s of th e

Yekk z efz s n ot the i r ow n nothing forbidding it except as
'
, , ,
with the M ev lev e es the want of pract i ce and skill ,

.
A K d d z r ee who can perform the services O f a M evlev ee

'
’
,
on enter i ng a Teé/ez efz of the latter goes to th e H uj r e/z

'
, ,
or cell O f on e of t h e brethren and receive s a cap calle d

, ,
the Shei kh who has proceed e d to the e d ge of his seat

, ,
and bows to him h is right foot pass i ng Ov er the other

,
k isses the h and of the Sheikh recedes ba c kwards from ,
him and stand i ng in the m iddle O f the hall acts as a

, ,
director of the cerem onies about t o commen c e .
The other D ervishes n ow take O ff their K

' ’
7 d z r é d rfi
l et fall their Terz rz oor ees —

.
go in S i ngl e fil e to the Sh
,
eikh ,
k i ss his hand m a ke an obeisan ce t o the P os md ee an d

, ,
commen c e turning roun d on th e left foot pushing them ,
selves round with the right I f they happen to approach .
t oo n ear each other the Sem a Zan stamps h i s foot on the ,

’
floor as a S i gnal Gradually the a ms O f the p erformers

.
r
are raised upward an d then extended outwa rd the left , ,
hand turned to the floor and the right open upward to , ,
heaven the head in c l i n ed over the right Shoulder and ,
the eyes apparently c losed Th e Sheikh i n t h e m ean .

,
time stands still on his P os z d ieee The brethren whilst

,
‘
.
,
turn i ng round c ontinually mutter the inaud i ble Z z er

'
, ,
”
saying A lla /z ! A lia /z ! an d the musici a n s play for some
twenty minutes or half an hour chanti n g a h ym n called ,
the u4m z S /z er eef Often they perform only som e ten

'
m inutes when ha v ing rea c hed a certain part of the c hant

, ,
in wh i c h are th e words H d z Yd r ( O Frien d I) they cry i t

'
ou t loudly and suddenly cease ,

The D ervishes below .
at the sam e time stop i n their c ourse so that the ,
Ten n oor e z wraps around their legs S O as to quite c on ceal

l
/
,
their feet and all inclin i n g lowly p erform obeisance

, ,
ag a in to the She i kh T he Sem a Zan tak i n g the lead t h ey

.
’
, ,
all march S lowly round t h e H all bo w ing low to the ,
Sheikh turning c ompletely round as they pass h i m I f

,
.
any fal l overcome by the p erforman c e th i s repose affords

, ,
them a n opportunity to withdraw whi c h s om e fe w do ; ,
soo n after t h i s t h e musi c recomm en c es an d the sam e ,
performan c e is renewed unt i l arrested as before Th i s is .
don e three t i m es after w hich they all s i t d own and t h e

, ,
Sem a Z an c o v ers th em with t h e i r man t les

’
.
8 Whilst thus seated one O f t h e brethren in the

.
,
gallery reads or recites a part of the Koran the Sem a Zan ’
rises and going i nto the middle O f the c ircle O ffers up

, ,
a prayer for the Sultan with a long series of titles , ,

TH E D E RVI S H E S . 20 1
m entioning also a good numb er O f his an cestors At its .
conclusion the Sheikh rises from the P os ed /eee and after ,
all have saluted h i m retires from the Tekez e/z

'
I t may be added that the and Kd a h/ ez eer ‘
have the same form of worsh i p without music that is to ,
say they all take each other s hand s or put their arms
,
’
,
over ea c h other s Shoulders and turn ro u nd their hall

’
, ,
p erforming the audible Z z d r

’
Fore i gners who are n ot M us sulmans are admitte d

i nto many of the Tekerem as spect a tors either in a ,
p art i cular part of the gallery or in a small apartment on ,
a level with th e hall I n the latter they are exp ected to

.
stand upright during th e performan ce and to leave th eir ,
overshoes or shoes outside the d oor in charge of a man

stat i oned there for that purp ose and to whom a trifle is ,
han ded on departing They however are admitted o n ly .

, ,
after the conclusion of th e [r ld m N a m d z .
The apartment O f the Sheikh i s calle d the S /z ez zé/z

’
fl ee/ red and the large hall the S em d K/z d rz e/z or t h e h a ll

’
, ,
or house where brethren hear celestial sounds and enter ,
into a state of e cstat i c devotion .
The M evlev ees have also another apartment called the ,
f r m z j eZeeZ E y re/z where they p erform their ordinary

’
morn ing and evening N d m d z or prayers also the [s m z

'
[eZeeZ ( the beau t iful name of Allah ) or the Z z é r ; and th i s

’
i s n ot to be foun d in any othe r Tee/ere/z Th e p er .
f or m an c e b efore described is a lways th e third da 1ly

prayer called in Turk i sh the E eé z n d ee and commence s
'
’
, ,
ab out ten O clock P M ’

. .
A properly con structed M ev lev e e Tekd z e/z Should have

'
eighteen c hamb ers and the vows are also always e i g h te en

,
.
E a c h o ccupan t of a c hamber recei v es eighteen p i astres

p er d z
’
em The M u ree d must serve in the kitchen s of the
.
c onvent days and his room is th en called t h e

,
“ ”
C /z z ZZd /z fi f z mj r e/z s ee or
'
’
C ell of R etirement wherei n
, ,
the n eophyte is s u pposed to be un der probation and ,
mu c h occupied in prayer an d fasting They ha v e n o .
other o ffi cer than the Sheikh and p erhap s h i s N d z b ,
K/z d leef ed or D eputy an d on e who sup erintends t h e

, ,
expenses of the convent c alled the K/z d z eerz ed a d r The ,

’
.
office of Sheikh i s hereditary but in Turk ey as with all , , ,
the other orders i t requires the c onfirm a ti on of t h e

,
Sheikh u l I sl am or Suprem e H ead of the I slam relig i on

, .
I have be e n unable t o learn

any creditable reason for their
pe c uliar form O f worship Th e .
short biographi c al sket c h of the

fou n der M evla Jel al e d D ee n , ,
S hows th e fa c ility with whi c h -

,
through his extraordinary Spiri

tual powers he could be c ome ,
invisible t o ordinary Sight an d ,
his pronen ess t o rise up w ard .
I t is a tradition O f the Ord er

that w henever he be came greatly
,
absorbed in pious and fervi d

love for Allah he would rise ,
from his seat and turn roun d ,
much as i s th e u sage O f h i s
followers and that on more than
o n e oc c asion he began to reced e
upward from t h e mater i al world ,
a n d that it was only by t h e m ean s O f
mus i c that h e could b e prevente d

S A K A O R W A T ER D I T R I TO R
S BU
,
from entirely d i s a ppe aring from
.
amongst his devoted comp a nions .
H is celebra t ed p o em called M ei d rz ez xee S /z er eef is that

, ,
kin d of p oetry which is comp osed of d istichs corre

s p on d in
g in measure each c ons i sting O f a p air of rhyme s
, ,
an d each d i st ic h havi n g dist i n c t p o etica l terminatio n s .
I t i s writte n in the P ersian langu a ge an d though it ha s ,
been c omme n te d upon it i s too mystical to p ermit of a

,
close translat i on I t is in fa c t filled with the most

mystical r efl ect ion s —mo stly on th e subj e c t of Divi n e
,
.
,
Love an d b reathe s i n every l i n e the m ost e c static

,
rapture These raptu re s are suppo sed to b e holy ih

.
spirat i ons wh i ch carry the creat u re aloft to the C reator

, ,
w i th whom h e hol d s sp iritual communion The soft an d .
gen t le music O f the N dy or myst i cal flute O f the M ev ,
leve es is made from a can e or ree d this being the musi c

, ,
B is milla h , on e F d z z lz d , th e 20 70 00 S u r e/z
’
‘
on e
or any other S u r ed ( verse of the Koran) , which may b e
sele c ted .
The A Z/d /z u B eber i s made standing uprigh t at first ,
an d at the close i s rep eated kneeling saying three t i mes , ,

’
S u b/2d ” P edee eZ A z eem & c Blessed be Thou O great ,
.
, ,
” “ ’
Lord God and adds S em z d A ZZd /z u & c
,
H ear us O
, , .
, ,
Lord God whilst we offer up to Thee ou r praises for

, ,
”
Thou art the greatest O f all gods l and then pros t rates
himself upon the floor .
After thi s p erformance wh i ch composes the N d m d z , ,
they recite the E vr d d I n the morn i n g before the sun ’

.
,
has rise n t hey p erform the S a bd /z N d m d z ee and as it

, ,
rises above the hor i zon some ten minutes or so after ,
i t is up perform two ( prostration s ) called th e

or the sun rising —another called t he V207 !
, ,
-
[s /z r d k At noon they p erform the usual N a rrz d z O f all

.
M ussulmans generally of ten P z e ez ls four of whi c h

'
’
, ,
are S w ed e/z four F a r e and two also S z m rz e/z ( the former

, ,
ord ered by t h e Prophet the se c ond a D iv i ne ordinance , ,
and the third also by the Prophet with p eculiar in ,
j unctions ) At t h e E ed z rz d ee or th i r d prayer o f the d ay

’
’
.
, ,
they p erform eight four of whi c h are S ZU H M/l ,
those sa i d to have been p erformed by the Prophet him

s elf four more P a r e The even i ng service i s c omp osed
,
.
O f five P z é d fs three being P a r e and two S z m rz e/z After

’
’
, .
th i s latter p rayer they p erform an oth er c a lled the f s m

,
] Z which c onsists three vd eed s an d as many

'
’
z e eeZ ,
O f T e ,
f s m i f eleels as th ey who are present please to rec i te .
Previous to the commen cement of their sectarian

devotio n s the M u ree d s are all seated piously engaged
, ,
in m editating on t h eir Peer which occupation is called ,
the M u r dd ebe/z and the Tez eyj u d whilst tho se i n the

'
'
,
gallery nam ed the N d z z erz ( mu si c ians) c hant a holy

'
, ,
hymn This ga llery is c alled t h e M u fr eeb ( place O f ex

.
c it em en t
) an d those stationed
,
there are attentive to the
d i re ction s mad e by the i r She i kh with his han ds .
As the whole principle of the Order i s the E s d / ’ e
or Lo v e for G o d the i r usual compliment i s , ,

’
fo r in s t an ce a f t er drinki n g Ti c/12 015 0071 ( may it be lo ve ) ,

, .
TH E D E R VI S H E S . 20 5
None are allowed t o beg but many are seen in the streets
,
( see page 20 2
) be stowing water on the thirsty F ee S ebee/ ,
E s e/ek 07 d ( in the path O f God an d for the

’l
’
an d L z ,
love of G od ) .
I n a small treatise by a learned Sheikh of the M e y l e

vee Order lately decease d there i s a c lear and d i st i nct
, ,
“ ”
explanation of the spir i tual existence as b elieved by
them H e explain s and draws his proofs from th e Kora n
.
,
A M E V LE VE E O R C HE S T R A .
tha t all m an k ind were created in heaven or in on e of it s ,
celestial spheres long b efore God created the present

,
o n e and p erhap s any of the planets

,
tha t in thi s world
they con t inu e to exist in varied conditions before assum
ing tha t of humanity and tha t moreover they w i ll con
t i nn e hereafter t o exist in o ther forms before t hey finally
return t o t heir original ones i n the sphere of blessedness ,
n ear t o th e Creator from whom they emanated H e .
show s from a vers e of the Koran wh erein G od says in

“
reference t o the Prophet H ad i t n ot been for y ou I
,
would n ot ha v e created the world tha t h e pre e xis t ed

,
-
and only became human in this world A d am h e says

—
.
, ,
was created from earth a m i neral and corporeally re

,
turned t o it though his Spirit proce eded on its course of

,
existen c e elsewhere H e as well as all Mussulmans

.
, ,
maintai n that j esus Christ was O f a D i vin e origin that i s ,
to say that H e was the R 00}; A lle le or the Spir i t of

, ,
God though n ot G o d in any manner as th is would

, ,
n e c essarily imply a p lurality of Go ds whi c h M ohammed

,
consta n tly denied H e declares t h at the sp i r i t of man

.
has no kno w ledge in th i s l i fe of its c onditio n or existence

in any prev i ous on e nor can it foresee its future c areer
, ,
though it may O fte n have vague impression s of pas t o c c ur

r en ce s which it cann o t de fi n e strongly resembling t ho s e
happening around it .
20 8 T H E D E R VI S H E S .
word S aj d , th e n ame of on e of the stations a round the

[( e bbed of M e k k e h , where many of th e n eophytes passed
’
whole d ays an d nights in fast i ng , and prayer, and mace

r a tion s To th e name of S 00f ee they add ed also that of
.
F a k eer ( poor) , because the i r maxim was to renounce

the good s of the earth , and to live in an entire ab n ega
tion of all worldly enj o y ments , following thereby th e
words O f the Prophet , E l f ez er f a ir/ wee, or Poverty is
‘
/
’
my prid e .
’
Following their example Abu Bekr and Alee e stab ,
lis h ed even dur i ng the lifet i me of the Prophet and under

, ,
his ow n eyes congregations over which each pre sided

, ,
with peculiar exerc i ses establ i shed by them separately ,
an d a v ow taken by each of the voluntary disciples form

in g them On his decease Abu Bekr made over his
.
,
’
offi ce of president t o on e Selm an Farsee an d Alee t o ,
H asan B a s r e e an d each of these charges were con s e

,
c rated under the titl e K/z a leef a d or suc c essor The t w o ,

.
first successors followed the example of the caliphs and ,
tra n smitted it t o their successors and t hese in turn t o ,
O thers the most aged and v enerabl e of their fratern ity

,
.
Some amo n g the m led by th e delir i um of the imagina

,
tion wandered away from t h e primit i ve rules O f their

,
society and c onverte d from t i me to time these frater

, , ,
n it ie s into a multitude O f monast i c or d ers .
They were doubtlessly embolden ed in this en t erprise

by that O f a recluse who in the thirty seventh year Of ,
-
t h e H egi ra ( A D 6 5 7 ) formed th e first order o f an c ho

. .
rites of the greatest au sterity n amed U w a is Ka r em ee a .

,
n ative O f K a ru in Y amin who on e day an n oun ced that

, ,
the archangel Ga br i el had appeared to him in a dream ,
an d in the name of the E ternal commanded h i m t o with

draw from the world and to give himself up to a life of
,
contemplation and p en i tence This v i sionary pre t ended .
also to have received from tha t he a ve n ly vi sitor the plan

O f his future conduct an d the rules of his institution
, .
These consisted in a c ontinual abstinence in retirement ,
from society in an abandon m ent of th e pleasures of

,
innocen t nature an d in th e recital of an infinity of

,
prayers day a nd n i ght U w a is even added t o th ese

.
TH E D ERVI S HE S . 20 9
practices H e went s o far as t o draw ou t his teeth in

.
,
honour it is said of the Prophet who had lost two of

, , ,
his own in the celebrated battle of O h od H e requ i red .
his dis c iples to make the same sa c r i fice H e pretended .
th a t all those w h o would be especially favoured by

heaven and really called to the exerc i ses of h i s Order
, ,
should los e their teeth in a supernatural mann er ; that

an angel should draw ou t th eir teeth whilst in the m i dst
o f a deep sleep ; an d that on awaken i ng they Shoul d
find them by the i r beds i d e The experiences of such a

.
vocation was doubtless too severe to attract many p ro

s e ly t es t o the Order i t only enj oyed a c ertain degree O f
attra c tion for the eye s of fanati c and c redulously ign o
ran t p eopl e during th e first days of I slamism Sin c e .
then it has rema i ned in Y amin where it originated an d , ,
where its partisan s were always but few in n umb er .
Notwithstanding its dis c redit this S i n gular association ,
c ontributed greatly to the institution O f other M onastic

Orders all of which originated i n the two great c o n gre
,
t io s o f Abu Bekr and Alee — the founders

’
f whi c h
g a n o ,
were the mo st ard ent and ambitiou s O f their su c cessors .
E ach gave his name t o the Order which he thu s ins t i

t u t e d —taking the title of P eer s y n onym ou s t o that O f
, ,
”
S d ez é d both words meaning D eacon or E lder Their
'
.
,
d i sciples b ore the name O f D em 55 d a P ersian word the /

, ,
“ ”
e ty mology O f which signifies the S ill of the door and ,
m etaphysically indicate s the spirit of humility of ret i re ,
me n t and perseveran c e which should form the princip al

, ,
characteristic of these anchorites E ach century gave .
birth in all Mussulman sta t es to some of these societies

, , ,
n early the whole of which still exist in the O t t oman

E mpire —t he most d i stinguished O f which are some thirty
,
t w o in number The following is the c hronology with

.
,
t h e nam es O f their founders and t he year O f their

,
decease .
Sheikh Q lw an d ied at j edda in th e 1 4 9 t h year O f th e

,
H ejra (A D 7 6 6 ) h e is the founder O f the Olw d n ees

. . .
I brahim E d h em died at Damascu s i n the 1 6 r s t year of ,
the H ej ra (A D . foun ded th e E dd em eer

. .
Baya z id B es t am ee died at Jebe l Bes t a m in Syri ,
P
A H 2 6 1 (A D
. . and was the founder of the Order of
. .
the B es t d m eer .
S i rree Sak et e e d i ed at B aghdad A H 2 9 5 (A D ,

. . . .
and found ed th a t of the S d feez ees ‘

.
Abd u l K adir G h ilan ee died a t Baghdad A H 5 6 1

’
, . .
( A D . a n d founded the Ord er o f the

. H e
w a s the Z d z e d z d d r or Guardian of the Tomb of th e ’
'
I m am A zam Abu H an eefeh th e I sla m j ur i sconsult in

’
, ,
Ba ghd a d .
’
Sa eed Ahmed R u fae e died in the woods between
’
Baghdad an d Bassora A H 5 7 8 ( A D and founded ,

. . . .
“
the R u fa e es ( c alled by the publ i c the
’
H owling
Shah ab ed D een Su h erw er d ee d i ed at Baghdad A H ,

. .
6 0 2 (A D founder of th e Order of t h e S u d er w er
. .
7
0 005 .
N ej i m ed D e en Kubra died a t Khaw erz em i n A H 6 1 7 . .
( A D . and founde
. d the
Abd u l H os a in Sh ah z elee died at M ek k eh in A H 6 5 6
’
. .
( A D . founder
. of the d d z elees .
J el al e d D een er R oom ee M evlan a c alled the Moll a ,
Kh on k iar d i ed at Kon iah A H 6 7 2 (A D

,
and ,
. . . .
founded the M evlevees gen erally called the Turn i ng

“
, ,
or D a n c i n g D erv i sh es .
’
Ab d u l Fetan Ahmed Bed awee died at Tanta in ,
E gypt i n A H 6 7 5 ( A D ,
and founde d the
. . . .
B ed d w ees .
Peer M ohammed N ak s hib en d e e died at Kasri A rifa n ’

,
in Persia A H 7 1 9 (A D ,
. founded the N a ks h
. . .
0erz d eer H e wa s a cotemporary of O thman I the

’
.
’
,
fou n d e 1 o f t h e Ottoman E mpire .
’
Sa d ed D een j eb r a w e e died at Jebb a n e a r D amas c us , ,
in A H 7 3 6 (A D . . foun der O f the S d z z ees. .

’ ’
.
H aj ee Bekt ash K h ora s s an e e c a lled the Wa k e or , ,

”
S a int d i ed at K i r S h e h r Asi a Minor in A H 7 5 9
, , ,
. .
( A D . founder
. O f t h e B ek f d r /z ees H e lived several .
years a t t h e c ourt of Orkhan I and i t was he who blessed .

,
the Janissaries on the day of the i r c reation .
Omer Kh alw e t t e e d i ed a t K ais er ieh in A H 80 0

’
. .
( A D 1
.
3 97) founded
. the K i m/w ed ee s
‘
.
2 12 TH E D E RVI S H ES .
and t he B ed l ds d ees —d escend from the cong rega t io n of

A b u B e k r ( the first Cal i ph ) The fourth C alip h A le e gave
’
.
, ,
b irth t o all th e others T heir a ffi liation i s seen in t h e

.
tables drawn u p by di fferent Sheikhs They are called .
“
the S z lrz le/z u l E z rl z d U lla h or th e Gen ealogy of the
' ' ’
S aints O f G od T he most recent and highest esteeme d

.
i s that O f A b d ee E fe n di the She i kh of the f em d lees

’
, ,
w h o die d at C o n st a nt i nople in A D 1 7 83 We have ,

. . .
drawn it up in a more m ethodical order and present it ,
to ou r readers as an obj ect of curiosity So m e of th e .
Sheikh s are omitted w h o were n ot fo u nders O f Orders , ,
becau se wri t ers wh o have n oti c ed t heir gen ealogies d o

not agre e as t o their real names T his h owever does .
, ,
'
n ot c ha n ge at all the exact i tud e which reign s in the

original or the s eries an d general organi z at i on found
,
in th e lis t .
I n this multitude of M onas t ic Orders th e Nak shi ,
bende es mu st be disti n guished Th e successful establish .
ment O f th e firs t O f t hese Orders caused the insen sible

ext i nction of the t w o fr aternit i es ou t of which they origi
n at ed . But in the commencemen t of the eighth century
of the H ej ra Peer M ohammed N ak s h ib en d ee made a
,
m erit of restor i ng it With this View h e instituted the

.
,
Ord er w hich bears his name an d wh i ch is only a reli ,
g i ou s association I t i s based upon . the principles of th e

two an cient o n es and particularly upon that of the Caliph
,
Abu Be k r Like them thi s n ew congregation was com

.
,
p osed only of men of th e world D evotion engaged .
citizens of all the Orders and men of th e high est ran k

then as it does even now in all parts of t h e emp i re
, ,
.
The firs t duty of the m embers of this Order i s to recite ,
da i ly particular prayers called th e Kd d l em Kolzj ag ld rz ;

, ,
once at least th e Js l agdf d r ; seven times t he S d ld m a l

, , ,
s even times th e P d l ld d (first chap t er of the Koran) ;

and nine times the c hapter ( of the Koran ) c alled the
E lem N es d r a lez ea and the [M ld s z S /z er eef To these
'
’
'
.
,
ar e added c ertain pra c tice s wholly voluntary cons i s ting

‘
O f th e recital of the common prayers or rather in the , ,
meeting t ogether of a c ertain number of the brethren ,
once a w eek Ordinarily t his is on Thursday and after

.
, ,
T H E D ERVI S H E S . 2 13
the fifth N a m d z O f t he d ay S O that i t occurs after night

,
fall . I n each c ity ea c h suburb each quarter the

, , ,
me m bers of this new asso ciation divided into different ,
bodies assemble at the house of their respe c tive deacon

,
or Sheikh where sea t ed on t he sofa they p erform this

, , ,
piou s exercise with the mos t p erfec t gravi ty T h e S h ei k h .

,
A B EST A MEE S HE I K H .
or any o t her bro t her in his s t ead chants th e prayers which

,
constitute t he association and th e assembly respond in

,
” “ ”
chor u s H oo ! o r Allah ! I n some cities the Nak shi ,
bende es have especial halls consecrated w h olly t o this

,
purpose an d then the Sheikh only is distinguished from

,
the other brethr en by a turban in form like t ha t of t he

,
Sheikh s of t h e mosque s .
E ach of the o t her Orders is established on different

prin c iples E ach foun der gave t o his Order a distin ctive
.
character with rules sta t u tes and p eculiar practices

, , ,
.
Thes e charac t eris t i c s ex t en d even t o the garments wo rn

2 14 - TH E D ERVI S HE S .
by their followers E ach Order has in fac t a partic u lar .

, ,
dress an d amongst t he greater part of th em this is chosen

,
so as to mark a difference in that of the Shei k h from that

of t he ordinary D er vishes I t is p er c eived princ i pally in .
th e turbans the shap e of the coat the colours and the

, , ,
nature of the stuff of whi c h th e dresses are made Th e .
Sheikhs wear robes of green or white cloth and any of

those who i n w i nter line them wi th fur use that kind
called p ez z a g r z s and z ib alin e mart i n F ew D ervishes use
’ '
‘
.
,
cloth for the i r dress Black or white felt called Ab .

,
’
,
such as i s made in some of t he ci ties of Anatolia are ,
th e mos t usual Those w h o wear bla c k felt are the .
j e lw e t t e e s and the K ad ir e es The latter have adopted .
it for their bo ots an d the musl i n of their turbans ,

.
Some su c h as the M evlev ees and the B ek ir e e s wear tall

, ,
cap s c alled Kulahs m a d e also O f felt and others such , ,
as the R u fa ees u se sh ort c aps called Takk ieh to whi c h

’
, ,
is ad ded a c oarse cloth The h eaddress of almost all .
th e other D ervishe s is called Taj whi c h signifies a ,
crown There are turban s of differen t forms either from

.
,
the m ann er in which the muslin i s folded or by the cut ,
of the cloth whi c h covers the top of th e head an d is in ,
several gores Some are of four as t he E d h em e es .

,
som e of six as the Kad ir e es an d the Sa d ees th e

,
’
Gu ls h en ees have eight ; the B ek t as h ees twelve and ,
others even eighteen su c h as the Jelw et t ees ,

.
Generally all the D ervishes allow their beards and mus

,
t ach io s to grow —
Som e of the Orders the Kad irees R u
.
,
faee s Sa d e es Kh alw et t ee s G u ls h en e e s J
’
e lw e tt ees and
’
the N oor e d D een ieh s —still wear long hair in memory

, , , , ,
of the usage O f the Prophet and several O f his dis c iples ,

.
Some allow their hair t o fall over their shoulders others

t i e it u p in the form of a H OO and put it up beh i n d ,
their turban These C oen obite s are distinguished un der

.
”
the n ame of Sachle es or the Long haired an d they ,
-
l ive separate even in their c onvents ,

I f privat e M u s s u l .
man s are in the habit of holding rosaries of bead s a s a

pastime the D ervi shes d o th e same only in a Spirit o f
, ,
rel i gion and piety These must have thirty three sixty .
-
six or ninety nine beads which i s t he number O f the

,
-
,
his novitiat e The se dreams besides c haracterising

.
,
t h e s a n ctity of his vocation and his spiritual advan c e ,
men t in the Ord er serve likewise as so many super ,
natural me a ns to dire c t the Sheikh regarding th e

p eriods when he m ay agai n breathe in the ear of
the neophyte th e second words of th e initiation Yd ,
A lla /z ! ( O God ) and successively all the others t o ,
the last Yd K d d d d r / ( O avengeful God ) The full

, .
complement O f this exercise which they c all C lz z lle/z

'
, ,
require s six eight or t en months sometime s even

, , ,
longer according to th e d isp ositions more or less

, ,
favourable of th e c an d idate Arrived at the last grade

, .
O f his novitia t e he is then supposed t o have fully ,
ende d hi s c areer called Ted m eel S u l00d and acquired, ,
the d egre e O f p erfection for his solemn admission into

the corps t o whi c h he has devoted himself D uring .
all his nov i t i ate th e recipient bears th e nam e of ,
E de 60 k and th e Sheikh who directs him i n this pre

/
,
tended celest i al career take s the title O f e s lz z rl which

'
,
”
is e qual to Spiritual guid e .
The founder of the Olw d n ees laid ou t t h e first rul e s

of this novitiate they were subsequ ently p erfected b y
the in stitution of th e K d d lr eer and m ore so by the ’
,
K d d l w ell eer The D ervishes O f these t w o last societies

.
are distinguished from all others by th e decoration of

t he i r turban on the t op of which are embroidered th e
,
“
words L d z ld lz d z ll All/d d
' '
’
.
The tests of the n ovice among the M evlevees seem to

be still more severe an d the reception of thes e D ervishes ,
i s attended with c eremonies p eculiar t o their Order .
Th e aspiran t i s re quired t o labour in the convent or

Teké z elz for su ccessive days in the lowest grad e of
'
the k itchen on which accoun t h e i s called the K a r r d

,
K ola é ( Jac k al )
/ I f h e fails in this se rvice only on e
.
day or i s absen t on e night he i s obliged to recommen ce

, ,
his n ovi t iate The c h i ef of the kitchen or A s dj z dd r lz ee

'
.
, ,
on e of the most notable of th e D ervishes presents him ,
to t he Sheikh w h o seated in an angl e of the so fa

, , ,
recei v es him amid a general assembly of all th e D er

v is hes of the conven t The candidate k isses t he hand .
TH E DE R VI S HE S . 21 7
of t h e Sheikh and t ak e s a sea t b efore him 0 11 a

,
mat whi c h covers the floor of the hall The chief of .
the kitchen p lace s his right h a nd on th e n eck and his

left on the forehead of th e n ovice whilst the Sheikh ,
takes O ff his cap and holds it over his head reciting ,
the Persian distic h t h e comp osition of th e founder of

,
the Ord er :
“
I t i s tru e greatne s s an d felicity to clo se th e heart
t o all human p assions the aband onment O f the vanities
O f th i s world i s the happy effe c t of the victorious
”
s t rength given by th e grace of o u r holy Prophet .
The se verses are followed by th e exordium of the

Teladeer after which the She ik h covers the head O f the
,
n ew D ervish who n ow r i ses and places himself with

,
th e A s lej z das /z ee in the middle O f the hall where they

’
assume th e most humbl e p osture their hands c rossed ,
upon th e breast the left foot over the right foot and
, ,
th e h ead in clin ed t owards the left shoulder Then .
the Sheikh addresses these words t o the head of th e

k itchen
“
M ay th e services of th e D ervi s h thy brother be , ,
agre eable to th e thron e O f the E ternal and i n the eyes ,
of our Peer ( th e founder of the Order ) ; may h i s sat i s

fac t io n his feli c ity and his glory gro w in this nest of th e
, ,
humble i n t h e cell O f the p oor let us exclaim H OO in

,
‘
honour of ou r M ev lan a ”
.
They answer H OO an d t he accepte d n ovi c e arising ,
from his place kisses the hand of t he Shei k h w h o at

, ,
this moment addresses t o him some pat ernal exhortations

o n th e subj e c t of the duties of his n ew condition an d ,
closes by ordering all of the D ervishes of t h e m eeting to

re c ogn i se and embrace their n ew bro t her .
Among the B ek t as h ees th e novi t iate is also re quired to

be day s bu t the prac t ice s observe d i n the re c eption
O f th e candidates are differen t .
E ach institution i mp os es on its D ervishe s t he O bligation

t o recite certain passage s at di ff eren t t imes of th e d ay i n
private as well as in common w ith others Several have
, .
also pra c tices which are p eculiar t o themselves and whi c h ,
consist in d ances or rather religiou s circular movements

,
.
I n each conven t t here is a hall all of wood conse c rated , ,
t o thes e exer c ises N othing i s simpler than its con

.
struction it contains n o ornaments of any nature ; the

middle O f the hall turned towards M ek k eh contains a
, ,
ni c he which serves as an altar ; in front of it is a small

carpet mostly made of the skin of a sheep on whi c h the
, ,
Sheikh of the c ommunity recline s over th e nich e the

na m e of the founder o f the Order i s written I n s ome .
halls thi s in crip t ion s i s surmounted by t w o oth ers — on e ,
containing the confession of faith and the other the ,

”
words B is m illeh & c ( I n th e name of God the M ost
, .
,
C lement and M erciful ) I n others are se en on the wal l

.
to the right and the l eft of the niche tablets on which

are written in large letters the nam e of God ( Allah ) ,
that O f M ohamm ed and those o f th e four first cal i phs

,
.
A t others are seen the nam es O f H asan and H usain ,
grandson s of the Prophe t and some verses of the Koran

, ,
or others o f a moral character .
The exercise s which are followed in t hes e halls are of

various kin ds according to the rules of each in stitution
,
but in nearly all they commence by the recital by the ,
Sheikh of the s even mysterious words of which we have

,
sp oken H e n ex t chants v a rious passages O f the Koran

.
,
an d at each pause the D erv i shes placed in a cir c le

, ,
“ ”
round the hall respond in chorus by the word Allah l or
,
”
H O O I I n some of the so c ietie s they sit on their heels ,
the elbows c lose to thos e of each oth er and all mak i ng ,
s i multaneously light movements of th e head and the

body I n others the movemen t c onsists i n balancing
.
,
the m s elves slowly from the right to the left and fro m
, ,
the left to the right or inclining the body methodically

,
fo rward an d aft There are other so c ieties i n whi c h

.
these motions commen c e seated i n me a sured cade n ces , ,
with a sta i d countenan ce the eyes close d or fixed upon

,
the ground an d are continued on foot

,
These S in gul a r .
exercises are c onsecrated under th e nam e O f M u r d é ede/z

( exaltat i on O f the D ivine glory) an d also under that ,
o f
the Tevd eed ( celebrat i on O f the D ivine unity) from which
’
,
come s the nam e Tee /t eed Klz d n ed given to the whol e of ,
the halls d evo t ed t o these religi ous exercises .

sk i n s which are spread in a half cir c le aroun d t he

,
-
interior of th e hall So soon as a circle is formed the

.
,
D ervishes together c hant the T ek b eer an d th e Fatiha .
I mmediately a fterwards the Sheikh p ronoun ces the words

“ ”
'
L d z ld d d z ll A lla d an d repeats them incessantly ;

'
’
,
”
to which the D ervishes rep ea t Allah l balancing them
selves from side to S ide and p utting the i r hands over,
their faces on their breasts an d their abdomen and 0 11

, , ,
their kn ees .
,
RU F A EE DER V I S HE S RE C I TI N G THE E V RA D OR P R A ER S
Y TO T HE P R O HE T
P .
The secon d scene i s op ened by the H am d ee Moh a m

m e d ee a hymn in hon our of the Prophet chanted by
, ,
on e of th e elders placed on the right of the Shei k h .
During this chant the D e rvishes continue t o rep eat the

“
word Allah moving however their bodies for w ard an d, ,
aft A quarter o f an hour later they all r i se up approach

.
,
each other an d press the i r elbows again st ea c h other

, ,
balancing from r i ght to left an d afterwards in a reverse ,

—
motio n t he right foot always firm and the left in a
, ,
p eriodical m ovem ent the reverse of that O f the body

, ,
all O b serving grea t pre cision O f measure and cad ence .
I n t he mids t of t his exercise t hey cry ou t t he words Yd ,

TH E D ERVI S H E S . 22 I
” ”
A lla/z ! followed by that of Yd H 0 0 ! Some of the
p erform ers sigh others sob som e sh ed tears others
, , ,
persp i re great drop s and all have their eyes clo sed the i r
, ,
fa c e s p ale , an d t he eyes languishing .
A pause of some m i nutes i s followed by a thir d scene .
I t i s p erformed in the middle o f an I lah ee chanted by ,
the two elders on the r i ght of the Sheikh The I lah ee s .

,
as has already been sa i d are spiritual eem lz gu es com

'
, ,
p osed almost ex c lusively in P ersian by She i khs de c eased

in th e O d our of sanc t ity The D ervishe s then hasten
.
their movem ents and t o preven t any relaxat i on on e of

, , ,
th e first among them puts himself in the i r centre and ,
excites them by his example I f i n the assembly there .
b e any strange D ervishes whi c h O ften happens they give

, ,
them through p ol i teness this place O f honour ; an d all

, ,
fill it suc c essively t he on e after the other shaking th em

, ,
selve s as aforesaid The only exception made i s in

.
favour O f the M ev lev ees these never p erform any oth er

d ance than that peculiar to their O wn Order which con ,
sists i n turning round on each heel in su c cession .
After a n ew p ause commences the fourth s c en e Now .
all the D erv i shes take O ff their turba n s form a circle , ,
bear th eir arms and shoulders against each other and ,
thus make the ci rcui t of the hall at a measured p ace ,
s trik i ng their feet at intervals against the floor an d all ,
s pringi n g up a t once This d a n c e cont i nues during th e

.
I lah ees chanted alternately by the two elders to the left

O f the Sheikh I n the m i dst O f this chant the c ries of
.
“ ” “
Yd A llard ! are increased doubly as also those of Yd ,
”
H 00 ! with frightful howlings shrieked by the D e r vishes ,
together in the dance A t the m oment that they would

.
see m t o stop from She er exhaust i on the Shei k h makes a ,
p oint of exerting them t o n ew effor t s by walking through

their mid st making also him self most violent m ove
,
m ents . H e is n ex t replaced by t he t w o eld ers who ,
double th e quickness of the s t ep an d the agitation of

the bo dy ; they even straigh ten them selves up from time
t o t ime an d excite t he envy or emulation of the others
,
in t heir asto n ishi n g efforts t o con t inue t he dan c e until

th eir strength is entirely exhausted .
The four t h scene lead s to the las t which is t he mo s t ,
frightful of all the wholly prostrated c ondition O f th e

,
a c tors becoming c o n verted i nto a spe c ie s of ecstasy

which they c al l H a lel I t i s in the mid st of this .
a b an d om en t o f self or rather O f religious del i r i um tha t

, ,
they make use of red hot i rons Several cutlasses an d -

.
other instruments of sharp p ointed iron are suspend e d -
in th e ni c hes O f the hall and up on a part of th e wall t o ,
th e r i ght of the She i kh N ear the c lose of th e fo u rth .
s cen e two D erv i shes take d own eight or nine O f these

,
instruments h eat them red hot and present them to the

,
-
Sheikh .H e after reciting some prayers over them

, ,
an d invoking the founder Of the Order Ahmed er ,
R u fae e breathes over them and raising them slightly

’
, ,
to th e m outh give s them to the D ervishes who ask

, ,
for them with the greatest eagerness Then it is .
that these fa natics transporte d by frenzy seize up on, ,
these irons gloat upon them ten derly lick th em

, , ,
bite them hold them between th eir teeth and end by

, ,
c ooling them in their mouths ! Those who are unable

to procure any seize upon the cutlasses hanging on
th e wall w ith fury and stick them i n to their sides , ,
arm s and legs

,
.
T h anks to th e fury of their frenzy and to the amazing ,
boldness whi c h they deem a m erit in the eye s O f the

D ivinity all stoically bear up against the pa i n whi c h
,
they experience with apparent gaiety I f however .

, ,
some of them fall under their sufferings they throw ,
themselves into the a rms Of their eorzf r er es but without ,
a c ompla i nt or th e least S ign o f pa i n Some minutes .
after t h i s the Sheikh walks roun d t h e hall visits ea c h

, ,
on e of the p erformers in turn breathes upo n their ,
wounds rub s th em with saliva recites prayers over

, ,
them and promises them speedy c ures I t is said that

,
.
twenty— four hours afterwards noth i ng is to be seen of ,
their wounds .
I t i s the c om m on opinion among the R ufa ees that the

orig i n of these bloody pract i ces ca n b e tra c ed back to
t he founder of th e Order They pretend that on e day .
,
during the tran sport of his frenzy Ahmed R u fae e pu t ,

’
and even t o ea t t hem withou t any harm t o them selves .
Their exer c ises consis t like those of th e R u fae es and

,
’
other Orders at first in seating themselves an d afterwards

, ,
i n rising upright bu t in O ften changing the attitud e and ,
in redoubling the i r agitation even until they be c om e

overco m e with fat i gue when they fal l up on the floor
,
m otionl ess an d without knowl edge Then the She i kh .

,
aided by hi s vi c ars empl oy s n o o t her m ean s to draw

,
RU F A E E DER V I S H I N AN E C S TA TI C ST AT E .
them ou t of this s t a t e O f un con sciou sn ess t han t o rub

their arms an d l egs and t o breath e int o their ears the
,
“ ”
words L d z ld /z d z ll A lla
rd
’
' '
The M evlev e e s are disti n guished by the singularity of

th eir dan ce whi c h has nothing in common w ith that O f
,
th e other so c ieties They cal l it S em d in place o f D ee r

.
’
and the halls consecrated to it are called S em d K /z d rz elz r ’

.
Their c on struction is also d i fferent The apartment .
represen t s a k ind of pavilion su ffi ciently l i ght and sus

, ,
t ain e d by eight columns O f wood These D ervishes .
h ave also prayers an d pra c tices p eculiar to themselves .
Among them the public exercises are not ordinarily

TH E D ERVI S H E S . 22
5
made by more than nine eleven or thi rteen individu als , , .
They commence by forming a c ir c le seated on s h eep ,
sk i n s spread up on the fl oor at equal distances from e a ch

other ; they rema i n ne a rly a h a lf hour i n this pos i tion -
the arms folded the eyes closed the head inclined and, , ,
absorb ed in profound m editation .
The Sheikh placed on the edge Of his s eat on a small

,
carpet bre a ks silence by a hymn in honour of th e

,
’
Divi n ity ; afterw ards he in v ites the ass embly to ch a nt

with him the first chapter of the Koran Let us c han t .
” “
the F d l z lz d he says in glorifying the holy name of
'
, ,
God in honour of the blessed relig i on of the prophets

,
°
but above all of Mohammed M ustapha the greatest the

, , ,
most august the mo st mag n i fi c ent of all t h e celestial

,
envoys and in me m ory of th e first four caliphs of the

, ,
sa i nte d F atimah O f th e c haste K h ad eej a of the I m ams

, ,
H asan an d H usain O f all the martyrs of th e memo ,
rable day O f the ten evangel ic al d i s c iples the v i rtuous

, ,
spon sors of ou r sa i nted Prophet of all his zealous and ,
faithful d i sciples o f all the I m ams M u j t ah id s ( sacred

, ,
interpreters ) O f all the doctors of all the holy men and

, ,
women of Mussulmanism Let u s chant also in h onour .
O f H a z r et i M evlan a the founder of ou r Order of H az , ,
reti Sultan u l U lem a ( his father) of Sayid Burh an ed

’
D een ( his tea c her) of She i kh Shems ed Din ( h i s co u se

,
crator) of Valid e h Sultan ( his mother) of M ohammed

, ,
’
Allay ed D een E fendi ( his son an d vicar) of all the ,
C h eleb ees ( his successors ) of all th e Sheikhs of a ll the , ,
D ervishes a n d all the protectors of ou r Order to whom

, ,
the Supreme Being deigns to give peace and m ercy Let .
us pray for the constan t prosp erity of ou r holy socie ty ,
for the preserva ti on O f the very le arned an d venerabl e

C h eleb e e E fendi ( the general of th e Order ) our master .
an d lord for the preserva ti on of the reign i ng Sult a n t h e

, ,
very maj estic an d clement E mperor of th e Mussulman

fa i th for t he prosp er i ty of th e Gran d V i zier and of t h e
, ,
Sheikh u l I sl am and that O f all the M ohammedan militi a

, ,
O f all the pilgrims O f the h oly c ity of M ekk eh Let us .
pray for the repose of the soul of all the institutors of al l ,
the Sheikhs and of all the D ervishes O f all other Orders

,
Q
for all good people for all th ose who have be en d i stin ,
u is h e d by th eir good works their foundation s and their

g , ,
a c ts of b en efi cen ce Let us pray also for all th e M u s s u l

.
mans O f on e and the other sex of t h e east and the west ,
for th e xm ain t en a n ce of all prosp erity for preventing all ,
adversity for the ac c omplish m ent of all salutary vows

, ,
and for the su cc ess of al l praiseworthy enterpr i ses ;

finally let u s ask God to de i gn to preserve i n u s the g i ft
,
”
of H is grace and th e fire of holy love , .
After th e F d z z lz d whi c h the assembly c hant in a body

’
‘
, ,
’
the Sheikh re ci tes th e F d l z lz d and the S ala z a d z to whi c h r

‘
the dan c e of the D ervishe s su c ceed s Leavi n g their .
pla c es all at once th ey stan d in a fil e to th e left of the

,
sup er i or and approach ing near him with slow step s th e

, , ,
arms folded an d the head bent to the floor the first

, ,
O f the D ervishes a rr i ved n early opposite the Sheikh , ,
salutes with a profound inclination the tablet which is

, ,
on his seat on whi c h is th e nam e of H a z r e t i M evlan a

, ,
th e found er O f the Order Advancing next by t w o .
springs forward to the right side Of the sup erior he turns

, ,
toward him salutes him with reveren c e and comme n c es

, ,
t h e d an ce which c onsists in turni n g on the left heel in

,
, ,
advan c ing Slowly and almost i nsensibly making t h e turn

,
of the hall the eyes c losed and t h e arms op en H e

, , .
i s followed by the second D ervish he by the third , ,
and so on with all the others wh o end by filling up ,
the whol e of the h a ll ea c h rep eat i ng th e same exercises ,
separately and all at a cer t ai n dista n ce from each

,
oth er .
This dance lasts sometimes for a couple of hours ; i t

is only interrupted by two short pauses during which the ,
She i kh recites different prayers Towards the close O f .
the exercises he takes a part in them h imself by pla c ing

, ,
himself in the midst of the D ervishes then returni n g to

h i s seat he recites some Persian verses expressive of
,
good w i shes for the prosp er i ty of the religion an d the ,
state The general of the Order is again named also

.
,
t h e reigning Sultan in the follo w ing terms ,

“
The emperor of the Mu ssulmans and the most augu st ,
’
of monarchs of t he house of O thman Sul t an son of a , ,
adopted by t he R u fae e s the M evlev e es th e B ed aw e es

’
, , ,
the Sa d e es and the Es hre fees

’
,
The M evlev ees have .
a dded the fl u te wh ic h is O pen at either end c alled by

, ,
them the N ay ; the greater n umb er of th e D er vi shes of

this Order play on it exq u isitely ; they are th e only
on es whose e xercises are a cc ompanie d by var i ous a irs ,
all of a soft tender an d pathetic expression The con

, , .
vent of the general of this Order is distin guished from

all others by a ban d O f music composed of six d i fferen t
i n struments Besides the N a y and the tambourin es the
.
,
D er v ishes of the house ( c onvent ) established at Kon iah

play on th e p s alt er im the sis ter of the bass viol and the
,
-
drum of the Basque .
As in ea c h institut i on thes e publ i c exer c ises are per

formed a t different days several D ervishe s have the ,
habit Of visiting and assist i ng each other reciprocally in

their religious dan c es They m oreover hold it as a
.
, ,
duty t o t ake part in them SO a s to p arti c ip ate as much , ,
as p ossibl e in the merit of the good deed The D er

,
.
v is h e s who are the m usici a n s are almost alw a ys attentive
to j oin their conf r er es with their i n struments ; an d thos e

even which a re the most scrupulous about th e use of
music are good enough to allo w them to play duri n g
“
the i r services This c omplian c e i s the more remarkable

.
with referen c e t o the M ev lev e e s who never v isit a n y ,
o ther Order without tak i ng their flutes with them They .
are however very stri ct in n ot allo w ing the brethren of

, ,
any other Order to j oin in their dan ces ; an d th e Bek

t as h ee s are the only ones w h o hold their ser v i c es w i th
closed doors whilst they on th e other hand are free to
, , ,
assist i n those of all the other Orders .
Such i s the spir i t o r genera l system of these d i fferent

cong regations I f the prayers which are there re c ited
.
are an alagous to the prin c iples of I sla m ism and th e ,
high idea wh ic h the se c t a ria n s of the Kor a n p ossess

o f the Supreme Being the pract ic es wh i ch accomp a ny ,
them lead them n evertheless away from the maxim s

, ,
of their Proph et and prove how mu c h the human

,
m i n d is susceptible of being misled when it g iv es itself

up without rule and measure to th e illu sion s of a n
, ,
T H E D E R VI S HE S . 229
enthu siastic zeal and the promp tings of an ex a lted im agi

,
n at i on I t i s probable th a t these innovations h a d their

.
origin among Mussulmans in the sa c red dan c e s O f the

, ,
Egyptian s the Greeks and the R omans O f t he Lower

, ,
E mpire .
But these pract i ces common t o and O bligatory on the ,
D erv i shes of all the Orders are not the only ones whi c h ,
the i r d evotion exerc i ses Th e more zealous amongst .
them d evote themselves voluntarily t o the m ost austere

acts ; some shut themselves up in the i r cells so as to ,
give themselves up for whole hours to prayer a n d medi , ,
t a t ion the others pass very O ften a whol e n i ght in p r o , ,
n ou n cin g the words H 0 0 a n d A lla /z or rather the phrase , ,

’
L d z ld /z d z ll A lld lz The seven nights reputed as
' '
holy as also those O f Thursday and Friday an d of

, ,
Sunday and M onday sanctified amo n g them by the con ,
cep t ion and the nat i v i ty of the Prophet are esp ecially ,
c onse c rate d to these a c ts of penitence SO as to drive .
away sleep from their eyes some O f them stan d for ,
whole n i ghts in very uncomfortable p os i tion s They s i t .
with their feet on the ground the t w o hands resting upon ,
their knees they fasten themsel v es in this attitude by a

ban d O f leather passed over their n eck and legs Others .
tie their hair w i th a cord to the ceiling an d call this ,
usage C d z lled
’
There are some also who devote thems elve s to an , ,
absolute re t irement from the world and to the most ,
r i gid ab stin en c e living only on bread and water for

,
twelve days suc c essively i n honour of the twelve ,
I m am s Of the race O f Ale e This p e c uliar exercise is ’

.
c alle d They pretend that the Sheikh Omar ’
K halw et ee was the first to follow it and th a t he O ften ,
pract i sed it They add that on e day having left his

.
, ,
retirement he heard a celestial voice say i ng

,
O Omar ,
’
Kh alw et e e why dost thou ab a ndon u s ?

