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Of these imaums there have been twelve, of whom Ali himself is counted the first, and Mehdi the last. To all of them qualities and powers corresponding to the nobleness of their origin are ascribed. Supernatural knowledge, perfect holiness, and the power of working miracles, are amongst the attributes which are ascribed to them. Mehdi, the twelfth and last imaum, was but five years old when he succeeded to the imaumat, and he disappeared at the age of twelve years. The Sunnees and the

Sheahs somewhat differ in their views concern

ing him. The former consider that he is destined to appear again towards the end of time, to summon all the nations of the earth to the knowledge of Islam. It is added that three hundred and sixty heavenly spirits will assist him in this mission, and that he will act as the vicar of Jesus Christ in the imaumat. The Sheahs, on the other hand, entertain the opinion, that the imaum Mehdi still dwells in the world, living unknown of men in some sequestered cave. His return is the object of their wishes and expectations; for they hold that he is to recover the rights of his house, to establish a universal caliphat over the whole

earth, and to bring all men to the true faithas is indicated by the name of Mehdi, or Director, which he bears.

Who does not see in these notions respecting the reappearance of the imaum Mehdi, a blasphemous misappropriation of the expectation of the Christian church respecting the establishment of our Lord's kingdom over the whole earth, and of his reappearance hereafter, "to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe," 2 Thess. i. 10. Indeed, if we were to discriminate nicely, it might seem as if the Sunnee notions were more founded on this expectation; and the Sheah notions more upon the expectation which the Jews entertained, and do still entertain, respecting the Messiah's coming.

Now, it was through the accession to the throne of Persia of a descendant of one of these twelve imaums-the seventh, named Moossah Kazim-that the Sheah system became the established creed of Persia. This descendant was Shah Ismail, all whose ancestors up to the imaum had been regarded as holy men, and some of them as saints. They had long been settled at Ardebil, where they lived as retired devotees, that they might attract disciples, and

acquire that fame which they pretended to despise. The first of the family who attained to any signal reputation was Sheik Suffee-udeen, from whom the dynasty took the name of Suffavean. He was succeeded by his son Sudder-u-deen, whose reputation for sanctity was so high, that contemporary kings visited his cell. Among them was the great conqueror Timûr Beg, better known in Europe as Tamerlane, who demanded to know what favour he could bestow "Release those priupon him-" soners you have brought from Turkey," was the noble request of the recluse. The con

queror consented; and the grateful tribes which thus recovered their liberty, declared themselves the devoted disciples of the man to whom they were indebted for it. Their children preserved as sacred the obligation of their fathers; and the descendants of the captives of Timur became the chief supporters of the family of Suffee, and eventually enabled the son of a devotee to ascend what was then one of the most splendid thrones in the world. "History," says Malcolm, "does not furnish us with a better motive for obedience, or a nobler origin of power."

When Ismail ascended the Persian throne in

1492, the seven Turkish tribes with other adherents, by whose aid he had risen to this eminence, formed a considerable body professing the Sheah faith, which was soon adopted by the whole nation, and became the established religion of the country; and the Persians speedily learned to regard with hatred the opinions which they had themselves formerly held. This was the source of the animosity which sprang up between the Turks and the Persians, and which has been the cause of many bloody wars between them. The abhorrence with which the Sheahs regarded those who upheld the claims of the men who persecuted the sacred family of Ali, is well repaid by that with which the Sunnees regard those who defame the great names they are accustomed to mention with reverence-and, being aggravated by mutual charges of unsound and infamous tenets, at length reached such a pitch, that these kindred religionists learned to look on each other with far greater dislike than men of an entirely different religion. Reciprocally, the Sunnees and Sheahs have shown that they regarded their opponents as entitled to less consideration than even Jews and Christians, and have even questioned

whether the very idolaters were not better than they.

The hold which the romantic history of Ali and his sons took upon the imaginations of the Persians; the seductive influence of that manworship, of which Ali became, in some sort, the object; and the force of that vigorous hate with which they had so long been accustomed to regard the Sunnees, in the course of time settled into fixed habits and conclusions, the force of which was little understood by Nadir Shah, when, for the advancement of his political objects, he strove to bring about a uniformity of faith. When that remarkable man had contrived that the crown should be offered to him, he accepted it only on the condition that the Sheahs should in future abstain from publicly anathematizing the first three caliphs, and that they should discontinue the festivals they had been in the habit of celebrating in honour of Ali and his unhappy sons. It may be easily conceived that it was not philanthropy or humanity which made this ferocious conqueror a preacher of moderation, and which at one time induced him to argue the matters of difference in full conclave with the doctors of the law. His object was, to conciliate the

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