Sell - Druses

8/8/2019 Sell - Druses

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THE DRUSESBY

THE REV. CANON SELL, D.D., ~ 1 . R . A . S .FELLOW OF TKE t : ~ I V F : R : - l I T \ ' or 3tADRA8

AUTHOn OF I T H } o ~ PAITI{ OF IBLAM', I TI(E RELIGIOUS ORDERS OFI S [ ' A ~ [ ' , I Is rb r : ITS HIS!'; A:ill PROGRESS" I THE HI9TORICAL

D F . V E L O P ~ I E ~ l ' OJ.' THI-; QGR'AN I

THE CHRIS'l 'IAN LI":'ERATURE SOCIETYFOB INDIA

LONDON, MADRAS AND COLOMBOEllO


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I ' R l ~ T E D AT THEs. p. C. K. PRESS, VEPERY, MADRAS

1910

PREFACESmlE ex plann.tion is necessary to account for theinclusion in the Islam Series of a book about theDruses. Though the Druses are not a Mu!;lam-Illn.dan sect, yet their origin, like that of theNosairis, is closely connected with the Isms/il ianmovement in I slam and their religion can onlybe understood in the l ight of their origin, whichis a Mu!;lammadan one.

The most exhaustive work on the subject isSilvestre de Sacy's Expose de la religioll des Druses,and I desire to acknowledge my inoebtedness toit for a great deal of valuable information.

EDWARD SELL.September 1, 1910.


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THE DRUSESI HAVE shown in the Cult of 'A Ii how the personaldevotion to him and his family led to the forma-tion of the dogma of the Imamat, and to manycurious developments of religious thought, of whichthe Druse religion is one of the most peculiar.'To make thi s clear I now give a somewhat fulleraccount of the methods of the Isma'ilian teachers.The Isma'lli;tns are famous for th e esoteric

views they held and for the activity with which theypropagated them. One extreme section receivedth e name of B a ~ i n i s , a word which means' inner'and is appl ied to them because they held tbatthere was an inner or esoteric meaning of th eQur'an, that this was of far more importancethan posi tive law, and that this meaning wasknown only to the initiated. Revelation camethrough prophets, but interpretation came throughth e Imams. They were. the deposi tar ies of allknowledge, and only from them, or from theiremiss:tries, could men find the right path or thelexplanation of the many enigmas of life.


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10 THE DRUSES THE DRUSES 11As the Imams of the ISllla'ilians were concealed,

their interpretations could only be given by menappointed for the purpose, who had been initiatedinto all the secrets of the sect. These were calledDa' is , or missionaries. There were nine dis tinc tstages or degrecs through which the neophytecould pass. When a Da'f wished to make aproselyte he proceeded to ask quest ions on obscurepassages in the Qur'an, to point out that th eintellect of man was powerless to understand themor even the events of daily life. I f the Da'fperceived that the person he addressed was intelligent and accustomed to controversy he accommodated himself to his opinions, showed him greatrespect and praised all he said. On the otherhand, if the person addressed was a simple-mindedignor(Lnt man, the Dli:f would then affirm thatreligion was a secret science known only to a few,and that the great division amongst Muslims wasowing to the fact that they did not recognize inthe Imams the special knowledge God had giveJlto them. Gradual ly the pupil began to see thatmuch in life and in religion was an enigma tohim, and that the Da'! possessed knowledge whichhe did not, so doubt imperceptibly crept into hismind, and he became more and more susceptibleto the influence of the Da'i, who now took forth c subject of discussion the literal and allegorical l

meanings of passages in the Qur'an. The esotericmeaning of these 1 was known to the Imams andhad been handed down from them to approvedteachers in each generat ion. When the faith ofthe neophy te was sufficiently shaken (Lnd hiscuriosity excited, the Da'f proceeded to put suchquestions as these: ,"Vhat is the meaning of thecasting of the pebbles and of the running betweenMounts $afa and Marwa?' \Vhy is a woman,who has omitted the fast and the namaz, obligedto keep the fast some other time bu t not to'supply the omission of the prayers? Why didGod take seven days to create the world, whenHe could have done it in an hour? How can'it be true that the skin of the damned will bechanged into a new skin, or that the new skinwhich has not t:tken on the sins of the othershal l be tormented in fire '? 3Who are Gog and Ma.gog, Harut and Marut?