,
”
and that ,
fa i thful to this oracle he felt himself obliged to con ,
se c r a te the res t of his d ays to works of peniten c e and ,
even to i nsti tute an Ord er un der th e nam e of K d d l

”
w el eer a n a m e signify i ng
, ret i rement F or this re a son .
,
D ervishes of th i s Order cons i der it t he i r duty more than ,

any o thers t o live in solitude and abs t inence The mor e

, .
devote d among them observe sometimes a painful fast

of forty days c onse c utively called by them the E r dd ee/z
’
( for t y ) Amongst
. them all their obj ect is the exp i ation
o f their S i ns the s an ct ifi cat ion of the i r lives and the
, ,
glorificat i on of I slamism the prosperity of t he state ,
an d the gen eral salvation of th e M ohammed an p eople .
At each o cc asion they pray heaven to preserve th e

,
nation from all public calamities such as war famine , , ,
p ests sins earthquakes & c Sam e of them espe c ially

, , ,
.
,
the M evlev e es have it also as a maxim to distr i bute

,
water t o the p oor and for th i s reason are called S ex/ad d s

, .
W i th a vessel Of water on their ba c ks they wa lk about ,
the streets crying ou t P ee s ebeel z lld d whi ch mean s In

’
, , ,
”
t he path of G od or rather i n th e view of pleas i ng G od
, ,
and give water to all those who w ish it w i thout ask i ng for ,
any paym ent I f they however re c eive anything it is

.
, , ,
only for the po or or at least to be part a ken Of w i th them

, , ,
.
The m ost anc i ent an d the greatest O f the Orders such ,
as the O lw an ee s the E d h em e es th e Kad ir ees the R u

, , ,
faces t h e N a k s h ib en d e es the Kh alw et ees & c are c on

’
, , ,
.
s id er e d as the cardinals ; for w hich reason they call

“ ”
t hemselves the U 5 00ls or Or i ginals They give to
,
.
“ ’ ”
the o thers the names of the l r 00 or Branches sigmi , ,
fy in g thereby se c ondary ones to des i gnate their fi lia t ion ,
or emanation from the first The Order of the Nakshi .
bendees an d Kh alw et ees hold however the first rank in , ,
the temp oral lin e the on e on accoun t of the conformity

of its statutes to the prin ci ple s of the ten first c onfrater
n it ie s and to the lustre wh ic h causes the gr a ndees an d
,
principal c it i zens of the empire to in c orporate t h emselves

in it ; and the other b ecau se of its be i ng the source of
,
.the mother society wh i ch gave birth to many others I n .
the Spiritual lin e the Order of the Kad irees M ev lev e e s

, , ,
B ek t as h ees R u fa ees and the S a d ee s are t h e most dis

’ ’
, , ,
t in gu is h e d espe c ially the thre e first on account of the

, ,
eminent san c t i ty of their found ers O f the mult i tude of ,
the miracle s attr i buted to t h erri and of the sup er ,
abundance of the merit whi c h is deemed especially

at t ached t o them .
Although all of them are considered as mendican t

Orders n o D ervish i s allowed to beg especi a lly in publ i c
, ,
.
The only ex c eption is among the B ek t as h e es who deem ,
it m eritorious to live by alms an d many of these visit

‘
n ot only priv a te houses but even the streets publ i c , ,
squares bureaux a n d publ i c h ouse s for the purpose OI

, , ,
re c ommending t h emselve s to the charity of the i r brethren .
They only express their requests by th e words S led y z z l

'
U lla d a c orruption from S /z ey z m l z lld lz wh ic h m ean s

’
’
, ,
”
Something for the love of Go d Many of these make .
it a rule to li v e only by the labour of their hands in ,
imitation of H aj ee Be k t ash their founder ; and like him , ,
they m ak e s p oon s ladles graters and other uten s i ls of

, , ,
wood or marble I t is these also who fash i on the

.
p i eces of marble white or ve i ned which are use d as ,
c ollar s or buckles for the belts of all t he D ervishe s of

,
the i r Order and the Kes dg z elr or shell cup s in which

, ,
they are obliged to ask alm s .
Th e wealt h ier convents are held to aid the p oorer of

th e same Order T h e M evlev ees are th e b est endowed
.
of all . Th e monastery of the genera l possesses c on s i

d er ab le lands g i ven him as Wa df s or pious lega ci es by
, , ,
t h e an c i ent Selj u k id e sult a n s an d c onfirmed by t h e ,
house of Othman or the Ottoman prin c es when they

,
’
,
conquered K aram a n ia Murad I V added more libe . .
ralit ie s to t hose of hi s ancestors I n A H 1 0 44 (A D . . . . .
when mar c hing against Persia and p assing ,
through Kon iah in Asia Minor he b estowed many

, ,
fa v our s and distinctions up on the general of thi s Order ,
and gave to h is community as a perp etual d f th e , ,
full amount of t he p oll tax of the tributary subj e c ts -
establ i sh ed in that city C on s i dera ble as th e resources

.
of a c onv ent may b e i t s superiors n ever allow for them

,
selves any lu xury or osten t a t ion The surplu s of th e .
r evenue s is distr i buted among the poor or is employed ,
in t h e establ i shment of private and charitabl e buildi n gs .
The Sh ei k hs an d D ervishe s are s c rupulously attached t o

this i nviolabl e pr i nc i ple of the i r Order H abituate d .
fro m their youth to all sorts of privation s t hey are all the ,
more faithful in t h e o bservanc e of i t s stat u t e s .

T HE D E R VI S HE S . 23 3
Although in n o wise bound by any oaths all bei n g ,
free to change the i r commun i ty and even to return to ,
t h e world an d there to adopt any occupat i on whi c h m ay

,
please their fancy it is rarely that any on e makes use of

,
this liberty E ach on e regard s it as a sacred duty to

.
en d his days in the dre ss of his Order To this spirit .

'
of p overty and p e rseveran c e in which they are so e xem ,
p l a,
r
y mu st be added that of p erfect submission t o their
sup erior This latter is elevated by the deep humility
.
whi c h accompan i es all their condu c t n ot only in the ,
in ter i or of the cloisters but even in private life On e

,
.
never meets them anywhere but with the head bent an d

the mo st respe c tful c ounten a n c e They n ever salute .
any one particularly the M evlev e es and the B ek t as h e e s

, ,
excep t by the nam es Yd H 00 Th e words Ay 0 A ll0 /z ’
( thanks to God ) frequently a r e used i n their conversa
tion and the m ore d evout or enthusiastic speak only of

dreams visions celesti a l sp i r i ts supernatural obj e c ts & c
, , , ,
.
They are seldom exposed to th e trouble an d vexat i on s

of ambition becaus e the most ancient D ervishes are
,
those who may aspire to the grade of Sheikh or supe ,
rior of the convent Th e Sheikhs are n a med by the i r

.
resp e c tive generals called the P a ls z l l M es dd ldd ( Chief of

,
/
Sh e i khs ) Those of the M e vl ev e e s have t he distin c tive

.
title of C /z eledy Ef en d i All reside in the sam e cit i e s

.
whi c h contain the ash es of the fou n ders of the i r Orders ,

“ ”
called by the name of s i gnify i ng the court
They are subordinate t o the M t ift e e of th e c apital who
.
exercises absolute j urisdi c t i on over them The sup erior .
head o f the Mussulman religion c alled the Sheikh u l ,
I sl am has the righ t of investing all the gen erals of the

,
various Orders even those of the Kad ir ees the M ev

, ,
levees and of the B ek t as h ee s although th e dignity b e

, ,
hereditary i n their fam i ly on ac c ount of th eir all three

,
being sprung from th e blood of the sam e founders of

their Orders The Mu ft ee has likewis e the right to
.
confirm th e She ik hs who may b e nomina t ed by any of

the gen e1 als of the Ord ers .
To arri ve at the grad e of Sh eikh the rights of ,
s enior i ty mus t also be sus t ain ed by tale n t s virtues and , ,

an e xempla ry life Th e p erson mus t even b e rep ut ed

.
as holy an d esp ecially favoured by heav en I n n early

,
‘
all the Ord ers t h e general s n ever nam e any on e to the

offi c e of Sheikh except after having prayed fasted and , ,
asked light of the M ost H igh They t h en consider the .
c hoi c e made as being the effect of a sup ern a tural in s p i

rat i on wh i ch they ow e to th e p owe rful intercession of
,
the Prophet as th e founder of the Order sometimes

, ,
even of th e ve n erable She i kh Abd u l K adir G h ilan e e ’

.
These c on s i derations stre n gthened by prej udi c es are

, ,
th e motive s which decid e th e M u fft e e ( Sheikh u l I slam )

to resp e c t the choi c e m ade by the gen erals and n ever to ,
refuse to invest the p ersons propose d to him by them .
On these grounds also the generals are at liberty to

nam e She i khs wit h out monaste ries and fun c tion s These .
titular officers w h o may b e called in p a r l z dw go to the

'
, ,
c ity or the suburb which according to the v i sions of

, , ,
th e general are consid ered as predestined to possess a

,
convent of su c h and such an Order and there wait the ,
p eriod of i ts b e i ng established The i r hopes are n ever .
deceive d a noble emulation l eads its more wealthy an d

pious c it i zen s to j oin i n so m eritoriou s a work Som e .
ere c t the b u ilding at their ow n exp ense others provid e ,
for its support by the donation of p erpetual Wa lef s ,
oth ers uniting their zeal to that of the She i kh ( i /z p a r l i

do all t h ey c an to strengthen t h e n ew i nstitution .
I t i s in this manner that formerly the greater part o f

these in stitut i ons were got up and such even now i s the ,
case i n various parts of the empire .
I n former t i mes the preferen c e w a s given to those of

th e Orders w hich san c t i on ed neither dan c es n or music .
The others far from being famed by su c h acts O f ben e

,
v ol e n ce exper i en ced on the contrary mu c h i ll will from

, , ,
-
man y of t h e ci t i zen s They were even the obj ects of

.
m ali c e a n d were openly a c cused of following pra c t i ces

,
forbidden by rel i gion and law ; their exerc ises were r e

garded as profan e acts and their halls as s o many te m ples
,
d evoted to the maledi c t i ons of heaven all were s cru p u

l ous about entering them ; su c h was even the effer
ves c en ce of the public m i nd that under several reigns ,
in the beginn ing they preferred those whi c h have no

,
dancing n or musi c for some time p ast they have in

,
c orp or a t e d themselves indistinct i vely with all o f them .
There are some who n ot c o n tent wit h the advantages of

,
belon gi n g to on e of them cause thems elves to b e ,
adm i tted into several Some believe that they c an add

.
to t h e merit of their initiation by j oining in the dan c es ,
o f the D erv i shes : others go so far as to mix up with

them and t a ke part i n their exercises Those who se
,
.
z e a l i s restrain ed by the i r oc c upat i ons an d the regard ,
du e to their p os i tion in life are satisfied with the re ci t al

, ,
in their own houses of a p ortion of the prayers used in

,
the socie t y to wh i ch they belong ; and so as to purchase ,
in some manner this involuntary absen c e from the

,
convent they wear two or three times a week if only

, ,
for a few minutes at a time the cap of the order ,

.
The grandees seem to have a preferen c e for the

M evlev ees and those who are of that order n ever fail to
,
leave O ff the i r turban when alone and to wear the great ,
[fi eld /z of these D ervishes This practice goes back as

.
far as the t i me of Sol i man Pasha son of Othm an I I t ,

.
has already b een seen that this prince addressed h i mself

to the general of the M evlev ees at K on iah to ask the , ,
blessings of heaven in favour of the expedition which

h e was about to make aga i nst the Greeks of the Lower
E mpire th a t this prelate c overed the h e a d of the prince
with one of his c ap s reciting prayers an d assuring him
, ,
that victory would accompany his step s ; that Sol i man

Pash a had thi s cap co v ered with embro i dery of s i lver an d ,
ordered turbans of nearly th e same for m for himself and

all the o ffi cers of his army ; and fin ally that th i s ca p , ,
wh i ch be c a me the c eremonial turban of all of the gran

dees of the court and also of the sulta n s who wore t h eirs
, ,
embroidered in gold was aband on ed by M o h ammed

, ,
and given up to the o ffi cers of the staff of the j anissaries .
T h e O pinion which was entertained of the happy

influences of th i s head dress is still retained by all t h e
-
grandee s who protect the M evlev ees They con sider i t .
as a duty to assoc i ate with them a n d to wear n ow and ,
t h en t his cap in all its p rimi t ive simplicity

, .
37
The mil i t i a especially th e J a n i ssar i es have a par t i

, ,
cu lar d evot i on for the Order o f the B ek t as h ees on ,
a c count of the c i rcumstan c e that on th e d ay of th eir ,
c reat i on under Orkh a n I H aj ee Bekt ash th e founder

,
.
, ,
of t h e Ord er spread the border of his cloak over the i r

,
h eads an d showered his bless i n gs on them Th i s i s the

,
.
c au se O f th e ven eration which the j anissaries ha v e for

that i n stitution O n this ac c oun t they are also c a lled
.
B ek t as h ee s and the title of the c olon el of the Ninety —

,
fi ft h
Oda or c hamb er O f that force called [00 20 a l is born e
, , ,
by all of the genera ls of this ord er From this a lso arose .
th e custom of those troops of lodg i ng an d boarding eight

B e k t as h ee D ervis h es in the barracks of C onstantinople .
These ha v e n o other duty than to pray m orn i ng an d ,
e v en i ng for the prosp er i ty of the emp i re and th e suc c ess

, ,
of its arm s I n all the ceremon i es of th e J anissar i e s

.
,
and above all dur i ng t h e days of the D ivan of the

,
S eraglio th ey march ed on foot before the horse of the

,
Aga of the c orp s all dressed in green cloth t h eir hands

, ,
closely crossed over their stom a c hs The elder of them .
cried ou t i ncessantly with a loud voice the wor d s , , ,

“
K er eem A lla /z God is merc i ful l to whi c h th e
others resp onded £10 0 ! an d this gave rise to the d is
,
t in ct iv e nam e of H 0 0 K er /ad d s or H i m scatterers borne , ,
by the j anissaries
A S to the rest of th e c itizen s though their feelings are ,
pretty much the sam e with regard t o all of the orders ,
many nevertheless app ear to make a distinction in

, ,
favour of the K h alw e t ees th e Kad irees R u fa ees and , ,

’
the Sa d ees The greater p or ti on of those who do n ot

’
.
care to i n corporate themselves i n these Orders are still a t

t en t iv e t o assist occasionally at their dances On e see s .
among these simple sp ectators p eople of every c ond ition

of l i fe o f both sexes
,
The c ustom i s t o take pla c es in
.
th e corners of th e halls or in separa t e tribunes ; thos e ,
to the righ t are for the men and those to the left for ,
the women Th e first are exposed wh i lst the latter are

.
,
covered with blinds Chr i stians who i n other respects

.
,
are not allowed to enter the m osques dur i ng the h oly

s ervice are a d mit t ed without any di fficulty among
, , ,
these D erv i sh es — parti c ularly s t rangers and p eopl e of

,
distin c tion One O f the eld ers receives and shows them
.
into the tr i bunes As I have fre quently assisted at thes e

.
ex er c ises in several convents of C onstantinople I c an

, ,
vou c h for their urban i ty .
After these very gener a l O p i nions as to the san c tity or

these relig i ous Ord ers one must n ot b e astonished if the
,
greater portion of the people have S O much veneration

for the Sheikhs of the D ervishes Whenever they app ear .
they re c eive the most distinguished t okens o f wel c om e ,
and though from prin c ipl e they n ever ask for anything
, , ,
they n evertheless n ever s c ruple t o ac c ept the liberal

donations of charitable individuals There are some who .
reserve their alm s for t hese pious recluses Others who .

,
hold it a s a duty to seek for such as are the most r e com

m endable in the Orders for m acquaintances with them , ,
see them O ften an d supply their wan t s Many even

,
.
lodge an d board som e i n their own houses i n the hop e ,
o f drawing upon themselves their famil i es and fort unes , , ,
the blessings of heaven I n time of war this d evotion .

,
becomes more g eneral and m ore fervent One sees P a shas .

,
Beys and Ofli cers as well as h i gh functionar i es of the

, ,
c ourt engage on e or more of thes e coenobites t o follow

,
them dur i ng the campaign They pass whole days and .
n i ghts in their tents w holly oc c upied in offering up vows

,
for the su c cess of the Mussulman arms .
M oreover whenever a warlike exped iti on i s to be go t

,
up a host of Sheikhs an d D erv i shes of nearly a ll the

,
Orders hasten to follow the army as volunteers Th e .
Government en courages them as by their presen c e the i r , , ,
example and the rn or t ifi cat ion s to which they subj e c t

,
themselves they an i mate the courage of the tr oop s and

, ,
maintain a religious enthusiasm among them on the eve of

an a c t i on : they spend the night in prayers and tears ,
go among the ranks exhort the O ffi c ers and soldiers to

,
p erform well their duty or i n calling to their minds th e

,
ineffable benefits promised by the Prophet to all M u s s u l

mans w h o fight for the defen c e of the faith or who di e
—
,
“ ”
in arms Som e cry ou t Ya Gh az ee z va Sh ahid !
—
.
,
“ ”
( O ye vic t oriou s l y e m artyrs l ) O t hers repeat t he
2 40 T HE D E R VI S HE S .
si c k that they give these c abalist i c writings ; they dis

tribute them to person s in goo d h ealth a s s o many pre ,
s e rv at iv es again st p h ysi c al ev i ls a n d m oral affli c t i on s .
Those who have re c o u rse to t h ese talisma n s flatter them

s el v es that they have the virt u e of c uring the pl agu e
( small p
-
ox ) and generally
,
a ll k i nds of ev i ls even the ,
wounds of an en emy Some retain them on the i r per .
son a ll their live s in small trinkets O f gold and silver ;

others festoon t h em on their arms place them on the ,
upp er part of th eir c a p s or on the i r turb a ns ; others ,
aga in susp end t h em aroun d the i r ne c ks with a c ord of

gold or silk and betwe en the Shirt an d the v es t fif
,
All these rolls are called Ydf l d s N a ive/20 s or H a mm d z ly

'
, ,
a n d possess virtue so s ay the Sheikhs only w h en given

, ,
by the i r own ha n ds The sup erst i tiou s of all classes

.
,
m en and wo m en zealously c all up on them and they

, ,
n e v er fail to b estow upon the former

( the Sheikhs ) marks
o f the i r generosity in the s h ap e o f s il v er stuffs or pro , ,
v is i ons of all k i nds Whate v er m ay be the su cc ess of

.
these remedies nothing c hanges the fa ith of the meek

,
minde d be c a use t h ose who admi n ister them requ i re as

,
the chief condition the strongest faith on the p art of

those who ask for them ; so t h a t by accusing them of ,
fa iling in th i s point they are always able to s c reen them

,
selves from the reproa c hes wh i c h t h e recipients might

feel d ispose d somet i mes to utter a gainst th eir effi ca cy .
The publi c attri bute to some O f the She i khs th e se c ret

fa c ulty of charm i ng snakes of dis c overing t h eir nests in ,
houses of indi c ating thieves an d pi c kpo c kets of destroy

, ,
ing the magi c al tie wh i c h it is believed pre , ,
vents newly married husbands from consummating their

-
marri a ge ; finally of pre v ent i n g the unhappy effe c ts of

,
every sort of malevolen c e by dra w i n g w i th collyr i um the

l etter E l i f ( a ) on the forehe a ds of women an d espe c ially ,
of children .
I f on the on e hand these rever i e s which are pre

, , ,
scr i bed by I sl am i sm attract at the s am e time the devo

,
Kar a M u s t a p h a ,
w h os e h ea d is in t h e M u s eu m o f A rm ou r a t
V i en n a, w or e it
a Sh r cove r e d w i t h cab al i s t i c D e rvi s h w ri t i n g s , as a
p res ervat ive .

T HE D ERVI S H E S . 241
tion and money of th e sup ers t it i ous on t h e other th ey ,
only serve to discredit them i n the minds of p eople of

reason and good sense What adds still more to this
.
p ersonal disfavour i s th e imm orality of many of these

,
same Sheikh s and D ervishes I t is ob served that they .
unite together debauchery and th e m os t severe a c ts of

au sterity giving to the publ i c the scandalou s example
,
o f intemp eran c e d i ssoluteness

,
and the most sham e ful ,
ex c ess es The least reserve d of all are tho se travelling

.
D ervish es called S eyy d d s or travellers ab ou t whom som e

, , ,
th i ng rema i ns to b e said .
These recluses adopt the s y s t em of wander i ng over all

Mussulman c ountrie s in t he thre e p ortions of the globe ,
and are divided into th ree classe s O n e pr inci p ally .

,
B ek t as h ees and R u fa e es t ravel for the pur p ose of

’
,
mak ing c ollectio n s an d of recommendi n g t heir Ord ers

,
t o the l i berality of the pious and charitable Th e others .
are in dividuals exp elle d from their Order for mis c ondu c t ,
an d who retaining th e garb o f a D ervish beg a sub sist

, ,
ence from town to town Th e th i rd are foreign D ervishes

.
,
such as the A b d allee s the U s h s h ak e es the H in d e es & c

’
,
’
, ,
.
,
for whom th e O ttoman s entertain bu t little d evotion ,
on accoun t of their n ot descen ding like the others from , ,
the or i g i nal congrega t ion s duri n g the l i fe time of th e -
Prophet .
T o thi s latter class belong al so t he d

'
z s eer the ,
m o st ancient O f all and th e K a len d er ees who se founder

, ,
was Kalender Y oos u f A n d aloos e e a native of Andalusia , ,
in Spa i n H e was for a long tim e a disciple of H aj e e

.
B ekt ash but having been dismissed from his O rder on

, ,
a cc oun t of his h aughty and arrogant character he mad e ,
vain efforts t o b e admit t ed into the M evlev ee s and en ded ,
by establishing on h i s ow n au t hority an Order of D er

v is h es with the obligation of perp etually travelling about
, ,
an d of entertaini n g an eternal ha t red again st the B ek t a

s h e e s and the M ev le v e e s .
The titl e of Ka len d er which he himself assumed , ,
and afterward s gave t o his disciples s ignifies pure gold , ,
in allu sion t o the purity of th e heart to the sp i rit ,
u alit y of the soul an d t o t h e exemp t ion from all worldl y

,
R
c ontamina t ion which h e required of hi s proselytes The .
rules of his O 1 der c ompell ed them to live wholly upon

alms to travel about m ostly without shoes and to p ra c
, ,
tise th e severes t acts Of a u sterity so as to mer i t the ,
favour of H eaven esp ecially i n a state of ecsta c y of

, ,
light of p erfe c t sanctity whi c h makes h e d e c lared the

, , , ,
p ort i on of every C oenob i te renders him truly worthy of

,
his vo c ation of th e name of a Kalen d er e e or t h a t of

, ,
a M ev lev ee I t i s t h erefore given to all th e D er vi shes

.
, ,
of th e other Orders who are di stinguished by their bret h ren

for a c ts of supererogation for revelations and for super
, ,
n atural grace I t i s this class of e n l i ghtened be i n gs of

.
A V VA N D E R I N G DE R V I S H OF T HE K A LE N D E RE E O R D ER .
the various Orders wh i ch has produced so many fanatics

in every age of M ah om m e d a n is m From it cam e the .
assassin of Sultan By a z id I I and of many m in is t ei s .

,
a n d grande es of th e empi re Out of i t came under .

,
variou s reign s so ma n y false M e/z ez eer who under this

,
’
, ,
nam e have got up t h e most audacious en t erprises and

, ,
244 TH E D ERV I S HE S .
C H APT E R XI I .
AS E gyp t contains many D ervishes I cannot offe r a ,
b etter a c count of th em than b y quot i ng th e remarks of

“
M r Lan e in his excellent work called
.
,
the M odern
”
E gyptian s which I d o in hi s o w n language I pres erve
,
.
also his own pronun c iat i on of Arab ic words .
D u rw ee s h e s are very numerous i n E gypt and some ,
of them who confin e themselves to rel i gious exercises ,
an d s u bsist by alms are mu c h resp e c ted in this c ou n try

, ,
p arti c ularly by th e lower orders V arious ar t ifi ces are .
employed by p ersons of th i s cl a ss to obtain th e reputa

t a t ion of sup erior san c tity an d of b eing endowed with
,
t h e power of p erforming mira c les Many of them are .
regarded as w ele es .
“
A d i re ct d es c endant of Aboo Bekr the first Khale e -
feh having the titl e of E y ll — S d ey é lz el B ek r ee and r e

‘ ’
, ,
g arde d as the representative O f that prin c e h olds author i ty ,
over all Orders of D u rw ees h e s in Egypt The presen t .
Sheykh e l B ek ree wh o is al so descended from th e Pro

,
phet is N ack eed el A s lz r dfl or c hief of the Shereefs I

,
.
may here add that the secon d Kh ale efeh Omar has li k e ’
wise his representative who i s the Sheykh of the En a

,
’
n eey eh or O w l ad E n an an Order of D u rw e es h es s o
,
’
,
’
named from on e of their cel ebrated Sh ey kh s I bn E n an ,
.
’
O sm an has n o representati v e h av i ng left n o i ssue The
,
.
representative of Alee i s called Sheykh es S ad at or

’
,
‘
Sh eyk h of the S eyyid s or Shereefs a titl e of les s
’ ‘
,
’
importa n ce than that of N a ck e eb of the Shereefs E ach .
of these t h re e S h ey k h s i s term ed the oc c upant of the seg

g adeh ( or prayer carpet ) O f his great ancestor SO also
’
.
the Sheykh of an Order of D u rw ee s h es is called the oc en

p an t of the s eggad eh of t he founder of the Order Th e .
s eggad eh i s considered as t h e spiri tu al t hrone There .

are four grea t s eggad eh s o f D u rw ee s h es in E gypt which ,
are those of four great Orders about to be ment i oned .
The most celebrate d Orders of D u rw ee s h es i n E gypt

are the follow i ng — 1 The R ifae ey eh ( in the singular .
’ ’
Th i s ord er was found ed by the Seyd A hh m a d

R ifa ah el Keb e er I ts banners and the turb a n s of i ts
’
.
members are black or the latter are of a very deep blue , ,
woollen stuff or musl i n of a very dark greenis h hue

, .
The R ifae e D u rw e e s h es are celebrated for the perform

’
an c e of many wonderful feats The I lw an e ey eh or .

’
,
’
‘
Owlad I lwan wh o are a se c t of the R ifae e s preten d
’
,
’ ’
,
t o thrust i ron spikes into their eyes and b odies without

sustain i ng any inj ury and in appearance they do this in
such a manner as to dece i ve any person who c an believe
it p ossibl e for a man to do su c h things in reality They .
also break large masses o f ston e on their c hests e at live ,
c oals glass & c and are said t o pass s w ord s completely

, ,
.
through th eir bodies an d pack i ng needles through both ,

-
their cheeks without suffer i ng an y pa i n or l eav i ng any

, ,
wou n d but su c h perf orman ces are now seldom wit

n es s e d I am told t h at it was a common pra c tice for a
.
D u rw ees h of this Order to holl ow o u t a piece of th e

trunk of a palm t ree fill it w i th rags soaked with O il an d
-
tar then set fire to these c on tents a n d c arry the burn i ng

, ,
mass under his arm in a rel i g i ous pro c ession ( wearing only
drawers ) the flames curling over his bare chest ba c k
, , ,
an d head and apparently do i ng him n o inj ury Th e

,
.
’
Sa a d eey eh an Order foun ded by the She y k h Saad ed
,
D een E l Gibaw ee are another and more cel ebrated se ct ,

’
of the R ifae es T h eir banners are green or of the
.
,
dark hue of the R ifaee s in general Th ere are many ’

.
D u r we es h e s of this Order w h o handle with impunity live

venomous serpents and scorp ion s and p artly d evour ,
them The serp ents however they render in capabl e of

.
, ,
d oing any inj ury by extra c ting t he i r venomous fangs an d ,
doubtless they a lso d eprive the s c orp i ons of their poison .
On certain occasions as for inst a n c e on that o f t h e ,
fest i val of the birth of the Prophet th e She i kh of the ,
Sa a d eey eh rides on horseback over the bodies of a

number of his D u rw ees h es and o t her persons who thro w ,
themselve s on t h e ground for the purp ose and all assert ,
that they are not i nj ured by th e tread of the hors e This .
ceremony i s called the D oseh Many R ifaee and Saad ee .

’
D u rw ee s h es obtain their livelihood by going about t o

charm away serp ents from houses Of the fe a ts of these .
mod ern P s y lli an a c count will b e given in another chapter .
2 . The C k ad ire ey eh an O rder founded by th e ,

’
famous Seyd Abd el C k ad ir el G eelan ee Their b an

’
.
ners an d turbans are white M ost of the C k ad ireey eh of .
E gyp t are fishe r men these in rel i g i ous ceremonies , ,
carry up on poles nets of various colours (green yello w , ,
re d white & C ) as the bann ers of the i r Order

, ,
. .
“ ’
3 . Th e A hh m e d ee y e h an Ord er of t h e Seyd ,
A h h m a d e l Bed a wee whom I have lately m ention ed ,

.
This is a very num erous and high ly resp ectable Order .
Their ban n ers an d turbans are red The B eiy oo .
( e l B eiy o om e e )
’ ’
m eey eh fou n ded by the S eyd Al ee ,
the Sh aaraw eey eh ( founded by the Sheykh Alee E sh ’
S h a araw ee) the Shin n aw e ey eh ( found ed by t h e Seyd

‘ ’
,
’
Al ee E sh Shin n aw ee) a n d many other Orders are sects ,
o f the A h h m e d e ey e h The Sh in n aw e ey eh tra in an ass to

.
p erform a stran ge part in the c eremonies of t h e las t day

of the 77100 lz 0 of their great patron s a int th e Seyd A hhm ad
’
'
el Bedawee at Tun t a ; the ass of i ts own a c cord enters , ,
the m osque of the Seyd pro c eeds to t h e tomb an d there , ,
stands wh i l e multitudes crowd a roun d it an d each

, ,
p erson who can approa c h near enough t o it plucks Off

som e of its hair to use as a charm un ti l t h e s k in of th e
, ,
p oor beast i s as bare as th e palm of a man s hand ’

.
There is another se ct of the A hh m ed e ey eh call ed the ,
Owl ad Noohh all young m en wh o wear z z er l00 r s ( or

,
’ ‘
high caps ) with a tuft of p i eces of v a rious coloured

,
-
c loth on the top wooden swor d s and numerou s strings, ,
of beads and carry a kind of whip ( called fi r ck ill eh ) ,
a t hick twis t of cords .
The ar ah im eh rh am ee eh
’
4 . B o r B oo y the Orde ,
of the Seyd I brah eem ed D es oo ck ee whose 77200lz 0

'
’
,
( birthday ) has been mentioned above The i r banners .
an d turbans are green T h ere are many other classes of .
D u r wees h es som e of whom ar e sec t s of on e or o t her of

,
P d llz d d lz
t ogether an d t he latter con cluded t he ceremony
,
by k i ssing the Sh eykh s hand ’

.
“
The religious exer c ises of the D u rw ees h es ch i efly
c onsist i n the p erforman ce of Z z ler s Sometimes stand
’
ing in the form of a c ircular or oblo n g ring or in two ,
rows fa c ing ea c h oth er and somet i mes S itting they

, , ,
exclaim or c hant L a il aha illa llah , ( There is n o

‘ ’ ’
d eity but God ) or All ah ! All ah ! All ah ! ( God God

,
‘ ’
, ,
God) or repeat other invocations &:c over and over

, ,
.
a ga i n u ntil their strength is almost exhausted

,
ac com ,
panying their ej aculation s or c hants with a mot i on of th e

head or of the whole b ody or of th e arms From long
, ,
.
habit they are able to cont i nue these exer c ises for a sur
p rising l ength O f time witho u t i ntermiss i on They are .
o ften ac c ompanied at interval s by on e or more players

u pon a kin d of fl u te called rz dy or a double reed pip e ,
called d rg d 00l and by p ersons singi n g relig i o u s odes ;

,
and some D u r w ee s h es use a li t tle drum called E d e or a ,
tambourin e during the i r Z z d r s ; some also p erform a

’
p eculiar dan ce the des c ription of whi c h as well as o f

, ,
s everal d i fferent Z z d r r I reserve for a fu ture c hap ter

’
.
,
“
Some of the rites of the D a r w ee s h es ( as forms of
prayer modes of Z z d r & c ) ar e O bserved only by par
’
.
, ,
t icu lar Orders ; others by members of various Ord ers .
Among the latter may be m ent i on ed the rites of th e

Kh a lw et e es and Shaz ilee s two great classes ea c h
’ ‘ ’
, ,
o f whi c h has its Sheykh The c h i ef differen ce b etween .
these is that ea c h has i ts parti c ular form of pra yer to

repeat every morni n g an d th a t the former dist i nguish ,
themsel v es by oc c as i onal se c lus i on whence the i r app el ,
lation of Kh alw e t e es
‘
the prayer of t h is c lass repe a ted
b efore daybreak is called Wi rd Sahar ,
that of the ‘
‘
Shaz ile es whi c h is called H h ez b es h
,
’
after ‘
daybreak S omet i mes a Kh a lw et e e enters a solitary

.
cell and rem ains in it for forty d a ys and nights fast

, ,
ing from daybreak t i ll sunset t h e whole of this period .
Somet i mes also a number of th e sam e class c on fi ne

themsel v es each i n a separate c ell in the sepulchral
, ,
mosque of the Sheykh of E d D im u rd as h ee on the ‘

,
’
north of C airo and remain there thre e days an d nights

, ,
9
on th e occas i on of the m 00lz z l of tha t saint an d only ,
eat a little rice and drin k a cu p of sh erb et i n the even

ing They employ themselves 1n repeating c ert a in form s
.
of prayer & c n ot imparted t o the uninitiated ; only

, .
coming ou t of their cells t o uni t e in the five da i ly

p rayers in the mosque an d n ever answering any on e ,
who speaks to them bu t by say i ng There is n o deity ,

‘
’
but God .
’
Those who observe the forty d a ys fast an d ,
seclude themselves during that long p er i od practis e ,
n early the same rul es an d employ their t ime in repeat

,
ing the testimony O f the fai t h imploring forgiveness , ,
praisi n g God & c ,

.
Almost all the D u rw ee s h es of E gypt are t radesmen

or artisan s or agr ic ul t ura lists an d only o c casio n ally assist
, ,
in the rites an d ceremonies of their respe c t i ve Orders ;

but there are s ome who have n o other o c cupations t h an
those of perform i ng Z z é r s at the festivals of saints an d
’
at private entertainments and of chant i ng i n funeral ,
procession s These are termed P 0 0elea r a or F a ck eer s

.
, ,
’
which is an a pp ellation given also to the poor in general ,
but espe c ially to poor d evotee s Some O bta i n their .
livelihood as water c arriers by supplying the passengers

-
in the stre ets of Cairo an d th e v i s i tors at rel i gious fes

t iv a ls with wa t er which they carry in an earthen vessel
,
’
or a goat s Skin on the back A fe w lead a wandering
,
.
life an d sub sist on alms wh i ch they O ften demand with ,
great importuna c y an d effrontery Som e of the se dis .
t in gu is h themselves in the same mann er as certain repute d

s aints before mentioned by the D ilck or c o a t of p atches
, ,
’
,
and the staff with shred s O f c loth of d i fferent colours

a t t ach e d t o the top ;
. others wear fantas t ic dresses of
var i ous d escriptions .
Some R ifaee D u rw ee s h e s ( beside s those who foll ow

’
the o c cupation of charming away serpents from houses )

pursue a wandering life travelling about E gyp t and , ,
profitin g by a ridi c ulous sup erstition whi c h I m ust here

ment i on A venerated sa i nt call ed Se e D a ood E l Azab
.
,
’ ’
( or Master Da v id the Bachelor

) w h o lived at T e fah in eh ,
a village in Lower E gypt had a calf whi c h always a t ,
tended h i m brough t him wa t er & c Sin ce his death ,

, , .
’ ’
some R ifat ee D u rw ees h es have b een in the habit of
rearing a number of c alves at his n a t ive place or burial ,
place ab ove named t eachin g them to walk upstairs to l i e , ,
d own at command & c ; an d then going about the ,

.
country ea c h with h i s calf to obtain alm s The c alf is ,

.
called B gl el A z ab ( the calf of E l Azab or of the

" ’ ’ ’
Bachelor) I once called into my house on e of these

.
D u rw e es h es with h i s calf the only on e I have seen ; i t ,
was a buffa lo c alf and had t w o bells suspende d to it

-
, ,
on e attached to a collar round i ts neck and the o t her to ,
a girth round its body I t walked up the st a irs v ery well .

,
but showed that i t had n ot b een very well t ra i ned i n every

’ ’
respe c t The Egl el Azab is vulgarly believed to bri n g
.
into the hous e a blessing from t he sain t after wh om it is

c a lled .
There are numerou s wan d ering Turki sh and P ersian

D u rw e es h es in E gyp t ; an d to these more than to the ,
few Egyp tian D u r w ee s h e s who lead a sim i lar life must ,
the character for impudence and imp ortuna c y b e as c ribed .
V ery often parti c ularly i n R umad an a fore i gn D u rw ees h

, ,
goes to the m osque of the H h a s an ey n wh ich is t h at most ,
frequented by the Tur k s and P ers i an s at the time of the

F riday prayers ; an d when the Kh at e eb i s re c i t ing th e
first passe s between t he ra n ks of person s w h o
are sitting up on the floor and places before e a c h a littl e ,
S lip of p a p er upon wh i c h are wr it ten a few words gene ,
rally exhortative to char i ty ( as H e who giveth alms ,

‘
will be provided for The poor D u rw ees h asketh an,

’
alms 8m) by which proceeding he usually obta i ns from

,
’
.
ea c h or almost every p erson a p i ece of five or ten

, ,
f u d z ld lz s o r more
,
M any of the P ersi a n.D u r w ee s h e s in
E gypt carry an oblong bowl of co c oa nu t or w oo d or -
m e t a l i n which th ey receive t heir alms and put their

, ,
food and a wooden spoon ; and mos t of the foreign

,
D u rw ees h es wear dresses peculiar t o their respe c tive

Orders they are c hiefly distinguished by the c ap The .
most common descri ption of cap i s of a sugar lo a f or -
con i cal shape and mad e of fel t The o t her article s of

,
.
dress are generally a vest an d full drawers or t rousers Or , ,
a s hi rt an d bel t an d a coar s e cloak or long coa t

.
, Th e .
2
e xcellen t i s th e Guardian ! And t here is no strength ,
n or p ower but in G od the H igh the Great

, O God ! , ,
0 ou r Lord ! O Thou liberal of p ardon ! 0 Thou most

’
b ountiful of the mo st bount i ful ! O God ! Amen !
They were then silent for th ree or four m i nutes an d ,
again reci ted the F at hh ah but S ilently T h is form of ,

.
pref acing the Z ik r i s commonly used by almost all Orders

o f D u r w ee s h es in E gy pt I t is called ez Z ier . .
“
After th i s preface the p erform ers b egan the Z eb ,
S itting i n the manner above d escr i bed th ey chanted in , ,
S low measure L d z la lz a z ll d ll0 /z ( there is n o d eity but

'
’ '
’ ’
G od ) to t h e follo w ing air

,
La 1 la b a i lla l lah -
. Lai -
l a ha il l a
-
l la h L a i
-
.
is ha ill a -
l l ah .
bowing th e head and body twice on ea c h rep et i tion of

‘
L a il aha illa llah T h us they c ontinued about a
’
.
’
quarter of an h ou r a n d then for ab out the sam e s pa c e

, .
,
O f t i me they repeated the sam e words to the same air

, ,
but in a qui c ker measure an d w i th correspond i ngly ,
q u ic ker mot i on s I n the me a nt i me

. the M o o n s h id s fr e ,
quently s a ng to th e s am e or a var i ation of the sam e air

, ,
p or t ion s of a C k as ee d eh or of a M oow e s h s h ah h an ode ,

’
o f a similar nature to th e Song of Solomon genera lly ,
allud i n g to the Prophet as the obj e c t of love an d pra i se .
“
I s h all here gi v e a translation of on e of th ese M oo
w es h s h ah h s w h ic h are very numerous a s a spe c imen of ,
their styl e from a book c ont a in i ng a number of these

,
p oem s w h i c h I h a ve pur c h ased during the present

,
M 0 0lz 0 ( b i rt h d ay ) from a D u rw e e s h w h o presides at

'
’
many Z ik rs H e p o i nted at th e following poem as o n e

.
o f thos e most c ommon at Z ik rs and as on e wh ic h ,
was sung at the Z ik r whi c h I h a ve begun to des c rib e .
I t ran slate it verse for verse an d imitate the m easure and ,

53
system of rhym e of the original with this di fference only , ,
that the first third and fifth l i n es of each stanza rhym e

, ,
with each other i n th e orig i nal but n ot i n my tran slation , .
W i th l ove my h ear t is tr ou b l e d
An d min e e y e l id hin d r e t h S l ee p
M y v i t al s a e di s s ever e d
r
W h il e w it h s t re a mi n g t ears I weep .
M y u n i on s eem s fa r di s t an t ,
W i ll my l ove e er m e et min e ey e
’
A l a s did n ot e s tran gem en t

D r aw my t ear s I w ou l d n ot s igh
,
.
By d rear y n igh t s I m w as te d ’
Ab s en ce m ak es my h op e e xpir e
M y t ea r s l ik e p ear l s are d o ppi n g ;
, ,
r
A n d my h ea r t i s w r a pp e d in fi r e .
W h os e is l ik e my co n di t i on ?
S ca r ce l y k n ow I r e m e d y .
Al as did n ot es t ra n g em en t
D ra w m y t e ar s I w ou l d n ot s igh
, .
O t u rt l e d ov e a cqu ai n t m e
-
W h er efor e t h u s d os t t h ou l am en t ?
A r t t h ou s o s t u n g by ab s en ce ?
O f t h y w i g s d e p r ived an d p en t
n ,
H e s ai th ,
O u r g r i e fs a e e q u a l r
W orn aw a y w i t h love I lie , .

”
A l as did n ot es tr an g em en t
D raw my t ea r s I w ou l d n ot s igh
, .
O fi r s t an d s ol e E t er n al
,
S h ow T h y favou r y e t t o m e .
Th y s l ave A h h m a d El B ek r ee
,
H at h n o L o r d e x cep ti n g Th ee .
By T a H a! t h e G reat P op h et
’
r
D o Th ou n ot his w i s h d en y .
Al as ! did n ot es t r an ge m e n t
D raw m y t ea r s I w ou l d n ot s igh
, .
’
After repeati n g the L a i l aha in various t i m es an d
‘
m easures M r Lane adds

,
.
“
They n ext rose an d standi n g in t he sam e order in
,
which they had be en sitting repeated the same word s ,
to anothe r air D uring th i s stage of their p erformance

.
.
they were j oined by a tall well dressed black slave ,

-
, ,
w hose appearance i n duced me to in quire w h o h e was
Ta H a ”
is t h e na m e of t h e A rabi an P rop h et .
I was informed t hat h e was a eu n uch belonging t o the ,
Basha The Zikk eers still standing next repeated the

.
, ,
same words in a very d eep and hoarse tone laying the ,
prin c ipal emphasis up on the word L d and the first ’

,
syllable of the last word A llard and utter i ng app a rently , , ,
with a c onsiderable effort : the sound mu c h resembled

that wh i ch i s produ c ed by beating the rim of a t a mbou
rin e E a c h Z ikk eer turn ed his head alternately to the
.
right and left at ea c h repet i tion of La il aha illa llah ‘ ’

.
’
Th e eunu c h above m ention ed during thi s p a rt of the ,
Zik r became wha t i s termed m eld0 05 possessed ‘ ’

,
or , , .
Throwing his arm s about a n d looking up with a very w i ld , ,
expression of countenan c e he exclaimed in a very high , ,
tone and with great vehemence and rapidity Allah !

