Literary History of Persia

Introduction (Muqaddama).
Sets forth that God has not created mankind in vain, but that they should worship and serve Him, and reap the recompense of their actions in the next world. He has sent, to make known to them His Will and Law, numerous prophets, of whom Muḥammad is the last and greatest. He left behind him the Scripture (the Qur’án) and his holy descendants and representatives for the continued guidance of mankind. In these days of the Greater Occultation (Ghaybat-i-Kubrá)⁶⁹⁸ wherein we live, the true faith is deduced
[page 382]
from the Qur’án and the sayings and traditions of the Holy Imáms. According to these, three things are required of us: (1) heartfelt belief; (2) oral confession; (3) certain prescribed acts. These are ascertained either by personal investigation and “endeavour” (ijtihád), or by adopting the opinions of such investigator (mujtahid) by conformity to his authority (taqlíd). The author concludes by enumerating a number of heresies to be avoided, such as Pantheism (waḥdatu’l-wujúd); Apotheosis and Incarnation (ittiḥád wa ḥulúl); Determinism or Fatalism (jabr); Antinomianism(suqút-i-‘ibádát) consequent on self-mortification and discipline (riyáḍát); Communism (ibáḥat)⁶⁹⁹; Deification and adoration of the Imáms; denial of the Resurrection of the body, or of any future life; sanction of the use of musical instruments, and of narcotic or intoxicating substances; Metempsychosis (tanásukh); Anthropomorphism (tashbíh), and the like.

Mishkát I (pp. 7-28), in four sections (Miṣbáḥ).

What is to be believed concerning the Essence and

Attributes of God.
Belief in the Unity of God (tawḥíd) is fourfold, namely:

Section i. Unity of the Divine Essence (Tawḥíd-i-Dhátí). God is One, without partner, peer or equal; Holy; Perfect; Free from defect; not composite, or capable of being so conceived, imagined, or apprehended; neither Body, nor Light, nor Substance, nor Accident; not located, nor born, nor producing offspring; Invisible both in this world and the next⁷⁰⁰, even to the
[page 383]
Prophets, Imáms and Saints, but known to us only by His acts and the signs of His Power; neither eating, nor drinking, nor clothing Himself; exempt from anger, vexation, pain, joy, height, depth, change, progression, or retrogression; Eternal and absolutely independent of all else. His Attributes are identical with His Essence, not added to or superimposed on His Essence. These Attributes are for the most part negative, and are called Ṣifát-i-Salbiyya or “Privative Attributes.”

Here again the author digresses to denounce various heresies of the Ṣúfís, especially the idea that beautiful persons are especially the Mirrors or Tabernacles of God, and the doctrine of Pantheism (Waḥdatu’l-Wujúd), according to which the relation of Phenomena to Absolute Being is similar to that between the Waves and the Sea, or to sunlight passing through windows of variously coloured glass.

Section ii. Unity of the Divine Attributes (Tawḥíd-i-Ṣifátí). These Attributes are of several kinds, namely (1) “Essential Attributes” (Ṣifát-i-Dhátí)⁷⁰¹, to wit, Life, Power, with its derivative Speech, and Knowledge, with its derivatives Will and Comprehension. To these six some theologians add Eternity and Truth, but these, like Speech, Will and Comprehension, are Secondary Attributes, while Life, Power and Knowledge are primary. (2) The “Privative” or “Negative Attributes” (Ṣifát-i-Salbiyya), also called the “Attributes of Glory” (Jalál) as opposed to “Perfection” (Kamál) and
[page 384]
“Beauty” (Jamál), are seven qualities from which God is exempt, namely, Compositeness, Corporeality, Visibility, Locality, Association or Partnership, Unreality, and Need. (3) “Effective Attributes” (Ṣifát-i-Fi‘lí), or “Attributes of Beauty” (Ṣifát-i-Jamál), are acts which may be ascribed or not ascribed to God at different times and in different circumstances, like “the Provider” (Ráziq), “the Creator” (Kháliq), “the Merciful, the Compassionate” (Raḥmán, Raḥím), “the Bounteous” (Jawád), and so forth. In this section reference is made to other views entertained by the Ash‘arís, the Mu‘tazila, the Kirámís, al-Balkhí, an-Najjár, Ḥasan of Baṣra, etc.