What are the seven doors of hell and the eightgates of heaven? \Vhat is the meaning of thewords, ' \Vhich move quickly and hide themselves. a.way.' \Vhat is the meaning of the letters, Alif

I l.v-1'i , y IA.oI :l These are ceremonies connected with the Hajj. See Sell'sFaith of Isl


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12 ' l'HE DRUSES THE DHUSES 13Lam, Mim, etc., at th e beginnings of certainSura.s? 'Vhy were seven heavens created a.ndwhy has th e first chapter of the Qur'an sevenverses? 'Vhy did twelve fountains gush forthwhen l\'1oses struck the rock; I why are theretwelve months in a year?'The Da'i then led on the pupil through th e

mazes of phi losophic speculation; puzzled himwith recondite q u e s t i o n ~ with reference to th espiritual ann the natural worlds; and on thestrength of the text, 'O n ear th a rc s igns for menof firm belief and also on your own selves, willye not then behold them?' 3 declared that it wasincumbent on the believer to make great effortsto get at th e inner meaning of these things. Healso quoted the verses: 'God setteth these simili-tudes to men that hap ly they may reflect'" 'Y ewill show them our signs in (dif ferent) countriesand a.rnong themselves, unti l it is p lain to themthat it is the truth." These words plainly show,he said, tha.t it is th e intention of God to conductyou to the place where a.1I these mysteries a.rema.de known, that is, to the true Imam, I f yougive your a.ttention to his teaching, you will bedelivered from error, and th e most sublime truths,will be made quite clear to you. Do you notsee, he continued, that you a.re ignomnt a.OOut

yourselves and so ar e ignorant of all other things.Has no t God said: 'H e who ha.s been blind here,9hall be blind hereafter, and wander far from theway.' 1Having thus excited th e des ire of the neophyte,

th e Da'i became as reticent as he had beforebeen communicative. He said that all thesematters were revealed to none bu t a few, andthen only after a long and severe course oftraining, and that no one should be over eagerin this matter. He quoted th e verse, 'Hemember' that we have entered into a covenant with th eprophets, and with thee, and with Noah, etc."to show that no further steps could be taken,unless a covenant were made and a promise ofloyalty and devotion to the Imam were given.The inquirer bad to swear not to divulge anysecrets, not to assist the enemies of the Imam, ,nor I I I any way whateve r to swerve from an un-questioning obedience to his spiritual directors,and no t to rcquire a reason for any instructiongiven to him, or for any duty requir ed of him.The oath once taken, the inquirer enteredupon th e second degree, in which he learned

that true knowledge came only through theImams, and that the calamities which had fallenon Ishilll were due to the general neglect of this

I Sumtu'l.Baqara (ii) 57., Sllmtu'dhDharaydt (Ii) 20-1., Suratu'!.Fu


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14 THE DlWSES THE DRUSES 15-truth. Not unt il he had thoroughly grasped thisidea was he allowed to pass on to a higher stage.

The object of the thi rd degree was to teachhim that the reason why there were seven Imamsand no more was that there were seven planets ,seven climates, seven heavens, and so on. Thenumber seven is a sacred one. He was alsotaught that the Imamites in recognizing twelveImams had departed from the true Fai th , th atouly to those who recognized l\'[uhammadu'!~ a b i b as the seventh and l as t Imam would themysteries of religion be revealeu, and to suchalone would be made known the exoteric ll.ndesoteric doctrine of things. All this was taughtwith much prudence and without haste'

In the fou rth degree he was taught matters ofthe utmost importance. He learned that th eprophets entrusted with the production of newreligions were seven in number. They are knownas Natiqs . Their names, Adam, Noah, Abraham,Moses, Christ, Muhammad, and, last of all, Mul ; 1 a m I l l a d u ' I - ~ a b i b , the son of Isma'iI, in whoseperson was gathered up and terminated all preceding knowledge-'Uhimu'l-Awwalin-a term whichmay be said to denote the idea that the esotericmeaning of religion was perfectly known to him.

I " ' j ~ , I " ~ \ "r--i" ( j " ,s - ! ..c\JJ (:)\ ~ J ~ \ ~ ,

~ o w a r i , quoted by Sil\''Cstrc de Sac)' ill E z p o s ~ k la Religionde! Druse:J, \"01. 1, p. cxvi.

