ing him the tenets of his faith, the cynical philosopher deigned not to reply to that, but said "Bring me a hookah." The examining angels were astonished, left him, flew directly to the divine presence, and related the circumstance;―a voice issued from the throne that it should be granted him, as he was his (the Lord's) friend and beloved. They consequently returned to the grave with the hookah, and presented it. After smoking it some time, and at last puffing out a whole column of smoke, which condensed itself on the opposite side of the grave, he then told them to look there for the tenets of his faith. They did so, and perceived the essential creed amongst the Mussulmans in large characters, "There is no god but God, and Mahomed is the prophet of God." They were satisfied, and went away. 10. An Inference drawn on a Difference between the Sufis and Observers of the Law, from a peculiar Saying of each.

In the first instance the Sufis say, Aun hemeh o est*, "That all is He;" and the observers of the law, Hemeh azo est †, "All is from Him." The distinction and idea they are intended to convey are very visible. However, as this is no small point in metaphysics, I shall offer my brief remarks, such as I have received and been led to understand, supported by the authorities of the Koran and traditions. 1st, The observers of the law say that "All is from Him," without being in the least connected with, either by nature or essence, but wholly and solely dependent on, him, and produced by his almighty fiat. Thus, Izza arada Shěyan an Yekoola rehoo koõn fiekoŏn, “His command, when he willeth a thing, is only that he saith unto it Be, and it is:" that his will and pleasure act upon objects through the medium of natural causes when requisite, and by others when more powerful are required; and not through the intervention of his essence, or divine spirit, continually residing in and actually working upon matter': in fine, they conceive that he is separate from every thing, that his nature is incomprehensible, by this saying of Aly the son-in-law of Mahomed: "It (the nature of God) is not found by the apparent senses, nor has it been substantiated by secret opinion or imagination." Again, the ǎhil

Shirâa say that before the foundation of the world was laid, every thing that has happened, does happen, and will happen until the dissolution thereof, was pre-ordained and recorded; and as every thing was previously and necessarily known by the Almighty, his omniscience being such, and as such, must indubitably take place.

2d, Now the Sûfis on the other hand say, that the power, energy, or latent spirit of the Deity is in all matter, substance, and form, without which, that matter could not perform its functions or exist:-thus the growth of the tree is his vivifying power therein; when this is withdrawn, that dies. Effects are made to proceed from natural or secondary causes, and we are naturally again led to judge of them in that light, though the other is the real primary and invisible cause. Every thing proceeds in a concatenary order, and has links one suspending on the other, till the final one is Himself; thus regarding man according to the Hadees Koodsi or holy tradition and word of God :—

Truly in the body of the son of Adam is a lump of flesh; and in the lump of flesh is the heart; and in the heart, the spirit; and in the spirit, mystery; and in this mystery, light; and in this light, I (the Lord). All these are one in Huqeequt or reality, but different in their actions."—"That all is He," or all that is, which we can both see and conceive, is He; that is, but a thought of him—an effusion of his nature; we the spiritual forms—an emanation of his essence. Thus he is in every thing, and pervades his whole creation, by this passage from the Koran, Kool Shěyun Moheet, "Doth not he encompass all things?" Again, by this passage also from the Koran :

"Whithersoever you turn yourselves to pray, there is the face of God;" which is to be understood of the meaning of the word Omnipresence*.

11. The Conclusion, being the Analogy drawn between Sufiism and

Christian Spiritualism.

As the nature of Sufiism has been so far described, and, as Young says, "Analogy man's surest guide below," it may not be irrelevant, nor I hope

* Vide Sale's Koran, vol. i. ch. 2. p. 23.

deemed amiss, if I conclude this treatise by drawing an analogy between it and the spiritual man of our doctrine in the 2d chapter of St. Paul's 1 Epist. Cor., and in fact throughout the whole New Testament, the doctrine of grace doing away with the law and its works; for the Mussulman Shiryât in its feature very much resembles the Jewish dispensation, from which, together with some parts of the Christian faith, it was evidently borrowed, though both greatly interpolated and misinterpreted.