Section iii. Creative Unity of God (Tawḥíd-i-Khalqí). God alone can create, and it is heresy to believe with the Zoroastrians that God creates only what is good, and the Devil what is evil. But God can and does use means to this end, and can delegate His creative powers to Angels or other agents. “The good or evil manifested through God’s plenipotentiary servants⁷⁰² is not God’s act but their act, wherefore they are the recipients of reward or punishment, by reason of the option which they enjoy, so that they themselves, by their own
[page 385]
volition, do those things which God hath commanded or forbidden. For although they act by virtue of a power and strength which they do not in themselves possess, but which God hath conferred upon them, yet, since He hath given them this option, He hath also assigned to them rewards and punishments. Yet God is the Creator of Good and Evil, while His servant is but the agent and doer thereof. Since, however, this treatise is designed for the common people, it would be out of place for us to discuss this matter [more fully] here.”

The author next proceeds to refute certain opinions entertained by the extreme Shí‘a (Ghulát), such as that ‘Alí can create, with or without God’s permission; or that he is the “Assigner of Daily Bread” (Qásimu’l-Arzáq); or that God obtained his permission to create the universe; or that he put his hand under his prayer-mat and brought forth in it the heavens and the earth. It may, however, be believed, as is implied in sundry traditions, that-on the Day of Judgement God will leave “the Reckoning” with ‘Alí or other of the Imáms, and will accept their intercession, and the like. Hence ‘Alí is entitled “the Face of God” (Wajhu’lláh), “the Hand of God” (Yadu’lláh), “the Gate of God” (Bábu’lláh), and the like.

It is also necessary to believe in al-Bidá, or God’s sovereign Will, that He does what He pleases; and that He can create what He pleases “without material or period” (bilá mádda wa mudda), that is, from nothing in the twinkling of an eye.

Section iv. Unity of Worship (Tawḥíd-i-‘Ibádatí). Worship is the exclusive prerogative of God, and of the Divine Essence, not of the Attributes. To worship an Attribute or Name (such as “the Word of God”) apart from the Essence is unbelief, while to worship an Attribute in conjunction with the Essence is polytheism. This is of two sorts, patent and latent. The
[page 386]
former includes the external worship of idols, trees, stars, the sun and moon, fire and human beings; or of symbols, such as crucifixes or pictures of holy persons; the latter includes excessive devotion to wife or child, or worldly wealth, or ambition, or hypocritical ostentation of piety. The visitation of the Ka‘ba at Mecca and the Tombs of the Holy Imáms is, however, permitted; as also bowing down before kings or holy and learned men, provided there be not actual prostration (sujúd), and that no worship be intended.

Mishkát II (pp. 28-31).

What is to be believed concerning the justice of God.
“It is necessary to believe that God is just, not a tyrant and that at no time hath He acted, or doth He or will He act, unjustly towards any one. This is a fundamental article of our Faith, and whosoever holds the contrary is eternally damned.” Thus begins this section, of which the most interesting portion again deals with the question of Free Will and Predestination. “It is also necessary to believe that God neither compels His creatures to act in a given way (jabr, ‘compulsion’), nor allows them unrestricted choice (tafwíḍ), but pursues a course intermediate between these two: that is to say that He has created them equally capable of both good and evil, so that they neither act under such compulsion that their deeds are in reality God’s deeds, nor can they do what they do by their own strength and power without God’s assistance. The former belief is Determinism or Fatalism (jabr) and the latter Free Will (tafwíḍ). The correct view is that, whatever they do, they do voluntarily, not by compulsion and constraint, although God furnishes them with the power, means, and instruments, and has indicated to them the paths of good and evil, so that whoever elects to do good becomes deserving of reward, while he who elects to do evil becomes deserving of punishment.”
[page 387]
The author illustrates this by the example of a carpenter’s apprentice, who, having been taught his craft and furnished with the necessary tools, is bidden by his master to make a window of a certain size and description. If instead of this he makes a door, he cannot excuse himself by pleading that his master taught him the craft and gave him the tools which enabled him to make the door. Such is the case of man if he misuses the powers and limbs which God hath given him. Here follows the well-known story⁷⁰³ of the sceptic whose three questions were answered by a darwísh who struck him on the head with a clod, but here Abú Ḥanífa and Buhlúl (the “wise fool”) take the parts of the sceptic and the darwísh respectively.

The author’s theory that God created the hearts of believers, unbelievers, and waverers each from a different clay, “Knowing before He created them that the believer by reason of his belief would be good, and the unbeliever by reason of his unbelief bad, and so creating each of the appropriate substance, so that there might be no question of compulsion” (jabr), is not very convincing.

Mishkát III (pp. 32-45).