As Mul;1ammadu'I-J:Iabib, then, alone bad the ke)'to all mysteries, as in bim the ' cycle of the oldfaiths with their positive precepts and inculcation of the letter' terminated, and as with himbegan ' the knowledge of that allegorical significance latent in all the preceding religions', anwho would be on the right path should followbim, in other words should become Isma'ilians.Each prophet had a special companion, called Sus.1Thus Adam had Seth; Noah, Shem; Abraham,Isma'il; Moses, Aaron; Jesus, Simon Sufa or the,pure one; Muhammad, 'Ali. The proselyte whopassed through this degree ceased to be a Muslim,for he could only attain to it by acknowledgingIi prophet posterior to Mu\1ammad, the founderof Islam, and a revelation which superseded theQur'an and all that had gone before. He was nowcommitted to a very definite posit ion of antagonismto the whole of the Mul;1amma


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16 THE mmSES THE DRUSES 17had twelve ministers, each called the l:Iujjat, orProof , whose duty it was to make known histeaching to men.In the sixth degree the very foundation of reli

gious belief was attacked. Hitherto the proselytehad been taught that though one religion superseded another, yet all carne or iginal ly from God.Now he learned that the opinions of philosopherswere superior to those of the prophets, thatreligious creeds were clever artifices to fetterreason. The race had now llutgwwn the need ofsuch a t1ction as revealed religion. 'rhe Arkilllu'adin, the obligatory practices of Ishim, were allexplained away :L11egorically, :md so it was nolonger necessary to observe them.In the seventh degree it was shown that, as,according to the instruction given in the fourthdegree, each great prophet had an assistant, 60

Isma.'il had his son Mu!:lammadu'I-l :Iabib. Thisled on to the teaching of the principle of dua.lism-something which gives and something whichreceives. I t was explained that this principlewas to be found in the Qur'an and in religion.Thus of creat ion it is said,' \Vhen God createtha thing, He only saith ' Be ' ( ~ ) . ' I This is thefirst and the greater of two powers; but thesecond is found in the words, 'All things have\Ve created after a fixed decree 2 ()').').' Thus.

1 Suratu Ali 'InUlin (iii) 42. , Suratu'l.Qamr (liv) 40.

will and necessity form a dualism. The Tabletand the Pen give another illustration. The P ~ writes the Qur'in, the Tablet receives it.1 Allthis pointed to the existence of a dualistic principlein the universe. The object of it all was todestroy belief in TauQ.id, or the Unity.Then carne the eighth degree in which dual ism

was carried a stage further, and it was said thatthere were two Beings who rule the world, theone pre-existent to the othe r and rl1ised above it.The pupil had by this t ime becomc completelybewildered, and so was prepared for the finalstage.In th e n inth degree the neophyte was led onto nihilism. There was no God, no law, noreligion. All who maintained the truth andexis tence of these things were to be treated as

enemies. The universe was eternal.The Da.'is thus led their more promising disciples on to unbelief ill God and in man. 'These

men were furnished with an "armoury of proselytism" as perfect, perhaps, as any known to'history, they had appeals to enthusiasm, anda.rguments for the reason, and "food for the.fiercest passions of the people and times in whichthey loved".' 21 This is th0. La.tlhu'l-)hhrll;f, on which the decrees of Godare written. I t is r ~ f e r r e d ' to'in Suratu'l-Buruj (Ixxxv) 21-2.

It is a g lo ri ou s Qur'


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18 THE DRUSES THE DRUSES IilSuch were th e methods by which th e Isma'ilians,. t d fr'om the control of a moral law,emanc\pa e .were fOrIned into ::L fanat ical sect, spreadlllg de-

struction all around.r\Vhen the various degrees lurd been passedthrough the initiation was cOll1plete, and aftersolemn oaths not to reveal a n y t l ~ l l l g , a.nq toyield unquestioning and implicit ohedIence, furtherinstructions were given to th e new member ofthe confratcrnity as regards his conduct towardsother men. I f he met with a Shl'ah he w ~ t express his sorrow at the cruel treatmen.t 'Ali an ahis SOilS had received; If wIth a Sunll! he must

k \vl th resl>ect of th e Khalifas Abu Bakr,spea . I 1-'Umar and 'U thman. To the Maglan he s IOU