, ,
‘
A llah Allah ! Allah ! All ah ! la la ! la ! la ! la ! la ! la !

la ! la ! la la ! la la ! lah Ya a m m ee Ya a m m e e Ya ’ ’
am m e e! A s h m aw ee ! Ya A s h m aw ee ! Ya A s h m aw ee
’
a m m e e s i gn i fies O my uncle H i i
( Y s vo ce gradu a l ly
’
a
be c am e faint and when he had uttered those word s
, ,
though he was held by a D u rw ee s h who was n ext him ,
he fell on the ground foami n g at the m outh his eyes , ,
closed h is limbs con v ulsed and his fingers c lenched over

, ,
h i s thumbs I t was an epileptic fit

. N o on e c ould .
see it an d b elieve it to be t h e effect of feigne d emotions

it was undoubtedly the re sult of a high state of religious
, ,
excitement Nobody seemed surpr i sed at i t for o ccur

.
,
r e n c es of this kind at Z ik r s are n ot uncommon All the .
performers n ow app eared much excited ; repeating their

ej aculation s with greater rapidity violently turning their ,
heads and s i n king the whole b ody at the same time

, ,
some of them j umping The eunuch be c ame m elb oos .
again several t i mes an d I generally remarked that his

, ,
fits happ en ed after on e of the M oon s h id s had sung a l i ne

or t w o and exerted h i mself more than usually to excite
,
his hearers The singing was i ndeed to my taste very

.
, , ,
pleasing Towar d s t h e c lose of the Zik r a private

.
,
soldier wh o had j oined through the whole p erforman c e

, ,
also seemed several t i mes to be m elboos growl i ng in

, ,
a horrible manner and violently shaking h i s head from

,
side to Sid e The contras t presented by the vehement

.
25 6 T H E D E RVI S H E S .
preceed ed by a very numerous procession of the D ur

w ee s h es of whom he is th e chief
,
I n the way through .
th i s place the pro c ession stopped at a short distance

,
b efore the house of the Sheykh E l B ek r ee H ere a .
consider able number of th e D u rw ees h es and others ( I

am sure that there were more than sixty but I could ,
n ot c ount their numb er

) la i d themselves down upon
,
t he ground side by side as close as p oss i ble t o each

, ,
other hav i ng their ba c ks upw a rd s their legs exte n ded

, , ,
and their arms placed together beneath their forehea d s .
They incessantly muttered the word Alla h ! About ‘ ’
t w elve or m ore D u r w e es h es most without their shoe s , ,
then ran over the ba c ks of the i r prostrate companions ;

some b eating or l i ttle drums of a hemispherical
form held in the left hand an d exclaiming Allah
,
an d
,
‘
then the Sheykh approached ; his horse hesitated for

several m i nutes t o tread upon the back of the firs t of
the prostrate men ; bu t being pulled and urge d on ,
behind he at le ngth stepp ed upon him and then w i th

, ,
ou t apparent fear ambled with a h i gh pace over them

, , ,
all led by two p erson s who ran over the prostrate men
, ,
on e sometimes touching on the feet and the other o n ,
th e h eads The spe ctators immediately ra i sed a long cry

.
A llard L d l d ld laid ! N ot on e of the m e n thus

’ ’
of
‘
trample d upon by the horse seem ed to be hurt ; b u t

ea c h the moment the horse had passed over him
, ,
j umped up and followed th e Sheykh E ach of them .
r ece i ved t w o treads from the horse ; one from on e of

h i s forelegs and a se c on d from a hind leg I t is said
,
.
that these persons as well as the Sheykh make us e of, ,
certain words ( Ye s t a am eloo asm a) that is repeat prayers , ,
and invoc a tions on the day preceeding thi s p erform

,
an c e to enable them t o endure without inj ury the tread

,
of the horse ; an d that some n ot thus prep a red having , ,
ventured to l i e d own to be ridd en over have on more , ,
than on e oc c asion b een k i lled or severely inj ured , , .
Th e performance i s c onsidered as a m i racle e ffe c te d ,
through supernatural power which has been granted t o ,
every successive Sheykh of the Sa ad eey eh I t is sa i d .
t hat the second She v kh of the Saad eey eh ( t he immediat e

successor of the founder of the Order) rode over heap s

o f glass bottles without break ing an y of them Some
,
.
p ersons assert that the horse i s unshod for the o c cas i on

but I thought I could p erceive that this was n ot th e
case They also say that the animal is tra i ned for the
.
purpose but i f so thi s would only account for the least

,
surprising of the cir c umstances I mean for the fact of ,
the horse being made to tread on human beings an act ,
to whi c h it is well known that an i mal is very averse

, , .
The present Sheykh of th e Saa d eey eh refused for som e ,
years t o p erform the D a t ed

,
By much entreaty he w a s .
prevailed upon t o emp ower another p erson t o d o it .
This person a blind man did it successfully bu t soo n

, , ,
after died and the Sheykh of th e Saad e ey eh then

yield ed to the request of his D u rw e es h es a n d has S inc e ,
al w ays perfo rmed the D 0red himsel f .
“
After the Sheykh had ac c omplished thi s ex t raordinary
p erforman c e w i thout the slightest appearan c e of any
,
untoward accident he rod e into th e garden an d entered

, ,
the house of the Sheykh el B ek r ee accompanied by on ly ,
a few D u rw e es h e s O n my present i ng myself a t th e

.
d oor a s ervant admi tt ed m e and I j o i ned the assembly

, ,
within Th e She i kh having dismounted seate d himself

.
,
on a s eg garaled spread up on the pavem ent aga i n st t he en d

’
r
wall of a t u kh t ab os h or wide recess of the court of t h e

, ,
h ouse H e sat with b en ded back and d owncast coun

.
t en a n ce an d tears in his eyes mut t ering almost in ce s

, ,
s an t ly .I stood almost close t o him E ight other .
p erson s sa t with him The D u rw ees h es w h o had entered

.
with h i m w h o were abou t twen t y in nu m ber s t ood in

, ,
t he form of a s em i circle before him upon som e mat t i n g

placed for the m and aro u nd them were abou t fifty or
,
s i x ty o t her persons Six D u rw ees h e s advancing t oward s

.
him about t w o yards from th e semicircle comm ence d a

, ,
Z ik r each of the m exclaiming at t h e sam e time

, All ah u ,
hh ei ( God i s living ) and at each exclamation b eat i ng

,
with a kind of small and short leather strap a b az which , ,
he held by a boss a t the bottom in his l eft hand This .
t hey did only for a few minu t es A blac k slave then .
became m elboos and ru sh ed in t o t he mid st of t he

,
S
25 8 TH E D E R V 1 SH E S .
D u rw ees h es , throwi n g his arms abou t and exclaiming , ,

’
‘
All ah ! la ! la ! la ! la ! lah ! A person held him ,
and he so on seem ed to reco v er The D u rw ee s h es alto .

,
gether st a nding as first d escribed i n the form of a semi

, ,
cir c le then p erform ed a se c ond Zik r ea c h alternate

, ,
Zikk ee r excl a im i ng All ahu bhe l ( God is li vi ng ) and

,
‘ ’
the oth ers Ya h h ei ( O thou liv i ng) an d all of them

,
‘ ’
,
bowing at each ex c lamatio n alternately to th e right and

, ,
left Th i s they continued for about ten m i nutes The n

. .
,
for about th e same space of time in the same manner , ,

“ ”
and w i th the same moti on s they excla i med D ai m , ,
( E verla s ting ) and Ya D a

,
im
( O E verlast i ng !) I felt
an irresistible impul se to do the same if I c ould w i th , ,
o u t bei n g not ic ed as a n i ntruder and accordingly j o in ed ,
the sem ici rcle and un i ted in the p erformance in wh ich

, ,
I suc c eed ed well en ough n ot to attract observation but

I worked myself into a mo s t uncomfortable h eat After .
the Z ik r j ust d escribed a person b egan to chant a portion,
of the Koran but th e Zik r was soon resumed and con ,
t in u ed for about a quarter o f an hour M ost of the Dur .
w e e s h e s there present then k i ssed the hand of the Sheykh ,
an d he ret i red to an upper apartment .
I t used to b e a c u stom of some of the Saad eey eh on ,
th i s o c cas i on after the D 0s ed to p erform their c elebrated

, ,
feat of eati n g live serp ents b efore a select assembly in ,
the house of the Sheykh E l B ek ree but their present

Sheykh has lately put a stop to th i s practice in t h e m etro
p olis j ustly d eclaring it to be d i sgusting and contrary
, ,
to the relig i on whi c h in c lu d es serpents among the

,
creatures that are unfit to be eaten Serpents and se or .
p i on s were not unfrequently eaten by Saa d ees during

my former visit to t h is c ountry The former were .
d epri v ed of t heir p oison ous teeth o r rendered harmless ,
by having their upper and lower lip s bored and t i ed

together on each side w i th a s i lk string t o prevent the i r
b i ting and somet i mes those which were m erely c arried
,
in procession s had two sil v er r i ngs put i n place O f the

silk strings Whenever a Saa d ee ate the flesh of a l i ve
.
serpent h e was or affe cted to be ex c ited to d o so by

, , ,
a k ind of fre n z y H e p ressed very hard with the end

.
di ffering from th e com m on gl air in bei n g withou t the ,
tinkli n g pieces of metal which are atta c he d t o the h oop s

of the latter One of the two p ersons menti oned as
.
exception s was beatin g a sm a ll f air of the c ommon k i n d

, ,
and the other a dd z or l i ttle kettle drum Before this

‘
,
’
-
.
r i ng of D u r w ee s h e s a spa c e rather la rger than that whi c h

,
they o c cupied was left by the c rowd for other Dur

w e e s h e s o f the same order ; and soon after the former
began to beat their tambourin es the latter who were , ,
S ix in numb er c ommen c ed a stra nge kind of dan c e ;

,
sometimes ex c l a iming Allah and sometimes Allah ‘

,
’
,
‘
M owl ana ( God i s o u r Lord )

’
There was n o regu .
l arit y in their d a n cing but ea c h seemed to b e p erforming

the antics of a madman — n ow m oving h is body up an d
down th e n ext mom ent turning round then using O dd
, ,
gesticulation s w ith his arm s next j umping an d some , ,
times screaming in short if a stranger observi n g them , , ,
was n ot told that they were p erforming a relig i ou s

exerc i se s u pposed to be th e involunt a ry effect of e n
,
t h u s ia s t ic ex c itement he would c erta i nly think that these

,
D u r w ee s h es were merely striv i ng to excel on e an other in

pl ayi n g the buffoon and the mann er in which t h ey were
clad would c onduce to impress him with th i s idea One .
of them wore a ad z rf l ard with ou t sl eeve s and witho u t a

’
, ,
girdle an d h a d n othing on his head wh ich had n ot b ee n

, ,
shaved for a week : another had a white skull cap but -
was naked from the head to the waist wear i ng noth i ng ,
on his body but a pair of loose drawers Th ese t WO

’
.
D u rw ees h es were t he pr i n c ipal p erformers The former .
of them a d ark spare middle age d man after having

, , ,
-
danced in his od d mann er for a few m i nutes an d gra ,
d ually become more wild and extravagant i n his actions ,
ru shed towards the ring formed by his brethren w h o

were beat i ng the f d r s I n the middle of this r i ng was
.
placed a small chafi n g dish of t i nned copp er full of red

-
, ,
h ot char c oal From th i s the D u rw e es h j ust men ti one d

.
,
s eized a p i ece o f live charcoal which he pu t into his ,
mouth then he did the same with another ano t her and , ,
another until his mouth was full ; then he deliberately

,
chewed t he s e live coals opening his mouth ve ry wide ,

T HE D E R V1S H ES . 26 1
every momen t t o Sh ow i ts contents w hi c h after about , ,
t h ree minutes he s w allowed ; and all this he d i d w i th

,
ou t evincing the slightest symptom of pa i n ; a ppearing ,
dur i ng th e operation a n d afte r it even more lively than ,
before The other D u rw e es h b efore alluded t o as half

.
,
n aked ,
displayed a remarkably fi n e an d vigorous form ,
and seemed to b e in the prime of hi s age After h avi n g .
danced not much longer than the former his action s ,
b ecame so violent that on e of h i s brethren h eld him ;

but he released h imself from his grasp an d rushi n g to ,
wards the chafi n g dish took ou t on e of the largest live

-
coals and put it into his mouth H e k ept h i s mouth

,
.
wid e open for a bout t w o minutes and during th i s period ,
ea c h time he i nhaled the large c oal app eared almost of

,
a w hite h eat ; and when h e exhaled numerou s sparks ,
were blown ou t of h i s mouth After this he c hewed .

,
and swallowed the coal and then resum ed his dancing , .
When this p erforman c e h a d lasted about half an hour - -
the D u rw e e s h es paused t o res t .
“
Before this pause another party of the same sect
,
had b egun to p erform n ear the c entre of the great ,
portico Of these I now becam e a spectator They

.
,
.
had a rranged the m selves i n the same order as the former

party The ring composed by those who beat th e tam
.
b ou rin e c onsisted of about the sam e number as in the

other c ompany but the dan cers here were about t w elve
, ,
som etime s less On e of t h em a tall man d r es s e d in a

.
, ,
dark woollen gown an d with a bare Shaven head took

, ,
from the chafi n g d i sh wh i ch was handed t o the dan cers

-
as though i t had been a dish of c akes or sweetmeats a ,
large piece of brilliantly ho t coal placed it between h i s ,
teeth and kep t it s o for a short tim e t hen drew it upon

, ,
his tongue and keep i ng his mouth wid e op en for I

, ,
th i nk more than t w o minutes violently in h aled an d

, ,
exhaled showing the inside o f his mouth like a fur n ac e

, ,
and breathing ou t Sparks as the former D u r w e es h had

done but with less appearance of ex ci teme n t H aving
, .
c h ewed an d swa llowed the coal he j oined the ring of ,
the tamb ourin e players an d sat almost c lose to my feet

,
. .
I narrowly watc h ed hi s c ountenance but could not see ,

t he least appearan ce of h i s suffering any pain A fter I .
had witnessed thes e extraordinary performan c es for about

an hour both parties of D u rw e es h es stopp ed to rest ;
,
and as there was n oth i ng more to see worthy of not i ce

, ,
I then qu i tted the mosque .
Sometimes on th i s o c c as i on the E er d w eey ed eat

, ,
’
glass as well as fire One O f them the H h agg Mohhammad

.
,
E s Selaw ee a man of gigantic stature who w as lamp

, ,
lighter i n the m osque of the H h as an ey n and who died a ,
f ew years ago was on e of the most famous of the eaters

,
of fire and glass an d celebrated f or other p erforman c es

, .
Often w hen he app eared to become highly excited he ,
used t o Spr i ng up to t h e long bars or rafters of wood , , ,
which extend a c ross t h e a 1 ches above the c olumn s of

the mosque an d wh i ch are sixteen feet or more from
,
th e pavement and would run along them from on e to

, ,
an ot h er ; then with h i s fingers wetted in his mouth h e

, ,
would str i ke h i s arm and c ause bloo d to flow and by ,

”
the same mean s staunch the blo od .
“
On de s cribi n g the Procession of the Kisweh or holy ,
c overing for the te m ple called the Kar ded at M ek k eh ,

’
, ,
Mr Lan e further adds on the subj ect of the ceremonies

.
,
of the D ervishes .
“
But the most remark able group in th i s part O f th e
pro c es sion con s i sted of several D u r w ees h es O f the se ct
of the R ifae es c a lled Owl ad I lw an each of whom bore
’ ’
, ,
in h i s han d an iron spike about a foo t in length w i th a , ,
bell of th e same metal at th e thick end having a number ,
of small and short chain s attached to i t Several of .
these D u rw ees h es in appearance thrust the sp i ke with

, ,
violence in t o t he i r eyes and withdrew it w i thou t Show i ng

,
any m ark of i nj ury it seemed to enter to the depth of

about an in c h This tri c k is well performed
. Five .
rd r or even a p i p eful of to b a cco seemed to be con

f
’
z aa z la, ,
s id ere d a suffi c i en t re c omp en se t o the rel i g i ous j uggle r
for t h is display of h i s pretended mira c ulous p ower Th e .
spe c tators n ear me seemed to entertain n o suspicion of

an y fraud i n this singular performance ; and I was r e
p r oa c h ed by on e who sa t by me — a man of ve ry su e
p ,
that h e Sh ould a t once catch them in hi s hands an d ,
either kill them or abstract their st i ngs I t is said that .
adders after being deprived of their stings are used in

, ,
Stamboul as med i cine and that large numbers are im ,
ported for this p urpose from Adrianople where they ,
a bound T 0 p u t the D ervi sh to the test my friend u n

.
, ,
known to him sent his servant to a part of the c i ty

,
where add ers are sold with dire c tion s to purc h ase for
,
him half a dozen in the p o i sonous state at the sam e time

- -
t elling the D ervish to c ontinue his charms The s ervant .
so on after returned bringing with him a box su c h as th e

, ,
adders are preserved i n ; on seeing which the D ervish

became extremely agitated and in expectation of thes e ,
be i ng let loose in an apartment with h i mself b egged my ,
fri end t o allo w him to go to his ow n house for a charm ,
which h e a s sured him would enable any on e to se i ze the

most poisonous adder w i th impunity S ee i ng his anxiety .
,
he was allowed to depart and although h i s return w a s ,
awaited for s om e time he did n ot again reappe a r ,

.
H aving made allusion s to charms for self preservation -
I may add another an ecd ote thereon .
A Mus s ulman friend informed me that he was on c e

vis i ted by a D ervish w h o told him that he p osses s ed a
,
charm by which the wearer would be preserved aga i nst

a bullet fired at him and whi ch he des i red to d i spos e of
,
to h i m as a particular favour for a c ons i derat i on My

, ,
.
fri en d appe a red t o believe i n th e e ffi cacy of the charm ,
and so as t o be able to admire more fully its extraordinary

power requested th e D erv i sh to do him the fa v our t o
,
put it on his person and step down i nto h is g arden, ,
where h e could fire at him one or t w o shot s with h is

r i fle The D ervi s h without any hesitation returned t o
.
, ,
t h e foot of the sta i rs as he sa i d to pro c ure h i s over

, ,
“
shoes but find i ng the street d oor op en he took French
, ,
”
leave much to the amusement of my fr i end w h o i s on e
, ,
of the best r ifl e S hots i n the c apital

-
.
Mr Lane s account of these snake c harm i ng D ervishe s

.
’
-
is the followi ng
“
Many R ifae e and Saad ee D u rw e es h es O btain t hei r
’
livelihood as I h ave mentioned on a former occasion by

, ,
THE D E RV 1S H E S . 265
going about t o charm away serpents from houses A few .
other persons also profess the same art but are not so ,
famous The former travel over every part of E gypt

.
,
and find abundan t employment but their gains are barely ,
sufficient to procure the m a scanty subsisten c e The .
c h armer professes to discover without o c ular per c eption ,
( but perhap s he does so by a pecul i ar smell ) whether ,
there b e any serp ents in a house and i f there be to , ,
attract them to him as the fowler by the fas c ination of

, ,
his mice allures the bird s into his n e t As the serp en t

,
.
s eeks t h e darkest place in which to hide itself th e ,
charmer has in mo st cases t o exer c ise h i s skill in an

, ,
obs c ure chamber where he migh t easily take a serp en t

,
from his bosom bring i t to th e peopl e without the door

, ,
and affirm that he had found it i n t he apartmen t for n o

o n e would venture to enter with h im after having been
assured of the presence of on e of these rept i les within ;
but he i s O ften required to p erform i n the full ligh t of
day surrounded by spectators and incredulous persons
, ,
have searched him beforehand and even stripped him ,
naked yet his success has been complete H e assumes .
an a i r of mystery strikes the walls w i th a Short palm

,
sti c k whistles makes a c lucking n oise with his tongue

, , ,
and spits upon the ground and generally says I adj ure , ,
o u by God i f ye be above or if ye be below that e

y , y ,
c ome forth I adj ure y ou by the m ost great Name if ye

.
,
be obed i en t c ome forth ; and if y e be disobedient die

, , ,
d i e die l
,
The serp ent is generally dislodge d by his
’
stick from a fissure i n the wall or drops from the ceiling ,
o f the room I have often heard i t asserted that th e

.
serpent c harmer before he enters a house i n which he i s

-
to try his skil l always employs a servant of that house

,
to introduce one or more serpents but I have known

i nstan c es i n wh i ch this could not be the case and am ,
inclined to bel i eve that the D u rw ee s h es above mentioned

are genera lly a c quainted with some real physical mean s
o f dis c over i ng t h e presence of serpents without see i ng
them and O f at tracting them from their lurking pla c es

,
.
I t is howe v er a fact well ascertained that the most ex

, , ,
pert of them d o n ot vent u re t o carry serp ents of a

venom ou s n ature about t heir p ersons until they have

extracted th e p o i sonous teeth . Many of them carry
scorpion s also within the c ap and n ext the S haven head ;
,
but doubtless first depr i ve them o f the power to i nj ure ;

p erhap s by merely blunt i ng the sting Their famous feats
.
o f eat i n g live and venomou s serpents whi c h are regard ed

,
as rel i g i ous acts I have before had o c c asion to mention

, ,
”
and p urpos e t o d escribe p ar t ic u larly in anot h er chapter.
saint may commi t ( and t here are many who are con
s t an t ly infringing pre c epts of their religion
) such acts do ,
n ot affect his fame for san c tity for they are co n s i dered
as the results of the abstraction of h i s mind from worldly
things h i s soul or reaso n ing facult i e s bei n g wholly ab
, , ,
sorbed in devotion s o that h is passions are left w i thout

control Lunati c s who are dangerous to society are
.
k ep t in confinement ; but those w h o are har m le ss are

generally regarded saints M ost of the reputed sa i nts .
o f Egypt a re either lunati c s or idiots or impostors , , .
Som e of them go about perfectly na k ed and are s o ,
highly venerated t h a t t h e women i nstead of avo i ding

, ,
them sometim es suffer these wretches to take any liberty

,
w i th them in a publi c street ; and by the lower orders , ,
are not considered as disgra c ed by such act i ons w hich , ,
however are of very rare o ccurrence Others are seen

,
.
c lad i n a c loak o r long coat c omp osed of patches of

v arious c oloured cloths w hi c h is called a D z led adorned
’
, ,
with numerous strings of bead s wearing a ragge d turban , ,
and bearing a staff with shreds of cloth of various

colours attached t o the top Some of them eat stra w .
,
or a mixture o f c hopp ed straw and broken grass and ,
attra c t O bservation by a var i ety of absurd a c tions .
D ur i ng my first visit to th i s coun try I O ft en met in the ,
streets of Cairo a deformed man almost n aked w i t h , ,
lon g matted ha i r an d rid i ng upon an ass led by another

,
man On these occasion s h e a lways stopp ed h i s b eas t

.
d i rectly before me so as to intercept my way re ci t i ng

, ,
the Fat hh a h ( or O pening c hapter of the Kora n ) and then ,
held ou t h is h a nd for alm s The first time that he .
t h us crossed m e I endeavoured to avoid h im ; but a

,
person passing by remonstrated with m e observing that ,
the man before m e w a s a saint and that I ought to ,
respe c t h i m and comply w i th his demand lest some

, ,
mischief should befa ll m e M en of th i s c l a ss are sup .
ported by alms wh i ch they often receive w i t h o u t asking

,
for them A reputed saint is c om m only called Sheykh

.
,
’
‘
M ooraib it or Welee ,
I f affe c ted with lunacy or
’ ‘
.
’
idiotcy or of weak intelle c t he is also and more pro

, , ,
p erly termed M egz oob or M es loob

,
Welee is an ,
’
.
’ ‘ ’
appellation correc t ly given to an eminent and very

devout sa i nt and sign i fies a favourite of heave n ; but i t
i s so comm oii ly applied to real or pretended i d i ots that
,
so m e wit has given it a new i nterpreta tion as equivalen t ,

’
to beleed wh i ch means a fool or simpleton r e
‘
,
’ ‘
,
‘
,
’
mark ing tha t these two term s are equivalent b oth in

se n se and i n the numerical value of the letters composing
them for Welee is writ t en with t h e letters w a oo
‘ ’ ‘
,
’
‘
lam and ye of which the numer ic al letters are 6 ‘ ’
r it t eii
, , ,
3 0 and 1,
0 o r together 4 6 ; and beleed i
,
s w ,
‘ ’
with be lam ye an d d al whi c h are 2 3 0 1 0 and

‘
,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
,
’
, , ,
4 or added together 4 6
, ,
A simpleton i s ofte n calle d a , .
‘
Wele e .
’
I n the firs t place if a p erson were to express a doubt ,
as to the existence of true Welees h e would be branded ,
with infidelity an d the following passage of the C k oran

would be addu c ed to condemn h i m : V erily on the ‘
,
favour i tes of the G od no fear shall come n or shall they ,
grieve This is con sidered as s u fli cien t t o prove tha t

.
’
there i s a c lass of p ersons dist i nguished above ordinary

hu m an beings The q uestion then suggests itself Wh o .
, ,
’
or of wha t descr i pt i on are these person s ! and we are
answered They are persons wholly devoted t o G od
,
‘
,
and p ossessed of ex t raord i nary faith ; and ac c ording t o

their degree of fai t h endowed w i th the p o w er of per ,
f orming m i racles
’
.
The most holy of t he Welees is t ermed t he ( 320010;

or a cc ord i ng t o some persons t here are ten w h o hav e
, ,
this tit le ; and again ac c ordi n g t o others four The , ,

.
term C k oot b signifi es an axis and hence is appl i ed t o ,

’
a We lee who rules over others ; they depending upon

him and being subservient t o h i m For t he sam e reason
,
.
it is applied to t emporal rulers or any p erson of h i gh ,
authority The opinion that there are four C k oot bs I am

.
,
told i s a vulgar error originating from the frequen t

, ,
mention of the four C k oot b s by whi c h express i on are

‘
,
’
m eant the founders of the four most celebrated Orders of

D u rw ees h es ( the Rifaeey eh C k ad ireey eh Ahh m e d eey eh
’
, , ,
a n d B ar ah im eh
) each of whom is believed t o have been ,
t he C k oot b of his t ime I have also gen erally been t old .

that the opinion of t here being t w o C k oot b s is a vulgar

error founded upon two names C k oot b e l H h a ck eeck ah
, ,
’
( or the C k oot b of truth ) and C k oot b el Ghos ( or t he

’
,
C k oot b of invocation for help ) whi c h prop erly belong t o ,
but on e p erson The term el C k oot b cl M oo t a w ellee i s

.
’ ’
appl i ed by those who believe in but on e C k oot b to the

, ,
o n e rul i ng at the prese n t time ; and by those who bel i eve
in two to the a c t i ng C k oot b The C k oot b who exercises

,
.
a sup erintendence over all other Wele e s ( whether or n ot

there be anoth er C k oot b— for if there be he is inferior to ,
the former ) has und er his authority Welees of different

r a nks to p erform different offi c es N a ck e eb s Be ,
‘
,
’ ‘
d e els See who are known only to each other and

, , ,
p erhaps to the rest of the Welees as holding such ,
o ffices .
“
The C k oot b it is said i s often seen but n ot known as
, , ,
su c h ; and the same is said of all wh o hold authority under

him H e always has a humbl e d emeanour and mea n
.
dress ; and m i ldly reproves those whom he fin d s acting

imp i ously parti c ularly tho se who have a false reput a tion
,
for san ct i ty Though he is unknown to the world hi s

.
,
favourite station s are well kn own ; yet at these places

h e is s eldom visible I t is asserted that he is almost
.
-
constantly seated at M ek k eh on the roof of the Kaab eh ,
and though n ever seen there i s always he a rd at mid

, ,
night to c all twice O thou most merciful of those who

,
S ho w mer c y ! whi c h cry is then repeated from the

’
m ad n eh s of the temple by the M ooe d d in s : but a r e

’
s p e ct ab le p i lgrim whom I have j ust q uestioned upon

,
th i s matter has confessed to me that he hi m self has

,
witnessed that this c ry is m ade by a regular minister of

the m osque yet that few pilgrim s know this he believes
, ,
however that the roof of the K aab eh i s the chief Mu rk a z

,
( o )
r station of the C k oot b Another favourite s t at i on
. of
this revered an d unknown p erson is th e Gate of Ca i ro ,
called B ab Z oow ey leh also c alled B ab M oot aw ellee , .
Though he has a number of favourite stations he d oes ,
n ot abide solely at these ; but wanders through the

world among person s of every religion whose appear
, ,
ance dress and language he assumes ; an d distri bute s

,
of Walees Sheikh s an d other deceased pious p erson s

, ,
.
Throughou t C onstant i n ople on e frequently meets wit h

similar tombs on wh ich a lamp i s kept suspended and
,
l it at n i ghtfall Others are within Tz ar ded s or mauso

.
,
leu m s more or less splendi d covered with c ostly shawls

, ,
or embro i dered silks a n d either on the tombstone or on

, ,
a framed in s crip t ion t h e names and titles of the deceased

'
are narrated at length On the windows are seen pie c es

.
of rags t i ed there by tho se who bel i eve they may profi t

,
by the spiritual p owers an d holin ess of the d eceased .
These p etty nat i ve offerings are called N ez r or v q s ,

.
On this subj ect Mr Lan e says .
“
Over the graves of mos t of the more cel ebrated
saints are erected large and handsom e m os ques ; over
that of a sa i nt of les s n ot e ( one w h o by a l i fe of sanctity
'
or hyp ocrisy has a c quired the reputation of being a Wa l e e

or devout Sheykh ) is con s t ructed a small s quare white , ,
washe d building crowned with a cupola There is gen e

,
.
rally dire c tly over the vault in wh i ch the c orpse i s de

posited an oblong monument of stone or br i ck ( c alled
Tu r d eeded ) or wood ( in which case it i s called Tdd00l )
, ,
an d this is usually covered with silk or linen with som e ,
words from t he C k oran marked upon it and surrounded by ,
a rail i ng or screen of wood or bron z e called Mu ck s oorah ,

.
’
M os t of the sanctuaries of saints in Egypt are tombs ;

bu t there are several wh i ch o n ly c on tain some in con s id er
able relic of t he person to whom t hey are dedicated and ,
there are few which are mere cenotaphs The Egyptian s .
occasionally visit these and other san c tuar i es of their

saints either merely with the vie w of paying honour to
,
the deceased and performing meritorious acts for the

,
sake of these venerated persons which they believe will ,
call d own a bl essing on themselves or for the purpose ,
of urging some spe c ial petition suc h as for the r e s t ora

,
t i on of health or for the gift of offspring & c in the p er

, ,
.
,
suasion that the merits of the deceased will in sure a

favourable reception of the prayers which they offer
up in such co n secrated pla c es The general i ty of the .
M oos lim s regard the deceased saints as inter c essors with

t he D eity and ma k e votive offerings t o t hem
,
The .
T H E D ERVI S H E S 273
v isitor on arr i ving at the tomb should greet the de c eased

, ,
with the salutation of peace an d should utter the s a me ,
salutation on enter i ng the burial ground I n the former .
c ase the visitor should front the fa c e of the dead a n d ,
c onsequently turn his ba ck t o the C k ibleh H e walks .
’
round the m u ck s oorah or the monum ent from left t o
, ,
right and recites the F at hh ah inaudibly or i n a very low

, ,
voice before its door or before ea c h of its four sid es

, , .
Sometimes a longer chap ter of the C k oran than the first

( F a t h h ah ) is recited afterwards and sometimes a Khut
meh ( or re c itat i on of the whole of the C k oran ) is p er
formed on such an occas i on These acts of devotion .
are generally performed for the sake of the saint tho u gh ,
merit is likewise believed to refle c t u pon the visitor who

m akes such a recitation H e u sually says at the c lo se of
.
t hi s
,
E xtol the perf e c tion of thy Lord the Lord of
‘
,
Might exempti n g H im from that which they ( the unbe

,
liev er s ) ascrib e to H im ( nam ely the hav ing a son or a

’
pa rtaker of hi s Godhead ) and add s An d p eace b e on ,

‘
t he Apostles and pra i se be to God the Lord of all c rea

, ,
t ure s O God I have tran sferred the m erit of what I have

.
recited from the ex c ellen t C k oran to the person to whom

th i s place is d edicated or to th e soul of this Welee
,
’
.
’
Without such a de c laration or an intention t o the sam e ,
effect ,
the merits of the rec i tal belongs solely t o the
p erson who p erform s it After this rec i tal the visitor if
.
,
it be his desire offers up any prayer for temporal or

,
spir i tual blessings generally using s om e su c h form as

,
th i s 0 G od I conj ure Thee by the Prop h et a n d by ,
him to whom this place is dedicated to grant m e such ,
and such blessings or My burdens b e on God an d ,
o n thee O thou t o whom this place i s ded ic ated In ’

.
,
d oing this some p ersons face any side of the m u ck s oora h

,
and the C k ibleh but I believe that the same rule should
b e ob served in th i s ca se as in the salutat i on During .
the prayer the hands are held (raised up w ard s and O pen )
as in the pr i vate supplication s after the ord i nary prayers
of every day and afterward s they are drawn down the
,
face Many of the visitors kiss the threshold of the

.
buil d ing and t he walls windows m u ck s oorah & c Thi s

, , , ,
.
h owever they d isapprove asserting it to be an i mit ation

, ,
of a c ustom of the Christians The r i ch an d persons.

,
of easy c ircum stances when they visit the tomb of a

,
saint distr i bute money or bread to the p oor and often

, ,
giv e money to on e or m ore water c arr i ers to d i stribute -
water t o the p oor and thirsty for t h e s a ke of the s a int .
On these o c cas i on s it is a common c ustom for the male

visitors to take w i th them sprigs of myrtle : they pla c e
some of these on the monument or on the floor w i thin ,
the m u ck s oorah an d take the remainder wh ic h they

, ,
d istribute to their frien ds At almost every village in

.
E gypt i s th e tomb of som e favourite or patron saint whi c h ,
i s gen erally v is i ted on a p articular day of the week by

many of the i nhabitants c hiefly women some of whom
, ,
br i ng thit h er bread wh ic h they leave there f or poor

,
travellers or an y other p ersons Some also pla ce small

, .
pie c es of mon ey on these tomb s These g i fts are offer .
ings to the Sheykh or gi ven for his sak e An other custom

,
.
common amo n g the peasants is t o make v otive sacr i fices

at the tombs of their Sh eyk h s F or instan ce a man m a kes
.
,
a vow ( n ez r ) t h at i f h e re c o v er from a si ckness or obtain

, ,
a s on or an y other sp e c ific O bj ect of desire he will give

, ,
t o a c ertain S h eykh ( d eceased ) a goat or a l amb o r a , ,
sh eep & c : if he obtain the obj e c t he sacrifices the

,
.
,
animal which h e has vowed at the tomb of t h e Shey kh ,
and makes a feast with its meat for any p erso n s who
may ha pp en to attend H aving gi v en the anim a l to the
.
s aint he thus g i ves to the latter the merit of feed i ng the

,
p oor I t is a c u stom among th e M oos lim s as i t w a s

.
,
among the j ews to rebuild w hitewa sh an d d e c orate

, , ,
the tombs of their sa i nts and o c casio n ally to put a n e w

,
covering ov er t h e t u rk e eb eh or t aboot and many of

t h em d o thi s from the pharisa ic moti v es whi c h a c tuated
th e j ews .
Besides the care taken to keep up a n d in good order , ,
th e tombs of d ece a sed h oly Sheikhs D erv i shes & c i n , ,

.
the E ast these are frequently wat c hed o v er by a pious

,
liv i ng brother D ervish w h o aband ons the w orld and i ts

,
attra c tion s for this purpose Hi mself of undoubted

.
u r ity of conduc t and character his prayers are solicited

p ,
m a ster was eve n vouchsafed to his humble animal As

,
.
to the M u re ed he became well versed in the routin e of

,
t he a ff airs of t h e Turb eh and w a s supposed to e xer c ise ,
con siderable i nfluen c e with hi s pr i n ci pal H e wore the .
cap of the Ta r eek or O rder O f the She i kh though th e rest ,
of his c ostume was rath er t h e worse for lo n g years of

wear ; but t h i s by n o means affe c te d his reputat i o n
indeed on th e contrary p overty i s so well known an
, ,
“ ”
attribute of the poor D ervish and gives so much ,
interest t o his career that it forms the c h i ef c apit a l of

,
the frater n ity and enables them to wander over th e

,
world free from all fear of robbery or of a want of ,

“ ”
da i ly subsisten c e I t formed the
. pride of the
blessed Prophet and th erefore might readily do as
,
much for a humble D er v ish who though gen erally , ,
sadly defi c ie n t i n c ash never had oc c asion to co m plain

,
o f t h e want o f food as this flowed into the Turbeh in

,
abundance especially on Fridays through the bene

, ,
v ole n ce and piety of t h e v i sitors As to the Sheikh .
himself h e wore the full costume of his Order and

, ,
even ad ded the green turban which d esignates d es c ent

from the family of th e Prophet through his only c hild ,
’
and daughter F a t i mah th e w i fe of A lee t h e nephew , ,
as well as son in law of the Prophet an d who finally ,
succeeded him as the fou rth of the direct Caliphs of

I slam i sm Th i s turban constituted h i m a Said—E m z r
—
.
or a S d er ee f o f th e family o f M ohamm e d and tende d t o ,
add greatly to his claims to popular veneration Whether .
he possessed the n e c essary 5 67280 or S z ls z lad d arm ed 7

’ '
( Genealogical R egister ) to support his assumed des

,
c ent
from s o h onoured a source might have been questioned
but n o on e c ared or perhaps d ared to enterta i n mu c h ,
less put in doubt su c h a m a tter w ith regard to the

,
honoured Sheikh w h o passed his days and even m uch of ,
his n ights in prayers over t h e sainted tomb of th e

,
D ervish whose name and good character were fully

,
descr i bed i n th e epitaph at its head .
The dis c iple whose n ame was Alee had never b een
,
’
much remarked for any superior intell i gen c e : but for

piety and acquaintan ce with the duties of his p osition
, ,
no fault could p ossibly b e foun d with him H e had .
gradually assumed the se d ate a n d c al m exterior of a .
pious D ervish an d alwa ys possessed a d ignity of de

,
m e an ou r whi c h was qu i te i mpressive on the min ds of the

visitors of the Trar ded I t was predicted that some day .
h e would be sure t o figure as an eminent Sheikh and ,
de stiny seemed to press him stro n gly in that dire c t i on

already Quite as l i ttle was known of h i s or ig i n and
.
p arentage as of those o f the Sheikh his superior ; but ,
these are of little use to a D ervis h w ho it i s well u n d er , ,
stood h a s n o c la i m s to celebrity other than those

,
a c quired by h i s o w n spir i tual powers and p ersonal repu

t a t i on The Sheikh was his immed i ate spiritual director
.
,
or M ar r d aal and all the knowledge whic h he posse ssed

'
was due to the oral instruct i on re c eived from him From .
him he had taken the B e arl or initiation he had spen t ,
long n i ghts in prayer and m editatio n and the vision s of ,
the latter had been d uly reported to and i nterpreted by

him much to his o w n satisfa c tion an d en c ouragem ent
,
.
The time h a d therefore fully arr i ved whe n a ccord i n g to ,
the rules of the Order he must set ou t on his travels for the
, ,
purp os e of performing pilgr i mages to various holy tombs

situate d throughout I slam Lan d s or to extend h is wan ,
d erin gs as fa r even as that of th e blesse d Prophet and the

K e b e h or the shr i ne s at K er b elay where ar e interred
’
, ,
the rema i ns of the grandson s of the Prophet H asan and ,
H osain an d others of the victim s of the cruel usurpers

,
o f the C alip h a t after the death of the fourt h C al i ph Alee

’
,
.
,
O n e Fr i day evening after the vi s i tors had a ll d eparted

, ,
and the Sheikh and his pup i l remained quite alone in

the Tz ar ded the former renewed a to p ic which had
,
already been Slightly touched upon on some pre vious

o c cas i ons viz of the ne c essity which existed for the
,
.
latter setting ou t up on his travels This tim e a de c i .
sion was c om e to and it was mutually agree d upon that

,
o n the follow i ng Sunday the young n eophyte sho u ld

“
take his dep a rture I have instructed you with mu c h
.
” “
c a re my s on said the She i kh and taught you all t h a t
, , ,
i t is n e c e ssary for y ou to kn o w and your furth er cont i nu

,
ance here i s n ot only of n o u se to you but even d et ri ,

m ental to your career As y ou well know I possess but .

,
little of the world s g oods but of what I have you shall

’
receive a bount i ful share You have n ow grown up to .
manhood an d will b e able t o make your way i n the

,
world an d by your p i ous appeals to the benevol ent and

,
the wealthy not fa il to receive all th e assistan c e of

,
w h ich y o u may stand in need On the morning afore .
n amed I will be prepared to e quip y ou for your long and
ted i ous j ourn ey and t o besto w up on y ou my blessing

, .
SO much good n ess deeply impressed th e heart and mind

of young Alee and so over c ame h i m that in place of
’
, , ,
any an s w er he de v outly pressed his Sheikh s hand to his

,
’
lip s an d retired to m editate upon h is fu t ure prospects

, ,
an d cultivate whatever spiritual visions m i ght be sent

him by the P eer of th e Ord er or even by the bless ed ,
Proph e t him s elf .
E arly on Sunday mornin g Alee arose and awaited the ’
,
’
conclusion of the Sheikh s slumbers The latter was n ot .
long behind him and after the usual salutatio n s and

,
morning p rayers he gave his pupil some excellent

,
adv i ce and then quite overcame him by the d eclaration

,
that he h ad d ecid ed to O ffer h i m an evid ence of the

grea t friend shi p whi c h h e had always entertained for him ,
by th e gift of his ow n l ong treasured companion the ass -
on which he had rode for s o many years with its pa c k ,
s addle on e of his own d d rr d d r or mantles and a walle t

'
, , ,
of pro vi s i on s suffi cient for some days u se Besi d es ’

.
th ese he presented him with a d es dgool or alms c up a

, ,
-
fl ea/ eed or arm rest made of iron in which was con c ealed
,
-
, ,
a goodly dagger with wh i ch to defend himself aga i nst

wild animals or in a n y other danger— for i t was n ot to b e
suppo sed that it coul d possibly ever b e used as a means
of offence in the hand s of a pio n s Dervish like himself
’
travelling ove r th e world only for the most pea c eful an d

honest motive s and a tiger s skin t o thro w over hi s
-
’
shoulders as some protection against the h eat of the sun

,
a n d the c old s of w i nter B u t the most precious of all

.
his gifts was a m ard d d or d arm z led ( amulet) which the

'
Sheikh had long worn suspended to his ow n ne c k in a

small metal cylinder whic h seemed to be of s om e pre ,
the cover of a hospitable tree or besi d e a bountifu l ,
spri n g of water and few had been the alms whi ch he

, ,
thus far had rece i ved from passers b y H u n ger h o w ever

,
-
.
, ,
had not as yet rendered it n e c essary for h i m to appeal to

the benevolent for a ssistan c e ; an d a s h e was naturally
of a tim i d disposition he rather had avoided than
,
s ought c ompa n ion sh i p on his way I ndeed i t is so .

,
usual to m eet with wander i ng D er v ishes in the great

routes of Asi a Min or that h i s appearan c e attracted no
,
part i cular n oti c e But on e d ay towar d s n i ghtfall Alee

.
, ,
’
was mu c h fati gued by the exert i on s whi c h h e had been

compelled to make to indu c e his compan i on to pro
c e e d : an d i n d eed
,
the ass h a d several times actually
,
l a in down by the way s i de from sheer e xhaustio n The

-
.
day h a d b een extremely warm and l i ttle shelter or pas ,
ture had been found for th eir rel i e f Finally age and .
,
its infi rmit i es overcam e the ani m al and fall i ng down it , ,
seemed to fa i l rap i dly A fe w minutes of hea v y breath

.
ing then a qu i vering of all i ts l i mbs a gurgling i n its

, ,
throat and a reversion of its eyeballs an d a ll w a s over

, , .
’
Ale e was left alone in the w orld by the sid e of a dead
ass with n o on e to symp a thiz e with him i n h i s loss or
, ,
from whom to seek consol a t i on in his grie f Overcome .
by his feelings he fol d ed his arms a c ross h i s breast an d

, ,
gave v ent to his sorrow i n a c opious flood of tears Th e .
v ast plai n in the midst of whi c h h e stoo d now appeared

to him p ecul i arly desolate an d h i s tho u ghts re v erted to
,
the distant Tz z r ée/z in wh i ch so many years of his life

had glided away free from c a 1 e or anxiety To t h is he
,
.
coul d however n o more return and the dead ass ser v ed

, , ,
as the last link which connected h im with his deserted

h om e an d venerated instr u c tor its pious Sheikh I t ,
.
m i ght be said that t h is w a s the first time he had

,
ever experienced real grief and his l onely cond i tion ,
add ed to i ts poig n an cy .
Whilst the you n g D ervish was thus situated he b e ,
held ou th e distant h orizon a small clou d of dust rise ,
which i ndi c ated th e a pproa c h of vis i tors and gave to ,
him the refle c tion that lest he should be held resp onsible
,
for the decease of his la t e companion he would do well ,

to drag him away from the publi c road and as well as ,
he was able under the c i rcumstances to c onceal his

, ,
rem a in s beneath its sandy so i l I t d i d n ot t ake him .
long to put t h is plan into effect and so i n a short spa c e , ,
of t i m e h e had su c ceed ed in digging a hole su fficiently

,
d eep to contain the thin body of the de c eased animal .
When th i s was done h e sat down by the side o f th e

n ewly made grave and indulged in a fresh flow of tears
-
,
.
I n the meantime the small cloud of dust which Alee

,
’
had see n in the distan c e an d which had ex c ited hi s ,
appreh en sion s gradually i ncreased an d speed i ly ap

, ,
r oach e d h i m Seated by the grave of his late c om

p .
pan i on the ass his mind be c ame filled with reflection s

, ,
of a desolate and alarming nature fr i endless and alon e

in th e wide and d esert world that su r rounded him h e
(
,
watched the arrival of the c oming interruption to his

grief with no ordinary interest Although n ot very near .
to the road h e was n ot so distant as to be able to hop e

,
to escap e t h e n oti ce of those who were approa c hing and ,
a vague f eeli n g of d a n ger greatly ag i tated him H e .
began to regret that he had buried t h e ass from vi ew ,
and half determined to disinter it so th a t there c ould be ,
no misapprehensio n as to the truth that the deceased

was only an ass dead from sheer age an d exhau stion
, ,
an d not a human being whose death m i ght be attributed ,
to v i olen c e I n case of suspicion thought he they c an

.
, ,
readily remove the th i n cover of earth which con c eals

its rema i n s a n d so verify th e fact of my assertion of
,
i nno cen c e With this reflect i on he had almost recovered

.
his composure and modified somewhat h i s grief w h en

, , ,
the dust rising higher an d higher in the a i r he c ould ,
d i stin c tly perce i ve emerge from it quite a numerous

c aval c ade of Mussulman travellers n one of whom as , ,
yet seemed con s c ious of his existence I n advan ce of

,
.
the group was on e who seemed to be the most prominent

of the company either from th e unpleasantn ess of the
he a t and atmosphere or from fatigue the party h astily , ,
rode on in silen c e and he hop ed that it would p ass h i m

,
by unnoti c ed From however an intu i tive impulsion o f

.
, ,
resp ect common to all t he p eople of th e E ast in the

,
presence of even possible superiors as i t neared him ,
he rose to his feet and so p erhaps attracted the atten

, , ,
tion of the whole company Surprised by so sudden an .
apparition the i r fa c es were all i mmediately d irected

,
towards A lee some nod s were ex c han ged a m ongst them

’
, ,
and the leader of the group having suddenly c ome t o a ,
halt he turned to on e of h i s attendan ts and dire cted

,
him to rid e up and see who the lonely i ndi vi dual was .
N o w t h e p a rty in question was that of a wealthy Bey

of the neigh bourhood returning from a distant visit t o ,
the govern or of the province attended by a numer ou s ,
retinue of h i s o w n ser v ants and by several of th e pr i n ,
ci al inhabitants o f the little town in wh i ch he resided

p ,
n ot man y m iles off among the hills whi c h in a c learer

, , ,
atmosphere were vi sibl e from th e spot on wh ic h Ale e

,
’
stood Though somewhat fatigued by th e rid e over the

.
d u sty plai n and overcome by the heat of the day n ow

, ,
-
almo s t Spent the Bey was not insen sible to t h e wants of

,
others and thought that th e indiv i d u al in question might

,
be so m e wayfaring traveller in n eed of assistance M u s .
s u l m an h osp i tality and generos i ty is n ever more promi
nent than on thos e oc c asion s when it is asked for b y

s i lent r e spect ; and to have passe d Ale e by unnoticed ’
woul d have been a strange d eviation fr om th i s n o ble

chara cteristi c of the E a stern gentleman The a ttendant .
had o n ly to approa c h Alee to dis c over from his D erv i sh

’
cap h i s tiger skin an d the k e s hgool suspended at his

, ,
si d e that he belonged to one of t h e fraternit i es of the

,
I slam Orders So turning back to t h e Bey h e informed

.
, ,
him that the stranger was a p oor D ervis h On hear i ng .
th i s the whole c ompany follo w ed its leader to the s p ot

,
where Alee stood trembling with apprehens ion and his

’
, ,
c ountenan c e still showing t h e grief whi c h he had so

re c ently felt for th e loss he had sustained .
After the exchange of the usual Mussulm a n salut ati on ,
the Bey was stru c k by the cir c umsta n c e tha t the p oor
fello w was standing besid e a n ewly made grave u n
‘
d oubtedly that of a re c ently deceased brother De rvish ;

an d he was st ruck with the strange fate or providence
that had led them t o s o desolate a spot the on e t o die ,
fo r the prolongation of his travels and pilgrimages t o ,
holy tombs for the spiritual benefi t to the pious M u s s u l

,
“
mans of the surrounding c ountry R emain h ere and .
,
”
watch over the rema i ns of your d eceased brother said ,
“
the Bey ,
and we wil l have the Tu r be/z c omm ence d
without delay I will even to night have some pro
.
,
-
v i sions and d rink sent you from my own fam i ly and you ,
shall hencefor th be i n want of nothing necessary for

, ,
”
your comfort .
With these p arting words the Bey turned his horse ,
again towards his route followed by all of his company , ,
and gradually receded from sight I n the c ourse of an .
hour or t w o he reached his hom e and the n e w s of the ,
d ecease of a pious D ervish on the pla i n and of the in ,
tention of the Bey to ere c t a T ur be/z over h i s hallowed

rem a i n s soon becam e k nown over the little town or
,
v illage i n whi c h he an d his companions resi d ed .
’
As to Alee he made a frugal me a l from the n ow
,
alm ost empty wallet besto w ed upon h im by his venerated

Sheikh and as the sun was descending beh i nd the hills
o f the d i stant hor i zon d evoutly spread his tiger skin
,
( th e hair o f w h ich from long u s e was quite