On the Prophetic Function, general and special.
Section i. The general Prophetic Function (Nubuwwat-i-‘ámma). The number of the true prophets antecedent to Muḥammad, “the Seal of the Prophets and the last of them,” is variously stated as from 140 to 124,000. It is necessary to believe that these, whatever their actual number, were true and immaculate (ma‘ṣúm), that is, that during the whole of their lives they were guilty of no sin, major or minor; that they all enunciated the same essential truths; and that the revela-
[page 388]
tions which they received were essentially identical, though in detail the later abrogate the earlier, to wit, the Qur’án the Gospel, and the Gospel the Pentateuch (Tawrát) These three, together with the Psalms of David (Zubúr) and the Books of Abraham (Ṣuḥuf), are the principal Scriptures, but the total number of revealed books is estimated by some as 104 and by others as 124. Of the Prophets sent to all mankind (mursal) four (Adam, Seth, Enoch or ldrís and Noah) were Syrians; five (Húd, Ṣáliḥ, Shu‘ayb, Ishmael and Muḥammad) were Arabs, and the remainder of the Children of Israel. The five great Prophets called Ulu’l-‘Azm are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muḥammad.

Section ii. The Special Prophetic Function [of Muḥammad] (Nubuwwat-i-Kháṣṣa). It is necessary to believe that Muhammad was the last of all the Prophets, and that anyone after him who claims to be a prophet is an unbeliever and should be killed by the Muslims. Also that in every virtue and excellence he surpasses all other beings; that his “Light” (Núr-i-Muḥammad) was created thousands of years before all other creatures; that he was sent not only to all mankind but to the Jinn; and that his doctrine and law abrogate all preceding ones.

Section iii. What is to be believed touching the Qur’án. It is the last and greatest of revealed Scriptures, abrogating all others, and is the miracle of Muḥammad, though not the product of his mind; it is temporal (ḥadíth), not eternal (qadím); was revealed in the pure Arabic language (as were all the Scriptures, though each prophet received his revelation in the language of his people), and was sent down on the Laylatu’l-Qadr (“Night of Worth”) in its entirety from the Preserved Tablet (Lawḥ-i-Maḥfúẓ), but was revealed by Gabriel in instalments, as occasion arose, over a period of 23 years.
[page 389]
Neither men nor Jinn, though all should combine, can produce the like of the Qur’án, or even one chapter or verse of it. It contains all truth and all knowledge, and the full interpretation of it is known only to God, the Prophet, and the Imáms, and those “firmly established in Knowledge” to whom they have imparted it. The original Qur’án is in the keeping of the Hidden Imám, and has undergone no change or corruption.

Section iv. The Prophet’s Attributes. He was “illiterate” (ummí). having never studied or received instruction from men or Jinn; he cast no shadow; a cloud used to overshadow his head; he could see behind his back as well as before his face; he was luminous to such a degree that in his presence on the darkest night his wives could find a lost needle without the aid of lamp or candle. His birth was heralded and accompanied by miracles, enumerated in detail. He was immaculate (ma‘ṣúm), and the most excellent of all beings. Gabriel was really his servant, and ‘Azrá‘íl (the Angel of Death) could not approach him to receive his soul without his permission. He was neither a poet (shá‘ir), nor a magician (sáḥir), nor a liar (kadhdháb), nor a madman (díwána), and to assert any of these things is blasphemy. He had five souls or spirits, of which the first three (called Rúḥ-i-mudraj, Rúḥ-quwwat, and Rúḥ-i-shahwat) are common to all men; the fourth, Rúḥ-i-ímán, “the Spirit of Faith,” is peculiar to true believers; while the last, “the Holy Spirit” (Rúḥu’l-Quds), belongs to the Prophet alone, and his successors, the Holy Imáms.

Section v. The Prophet’s Miracles. These included the Cleaving of the Moon (shaqqu’l-qamar); knowledge of the Past, the Future, and the Unseen; raising the dead; knowledge of 72 out of the 73 Names of God, whereof not more than twenty were known to any previous Prophet, and the like. He saw
[page 390]
Paradise and Hell with his own eyes, and ascended into Heaven in his material body, clad in his own clothes, and wearing his sandals, which he would have put off on approaching God’s Throne, but was forbidden by God to

do so.

Section vi. The Prophet’s Ascension (Mi‘ráj). He ascended in his material body to the Station of “Two bow-shots or less⁷⁰⁴,” a point nearer to God than that attained by Enoch or Jesus or any angel or archangel. To assert that this Ascension was allegorical, or within himself, or spiritual and esoteric, is heresy.