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20 ' l 'HEmmSES THE DRUSES 21truth and justice'. Ba.rbary had never been efficient ly governed by the Baghdad Khn.lifas a n c ~ wasnow ready for a revolution. Great confusIonthen arose amongs t the different African tribeswhich we need no t follow now; I but the resultwas that AM 'Abdi'llah's power rapidly grew anda large army gathered round him. Town aftertown was taken, the inhabitants of which werecruelly massacred. ' l' his went on until the timewas ripe for the advent of the so-called Mahdi,the Im am ' " C b a i d u ' l l < ~ h , whose father when at thepoint of death addressed his son thus: 'You willbe the 1\-fahdi, you will fly to a distant countrywhe re you will undergo severe trials.'The Du:i Abu 'Abdi'lhih now sent secret messengers to Sy ria to summon'Uhaidu'llah to Egypt,but this journey was not an easy matter toaccomplish. The Khalifa of Baghdad got newsof the movement, and sent throughout his empiredescriptions of the fugitive with strict o r d ~ r s ~ h a the was to be imprisoned. 'Ubaidu' lIah, dIsgUIsedas a merchant, [Lfter many hairbreadth escapes,.at last arrived in Egypt; hut was soon takenprisoner, on suspicion, by the ruler of a placecalled Sigilm


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22 THE DIWSES THE DRUSES '23of these Im:tlllS from 'All aDd Fatima, th edaughter of the Prophet. 'l'he succeeding Khalifashad still to struggle on against opposition, butthey gradually consolidated their power. In A. H.3!)\) (A. D. 069) Cairo (al.Kahira-the Victorious)was founded, and th e Fatimide rule in Rgyptwas finny estn.blished by the fourth Khn.lifa, alMu'izz (A. n. 953-75).

Th e fifth Ehalifa al-'Aziz W:l.S a wise and tolerantruler. He mU1Tied fL Chri st i;m wife, whose twobrothers by his influence were raised to the dignityof Patriarchs. He refused to pu t a l 'duslim whohad emhraced Christi:1Dih to death, and forfifteen years h is p rime minister was a convertedJew. His only son was I Jl ik im bi Amri'lln.h! andit is with him wc arc now concerned in connexionwith the rise of the Druses. He became Khalifain A. H. 3SG (A.D. \)96). His reign is one longhistory of cruel actions. He persecuted the Sunnisand all who were suspected of enmity to th edescendants of 'Ali. l\'bny of the C h r i ~ t i a n s hadbeen hitherto employed in v,Hious departments.of the State and had attaine


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24 THE DRUSES THE DRUSES 25t he namaz and the k h u ~ b a , or the public prayersand the Friday sermon, in the month of Ramaqin.He set aside the feast at the end of that month,and for many years he stopped the pilgrimage toMecca, the ceremonies connected with which hedescribed as foolish and extra.vagant. He ceasedto send the annual present of the kiswah, or thecovering for the Ka'b[l, at Mecca, which hadhitherto been sent and is now despatched annuallywith much ceremony.' He released his subjectsfwm the p[l,ylllent of th e legal alms, sllspendedth" law of jihad, and set n.side thc decrees of theKhn.lifas, Abl'l Bakr, 'Umn.r, n.nd 'Uthman, whosememor\' he denounced and cursed, and causedinscriptions to that effect to be written on th ewalls of the mosques in Cairo. One of his madfreaks was to amuse himsclf in this way. Hecaused a deep reservoir to be made in the palace,paved with marble of different colours to representbirds, which seemed tbrough the transparent waterto be sitting on a carpet or mat. Near the edgeof the reservoir was a phnk, heavily weighted u.tone end. 'When his guests were assembled, I;[akimoffered n. reward of six hundred pieces of gold toany onp who would go on the plank towards thebirds. The desire of so much wealth led someto attempt it, with the result that they over-balanced, fell into the pool and were drowned.

I See La.ne's Modern Egyptians, . 01. ii, p. 21:-L

All this stmnge conduct on the part of the Khalifahorrified the good Muslims. It is very difficultto understand how they could have borne with it;,but it must be remembered that the FitimideKhalifas, though nominally Muslims, practicallydenied the chief dogmas of I slam. The orthodoxhold that the Law given by Mul;1ammad wasfinal and th,Lt nothing could be added to it. TheFatimide rulers , on the contrary, held that theythemselves were incarnations of the Divine Heason,and that they alone were the interpreters of the. inner meaning of the positive precepts of theLaw. 'Their doctrine was that all the phenomena

. of this sensible and mater ia l world were types orsymbols of corresponding reali ties in the spir itualand unseen world. Every posit ive precept of theLaw was an allegorical statement of some unseenverity: and as one pure and universal Reasonpresided over the spiritual world above, so it wasnecessary that in this lower world also the pureReason should be incarna te in a visible person.That Heason was so incarnate in lsma'lI n.nd inhis descendants: it was so n.lso in the F i ~ i r n i d eKhalifa.s of Egypt.' I They were in the words ofthe Qur'an, ' a fire l ighted by God which penet ra tedthe hearts of rnen.' All preceding dispensationshad led up to this one. The knowledge of Godcould only be a.cquired through the Imam, and

