Identifier: historicaldescr00fras (find matches)
Title: Historical and descriptive account of Persia, from the earliest ages to the present time: with a detailed view of its resources, government, population, natural history, and the character of its inhabitants, particularly of the wandering tribes; including a description of Afghanistan and Beloochistan
Year: 1834 (1830s)
Authors: Fraser, James Baillie, 1783-1856
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Publisher: New York Harper
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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exists by the activepropagation of both.* In India this visionarv creed has mostextensively prevailed ; the habits of the nation and characterof their religion encourage the spirit of holy abstraction inwhich it is founded ; and it probably spread thence to othernations. Thus the philosophy of Pythagoras, of Plato, ofEpicurus, and their followers, may all be traced to the tenetsof the Indian Bramins ; and we learn from Mohammedanauthors, that these enthusiasts existed at the earliest periodof Islam.* The doctrines of Suffeeism,f in so far as they can be re-* Malcolms Persia, vol. ii. p. 331 t The term SufTee, which in Persia is synonymous with Dorweish(the Dervise of English authors, has been derived from Saaf, pure,clean,—or Sulfa, purity,—others suppose from Soft, the coarse wooliencloak in which the early ascetics were clothed—hence Suffi ; but the con-jecture that it may have been adopted from tile Greek T.o(pai, wise men,se^rns at least as probable as either of the others.
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AND LITERATURE IN PERSIA. 237 duced to definite terms, appear to be as follows :—TheAlmighty Creator of the Universe, say they, is diffusedthroughout creation. The essence of his divinity, emanatingfrom him continually as rays from the sun, vivifies all nature,and is as continually reabsorbed. They believe the soulsof men to be scintillations of this essence—of God, not fromGod, and therefore of an equality with Him. They repre-sent themselves as constantly engaged in searching aftertruth, and admiring the perfections of the Deity. An ardentbut mystical love of the Creator, which frequently breaksforth in the most, extravagant manner and towards the mostextraordinary objects, in which they fancy the divine imageto be reflected, is the soul of their creed, and reunion withHim their ultimate object; to have the corporeal veil re-moved, when the emancipated soul will mix again with theglorious essence from which it has been separated, but notdivided.* But the method of accomplishing

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