Section vii. Sundry other beliefs concerning the Prophet. He was “a mortal man to whom revelations were made⁷⁰⁵” in various ways mediate and immediate. He combined in himself the functions of Apostle (Rasúl), Prophet (Nabí), Imám, and Muḥaddith, by which is here meant one who sees and holds converse with the Angels. His intercession for sinners will be accepted in the Day of Resurrection and God has bestowed on him, within certain limits, authority to command and prohibit, and to add to the obligations imposed by God in such matters as prayer and fasting. He explicitly appointed his cousin and son-in-law ‘Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib to succeed him; but to assert that Gabriel took the Revelation from a well in a plain, and, receiving permission from God to see who was the author, looked into the well and saw that it was ‘Alí; or that Gabriel mistook Muḥammad for ‘Alí and brought the Revelation to him by mistake, are blasphemous heresies.
[page 391]
Mishkát IV (pp. 45-71).

On the Imámate.
Section i. Enumeration of the Twelve Imáms of the Ithná-‘ashariyya or “Sect of the Twelve,” and refutation of the Sunnís, who recognize Abú Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmán as the Khulafá, or successors and vicegerents of the Prophet; of the Kaysániyya, who accept Muḥammad ibnu’l-Ḥanafiyya, a son of ‘Alí by another wife than Fáṭima, as Imám; of the Zaydiyya, who accept Zayd ibn Ḥasan; of the Isma‘íliyya, who accept Isma‘íl in place of his brother Músá al-Káẓim; of the Aftaḥiyya, who accept ‘Abdu’lláh al-Aftaḥ, another son of Ja‘far aṣ-Ṣádiq the sixth Imám, and so forth. The Kaysánís, Zaydís, Isma‘ílís, Ṭá’úsís, Aftaḥís and Wáqifís all belong to the Shí‘a, but not to the “Sect of the Twelve,” and they will all be tormented in Hell for their error, though they are Muslims, as are even the Sunnís, who are therefore pure, wherefore, according to the prevailing view, it is not lawful to interfere with their lives, wives or property, though some Shí‘a doctors hold the contrary view.

Section ii. Knowledge of the Prophet and Imáms. This section is entirely historical or quasi-historical, giving the dates of the births, deaths, and chief events in the lives of Muḥammad and the Twelve Imáms.

The Prophet Muḥammad was born on Friday 17th (or 12th) of Rabí‘ i in the “Year of the Elephant,” in the year 1021 of Alexander, and in the Seventh year of the reign of Anúsharwán “the Just.” He lived 63 years, of which 53 were spent at Mecca and ten at al-Madína, and his “Mission” began when he was forty years old. He had nine (or 12, or 15) wives and two concubines; four sons, Qásim, Ṭáhir and Ṭayyib by Khadíja, and Ibráhím by Mary the Copt; and three
[page 392]
daughters, Fáṭima (who married ‘Alí), and Zaynab and Ruqayya, who were married to ‘Uthmán. He died (poisoned by a Jewess of Khaybar, as asserted) on Monday the 27th or 28th of Ṣafar, and was buried at al-Madína.

‘Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib was the immediate legitimate successor of the Prophet and the First Imám though not formally recognized as Khalífa until after the deaths of Abú Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmán (whom the Shí‘a regard as usurpers). He waged three great wars, with the Qásiṭín (“wrong-doers”), i.e. Mu‘áwiya the Umayyad and his partisans; the Nákithín (“troth-breakers”), i.e. ‘Á’isha, Ṭalḥa and Zubayr; and the Máriqín (“rebels”), i.e. the Khárijites. He was assassinated by Ibn Muljam on Ramaḍán 21 at the age of sixty-three. He married twelve wives after the death of Fáṭima and had seventeen sons and nineteen daughters. His father Abú Ṭálib was inwardly a believer, though he made no outward profession of Islám. ‘Alí is supposed to have been the twelfth of the Awṣiyá (executors, trustees, or vicegerents) of Jesus Christ.

Fáṭima was the daughter of the Prophet by Khadíja, and the wife of ‘Alí, to whom she bore three sons (al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn and Muḥassin), and two daughters (Zaynab the elder and Umm Kulthúm). She died, aged about eighteen, on the 3rd of Jumádá ii, A.H. 11 (26 August, 632).