1 Osborn, blrim under the Arabs, p. 247.


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2G THE DRmmS ' l 'HE DRUSES 27the onh' true Imam was the Fatimide Khalifa ofthe age: The case is well stated by Major Osbornthus: 'Either,' said the Isma'ilians, ' n. man mU6tmaintain that he can n.ttain to a knowledge ofGod by the unassisted reason, without the inter-vention of a mediator divinely commissioned, ortha.t he cannot do so. But if he maintains th efirst thesis ag ain st an opponent who holds th esecond, in the very act of enforcing it he demon-strates i ts falsi ty ; for he caunot (leny that so faras his opponent is concerned [tn instructor isneeded . . . . Clearly then thi s guide must be oneelevated above the fra il ties of the flesh and in ca-pable of falling into error. He mllst be able toteach as one having au thor it y. \Vhen should such


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'28 THE DRUf:mS 'l'HE DHUSES 29i. e. the tanzil, or orthodox Islam, pren.ched by theProphet, ann especially the literal interpretn.tionof the worns employed in th e Qur':i.n, whenspeaking of God a,nd which seem to a,ttribute toHim a human form; and the tawil,1 or allegorical system, preached by 'Ali and the Imamsof his race. I deliver the instructions to theteachers of religion. I am the chie f of the age,the possessor of power, th e guide of men to theobedience of God, most merciful.'I;Ia,kim now boasted that he had personal inter-

course with God, as Moses had had at Sinai.By a. very complete system of espionage he hadperfect information of all that wn.s going on, andthen a,dduced this knowledge as a, proof of hissuperna,tural power. \Vhen he passed along thestreets, the people said: '0 thou only one, theunique, who givest life and dea,th.' Many whodid no t say this were beheaded. l:Iamza, claimedfor him miraculous powers, and said that paperand ink would no t suffice to write them all down,according to th e statemen t in th e Qur'an: ' I f allthe trees on the earth wero to become pens, and,if God should after that swell th e sea into sevenseas of ink, Hi s words would no t be exhausted."In accordance with l :I amza 's cl ls tom of applyingthe term Allah to the human ity of!:[akim, this

1 This term is a.Iso used of Christians, with reference to theirinterpretation of the words of th e Gospe Is. Sllratu Luqmdn (xxxi) 27.

verse is said to refer to the multitude of themarvels wrought by him.\So, th e sect of the Darazis , which Hakim now

openly joined, grew largely in n u m b ~ r s and inpower, One of these men went to Mecca, struck~ h black stone of th e Ka'ba , damaged it, andsaid to the astonished pilgrims: 'Why do youadore and kiss this which is useless and hurtful,~ n all the while neglect him who in Egypt giveslife and death? 'One day when the cour tier s were assembled'before Ifakim, one of them read th e followinC1"verse: 'We have not sent any apostle bu t to be.obeyed, if God so will; hu t if they, [tftcr the\'havc sinned to their own hurt, come to thee and

ask pardon of God and th e apost le ask parilonfor them, they shall s urely fmd th,Lt God is Hcwho turneth unto III en.' 2 A learned 1\01 \1slim whowas present at once read the verse, 'Verily, theyon whom ye call beside God, cannot crcate a fly,though they [tssembl"d first.' 3 J:Iakim, on hearingthis, was much annoyed and ch:mged countcnance ;bu t he dissembled before th e audience and gave theold man a present. His friends, however, advisedhim to lea,ve Cairo, which he very wisely diil.

1 An account. of these is given in Saey' s };xpos/! de itt Religionde. Druses, \ '01. i, l' p. 1fi9-G5. W hat this author calls thc'Actions ridicules, Li;r.arros ct cxlra.va.gantcs de I-Irlkhn' arcgiven in l ul le r de ta il i n l'P' 165-89. . tJuratuo.Nisd (i\') 68.3 Sur; ; tu' \. ! ;L.jj (xxi i) 72 .