,
worn o ff ) ,
upon the earth beside the grave of his lamented com

,
p a nion a n d perfor m ed the N a m d z appropriate to the

,
fourth period of the day prescribed by t h e I slam Pro

phet H aving no water with which t o perform the
. .
req u i site G/z oor l or ablutions he accor d i ng to usage

, , , ,
made use of sand for that purpose an d so a c qu i tted ,
himself of h i s religious dut i es Th ese h e had been in .
stru c ted n ever to omit a n d to p er form t h em as stri c tly

,
in a c rowd as in a d esert pla c e — in the Tu r beiz or by ,
—
the way side and thus lea v e n o room to doubt his
-
p i ety and stri c t ob ser v an c e o f all the inj unctions of the

”
P a r/z ,or Or d er to whi c h he belonged and to religion ,
in general Then pl a c ing his key /g ee! under his head

.
r
,
an d his m a em by h is s i de as a means of defe n ce i n

’
,
c ase he should be attacked by any wild animal dur i ng

the n ight his sk i n serving him for a b ed and h i s mantle
, ,
for a c over he sough t relief an d calmness i n sleep from

,
t he sorrows and an x i eties of th e pas t d ay Some time .

b efore midn i ght he was roused by t h e so u nd of a human

’
v o ic e and the n oise of an animal s feet and j ump i ng up , , ,
he was a ddressed by a Mussulm a n peasant sent by t h e ,
Bey with an abund ant supply of food and water for his
,
use The bearer stayed but a short t i me and on del i

.
,
v e r in the provisions told ’
g Ale e that he
,
had also bee n
d ire c ted to rep eat to him the des i re of the Bey that he ,
should continue to watch by the remains of his deceased

brother over whi c h a Tu r k /z was t o be commen c ed as
,
’
soon as possible Then devoutly k issing A le e s hand
.
’
and press i ng it t o his forehead in token of deep res p ect , ,
he begged h i s ble ssing and prayers and s et off for the ,
pla c e from which he came .
On the follo w ing day Ale e had occasion t o re v iew t h e

’
labo u rs of the prev i ous one and t o place the re m ains of ,
hi s l ate companion considerab ly deeper in the ground

than he had pr i mitively d one and also t o raise the earth ,
above them in such a manner as to give to the spot ‘
more the appearan ce of a pr operly constru c ted grave .
H e also threw some water over the fresh earth e i ther as ,
an oblation or to harden the surface Whilst thu s en .
gaged he was n ot surprised to per c eive in the distance

,
the approach of visitors perhaps of travellers p erhaps , ,
o f work m en sent for the c onstr u c tion of the T ur éefz

, .
With more c almness and comp o s ure than on th e pre

v iou s o c casio n he quietly wat c hed their approach whic h
, ,
was but slow ; an d p erceiving that the company w as

formed of waggons he a v ily l a den drawn by oxen and
.
buffaloes and the dri vers pointing to himself he becam e

, ,
convin c ed that he was the obj e c t of the i r visit Lest h e .
should n ot have time to p erform them after the i r arr i val

_ , ,
he now spread his skin beside the grave of his lost friend ,
and was busily engaged in the p erformance of h i s e z m d z

when the waggons drew near and ou t of resp e c t for his ,
evident piety the dr i vers stood at some little d istan c e

,
from him until their c ompletion I t was readily seen

,
.
how forc i ble was the impression wh i ch this s i mple a c t of

p iety made upon th em for after saluting Alee they ea c h
, ,
’
,
came for w ard an d kissed his h and A little group was .
soon formed around the n ewly made grave and t w o -
,
pieces of plank were a t once ere c ted at its head and

foot by one of the workmen The loads were n ext d i s .
c harged the cir c umference of the bu i ldi n g was la i d ou t

, ,
and the constru c t i on of the Tu r befz at once commen c ed .
We must n ow pass over a period of several years The .
T ur beh or m ausoleum had long sin c e been c onstructed

, , ,
a n d Alee been c on stituted the Tu r tle/ M i r or keep er of

’
e ,
the holy tomb of the deceased whose v enerated remains ,
rested peacefully beneat h its little dome The struc t ure .
seemed to b e formed mu c h after the model of the other

on e i n whi c h he had spent so many d ays of c omfort
,
with his Sheikh and if h e had really any pa rt in shaping

it there is no doubt but that the resemblance was in t en
,
t io n al I n place of t w o p i eces of wood an equal number

.
,
made of m arble n ow marked the grave of the deceased .
On the on e at its head was in scribed an epitaph com ,

“
m en cin g as usual with H im the Creator and the ,
” “
E ternal and add i n g
,
This is the tomb of th e c ele
,
b r a t e d [( oof b or Axis of e m inent piety the renowned

, , ,
Sheikh Abdul K adir of the Ta r eek or Ord er of the

’
, , ,
Kad ir e es Say a F ai r/ m ( the opening chapter of the

.
Koran ) for his soul A s if so eminent a Santon could

.
n ot possibly be e qualled in stature by ordinary humanity ,
the length of the grave was considerably extended and ,
full ten feet of space showed th e size of the great man

whose bones were c on sidered so great a blessing to the
lo c ality in which they reposed The tomb was sur .
round ed by a wire network to keep it from the pollut i on

,
o f i mpure hands ; and not u n frequently a costly shawl ,
or a rich silk articl e o f apparel was spread over th i s t o ,
remain th ere ho w ever only for some days and receive

, , ,
for its fu ture wearer the benefit of the spir i tual p owers of .
th e revered and holy deceased A lamp hung suspended .
w i thin the en c losure wh i ch a t n i ghtfall was carefully

,
lighted a n d a pious lady of the neig h bour i ng town had ,
j u st before her d e c ease a ppropriated a s u m of m oney as

,
a Wa éf or v ot iv e offering from wh i ch to support th e

, ,
exp ense of keep i ng up th is lamp Oth er Wa kf s had .
also been left for the suppor t of the Tu r beh generally and ,
to ensure the comfort of the p i ous i n dividual w ho

2 88 T HE D ERVI S H E S .
sence nor of the decease of any eminen t member of his

o w n fraternity much less of the ex i stence of so p i ous a
,
Shei kh as the on e must be who pres i de d at his tomb .
Curiosity as well perhaps as j e a lousy deeply p enetrated

, ,
his heart and finally d e c id ed him to make a pilgrim age

,
in person to a tomb so renowned for its san ctity One .
fin e autumn day the n ow venerable old She i kh closed

h i s Tu r é e/z and set ou t on a j our n ey which at h is
, , ,
time of life was not fre e from mu c h in c onvenien c e and

,
fatigue .The obj ect in View ho w ever was so i mport a n t , ,
to his own interests both temporal an d spir i tual that

, ,
he cons i dered it quite provident i al and worthy of his ,
declini n g d ays At least so he gave ou t to the usual

.
,
v i sitors at his ow n shrine ; and the painful effort which

it required gre a tly enhanced his ow n a lready high repu
t a t ion. H e therefore set ou t with the prayers and ,
blessings of all h i s fr i ends and admirers Travell i n g by .
easy stages th e aged Sheikh fi nally reached the obj ect

,
of his littl e pilgrimage and on Friday noon arrived at

,
the Ta r bek by the way side -
There were many visitors present on the o c c asion in

question Ladies had come there in such wheeled con
.
v e a n c e s as the country furnished others rode there o n

y
horseb a ck quite in the same fashion as the m en : not a
,
few bestrode g e ntle donkeys espec i ally the more age d ,
and i n firm ; an d m en came some o n horseb a ck and , ,
so m e even on foot A few trees whi c h had grown up

.
,
u nder the care of She i kh Alee and the prote c t i on o f the

’
holy tomb afforded these v i sitors some shade during the

,
heat of the d ay and c opious draughts were imbibed

,
from a well wh ic h h a d been sunk in c lose prox i mity t o

the tomb the waters of wh i ch had be c ome w idely c ele
,
b r a t e d for their healing qual i ties Mingl i ng among the .
crowd the old man attra c ted but l i ttle attention and after
, ,
the perform a nce of the u sual prayers at the holy tomb ,
he sat dow n in qu i et bes i de i t his mind filled with pious ,
m e d itations on t h e Prophet the Peer of h is Order and , ,
the h oly de c e a sed i n general As Sheikh Alee passed .

’
fre quently by him he had abundant opportu n ity of see i ng

,
his features n ow c onsiderably changed by time and a

, ,
T HE D ERVI S H E S . 2 89
goodly beard whi c h ornam ented his features and greatly ,
added to the venerableness of his appearan c e A lt h ough .
h i s head w a s c overed by a green turban of considerabl e

dimensions showing his direct de s cent from the blessed
,
Prophet more than once i t flashed across the mind and

,
memory of the old m an that h e had seen him u n de r

other c i rcumstan c es an d in some other part of th e world .
I n deed he at on e moment a lmost thought that he h a d

,
som e resemblan c e to his former p u pil but as he had ,
n e v er he a rd from or of h i m s i nce his d eparture he c on

, , ,
c luded that it was only a c cidental and that Alee must ,

’
have lo n g since j oined th e list o f the deceased Gradu .
ally the visitors d eparte d and toward s nightfall the t w o

,
em i nent Sheikhs remained alone at the T”Me t attende d /

,
only by t he comely youth afore alluded to I t was only .
then that any communi c ation took place between them ,
and very soon the old man beca me fully con v inced tha t
the younger Sheikh was non e other than h i s former pup i l .
The former made no di ffi c ulty i n admitti n g the fa c t and ,
an intima c y soon was rene wed between them The .
flourishing condit i on of his late el eve was a source of

mu c h satisfaction to the old man and dispelled any ,
feelings of envy whi c h he might have prev i ously enter

t ain e d She i kh Alee on his part seem ed to be extremely
’
.
, ,
happ y on rece iving the visit of his former master and ,
treated him with mu c h respect and considerat i on They .
freely talked over the interests of their part i cular T ur beh ,
and the old man a d mitted that the growing celebrity of

the n ewer on e had considerably affected that of th e old .
The old man being n ow no longer able to restrain his

,
curios i ty begged Sheikh Alee to be so good as to inform

,
’
h i m who was the revered member of their Order whose

remains were interred in the T ur beh But on th i s p oin t
h i s former pupil ma d e some obj e c t i on to enlighten h i m .
Pressed ho w ever t o inform him of what so deeply inte

, ,
rested the chara c ter an d welfare of their common Order ,

’
Alee after exact i ng a m ost formal promise of se c re cy
, ,
narrated to h i s late master th e entire history of h i s

j ourney thus far on the pilgrimage on w h i c h he had
,
originally set ou t its sudden term i natio n wi t h the untimely

, ,
U
2
death of t he aged ass which h e had so gen erously b e

stow ed upon him and the manner in wh i ch i ts remains
,
had b een canon i zed by p opular favour b e having only ,
to offer n o opposition to what he verily b elieve d was

brought about by a dire c t intervention of Provid ence for
some wise purpose the ass ha v i n g p erh ap s been the
,
receptacl e of the soul of some r e embo d i ed saint -

.
T o th i s frank avowal th e old man did not m ake even

a show of surprise and recei v ed the informat i on
,
with h i s usual calm and d i gnified deme anour At .
this Al ee was somewhat astonished and alarmed

’
,
lest it m ight pro v e ominou s to the continuance of

his heretofore most p eaceful and prosperous career as
a Sheikh With this reflection he thought he would
.
venture to in quire for the first time i n his l i fe w h at holy

, ,
man was interred at the Tu r k /z of the old Sh e i kh his ,
former m aster but found h im equally uncommunicative

,
on su c h a subj e c t As a matter of re c iproc i ty and mutual

.
confide n ce h e pressed him for i n formation on so d eeply

,
interest i ng a subj ect and it was only after hav i ng given

him a mo st s olemn pledge of se c recy that he l e arned , ,
with n o littl e surprise that the d e c eased saint over wh i ch

,
the venerabl e S h eikh had presided for so many ye ars ,
and t o which so many of h i s own earlier prayers and

supplicat i ons had been offere d were those of none other
,
t han the father of his ow n on c e so l ame n ted c ompanion ,
and now so highly venerated s a int the ass which h a d , ,
been bes t owed up on h im by his master with his bless i n g , .

The fifth maintains that God is in everything and tha t ,
everyth i ng i s i n G od They admit that their principles

.
are t h e sam e as thos e of t h e an ci ent Greek philosop h ers

of Greece e spe c ially of Plato who they assert mainta i ns
, , , ,
th at God c re a ted a ll things with his own breath and that ,
e t e ry t h in g i s t h us both the Creator and the created .
This pr i n c iple in m a ny of the m odern writings of th e

,
“ ”
D erv i shes is c al led the N ufi or breath of God and
, , , ,
as applied to m an i s deeme d to be the hum an part of

,
animated nature and dist i nct from the [800 /z or soul

,
”
, ,
the immortal p a rt .
There are many D ervish Orders in Bokhara n early al l ,
of the S u rm ag or orthodox kind more closely attached

, ,
to the d ogmas of the Koran and its Proph et th a n those

o f Pers i a wh i ch are almost all S /z ee a and advo cates of
’
, ,
the Cal i ph Alee The p eople of these two countries are

’
.
much divided by their religious sentiments though w i th ,

’
Othman those of Bokhara have a stro n g sympathy I .
regret to b e unabl e to give any a c count o f the D ervish

Orders of the latter country and bel i eve that they are ,
particularly fanat ic and ho stile to all non Muss u lmans -

.
M Le Cte A de Gobineau formerly secretary of the

. . .
,
French E mbassy in P ersia in 1 85 9 published a small ,

“
work called Three Y ears in Asia and on the subj ect ,
of the religion of the p eople of Persia gives some i n terest ,
i ng a ccounts from wh i ch I borrow the following summary

, .
The first sovere i gn of the dynasty of the S qf d vear ,
who mounted the throne in t he 1 6 th c entury was not a ,
Mussulman H e was a S oof ee The part i a lity of th e

. .
’
Persian s for Ale e had already given birth to several
sects which extended as far even as Syria t h e greater
, ,
part of wh ic h were S /z eez f es The M ollah s of Pers i a had

'
always a tendency i n that d irection The n ew dynasty .

,
in accord an c e with them made i t the religion of the,
State mod i fied c on siderably the oral d o c trin e ( of the

,
H a d ers or tradit i ons ) and broke off fro m the rest of

, ,
I slamism From th i s moment the interpretation given

.
,
by the Persian s to the law of Mohammed received a ,
consecrat i on They became Legitimists The existence

. .
of an ecclesiast i cal body the e xaggerate d cul t of t he

,
T H E D E R VI S H E S . 2
93
I m ams —a theology as refined an d exub erant i n de

ve lop m e n t s as the Koran i s S imple — and the venerat i on
of sa i nts o u t of whom they made demi god s
, was all -
f ormed into a doctr i ne n ow n ot only tolerated and

,
favoured but even c ommanded

,
The M ollahs in fact .
, ,
b ecame the absolute m as t ers of th e empire These .

,
ho w ever havi n g assum ed a despotic sway over the

,
p eople they b eca m e the obj ect of sat i re and invectives

, ,
ou t of which grew a struggle and the sovereign h aving

t aken the part of the latter these prevailed and in , ,
”
creased the c i v i l power a t th e exp ense of the religiou s .
The E astern idea that the spirit or soul return s to this

world and lives aga i n in a n ew body long after the de
, ,
ceas e and de c ay of its primit i ve c orporal form i s held ,
as true by many of the mo d ern Sheikhs of Persia With .
them th e belief in the r e ex i stence of the I m am M eh d ee

-
is stro n ger than amo n g any other M ohammedans .
They are as aforementioned w ith few exceptions

, , ,
and atta c h the greates t imp ortan c e to all of

th e m embers of his family —the twelve I m ams The .
tran smigration of th e soul from on e body to a n other i s

fully develop ed in their estimation of the M eh d e e I t i s .
,
perhap s borro w ed from a parallel in C hrist i ani t y or

, ,
may even be traced to th e Old Testame t n } e

The
M eh d ee accord i ng to them st i ll live s an d will again r e
, , ,
appear in a n ew body I t forms the chief principle of

.
the religion of the D a n es who hol d that the great ,
a postle of their faith H er/t eem é z em r [Z ia /z possessed th e

'
, ,
s oul of the 1 2 th I m am The Persians place but

.
small faith i n some of the dogmas of the Koran and ,

’
havi n g sup erse d ed its founder by the person of Alee are ,
d i sposed even t o d oubt the authenti c ity of certain p or

tions of it or at leas t t o interpret it after the manner of
,
the Su n n e es Th e D ervish Ord ers of Pers i a are less

.
good Mussulman s than the p eople at large an d carry the ,
pr i nc i ple that the S p i ritual par t of man emanated from

”
God a n d will return t o H im and will as that man
, , ,
th ro u gh a state of extreme piety and religious fervour ,
e —
b e c omes united or near to G od to an extreme degree
r
, ,
.
E l i as .
Th i s same approach to the Divinity is supposed by them

”
t o give to the pious D ervishes great Spiritual power ,
so as to enabl e them to over c ome the ordi n ary laws of

n ature and therefore to p erform superhuman or other
, ,
“ ”
wise mira c ulous acts The most remarkable of th ese .
D ervishes however are not actually Persians but come

, , ,
from I nd i a M d e Gobin eau d escribes one of these

. .
,
“
who visited Teheran from C ashmere as dressed in a
, ,
cott on robe much t or n h i s long and thin ar m s p enetra

, ,
t i ng two Slee v es which s c ar c ely held to the body he was

,
barefooted ; his head covered with a mass of bla c k

S haggy ha i r his eye s of a surpri sing brill i ancy and teeth ,
of the greatest whiteness offering a strik ing c ontrast to

,
his dark E astern c omplex i on H e had travelled all .
over I n dia Turk i stan and the whole E astern world ;

, ,
and pub li c report declared that he was possessed of the

most extraordinary se c rets .
The N os air ees of Persia seem from M de G ob in eau s , .

’
account of them t o b e those who entertain the most

,
extreme prin c iples of the A leeid e D er v ishes T h ey’

.
call their religio n that of the E M eZ H a kk or the ,

“
People of Truth The Arab s and Turks call the m
.
N os a ir ees th e Persians the A lee f lak ees The former ’

.
, ,
a ss i milate them to the Christians of the E ast whilst ,
the latter suppose that they con sider Alee as God an d ’

,
so adore him There are numbers of thi s se c t in C on

.
s t an t in op l e
,
mostly from P ers i a and the s am e exist in ,
various p a rts of As i a Minor H e states that the A lee .

’
[Zé k ees ( believers in the div i nity of Alee ) are different

’
from the B iz l eZ H a kka inasmu c h as the former distin c tly

,
declare that th e son in law of the Prophet was an in car

- -
nation of the D eity an d it is for this reason that th ey are

,
considered by the more rig i d Mussulman s as assimilate d

t o t h e Christian s who attr i bute the same divine c h ar a c ter
,
to J esus Christ wh i lst the 5 k ! eZ H a kk consider th a t

,
every on e may by superior piety an d love of God

, ,
become j oin ed t o H im or even be c ome God ,

.
I make special ment i on of these two sects of Persia ,
whence came almost all of t he D erv i sh Orders n ow i n

t he O tt oman E m p i re —and refer particularly t o t h e
é gé TH E D ERV I S H E S .
—
quite t o use the D e rv i sh expression li k e a dead
”
body in the hands of an I m am .
D e rvishes represent themselves as e n t i rely d evoted to

“
H a k k or ,
the Truth and as being in c essantly occu
,
p i e d in the adoration of Allah— a union w i th whom they

desire w i th all the ard our of a Divine lo v e The Creator .
is a c cord i ng to their bel i ef d i ffused over all Hi s crea

, ,
ture s H e exists everywh ere an d in e v eryth i ng They

. .
compare th e em a nation s of H i s Divin e E ssence and

Spirit to the rays of the sun wh i ch they con c eive to be
, ,
co ntinu a ll y darted forth an d reabsorbed I t is for this

reabsorption in t o t h e D i vine E ssence —to which the i r
.
immortal parts bel ong —that they continually aspire .
This return to the D e i ty is fully carried out in a verse

of the Koran ( 2 d Cha p ) whi c h says ,
All m ankind
”
are of and will return t o H im
,
This verse is the basis
,
.
of much of wh a t i s p eculiar to the D ervish doctr i ne .
They believe that the soul of man a n d the prin c iple of ,
l i fe wh ic h exists throughout all nat u re i s n ot f r om G od

, , ,
but af God I n their s oph i stry they use the term A /em
.
’
“ ”
( delus i ve world ) to signify that we are c on
t in u ou s ly in a sta t e of delusion with regard to the
M aa a ek or M a il er of w h i c h the un i vers e is form ed ;
’ ’
, ,
“
th a t the L i ght of God is the a n i m a ting principle which
e nables us to see the latter — v iz the matter —j ust as .
”
would be the c ase did not l i ght shine upon a ll obj e c ts ,
and so render t h em visible to the eyes ; an d that God

hav i ng poured H is Sp i rit over the universe i ts lighi ,
be came d i ffused e v erywhere and intelligence beamed ,
upo n the mind of man This i s also c a lled the Va k a e ’ ‘

z
unity of being —the One God being e v ery

.
“
eZ Vuj aaa or
’
where a n d in all things .
Their do c trine tea c hes t h at there ar e four stages or

degrees c a lled the four c olumns of t h e Order through
, ,
whi c h liv i ng man must pass before h e can attain to the

highest grade that of— “
D i vine Beatitude ”—
whe n his
cor p oreal veil will be removed and his em a ncip ated soul
will rej oin the glorious E ssence from whi c h it had been
’
rep a r a fea but not , The first of these stages is
“
that of human i ty called the Sh ee at or that of holy
,
’
,
law , which supposes the M u r e ed or d i sciple to li v e in

obed i en c e to the written la w and t o be an obser v er of
,
all t he est a blished rites custom s and precepts o f the

, ,
( I sl am
) relig i,
on whi c h are admitted t o be useful in
regulating t h e live s and restraining the vu lgar mass

within t h e proper bo unds — as souls cannot reach the
heigh t s of Div i n e contemplation and might be c or ,
~
r u p t e d an d misled by that very liberty of fa ith wh i ch
tend s to enligh ten and del i ght those of superior i ntelle c t

and more fervent devotion .
“
The secon d stage i s called the Tar ik at or Path s , ,
“
w h 1ch may be called that of th e Mystical R ites in ,
which the M u r eed or disc i ple a t t a i ns p ower or strength .
H e who arri v es at this leaves that cond i t i on i n which he ,
is only admitted to admire and follow a Murshid or ,

“
S piritual teacher ,
an d enters the pale o f the mysti c al
S oof eeis m beforementioned H e may n ow ab a ndon all

.
observan ce of strictly religi ous form and c eremonies ,
because he ex c hanges p r act ica l for sp a mea l worship /

.
But th i s c annot be a ttai n ed without great piety virtue , ,
and fortitude as the m i nd c annot be trusted in the

,
neg l e c t of religious or l egal usages a n d rites n ecess a ry to

restra i n i t w hilst yet weak until it has a c qu i red st r ength
, ,
from habits of mental d evotio n grou n d ed on a p erfe ct

,
k n owledge of its own dignity and of the divine nature

,
of t h e A lmighty .
“
T h e third stage is that of the Me arifat or Kno w ledge , ,
and the disciple who arrives a t or is deemed to h ave

atta i ned to supernatural knowledge —or in other word s
,
, ,
to h a ve be c om e as one in sp i red — and he is supposed

when he rea c hes it to be on an e quality with the angels
i n p oint of kno w ledge .
The fo u rth a n d last stage or d egree is calle d the

“ ”
H ak e ek at or that of the
,
Tru th at which the d i sciple
,
i s s u pp osed to h ave arrive d when he has be come com

l
p et ely un i ted to the D eity .
I n these four degree s the disciple must be under the

guidance of a Murshid who on his p art must be of
,
great p i ety and v i rtue an d himself reached them t hrough

, ,
the spiritual teachings of an other F or this purpose he .

2
attaches himself t o a learn ed Sheikh and seeks in s t ru c ,
tions from his wisdom j ust as in the times of the Greek

, ,
p h ilosophers young men anx i ous to learn the prin ci ples

, ,
of a part i cular master atta c hed themselves to h i m and

,
—
sought knowle d ge from h is m outh or like St Paul at .
the feet of the le a rn ed J ewish teacher Gamal i el .
The M u r e ed must mystically always bear his Mursh i d

, ,
in mind and become m entally absorbed in him through

, ,
a co n stant meditation and c ontemplation of him Th e .
teac h er must be h is shield against all ev i l tho u ghts Th e .
spir i t of t h e tea c her follows him in all his efforts and ,
accompanies him wherever he may be quite as a guard i an ,
spir i t To such a degree is this c arrie d that he sees the

.
master in all men and in all things j ust as a willi n g sub ,
j e ct i s u n der the i nfluen ce of the magnetizer This con .
“ ”
dit i on is called self an n i h i lation into the Murshid or
-
Sheikh The latter finds in his ow n visionary dream s

.
, ,
the degre e at which the Mu reed has rea c hed an d w hether ,
or n ot his soul or spirit has be c ome bound to h i s own .
A t this state of the d i sciple the Sheikh passe s h i m ,
over to the spiritual influen c e of the Peer or original ,

”
found er of the parti c ular T a r e ek or Path to wh ic h they
belong long since d ece a sed and he sees the l a tter only
, ,
by the Spiritual a i d of the former This is c alled self .
”
ann i hilation mto the Peer H e n ow be c omes so mu c h .
a part of the P eer as to possess all of his spiritual powers ,
and may perform eve n all of h i s supernatural a c ts .
The third grade al s o le a d s him through the S piritual ,
aid of t h e She i kh up t o the Prophet himself whom h e

, ,
now sees in all t h ings T his s t at e i s called l i ke the pre

.
t ,
ceding self—annihilation into the Prophet

“
,
.
The fourth degree leads him even to God H e b e .
comes a part of t h e D ivin i ty an d sees H im in all things ,

.
Some in th i s st a te of ecs t acis m h a ve gone so far in

, , ,
Pers i a as to de c lare themselves to be t h e D eity an d for

, ,
—
this have forfeited their lives su c h as M a nsoor an d ,
N es eem both celebrated mystical D ervis h es

, I t is .
related that Ju n aid ee of Bagdad the Peer of all the ,
modern Ale eid e Orders believed himself to b e in th i s

’
,
s t a t e and allowed his disciples t o cut at h i m with a

,
3 00 T HE D E RVI S HE S .
’
t he c aliph Ale e was t h oroughly acquain t ed with their
doctr i nes and deputed t w o of h i s sons H asan and
, ,
H osa i n and two other holy m en of h i s t i me named

, ,
Ku m ail ibn Z ea d and H asan el Bas r e e to tea c h

, ,
an d perpetuate them From these they m a i ntain m any

.
, ,
of th e prin cipal found ers of T a r eek s or Paths received

the i r intu i tion an d their ,
o r ma n tles as symbols ,
of their spir i tual orders Th i s symbol reminds us of th e .
mantle of E l ij ah which d escended upon E l i sha and the ,
cloak or garmen t of C hr i st .
I may also ad d a fact of so m e s ign ifi can cy As among .
the more re c ent Orders of D ervishes t h e head of the ,
T ek k ieh is c alled the Sheikh o r Mursh i d and h is suc , ,
cessor the K h aleefeh or Caliph s o i s i t with regard t o the

, ,
p oliti c al head of the State who has re c eived the m antle

o f th e Prophet and becomes his Cal i ph or su c cessor
, ,
.
Sultan Selim I rece i ved the Kk z r k a S k er eef or holy

’
,
.
mantle from M ohammed the last o f the Abb a ssides of

, , ,
the Prophet s l i neage when he c on qu ered Egypt ; and

’
thi s revered relic is carefully preserved in the old seraglio

at the present time under the c harge I am assured of a
, , ,
descendant of th e As hab or friendly companion s of the -
Prop h et named B a z r on whom h e bestowed it

’
.
, ,
To arrive at the second grade or degree of office i n a

T ek kieh t h at of Kh aleefeh it is as before stated n e ces s aiy
, , , ,
to spend much time i n fasting and prayer an d in complete ,
a bstraction fro m all worldly pursuits The m an must die .

,
so to say before the saint can be born To this degree

,
.
o f spiritual p erfe c t i on as well as to his supposed fam i ,
liarit y with all the mystical d ogmas and tenets of the

Order h e must p ossess the respe c t reveren c e a n d entire
, , ,
subm i ss i on of all of the M u r e e d s By const a n t prayer his .

,
breath even his tou c h must possess a s an ct ify in g influence

, , ,
and be belie v ed to h ave the superhuman p ower of p er

forming mira c les This i s pe c uliarly t h e c a se with the
.
“ ”
’
R u fa e e or H owling D er v ishes
,
I f in the c ourse .
,
of his devot i on a l probat i on the M u r ee d who seeks a d ,
van c ement suc c eed s in seeing a v ision the Peer of h i s ,
Order by whom its i mp ort is interpreted may term i

, ,
n ate h i s seclusion ; and though mu c h redu c ed in bodily ,

TH E D E R VI S H E S .
3 0 1
strength ( but stre n gthene d sp i ritually ) his trial has n ot ,
ended H e must w a nd er from pla c e to pla c e v i sit holy

.
tombs at which to seek further inspirat i on p erform the

, ,
pilgrimage to M ekk eh and M edinah and e v en pro c eed ,
to t h e re v ered tombs of K erb eleh n ear to Bagdad ,

.
Amo n g some of the Orders the She i kh i s free to ,
leave his m antle of su c cession at his d eath t o whom , ,
ever of his M u r ee d s he d eems m os t worthy of i t But i n .
the Ottoman E mpire the offi c e of Sheikh has gen erally

,
become heredit ary in the family of the M urshid though ,
in default of a son a n d heir t h e members m ay elect a ,
successor from among them selves ; or all the Sheikhs of

the same Order m eet an d select on e subj e c t h owever
, ,
to confirmation by the Sheikh u l I sl am or head of the ,
I slam Faith w h o resides at C onstantinople and is

, ,
appo i nted by the Sult a n .
Th e Z ik r or repetit i on of God s Nam e by the D ervishe s

,
’
a n d M osle m s generally whi c h has been expla i n ed else

,
where may be tra c ed to the habit of the Prophet h i mself

, ,
who frequently re c ited var i ous portions of the Koran ,
with an aud i ble voi c e both in moments of prayer an d

, ,
in those of danger to his followers To the effi c acy of

,
.
th i s re c itat i on he ev i d ently attached great importan c e

, ,
an d believed in their merit with the Creator Dur i ng .
several of his battle s he obser v ed thi s custom either

, ,
d es i gn i ng thereby to en courage his forces or to obtain a ,
D i vin e manifestation through the pious act A s he .

,
doubtlessly fu lly believed in his ow n inspiration an d

, ,
t h at the verses wh i ch he re c ited had come to h im from

t h e Creator t hrough the medium of a c elesti a l m es se nger
, ,
whom h e called the Angel Gabriel d uring his periods of

_
pious fervour and e c stasy he also bel i eved in their value

near H im from whom they emanate d I t is not there .
,
fore surpris i ng that his followers should still entertain

,
the sam e c on v i c tion Su c h a belief finds som e con fi r

.
mation in the pra c ti c e of pious Christian s when they call ,
upon God and Christ i n the language of the Old and

N ew Testaments I n his l a st illn ess the Prophet often
.
,
recited various Soor a s or c h apters some of the lo n gest of

, ,
th e Koran especially in the quiet of the nigh t i n praise

, ,
302 TH E D ERVI S H ES .
of th e Lord It is related that he s u ff ered grea t ly during

.
his per i ods of ment a l excitement an d agitation attending

the re c eption of the revel a tion s conveyed to h i m by the
,
—
Angel such as the c hapters c alled the “
H ood the ,
“ ”
I n evit a ble an d th e
,
Striking designated as the ,
t errific Sooras and he is said to have attributed his grey

hairs to them I t is di ffi c ult to suppose that he composed
.
these l ong ch a pters and c ommitted them at the same

,
time to memory and yet suc h mu st have been the c ase

, .
H e pretended to no sup er human powers at su c h seasons -
nor did he ever re c ite them i n th e vie w of imp osing on

h i s friends disc i ples or any others differi n g widely from
, , ,
the D ervishe s .
I would refer the cur i ous reader to the Life of

M ahomet by W i lliam Muir E sq of t h e Bengal C i v il
, ,
.
,
Ser v ice for t h e most interestin g and truthful biography

,
ever written of th i s wonderful man I regret not to have .
found in i t any allusion to the or i gin of the Tar e ek s or ,

”
Paths of the Derv i shes .
Whenever the origin of these Tareek s c annot be found

in the pract i ces of the Prophet or in the interpretation ,
o f the verses of t h e Koran by their Peers or Founders it ,
may be t aken for gra nted th a t it i s c ontained in the

H a d ee s or trad i tions c ollected in the first an d se c ond
, ,
c enturies of the H ej reh So far as I know no c olle e .

,
tion of t h ese has been translated into Turkish or any ,
E urop ean language They would doubtles sly well

.
, ,
repay the labour of tran slat i on espec i ally c ould they be ,
arranged chron ologically and with reference to th e ,
h istor i cal events wh i c h gave rise to them .
S P I R I TU A L E X E R C I S ES .
The ordinary state or cond ition of p i ous contempla

tion an d prayerfulness is c alled M u rak ab eh This is .
possessed in wakeful moments when th e soul and body ,
are un i ted an d the senses of the latter are enfeebled by

,
superior powers of the soul There is however another .

, ,
c ondition called I nsil a when it is held the soul of man

, , , ,
3 0 4 TH E D ERVI S H E S .
thousan d years have elapsed th i rty other world s pre ,
ce ed e d h i m I n the Traditions of th e Prid e of all

.
Be i ngs ( the Prophet ) and the Sovere i gn

,
it is sa i d ,
‘
C ertainly God created the Adam ( Man ) you know of ,
after the c reat i on of an hun dred thous a nd others and I ,
am on e of
The pr i n c iples of this wr iter are peculiarly spir i tual .
H e believes t h at the world was i nhabited by m any other

specie s of h u man be i ngs previous t o the creation of
Adam and Ev e all differing from each other an d some
, ,
of them also of various degrees of stature a n d spiritual

fa c ulties The S p i rits of mank i nd separated by death
.
,
from the body continue to people the va st spa c e whi c h

,
surround s the world on which we dwell but are wholly ,
i nvis i ble t o the ordinary organ s of vi s i on ; that some

person s of a high spiritual power are h owever able t o , ,
behold the m an d that a super i or spiritual fa c ulty posses s e s

,
an influen c e and p ower over an inferior on e ; and that

visions are n ot conne c ted with the ordinary sen ses of the
body but are wholly spir i tual so that often time s during
, ,
ou r corporeal slumbers when the sen ses are lulled into

,
repose the soul leaves the body and wand ers over the
,
world with a velo c ity whi c h knows n e i ther time nor

,
spa c e and can see obj ects extremely distant ; whilst

,
ordinary dream s are but an effect of the senses — su c h ,
,
—
for instance as memory when in a state of h a lf repose ,
a n d are common to all an i mated nat u re in wh ic h expres ,
sion are understood those an i mals whi c h do no t possess

immortal souls or spir i ts .
I n c onn exion w i th the pre c eding account of t h e prin

c i les o f M u h ee ed D een o f arresting any one by a
p ,
”
spell it may n ot be ou t of the way to add t h e following
,
summary of a l i ttl e work by I bn I say as an expla n ation ,
of what has only bee n g i ven as a theory .
I bn I say was born so says the M S at A k Se eay in

,
.
, ,
As i a M inor an d em i grated t h en c e to Tripoli of Barbary ,
where he founded t h e Order or the I s ave es H e was .
origina lly of t h e Or d er of the Bairam e es .
An abri d ged account of his t heory

Tara signifie s the D ervish .
3 5 0
M a flaab is the person whom y ou wish to app ear befor e

y on.
M i ld /2a m is th e action of thinking of t he latter in

s uch a mann er as to make him a ppear
( .
Teve jj z ek i s the producing of the person in que stio n .
E k lz H al t hose wh o have th e p ower of makin g

'
others app ear .
E k/z Ter a r r af are the holy people who possess t h at p ow er

’
M a r ak ebek is much th e sam e as the T e vejj u h .
H e? ! i s the state of ecsta s y i nto which the person goe s

wh o mak es the absen t app ear to h i m .
K ai is the cond i tion of perfec t submissio n of the

p erson thus a ppearing t o the p ower of the H al l .
S k agk l i s the p erformance of th i s a ct of p ower .
I/ zf k i s the scien c e of mystical numbers

'
j is the acquisit i on of certa i n i llegal and d ia

Jr z z a r a
’
‘ ’
b olical powers by the abandonment of th e p u rifi cat ion s

,
an d praye r s require d by reli gi on .
I n th e fourteenth chapter of his work he explains the

“ ”
spir i tual powers of Fas c ination vi z the producing of ,
.
an effect upon an absent individual for a good or an evil

purp ose H e calls it that facul t y of the soul of t h e
.
T alib or active agent which by the p ower of the w i ll or

, , ,
profoun d c ontemplation ( M u lahaz a) can produ c e t h e ,
M at loob or pass i ve obj ect before him

, ,
The method of .
exercis i ng this p e culiar p o w er he says can bes t be , ,
taught pra cti c ally by a M u s h aik h ( Sheikh ) On e of the .
ru les however is for the T alib to place himself in opera

, ,
t ion ( Sh iigh l) t he name of the Talib and the M a t loob

m ust be drawn up according to t h e science of the V if k
( o r t h e mystical numerical value of the letters of their
resp e c tive names ) calculated and placed upon the left

knee he must ga z e up on them with deep fi xed n es s an d ,
thi n k constantly on the figure and form of the M at lo ob

he must blow as i t were a t the mouth of the M at loob
, ,
an d recite hi s incan t at i on and s o continue t o br i ng the

,
figure nearer and nearer to his vision After this h e must .
look at the Vif k and re c i te the V erd ( an I slam prayer ) ;

n ow and then c lose his eyes and blow at t h e mouth of
,
the M at loob t he n reci t e the Fat iba (z u d chapter of the

x
306 T H E D ERVI SHE S .
Koran ) withou t however for a moment allowing t h e

, , ,
figure to es c ap e from h i s sight To thus gaze upo n t h e . .
V if k is the same as to gaze upon the M at loob t o ga z e

upon the figure is an ev i den c e of th e H al and t o ,
negle c t to follo w th i s rule is a proof that the Tal i b

i s in a state of I s t id raj When the figure is by this.
mean s brought n ear to the Talib he can descr i be i t t o ,
any p erson s who m ay be present .
I t is rel ated th a t N e m rood who Orient als say was a , , ,
great apost a te w a s o n c e desirous of affecti n g an evil upon

,
a king and for thi s purpose had his p ortrait m a de an d

,
pla c e d before him By continuously gazing upon this

.
“
figure an d by th e exercise of h i s p ower of the will he
, ,
so seriously affe c ted the health of th e king tha t he would ,
c ertainly have d ied had he n ot sent an d begged him t o

,
c ease offeri n g to submit entirely to his wil l

,
.
The T ev ejj u h i s produced by th e E hli Su look ( t h e

D ervi sh ) fix i n g his g a z e upon th e h eart of the M at loob .
I f he looks up on t h e left breast he w i ll per c eive the figur e ,
appear from out of the heart then the a c t of the Talib

i s completed H e must then look upon the left breast
.
whilst in a dark an d q uiet apartment ; man y erron eou s

thoughts will aris e in his ow n mind and after they ha v e ,
van i shed a R ef a t or true state will come up on h i m the

,
’
, ,
figure o f the M a t loob w i ll rise before h i m an d as it will ,
b e p erfe c tly subm i ssive to his will he can read i ly effec t ,

!
whatever purpose h e may have in view .
Another mode o f the Tev ej j u h i s the followi n g Th is

i s not by looking a t the heart but by turning the thoughts ,
to the Alm i ghty Y ou must pray to Hi m and g i ve

.
,
yourself up entirely to H i m Whether the figure of the .
M a t loob a ppear or not the T alib must persist i n h i s act

,
o f the Shiigh l an d pray and weep w ith much warmth

, ,
until it does finally a ppear The moment it begins to .
sh o w itself he m u st blow as it were in its mouth recite

, , , ,
the invoca tion l a ment and beg an d ex c ite his ow n

, ,
feeli n gs excessively The Tal i b nevertheless must b e

.
, ,
c alm i n mi n d and n ot suffer his fervour to over c ome h im

,
.
Besides th i s h e mus t never h ave any doubt of the

,
e fficacy of his effort but place entire faith in its certainty

,
.
s o influence t he la tt er by hi s powers as t o impress him ,
beneficially This is generally done to the Salik s or

.
'
,
n eophy t es under his instru c tion The Sh e i kh I bn .
I say during t h e course of his in stru c tions would besto w

, ,
the benefit of the prayers of his circle upon his pup i ls ,
and so en able them to produce th e same results on

o t hers This he c ould do from a d i s t an ce as w ell as
.
,
near and he c ould so i nfluence them tha t they assumed

, ,
w hatever condition he pleased of j oy or gr ie f ,
The preced i ng i s quite su ffic i ent to Show the n ature

of the Sp i ritual Powers of this Sheikh w h o is quite ,
r en ow e d i n Tunis and Tripol i where there are many ,
adheren t s of his Order They seem to be of a mag

.
netic character and resemble those of M u h ee ed D een

,
’
el Ar ab ee mentioned in a preceding part of this chapter
, .
HA S H EE S H .
H ere t ofore I have endeavoured t o explain h ow among ,
the Derv i shes the mental excitement and enthusiast i c

,
ger m is ascribed by the m entirely to divine i nspirat i on ,
growing ou t of the Z ik r or in vocation of the D i ety,

.
Among some of them however mater i al mean s are , ,
also resorted t o for the purpose of ex ci ting if not the ,
m ental facult i es a t l east the brain so as t o produce

, ,
visionary glimpses of what is cons i dered by them at

least a foretaste of future happiness and e n j oymen t ,
in that existence which the m ore sen sible hold to b e ,

“
entirely of a sp i r i tual character On this subj ect a .
,
wri t er in the L evan t H er a ld of C onstantinople makes , ,
the following observa t ions

The pe c uliar pleasure s affecting espe c ially the nerves ,
and produ c ed by narcotics tobac c o and opium belong , , ,
apparently t o modern times — th a t is to say that it is only in ,
modern times that we find them in general use Amongs t .
the an c i ents there is very little doubt of their existen c e ,
but they were the secrets of the priests or of the i nitiated , .
We read for instan c e of certain temples in Cypru s or

, ,
in Syria to whi c h the votar i es thronged from all parts of

,
t h e world in expectation of having t heir wishes gratified

,
.
3 0 9
Those wishes gen erally were in such cases interviews

with some beloved obj ect or visions of future happi ,
n ess. The votary was bathed dressed in splendid ,
robes given some peculiar food after which he in

, ,
haled a d elicious odour an d was then laid on a couch

,
strewn with flowers U pon this he probably went t o

.
sleep ; but in all even t s such an intoxication of t h e

mind was produced that the n ext morning he rose
satisfied that in the night all h i s d es i res had bee n
realised The worsh i p of the Paphian V enus of the
.
,
”
Syrian Goddess be she Astarte or k nown by whatever
, ,
other name and of other mystical divinities was full of

, ,
t hese rites in which the e ffects on the m i nd could o n ly

,
have been produced by narcotic stimulants .
The firs t intention of H asheesh was e vidently n ot as a

stimulan t I t was intended as a sp i ritual s op orifi c
.
,
produ c ing that quiescence of soul so d ear to Orientals ,
and known throughout all the regions under Arabian

“ ”
influe n ce by the nam e of Kaif But this stolid .
annihilation of i deas was n ot su fficient for the mor e

exalted natures ; thes e found a higher p ower in the
drug — that of raising the i mag i nation until it attained
t o a b eat ifi ed real i z ation of the j oys of a future world .
This last effe c t could only be produced by mix i ng other

noxious ingredients with hasheesh already su fficiently ,
noxious of itself and the e ff ect of the delirium was

,
mentally worse than that o f O pium itsel f The mind .
( bra i n ) utterly
,
prostrate after the effect had ceased ,
requ i red still m ore imperatively than in the case of

t he opium eater a fre sh supply t o the deceased ima
-
g in a t io n the dose was he i ghten ed as t he craving for

beatitude be c am e stronger and half a year s in d u l ,
- -
’
gence ended i n a madness of the mos t moody and

miserable kind —all the more m i serable that unlike the ,
O pium ea t er th e inhaler of hasheesh in this form pre

-
serves h i s corporal strength and activity The lovers .
o f this v ice present few of the hideous f orm s of h u

m ani t y exhibited by a Chinese opium house but on the -
other hand the mental e ffect i s wilder more terrible ,

, ,
a n d yet more di fficul t of cure .

308 ‘
so influence t he la tt er by hi s p owers as t o impress h im ,
beneficially This is generally done to the Sfilik s or

'
.
,
n eophy t es under his instru c tion The Sh e i kh I bn .
I say during t h e course of his in stru c tions would besto w

, ,
the benefit of th e prayers of his circle upon his pup i ls ,
and so e n able them to produce the same results on

others This he c ould do from a d i stance as w ell as
.
,
near and he c ould so influence them that they assumed

, ,
w hatever condi t ion he pleased of j oy or grie f , .
The preced i ng i s quite su ffic i ent to show the nature

of the Sp i ritual Powers of this Sheikh who i s quite ,
r en ow ed i n Tunis an d Tripol i where there are many ,
a dherents of his Order They seem to be of a mag

.
n etic character and resemble those of M u h ee ed D een

,
’
el Ar ab ee mentioned in a preceding part of this chapter
, .
HA S H EE S H .
H eretofore I have endeavoured t o explain how among ,
the D erv i shes the mental excitement and enthusiast i c

,
germ is ascribed by them entirely to divin e insp i rat i on ,
growing ou t of the Z ik r or in vocation of the D i ety ,

.
A mong som e of them however mater i al mean s are , ,
also resorted to for the purpose of ex ci ting if not the ,
m ental facult i es at leas t th e bra in so as to produce

, ,
v isionary glimpses of wha t is cons i dered by them at

least a foretaste of future happiness and e n j oymen t ,
i n that existence which the more sen sible hold to b e, ,

“ ”
entirely of a sp i r i tual character On t h is subj ect a .
,
w ri t er in the L eva n t H er a ld of C onstantinople makes , ,
the following observations

The pe c uliar pleasures affecting esp ecially the nerves ,
a n d produ c ed by n a r c otics tobac c o an d O pium belong

, , ,
—
apparently to modern times th at is to say that it is o n ly in ,
modern times th a t we find them in general use Amongs t .
the an c i ents there is very little doubt of their existen c e ,
but they were the secrets of the pri ests or of th e i nitiated , .
We re a d for instan c e of certain temples in Cyprus or

, ,
in Syria to whi c h the votar i es thronged from all parts of

,
the world in expectation of having t heir wi shes gra t ified

,
.
The use of hasheesh prevails in the Levant to an

extent very little susp ected by the common observer ,
so carefully is it concealed ,
or v eiled under the preten c e
of or d inary smoking Th e .
word hasheesh i s of
E gyptian or Syr i an origi n
( K h o s h k h os h in the Arab i c
lan guage sign i fi es simply t h e

p oppy) At C on stantinopl e .
it is known by the name of

”
esrat which word mean s ,
a s ecret produ ct or prepa

rati on ; the nam e of hasheesh
i n E uropean Turkey b eing
C O T fi n e d to the poppy fro m
A E K TA H DER V I H N H A L N
B S S I I G
A HEE H
H S S . wh i ch the product i s ob
t ain ed Th e c ultivation of .
this plant i s carried on w i th much activity in many part s

o f the O t toman dominion s it thrive s best and in mos t
abundance in the provinces of Asia Minor an d espe ,
c ia l ly Nicomedi a Broos a and i n M esopotami a near

, , ,
M osul The dealers in e s t ar repair to these countr ie s

.
towards the end of May in the first pla c e to exam i n e , ,
the state of the vege t ation and to suggest improvement s

in i ts cult i vation ; and in the second to overlook t h e ,
harvest and themselves to colle c t the dust wh i ch form s

,
the staple of thi s c ommodity The mer chant as soon as .