The grand thing herein is to "know one's self," according to the motto I have adopted, in its full spiritual and proper sense.-"The proper study of mankind is man:" let him circle the globe, let him traverse the skies; and then, for something more worthy his notice and admiration, return to himself. To himself he is a theatre immense; and was reputed such when that theatre had much less to exhibit than at present it can boast, and when it was but faintly illuminated with the glimmering beams of far more feeble light. The so renowned Know thyself' was nothing but a precept enjoining a close inspection and survey of this theatre; yet that precept, as to its author, was held divine; and as to its precept, the supreme wisdom of man. That precept is now exalted into an awful command from Heaven; and that theatre is consecrated into a venerable temple, a temple of the Holy Spirit.

"He who has known himself has most assuredly known the Lord.” The Sûfi is supposed to attain this knowledge while in this state of trial and probation here below:-on this St. Paul saith, "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known."

Young says, "Divine contemplate and become divine." And again, "No man ever thought too highly of his nature or too meanly of himself." The Sûfi entertains all these, and more; he is ever wrapt up in contemplation of the divine perfection: the Deity he styles his idol and beloved, and addresses him in the language of a lover to his mistress. This shows the justness of Rousseau's observation, which will elucidate this and the Persian mystic ode: "When the passion of love is at its height," says Rousseau, "it "it arrays the beloved object in every possible

perfection; makes it an idol, places it in heaven; and as the enthusiasm of devotion borrows the language of love, the enthusiasm of love also borrows the language of devotion:-the lover beholds nothing but paradise, angels, the virtues of saints, and the felicities of heaven." Thus was the love of Leila and Mijnoon (the Romeo and Juliet of the East) according to Mahomedan accounts. The Sûfi when thus contemplating the image of his Maker is insensible to every object around him; he conceives himself united with him, and changed into his essence:-thus St. Paul saith, “ But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord." The various religions and contentions thereabouts are equally indifferent to him; he sees not and knows not the difference, by this Persian distich and beautiful simile:

"He who is maddened to the heart with the arrow of love, knows not the infidel or believer; What does the precious signet know of the engraving thereon, whether it is reversed or not?" As he is in love and full of perfect and divine love which has no fear, so God is in him by this Hudees Koodsee.

"He (the Lord) is not contained in the heaven or earth, but he is contained in the heart of the true believer and worshipper." Also

"The heart is the house of the Lord, and the light thereof is of the Lord."-Here the Sûfi is lost in Deity absolute; being led by the spirit, he is not under the law :-thus St. Paul, Gal. ch. v. ver. 18. He sees God "in every appearance and form;" and by this Arabic saying, "By and in unity he sees not any thing except God*.”

* If any pious reader should be alarmed by some of the parallels attempted between extracts of Sufi writers and texts of the Christian Scriptures, he may be assured that his own mind is not more pure from intentional irreverence than that of the author of the above paper; though he has not always employed that caution in language, of which his long residence in the East has prevented him from learning the usefulness.

IX.

ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT, COMPARED WITH THE
ANCIENT, STATE OF BABYLON.

By Captain EDWARD FREDERICK, of the Bombay Establishment.

Read 30th March, 1812.

IN the course of the year 1811 having been called by my official duties to reside for some time at Bagdad, the vicinity of Babylon, added to the description which Major Rennell gives of the masses of rubbish which still indicate its site, induced me to undertake a journey for the purpose of examining the present state of the ruins of that celebrated city: this resolution was strengthened by the opinion which he expresses, that the discovery of the position and extent of the walls and ditch might still be hoped for*, and that traces of them might still be found, were researches diligently pursued for that purpose. To have succeeded even partially in the attainment of such an object would have yielded me no small degree of satisfaction. For a detail of the reasonings on which Major Rennell appears to doubt the accounts of the ancient authors relative to its extent, I refer to his accurate and learned work on the Geography of Herodotus:―he agrees with D'Anville in assigning to it an area of thirty-two miles in circumference, instead of the enormous one of seventy-two given it by Herodotus.

My sole object in committing the following remarks to paper is to note what I saw while at Hillah, and to indicate how far it differed on examination from the descriptions given by travellers. I have sometimes felt myself obliged to point out certain errors which former travellers have fallen into,-errors the less to be wondered at, as such as had visited the place had in general but little time for examination, and must have been * See Rennell's Geog. of Herodotus, from page 336 to 338.