Ḥasan ibn ‘Alí, the Second Imám, was born in Sha‘bán or Ramaḍán, A.H. 3 (January or March, 625), resigned the position of Khalífa to Mu‘áwiya, to safeguard himself and his followers, after he had held it for ten years and a half, and died of poison administered to him by Ja‘da the daughter of al-Ash‘ath ibn Nafís, known as Asmá, at the instigation of Mu‘áwiya, nine years and a half later. He is said to have had 60 wives, besides concubines, but others say 300 or even 600,
[page 393]
of whom he divorced so many that he earned the nick-name of al-Miṭláq (“the great divorcer”); and to have had fifteen sons and two daughters, though here again there is much difference of opinion. The best known of his numerous titles is al-Mujtabá.

Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alí, the Third Imám, was born only six months (sic) after his brother Ḥasan; had five wives besides concubines; six sons, ‘Alí Akbar, who succeeded him as Imám, ‘Alí Awsaṭ, ‘Alí Aṣghar, Muḥammad, Ja‘far and ‘Abdu’lláh; and three daughters, Fáṭimatu’l-Kubrá, Sakína and Faṭimatu’ṣ-Ṣughrá. Account of his death at Karbalá on Muḥarram 10, A.H. 61 (October 10, 680) with 72 of his kinsmen and partisans at the age of 56, 57 or 58. Of his titles the best known is “the Chief of Martyrs” (Sayyidu’sh-Shuhadá).

‘Alí ibn Ḥusayn, the Fourth Imám, commonly known as Zaynu’l-‘Ábidín and Sayyid-i-Sajjád. His mother was the daughter of Yazdigird, the last Sásánian King of Persia. Her name was Shahrbánú, or, according to others, Ghazála or Saláma. He was born in 36/656-7 or 38/658-9. He had one wife, his cousin Umm ‘Abdi’lláh, daughter of al-Ḥasan, besides concubines. He had sixteen children (seven or twelve sons, and nine or four daughters). One of his sons, Zayd, was killed by the Umayyad Caliph Hishám ibn ‘Abdu’l-Malik, who is also said to have poisoned him in 94/712 when he was fifty-seven years of age.

Muḥammad Báqir, the Fifth Imám, was born in A.H. 57 or 58 (A.D. 676-8), and is said to have been poisoned by the Umayyads in 104/722 or 107/726-7. [From this point onwards there are so many discrepancies and conflicting statements that a more rigorous abridgment seems desirable. Thus the age of this Imám is given as 57 or 58, or even 78, all of which,
[page 394]
especially the last, are absolutely incompatible with the dates given for his birth and death.]

Ja‘far aṣ-Ṣádiq, the Sixth Imám, born 80/699-700, poisoned by the ‘Abbásid Caliph al-Manṣúr in 148/765-6. He took advantage of the internecine strife between the Umayyads and ‘Abbásids to carry on an active propaganda for the Shí‘a doctrine, which is therefore often called after him “Ja‘farí.”

Músá al-Káẓim, the Seventh Imám, born 129/746-7, poisoned by Hárúnu’r-Rashíd in 180/796-7.

‘Alí ar-Riḍá, the Eighth Imám, poisoned by al-Ma’mún in 203/818-9, and buried at Mashhad.

Muḥammad Taqí, the Ninth Imám, born 195/810-11, poisoned by his wife at the instigation of the Caliph al-Mu‘taṣim in 220/835.

‘Alí Naqí, the Tenth Imám, born in 212/827-8, poisoned in 245/868 at the instigation of the Caliph al-Mu‘tazz.

Ḥasan al-‘Askarí, the Eleventh Imám, born 232/846-7 poisoned in 260/873-4 at the instigation of the Caliph al-Mu‘tamid.

The Imám Mahdí, also called Qá’imu ‘Alí Muḥammad, Ḥujjatu’lláh and Baqiyyatu’lláh, the Twelfth and last Imám, born in 255/869 by Narjis Khátún to Ḥasan al-‘Askarí, disappeared in 260/873-4, is still living and will return “in the last Days” to establish the Shí‘a faith and “fill the earth with justice after it has been filled with iniquity.”

Section iii. Attributes of the Imáms. It is necessary to believe that the Imáms were created from one pre-existing Light; that all blessings and all knowledge of God come through them; that through them the universe lives and moves and has its being; and that they are in every respect the most excellent of beings after the Prophet Muḥammad, and superior to all other Prophets and to the Angels, though subject to all
[page 395]
human needs and functions. They are also immaculate (ma‘ṣúm), innocent of any sin, small or great, co-equal, endowed with every virtue, knowledge and power. Their birth was not as that of ordinary mortals, and, like the Prophet, they were born a circumcised. After many further amplifications of the Imáms’ perfections, the author proceeds to warn his readers against certain opinions of the Ghulát, or most extreme Shí‘a, who would put them above the Prophet and even deify them.