,
he arrives at the spot send s th e company he brings with

,
him into the fields to c ut off the heads of the plants in ,
order that the leave s wh ic h contain the pre c ious mater i al

may have more for c e F i fteen days after th i s operati on
.
the plants are gathered i n after care has been taken t o ,
ascertain t h at the leaves ar e large and feel vis c ous to the ,
tou c h The p lants are c ut down n ot rooted up for fear

.
, ,
of damaging the leaves they are then taken into a shed ,
where t h e le a ves are carefully pi c ked off an d spread ou t ,
to dry upon a long c oarse carp et m ad e of wool and

, , ,
called Kileem When the leave s are su fficiently dry

.
,
t hey are collec t ed toge th er upon on e half of the carpet ,

3 1 r
the other h a lf be i ng left free for t he purpose of beating

t h e leaves t i ll they are reduced to dust The first product .
is immediately colle c ted forming the choi c er p ortion of

.
,
the es rar and i s called Sigh irm a The fibres of the

,
.
leaves are then by means of a second an d third

,
“
pounding redu c ed t o dust
,
This dust c al led . Ho ,
”
n arda i s in less esteem so much so that w hile t h e
,
first dust sells at forty francs the kilogramme the secon d ,
is not worth more than ten it b ei n g n ot only as the ,
refuse but lying under the suspi ci on of adulteration I t

,
.
i s sent to C onstant i nople in double sa c ks— the outside

on e of hair the i nner on e o f skin
,
the entire quantity is
not there con sumed mu c h of it bei n g sent to Egypt and
,
S yr ia . Before being brought into the market t h e es rar ,
is d i fferently prepared accordi n g to th e tastes of th e

,
different c ountries I n E gy pt an d Syria the extract i s

.
preferred in a fatty form prep ared w i th butter At C on

,
.
s t an t in op le th e rancid and viscous flavour produ c ed by
this pro c ess is greatly d i sliked an d the esrat i s sold in ,
the form of syrup or in p as t iles t o be smoked with

,
t om b ek i ( in the N a rgh ili o r water p i pe ) The simple -
syrup s t ill retains something of the fatty and viscous

flavour and for that purp ose som e aromati c prod u ct i ons
, ,
as bah arab are introdu c ed i nto the preparation Thi s

,
.
last add i t i on i s of great importan c e as by the n ature of ,
its ex ci tement it i mpresses the mind of the i mbiber in ,
addit i on to the ecstatic delirium of the pure hash eesh ,
wi t h a series of v i sion s of the j o y s of p a radise an d oth er

scenes of future life mu c h prized on this account by the
,
tru e believer This last prep aration is extremely exp en

.
sive and i s therefore only i n the reach of the rich it is

,
chiefly u sed by the gran d ees of Asia Minor who being , ,
more devout than those of E urop e carefully abstai n from ,
f ermente d liquors but con sider hasheesh whi c h p ro

, ,
du c es the same effec t s in a very aggravated form t o be ,
in perfe c t accordan ce with the law of the Prophet .
The inh abitants of the capital ( Constant i nople ) are

less impulsive and for th e purp ose of producing that
,
s tate of mind s o desirable and known in the E ast by ,
the name of ka1f they add t he e ffects of raki an d

3 r2 TH E D ERV I S H E S .
o t her fermen t ed liquors The p as t ile s for smok i n g are

.
t hus prepared A certain quanti t y of es t ar is put int o

.
an iron p ot and warme d slowly over a brazier

,
A p e cu .
liar acrid odour is then g i ven forth upon whi c h the ,
O perator puts his hand enclosing a portion of the d u st

, ,
in t o a vase ful l of a stro n g infusion of co ffe e with which ,
he carefully moistens an d kn ead s the dust After having .
been thus mixed the dust be comes a paste havi n g the

, ,
smell an d colour of coffee ; i t is then taken from the

fire an d put upon a m arble table where it undergo es a ,
long pro c ess O f manipulation until it is made t horoughl y

homogeneous it is then cut in pieces and moulded into ,
the form of small cylinders or rolls Pastile c ylinders .

,
weighi n g four grammes are sold for a piastre ( or four

,
cents ) and on e is more than enough t o thro w any p erson

,
not habituated t o t h e practice into t he most complete

d elirium This las t form of hasheesh is the most com
.
m on and th e best appreciated in the coun try The .
reason of th e preferen c e i s partly th e c heapness and

partly its colour and form which allow it to be carried ,
about and used withou t dis c overy The p as t iles are .
commonly soaked for use in the n a rgh ila with the tom
b eki or Persian tobacco b u t those w h o require a m ore
, ,
decided action prefer t he mixture with common t o

,
bacco for wh i ch reason the dealers in es rar sell cigars

,
impr egnated with this substance t o th ose who are n ot

used to it A cc ord i ng t o precise returns the qu a n t ity O f
.
,
e s rar dust colle c ted in the aforenamed localities com
m on ly exceeds 2 k ilogrammes .
T H E OC C U L T S C IE N C E S .
E ducation in t he E as t is re m ovi n g from the mind s of

Mo slems many of the superstitious ideas which they
“ ”
at tached t o what may be called the hidden art s an d ,
to the value of amulets talismans c harms & c I have

, , ,
.
foun d however that these are s t ill c herished by most of

, ,
the lower c lasses and especially among the D ervishes

, .
Mr Lane in his excellent work afore quoted called t he

.
, ,
-
,
“ ”
M oder n Egyp t ian s gives a minu t e accoun t of t hes e
, ,
sectarian they generally are of a Persian or D ervish

,
chara c ter V erses of the Koran are also written on

.
p ar c hmen t or pap er and are worn in the same manner

,
”
and for the same purp ose These are c alled n u s kh as .
,
o r amulets and are worn by an immense number of

,
Mussulmans of eve ry p osition in l i fe .
The re are however another class of talismans whi c h

, , ,
are entirely of a mystical or cabalistic c hara c ter drawn ,

“ ” ’
up ac c ording to what is called the I bm V ifd or ,
“ ”
S c ien c e of Calculation To these the public an d e s.
,
p ec ia lly the D ervishes still attach extraordinary,powers .
This i s the scien c e of drawing up figures in a mystical

manner All the letters of the Ar abic alphabe t have a
.
n umerical value like in ou r ow n V i s 5 X i s 1 0 & c

, , , ,
.
and i t i s there fore easy to draw up an invo c ation or

a prayer in figures c hronograms are written in a similar
,
manner an d i n most public ins c riptions the last l i n e

, ,
though written and possess i n g a signification of a p oetical

character if calculated also gives the date of the writing
, , .
I n this manner if I am not mistaken the inscript i on on

, ,
th e marble slab sen t by the late Sultan Abd u l M ej id to ,

’
the Wash i ngton M onument explains the p eriod of the

contribut i on in the l a st line I t i s only n ecessary t o .
ascertain the numeri c al value of each letter and thes e ,
when added together form the date The letter s Bek .
”
tash make the date of his Order A H 7 3 8 ,
. . .
I t is also believed that ea c h letter of the alphabet has

a servant appointed by Allah to attend upon it These .
,
it is supposed may b e invoked in case of n ee d Par

,
.
t ic u lar writings are equally attended by mysterious beings ,
who though they may not ac t ually appear when invoked

, ,
are n e v ertheless presen t and are supposed to obey im ,
p lic it ly the commands of the invoker Some o f these .
writings in numerals are for evil as well as for good pur

p oses They must be draw n up on certain days and
.
hours at certain p eriods of the moon or on certai n

, ,
p os i tions of the stars without which their po w ers are lost

, .
They are also engraved upon stones taken from certain

localities such as in the v icinity of the holy cities of Mek
,
k eh and M edineh in Arabia or near t he tombs of cel e

, ,
5
b rat ed saints or founders of the D ervish Orders Those .
from t h e neighbourhood of the grave O f H aj ee Bekt ash

a r e highly esteemed Besides verses from the Koran are
.
,
O ften seen invocation s to Alee or the other caliphs an d ’
t o the Prophet and mysti c al numerical cal c ulations in

s cribed in and on drinking —c up s s o that they may arrest ,
the eye of th e drinker I n case a charm is drawn up.
for the purpose of inspiring some on e with the divine

passion ( love ) the servants or as they are called th e
, , , ,
”
Ji n s
,
attendant upon the letters which c ompose it
meet together and d evise a series of influences which , ,
though invisible are believed t o have the power of com

,
~
pelling the devoted p erson to obey them The only .
m eans of protection to b e used in su c h c ases is t o ,
draw up a c ounter charm the j ins atten dant u pon ,
which either overcom e the others or come t o a c om

promise and so relieve the affl i cted obj ect
,
.
V arious c alcula t ions are made of an abs t ruse nature ,
involving a series of cubes and squares subtractions and ,
divisions multipl i cations an d additions of a con ven

, , ,
t ion al character to learn a result either od d or even

,
If ,
.
o d d th e result is considered unfortunate wh i lst if even

, , ,
it is fort unate .
The T es b eeh a Mussulman rosary c omposed O f n in et y

, ,
n in e beads ( some of those o f th e D erv i shes are much
greater ) represent so many names of the D e i ty which

, ,
are invoked by the devout I ts use i s taken from the .
4 r s t verse of th e 3 3 d ch a pter of the Koran viz : , .
O believers ( in th e unity of Allah an d th e missio n

, ,
of H is Proph et ) rep eat the n ame of Allah and coun t

, ,
”
H is n ames night and morning
,
.
Another peculiar bel i ef has bee n t hus explained t o

me by a D ervish friend in connexion with the mystical ,
character of Le t ters based up on the principle that the

, ,
faculties of reason an d spee c h being p eculiarly Divin e

g i fts bestowed upon man letters also were given t o h im ,
as a mean s of expressing himself and of perp etu a ting ,
knowledge and were practically used by God himself

, ,
in H is c ommunication s to som e of the prophets as in ,
the w riting of the Ten C ommandments .

3 o t TH E D ERVI S HE S .
The fou r elemen t s viz Wa t er ( Ab ) E arth ( Turab ) , .

, ,
Fire ( N ar) and Air ( H av a) possess twenty eight letters

, ,
-
as follows
A u L 3 ; D 4 ; H 5 ; V 6 ; Z 7 ; H 8; , . , . .
T 9 ; Y 1 0 ; K 20 ; L 7 0 ; M 40 ; N 5 0 ; S 6 0 ;
, . . , , , ,
A or Ayin 7 0 ; F 80 ; Z or Zad 9 0 ; K 1 0 0 ; R 2 0 0 ;
’ ’
, , , , , , ,
Sh or Shin 7 0 0 ; T 4 0 0 ; Th or Thay 5 0 0 ; H or
, , , , , ,
H eh 6 0 0 ; Z or Z eh 7 0 0 ; D z 80 0 ; Z h 9 0 0 ; and Gh
, , , , , ,
or G hay in ,
These are divid ed into four classes each O f a di fferent ,
temp erament Fire has seven letters i e A H T M .

,
. .
, , , ,
F Sh and D z all supp osed to b e of a h ot temperament

, , , .
’
E arth has seven letters i a D H L Ayin R Khah or ,
. .
, , , , ,
K and Gh or Ghayin which are of a dry temperament

, , .
Air has seven letters i e B V Y T S N and D z all ,

. .
, , , , , , ,
of a c old temperamen t Water also has seven letters .

,
i e J Z S K Kaf T and Th all of moist temp eramen t s

. .
, , , , , , , .
The letters of the element Wa t er are cons i dered as be i ng

the principal ones an d all the others as the i r branches ,
“
for God says in the Koran All things have been made , ,
”
by us from water .
'
’
These are c alled the A n é r z r z E r be a or the four ’
’
elements of Nature and are much con sid ere d in many ,
of the modern sciences su c h even as medi c ine and ,
chemis t ry among n ot only the D erv i sh Orders bu t

, ,
even amo n g the more educated classes of Mussulmans

generally .
A Lis t of all of the D ervish C o nven t s or Tekk z eks

'
, ,
a t Constantinople and the days in which t hey p erfor m ,
their exer c ises for the guidance of curious Vl s it ors ,

.
F R I DAY .
The M evlevees or Turn ing D ervishes in Pera , , .
The S u m bu lees — C onvent at Koj ah “

Must apha .
,
P asha St am b ool
The j elvez ees —
.
,
C o n ven t of Az ees Mahmoo d E fendi

‘
.
,
in Scu t ary .
3 8
“
The N a krlz z berz a ees Beshir Aga Tekk ieh s ee near ’
'
.
,
t o th e Sublime Porte in St a m b ool , .
“
The N a krk z befl a ees U sbek T ek k ieh s ee
'
’
near to .
,
Bulbul D er es ee Scu t ary ,

.
The Kk a lz efees — “
Kallan j ee She i kh E min E fendi
'
.
”
T ek k ieh s ee at the O t ak fi la r i n the Ch ayir bashee
, ,
m eado w .
The B a z r a m z ek r Ab d ee Baba T ek k ieh s ee

'
n ear
’
.
,
Eyub .
The Kk a lvez ees Sheikh N u s u h ee E fendi Tek

‘
.
”
k ie hs ee a t the T ogan j ila r s Scu t ary
—
.
, ,
“
The N a ks k z kea a ees U s bekler Tek k ieh s ee a t t h e
’
’
,
.
ascent of the Mohammed Pash a Y ok as h ee St a m b ool ,

.
The R uf aees — Alaj a Mesj i d T ekk ieh s ee near to

“ ’
.
”
,
the L en k eh Bey Gate at M erj em ek

—
.
,
“
The K k a l z ez ees Aideen Oghlou T ek k ieh s ee near
f
‘
.
,
t o the S u blime Porte St am b ool ,

.
“
The I z z et M ehmet Pasha T ek k ieh
”
see Eyub
,
.
The N a ks k z kea a ees E mir Bokhara T ekk ieh s ee j ust

'
’
,
.
outs i de the Adrian ople G a te St a m b ool ,

.
The Sheikh G han ee T ek k ieh s ee near the ,
Tab u t j ilar s Scu t ary,

.
The K/z alvez ees — Called the Khalv et t ieh T ekk ieh s ee
‘
.
,
”
inside the mosque of Ku ch ook Ay a Sofi eh ( s m a ll St .
Soph i a) St am b ool
,
.
“
The K k a lvef ees F aiz ee E fendi T ekk ieh s ee n ear
.
,
”
Aga c h Kakan .
“
The [( k a lvefees Sachlee H u sain E fend i T ek k ieh .
~
”
see near to the A hm ed ieh m eadow
,
.
The Ch akir Aga T ek k ieh s ee near the ,
Salm a T om r ook St am b ool

—
.
,
“
Th e Kan t arj i T ek k ieh s ee at D olma ,
Bak c ha .
“
The j elaez ees D iv an e e Mustapha E fendi T ek k ieh
‘
.
- ~
”
see in t h e S h eikh J amee ( mosque ) at Scu t ary
, , .
The Kk a laez eer U j e el er T ek ie h s ee at the Silivree

‘
.
,
”
Gate S t a m b ool
. .
The K/z alaez ees Cholak H asan E fendi Tek k ieh s ee

‘
.
,
at I dris Ku s k ee .
3 9 I
Th e R u faees — “
Sh erb et d ar Tek k ieh s ee i n the quarter
’
.
,
called F en aee at the Kh a s s ak e e m ead ow ,

.
The Kaa z r r Kiu ru kj i T ek k ieh s ee at the A s m alee

”
'
’
,
.
Z ok ak in the Lalazar meado w

,
.
“
The Kk a lvefees C h ellak T ek k ieh s ee in th e Men .
,
k euch meadow .
S A T UR DA Y S .
The M evlevees M evlev e e Khaneh Tek k ieh s ee . .
The Said V elaet H a z re t er ee Tek k ieh

”
see near the plain or m eadow called Ashi k Pasha
, ,
Arz a s s ee .
K es hfee Ja fer E fen d i Tekk ieh s ee

’
The S u mé a leer .
,
at Fundukl i
—
.
“
Selam ee Alee E fendi Tek kieh s ee at
’
The f ela ez ees ‘
.
,
Aj ee Badem in Scu t ary ,

.
The Kk alaef eer O rd oo Sh eik h e e H afiz E fendi .
”
T ekk ieh s e e n ear H amam C h eleb ee M ehmed Aga
,
.
”
The Balchi k T ek k ieh s e e at D efterdar ,
Es k ala s e e n ear E yub

,
.
Ku z ee Tek k ieh s ee at T elu rk

’
The R af aeer .
,
luk in Kasim Pash a

,
.
The K aa z r ees P es h m akj i T ek k ieh s ee at Ku ch ook

’
'
.
,
Pialee Pasha .
K ef e —
The k a l v es Sa d ullah Chaush T ek k ieh s ee a t .
’
A in ale e Bak a l near the Silivr ee Gate

—
.
,
“
The R uf fi a n Sheikh Kiam il E fendi T ekk ieh s ee ,
n ear Avret Bazaar S t a m b ool ,

.
“
B irb irler Sh eik h ee Otto m an E fendi
’
The R z ef aees .
’
T ek k ieh s ee at Bayazid Aga M ah ala s s ee Top Kapu

”
, .
The B a z r a m z ek r M ehme d Aga T ek k ieh s ee in th e

”
' ’
.
,
. aforenamed mosque .
S U ND A Y S AN D W E DN E SD A Y S
The Kk a laez eer Bu lbu lj l Z ad eh E fendi Tekk ieh s ee
‘
.
,
in the mos q ue of N is han j i Pasha J

. e d ee d .
“
The Kaa z r s
'
Ya rm aj 1 Baba T ek k ieh s e e at Liman

’
-
.
,
Pash a Sen t ary

—
.
,
“
The K aa z r s She i kh M e hm ed Khifei f T ek k ies h ee
’
'
’
.
,
a t Balj i Yok u s h ee in Ku ch ook H aman , .

The [ Ma h a t ma — “
Shei k h Fai z U llah E fendi Tekk ieh
”
s ee, a t A h m ed ieh in Scu t ary ,
.
Th e S a m bu leer Ba i ram Pasha T ek k iehs ee near t he

.
,
Kh as s ak e e Mosque St am b ool ,
.
The Kk a lvez eer E mir]er T ek k ieh s e e at th e Silivree

‘
.
,
Gate .
The K aa res — “
G av s e e E fendi Tek k ieh s ee
’
'
. near t o ,
the convent called M im ararz a s s ee ”

.
The K aa z r s H am d ee E fendi T ekk ieh s ee

’
'
.
,
Sin aah Pa sha .
“
The S a a z ek r Yagj i Z adeh T ek k ieh s ee at t he
’
’ ’
Wh a rf of B u lban in Scu t ary ,

.
The Kirp as s ee M ust apha E fendi Tekk ieh

”
see a t Ey ub
,
.
S U ND AY S .
The M ealeaees . Kas i m Pasha M evlev ee Kh aneh

”
s ee.
“
The N a krk z ben a ees Sheikh Murad Tekk ieh s e e near ’
'
the O rt akj ilars .
The M urad Molla Tek k ieh s ee in ,
t h e market of C hahar s h en b ee .
The N a ks k z ben a ees E mir Bo k hara T ek k ieh s ee ’

'
.
,
near the Egr e e Kapu Gate .
Sala m ee E fendi T ekk ieh s ee in

'
The N a k rk z aefl d ees .

,
t he place c alled Baba H yder near Eyub

—
.
,
“
The Kk a laez ees Je m a le e Z ad eh T
‘
ekk ieh s ee
. ou t ,
side o f Egree Kapu

—
.
“
The N a ks k z bea a ees Mustapha Pash a T ek k ieh s ee ’
’
.
,
outsid e the Adrianople Gate St am b ool ,

.
The R af i a a — “
S a chlee E fendi Tek k ieh s ee n ear t o ,
t h e fountain c alled C hiragj i at K at chu k M u s t ap h a Pacha

, , .
The Sheikh Alee E fendi Tek k ieh s ee near ’

,
t o the O t agj i lar B e d av ee T ekk ieh s ee at Tat avla

— Yildiz Tek k ieh s ee n ear, Bak cha
.
,
“ ”
The ,
C ap u s ee in St am b ool
,
.
The — “
San j ak d ar H yred D een T ekk iehs ee ,
n ear the T ch in ar M osque .
The [ream J H yder D ede Tek k ieh s ee n ear t o -
Serach Kh aneh .
Th e Kk a laef ees O k s iz j a B ab a T ek k ieh s ee, near .
the l o t called Ak arj a .
The K k alaelees Sir Tari k Zadeh Tek k ieh s ee, a t .
Eyub , n ear the N is h an j lar .
The Sheikh Khaleel E fendi T ek k ieh s ee,

near the Alti M ermer .
Myb ek ler Tekk ieh s ee

'
T he N aks k z éerz a ees ’

.
,
at Sala
mieh in Scu t ary
,
.
Yanez T ek k ieh s ee,

’
The B a z r a m z ek s at Salaj 1k ,
'
. in
Scu t ary
—
.
“
The Kk a e lv z ees Ka
v s er ah Mustapha B ab aT ek k ieh
‘
.
”
see at the Chaush D er e Scu t ary
, ,
.
The Saif ed D een E fendi Tekk ieh s ee in ,
Chaush D er e Scu t ary

—
, .
“
The N a ks k z kefl a ees Shei k h Said E fendi T ekk ieh
’
’
.
see at Kan d illee in the valley

”
, ,
.
The N a krk z ken a ees k k ieh s ee

'
’
J an Fid a T e .
,
Kubbeh To sh .
M O N DAYS .
The M ailm a n a Mevlevee Kh an eb s ee — Y m Kapu “
—
.
“
The Noor ed D een Jerah ee T ekk ieh
”
se e n ear to the Kara Gumruk St am b ool
, ,
.
The Abd u l Sel am T ek k ieh s e e n ear ’

,
H asan Pasha Khan I t is well known und er the t itle .
K oghaj ee Sheikh Tek k ieh s e e .
The R af a ees Y ahya E fendi T ek k ieh s ee at E yub

’
. .
,
I t is also kno w n as t h e H as eeb E fendi T ekk ieh s ee .
The R af a ees “
Kara Sarik lez T ekk ieh s e e near M u f
’
.
”
,
t ee H amam .
D ulg er Za deh Tek k ieh s ee at

'
The N a ks k z kefz a eer ’

.
,
Beshik Tosh
Th e S a m ba k ea H aj ee Avh ed T ekk ieh s ee near ,
Yadi Koole e or Seven Towers

—
, .
“
Sh a z ellee Tekk ieh s ee
’
T h e S k a z elleer n ear Alee.
,
Bey village .
Selam ee Alee E fendi T ek k ieh s ee

’
The j elz z ez ees ‘
. .
Beshi k Tosh .
“
The K aa z r ees N iz am ee Zadeh Tek k ieh s ee
'
’
.near -
,
.
the Shehr Em een ee .

3 23
The Kk alaef ees .

“
Mat ehk a T ek k ieh s ee ,
a t Beshi k
To s h .
o
The F in d u k Zadeh T ek k ieh s ee, at Yu k s ik

Kald erim
— “ A lt oon j ee
.
The K /z alvelees . Zadeh Tekk ieh s ee, at

Ek s h e e
'
Kara Toot . .
T he Paik D ede Tek k ieh s ee, a t the Seli

vria Gate .
The A la ed D een Tekk ieh s ee , n ear

H amam Soofeeler .
Th e Chekeh Zadeh Tekk ieh s e e, near

E sk i Alee Pasha
’
—
.
“
The B ed aw ee H as e eb E fendi Tek k ieh s ee, near
T op Tas h ee, Scu t ary .
The [( k a lvef eer — “

Baz . ur
gian T ek k ieh s ee,
a t Khoj a
Mustapha Pasha .
The i r im D ede T ekk ieh s ee n ear th e

Jg e ,
Marine Barracks .
“
Th e R z ef a ees J indi H arem T ekk ieh s ee a t Alti
’
.
,
”
M erm er .
N ak s h ib en d e e T ekk ieh s e e
’
The N aks k z bea a ees ’

in .
,
the M osque of K u r s hu n d ee M ah s en Gal ata

—
.
,
“
The Kaa z r ees Sheikh Omer E fen di T ek k ieh s e e ’
'
’
.
,
at H aj ee E l i as n ear to the Egr i Kapusu St am bo ol

, , .
The K /z a lvez ees H asan E fendi T ek kieh s ee

‘
.
,
the M osqu e of Jih an geer .
The Kk a lvez ees I shak Karam an ee Tekk ieh s e e at

‘
.
,
Su d lij a .
The Abd u l Ba k ee T ek kieh s ee at Kad i ,
KiOy .
Kk a laez eer
F az lillah e e at B az aree Othman ’
Th e ‘
.
Efendi T ek k ieh s e e at the at Bazaar St a mboul

The K ad z r ees — Tas hj e e T ek k ieh s ee n ear D aoud
.
, ,
“ '
”
.
,
Pasha Es k alas e e
—
.
“
The G u /s k ea eer T at ar E fendi T ek k ieh s ee .
,
T op Khaneh
—
.
“
The K k a la ef eer F en aee Tek k ieh s ee at Moll a .
’
Kiovan ee .
The M u bir H asan

’
E fen di T ek k ieh
”
see near
,
to E ski Alee Pasha ’
.
Y 2
N a ks k z befl a ees K arilar T ekk ieh s ee,

’
The ’
. a t I dri s
Ku s k ee .
The Beder ed D een Z é d ehler T ek k ieh s ee ,
P s am at ia .
The K aa z r ees Kad iree T ek k ieh s e e nea r Chagal a

’ '
.
,
Z adeh Seray .
The K k a laeleer Tek k ieh s ee behind .

,
the Z i nd an ( prison) of the Arsenal .
The Abd u l Samed E fendi Tekk ieh

see, a t Khagid Khanah
”
.
T U E SD AYS .
The K aa z r ees I smail R oom ee H a z ret eri T ek k ieh

'
’
r
.
” ”
see T op Khanah called also B ak a d ir Khanah
, ,
.
”
The S a m ba lees Shah Sulta n T ek k ieh s e e at Baha .
,
”
r ieh c alled li k ewise
, N ij at ee E fend i T ek k ieh s e e .
The B ea aZ ees Sheikh Mustapha E fendi T ek k ieh

’
/ .
”
see n ear T at av ala in U zun Y ol
,
.
The M ehmed E fendi T ekk ieh s ee ,
Kara Gumruk called also Ej d er E fendi Tek k ieh s e e

—
, .
“
The G u ls lz em ek s Kiorj i Sheikh Alee E fen d i Tek ’
’
’
k ieh s ee near M olla A s hk ee
—
.
,
“
The f el z xez ees Sir Tarik Z adeh T ek k ieh s e e at Ka
‘
.
,
m erillee in the vicinity of the M osque of Mohamm ed I I

,
.
The K es h fee E fendi T ekk ieh s ee in ”

,
the K éffélee Mosque at D eragm an ,

.
The S u m ba lees I brahim Pasha T ek k ieh s ee at .

,
Kum Kapu in th e M osque N is h am j i

,
.
Th e S a m éu lees Koruk T ek k iehs ee near M olla .

,
Ku ran ee .
“
The Kk alaez ees ‘
. I smail E fendi T ek k ieh s e e,
Yan ee KiOy .
The Kapu A gas s ee I smail Aga T ek k ieh

”
s ee , near to Aga H amam Scu t ary ,
.
The B a z r a m z eflk r Be 2j 1 Zadeh M u h ee E fendi Te k

’
k ieh s ee at D iy u n j i lee Scu t ary

, ,
.
“
The Ka d er s Kar t al Ahmed E fendi T ek k iehs ee
’
-
.
,
at Baz arbas h ee, Scu t ary .

T he S u m éu lees Sirk aj 1 Tek k ieh s ee, a t Jeballee.

,
Y eni Kap u s s u .
Chak ir D ed e Tek k ieh s ee at

'
The N a ks k z éez z a eer

’
.
,
Shahz adeh Bashee .
Th e Kes h fee T ek k ieh s ee n ear Shah ,
Za deh Bashe e .
The Kk a lvez eer Tu rm is h D ede T ek k ieh s ee

‘
at .
,
R oom ali H issar

—
.
“
The K d d z r ees R em lee T ek kieh s ee,
’
near Shehr
.
Em een ee .
The Kad z r ees Y an n ik T ekk ieh s e e a t F erh ad Aga

'
.
,
in Kassim Pasha .
The [( lz a lz z efees —“
I s k ender B ab a Tekk ieh s ee near.
,
A ga H amam in Scu t ary

—
.
,
“
The R uf a ees Sheikh N ooree T ekk ieh s ee in the
_
’
.
,
D ab aglar Maid an Scu t ary ,

.
The f el vef eer I brahim Efendi Tek k ieh s ee in the

.
,
Ki z il M esj id B u lgarlee ,
.
The Kk a l aez ees U m e e Ahmed E fendi T ek k ieh s ee

‘
.
,
n ear t o th e C hin ile e M osque Scu t ar y ,

.
Th e K k a /vet ees I dris E fendi T ekk ieh s ee .

,
C haush D ere .
“
The G u lrk erz eer Said E fendi Tek k ieh s ee in t h e .
,
Yas h j i M osque at Kh a s s ak e e ,
.
The K ad ir ees Kad irieh T ekk ieh s ee at Top Khaneh

/
.
,
.
The f elt /d ees Salam e e Alee E fendi T ek k ieh s ee at

’
,
.
C h am lid j a .
The [eh/ d ees J e lv e t t ee T ekk .ieh s e e at T o p Kh a neh , ,
near A k arj a .
The Kk a laez eea Yahya K et h od a Tekk ieh s ee

‘
at ,
Kasim Pasha n ear J um a Bazaar ,

' ’
.
T h e f el t/ d ees P en ace T ekk ieh s ee a t Allaj a ’

.
,
M in ar eh in Scu t ary
, .
k k i h
’
The B a z r am z ek r i at k
' ‘
J m L f T A
'
es a t ee e e s e e
'
.
,
seray .
The Kk a lvefeer '
Alee E fend i T ek k ieh s e e .

,
Aj ee Cheshmeh n ear the Adrianople Gate ,

.
The R af a ees Khoj a z adeh T ek k ieh s ee near

’
.
,
Top Khaneh at Firooz Aga ,

.
The S u mkz e/ees Mimar Tekk ieh s ee a t Mimar

.
,
C h ars oo .
T HE D E RVI S H E S .
3 27
The Kk alz ez ees

'
‘
. Said Khalifeh Tek k iehs ee, at
’
F an a e e .
The N ebat e e T ek k ieh s ee at Top Khaneh

— , .
The K ad z r eer “
Mu bir H asan Tekk ieh s ee a t Ka
”
'
’
.
,
sim Pasha .
“
The K é d z r eer D ibilee Kala Ahmed E fe n di Tek k ieh
’
see near t o t he new M evlevee Khaneh

”
, .
T H U R SDAY S .
The M evlevees Y ani Kapu M evleve e Khan eh s ee

.
“
.
The S a mka leer M erkez E fendi H a z ret eree Te k

.
k ieh s ee outside t he M evlev ee Khan eh

,
.
The N a ks k z kemz eer ’

Y ahya E fen d i H az r et er ee Te k
'
,
.
”
k ieh s ee at the sam e pla c e
,
.
The Ahme d el Bok haree Tek k ieh

”
s ee,
at the Kaban D ak eek St a m b ool , .
The S k az aleer Shaz ale e Tek k ieh s ee at t he same

.
,
pla c e .
The R af a eer Al Y anak Ale e E fendi Tek k ieh s ee

’
.
’
,
in the M osque of Zehk erj ee at L allaz ar ,

.
The B e s hik j i Zadeh Tekk ieh s ee ,
n ear the M osque of Bikir Pasha .
The Abid C h elebee T ek k ieh s e e n ear ’

,
Kazee Cheshmeh
—
.
“
The K k a l vez eer I p lik j ee M ehme d E fendi Te k
‘
.
”
k ieh s ee near O t lagj i Y ok u s h ee
,
.
Sam an ee Zade h T ek kieh s ee at

’
The N a ks k z éez z a ees ’

.
,
t he same place
—
.
“
The Ta s hle e B u r oon T ek k ieh s ee n ear ,
Ey u b .
Th e N a ks k z ken d ees U lu klu Bayir Tek k ieh s e e

’
at
.
,
E yub .
The N a krk z aen a ees E meer Bo k hara T ek k ieh s ee a t

'
’
,
.
th e O t agj ilar .
“
’
Th e N a kr /z z ben a ees Silim ieh T ek k ieh s ee at Scu t ary
'
.
,
.
Khu s s am e d D een U s h s hak ee ’
T ekk ieh s ee at Kasim Pasha

,
.
The Kk a laet eer — “

Su kle e M ehmed Pasha Tekk ieh
.
see at t he At Maid an in St am b ool

,
”
.
328 . T H E D ERVI S H E S .
a ks k z bea a ees S adi k E fendi Tek k ieh s ee, at

'
The N
’
.
.
the Alaj a M i m aree in Scu t ary ’
,
.
The N akrk z kerz a ees é M u d an iehlee Zadeh Tekk ieh ’

'
”
se e near to the B ab z f fi em ay z m in St am b ool
'
.
, ,
Th e B a z r d m z ek s H imet Z adeh T ekk ieh s e e n ear

’ ’
.
,
Nakkash Pash a .
The R af a ee — “
M ehmed Sh em s ee E fendi T ek k ieh s e e
’
r
,
n ear Yan ee B ak ch eh .
The Tahir Aga T ek k ieh s ee n ear ,
Ka s as b Bashee C h e s h m as s e e .
Th e S a d z ek r’
At Yam e z T ek k ieh s e e near Ps a ma
'
.
,
t hia St a m b ool
,
.
The N akrk z éefl a ees Aga Sheikh Tekk ieh s ee n ear ’

’
.
,
the Jebb eh Khaneh .
“
The Sai d B ab a Tekk ieh s ee n ear ,
Kh as s ak ee .
The K a a z r s Sheikh Tay E fendi T ek k ieh s ee, n ear

’
’
.
Kh as s ak e e .
The D er oon e e T ek k ieh s ee , n ear

Kemer B oz Tagan .
’
The N a lb er M ehmed E ffendi Tek
”
k ieh s ee, at R oom alee H i ssar .
“
The N a k s k z bea a eer
’
B ab a H yder T ek kieh s e e, near
’
E uh .
“
Tellon ee Tek k ieh s ee, near I n ad ieh ,
a t Scu t ary .
The Khaleel Pasha T ek k ieh s ee, n ear the

wharf of Daoud Pasha , St am b ool .
The [( k a laet ees H ak eek e e O thman E fend i T ek k ieh

’
.
”
see , n ear Egr ee Kapoo .
The K k a /vez eer Kh alvet ee T ekk ieh s ee,

‘
near .
Arpa C h es h m a s ee , Eyub .
The N a k rk z aea a eer

’
Alta E fendi Khale efeh s ee Tek
'
k ieh s ee, i n A n a d ole e H iss a r .
The R uf a eer — “
R u fa ee T ek k ieh s ee , at th e E s k ee
’
.
’
Menzil Khaneh , at Scu t ary .
The N a ks k z ben a ees Mehmed Al t a Allah E fendi

’
’
.
”
T ek k ieh s e e, a t Ka n lij ik .
'
The N aks k z berz a ees

’
Saidee Bey T ekk iehs ee, n ear .
Yu k se k Kald e rim .
C H A PT E R XV .
ON E the mos t in t eres t ing and correc t wri t ers on t he

of
E ast Mr M A U bicin i devote s a chapter in h i s
,
. . .
,
“
b ook entitled Letters on Turkey to the subj ect of the
, ,
D ervishes I should c ommit an ac t of inj ustice d i d I

.
n ot m ention the val u able sta t e men t s i t contains This .
author says
“
I f the [ f la nk ( of Turk ey) in i t s actual condition
represent on the on e side the secular c lergy th e Orders ,
of the D ervishe s may al so be ass i milated on the other , ,
t o the regular clergy of ou r ow n e cc lesiast i cal so c iety .
Spread from the Atlanti c to the Ganges over a vas t

, ,
space under th e n am e of D ervishes Santons Sofi es and

, , , ,
F akirs they are the religious members of I slamism in

, ,
the s a me manner as the U lem as are its theologian s and

form with these latter—although t hey b e irrecon cilable
,
enemies to each other—the opposing force in T urkey

,
“
I t is n ecessary however n ot to carry this assimilat i on
, ,
too far The D ervishes are individuals who voluntar i ly

.
deprive themselves of their worldly good s for the p urpose

of devoting them to the benefit of the poor The word .
D em/ 55 k according t o the Persian etymology signifies a

, ,
b eggar (a er s i gnifies door and vie/z spread or extended

’
, , ,
m eaning in fact the p oor who having n o asylum

, , , , ,
stretch themselves at night upon the sill of d oors to

sleep ) th us denoting the po v erty of the profession an d
, ,
also on e who redu c es himself to m endicity for the p ur

p ose O f a i ding others .
“
The Khalife Alee was the first am ong Mussulman s
who gave the ex a mple of this vol u ntary renunciation of
worldly store not as m i ght b e supposed as an act O f
, , ,
p enitence but to accomplish literally th e m ax i m of the

,
Koran which says The bes t of m en is h e who is useful

, ,
33 r
to mankind H is example led a large nu m b er of Mus

.
’
s u lm an s in th e same path who formed an asso c iation of , ,
which he became the chie f These were called the .
from t he Ar abic adj ective s afi pure t o ,

‘
,
’
express the poverty of t heir lives and conformity to the

moral law of the Koran Little by little however th e .
, ,
D ervishes departed fr om their original design attracted

by t he charms of contemplative life and t he example of
t h e solitary individuals of I ndia an d Greece t o the p ra c
t ice of acts of b enevol ence they substituted the ravings ,
of ecs t a cis m an d began t o withdraw from the rest of

,
s ociety Soon after w ards t hey forme d communities

.
,
which adop t ed practices some of an austere and som e , ,
of a fantastical character ; and i t was then that under ,
the double influence of rules and mys t i c ism there was ,
developed amongst the D ervishes the character which

assim i lates them to ou r relig ious Orders .
“
Two things must b e d i stinguished amo n g t he D er
v is h e s — doctri n e a n d institut ion The first i s nothing .
else than the Sofeis m which ex i sted in the E ast long pre
v iou s t o t he co m ing of M ohammed Perh aps if we wish .
,
to tra c e it t o i ts origin we must go back even t o the ,
most remote theocracies of E gyp t and I ndia through the ,
secret schools of the Pyt h agorian s and the N e o Platonism ,

-
of Alexandria I t is easy to convin c e ones elf if atten

.
,
tion b e paid tha t under the confusion of fantastical

,
n am es t i m es an d often of doctrines the G reek trace

, , ,
does n ot cease t o be vis ibl e in the Arabian philosophy

alongside of an I ndian i mpressio n I t is thus that we .
s ee more than a c entury before M ohammed the t en

, ,
great sec t s which div i de i t — the M erek a z oz ms ( th e

' ’
walkers ) an d th e [rek r a ek a z oz m r ( contempla t ors) r e

' ‘
, ,
min ding u s by the s i milari t y of the nam es of a certa i n

, ,
p oint and by t h e con form it y of doc t rines of the t w o

, ,
great philosophical schools of Gree c e represented by ,
t heir illustrious chiefs (M et a l/em ey e! the ‘
grand master Aristotl e and Afl a z k az m ela /z z ( the divi n e

’ '
‘ ‘
,
n or is it less t rue n otw i ths t anding th i s title ,
of D ivine wh i ch has been relig i ously preserved in the

,
’
6 6 6 20 ; HAa r wv of t he Gr eeks t hat Plato seated amidst , ,
his disciples and rising t o the highes t prac t ical t ru t hs of

,
morality an d religion was but a Plato doubled up by ,
D iogenes bent up in a tub and causing virtue to consist

, ,
in absolu t e ina c tion and the annihilation of all the fa ca l

,
ties The almos t s i multan eous apparition of the Koran

.
,
and t h e writ i ngs of the an c ient p h i losophers which as ,
yet were only k n own through tradi t ion marks a n ew era ,
i n t he history of Arabian philosophy The rel i gious .
elemen t j oined the rational element which had until ,
then reigned without partition 3 and under the com

, ,
b in e d influence of these c auses th e t w o pri mit i ve se c ts , ,
b ecoming ea c h transform ed in the sense of its doctrin e

the M es cfi a z ow z s cont i nued in the M u fekelz m or meta
' ' '
physi c ians an d the [scfi m cfi a z ow z s i n th e S ofi a What

' ’
is the correct or i gin of the name of S q/is on which s o

‘
,
m any d i ssertations have been writ t en ? D oes it com e ,
as well as the word given to t he associat i on of which

Alee de c lared himself to be the hea d from the A rabi c ,
adj ecti v e s a/z or from s éf ci on e of the stations around

‘
’
, ,
the K eab eh or from s of (wool or t hat wh ic h i s m a d e

, ,
from wool ) in allusion to the woollen garment adopted

,
by this n ew se c t either th rough hum i l i ty or so as to

, ,
distinguish it from the other rival sects 2 Or rather must

i t be attr i buted m ore naturally to a corrupt i on of the
, ,
Greek word 0 0 7 ml ? This question of etymolo gy mer i ts

”
less ou r attention than the examination of Sofeis m itself .
Th e beg i nning of Soofe eis m is nothing else than

p antheism as shown in the exclamation of M evlan a
,
“
Z elale d d een addressed to his spiritual mas t er
,
0 my ,
master you have completed my do c trine by teaching m e

,
”
th a t y ou are God an d that all things are God ,
W h ilst .
the ph i losophers of I ndia and Gree c e l i mited themselves

t o tea c h i ng under a diversity of myths and systems th e
, ,
immortal i ty of the soul t h e emancipation of Divine in ,
t ellige n c e its fa ll its terrestrial condit i on and reunion to

, , ,
its source the Soofees had reached only to th e sight in

, ,
m aterial forms of the emanation s of the Di v ine essen c e

, ,
resembling they say the rays of the sun w hi c h are con

, , ,
t in u ou s ly darted forth and r e absorbe d 3 applying thus to -
the entire crea t ion t ha t which Seneca had said in magni

pretend t o the consecration of this dogma ? On the con

t rary the do gma had perished l n their hands
, They d id .
n ot deny the divin e miss i on of the Prophet but they

,
reduced his precepts to an allegori c al sense the key of ,
Wt h alo n e c ould give the interpretation I n ou r times .
even the Wahabites whom Sultan Mahm ood could not ,
wholly destroy and who are still spread over th e Persian

,
Gulf adm i t n o other authority than that of th e Koran

,
as interpreted by human individual reason and without ,
any subm i ssion to the prophe t s or the I m ams .
M oreover the Soofe es regained in the b eginning all that

,
such a doctr i n e could p ossess of the da n gerous by teach

ing the strictest m orality Th ey incessantly prea c hed .
union sobriety universal benevolen c e and offered in

, , ,
themselves an example T h ey said tha t evil only c ame .
in t o the wo rld through i gnoran ce and is the cause of ,
error and d i sunion among m en Some of them c ited on

Four travellers —a
.
th is subj e ct the follow i ng t ale

Turk an Arab a Persian and a Gre ek having m et t o
, , , ,
gether decided to t ake their meal in common and as

, ,
each on e had bu t ten paras they consulted together as ,
t o what should b e purc hased with th e money The first .
said U z u m the second 1 m the third de c ided in favour

, ,
of [fi g/aw an d the fourth insisted upon S i afi lz orz On

’
.
,
this a dispute arose between them and they were abou t ,
to come to blows when a p easant passing by happened

,
to know all four of their to n gues a n d brought them a

.
baske t of grapes They now found ou t greatly to their

.
,
aston i shment that each on e had what h e desired

,
.
”
I d o n ot know add s M U bicin i for my part any
,
.
,
more abominable do c tr i ne than this decept iv e idealism

whi c h tends to subst i tute the creat io n for the Creator ,
a n d arrives by an irresistible slop e at the destruction of
all faith and all moral i ty all th e more dan gerou s as i t

veils its c orruption under the most amiable exterior and ,
s o it misleads unknown to themselves the best minds

, ,
m i
'
’
q u oa a bw z a a d u lcz bu s
’
as Q u ntilian
sa i d of the di c tion of Seneca The mater i al i sm i n which .
it finally t erminates w i th the unh eard of niceties of ,

-
sensuality is a hundred time s less t o b e feared , b e

,
335
cause it a t once revolts th e secre t i nstin c t s of th e human

conscience whilst mysti c al reveries so full of seduction s
,
are a snare laid for the inclina t ions of the m ost u n s u s

e ct in g and t he mos t n oble of ou r nature I t is t his
p .
point which gives so much au t hority t o the wor d s of

Bossuet combating in the name of the imm utability of
, ,
dogma and the i ntegrity of m orality the quietism of

, ,
Fe nelon
’
These fermen t a t ions of dissolution which
.
,
S ofeis m had throw n into t he bosom of Mussulman

s ociety did n ot at once manifes t t hemselves temp ere d
, ,
m oreover as I have j ust sa i d by the ardent though sin

, , ,
cere e n thusiasm and th e austerity of morals of its firs t

,
adepts But they gradually gained ground an d little by

.
,
little entered the veins of the social body I n fac t thi s .
spirit of holy ab strac t ion u p on which Sofeis m is based

this arden t mysticism s o marve llously adapted t o the
imaginations at the same t ime wildly unstea d y and sen
,
sual of Orientals an d of which t he Bible offers mor e

, ,
than on e trace could n ot fail t o gain for him many ,
proselytes E gypt once the cradle of monast ic life

.
, ,
after the folly of the deser t had s ucceeded am ong the

first C h ristian s t o the folly of t he c ross was again filled
, ,
.
with Th ebaid es With the only substitution of the n am e

.
of Allah for that of Jes us it was th e sam e l i fe o r rather , ,
the sam e absen ce of l i fe Vz z ce m or z a c w h er e

’ ’
‘ ‘
th e sam e austerities the sam e e xaggeratio n s M oun t , .
Ol ympus on the Asiatic coast n e arly oppos i te M oun t

, ,
Athos where there were erec t ed innum erable Gree k

,
monas t eries held thousands of these sol i tarian s lost in

, ,
the contemplation of t hemselves and of nature and ,
whose memory is s t ill ve n erat ed as that of holy persons .
From then c e they passed over in t o A rab ia t o Persia as ,

~
far a s the extremity of I n d i a wherever there was M oham ,
medan power Always this enthusiasm li k e that of the

.
,
earlier t i mes of Christianity spread towards the desert , ,
flee i ng from the world in contempt of temp oral things ;

it neither strove t o reverse author i ty n or t o invade est a b
lis h e d powers Sofe is m did n ot t ake th i s chara c ter
.
unt i l when from b eing a doc t ri n e i t became an in s t it u

, ,
”
tion .
3 3 6 T HE D ERVI S HE S .
I t was in th e second cen t ury of the H ej ra n ear 1 2 9 , ,
t hat a Soofee reputed for his virtue an d knowledge Sheikh ,
Q lw an founde d the first religious Order to which h e

, ,
gave h i s name This i nnovat i on met with great o pposi

.
t ion on the p art of the leg i slators and the truly orthodox
o f I sl amism w h o reca lled th e form a l d eclaration of
,
M ohamme d N o M onkery in I s l am i sm
,
Though th i s .
s entence be c aus e in some sort pro v erbial was recei v ed

, ,
at the same time a s an arti c le of fa ith by all Mussul m an s ,
t he inclination of the Arabs for a solitary and contem ~
p la t iv e life carried it against orthodoxy O t her Orders .
were soon founded in imitation of th e first The number .
grew rap i d ly from the second to the seventh century an d ,
also i n subsequen t ep ochs H ammer c ounts up thirty

.
:
s i x whi c h h e enum erates ac c ordi n g to D Oh s s on Of

,
’
.
th i s number twelve are subsequ en t to the Ottoman mon

ar c hy the eighteen others arose from th e c ommencement
,
of the fourteenth to the middle of the eighteenth century .
S oofe eis m modifies itself like all system s by pass i ng

, ,
from theory to action There were as has b een always

.
,
practised in th e divers s c hools of T h e os op h is t s and Thau

m at u rgis t s two do c t rines— the on e publi c wh i ch precede s
, ,
the initiation an d the other secret for the adepts o n ly , .
A strict observan c e of rel i gion and of all the soc i al

virtues was req uired of the candidate for his i n i t i ation .
Later when by a long suite of proofs an d m ort ifi cat ion s

, ,
above all by th e absolute annih i lation of his individuality ,
he was supp osed to have arrived at the desired degree i n

wh i ch to contemplate the tru t h face t o face and the veil , ,
until th en spre a d over his vision suddenly fell they , ,
taught him that the Prophet in h i s book had only pre

s ented un der the veil of alleg ory maxims and p ol i ti c al
, ,
pre c epts that the Koran wi th out the interpretat i on was

only an assembly of words vo i d of sense that once the
habit of ment a l d evotion c ontracted he could reduce ,
h i s worship to a p urely s piritual on e and abandon all ,
f orm s and external ceremon i es .
“
When on e is ou t of the Ke beh ( the K e b eh in the
’ ’
allegori c al language of the D ervishes is D ivine

it is good t o direc t ou r regards t owards i t 3 but for him
3 3 8 T H E D ERVI S HE S .
to d irec t the praye r s of those w h o are outside of th e

K e beh wh i lst wit h in i t n o on e k n o w s the use o f i t
’
, .
M U bicin i in giving this beaut i ful extract of the

.
,
M et h n evi Shereef of t h e founder o f the M e vlev e e Order

of D ervishes wh ic h shows i n a very clear mann er the
,
purity of its Sp i ritualism a d d s t h e following n ote ,

“
‘
Saint Theres a in her ecstati c rapture c ries ou t in

, ,
the same m a nner ; O my Fr i end ! m y Lord ! my well ‘
beloved ! O life of my life ! W h en she beholds J esu s ’
C hrist during her devotion al exer c ises that which strikes ,
her above all others is the in c omparable beauty of Hi s,
hand the wh i tenes s of H is feet th e penetrating softness

, ,
of H is voice o f H i s look, &c The language of the ,

.
”
m ysti c al of all religio n s is the same .
I may here add another somewhat s i milar qu otation

fro m the writi n gs of J el al ed D een er R o om ee .
“
D uring the re i gn of an E astern sovereign h e r e ,
m arked tha t the learned and pious m en of his t i me s

d i ffered widely i n their estimate and comprehension o f
the D e i ty each ascribing to H im chara c teri sti c s di ff eri n g
,
the on e from the other So that t h is prin c e had an .
elephant brought in se c ret to his capital and en c i rcled ,
in a d ark chamber then inviting these learned men h e , ,
told them that he was i n possession of an a n imal wh i ch

n on e of t hem had ever seen D escending w i th them t o .
t he d ark abode of the elephant he requested them t o ,
ac c ompany him On entering it he sai d the an i mal was

.
,
b efore them a n d asked them i f they could se e i t Being

,
.
answered in the negative h e b egged them to approach ,
an d feel it whi c h they did ea c h tou ch i n g it in a

, ,
d i fferent part After returning to t h e light he aske d

.
,
them if t h ey b elieve d the anim a l really existed and ,
what it was l i ke One de c lared it was a huge column ;

.
a nother that i t was a rough hide ; a th i rd t h at it was

, ,
o f ivory ; a fourth that it was huge flap s of some ,
coarse substance & c but n o t on e could c orre c tly state

,
.
,
what th e a nimal was Now return i ng to the same .

