An account of the Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates
and Tigris, carried on by order of the British Government, in the
years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical
notices of the regions situated between the Nile and the Indus, with
fourteen maps and charts, and ninety-seven plates, besides numerous
woodcuts, has just appeared in London, in four large volumes, from the
pen of Lieutenant-Colonel Chesney, R.A., F.R.S., &c., commander of
the Expedition. It is too comprehensive a work ever to be reprinted
here, or to be much read, even in England, but it is undoubtedly very
valuable as an authority. The following paragraphs from it describe
the present state of religion in Persia:
"The title of Múlla is conferred on a candidate by some member of the
order, after the requisite examination in theology and law; and the
person is then intrusted with the education of youth, as well as
the administration of justice, and the practice of law. The Múllas
sometimes possess sufficient power not only to influence the people at
large, but even the King himself.
"Of this class of priests, those who have been successful in life are
either placed in mosques or private families, waiting for advancement;
but a greater number are nominally attached to colleges, and live
by the practice of astrology, fortune-telling, the sale of charms,
talismans, &c. They who are not possessed of the requisite ingenuity
to subsist by the credulity of others, take charge of an inferior
school, or write letters, and draw up marriage and other engagements,
for those who are unequal to the task. They mix at the same time
largely in the domestic concerns of families. But in addition to
these and other vocations, a considerable number of the lowest priests
derive a scanty support from that charity which no one denies to
the true believer. These men wander as fakirs from place to place,
carrying news, and repeating poems, tales, &c., mixed with verses from
the Koran. The heterodox religions are very numerous; nor is Irián
without her free-thinkers, as the Kamúrs and Mu'tazelís, (Mitaulis,)
who deny everything which they cannot prove by natural reason. A third
sect, the Mahadelis, or Molochadis, still maintain the Magian belief
that the stars and the planets govern all things. Another, the Ehl
el Tabkwid, (men of truth,) hold that there is no God except the four
elements, and no rational soul or life after this one. They maintain
also, that all living bodies, being mixtures of the elements, will
after death return to their first principles. They also affirm that
paradise and hell belong to this world, into which every man returns
in the form of a beast, a plant, or again as a man; and that in this
second state, he is great, powerful, and happy, or poor, despicable,
and unhappy, according to his former merits or demerits. In practice
they inculcate kindness to and respect for each other, with implicit
obedience to their chiefs, who are called Pir, (old men,) and are
furnished with all kinds of provisions for their subsistence. This
sect is found in the provinces of Irák and Fárs.
"The Táríkh Zenádikah (way of the covetous) are directly opposed to
the last on the subject of transmigration; and they believe that God
is in all places, and performs all things. They likewise maintain
that the whole visible universe is only a manifestation of the
Supreme Being; the soul itself being a portion of the Divine essence.
Therefore, they consider, that whatever appears to the eye is God, and
that all religious rites should be comprised in the contemplation of
God's goodness and greatness.
"On these various creeds the different branches of Suffeeism seem to
have been founded. One of the most extraordinary of these sects is the
Rasháníyah; the followers of which believe in the transmigration of
souls, and the manifestation of the Divinity in the persons of holy
men. They maintain likewise, that all men who do not join their
sect are to be considered as dead, and that their goods belong, in
consequence, to the true believers, as the only survivors."
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