,
chamber to wh i ch t h e light of heaven fully p enetrated

, ,
these learned m en beheld for the first time the obj ect , ,
of their curiosity and learned t ha t whils t each on e was

, ,
T HE D E R VI S HE S .
339
corre c t in what h e had said all differed widely from ,
th e truth .
“
Su c h now said the prin ce is God ; m en j udge of
, , ,
H im ac c ording to their sensu al capacities differ i ng fro m ,
each other but all equ ally true when they feel an d search
, ,
”
for th e truth without doubti n g of H is existen c e
,
.
Similar d octrin es cam e to light in the fourteenth

ce n tury in Christendom amo n g th e Beguins condemn ed
, , ,
by t h e C oun c il of V i enna i n D au p h in y and which , ,
taught among other anti social principles that the

,
-
pract i ce and the observa n ce of the law i s only for the

imp erfe ct and that the p erfec t are exempt from it
,
Lilz e .
these latter the D ervishe s t en d t o the overthrow of a ll

,
“
authority political or religiou s
,
M en who conduct .
themselves a c cording to the laws of society form on e

class —those wh o consum e the love of God form another
,
.
”
Th e lovers of God are the p eople of no other t han God .
The last fragment of the dogma had thus d eparted ,
at t h e same tim e that the foundation of all moral i ty was

d es t royed On e only pr i n ci pl e rema i ned and m arked
.
,
the ruin of religious enthu siasm and s a c erd otal im p os

ture This was submiss i on to their inspired institutor
.
( the F i r
) which took
,
th e place amo n gst the D ervishes of
t he i n div i dual interpre t ation which i s the basis of Sofe ,
ism I have already cited the narration of the Founder

.
o f the M e v lev ee s regarded by all the D ervishes

,
indis ,
t in ct iv ely as on e of the greatest masters of the spiritual

,
life
. O my m as t er y ou have completed my do c trin e
,
by t ea c hing me that y ou are God and that all is God , .

’
Already n e a rly four centuries prev i ous Bayazid of Besta ,
mee the found er of th e B es t am e e s had identified him

, ,
self with th e Divinity when h e cried ou t in the presen ce

, ,
of hi s d i s c iples alludi n g t o his ow n p erson Glory to ‘

, ,
me I I am a bove all things — a formula whi c h in th e ,
language of Orientals i s applied exclusively to God ,

.
The adoration of the Master repla c es also for the D er

v is h e s the worship of the D i vinity the end of the bei n g
n o l onger dwelt i n the i ntimate un i on of the soul w i t h
the Creator but in an absolute conformity to the t h oughts
,
of t h e She i kh Whatever you may do whatever y ou

.
‘
,
2 2
3 4 9 T H E D E R VI S HE S .
may t h i nk have alwa ys your She i kh present i n your

,
mind .
’
Su c h i s the first obligation the only on e so to , ,
speak imposed on the D er v is h and expressed by this

, ,
species of m ental prayer c alled R a bou m to w hi c h he is , ,
not less exa c t in the p erform a nce t h an t h e ordinary Mus

s u lm an is to h is Nam az
“
The consequen c es of su c h a do c trin e did not fa il
to b e soon felt and produ c ed these se c tarians half reli
, ,
io s h a lf pol i ti c a l who c a ll t h emsel v es a cc ording to

g u , , ,
t h e pla c es the r ed s t h e t e /re

,
f er the m a s k ed ( borkay ) th e
,
l
, ,
b i ) the mute
'
a (
’
a llege r z s t s or z fl z ef p r efer s
(
‘
t n ee , ,
e w w il) K a r m a z fi z i es [s m a z lz l es & c an d o f wh i ch tra c es

’ ’
‘
.
, , , ,
in history from the se c ond to the s ev e n t h c entury of the

,
H ej ra are marked with blood an d ru i n s The ortho

, .
d ox de sig n ate them by the generic name o f M au l/25241

( ras c als ) r of S z f z a eeé
( strong minds ) The most c ele
’
'
o , .
b r at e d were the I sma i lites or assassins ( derived from ,
H a s /z d s /z eerz s ( eaters of the H asheesh ) who orig i nated as , ,
is well known in Persia the rem a i n s of whom are still to

,
b e seen in the mountains a bo v e Tripol i ( of Syr i a ) a n d of

T or t os ia I n fa c t Pers i a was the c l a ss i c l a nd of D er
.
,
v is h is m both from th e decided i nclination to mysti c ism

, ,
whi c h always dist i nguished its i nhabit a nts and from the ,
’
effe c t of the Sh ee it e dogma where the belief in the hidden ,
I mam ( the M eh d ee) and who i s st i ll exp e c ted like the , ,
M essia h among th e J ews favours the amb i tion of th e ,
impostures of the se c tar i ans A dd to this the eeZez t of

’
’
the names of Sa d i and H afi z and the great number of ,
the c eleb rated poets of Pers i a who were all e i ther D er ,
v is h e s or a ffiliated to their Orders and whose works are ,
p l a c ed in t h e highest rank of th e bo oks on Spir i tuality .
They represented moreover in their writings rather the , , ,
ph i losop h i c a l th an the pol i tic a l side of t h e do c trine .
These are dreamers i n spired songsters moral i sts some , ,
times of a singul a r c h ara c ter t h ey are ne i ther amb i t i ous

sect arians nor repining h y po c rites B u t on e must read .
th e i r g a z els ( odes) ea c h l i n e of whi c h is filled with ecstati c

,
ravings to comprehe n d how far mysticism may be carr i ed

,
in p oetry to surpass by the sensuality of e xpression a n d

,
the crudity of images the material paintings of a most ,

I intende d on arrivi n g at this rose — ,

bush ( the sigh t of
God ) to fill th e skirt of my robe with roses s o as to
, ,
o ffer them as a presen t to my brethren but when I was

ther e the odour of t h e rose bush so i ntoxi c a ted my
,
-
senses that the border of my robe es c aped from my

hands The tongu e of that man i s dulled who has
.
kno w n God .
’
Su c h was the favour wh i ch the D ervishe s enj oyed i n

Persia that on e of them Sh ah I smail Sefev e e who pre
, , ,
tended to be des c ended from M oos a the se v enth r e ,
vealed I m am rea c hed the t h rone in the tenth century

,
of the H ej ra (A D and found ed the dynasty of. .
prin c es kn own in E urop e under the n a me of the

,
S op / wee The Ottoman Sultan s and the Khalifs t heir

“
.
,
p red e c essors had only waited unt i l then to a c t again st

,
the D ervish sy stem ; and j ustly alarmed at its pro ,
gress took it upon themselves to do all in the i r p ower

,
to suppre ss it The U lem as in turn also exc i ted under

.
’
, , ,
the plea of defending Mussulm a n orthodoxy but in ,
reality to maintai n its spir i tual suprema c y be c ame their ,
auxiliaries in a struggle wherein th e al t a r an d the thron e ,
the p o w er of the so v ere i g n a n d th a t of the mosque were ,
equally in d an ger I t even happened th at the people at .

,
certain m oments adopted the s ame a s the res u lt of the , ,
deep antipathy wh i ch t h e S u n n ees entert ained aga i n st

th e S /z ee ees This triple intervention of p oliti c al p ower
’
.
,
of the U lem as and of p opul a r instin c t presents the

’
, ,
matter under three different a sp e c t s .
Political p ower a c ted dire c tly by brute for c e a s for , ,

-
example on the o cc asion of the attempt made in 1 6 5 6

, , ,
under the Grand V izirat of M oh a mmed K u p r u le e to ,
d estroy entirely the M ev lev e e D e rvishes t h e K h a lv e ,
tees Jelv et e es and the Sh em is ees

,
But in general
,
.
these atte m p ts proved unsu cc essfu l and only serve d to ,
show m ore and more the impoten c y of the Governmen t

and the growing credit of the rel i gio u s Orders On e .
remarks that the firs t is afraid ; its a cts of viol en c e ,
e v en accuse its pusillan i m i ty or at least embarrass i ts

, ,
situation ; it fears revolts defe c tions ; it fears a bove , ,
all the J anissaries who were un i ted by a k i nd of fra

, ,
3 43
t em it y , t o the D ervishe s B ek t as h e es
,
—esp e c ially t o the .
Th is fraternity dated ba c k even to the or i gi n of thi s

mil i t i a When the second Sultan of the Ottoman s
.
,
Orkh an c reated in 1 3 2 8 the Yem efi er ees ( new troop s )

'
—
, , , ,
the name wh i ch E urop eans have c hanged into J an i s ‘
s arie s — h e wished conformably wi t h the same political

’
, ,
principles wh i ch led the Khalifs to have their ordi

nances san c tioned by the F en Zr of th e M uf t ee to impress /
,
a rel i giou s seal up on th i s m i litary institution H aj ee .
Bekt ash a venerable She i kh and founder of the Bek

, ,
t ash D ervishes bles sed th e troop s by puttin g on the

,
heads of the princ i pal o fficers the sleeve of his robe ,
w hich has since then figured in the head dress o f th e -
Janissaries as a piece of felt whi c h hung down behin d

,
their cap ; and since t h en also an i n destru ctible soli d , ,
feeling was established bet w een the D erv i shes an d the

Janissaries who cons i dered thems elves as p ossessing a
,
common origin and that as a do u ble expression of the ,
same idea they were at the same time both a religiou s

, , ,
and a milita ry body .
The intervention of the U lem as was m ore pacifi c in ’
its form yet more ho stil e more con stant and more syste
, , ,
mat i c There exis t ed in point of fa c t not only a rivalry

.
, ,
of interests but also on e o f d o c trines

,
Ambitio n pride .
, ,
fanaticis m a m ou r p mp r e —all the human pass i ons were

, ,
brough t i nto play I t was both a battle an d a dispute

. .
The U lem as being u n able t o atta c k the basis of th e

’
D ervishes s o long as i t continued t o remain secret

, ,
f ought in the n ame of the Koran and the Sunna the

, ,
principles which served as a basis to the I nst i tution ,
s u c h as abstinen c e vows m u sic and dan ces used i n the

, , ,
T ek k ieh s the gift of miracles and c ommuni c a ti on directly

,
with God claimed by the She i khs as c ontrary to the

, ,
letter and sp irit of I sl amism They rec a lled th e ex .
ample of the first disciples of t h e Prophet of Osman , ,

’ ’
A lee and Ab d er R ahman w h o was the first to v ow
, ,
n ot t o approach his wife E s m eh from on e sunr i se t o ,
anothe r ; t h e second not to sl e ep until m orn i n g ; the,
third not to take any food for twenty four h ours ; and
,
-
the Prophet repr i manded them for it w ith a H em ees si n ce ’
,
become celebra t ed Soon after this as it happ en s th e

.
, ,
D ervishes abating in the prudence and severity whi c h

form a rule of their Orders as their influence in c reased , ,
let ou t the last word of their do c trin e Th i s last .
word th e dom i nant i dea of the I nstitution was nothing

, ,
less on e may say th an an a ttempt at a Christ i an priest

, ,
hood an d a divine churc h c learly design a te d by the

, ,
Living God wh o figures among the seven attributes of

,
the D ervish symbol viz , .
1 Th ere i s no God except G od

.
, .
2 The Omnipotent God

. .
3 The E ternal God

. .
4 The J udgi n g God

. .
5 The Liv
. i ng God ( upon E arth ) .
6 The E xisting G od ( in H eaven )

. .
7 The All
. Omnipote n t God
attributes fi gured in the seven fi r m am en t s and th e seve n ,
princ i pal colours i e white bla ck red yellow blue d ee p

,
. .
, , , , , ,
”
g reen and
,
light green At the sam e time it.be c ame ,
known that it termin a ted with c ertain prayers anathema

t iz in g the O m m aid e Khalifs and glor i fyi n g Alee The n ’
,
, .
their adversaries could knowingly a cc u se them n ot only ,
o f wish i ng to i n trodu c e a n ew dogma but also of mixi n g ,
up impious dogmas and abominable pra c ti c es ; to give

themselves up to orgies of eve ry k i nd in the T ek k ieh s to ,
blasphem e t h e Koran ; to deny even the ex i sten ce of

God to prea c h disobedien c e to all established temp oral
po w ers an d to tr ample up on all divine and human laws
,
.
The M iddle Age has put up on record similar a cc usation s ,
which public opin i on proclaimed a gainst the Templars

before their c ondemnat i on .
Popul a r oppo sition held as I have s a id to the puri , ,
t an is m o f Sunn i te orthodoxy and to th e horror whi c h ,
zealous Mussulm a n s have professed at a ll t i mes against

t h e Sh e e it e s whose do c trines they w i llingly confound ed
’
,
with those of the D ervishes but this was n e i ther gen eral
nor regular ; its habitual mode of expressing it was by
moc k ery Turkish literature i s full of t a les an d s a tire s
.
up o n the D ervishes in wh i ch they are little b etter treated

,
th an ou r m onks were in t he fables of the ten t h an d

would be imm ediately disp ersed and they remained ,
no i seless wa i ting the advent of their last day devoured

, ,
with anguish and their ba c ks leaning against the wall of

,
s t u p e fi cat ion
’
.
U nfortunately Sultan Mah mood hesitated H e w ho .
had not feared s o says the historia n of the massa c re of
the J anissaries to open w i th the s word a road to public

,
happiness c u tting away the thorny bushes which ob

,
structed his way and tore his I mperial mantle stopped ,

’
before the sole measure whi c h could insure su c cess to the

completion of his work The opportun i ty on c e passed .
,
could n ot be regain ed The D ervishes ren ewed t h eir .
audac i ty with their hop es and s i lently re c ommen c ed t o ,
agitate the public E ven the Sultan came n ear falling a

.
vi ct i m of the fan atic zeal of on e of them One day m .

,
18 3 7 whilst he was c rossing surroun ded by his guards

, , ,
th e bridge of Galata a D erv ish k n own by the name of , ,
Sheikh S achlu ( the H airy Sheikh ) and whom the people ,
venerated as a saint sprang forward in front of his ,
horse an d c ried ou t i n a fury Ghiour P adishah ( infidel

, ,
‘ ’
sovereign ) ar t thou not yet satisfi ed with abominat i ons ?

,
Thou wilt an swer t o A llah for all your imp i et i es thou

destroyest the inst i tutions of thy brethren ; thou revilest
I slamism and d raw es t th e v engean c e of the Prophet
,
’
upon thyself and upon us The Sultan who feared the
,
.
,
effect of such a scen e upon the publi c commanded on e ,
o f h i s o fficers to rid the way of such a man who m h e ,
declared was a fool F OO1 1 screamed ou t t h e D ervish

.
’
with indignatio n m e a fool ? it is yourself an d your

,
‘
un w orthy c ouncillors who have lost your senses To the .
res c ue Mussulman s ! The sp i r i t of God w hich anoints

,
m e and wh ic h I obey co m pels me to de c l a re the truth

, , ,
’
a n d prom i ses m e a re c ompen se given to the saints He .
was arrested a n d put to d eath a n d the next day n ews ,
spread over the whole c ity th a t a br i lliant l i ght had been

v i s i ble during the wh ole night over the tomb of th e ,
martyr ! .
I t is h ow ev er
, ,
we ll k n ow n th a tS u l t a n M ah m oo d w a s an
a ffi l i a t e d m e mb e r o f t h e M e vl ev ee T ek k ie h o f P e ra , a n d f re q u en t l y
v i s i t ed it . H e al s o fr eq u en t l y vi s i t ed a N ak s h iben d ee Tek k i e h a t
3 47
I t is by t he pretended m iracles whi c h are daily re

ne w ed under the eyes of the authority that the D erv i she s
kee p al i ve in the public mind their ancient sup erstitions
an d the idea of their supern atural powers An O ttoma n .
filling an em i nen t position in th e state on c e remarked to

m e Our ministers labour in vain for tha t c ivil i zation
,
wh ic h will never enter Tur k ey so long as the turbeh s

( holy tombs are in existence ’
) We w ere at the time at .
Scu t ary where we h a d as sis t ed a t a re presentat i on o f

,
the H owl i ng D erv i shes

‘
We had observed variou s .
’
indi v iduals brought i nto the Tek k ieh from without ,
si c k an d infirm women aged p ersons and even c h i ldre n

, , ,
as young as two or thre e d ays who were laid on their ,
b acks before th e She i kh for him to cure them not ,
by the imp os i tion of h is hands but of his fe e t When ,

.
h e h a d finished and left the ins i de of the T ek k ieh n ot ,
only d i d the crowd prostrate them selves before him an d

k i ss his robes as they would have d on e to a saint bu t
, ,
the guards actu a lly presen t ed arms and beat their drums
’
i n honour of him See said my companion
.
‘
the , ,
‘
Government which hate s the D ervishes and only d esires ,
to get r i d of them not only tolerates the m and keep s well

,
with them but even aids them to be powerful by c ausi n g

,
military honours to b e shown the m You can scarcely .
imagine after what y ou h a ve seen the impuden c e of

, ,
these ras c als Lately a D erv i sh of Bokhara ( you must

.
,
k n ow that these surpass all others in fanati c is m ) pre

sented h i mself before R eshid Pasha an d there pu bl i cly , ,
in the path itself heap ed up on h im abuse and threats

, ,
calling him a dog an infidel an d d i sbeliever and i nvoking

, ,
upon his head the lightning of heaven and the dagger of

every true Mussulman The V ezir so as to remove all .
,
pretext for a c ommot i on wh i ch b egan to show itself had , ,
to con t ent himself with putting h i m out of h i s room by a

Kavas an d that t oo politely as he would have don e
, , ,
it
F on d u k li, w h ere h e w n es s e d t h e e cs t a c s w o on of t h e S h e k h ti i .
l t
Th e a t e r on on e o cca s on r e v e , i u ch iv d m
t o h is a u s e en t , on m m
l
e arn n i g t lt b t l
t h a t h e S u an w a s a ou t o eav e, s o as t o s ecu r e a r oy a l
p r es en t
.
3 4 8 T H E D ERVI S HE S .
to any p oor fello w who had los t his sen ses You are .
astonished ? There is s c arcely a month or a week that

some of the m i nisters have to submit to the remon
s t ra n c e s o f any D ervish who i s ple a sed to push h i m self
forwa rd at h i s audien c es for t h e purpose of abusing and

thre a ten i ng him I t is the eff ect of this fanati ci sm
.
,
n o u rishe d by the D erv i shes a n d this freedom of lan ,
guage which the people u se in the presen c e of public

,
a ut h or i ty th at c reates the explosions during the m on th

,
o f R amazan H ere this i s n othing where the Govern

.
,
m ent has i ts eyes upon them ; but in c erta i n pro v in c es ,
at Bagdad in Arabia in Egypt their daring an d cyni c ism

, , ,
i s c a rr i ed beyond all limits W i ll you believe that I s aw .
at Cairo in full dayl i ght on e of these m i serable creatures

, ,
who run about t he streets half n aked stop a woman in -
the street and glut his brutality up on her i n the prese n ce ,
e ven of passers b y w h o turned their faces away som e

-
, ,
o u t of respe c t others from disgust w i th out one call i n g

, ,
upon th e aid of the poli c e I do n ot know which c a rrie s .
th e palm among thes e bandits hypo c risy or fanat ic ism , ,
t w o things w hi c h seem however to ex c lude ea c h other , ,

.
May God preserve y o u from ever meeting one of them in

the publi c roa d for these vagabon d D ervishes who
, ,
und er the n ame of Seyy ah s ( travellers ) infest most o f

the route s where they live by begg i ng and robbery
,
.
M a n y of the most da n gerou s of them are strangers ;

they travel by the order of their superiors to c ollect
money or have been d i sm i ssed from their conven t s
,
for grave causes : these are Kalen ders whos e statutes

do no t allow them to ha v e an y fixed abo d es in fact — ,
they are n o better than unknown in d i v iduals or c riminals ,
wh o und er the c over of a D ervish c loak escape punish

, ,
’
m ents rich ly m er i ted by the i r act i on s .
My interlo c utor a d d ed m a ny thi n gs on the di fficulties

o f the posit i on of the c ase in general I was stru c k with .
the c onsid eration wh i c h h e fin a lly expressed Wh a t we

lose i s the want of faith i n our work ; some are dis
c ou r age d into in erti a others h a sten to arrive at a goal
,
whi c h h a s n o stability Y ou say that God is pat i ent .

of the D ervishes b etween them and it t here is a mor t al

”
conflict .
As i t has been my obj e c t through out the present little

work to enable the cur i ous and patient reader to j udge
o f the D ervishes both by what they say of themselves
and by what others say regar d ing them I would n ot ,
t ermin a te my extra c ts without placing before t heir eyes

the words o f that eminent Orien t alist Sir William J ones
—t han whom p erhap s n o greater has ever lived — on the
,
, ,
subj e c t of the l eading pr i n c iples of the D ervishes a lias ,

“
S u fais m I n his l ecture
. On the Philosophy of t he
A s iat ick s this wonderful E as t ern linguist says
,
:
From al l the properties of man and of nature from ,
all the various bran c hes of sc i ence from all the d ed u c ,
tions of human reaso n th e gen eral corollary admitte d ,
by H indus Arabs and Tartars by Persian s and by

, , , ,
Chinese is the supremacy of an all c reat i ng and all pre

,
-
,
-
serving Spirit infinitely wise good and powerful but

, , , ,
infinitely removed from the comprehension of his most '
exalted creatures ; nor are there i n any lan guage ( the

ancient H ebrew always ex c epted ) m ore p i ous an d sub
l i me addresses to t h e Being of be i ngs more splendid ,
enumerations of H is attribu t es or more beautiful d e ,
s crip t ion s o f H is v isible work s than in Arabic Persian , ,
an d Sans c rit especi a lly in the Kor a n the introdu c tions

, ,
to the poems of Saadi , N iz am i and Firdaus i t h e four ,
V edas an d many parts of the numerous Puranas but

,
suppl i c a tion and pra i se w ou ld n ot s a tisfy the boundless

imagination of t h e V e d an t i and Sufi theologists who , ,
blending un c ertain m etaphysi c s with undoubted principles

of rel i gion h ave presumed to re a son confidently on the
,
very nature an d essen c e of the D i v in e Spirit and asserted ,
—
in a very remote age what mult i tudes of H indus and
M ussulman s assert at th i s hour— th a t all spir i t i s homo
genous that t h e Sp i rit of God is i n k in d the same w i th
,
tha t of man though differing from i t in fi n l t e ly in d eg r ee

, ,
and that as material substan c e i s mere illus i on there ,
exists in this u n iverse only on e gen eric spiritual substance

35 1
the sole primary c ause e ffi ci ent substant i a l and formal

, , ,
o f all secondary causes and of all app earan c es w h a tever ,
but endowed in its h i ghest d egree with a sublim e provi

d ential w i sdom and proceeding by ways in com p re h en
,
sible to the spirits whi c h emanate from it ; an O pinio n

which Gota m a never taught and wh i ch we have no ,
authority t o believe but which as it is grounde d on the

,
d octrine of an immater i al Creator supremely wi se and ,
a constant Preserver supremely benevolent differs as ,
w i dely from the p antheism of Spinoza and Toland as the

.
a ffi rmation o f a propos i t i on diff ers from t h e n egative
of it ; though the last named professor of that in s a ne

philosophy had the baseness to con c eal his meaning
un der the very words of St Paul which are cited for a
.
,
purpose t otally different by N ewton and has even used ,
a phrase which occurs in deed in the Vea a b u t in a

, ,
’
,
s en se d i ametri c ally opp osite to th at which he would have

given it The passage t o which I allude is in a sp eech
.
of V aruna to his son where he says

,
That Sp i rit from ,
‘
which these created bei n gs proce ed through which having ,
procee d e d from it they live ; towards whi c h they tend

and in which t hey are ultimately absorbed t /z a t Spirit °
s t udy to know z fi a z Spir i t i s the Great One

‘ ‘
.
”
I n th e Sixth Discourse on the Pers i ans he says ,
“
I will only detain you with a few remarks on that
me t aphysical theology whi c h has been professed i mme
m orially by a numerou s sect of Persians and H i ndus ,
was carried in part into Gree c e an d prevails even now

,
am ong the learned Mu ssulman s who somet i m es avo w it

,
without reserve The modern ph i losophers of this per

.
suasion are called S afi s either from the Greek word for

,
a s age or from the w oollen mantle which they used t o

,
wear in some prov i n c es of P ersia ; their fun damental

tenets are that nothing ex i sts absolutely but God that
,
the human soul is an emanation from H is essen c e and ,
though divided for a t ime fro m i ts heavenly sour c e will ,
b e finally reun i ted with it ; that t he highest poss i ble

happiness will ar i se from its reunion and that t h e c hief ,
good of m a nk i nd in t h is transitory world consists in a s

p erfect an a n ion with the E ternal Spirit as the in cu m
b ran ces of a mortal frame will allow ; that for t his ,
p urpose they should break all c onn exion ( or t a a lla k as

, ,
they c all it ) w i th e xt rin s ick obj e c ts and p ass through ,
l i fe without attachments as a swi mmer in th e ocean strikes

,
freely without the i mpedi m ent of c lothes ; that they

should be straight an d free as the cypress whose fruit is ,
hardly per c eptible and not sink under a load like fru i t
,
trees att a c hed to a trellis ; that i f mere earthly ch arms

,
have p ower to influen ce the soul the id ea of celestial ,
b e a uty must ove rwhelm i t in e cs t at ick del i ght that for ,
wan t of apt words to express the d i vine perfe c tions and

the ardour of devotion we must borrow such expressions
,
as approa c h th e neares t to ou r ideas and speak o f bea u ty ,
and love in a transcendant and myst i cal sense that lik e ,
a r eed torn from its native brook like w ax separated from

,
its delicious honey t h e soul of man bewails its disunion

,
w i th melancholy m u s ic/e and sheds burni n g tears like the

,
lighte d tap er waiting pass i onately for the m oment of its

,
extin c tion as a di sengagement from earthly tramm els

, ,
and the m ean s of return i ng to its only beloved Such in .
part ( for I omit the minuter and more subtil m et ap hy s ick s

o f th e Su fi s whi c h are ment i oned in the D a bz s z a fl
) i the
’
‘
s
wild and en t h u s ia s t ick religion of the moder n Pers i an

p oets esp ecially of the sweet H afiz and the g reat Mau
,
lavi ( M ev lev ee ) such i s the system of the V e d an t i philo

sophers an d b est ly r ick poets of I nd i a and as it was a ,
system of the highest antiqu i ty of both n ations it may ,
be added to th e many oth er pro ofs of an immemorial

”
affini t y between them .
“
On t h e Ph i losophy of the A s ia t ick s he says ,
I have already had o c c a sion to tou c h on the I ndian

m e t a p h y s ick s of n a tural bodies a c cording to the m ost
c elebrated of the Asiati c s c hools from wh ic h the P y t h a
,
or e a n s are supp osed to have borrowed many of the i r

g
op i nion s ; and as we learn from Ci c ero that the old
, ,
sages of E urope had an idea of c entr i p et a l force and a

pr i nc i ple of univers a l gravitation ( whi c h th ey n ever in
deed attempted to demonstra te ) so I can venture to ,
a ffirm without m eaning to pluck a l eaf from the never

,
fading laurels of ou r immortal N ewt on that the whole of ,

35 4 TH E D ERV I S H E S .
which exists b e t we en the principles of t h e V edas of

I nd i a an d the metaphysical an d p li ilOSOp hical wri t ings of
the Soofee s The religion of Brahma has been c arried
.
into P ers i a and even Arabia and b een engrafted upon ,
that of I sl amism by th e D ervishes I t would be interest .
in g to trace the connex i on w h ic h existed between the

ideas of the s ages of Gre e c e and those of I ndia Wh i lst .
w i th these t h e origin a l oneness of the D e i ty beca m e

extended into an infinity of secondary god s I sl am i sm ,
h a s retain ed the purity of t h e M osaic principl e of a On e

Supreme Omn i scient and Omnipotent Creator possess
, , ,
ing a great n umb er of a f f r z ba z es which are not p ersonified

'
‘
as with the H in d oos and the Greeks I n the religion of .
the former it is imp ossible not to p erceive tra c es of the

creat i on of the history of m an as revealed to Adam
, ,
handed down to his p osterity an d chronicled by the ,
earl i est historian of the human race — M oses .
I n supp ort of th i s assertion I would add the following

“
extra c t from Sir William J ones s lecture On the Gods of ’
Greece I taly and I ndia

, ,
.
That w a ter was th e primitive elem en t and first work

of the c reative p ower is the uniform opin i on of the I ndian
philosophers ; but as th ey give so part i cular an ac c ount
o f the general deluge an d of th e creation it can n ever ,
b e adm i tted that th e i r whol e system arose from trad i t i on s

c oncerning the flood only and must a ppear indubitable ,
th a t th is doctr i ne is in p art borrowed from the op ening of

or Genesis than w h i ch a su bl i mer passage from
,
the first word to the last n ever flo w ed or w i ll fl ow from , ,
an
y human p en .
I n the beginn i ng God created the heavens and the

earth And the eart h was void and w a ste an d darkness
.
,
was u pon the fa c e of the deep and the Spirit of God ,
m oved upon the fa c e of th e waters And God said .

,
Let light be and l i ght w a s ,

.
’
“
The sublimity of this passage is c on siderably d i mi
n is h e d by the I ndian paraphrase of i t with which M enu , ,
the son of Brahm a begins h i s address to the Sages who

, ,
consulte d h i m on the format i on of the un i verse .
’
‘
This world says he was all darkness undis
, ,
‘
,
355
cern ible, undistinguishabl e altogether as in a profound ,
sleep till the self ex i s t ent i n vi si ble G od mak i ng it

,
-
, ,
man i fest with five elem ents and other glo rious forms , ,
p erfe c tly d i spelled the gloom H e d esir i ng to raise up .

,
variou s c reation s by an emanation from H is ow n glory ,
first created the waters and impressed them w ith a ,

’
p ower of m otion .
To th i s c ur i ous description wi t h which the Manava ,
S astra beg i n s I cannot refrain from subj o i ning th e four

,
verses whi c h are the text of t h e Bh agavat and are b e ,
lieve d to have been pronoun c ed by the Supre me Being t o

Brahm a .
‘
E ve n I was even at first not any other thing ( existed )
, , ,
that wh ic h exists unperceived supreme ; afterwa rds I , ,
am that whi c h is an d H e who must remain am I , ,

.
‘
E x c ept the first cause whatever may app ear and , ,
may not app ear in the m ind k n o w that to be the m i nd s ,

’
M ay a ( or delusion ) as light and darkn ess .
As the first elements are in various beings enter i ng , ,
yet n ot enteri n g ( that is pervad ing not destroyi n g ) thus

, , ,
am I in them yet not i n them

,
.
“ ‘
E ven thus far may in q u i ry be made by him w h o
seeks to kno w the prin ciple of mind in union and sepa ,
’
rat i on whi c h must be everywhere always
,
.
“
The H ind oos believe that when a soul l eaves its
body i t imme d i ately repairs to Ya w ap u r or th e c ity of
, ,
when i t receives a j ust senten c e from h i m an d

'
a ma , ,
either as c ends to S w erg a or the first heaven or is , ,
driven down to N am e the region of serp ents or assume s

, ,
on earth the for m of some animal unless i ts offen c es had ,
been su c h that i t ought to be condemned to a vegetable ,

”
or even to a min eral poison .
TH E H I ND RE O R
,
TH E W A ND ERI N G D ERVI S H E S O F I ND I A .
I n the list of the various Tekkieh of C onstantinopl e

given previously mention i s m ade of that called the
,
H in d eeler T ek k ieh s ee This i s also a M esj id o r chapel

.
, ,
s i t ua t ed near t h e Mosqu e of Murad Pasha J iam as s e e It .
A A 2
i s the refuge of all those wanderi n g D ervish es who ,
from the d i stan t c lime of H ind ostan visit St am b ool ,

.
A D ervish fr i end informs m e th a t the greater part of

these belong to the Ord er of the N ak s h ib en d e es Kid a ,
rees C h es h t ees Ku b rav ee s N i m e t u llah ees and K a len

’
, , , ,
d ere es .
These nat i v e of I ndia after performing th e B e a i or

s
,
’
initiat i on requi r ed by the Ord er of the i r profession an d ,
recei v ing th e bless i ng of its Sheikh s et ou t on their ,
travels dependi n g upon the alms and c harities of the

,
publ ic for a subsisten c e But fe w make the j ourney by .
l a nd an d mostly take p assage from Bombay to J iddeh

, ,
in t h e R e d Sea 0 11 their way to the holy c ities of the

,
H ej as They there perfor m the usual H aj ] or pilgrim

.
,
age of all Mussulmans and next pro c eed across the ,
a r —
c ountry by l nd to B gdad Some e embark at Jiddeh
a .
for B a s s erah in the Persian Gul f The obj e c t of this

,
.
j ourney is to visit the holy graves of H a z re t i Alee H az ’

,
reti H usain I m am Abb as and the other sons of th e

,
’
,
’
fourth C aliph Alee At Bagd a d they rem a in at the Tek
.
’
kieh and Jiam e e of H azret She i kh Abdul K adir Ghilan ee , ,
the founder of the Kad ir ee s Some of them sit as nig ht .
watchers ( B ekj e e s ) in the bazaars of Bagdad an d d o not ,
beg At oth er times their home i s th e great establ i sh

.
m ent of the K ad ir ees aforem en tion ed A t the e n tran ce .
t o this i s the grave of H a z re t i Ab d ul Jebb ar son of th e

’
founder before which the n ewl y arr i ved H in d e e sp ends

,
-
three days as a tr i al of hi s faith and if he prove to be

, ,
a M aj oos ee or I dolater in d i sguise it i s said that h e

, ,
cannot p ossibly s u pp ort the ordeal of prayer and fa sting .
A sup erior spiritual i nfluence is supposed to be exercise d

a gainst him and before the termination of that period
, ,
h e is self c ondemned and flies from exposure and ill

-
treatment .
I t i s only after he has v i sited the other sacred tombs ,
an d performed a ll th e devotionary exer c ises required ,
that he re a lly begins his career of mendicity By some .
h e i s called a Fakeer ( poor man ) and i t may be added ,
that the greater n umber are not a ffil i ated in any p a r t icu
lar Order or Tareek , bu t simply indigen t Mussulmans w h o ,
8 T HE D ERVI S HE S
’
35 .
distribu t e a handsome sum of money among the poorer

D ervish es of his c apital H aving met with the d esired
.
s uccess he confided the distribution of the money to on e

,
o f hi s o ffi c ers The latter not being favourably im

.
,
pressed w i th th e character of the D ervishes kept the ,
money until n ightfall and then returned it to the king

, ,
remarking that he had n o t been able to find any suc h

,
in his capital Th e ki n g was much surprised and sa i d

.
,
that there must b e several hundreds ; but the o ffi c er

repl i ed ,
D ervishes do not accept m oney and those
‘
,
who do are not

A D ervish as above sa i d should possess ten of the
, ,
chara c teristi c s of a d og viz : he should be always , .
hungry ; h e shoul d have n o h om e ; he should not slee p

even at night ; h e should leave n o inheritance a t his
death ; he should n ever forsake his master even if th e ,
latter illtreat him h e should b e satisfied with the lowest

and most humble place he should give up his pla c e to
whoever wishes it an d take an other return to wh oever
,
b eats him when he offers him a pie c e of bread ; h e

,
should remain at a d i stance when food is served up ;

and h e should n ever think of returning to the place he
has left wh en he is following his master
,
.
C onformably with the pre c eding a D erv i sh after , ,

’
having been fre quently invited to a great man s house ,
was often driven away by his servants ; and when th e

master to whom the fact becam e known ap olog i zed for
, ,
such illtreatment and expressed his admiration for the

,
humility and patien c e whi c h he had shown the D er v ish ,
remarked that it was not a m erit but only on e of t h e ,
chara c ter i stics of a d og which always returns when, ,
driven away .
359
!
C H A P T E R X VI .
ON T H E T ESA V V U F , O R S P I R I T UA L L I F E O F T H E S O O F EE S .
T R AN S L AT ED F R O M T HE T U R K I S H O F M OH E M M E D M I SSI R E E .
“ “
TH E word s oof sign i fi es i n Arabic wool and Mr ,
.
Lan e i n his r o z d note on the 1 0 t h chapter of the

,
”
Arab i an Nights says that the s o c alled Soofe es derive
,
-
their title either from their wearing woollen garments or ,

'
from the Greek word c opr o g because of their philosophical ,
“
tenets H e adds that there is an Order of Musli m
.
,
D ar w e es h es called So ofees who make profession of a ,

‘
more regular and m ore contempl a t i ve l i fe than Dar

w ees h e s i n gen eral and many of this c lass have written
books of spir i tuality of devotion an d of c ontemplation
, , ,
”
wh ic h mostly bear the t i tl e of T a s ow w u f that is of , ,
’
S piritual life The Su n n e e Soofees are in a great
.
degree mystical an d lat i tudinarian ; but n o t so much so

”
as the Soofees of the Persian sect .
I n all the t ek k ieh s or convents of the vario u s sec t s

, ,
whi c h I have visited the members sit on sheep skins -
called p os t ak ee s M any also wear white felt caps mad e

.
of wool and even the i r cloak s are of an un c oloured stuff

,
of the same material .
The Order of the B ek t as h ees which was intimately ,
c onne c ted wi t h the Yan ich ere es w ear white felt cap s , ,
and believe in th e fen as s a /z a system of metemp sy c hosis ,

.
T RA NS L A T I O N .
A few remarks on t h e subj e ct of the

profession of S oofeeis m or spiritual life ) by the learned
, ,
Thi s ch a p t er or igi n all y a pp ear ed in t h e Jou rn al of t h e Am er i can

O ri en tal S o ci et y .
and piou s M oh em m ed M es s iree—may his precious grave

be blessed
I n the name of the Clem ent and M er c iful God .
Praise b e to th e Lord of the U niverse ( lit the .

,
present and fu ture world ) Prayers and Pea c e [ from his .
people ] b e upon ou r Sayd ( Lord ) M oh em m e d [ the

Prophet] and Alee [ his cousin and son ln law] an d all
,
’
-
oth er prophets and the family and Ashabs ( C ompanions )

,
of M o h em m e d .
Should any p erson ask what is the b e

-
ginning of th e z es a w af the answer is ‘
—Faith whi ch h a s six columns to wit

,
, ,
The existen c e of God Hi s U nity the A n gels

,
’
the ,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
Prophets the D ay of R esurrection an d Good an d

,
’ ‘
,
’ ‘
E v i l through H is Prede st i nation — all of which are to ’
b e sp oken with the tongue and a c knowledged with the ,
heart .
— Wha t i s the c on c lusion and end of th e

t es a vz af 7
'
.
“
[A I
. t i s the pronoun c ing with the tongue of faith
t he six preced i n g c olumns and the confirming of them ,
w i th the heart as was sa i d by Ju n ay d e e i n answer to an

, ,
interrogat i on on th e subj ect of the end of the f es a z w /j fi '
—What i s the distin c tion betwee n the S a l i t

[Q] .
af ( .
,
t he clarified ) and c ommon p eople ?

[]
A — The
. knowledge [
whi c h i s the fou n dat i on
]of
the fa i th of the latter is only an i mitation of these six
c olumns wh i lst the fa i th of the S ojj a is the true as is
,
‘
,
shown by the evid en c es of the a /em a z z z z a m a ( doctors of

'
the se c ts ) .
does this imitat i on con sist ?

t a t ion i s what h a s been learned from
the i r fathers the z m a a m s ( prea c hers ) of the quar ters in
'
which they live or from on e of t h e a le/72a and so b e

, ,
liev ed ; but they d o n ot know why i t has b ecome a

fundam ental rule to b elieve in these C olumns of Faith
I t is n ot k n ow ri
,
n or how salv a tion i s obtained thereby .
that whilst walking in the publi c streets on e h a s found

, ,
a j ewel which many sovereig n s sought after un suc c ess

fully—con que ring the world from on e end t o the other ,
3 6 2 TH E D ERVI S H E S .
enable them t o see the truth which is hidden from those

’
,
w h o s t ill w an d er in the p at h of imitation C ompari n g .
the t w o with e a c h other they consider them as be i ng like ,
the soul and the body a c cording to the words o f th e ,
bles sed Prophet Wh oever i s d eficient in on e of his

.
‘
faculties is deficien t in on e of his parts from whi c h it

, ,
’
is clear that whoever 1s defi c ient i n the s fi ery a f cannot be

p erfe c t i n the lz a ieé z k a z ‘
—
.
[ ]
Q I n matters of faith and form s of w orship to
.
,
what sect are the S af a a t tached

[]
A — M. ost of them are of the Muslim faith an d of ,
th e sect o f th e Ehlee Su n n eh ( th ose who obse rve the

traditionary precepts of th e blessed Prophet) an d accept ,
the f em aa t ( pres c ribed forms of p u blic prayer) a c cord i ng ,
to the m ez /z eb ( creed ) of the c elebrated Sheikh Abu

Mansur M at u r ee d ee M ost of the Arabs are of the .
creed of the Sheikh Abul H assan el Es h ar ee and are ,
Ehlee Su n n eh and accept th e j em aa z as understood and

‘
, ,
practise d in c onfor m ity with on e or other of th e four

R ites adopted in the c ountry to which they belong (i e
,
. .
either the H an iffee H an b allee Shafe e or M ale k ee) , , ,

.
F or in stan c e those of the country of R oom are H a nif

,
fees so c alled from Abu H a n iffeh who derived his

, ,
articles of faith from the Kora n and the aaa z s a z ( tradi ’

'
t ion al say i ngs ) of th e blessed Prophet those in Arab i a ,
E gypt and Alepp o as well as in the two holy cities are

, ,
Sh afe es ; all the people of Tunis and M oroc c o and as ,
far as Andalus i a as well as some in Arabia are M alek ees

, ,
most of the p eople of Bagdad I raak an d a part of Arabia , , ,
with some of the inhabitants of the holy cit i es follow t h e ,
H an ballee I m a am There are som e differences between

.
th ese but only su c h as refer to forms of worship a s r e

,
gards dogmas they all agree ,

The blessed Prophet .
designated those who ob serve th e s z m a e/z an d j em aa t .
by the title of Ehlee V ej ah ( the Saved ) an d t hese four ,
are all of this k i nd All th e S of a belong to the Ehlee .
V ej ah I t i s a p o i nt of bel i ef among the S ofi a that it i s

.
n ot for every on e who i s of the E h lee Allah or a leer a m a z

‘
,
s a /z z bee ( i e either a believer in th e D i vin i ty or p a r t icu

'
. .
,
larly gifted by t he D ivinity) t o attain t o the character of ,

3 3
sanctity belo n ging to the four great doctors of the holy

law much less t o that of on e of the Ehlee Ku z een ( the
,
Twelve I m aam s ) The only m ean s of arrivi n g at the i r

.
degrees of p erfect i on would b e to follo w their creed

until on e surpassed it and then to establish by God s ’
sanct i on a n ew on e sup erior t o theirs —whi c h as yet n o

, ,
, , ,
on e has ever been able to do .
—
[]Q When . Bayazid e l B es t am ee was asked of what
sect he was h e replied : I am of the sec t of Allah

,
‘
.
’
What did he mean by th i s a n swer ?

[ A —All .of the sects of Allah are those j ust men
t ion e d They are called [
. for example ]the se c ts of the
Gre ater I m aam ( Numan ib in Sab 1t e l Ku ffee) and of
the Sh afe e I m a am but are in reality sects of Allah an d
,
so Bayaz i d spoke truly when he said he was of H is sect .
[]Q M ost the ff in their use ’

o f S o-
e e s é a s s z a efi s , ,
c ertain words which we hear and und erstan d as showing

tha t they were of the Ehlee T en as s u h ( M et e m p s y ch o
sian s) They say : I a m sometime s Lot sometime s
.
‘
,
R a yu som etimes a vegetable sometime s an animal at

, , ,
’
o t her tim es a m a n What do es this m ean ? .
— Broth er th e ble ssed Prophet has said

[]
A .
o
. My .
p eople l n the eternal life will r i se up in companies

, ,
that i s some as monkeys others as hogs or i n other

, , ,
form s— as i s written in a verse of th e Koran ( chap .
lxxvi i i v 1 8) which has b een commented on by Kaze e

. .
B ey z av e e ( th i s commentator c ite s a tradition to t h e effe c t

that at th e resurre c tion men will rise up in th e form of
, ,
thos e an i mal s w hos e chief c haracter i stics resemble their

ow n ruling passion s of life : th e greedy avaric i ous man , ,
a s a hog ; the ang ry passionate man as a camel ; the

, ,
t ale bearer or mis c hief—

-
ma k er as a monkey ) ; be c ause
, , ,
though these m en wh i l e in thi s life bore the human , ,
for m externally they were internally n othing d i fferent

, , ,
fro m the animals w hose chara c ters are in common with

their ow n The resemblance i s n ot manifest during
.
’
on e s l i fe but b ecom es so i n the other existen c e after
, ,
the resurrection Let us avoid su c h traits rep entance

.
,
before death will free any on e from thes e ev i ls The .
blessed Prophet said with regard to this Sleep i s th e .

‘
6
brother of D eath The dying man sees himself in h is

.
’
true character an d so knows wh ether or n ot h e is by

, ,
repentance freed from his ruling p a ssion of life I n like

, .
manner he will see him self during his slumbers st i ll

, ,
following in the path of his passion For inst a n c e th e .

,
money c al c ulator in sleep sees h imself enga ged in hi s

, ,
all abs orb m g oc c u pation and this fa c t is a warnin g ,
from God n ot to allo w li im s elf to be a bsorbed in any

,
animal passion or degrading o cc upat i on I t is only by .
prayerful repentan c e th a t any one can hop e to see

himself in h is sleep deli v ered from h i s rul i n g carnal
, ,
p a ssion an d restored to h is prop er human intellectual

, ,
form I f in your slumbers you se e a monkey c on sider

.
,
i t as a w a rning to abandon or abstain from the pass i on

of m i s c hief ; if a hog c ease to se i ze upon t h e goods of ,
others ; and so on Go an d g i ve yourself u p to an .
upright m a r s /ri f ( sp i r i tual guide ) who w i ll through h is

f
, ,
prayers sho w you in your slumbers th e e vi l p arts of your

,
chara c ter until on e by on e they have passed away an d

, ,
h a v e b een repla c ed by good ones — all t h rough t h e power

of the name o f God whom he will in stru c t you to in v oke
at length you w i ll oii ly se e in your slumb ers the forms of
,
holy a n d piou s m en 1n testimony of that degree of piety ,
to whi c h you will have attained .
“
This is what is mean t by that expressio n of certain
p oets referring to on e s c ond i tion prev i ous to the act of
,
’
repentan c e when the writer say s

,
I am sometimes an
a nimal sometimes a vegetable sometimes a m an
,
and ,
the same may b e said by the Soffees in a ppl i cation t o ,
thems el v es of any other part of creat i on for man i s

, ,
called the a é /z ee z m ery a a a f ( the climax of be i ngs ) i n him

’
’
'
are compris e d all the c haracte ristics of c re a t i on Many .
mysti c al books have been wr i tten on thi s subj e c t all ,
s howing that man i s the f z a /z a z é a bm ( t h e larger part ) ,
and the world the rz z r/z a z s ag/ a ( t h e sm a ller part ) of

' '
, ,
God s creation The hu m an frame is said to c omprise

’
.
!
all t he other parts of creation and the heart of man is
O r i en t a l s con s i d er t h e h ea r t as t he s ea t of m en t al p acity
ca
an d the l ive r ,
of t h e affect i on s .
3 6 6 TH E D E RV I S H E S .
c onnexion with i t Of the seventy t w o erring sec t s be

.
-
fore alluded to this is th e worst God prese rve us in

,
.
,
th i s life an d th e one to come from partic i pating with or , ,
even b ehold i ng such sect a ries

—
,
[]
Q . These person s regard c ertain things as l egally
proper whi c h are forbidden
,
For instan c e they com .
,
mand the use of wine wine shops the w i ne cup sweet ,

-
,
-
hearts ; they speak of the c urls of their mistresses th e ,
moles on t h eir fa c es c h eeks & c and c omp a re the fur

, ,
.
rows on t h e i r bro w s to verse s of the Koran What does .
this me a n ?
[ ]
A .
—J ust as these S offe e s leave the true faith for i ts
semblan c e so they also ex c hange t h e external features of

all th i ngs for the internal ( the c orporeal for the sp i r i tual )
,
and g i ve an imaginary sign i fi cat i on to out w ard forms .
They behold obj e c ts of a pre c ious nature in their natural

character an d for this reason the greater part of their
,
words have a sp i ritual and vis i onary meaning For .
instance when l i ke H afiz they ment i on wine they me a n

, , , ,
a kn owledge of God whi c h exten sively c onsidered is , , ,
the love of God Wine v i e w ed extens i vely is also love

.
, ,
love an d affection are here the s a me thing The w i n e '

.
shop with them mea n s the m a r s /l id z é z a m z ! ( spiritual

’ '
, ,
director) for his heart is said to b e the depository

,
of the love of God ; the wine cup is the z elé z a ( the

'
‘
-
pronun c iation of th e nam e of God i n a de c l a ration ,
of faith as : There is no God but Allah ) or i t signifies

, ,
'
th e word s wh i ch fl ow from the m a r s /z z d s mo u th res p ecting ’
d i vin e knowledge and whi c h heard by the s a lz k ( the

, ,
D ervish or on e who pursue s th e true p a th ) intoxi c ate s

,
his soul and di v ests his mind ( of passions ) giv i ng h i m

, ,
pure sp i ritual d el ight The sweetheart me a ns the ex.
ce lle n t preceptor because when any o n e sees his beloved

, , ,
he admires her perfe c t proportion s with a heart full of ,
l ove : the D ervish beholds the se c ret knowledge of God

which fills th e heart of his spiritual pre c eptor
and through it receives a similar i nsp i rat i on and acquires ,
a full per c eption of all that he p ossesses j ust as the pupil ,
learns fro m his master As the lover d elights in the .
presence of h is s w eetheart so t h e D ervish rej oices i n the ,

TH E D ER VI S HE S . 6
3 7
company of h i s belove d preceptor Th e swe ethear t is .
the obj e c t of a worldly affection but the preceptor of a ,
spir i tu a l a tta c hment The c urls or ringlets of the b e

.
, ,
loved are the grateful praise s of the preceptor tending ,
to bind the affect i ons of the D ervis h pupil the moles on -
her fa c e signify that when the pupil at t i mes behold s , ,
th e tot a l absen c e of all worldly wants on the part of the

preceptor he al so abandon s all the des i re s of both
,
worlds— h e perhaps even goes s o far as to desire noth i ng

else i n life than his pre c eptor the furrows on the brow
o f th e b eloved on e which they compare to , [verses of
]
the Koran mean the light of th e heart of the m a r s /rid :
,
they are c ompared to verses of t h e Koran be c ause the ,
attributes of God in accor d ance with th e inj unction of

,
the Prophet : Be ye endued with divin e qualities are

‘
,
’
”
possessed by the Sheikh (or m a r s k id ) /
— The m a r s /Zia an d other D ervishes say

[Q ] We se e ‘
.
G od . I s it p ossible for any other than the Prophet to

see God ?
— I t i s n ot p ossible Wha t they m ean by this .
assertion i s that they know G od t hat they se e H is power ,
for it is forbidden to mortal eyes to behold H im as is ,
declared i n the Koran ( ch vi v 1 0 3 ) N o sight reache s

. . .
H im —
H e reaches the sight the Subtle the K n owing .
’
,
The blessed Prophet c o mmande d Adore G od as tho u ,
wouldst didst tho u see H im ; for if thou dost not see ,
H im H e sees thee
,
This p ermission to adore H im i s
.
’
a divin e favour and they say that they are God s serva nt s
,
’
’
by divin e favour The bl essed Alee said : Should the
.
‘
veil fall from my eyes h ow would G od visi t m e in truth I

,
’
This saying confirms that n o on e really see s G od tha t ,
even the sainted Ale e n ever saw H im

’
.
—Can it possi bly be erron eous t o say tha t by

,
seeing the traces of any on e he m ay b e beheld ?

—One may certainly be thus seen When any
,
D u ri n g t h e w ars b e tw e en A l ee an d M u av ieh t h e l atter on b ei n g , ,
on ce b e at en e l ev a t e d t h e Ko r a n on a l an ce an d b egg e d for m er cy
, .
,
O n th i s b e in g ep o te d t o A l ee h e d ecl ar e d th a t h e h im s el f w as t h e
r r ,
l i in g an d t h e s p e ak in g Kor an w h ils t t h e on e ra is e d u p on t h e l an ce
v
,
o f h is en emy w a s on l y a p ai n t e d o r imit a t e d on e
, .
6 8 T HE D ERVI S H E S
‘
3 .
p erson sees the brightness of the sun he may safely say ,
that he has seen the sun though in d eed he has n ot really ,
seen it There is an other exampl e namely should you

.
,
hold a mirror in your hand you see a figure in i t an d , ,
you may therefore say that you s ee y our own fa ce whi c h ,
is really an impossibility for no on e h a s ever seen his ,
ow n fa c e and you h a ve asserted what i s n ot strictly

,
corre c t .
“ — Since every on e sees th e traces of God as

[
Q .
,
every on e I S able to do how is it that the D ervish es ,
declare th at they only see H i m

—Those w h o make this st ate m ent d o not kn ow
[]
A .
what they see and have never really se en H im A p erson

,
.
who has eaten of a sweet and savou ry dish given to him , ,
but of whi c h he kn ows not the name seeks for it again ,
with a lo n ging desire after it an d thus wanders about in ,
search of what has given him so much delight ignorant ,
of what it is So are those who seek after God withou t

.
,
know i ng H i m or what H e i s ,
.
— Some D ervis he s d eclare

[]
Q We are neither afraid
—
.
of H ell n or do we des i re H eaven

,
a saying whi c h must
be blasphemous H ow is this ? .
— They d o n ot really mean that they do not fear

[]
A .
H ell and that they do n ot wish for H eaven I f they

,
.
really meant this i t would be bl a sphemous,

Their .
mean i ng i s n ot as they express themsel v es probably ,
they wish to say : O Lord Thou who cr ea t e d s t us and , ,
madest us what we are Thou hast n ot mad e us because ,
we help Thy working : we are therefore i n duty boun d to

serve Thee all the more devotedly wholly i n obedien c e ,
t o Thy holy will we have n o barga i ning with Thee and ,
we do not adore Thee with the V i ew of gaining thereby

“
either H eaven or H ell God has bo u ght t h e goods
.
and person s of the Faithful and given them Paradise ,

”
in return ( c h ix v 1 1 2 of the Koran ) wh i ch s ign i
. . .
, ,
fies that H i s bounty h a s n o bounds Hi s mercy n o end ; ,
and thus it is that H e b enefits H is faithful servants .
They would say Thou hast n o bargaining with any on e

ou r d evot i on is from t he purity of o u r h earts and is for ,
love of The e only Were there n o H eaven n or any

.
,
3 7 0 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
others f as s z ks ( w h o k n ow G od but p erform n o n e of H is

,
comm ands) wha t differe n c e i s th ere among them ?

—
,
“
[ A The .d ifferen c e lies (
i n their m a r zf efi knowledge
of spiri tual things

) but i n t h e m atter o f faith they are all
,
equal : j ust as i n the c ase of the sovereign an d the sub

,
j ce t t h eir limbs are all e qual wh i le they differ in th eir

, ,
d re ss power and o ffi c e
, ,
As to the h uman i ty of m en
.
,
t ha t depends upon their dress of knowledge a n d their ,
spir i tual p ower ; in these only are th ey m e n an d not ,
simply an i mals The c hara c ter of the sovereign does

.
n ot depend u pon his humanity

‘
wh i c h is the same as
,
”
that of all o t her m en bu t upon his o ffice an d rank
,
.
DE R V I HE
S S O F T HE M E V L E VE E
‘
O R DE R
3 7 1
C H A PT ER XV I I .
A B I O G RA P H Y or TH E F OU R TH CA LI PH A L EE ’
.
TH E reader will h ave p erceived the intima t e co n n exio n

existi n g between the D ervish Orders and the Fourth
D irect Caliph Ale e ’
I ndeed nearly all of th ese are
.
,
’
Ale eid e s as if he had been th e grea t originator of them
, ,
an d the advocate an d patron of their p eculiar princ i pl es .
Whether this was the case or n ot , much that i s of a

“
spiritual character is at t ributed to him an d even in ,
those Orders that are s z m a ee or ot h od ox Ale e is h eld in , ,

’
h igh respect I have therefore thought it necessary t o

.
, ,
devote a chapter esp e c ially t o him and for this purpo se ,
have tran sla t ed a short biographi c al ske t ch of him from

the work in the Turkish language entitled The C /lz e/z ar , ,
“ ”
Yar or the
,
Four Fr i en ds by Shems ed D een Siv as e e ,
( S i was in Asia Minor) From this sket c h the reader

o f ,
.
,
will readily imag i n e why su c h honour is paid by a large

p ortion of the I slam world and by the D er v ish Orders ,
i n p art i cular — s o much s o as to give him the sublime

,
’
title of A lee e! [la/t ee or Alee th e D ivine
’
, .
Ale e bin Abi Talib ibin Abd el M atlab was of the

’
,
’
,
same lineage as the Blessed Prophet being the son of ,
the uncle of th e latter and therefore h i s c ousin

,
.
H e was born in the revered ci ty of M ek k eh in the ,
thirtieth year of th e era of the Arabs k nown as the ,
Y ear of the E lephant and the g r ot h of the Alexandrian

’
,
era . P e rw a s ( th e Sassanian king of P ers i a) had c eased ,
t o reign eight years .
“
H is mother F at im eh binti Asad bin H ashim ( so it
,
i s related ) on e night s aw i n a dream that her c h amber

,
was filled w i th l i ght and th a t the mount a ins which sur

,
r o u nded th e holy K e é efi ( C aaba ) were worshippi n g i t ;

’
B B 2
3 72 TH E D ERVI S H E S :
that she had held in her hands four swords all of which ,
h aving fallen ou t of them lay s c attered before her ,

One .
of these swords fell i n to w ater a se c ond flew up into the

air and disapp e a red from her sight as i t rose upward s
.
towards heaven ; a n d a third as it fell a ttempted to d o , ,
the same but suddenly be c ame con v erted into a l i on

, ,
whi c h fled away towa rds th e mou n t ai ns a larm i ng every ,
o n e by its fero ci ty so mu c h so th a t no on e ventured to

, ,
approa ch it exce p t the Prop h et of God on whom h e

, ,
-
th e D i vin e s a tisfa c tion —who go i ng up to it sei z ed

"
, ,
upon and so subdued it that i t followed a fter him li cked

, , ,
h is blessed face an d feet and voluntarily served his ,
wishes .
“
Four months after th i s dre am the Prop h et of God ,
visited F at im eh an d l ook i ng her in the fa c e ex c l a imed

, , ,
‘
O mother ! wh a t ails the e for I see a c h a nge i n thy ,
’
c o u ntenance ? She replied My son I a m pregnan t ; , ,
aid m e to h a ve a male ch i ld The Prophet repl i ed O .

’
,
mother ! i f you have a son give him to m e a n d I will , ,

’
pr ay for you On he aring these words F at im eh vowed
.
,
to Allah that in c ase her c hild was a son she would give
, ,
him to the Prophet Abu T al i b ( her husb a nd ) confirmed

.
the vow by m a ki n g on e sim i lar to it

,
.
The Prophet therefore blessed her and the fruit of her ,

" ’
conception was Alee el Murtez a or Al ee the Agreeable
’
,
.
“
O n t h e o c c a sion of Alee s b i rth a l i ght was d i stin c tly
’ ’
vis i ble resembling a bright column extend i ng from the

, ,
earth to the fi rm a m en t .
“
U pon re c eiving n e w s of his nativity the Prophet ,
immediately v isited the d w elling of his parents On .
see i ng ,for the first t i me the little infant h e took some

'
, ,
S pittl e fr om his ow n lips an d rubbed it upon t h ose of ,
t h e c h i ld a n d i t immed i a tely sw a llowed it

,
I t i s believed .
th a t fro m this A l ee d erived all of his great kn owledge

,
’
an d power as well as mira c ulous cap a b i l i ties

,
By i t .
,
he be c am e v i c torio u s in all his battles and a p erfect ,
so v ereign for c onquest and heroi c deeds H e also was .
thu s gifted w i th all of the most emin en t qualities of man

hood and th e most n oble and loveable traits of character
were certainly united in him .
that consequently he m u st for t h e presen t and the

, , ,
f u ture con sider him as his ow n I t is related that on e

day the Joy of t h e World ( the Prophet ) —on whom be
, .
,
‘
the bl e ss i ngs and salutation s of the M ost H igh —was

,
seated in the H oly Temple holding the child Alee on , ,

’
his knees M any of the most vali a nt m en of the day

.
were assembled there boas ti ng of th e i r deeds Point i ng ,

.
to the c hild he told them that it would be c ome the m ost

,
h eroi c m an of his time an d that n o on e w ould be hi s ,
e qual on the fa c e of the glob e Surprised an d irritated .
by these words they expostula t ed with the Prophe t ;

,
‘
O Mo h ammed el E min ! we always thought y ou were
a wise and truthful man ; pray h ow can y ou spea k t hus
o f a l i ttle c hild about whose fu t ure c areer in life y ou
,
’
can foresee n othing ? I n reply the Prop h et only bade ,
them remember his words a n d that i n a few years they ,
would see them verifie d .
“ ’
I t is related that at t he age of three years Ale e
'
, ,
wo u ld p erform the Nam az ( prayers) w i th the Prophet .
On seeing this A bu T al i b m a de no remark regarding

, ,
the precocity of his c hild but the mother was mu c h ,
pleased and excla i med See ! our child worship s the

, ,
K e beh with M ohammed an d d oes n ot adore ou r idols ’

’
.
Abu Talib replied O F at im eh we have given h i m up

to Mohammed —wh atever he does will be right in the
,
sight of th e All Just ; he is st i ll a c hild and will be of

-
whatever religion M ohammed i s ; let them be brothers ,

’
an d in separable On e day also when the revered .
, ,
Prophet and Ale e were p erforming t heir prayers to

’
gether Abu T al i b approached them on horseback and

, ,
’
remarked that Alee was on his right side N ow Ja fer
’
Tiyar— on whom be the Divine satisfa c tion —

.
w a s c los e
beh i nd h is horse and Abu Talib addressing h i m bad e , , ,
him go an d place himself to th e left of the Prophet and ,
pray with them for in this manner you will b e c o m e an

,
‘
’
eminent person Ja fer immediately left Abu T al i b
.
’
an d proceeded to the left side of the Prophet an d stood ,
there on s eeing which the latter was much rej oiced an d

, ,
after prayers addressing J a fer sa i d R ej oice O Ja fer

,
’
, , ,
’
tha t the M ost H igh has given you t wo wings with whi c h ,
3 75
y ou may fly away t o Paradise and b e th e companion of ,
the Khoor i A y een s ( H oorie s ) an d be n ear t o th e Lord ,

’
of the U niverse .
“
A c cording to some n arratives of holy n ote i t is state d ,
that Alee was born thirty years after the era of th e

’
elephant on the thirteenth day of the M oon of R ej eb

, ,
whi c h fell on Friday and that i t oc c urred within the ,
holy K e b eh ; tha t there was in Yemin a very aged and

’
pious p erson nam ed M e er e m who se heart was fre e from

, ,
all worldly des i res and who sp ent th e grea t life of ,
1 9 0 years in adoration and prayer H e cared n othing .
for worldly wealth and h i s only pleasure consis t ed in ,
pious occupations ; h e never turn ed his eye s in any

other dire c tion than that of t h e M in b er ( the p oin t of
M ek k eh ) On e day th i s p erson prayed to G od tha t H e
.
,
woul d bless his country with some on e from among the

re sidents of the H oly Temple an d t hose w h o were ,
’
eminent among the c hiefs of th e R e h e b H is prayer .
was accep t ed and by D ivin e direct i on Abu T alib then

, , ,
on e of the most prominent individuals of M ek k eh was ,
led to travel and v i si t his count ry After l earning w h o

, .
h is visitor was he thanked G od for having accep ted his

,
prayer an d sent h im so distinguishe d an indiv i dual as

,
Abu T alib son of Abd u l M at leb of t h e tr i be of the

,
’
B en ee H ash i m and a native of th e city of M ekk eh

,
.
H e then told him that from an cient tim es th ere was a

tradition to the effect that Abd u l M at leb would have t w o ’
grandsons on e from th e loins of Abd U lleh and that h e

,
’
,
should be a prophet an d th e other from those of Abu ,
T al i b who would render easy the enigmas of the i e/ay e!

,
r
( spiritual holiness ); an d that when th e Proph et would

have reach ed his thirt i eth year th e Valee would c ome ,
into the world —an d that a prophet l i ke whom n one other

,
had ever yet appeared T o this Abu T alib replied .

,
‘
Oh ! Sh cik h that prophet has been born and is n ow
, ,
i n his twenty n i nth year M eerem re sponded

-
Oh ! .
’
,
‘
Abu Talib when y ou return to M ekk eh and approach

, ,
the place of prayer take with y ou my salutat i ons and , ,
say tha t M eerem has al w ays born e test i mony t o the

unity of the on e universal C reator who is withou t an y ,
equal and that h e i s H i s prophet Ta k e al so my salu

, .
t at ion s t o th e on e who i s born to you

’
.
“
Abu T al i b seeing O pp o s i te him a dry p omegranate
,
tree a s a temptatio n t o th e S h e i kh requested him to

, ,
cause i t to put forth le a ve s and fruit as a proof of the ,
truthfulness of h i s words Th e S h eikh turned his fa c e

.
u pward s i n suppl i c a tion to God a n d prayed th a t for the , ,
s ake of the ]Veé ee ( Prophet ) a n d the Valee a bout
whom h e had j ust d e cl a red words of sincerity th ere ,
might be a demonstra tion of Divin e p ower over N ature .
I n a minute the tree be c ame c overed w i th leaves an d

fruit from which he presented hi s visitor with th e fresh
,
pomegran a tes Of these the Sheikh gave on e to Abu

.
Tal i b which h e broke op en and ate two grain s I t is

,
.
rel a ted that the j ui c e of thes e two grains be c am e the

source from which sprang the bodily existen c e of Ale e ’
e l M urtez a .
Abu T al i b much rej o i ced with what h e had heard

,
from th e She i kh returned to M ek k eh and h is w i fe

, ,
F at im eh binti A sad soon prove d to b e pregnant D ur i ng

,
.
her pregnancy ( as she stated ) I was on e d a y eng aged in ,
making the turn around the holy house ( c alled the T a w af) ,
an d had an atta c k of the spleen The blessed Prophet .
saw and understood what ailed m e and addressing me , ,
asked whether I had terminated my c i r c u i t ( th e T aw af) .
I replied th a t I had n ot H e then added C ontinue .

, ,
and if y ou feel fatigued enter i nto the Ke b eh ,

It is ’
.
’
’
als o narr ated in the book entitled Slyer el Mu stafa ‘
,
that wh i lst F at im eh binti Asad was t h u s engaged in

mak i n g the Taw af O f the H aram i Ke b ch A bb as i bn ’
el M at leb an d all the B en ee H ash i m following beh i nd

,
her did t h e sam e ; she suddenly had an atta c k O f th e

,
S plee n and b eing unable to go o u t pr a yed

, ,
Oh Lord , , , ,
i ve an easy confinement Suddenly h wall O pened

’
g t e .
,
and F at im eh bec ame lost from sight I n the view O f .
learning something about her I entered the Ke b eh but ,

’
was still unable to do so be c ause for three days she ,
could not be foun d ; on the fourth day she cam e ou t

beari n g in her arms Alee bin Ab u Talib —ou whom h e the
,
’
Divine satisfac ti on
fa c e , which was already i mpressed th e light of D ivine

on
Tr uth After w ards he ra i sed it up ou t of the cradle and

.
,
w i th his o w n hands washed i t thus performing the rel i gious ,
ablution called the G hu s l and when F at im eh with sur

, ,
prise in qu i red the c ause the Prophet repl i ed I h a ve

, , ,
‘
’
n ow performed this for Alee at his birth an d he will d o ,
the same for m e at the end of my life I t was thus th a t .

’
he acte d towards the c hild taking the deep est interest of ,
an un cle in its future welfare .
When Alee was five years old a gre at drough t

’
occurred in the H ej az from wh i ch the inhabitants ,
su ffered severely Abu Talib had m any p ersons in h i s

.
fam i ly The Prophet on e day remarked to Abb as O

.
’
,
un c l e you are a man of wealth whilst Abu T al i b is

, ,
p oor and has a large family ; durin g the present d i stre ss we

should ea c h take charge O f on e of his sons and aid him
with provisions J ust then they fell in w i th Abu T alib
.
’
,
and told him what they had d es i gn ed doi n g Leave .

‘
O k ail with m e an d y ou m ay d o with the rest o f my

,
’
sons as you please was his rep ly ; so Abb as took Ja fer
,
’ ’
Tiy ar an d the Prophet t o ok A lee el Murtez a and h e

,
’
remained with him until the angel Gabriel ( J ebrail) gave

him p ermission ( t o leave this world ) H e be c am e an .
ac c eptant o f the E m an ( t ru e faith) after Abu Bekr .
M ay G od have mercy upon them b oth an d upon all ,
of the As h abs ( friends of the blessed Prophet

)
-
Th e Prophe t ship was given t o the Glory of the World

( M ah om m e d
) on the secon d day o f the week
( Monday ) ,
and O n Tuesday the E m an ( tru e faith ) was ac c epted O f

the I m am Ale e Abu Bekr thus preced ed him and
’
.
,
before him n o on e h a d a c cepted it Ale e was as j ust .

’
,
said the second and he was then ten years of age

, , ,
though some preten d tha t h e was only seven years O ld .
At n o time did he ever worsh i p idols and from thi s great ,
sin the Almighty preserved him .
“
I t is related that he once said When I was still in
my mother s womb she went to a c hurch (k en e es a ) for
’
,
the purpose O f worshipping an idol ; but by spe ci al ,

3 79
D ivine power a p ain sudd e n ly cam e upon her and

, ,
she w a s compelled by it to forg et her des i gn an d seek ,
relief from her suffering The I m am Alee was brought .

’
up by th e Prophet and Abbas relates that n o less than ,
3 0 0 A at s
y ( verses
”
of the Kora n
) descended from heaven
i n honour of him .
The I m am Ale e h as several names One of these

’
.
i s Abu l H asan on e Ab u l H us ai n on e H yder on e

’
,
’
, ,
Kerar on e E m i r el N u h l on e Abu l R eh an a in on e
, ,
’
,
’
A sad Allah an d on e Abu l Tur ab but h e always said
,
that h e l i ked n on e so well as the last ( which sign i fi es

‘
the Father of b ecau se i t w a s given him by the
Glory of the World himself The occasion on which ’
.
h e gave i t was the followi n g I t happ en ed that on e day .
F at im eh el Z ehra and the I m am Alee had an alter

’
c a tion and on a c count of it th e latter went t o the M esj id

,
( c hap el ) and lay down o n the dry earth Much grieved .
with this sh e forthwith went i n search of the Prophet

, ,
and related to h i m what had happen ed adding that the ,
fault w as h er ow n The Prophe t immed i ately w alked .
around th e M esj i d an d observing Ale e reposing on th e ,

’
gr ound ad dressing h i m exclaimed Arise Ale e ar i se !

, , ,
‘
,
’
,
’
’
Ale e on h earing the voi c e O f the blessed Prophet at
, ,
on c e got up an d th e l a tter seeing som e e a rth on h i s

,
face with his ow n blessed h ands wiped i t off and sa i d

, , ,
‘
Abu Turab (father of earth ) arise ! But in the She ,
’
,
v ah i d el N eb oov eh it i s stated that on e day the blessed

Prophet wen t to th e hou se of F at im eh — on whom h e m
D ivine satisfa c tion an d n ot finding Alee there in -
,
’
quired where h e was F arimeh replied that havi n g been ,
troubled he had gone ou t perhap s to the M esj id O n

, , .
hear i ng which the Prophet forthwith went there and ,
seeing A lee ly ing on th e bare ground his mantle fallen

’
,
O ff and his body covered with dust h e bade him ari se

, , ,
c all i ng him for that purp ose Abu Turab and with his ,
”
O wn hands w i p ed the dust O ff him .
The marriage of Alee with F at im eh el Z ehra ( the ’
fa i r) d au gh t er of the Prophet o c curred as follows

, ,
“
The blessed Prophet h a d six c hildren born to him
by Khad eej eh el Kubr a ( t h e great ) two of which were ,
boys and four were d a ughters and it was after the birt h
O f Fat im eh that s h e left this p erish abl e world for t h a t of
eternity Th e bles sed Prop h et nursed th i s last c h i ld
.
unt i l s h e reached the a ge of puberty and h imself edu ,
c a t e d her morally )
( One day whilst s h e was engaged
.
,
in serv i n g h er fath er h e remarked that s h e had rea ch ed

,
an age w h en it w a s n e c essary to marry her an d he felt ,
sad to think that h e had not the m oth er whom s h e ,
gre a tly re semble d to atte n d to th e matter for h er I t

,
.
m ay b e added that F at im eh had a lways been a p i ous and

serious minded girl an d was in consequence m u c h b e
-
loved by her parent Whilst thi s thought was st i ll in h i s

.
mind the messenger of the Most Hi gh ( the angel

,
Gabr i el ) appeared before h i m and saluting him on t h e ,
part of th e Al m ighty said Be n ot troubled O ! M a , ,

‘
,
h om m e d I will prepare a d owry for F at im eh out of t h e

treasures of Par a d i se and besto w her upon on e who is a ,
good and fait h fu l servant to M e The s e words gre a tly .

’
affected the blessed Prophet an d s o s oOn as he had ,
O ffere d up thanks and adoration to God for h i s great

mer c ies th e angel d i sappeared from sight but for a
,
moment for h e soon returned bearing in his ha n d a

, ,
golden vessel c overed Ov er with a golden cloth Behind

,
.
him followed 1 0 0 0 an geli c c herubim ( K eru b iy oon ) w i th ,
the angel M ekail ( Mi c hael ) i n their rear also bearing a ,
similar vessel covered over like the first ; aft er them

,
came the same number of cherubim followed by the ,
angel I zrai l similarly laden and each laid their burthens

, ,
as an offering b efore h im .
O n behold i ng th i s apparit i on the Prophet address i ng ,
G ab rail said Oh ! Broth er tell m e what are the c om

‘
, , ,
mand s of the Most H igh an d what I am to d o with ,
thes e vessels The angel replie d O Prophet O f God , ,

“
H e salutes thee and comman ds that thy da u ghter of
,
’
Paradise F at im eh el Z ebra be g i ven to Alee for from
, ,
the grea t arch of t h e heavens I have married t hem

3 82 TH E DERVI H E S S .
prop e r t h at she should w ear in this worl d t he clo the s of

’
Paradise take t h em the refore back there , ,
.
Wh en the As h abs came together they en quired w h o

-
,
’
would be the vakeels of th e Prophet and Alee J ust then .
the Angel Gabriel descended a n d addre ssing the Prophet ,
of G o d s aid
,
O P rophet of G od ! H e salute s thee and
, ,
commands that Al ee p erforms the Khotb eh ( the solemn

’ ’
’
prayer O f noon on F riday and in Bair am ) Alee there
, ,
.
up on re c ited this prayer after wh i ch he was married to ,
F at im eh for the dowry of four h undred Ak ch a s ( silver

,
pieces ) . When F at im eh received i n format i on of her

marriage she was dissatisfied and the angelic m essenger
,
de scending aga i n said O P rophet of G od ! H e com

, ,
‘
ma n ds that in case my servant F at im e h be n ot sat i sfied

with the amount of four hundred Ak ch as let it be four ,
thousand Th i s change being commu n i cated to F at im eh

.
’
she still expressed dis c onten t and Gabriel again return ,
ing directed tha t the p ortion be made four thousand

,
A lt u n s ( gol d pie c es ) As sh e was still di s sat i sfied Gabr i el

.
,
return ed and directed the Prophet t o go in p erson to

,
his daughter and ask her w hat she d es i red O n hearing

,
.
this th e Prophet arose and having g on e to her h i s

, , ,
daughter asked her what she wishe d d one on th e oc c a

,
sion of her marriage ; she repl i ed 0 F r i end of God ! ,

‘
I wish that in the same manner that you are the inter
ces sor for rebell i ous men at the D ay of J udgment to , ,
render the m fa i thful so may I inter c ede for women and

, ,
pla c e them in Paradise ( J enn et ) On th i s the Prophet ’

.
,
w i thdrew an d made kno w n to Gabriel what his d a ug h ter

,
desired . T h e A n gel departed and c onveyed to the ,
presence of th e A ll Gloriou s her reply h e soon returned

~
and reported to th e Proph et that her w i shes had b een

a c ceptable to G o d ; and H e h ad commanded that at ,
the Day O f Judgment sh e might inter c ed e for women ,

.
H e add e d th a t there was a verse i n th e an cient books

, ,
an d in th e Great Koran to that effe c t serv i ng as a , ,
H ojj et or title in her b e h al f Th e Prophet hav i ng eu .
quired where the title was t o which h e allud ed t h e , ,
Angel begged leave to c onvey h i s qu e stion t o t h e M o st

H igh and receive H is comma n ds —
,
w h ic h he d id and , ,
TH E D ER VI S H E S . 8
3 3
immediately returned bearing in hi s hand a roll of white ,
silk w h i ch he han d e d t o the P rophet Th e latter on

,
.
,
O p ening th e roll p er c eive d in it a documen t in wh i ch

, ,
was written By this T itle I appoint my servant F at im eh

, ,
to b e t h e intercessor in the D ay of J u d gment in fa vour

, ,
of the M u m in eh ( faithful The Prophet of G o d

n ow to ok this roll and c onveyed it to F at im eh ; she
,
ac c ep ted it and d eclared th a t sh e was n ow satisfied with

,
h er m arri a ge I t i s however related that the I m am

.
, ,
’
Ale e did n ot put any faith in this title At the Last .
D ay he may therefore b e asked what be c a m e O f i t

,
.
I t i s also relate d that wh en th e Prophet married F at im eh

to Ale e h e presen te d to her eighteen Ak ch as toge th er
’
, ,
with a sp otted robe and that as h e wep t sh e put it on

, , ,
an d en quired th e cause of his t ears a n d he replied by ,
aski n g her what account sh e would b e able to gi v e of

her nuptial presents when sh e c ame to app ear before the
A lmighty ? H e likewise a dded that if th e th oughts of
su ch small pre sen ts gave h i m s o mu c h pa i n what must ,
b e the refle c tio n s Of those p arents who exp en d hun d reds

— perhap s even thousands —
,
up on th e bridal suits of ,
”
their daughters .
The
’
I m am Alee was som ewha t smaller than the
middle size with broad shoulders and light coloured
, ,
eyes ; hi s blessed b eard was of a sandy colour and ,
plentiful in quan tity an d his breast was rather large , .
Wh enever in fi d e ls b eheld his countena n c e their hearts ,
failed them an d caused the m to tremble like autumn

,
leaves H e n ot unfrequently remained without foo d

.
fro m thre e to four five and even seven and eight days
, , ,
an d so remarkabl e was thi s p eculiarity that the blessed ,
Prop h et was on ce question ed as to the cause He .
an s w ered t h at Alee p o ssessed a h oly stre n gth whi c h

’
,
preserve d him from the cravi n gs O f hunger so that ,
during the H oly Wars i n whi c h he too k an a c t i ve part , ,
he seldom partook of any food and o c cupi ed h imself ,
entirely with the promotion of the war — t h e subj ect of ,
food n ever for a m om en t t rou b lin g his mind N 0 such .

war oc c urred withou t hi s tak ing part in it a n d when ever

a fortification held ou t or the enem i es pro v ed to b e ,
stro n g the Prophet woul d give him his o w n flag an d

, ,
telling h im that he had commen ded him to th e M ost

H igh bade him tak e the form er and c onquer it whi c h
,
“
,
”
h e n ever fa i led to a cc omplish .
There was a very n umerou s Christian tribe c a lled ,
the B e n e e Buhr ah which notwith sta n ding th e rep eate d , ,
advi c e O f t h e blessed Prophet continued d i ssati sfied and , ,
held ou t a gainst h im Th eir p ertina c ity an d rebelliou s .
c on d u c t i n c reasing i t was imp o ssibl e to str i ve a ga inst ,
them Finally th e illustrious A y at ( verse ) of the I b t ihal

.
,
( O bedien ce ) d escended from h eaven an d they were thus
d i vin ely comm a n de d to submit I t i s stated in the S a f e/z .
( a chapter of the Kor a n

) c a lled the A ! A m r az z
( chap i i i ’
. .
and s 4 t h verse ) : T o tho se who shall dispute with the e ‘
on th i s subj e c t sin ce thou hast received p erfect kn o w

,
“
le d ge reply C om e l et u s call our children and yours
, , , ,
ou r wive s an d yours c ome u s and you an d let u s pray , , ,
to the Lord each one ap art an d c all d own curses up on

, ,
th e
“
This signifi es that wh osoever disputes w i th th ee on
the subj ect o f J esus — on whom b e p ea c e —after th e
,
knowledge whi c h has c ome t o th ee respecting Jesus ,
who is the servan t an d ap o stle of the M ost H ig h know ,

‘
tha t th e expression A bn aa n a of this Aya t means F at im eh , , ,

’
and A rzf asa ez a mean s the ble ssed Prophet s p u re breath ,
wh i ch is non e other than Alee h i mself ; be c ause amo n g ’
the Arabs i t i s customary to c all the s on of an uncle

N efs e e ( breath or p erson ) God h as sa i d Ve re z elm ez ee .
,
‘
enf s a z k u m m eaning your brothers in whi c h is under ’

’
‘
, ,
stood all those who are of the tru e religion ; an d I bin

’
Abb as oh whom be D ivin e satisfa c tion — declares that
,
-
Tfi a m m rz eéz a /z a l signifie s Let u s pray and implore

‘ ‘ ’
, .
G u leb ee ( an author) says this m ean s to pray an d war

‘
excessively wh i lst Kes aee and Abu Obaid eh say it

,
’ ’
mean s Let it c urse t hem together for f a me; s i gn i fies

,
‘
,
’
th e curse and F e z gj ala Za fl et U lla /z an 1 ’ ’

’
‘ ’ ‘ ’
,
suits i n th e m onth of Sefer an d

, . in ,
’
that of R ej eb SO the ble sse d Proph et con sented to
.
their propos a l and made p ea c e w i th them an d d eclared

, , ,
‘
My person i s in H is hands P unishme n t h as b een .
turned away from th e people of Bah ran H ad th ey .
cursed they woul d h a ve been turned into monkeys an d

,
pigs a n d b een consumed with flashe s O f fire ; i n fact

, ,
G od would have d e stroyed both Bahran and its in h ab i

tants ; an d e v en th e birds o n the trees would not have
’
survi v ed on e year .
M ee H u sain r on whom h e Divine mercy ! V a iz —

in his work in the Persian tongue a c omm entary called ,
K e s f when c om m ent ing on the S u rah Bakra h ( of the

’
Koran c h ii vers e ,
.Those w h o g i ve alms d ay
.
‘
an d night in secret a n d in publ i c will rece i ve the i r

, ,
reward from God fear w i ll n ot descend upon them n or ,
will they b e affl ict ed says i n regard to the c auses of ,

’
,
des c ent that Alee e l Murtez a on ce had four D i rhems

,
’ ’
o n e of t h e s e he publi c ly g a ve away in fi lm s on e h e gave

'
away se c retly on e h e besto w ed during th e darkn ess of

,
night and on e he bestowed during the light o f day

, .
The M ost H igh thereon caused that Ayat to d escend ,

’
and the blessed Prophet in quired of Ale e what kind of
alms h e had been gi vi ng ‘
H e replie d I have n o t gon e .

,
beyon d the se four p a ths in t h eir besto w al I took them

all u pon myself so that a t l east on e of them may meet ,
’
with acceptance .
I n the Surah Ale 1n Sej d a ( adoration ) on the subj ec t ’

,
“
of the Sign s of descent ( ch xxxii vers e He . .
‘
who has bel i eved w i ll h e b e like he who has g i ve n ,
himself up to s i n ? Will they both b e equal ? The ’
comment ator M u h ee e l Sene h— on whom he m ercy

,
’
says Thi s v erse d escended i n favour of Alee b i n Abi
,
T alib an d V elee d b i n Abi M a e e t who o n his m other s

’ ’
, , ,
side was related to Othman ( the th i rd direct Cal i ph)

,
’
.
’
A quarrel o c curred between Alee a n d V a le e d on which ,
’
o c c a s i on the latter made a remark to Alee and directed ,
TH E D ERVI S H ES . 8
3 7
t he latter t o be silent say i ng Y ou are but a youth ; I , ,

‘
for the want of a to n gue am s i lent an d in point of years , ,
am your senior ; my heart is more c ourageous than

yours and i n war I am braver
,
To this Alee replied .
’ ’
,
‘
Be y ou silent for you are certa i nly a w i cked man
, .
The M ost H igh has sent d own this verse but sa i d ,
l lz ey in the p lu r a l and n ot z lz ey in the d u a l for H e

, ,
‘
, ,
d i d sp eak o f o n e fa i thful and on e evil mind ed but -
,
’
alluded to a ll the faithfu l an d to a ll the wicked .
On the same subj ec t ( the M e lem Ten z eel) or the

’
,
‘
Sign s of the D escent th e I m am B u ga v e e regarding ,
’
the chapter lxxvi vers e 1 H as much t i me passed over

.
,
man without h i s being thought of ? an d the eighth ’
verse of the same c ha pter Who though themselve s ,

‘
,
sighing after the m eal give food to th e poor th e orphan , , ,

’
and the captive says there has been much d isputatio n
,
regard i ng these verse s and the cause of their des c ent , .
M ej ahid and A t a ibn Abb as rel ate that th ey cam e

’ ’
’
down for Alee and in a su cci nct manner s t ate th e fact
,
whilst in other commentaries it is narrated i n d etail .
H asan an d H osa i n ( s on s of Ale e ) having fallen ill t h e ’

,
holy an d revere d Prophe t an d all of the As —h abs went to

’
see them and Alee and F at im eh were addressed by the
,
P rophet and requested to make a vow in favour of their

,
beloved children ; this was also d one by the ma i d en

slave s of the parents named Su roor and F e z eh an d they , ,
all together vo w ed that if God would restore them to

health they shoul d fast for thre e days After they had
,
.
recovered they had noth i ng to eat and Alee went to a

, ,
’
J e w and pur c hased o n credit three bushels o f barley ,
which in p erforman c e of the vow h e d evoted to their

, ,
fast One of the thre e measures F at im e h ground so as

.
,
to make five c akes Wh en their term of fasting ha d

.
ended she gave on e to Alee on e to H asan one to

,
’
, ,
H o sain and another to the m a id Fe zeh whilst she kept

, ,
on e for herself J ust then a miserable beggar appeare d

.
,
and exclai m ed Oh ! family O f the Pro p h e t of G od I

,
‘
C C 2
am a most miserabl e Mussulman give m e of your food ,
a n d God w i ll recompense you b y bestowing on you the

”
c ho i cest meats of Para d ise O n heari n g th es e word s .
,
t h ey gave him the c a ke that was in the i r hands a n d con ,
te n ted th emselves w i th a cup of water and fasted till th e ,
d ay following F at im eh again groun d another mea sure

.
,
an d ma d e fi v e more c akes When th ey were about to .
partake of th ese an orph a n came along an d asked for

,
food so t h ey ga v e t h em to i t rej oicing its heart by th e

, ,
g i ft an d a ga i n con t e n t e d t h em s elv es with a d rink of

,
s
w ater an d went to sleep On th e day following she

,
.
,
ground the t h ird measure of barley and made fi v e c akes , ,
a n d j ust as they were about to eat them a c aptive made ,
his appearance and asked for food say ing I t is thre e , ,
d ays t h at I am w ithout food and h a v e bee n kep t t i ed ,
w ithout anyth i ng to eat pray for God s sake have pity ’
, ,
on m e So they all gave the st arv ing man their c akes

.
,
and conten ted themselves with water Some say that .
thi s captive was a believer in the Trin i ty and the narra ,
tive goe s to prove that to feed a s u ffer i ng c a ptive even ,
if h e b e a Trin i taria n is a good a c t i on and must be s o, ,
regarded I t i s sa i d that on t h e morni n g of th e fourth

.
day A lee took hi s ten son s i n his hands and went to th e

,
’
ble ssed Prophet w h o rem a rke d th a t hu n ger had redu c ed

,
them so much t h at they trembled like young bird s and

O h A le e how deeply you have
’
h e said to Ale e ‘ ’
, , ,
’
a ffli c ted m e 3 Th en taking th em with him he wen t to
, ,
F at im eh whom he s a w in the M z lz r ab ( pulpit ) her

’
, ,
s t oma c h stuck to her back an d her eyes were sunken ,

.
H is gr i ef was th ereby greatly i ncreased J u st then the .
A n gel Gabriel descending addressed the blessed Pro

, ,
phet an d said Take th i s from the All J ust handing

, ,
‘
-
,
’
him th e c hapter entitled Ji n an or man ,

.
’
“
I t i s related that when t h e Prophet once visited
F at im e h he said to her
,
My d a ughter it i s now fo u r ,
‘
,
days since your fa th er has partaken of a n y foo d He .

’
had in fa c t left M edin eh and met with an A rab en

, , ,
gaged in drawing water from a well ; and addressing ,
h im asked whether h e would employ him to dra w u p

,
water for him and having consented an agreemen t w as

, , ,
The Prophet n ex t asked him whether he loved him and ,

’
Alee made t he sam e an swer H e n ext asked h im .
w hether he loved F at im eh an d h e replied again i n the ,
a ffirmative H e th en inqu i red whether he loved H assan

.
and H osain an d he an swered as before

,
.
The Prophet n o w asked h im h ow his h eart could

c ontain s o much love an d h e was unabl e to reply , .
Troubled by his wan t of ab i l i ty Alee went t o F at im e h ,

’
and explained the same to her She remarked th a t h e .
did n ot need to b e troubled for love for God c am e ,
from the mind that for the Prophet from faith love for
her c a me from human pass i o n and that for their son s ,
from n ature .
“ ’
Alee n ow re t urned forthwith to the Prophet an d ,
ha v ing g i ven him thi s answer th e latter exclaimed , ,

’
‘
This i s not the fruit of fa i th but of the prophetship , ,
thereby m eaning that th e an swer did n ot pro c eed from

himself but from F at im eh I n fact h er explanations
,
.
,
were full of w i sdom m erit an d deep refle c tion

, ,
.
’
F at im eh also relates that when Alee el Murtez a had
captured the fortress of H y b er and with his Z u l F z é ar
’
( a sword presented to him by the Prophet

) had c ut off
the he a d s of the in fi d els and retur n ed soun d an d with
, ,
much booty h e tol d F at im eh to remark that h e owed

,
’
the cap t ure to that sword She an swer ed Oh Alee ‘ ’

‘
.
, , ,
I know the Z u l Fik ar far better than him Alee went .

’
to the Prophet an d rep e a ted to him what had oc c urred

,
and the words of F at im eh ; an d h e arose an d going to ,
se e h er asked how it was sh e k n e w better the Z u l

,
F ik ar than Alee F at im eh repl i e d Oh m ost ex c ellent

’
.
, ,
an d respec t ed parent the n ig h t in w h i ch you went up to

,
heaven and s a w your Lord you reposed under a tre e O f ,
Paradise from w h ich y o u gathered t w o apples on e of

, ,
w h i c h y ou gave to my m other and the other you ate I ,

.
am the fruit of thos e two apples . At the time the sword

’
of Zu l P ik ar hung up on the tree .
Th e Prop het was much gratifie d by her a n s wer, and

39 1
on leaving her exclaim ed th at it was a bl essing for any

,
”
person to h ave such a daughter .
I n the work entitled the M es ab e eh Shereef it i s ‘ ’
related as an anecdote coming from Sa d ibn abi

, ,
’
V ak k as that the blessed Prophet once remarked to Alee

’
, ,
‘
Thou art to m e what Aaron was to Mo ses and of a ,
’
truth after m e there 15 no prophet Thur Pis ht ee states
,
.
that on th e oc c asio n of the war of T eb ook the Prophet ,
app ointed Alee as h i s Khel i feh ( lieutenant ) over th e

’
p eople an d directed that he should pres i de over their

,
affairs The hypocrites having learned this d e c lared

.
,
th a t h e had n ot appointe d Alee as Khelifeh an d it was ’
o n ly to rid himself of worry that he so n amed h i m .
’
When Ale e heard of this he put on his sword an d went , ,
directly to the Prophet then at a p lace c alled J erf an d , ,
asked him whether what th e hypocrite s had said regard

ing his app ointm ent viz that it was only to free himself
, .
,
from worry was true ? The Prophet de c lare d that they

,
w ere all liars and that h e had n am ed his Khalifeh in

,
consequen ce of his intende d absence from M ed i n eh :
that he should return and act as such for him even if , ,
h is own wife ( Kha d eej eh ) an d that of Alee sho u ld refuse ’
to ac c ept of him For y ou are to m e w h at A a ron was

'
to M o ses j ust as it is said in the holy Ayat A n d Moses

, ,
”
said t o h i s brother b e my Khalifeh am ong th e p eople
,
.
All c ommentators an d con fi rm ers of th i s Ayat held t h l s

‘
to be a l egal d e ed i n favour of Alee Even the R afi z e es ’

.
and th e S hey ees hold to th i s t o show that the C alip h at

’
b elo n ged to Alee an d that he thus a c cepted it At a

’
,
.
later p er i o d disagre e m ents arose between them and the

, ,
R afi z e es declare d that the As h abs were gu i lty of blas -
p h e m y an
,
d o th ers aga i n accu sed Alee of the s a m e crime ’
.
A c cording to the i r statemen t Ale e had a full r i ght t o th e ,

’
C a lip h at and if so why d i d he n ot arise a n d dem and

, ,
it ? All of this ( says th e author) I must mos t surely con

dem u as entirely erroneous .
K aze e state s that th ere i s n o room t o doub t of the

,
‘
blasphemy of t hose w h o make su c h a d e c laration ; for

3 9 2 T HE D ERVI S HE S .
any on e wh o woul d thu s inj ure his whol e p eople an d ,
d e base the high est authorities de n ies the holy law itself
, ,
and destroys l slam i sm The fact i s t h at the Ayat ( before

.
’
quoted ) in no man ner served as a deed to their de c lara

tion in fa v our of Alee i t can only serve at best as a
’
, ,
proof of his excellent c haracter but cannot be quoted to ,
sho w that he was l /z e best or even equal to t h e other

,
successors of the blessed P roph et On th e oc c asion of .
the war of Teb ook he was named Khal i feh only for the
,
reasons assigned j ust as Aaron a c ted for M o ses for a

,
p a rticular period I t is well kn own that Aaron did not

.
become Kh al i feh after M oses and there i s good reaso n

,
t o believe that h e died full forty years previou s to M oses ,
and only was ap p ointed to lead the prayers when the

”
latter went to b e with the Lord .
I t is also related as an anecdote in th e M es ab eeh

, ,
’
that Ale e stated

’
Glory b e to that M ost Hi gh God who ,
cau seth th e grain to gro w and who created man on

, ,
a ccount of the words whi c h the blessed Prophet used in
my b ehalf be c au se he lo v ed only the faithful and d es

, ,
p is e d th e hyp ocrit i ca l the c orrect sign i ficat i on o f whi c h

H a d ees is t h at the p erson who only regards Al ee o n
’
account of his c onnexion with the Prophet and for th e ,
love whi c h th e latter bore for him and from the in fl uence ,
whi c h the acts of Alee had upon the conquests of I slam

’
is m and love s him because of them has in these so

, ,
many evidence s of th e healthy faith of th e b eliever H e .
who is h a ppy on account of the coming of I slam i sm ,
and renders O bed ience to the things whi c h the blessed

G o d an d H is Prophet have exhibited but who opposes ,
’
Alee o n a cc oun t of the same entertains a feeling which
,
is the re v erse of what it should be and i s a gross hyp o ,
cr it e ; his mystical fa ith wil l be evil in the extrem e ,
from all of which may G od preserve u s
T eh il bin Sa d relate s tha t

’
on the occasion of the
ba tt l e of H yb er, the blessed Prophet sa i d he woul d
them to b e brethren h e had m a d e him brother t o n o

,
on e ? To this the Prophet repl i ed Y ou are my brother

, , ,
both in this life an d in th e life to c om e The I m am .

’
T e rm e z ee rel a tes th e sam e as a remarkable H a d ees ‘ ’
( H a d e e s C arbee ) or on e n ot fully c onfirmed .
On the subj e c t of thi s sam e H a d e e s I n is rel a tes that ,
once th e blessed Prophet had a roasted bird before him ,
of which he was about to partake and ex c la i m ed O ‘

, ,
God ! send to m e him whom Thou lovest most among

Thy c re a tures so th at he may eat of thi s bird with me
,
.
’
’
At that m oment Alee cam e to th e Proph et and th ey ate ,
the bird together T e rm ez e e states that this is a remark

.
able and beautiful H ad ees and Thur Pis h t ee 0 11 com ,
m en t in g on it after alluding t o it with mu c h eloquence

,
and ex c ellence says I n n ovators have wasted much

, ,
‘
breath 0 11 this H a d e e s an d have b lown th e feathers ,
q uite off the wings of th e bird making a great deal of ,
very l i ttle Without wishing to cast any blam e 0 11 the

.
C a lip h a t of Abu Bekr thi s H ad e e s should on the de c ease

, ,
o f the Prophet have been the first prin c iple on whi c h to

,
unite the Mussulman p eopl e toget h er for it would have ,
c on solidated them an d susta i ned them ,

.
’
“
To this we reply that the H ad ees in question does ,
n ot at all stre n gthen those which are of an O bligato ry
character As to the precedents as well as all the good

.
,
things that arose in the C a lip h at of Abu Bekr th ey con ,
d em n these h oly H ad ees es notwithstanding the m ost ,
exact i n formation whi c h we p ossess from t h e whol e of

the As h abs w ho se remarks on them still ex i st I t i s
-
,
.
,
'
however n ot proper to deny th e H a d e es in q u es t ion a n d

, ,
on e o f these p ersons I ni s quotes th e fact that it was

, ,
actually uttered and n o on e d i sputes i t The real sen se

,
.
an d signifi c ation O f it i s therefore that G od should send

, ,
him on e of H is m ost belove d for his p erson a l excellence , ,
and super i or intelligen ce There is nothing in the holy .
law showi n g that Ale e was the most beloved of all of

’
’
God s creature s for am ong these was the blesse d Prophet
,
himsel f We must then only a c cept what i s conforma bl e

.
to th e holy oracl es of the Koran and kn own t o the com ,
munity of the p eopl e then with the Prophe t I t must

,
.
,
T HE D E R VI S H E S .
3 95
therefore b e read as we have sta ted above or as it was

, ,
understood by the c hildren of the Prophet s un c le ( Abu ’
Bekr) whom h e loved very m uch ; because he often

spok e freely but always attentively and n ever with
, ,
n egligen c e I n the M es ab eeh it is related in c o n nexion

.
, ,
with this H a d ees that Alee h i m self stated : Whenever ,

’ ‘
I asked anything of the blessed Prophet he would a nswer ,
m e ; an d i f I remained s i lent h e would commence a ,
c on v ersation explaini n g his meaning .

’
“
I t is also related in the M e s ab e eh as subsequ ent to ,
the pre c eding H a d e es that the blessed Prophet on c e ,
said with regard to A lee I am the ho u se of Wisdom

,
’
,
‘
,
’
an d Ale e is the door T er m e z ee states th a t this also i s
’
.
a H a d ees Garb ee an d M u h e e el Seneh who i s the a uthor ,
o f this book declares that it was n ot known to any on e

,
’
o f the compan i on s of the Prophet The Sh e e as say that .
it w as th e inte n tion of the Prop h et that i nstruction in ,
m etaphysics ( Hi km et) should b e peculiar to Alee that ’
n o on e else had th i s fa culty an d that it c ould only be ,
a c quired by h is m edium God in H is ow n firm words .

, ,
has sa i d Piety doe s not c onsist in your en tering your

,
‘
h ouse through a door i n its rear ; but i n the fear of G od , ,
e n ter therefore by its proper portals ( c h ap ii verse ’

. .
There I S in fa c t n o need of this at all for Paradise i s

, , ,
widely open to those a c quainted with spir i tual wisdom

( Hi kmet ) an d it has eight,
portals for th e i r admission .
I n the M e s ab eeh it i s related as comi n g from J abir that

, ,
the blessed Proph et called A 1ee the day that he sent -

’
,
h im to T ay i f an d spake with h i m secretly

,
Though th i s .
conversation was a le n gthy on e he said to his un c le s ,

’
sons I d id n ot c onclude with h im bu t G od d i d

,
‘
,
.
’
N ow the express i on t o c o n cl u d e s i gn i fie s to converse ‘ ’
secretly The commentator Tay ib e e says that these

.
’
, ,
word s m ean that God c ommanded the Prop h et to c on ‘
verse se c retly with Alee and I truly b elieve that it was ’
by D iv i ne c omman d that h e sp oke with h i m of se c ret

thi n gs The same work relates on the part of Ami
‘
—
Atieh ou whom b e th e D ivin e satisfaction —
.
,
, that the
Proph et of G od sent troop s in a holy warfa re and that ,
’
Alee was am o n g th em On that Oc cas i on th e blessed .
,
Prophe t el evated his hand a nd prayed O God d o n o t , , ,

’
k i ll Ale e but send h im ba c k to me
, .
’
On on e o c casion the As h ab s in qu i r e d of th e bless ed

,
-
Pro phet the cau se and reason of h i s great lo v e for A l ee

.
’
so that i n conformance with it they m i g h t als o 1n cre a s e

their a ffe c tion for h iin
, ,
I n reply he b a de them go and

.
,
’
call Alee to him and l earn the cause from himself One
of them went arid c a lled h i m
, .
and whilst he w a s gon e , ,
the Prophet said O my c ompa n ion s sh ould an y on e do

,
‘
good to you what would you d o i n return to him ? They

,
’
repl i ed that they would d o good to him H e then asked .
them what they w ould do if anyon e d id harm to them ;

and they answere d that they w o uld still d o him good .
The Prophet rep eated the latter questio n and the y bent ,
do w n th eir heads and made n o reply J ust then Alee

,
.
’
appeared an d th e blessed Prophet asked him what h e

,
would d o i f any person should d o him evil in return for

, ,
h i s ow n goo dness Alee replied O Prophet of God I

.
’
, ,
would do him good Should he aga i n do y ou evil

.
’ ‘
,
’
what would y o u do ? add e d th e Prophet ; and Ale e ’
repl i ed as b efore Thi s question was p ut for the sevent h

.
’
time by th e most excellent of prop h ets an d Ale e always
, ,
replied the same and fi nally added O Prophet of God

, , ,
I swear by that A lm i ghty O ne an d there is none other , ,
that should su c h a person harm me a thousan d years , ,
in ret u rn for my o w n kindness I wo uld always cont i nue ,

’
to d o him goo d On heari n g these word s th e As h abs
.
,
-
all agreed that the love of the Prophet was well found ed ,
an d they O ffered up a prayer for the obj ect O f his

affe c tio n .
“
Be w are from suppos i ng that the qu estion o f the
,
As h abs w a s caused by any feel i ng of j ealousy for it was

-
only so as to kn o w the c aus e of the particular affection s

’
th e ble ssed Proph et bore for Alee .
O n ce three p ersons visited the Prophet o f God on e

, ,
of th e p e ople of I brah i m o n e of M oses and on e o f , ,
Jesu s . The first asked the Prophet H ow shall we ,
know that you are indee d what y ou declare yourself i e ,

. .
th e greate s t and most excellent of prophets and the '
m ost accep table of G od —for G od said to I brahi m

,
,
39 8 TH E D E VI H ES R S .
on h earing t h e preceding the individual was quite over ,
com e ; tha t he fell at the feet of the blessed Prophet ,
and then raising up his h ands re c ited with great j oy the ,
C onfession of Fa i th .
N ext came th e ind ivi dual wh o was of the p eopl e O f

J esus and asked When y ou say I am n ear God an d
, ,
‘
, ,
a m b elov e d of H im and am the Lord of the b eginning

'
an d O f the end i n g and t h at J esus was the Spirit of God

( k a la) a n d that he resuscitated the dead in God s
’
R oo A ll ,
nam e how are we to know the truth of this ? To this

,
’
the blessed Prophe t and th e Ap ostle of the Op pressed ,

’
a n swered Go and c all Alee
,
‘
On hearing this c om ’
.
man d on e of th e As h abs wen t and bade Alee com e to

,
-
’
the P roph et a n d on hi s arrival the latter d irected the

individual to p o i nt ou t to Alee one of th e very oldes t ’
c emeter i es This p erson repli ed that in su c h a pla c e

.
there was a grave on e thousand ye a rs O ld Go sa i d .

‘
,
’
’
the blessed Prop h et to Ale e go to that grave and c ry ,
ou t thre e times and wait pat i en t ly until you see what

,
’
God will do Ale e pro c e e d ed to the sp ot an d c ried
.
’
out once O J acob ,

The grave immediately opene d
h e cr i ed ou t the same once m ore and the gra v e be c am e ,
c om pletely open on c alling th e same once m ore 10 an ,
aged man w i th a bright c ountenan ce c ame o u t of th e

, ,
grave with hair so long that it reached from his head to

,
his feet and standing upright h e c ried ou t w ith a loud ,
voice the C onfession of Faith H e n ext ac c ompanied .
’
Alee to the presence o f the Prophet of God w here at , ,
the sight of so extraordinary a miracle a large number ,
o f in fi d els accepted the true faith A s t o the i nd i vidual .
o f the p eople o f J esus he j oined the p eople of the Pr o ,
phet a n d be c ame a Mussulm a n .
’
R eg a rding these traits or sketch es of Alee s c haracter
’
,
it will suffi c e to add that whe n the blessed Prophet was

commanded by the Most H igh to em i grate ( the H ej reh )
from M ek k eh to M edin eh H e dire c ted Alee to o c cupy ,
’
his bed an d that h e should b e h is lieutenant in the holy

,
Ke b eh to watch over h i s family to distribute among

’
their own ers all the O bj e c ts deposited in the keeping of

t h e Prophet and t o take care of su c h As h abs as should
,
-
3 99
re m ain in the Ke b eh That sam e n ight the miserable

’
.
in fi d e ls atta c ked the dwelling of the blessed Prophet ;

but God in H is infi n ite m ercy sen t a sleep u pon them
, , .
Th e devil O n who m be malediction s was with -
,
’
them an d he also fell asleep
,
Alee together wi t h Abu .
,
Bekr went out of th e house an d walked about The

, ,
.
M ost H igh command ed the angel s M lé a z l ( Mi c hael ) and

’
I z ra f eel ( o n whom be the D i vin e salutation of p ea c e ) to

hasten to H is lion Ale e becaus e the in fi d els wished to
,
’
commit a c r i m e I n th e w ink of the eye these t w o exalte d

.
a n gel s appeared — M i c hael stood by Alee s h e a d and ’ ’
I z rafe el a t his feet wh ere they prayed ,

Soon aft er w ard s .
the de vi l a w oke and cried out aloud M ohammed h a s

, ,
es c aped To the in fi d els this accursed on e h a vin g

.
’
appeared in a human form they addressing h i m a sked , , , ,
H o w should we k now and h e replied I t i s n ow ,

‘
s o many thousan d years s i nce I have had any rest that

I slept t o n i ght a n d it i s p ossi bl e th a t M ohammed has
,
'
bewitched me and put m e to sleep ,

After this all of .
’
,
th e in fi d e ls having fled away the p eopl e entered the ,
house of th e Prop h et O f God and Alee arose from his ’
bed and standing up they beheld that the Prophet of

,
God was really gon e and that in h i s place was Alee ,

’
who came suddenly out O n th e following day he pro .

,
c ee d e d to the K e b e h and took u c

’
p the place in whi h,
the blesse d Prophet was u sed to stand an d from then c e ,
c r i ed out that whoe v er had any O bj ects deposited with

th e Prophet of God they should c ome for w ard and
receive them whi c h on produ c ing the token s re c eived
, ,
for them they did and took them away so that n ot o n e

, ,
rema i n ed All of the As —. h abs in the holy K e beh sought ’
’
prote c tion of Alee and n ot on e had reason to compla i n
,
o f any wrong As the Prophet s dwell i ng was in sid e the

.
’
Ke b eh Ale e made it his a bode

’
,
’
Some tim e after th i s .
the Prophet c ommanded that Alee should take his fa mily ’
and p ro c eed to M ed i n eh w h ich h e did ; and go i n g to ,
th e congregation of the in fi d els of the K or ais h he told ,
t h em of his intention to s et ou t on th e day following an d ,
that i f any on e had anything to say let him speak All .
lowered their head s and n ot on e had a word to an swer

,
.
HE D ERVI S H E S .
After th e departure of Alee Abu J e b el ( on whom h e ’
c urses ) a sked t hem O ye great men O f th e Ko rais h ! , ,
why d i d you n ot speak ou t whilst the fa mily of Moham

med was s t i ll here for it can d o u s n o har m ? They ,
’
then assemb led aro u nd A b u Jeh e l and d is c u ssed th e

matter and finally pro ce eded to A bb as a n d begged h im
,
’
to advis e his broth er s son ( Alee ) n o t to remo v e the ’ ’
family of M o h amm ed lest trouble should arise in c on ,

’
sequence O f its departure Ab bas found the S haa z
’
M u r a aa ( the king o f m en Alee ) an d spoke with h im

’ ’
, ,
o n the subj e c t but the latter answere d that I nshalla h ‘

,
on the morrow h e would remove the family of the Pro

phet . T h i s h e did and was followed by four or fi v e of
’
,
the Kora is h mou n ted on horses Previous to Alee s .

’ ’
departure howe v er h e de c lared that he would fi ght

, ,
whoever attempted to prevent h i m c arrying into effect

the orders of t h e Prophe t O n hearing th i s from Abb as .
’
the in fi d els were greatly troubled and formed a compa c t .
’
among them sel v es n ot to permit Alee to leave the c ity .
So that w hen they m et Alee and ordered him to re turn ’
h e refused an d having m ou n ted his charger comm en ced

,
fighting them an d through Divine assist a n c e was enabled

,
to be a t the m all H e n ow continued on h i s way and .

,
n ext m et w i th M ik d ad bin Aswad who also commenced ,

’
fighting him But t h e I m am Alee in the most fearl ess
.
,
manner withstood the a tt a c k and soon dismounted him

, , .
Pla ci ng his foot u pon this man s breast he invited h im ’
t o ac c ept of the true fa i th which he at once mo st c heer ,
fully did and became a Mus sulman This person s son

,
.
’
be c am e a marty r in th e d efence of th e I m am H osa i n

(
’
A 1ee s so n )
’
at Kerbel a ; and beside being a most hero i c
m a n subsequently be c am e on e O f the m ost ex c ellent of
,
the As h abs I f any on e w i shes to kno w m ore about th i s

-
.
story they will please refer to the work ent i tled th e S lyer ‘
en Nebee ( a b i ography of the Prophet ) where it is

’
,
gi v en in a detailed manner .
“
The I m am Alee in consequence O f having heard the
’
Friend of God in the Prophet declared in a H a d ees ,

’
, ,
’
that P overty was his pr i d e bec a me extrem ely poor
‘
, ,
.
From t ha t mom ent he t ook n o in t erest in worldly con ,

40 2 TH E D E V R I S H ES .
s trangely y ou have ac t ed ! she only said T he Mos t ’

,
‘
’
H igh and Noble Allah will provide for us .
“
As to Alee remark i ng that his wife was much a ffl ic t ed
’
, ,
a n d that h i s t w o sons wept from pure hunger his hear t , ,
became troubled and he left the house in the des i gn of

, ,
proceeding t o the blessed Prophet of God to see what ,
would follow for it was well known that should any on e ,
be O ppressed with ten thousand sorrows the sight of the ,
counten a nce of th e blessed Prophe t at on ce removed

them all and i n their stead he be c ame filled with i nnu
,
m er ab le j oys On his way he met with an Arab leading

.
a fatted c amel who asked him whether h e would not

,
’
purchase it and Alee replied that h e d i d not possess any
,
ready money w i th which t o pay for it To this th e Arab .
replied that he would cred i t him for the amount and a s

’
Alee requ e sted t o learn the price he added that it was ,
1 0 0 A k elz a s Alee ac c epted the offer an d the Arab

’
.
,
delivered him th e animal Taking its bridle in his han d .

,
he procee d ed on his way an d soon met w i th another ,
Arab w h o addressing him by name inquired whe t her

, , ,
he would not sell it Al ee replied that he would and

.
’
,
the Arab asked h i m whether he would ac c ept of 3 0 0

A é efi as for it H aving c onsented he handed over the
.
,
camel to the pur chaser who forthwi t h counted him ou t ,
t h e sum thu s agreed upon .
'
’
Alee mu c h delighted p rocee d ed at on c e to the bazaar
, , ,
where he purchased an abundance Of food and fruit an d ,
thence return e d to his house Op eni n g the door his .

,
ch i ldren clung to him d elighted with the prospect of ,
partaking of a bountiful meal Their mother inqu i red .
o f him how he b ecame p ossessed of so much money ,

’
and A lee related t o her the preceding occurrence .
After satisfy i ng their hunger they all return ed thanks to ,
that Sublime and Blessed Allah who thus provided for

their pressing wants Alee then arose and after telling
.
’
,
h i s wife of his intention proceeded to th e residence of ,
the Pride of the U niverse the most blessed Prophe t of ,
Allah The latter having however j us t left his house

.
, , ,
’
Alee met him on the way to his ow n premises w here he ,
told the As h abs n ear him he desired visiting h i s daughter

-
,
40 3
and s on in law So soon as the P rophe t b eheld Alee

- -
.
’
,
’
he smiled and exclaimed O Alee from whom did you
, ,
‘
,
buy the c amel and t o whom did y ou sell i t ? and Alee

,
’ ’
’
replied G o d and H is Prophe t kno w
,
‘
The Prophet .
n ow informed him that the s eller was the angel G ab r a il

’
,
’
a n d the purchaser the angel I z rafi l and that it was on e ,
of the camels o f Jennet ( Paradise ) ; that the all j ust -
All ah had bestowe d up on him fifty favours for the on e

he had granted t o th at afflicted M ussulman ; and tha t
thos e whi c h w ere in s t ore for him in eternity were only , ,
k nown to God .
“
D uring the fil l/ r a z S lz er eef ( or the Ascension ) of the
'
blessed Prophet he beheld a lion in t he seventh heaven , ,
O f so terrible an appearan ce that it w as p erfe c tly inde ,
scribable H e inquired of the a n gel G abrail what lion

.
’
i t was and was inform ed that it was n ot a w ild animal

, ,
’
b u t was the spirituality of the I m am Alee ; adding
‘ ’
,
‘
O friend of Allah remove your ring from off your ,
finger and cast it in its mou t h wh i ch he having done

, ,
’
the lion with great hu m ility and many c aresses took and
, ,
held the ring in its m outh On the day following the .
Ascension the Prophet gave an accoun t of the same t o

,
the As h abs and whilst rela t ing the frightful appearance

-
’
o f the lion and the matter of the ring ,
Alee who was , ,
al so present wi t hdrew t he la t ter from his ow n mouth

,
and handed it t o him greatly to t he surprise of all the ,
sp e c tators From this remarkable o c currence they were

.
enabled to unders t and the sublimity of his chara c ter ,
an d their love and affec t ion for him became grea t ly

increased .
“
Of the Ay a t s ( verses of the Koran ) sent in honour of
’
Alee on e refers t o the f ollowing oc c urrence Som e of
,
.
t he learned U lem a s t ate t hat t h e E m ir el M a m z n eerz

'
’
,
’
or
‘
Comm a nder of t h e Fai t hful was once en
gaged praying in t he Masj id or chap el when a beggar , ,
’
approached him an d asked for s ome thing Alee
,
.
,
t urning aside his face w i thdrew a ring from off his finger ,
a n d handed it t o the man This act of generosity having .
bee n agreeable t o t he M ost H igh the follow i ng Ayat ,
d escended from heaven ch v 6 0 Y our protectors ,

. .
D D 2
40 4 TH E D E V R I S HE S .
are G od and H is Prophet and those w h o b eli ev e wh o , ,
p erform the prayers exactly who give alms and wh o in , ,

’
cline themselves before God .
“
An other Ay at was the subj e c t of a disput e bet ween
’
Abb as an d Telh a The former said I am of those ex
.
,
c ellen t person s who supply th e pilgrim s w i th water and

the latter declare d I am of those excellen t ones w h o,
‘
have charge of t he key of th e h oly h ouse and ,
if I choose I c an Sp en d the n i gh t t h erein

,
To this .
’
A l ee remarked What do y ou say ? I t is now more than

’
,
ten months sin c e I have turn ed my face toward s thi s

K z blelz ( th e Ke beh ) and you were n o t here even then
’
’ ’
, .
I t was on this occasion that th e following Ayat descend ed

from heaven c h ix 9 2 0 1 — ,
Will y ou place thos e
. .
who b ear water to the pilgrims an d visit th e holy Oratory

on the sam e footing with those w h o b elieve i n God and
in the Last Day and fight in th e path iof God ? N ow

, ,
they will no t be equal before G od God does n ot direct

t he w i cked Those who have left their ow n coun t ry
.
,
who fight in the path of God with their property an d

their p erson s will fill a more elevated pla c e before God
,
they w i ll b e the happy .

’
“
There i s another Ayat comm anded by G od relative , ,
t o Alee bin Ab i T alib F at im eh and H asan and H osa i n

’
, , ,
c h xl i i 2 2
. . Th i s is what G od promi ses t o H is servan t s
who bel i eve and d o good Tell them All that I ask of .
,
y o u i n return for my ministration s is some for my re
lat ion s Whoever shall have performed a good deed we

.
,
’
will raise in value God i s indulgent and thankful
Ka l aa a on whom b e t h e D ivine satisfaction —states
’ —
.
that the M a s k r z é s at a m eeting declared Let us see

’
, , ,
’
whether M ohammed wishes for a recompense ? On
’
these words that Aya t descended as is stated by Sa eed
, ,
ibn Jeb eel I bn Abb as remarks that in th e expressio n

.
’
,
relation s i s c omprised Alee F at im eh and H asan and

‘
,
’ ’
, ,
H osain and no on e must ever feel an illwill for them .
“
Another Ayat i s that in which the M ost H igh sho w s
’
th e purity of the religious sen t iments of Alee ch xv ,
. .
47 : We will remove all falsehood from ou t of the i r

‘
heart s living t ogether as brothers they w ill repose upo n ,

4 0 6 TH E D ERVI S HE S .
receive d t he reply To bear t estim ony t ha t t here is n o ,
G od bu t Allah and that M ohamme d is t he Prophet O f

,
Allah for H e is that G od who honours and degrades

men and where H i s Prophet s o admonishe d the people
of M ek k eh they would turn their faces away and de
, ,
clare otherwise ; for it is said i n the Great Book ( Koran ) ,
ch xli 2 5 : The in fi d els say D O n ot l i sten to the

. .
‘
,
Koran an d speak loudly so as t o dro w n the vo i ce of

,
’
those who read it I n the end God so elevated him .
, ,
that H e commanded H e is most dear to m e and y ou , ,

’
must hear and O bey everything that h e dire c ts On this .
head the Aya t say s When you visit the Prophe t ‘

,
before entering n ear him bestow an alms for your ow n , ,
welfare ( ch lviii ’
D O n ot address him a word
. .
‘
’
until he com es ou t of hi s room The Ayat says also .
( c h xlix Those who call thee with a loud voice

‘
. .
,
whilst thou art still wi t hin thy apart ments are mos t ly , , ,
p eople of no sense Also ( ch xl i x D o n ot ra i se.

’
. .
‘
your voice ab ove tha t of the Prophet Also ( ch xxx ii i .

’
. .
H e was at t he distance of ten arcs or nearer

‘
, .
G od placed h i m i n so eleva t ed a p osition tha t the angel ,
G abrail an d all the o t her angels though they went round

’
it were unable to reach it Those who falsely swear

,
.
,
who shout with i n the limits of the H a r ar e z S lz er eef at

'
M ek k eh an d M edina or are defi c ient in their prayers ,
and fasts must bestow alms upon th e p oor and thus

, ,
a c qu i re the satisfaction o f the M o s t Hi gh The holy .
verse says ( ch xlv 2 0 ) Those who do evil think tha t

we will treat them equally w ith those w h o b elieve —w h o
,
. .
d o good and tha t for either life an d death i s the same

t hey j udge badly .
’
A n A yat descended for Alee whose faith was co rrec t ’

, ,
an d all his ac t s were good and praisable without hypo ,
cri s y and unheard of for pe rfection

,
The C hristians -
.
( M u s h r ik l er
) said to h i m : I f what y ou d eclare
( abou t ‘
G od and H is Prophet) b e true y o u will be greater than ,
we in this world and in the other (

’
Ch xxxiii
,
. . .
R emain quiet in your houses ; adopt n o t the luxur i es

of the tim es of I gnorance observe the hours of prayer
give alms ; O bey God and H i s Prophe t God only .
40 7
wishes t o free y ou from abominations and give y ou ,

’
p erfe c t purity .
S a eed bin Jeb eer relates on the p art of Abdullah bin

’
,
’
’
Abb as as coming from I bn Abb as that when the holy
,
’
verse descen ded T h ou givest fear an d t o ea c h p eopl e

,
‘
,
there i s a director in the true path the blessed Pr o ,

’
phet s t ated I am t he on e w h o gives t he fear and Alee

, ,
’
’
i s he who directs in the true path O Alee those w h o .
,
are directed w i ll be dire c ted by thee .

’
“
'
’
R ebiy at bin Naj d relates Ale e once stated : The ,
‘
blessed P rophet read over me and said You resembl e ,
J e sus the Son of Mary inasmuch as the J ews hated him

, , ,
and calumniated his mother The N a z a re en s loved .
him so greatly as to de c lare that he had no post or grade

among the prophe t s but was really G od To th i s Alee ,
.
’ ’
responded : M any persons destroy their souls for love

of me ; some love m e very mu c h an d are inimical to ,
the other As h abs I do no t love these and so m e w h o

-
love th e other As h abs hate m e ; both of whi c h are of-
the p eople of hell I am not a prophe t ; on me n o in.
spiration descends and yet with all the strength g i ven , ,
t o me I conform to God s book

’
,
Th e blessed Prophet ’
.
n ow added : A ll that I order y ou t o do is to conform

‘
t o t he will of the M ost H igh either through your ow n ,
free will or from misery and compulsion I f I should

,
.
ever order y ou to do what i s contrary t o this d o not obey ,
it for who obeys m e ob eys H im , .

’
Another narrat i ve i s that of Kais bin H ar i th An .
individual asked a question of M u avieh b i n Sofy an and ’
f or reply was directed to make the same interrogation of

for he knows bet t er than mysel f
’ ’
Alee The individual .
,
n evertheless p ers i sted in receiving an answer from him

, ,
for I shall love it more he add ed than any t ha t Alee ,

’
,
‘ ’
c an give me The M u avieh however declin ed and said

.
’ ’
, , ,
t o the individual You sp ea k falsely an d are a wi c ked

, ,
man for y ou show an avers i on for him who enj oys t o an ,
emin ent degree the resp ect and regard of the Prophe t
,
of G od on accoun t of his grea t knowledge of H im

, ,
’
resp ecting whom the Prophet has declared : O Alee ,
after m e y ou occupy t he place of Aaron after M ose s ;

,
with the di fference that after m e t here will b e n o other , ,
prophet I have also observe d that Omar often took

.
’
counsel w i th h i m ; and whenever any doubts arose he ,

’
would say Ale e is present let us ask him So ’
Mu avieh —on whom be th e Divin e satisfaction —sa i d to

, , .
the i nd i v i dual D epart and may the blessed Allah not

, ,
give any strength to your step s and so h e departed .
“
Another narrative is by Sa d bin Abi Y akk as Once ’
.
,
M u avieh came to me on ac c ount of some personal need

’
, .
’ ’
H e mentioned Alee and I told him that A lee had thre e
, ,
p ecul i ar characteristics of wh i ch had I but on e I would , , ,
be greatly beloved These I heard stated by the blessed .
Prophet h i msel f 1 Alee i s the Velee ( friend ) of

. .
’
”
whoso ever I am the Velee 2 The Prophet declared . .
the d ay of the battl e of Khyb er To morrow I w i ll g i ve ,

-
the standard to on e who i s beloved of Go d and H is

'
“ ’
Prophet and gave i t to Alee 3
,
Y ou are to m e wha t . .
Aaron was to
“
J abir b i n Abdallah relates t hat the Prophet once
’
s t ated : The nigh t duri n g whi c h I wen t up t o h eav en

'
( E l M i r aj
) I ’
passed by the p orters
,
and heard a voice ,
behind them say O M ohammed goodly is your father

, ,
I brahim and how goodly is your brother Alee bin Abi

,
’
Talib leave him a testimony from y ou that he had don e

good .
“
H asan Bahr e e relates tha t U n s bin Mali k h eard i t
from the Prophet There are thre e person s whom
Paradis e desires ardently to re c eive v iz Alee bin Abi ,
.
’
’ ’
Talib Amm ar bin Yasir and Selm an Farsee
, ,
.
Sa d bin Ab i Y akk as o n ce said M u avieh as k ed m e

’
,
’
D o y ou lo v e Alee ’
and I replied Why should I n ot ,
love h i m H ave I not heard the Proph e t s ay to him O ,

’ ’
Alee after m e you are what Aaron was to Moses
, ,
At .
t he b attle of Badr he came ou t of the fight and a voice , ,
cam e forth from his belly de c laring that God would ever ,
be with him ; and he neve r c eased fighting until he had ,
coloured h i s sword with the blood of the in fi d els .

’
“ ’ ’
Am i r bin Sh erb eel e l Sha h ee states Alee once r e
’
,
mark ed Z aid ibn Serha at the ba t tle of J emel was in

, , ,
the following con dition H e had fallen down in his .

sen t ing and consented or satisfying ) and t he M os t , ,
Glorious has created m e ou t of thre e things : the upper

part of m e is made of ambergr i s the middle camphor , ,
an d the lower mus k ; I was j oin ed together with the

water of life and thus was I c reated by the Sovere i gn
,
Lor d of the univers e for your brother Al ee b i n Abi ’
“
Talib .
“
Abu Z err G h ifare e also relates as comi n g from the ,
Prophe t of G od : Whoever i s separated from me is

‘
separa t ed from G od and whoever O Alee i s separated

, ,
’
,
from y ou is also separated from me U n s bin Mali k

’
.
states that The glory of all beings ( the Prophet ) men

,
‘
’
t ion e d Alee bin Abi T alib adoringly
’ ’
J abir bin A h .
dallah mention s from the sam e source : I t is written ‘
over the door of Paradise There is n o G od bu t Allah ,
M ohammed i s H is Prophet and Ale e i s the aider of ,

’
H is Prophet an d tha t th i s was so wr i t t en years

before the erec t ion of the heavens and th e earth .
’
“’
Abdallah bin M es ood relates : I was once in t he
’
’
compan y of t he bl essed Prophet when he said of A1ee , ,
“
Wisdom i s divided into t en p arts nine of which are ,
’ ’
given t o Alee an d on e to ,
Abdallah bin
’
Abb as relates that t he Prophet on e day came ou t of his
’
house h olding the hand of Alee in his ow n blessed
,
hand an d ex c laimed
,
Beware tha t n o on e b ear any
,
‘
hostile feel i ngs for Ale e for such an on e is an enemy of

’
G od and H is Prophe t ; whoever loves Ale e loves also

’
God and H is The same p erson relates that

the Prophe t once remarke d : Whoever wishes to se e ‘
the m eekness of Abraham th e wisdom of Noah t he , ,

”
p at ience of Joseph let h i m loo k u p on A 1ee bin Abi
,
T alib U n s bin Mali k says : I was once seated in

’ ‘
.
’
company w ith th e Prophet when suddenly Ale e ap ,
p e ar ed and seated himself behind him The Proph e t .
called t o him t o sit before him and addressing h im , ,

“ ’
said ,
O Alee G od has hon oured an d dist i nguished
,
” ’
o u wi t h the gift of four qualities above my ow n Alee
y .
“
rose t o his feet and exclaimed May my father and ,
mother b e devo t e d t o y ou ; h ow can a servant be

” “
honoured above hi s Lord ? The Prophe t replied O ,
41 r
Al ee when t h e M ost H i gh and Blessed God des i res t o

’
,
honour on e of H is servan t s H e bestows upon him those ,
thi n gs whi c h eye has n ot seen ear has n ot heard nor , ,

”
which have ever come into the mind of man E nis says .
“
that he observed on hearing this O Prophet of Allah
, , ,
explain this t o us so that we may understand it and he ,

“
continued G od has g i ven him such a wife as F at im eh
, ,
and n ot to me H e h a s given him t wo such son s as

H asan and H osain and none t o m e and H e has given ,
t o him such a father in —

law ( the Prophet himself) as H e -
,
”
has not given t o m e .
Sa eed bin Jeb eer relates that once t he Prophet too k

’
’ ’
the hand of Abd Allah bin A bb as an d they together ,
wal k ed t o the well of Z emze m where a number of p eople ,
were seated indulgi n g in improper remarks about Ale e

,
’
.
’
H e sen t away I bn Abb as an d approach i ng them s t ood , ,
st i ll and exclaimed Wh o is i t t hat dares to speak ill of

, ,
God and th e Prophe t of G od 2 They replied N on e of ’
u s have spoken ill of G od n or of Hi s Prophet Wh o ,

.
’ ‘
,
’
’
t h en added he sp eaks ill of Ale e bin Abi T alib
,
and
’
som e on e answered Ye s such has been spoken I ,
‘
,
.
‘
know it he added for I bear t es t imo n y t hat I heard i t

,
’
with my ow n ears an d whoever sp eaks ill of him speaks ,
ill of m e and whoever sp eaks ill of me has spoken ill of

,
t he M ost H igh an d H e will cas t him headlong into hell

,
.
’
“
A t iet el A vk ee rela t es : I once went to see J abir ‘
’
bin Abd Allah and found him much advanced in years , ,
hi s eyebrows covering his eyes I as k ed him a ques ti on .
’
abou t Alee an d on hearing his name h e raised up his
, ,
head and smiled for j oy and love of him an d ex c laimed , ,
I n the t ime of t he blessed Prophet the only hypocrites

’
we k n e w were t hose w h o were unfr i endly t o Alee an d ,
”
we therefore cons i d ered them all as en emies .
Sha b ee says
’
On c e Abu Bekr el Sid d eek on seeing
, ,
’
Alee remarked t ha t Whoever was well thought of by
,
him ( Alee ) an d met wi t h his favour would be held in high

’
consid erat i on by the blessed Prophet an d whosoever

’
Alee d eemed truly spiritual would be regarded by the ,
P rophe t as bei n g near t o G od ( in a spiritual se n se ) .

A y es ch a
rela t es tha t sh e on c e as k ed the blessed Pro
phe t Who after him was the best amongst the p eople
, , , ,
and he answered Abu Be kr el Sid d eek after him I in , ,
quired and he add ed Om a r and n ext I asked and h e

, ,
’
, ,
said Othm an F at im eh on hearing this ex c laimed O

,
’
.
, , ,
”
Prophet of G od have you n othi n g to say for A lee l ,
’ ’
“
an d he replied I am Alee and Ale e is myself ; have ,
’
,
’
”
o u ever heard any o n e c omm end h i s own self Z
y
“
Zaid el A b id e en b i n Al ee H osain relates that he
’ ’
once heard Ale e b i n Abi Talib declare The Prophet

’
,
‘
o f God has t aught me a thousan d doors of kno w ledge
each one of which has op ened to m e a thousand others .
Abd Allat lk en d i relates that M u avieh b i n Abu

’
,
’
Sofyan made the pilgrimage after the death of Alee ’

,
an d c oming among the congregation th ere seated him ,

-
’
self in the presen c e of Abd Allah bin Abb as and Abd ’ ’
Allah bin Omar M u av ieh placed his h and up on the

’
.
’
’
knee of Abd Allah bin Abb as and said My affair i s ’
, ,
b etter than that of your uncle s son Ab d Allah b i n ’

.
’ ’
’
Abb as replied Why did he say that ab out him who ,
‘
“
stated I am the n ephew of the Prophet whom they
,
” ’ ’
u n j ustly put to death 2 that is to say Othm an bin Affan , ,
on whom be the D ivin e s a tisfa c tion

’ ’
Ab d Allah said .
,
‘
H is prese n c e i s b et t er than you for the C aliphet for ,
’
A1ee s relat i on ship is nearer than that of your nephew
’
.
’
M u av ieh on hear i ng this became s ilen t f; then turning

’
, ,
’
to w ard Sa d bin Abi Wakk as h e said O Sa d do n ot
’
, ,
s ep arate the truth from the obsolete will you be with or

against us ? To this Sa d replied When I witn essed
’ ’
,
‘
the darkness of violence comm i tted I said to myself I , ,
will be p atient until the daylight again app ears and then ,
I will dep art from here M u avieh on th i s ex c laimed .

’ ’
, , ,
I swear by Allah that I have read the most glor i ous

’
Koran and found noth i ng of th i s in it and Sa d added
, ,
D o y ou not ac c ept the words whi c h I myself heard fro m

’
the mouth of the blessed Prophet on the subj ect of Ale e
bin Abi Talib l Tho u ar t with the truth and the truth ’
.
,
M u avieh now bade him produ c e some

’
i s with
p ers on w h o had also heard these from t he Prophet or , ,
by the hand they met with several fin e gardens Alee

, .
’
relates that havi n g expressed his admiration of them the

, ,
Prophet assured him that a finer on e aw a i ted him in

Paradise Soon after the Prophet looking him stedfastly
.
,
in th e fa c e burst into tears on s eeing wh i c h Alee was

, ,
’
much affected and also wept ; and on inquiring the

,
c ause t he Prophet told h i m tha t he had a presentiment

,
o f his death through the enmity of a cert a in tribe

, I .
asked him adds Ale e whether the fai t h which I

,
’ ’
,
possessed would not secure me sal vation in the life t o

come and being assured that it woul d I declared that I
, ,
’
would then die contented .
“
When the blessed Prophe t captured M ekk eh there ,
were idols in it whi c h he d esig ned t o d es troy ; 3 6 0

,
f an d on e large on e
'
of these surrounded the B ey i z S fi er ee ,
was i ns i de of i t I t was made of stone and was fasten ed

.
,
t o the wall with strong sp i kes and chain s of iron When .
the Prophet entered the he re c ited a prayer and ,

’
commanded Alee to m ount on his shoulders and pull ,
ou t the S p i kes and chains and so free that idol from its
,
fasteni n gs but h e d e c lined t o profan e the p erson of the

Prophet of God by such an act an d it was only on t he ,
repeated remonstrances of the latter that he fin a lly con

sented and in t his manner t he great idol of the in fi d els
,
was destroyed .
“ ’
One day the blessed Prophet calling t o Alee ex , ,
’
claimed Good news to thee O Alee for God has com
, ,
m a n d e d that a t the J udgment Day the keep er of the

treasure of Paradi se shall give a deed ( Tem es s ook) of en
t ran c e there only t o such persons as have m et with your
appro v al and shall refu se admission t o all others
,
On .
’
accoun t of this remark i t on c e happen ed that Abu Bekr

,
es Sid d eek ( the first Caliph ) fall i n g in w i th Ale e observed ’

,
that he had learned the preceding and asked h i m whether ,
he would not favour him w i th a document by which he

could enter Parad i se Alee answered Of a truth the
.
’
,
blessed Prophet d id m a ke such a statement bu t he even ,
also sai d that I should n ot give any su c h deeds of admis

sion without previous consul t a t ion wi th Ab u Be k r This .
,
TH E D ERVI S H ES .
415
therefore gives you a supervision over m e in the matter

,
and y ou thus do not need to ask me for any permiss i on .
Th ese remarks were made i n a kind and j ocose mann er

and they proceeded on their way t ogether pleased with ,
”
the arrangemen t entered into .
M E VLE V E E DER V I S H OF DAM A C S US CRO SS ING HIS A RMS B E FO R E

B E G INNI N G TO D AN C E .
L ON D ON : R . C LAY , SON , AN D TAY L O R ,

P R I NT ER S .

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T H E D ERV I S H E S ;

S E C RE TA R Y AND D RA G OM A N OF T HE L E G ATION OF T HE U NIT ED S TAT E S

TH E Ob j ec t of this volum e i s t o afford informati on in

well as t o descri b e their various m odes of worshipping

That t he Spiritual Pri n ciples of the D ervish Orders

historical p or t ion s of the Ol d an d New Testaments were

however in m any resp e c ts from th e narra t ives of the

Sacred Writings ; an d if a c onj e ct ure may be made as

originat ed in the act of p erfec t submission of Abr aham

offer up his son I saac in ob edience to t he D ivine

The S pir it ualism of t h e D ervishes differing in many

religious concep tions of I ndia an d Greece p erhap s the

informa t ion I have b een enabled t o collec t t ogether on

M uch of this i s orig i nal ; an d having been ex t rac t ed

P ersian M SS may b e relie d up on as strictly ac c urate

I n procuring material s from original source s valuable ,

assis t ance has been rend ered m e by personal friends ,

members O f variou s D ervish Orders in this capital t o ,

whom I would here express my thanks N ot w it h .

s t anding t he unfavourable O p i nio n en t ertained by many

have fo u nd these p ersons liberal and in t elligen t sincere , ,

and mos t faithful fr i ends .

I n t he ext racts from th e work s of other au t hors ,

s om e of whom are t oo well k nown t o t h e p ubli c t o

requir e more t han t o b e n amed by m e—D Oh s s on S i r ’

William J one s Malcolm Lan e U bicin i and D e Gobi

some differen ce s will b e p erceived mostly wi t h ,

regard t o th e estimate placed by each of these upon

under grea t obligation s an d t ake t h e pre s ent opp or

t u n it y of ac k nowle d ging t hem .

T o t h e k indness of D r R os t t he se cre t ary of the

R oyal Asiati c So ciety in ge t ting my li tt l e work through

t he press I am more d eeply indeb t ed t han I can here

prop erly express .

As a book of re feren ce I t rus t tha t this imperfec t

work will prove of som e us e 5 an d travellers in th e

t o i t especially with regard to the D ervish Orders in

t he more dis t an t parts of Asia I ndia and Africa ; bu t I

hop e that so me on e more comp e t en t than m yself will

I n tr odu cti on —Ab rah am an d M oh a mm e d—Th e S a cri ﬁ ce of I s m a 11

N am es of t h e O r ders of D erv i s h es — B r an ch es of t h e O r igi n al

T he M elam iy oon s —Th e S e ct ar i an R i t es of t he M u ch Lovi n g

R eal an d F al s e D erv is h es —Th e

Th e O r d er of t he M ev levees 197 —20 6

P er s ian D ervi s h es —S pi r itu al E x er ci s es —H as h ees h —Th e O ccu lt

O n t h e T es avvu f, or S pir i tu al L i fe of t h e S oofees —

TH E earliest form or pr i nciple of R el i gion is conn e c ted

with an intuitive c onvict i on in the mind O f man of the

or corp ore a l existen c e The soul is believed to surv i ve

the body and refers to a superior Sp i rit c reative a n d

pro vi dential in its c h a ra c ter A more perfe c t knowledge

and c ommunion with this greater Spi rit or G o d 18 the , ,

O bj ect of man s c ont i nuous asp i rat i on s The senses ( or

fa c ulties ) of man are p ossessed in common with other

intelle c tual fa c ulty so m u c h so that when they do not

exist as in ch i ldhood and advan c ed age or are enfeebled

by ac c idental causes as in idio c y it is ser i ously a ffe c ted

The reasoning faculty a n d that of speech seem to be, ,

those whi c h dist i nguish man from or d in a ry a n i mal nature ,

and yet both of t h ese are p o ssessed in a greater a n d ,

less degree by most animals I t i s supposed that the

op erations are expla i ned by its connex i on w ith th e

increase the reasoning faculty n or t hat of the body t h e ,

other ordinary fa c ulties .