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:30 THR DHUSES THE DRUSES 31I t Wlts consioel'ed to be :tn act of imp ie ty and

derog:ttory to I:!tikim to p resen t before him whathe had no t asked for, to address him withoutbeing first spoken to, to mise the voice whenspeaking to him, or to make :tny signs with th ehltnos or the eyes. Fo r many years he had hispalace lit up at night and kept dark during theday. One of his amusements was to wri te let ters ,addressed to one of his ofticials, and to throwthem out of the window. Those who passed bypicked them up and, on presenting them to theperson named in the :Ldoress, some found that theletters contained orders for money which theyreceived, others that their let ters ins tructed theollicers to give them a good beating, which theyn.lso received.

On the n.uthority of I:!n.mza it is recorded thatJ;I,ikim did no t f1ttend the Friday namaz, or publicpr,tyer, in the Mosque, that he absolved his subjects from the giving of alms, that he discouragedthe pilgrima.ge to l\Iecca, stigma.tizing it s ceremonies 3,S ac ts of folly, that he allowed the bstof l\amat;lan to be broken before midday on thelast day.' He entirely repudiated the view thatdivine authority rested on the four first J


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32 THE DRUSES THE DHUSES 33ev il of these men. During his various persecutions,it is said that 18,000 persons were slain. Hepubli shed a decree forbidding women to appea.rin the streets, or to len.ve their houses; and thosewho disregarded it were pu t to death. One daywhen pas5ing by a bath he heard sounds ofmerriment. On ascertaining that women werethere, he ordered the doors to be bricked up andso left the poor wOlllen to die of hunger. A trickplayed upon him by the women of Cairo soeoraered him that he allowed about n. third of"th e city to be des troyed by fire. Half of it wasplundered and a great number of its citizens wereput to death. He threatened his sis ter Sittu' lMulk ('rhe Lady of the Empire), an intel ligentand honourable woman, whom he considered tohave been the cause of the insult given to him,\\'ith death; bu t she was beforehand with him:md formed a plan to mnrder hill},' This objectshe successfully accomplished in the year A. H. 411(A. D. 1020).

I I t is said by )Iakrf zi that he was no t murdered at th eins.tigntion of his sister, but by a. ma.n who, being arrested fouryears after. conle-sed his guilt. Amir 'AU's Short IIistory ofthe Saracens, p. G03.lIowcycr thu.t may be it seems clear that she joined tbe Kitamo.

B e r b e r ~ :lond the Turkish infantry who had rebelled. She heardthai Hakim intcudcd to Soct asido he r brother 7-o.hir nl1d toa p p o i l ~ t an outsider, 'Abdu'r-Rnhrnan, as his successor in the}: ha,lihltc. Sh e w is he d t o pr ese rve t ho d ynas ty in the family"nd so supported th e rebels.

I:I'akim's body was no t found, and so his fol-lowers say th:tl. he wn.s no t really slain. Hamzagave ou t that he had d is appear ed on a c c o ~ n t ofthe sins of th e people, ,Lnd prohibi ted any searchbemg made for him. l Thus p a ~ R e ( l awn.y one ofthe greates t Il10nstem of cruelty whom the worldhas ever seen,' but whom, nevertheless, the Drusesfor nearly a thousand ycars hi1Ve worshippcd asa god.

I have n.lre:ldy referred to the large body ofDa'is, eonnecLed with th" Jsnlll'i1i:Ln sect. Hakimbui lt in C,tiro a college, called the D,tru'l H;kmat. ,or Hall of Sc icnce for the educatIOn of these mis-sionaries. 'l'wice a \ \ ' ( ~ e k the grand Prior of theOrder convened a Lodge mee ting for those whowere to be initiated into the various d ( ~ g r e e s , andfor the exposition of the dogmas of the ~ e c t . Someyears after, J:fasan ibn $abba!:l, u,fterwardR theGrand iVT aster of the A R S ~ t S s j n s , came to one oj

I A good accuunt of l.Jtikim's ch:uaetcr .md habits will befound in Sacts E X ] J ~ ( ) s , ! de in l ~ e i i g i o 1 t de." Druse!, \'01. i, pp.C C C C X X X - ~ X X \ ' l J , nnd ti l Osborn's Isllim 'under the Arabs, Part ii,cha.pter IV. ~ I Co Prince :wnit I'aspect 3U5Si terrible qu'un l ion, so s ycuxctrl.lcnt grands ct U'UII !lIeu rcmbruni, 011 ne pouvait soutenirson ,reganI: !>J. \ ' U l ~ ( ~ t i l i t forte et cflra.Y


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t He came to Egypt during th ethcse mce lOgS. .. .'vcd[ tbe J\.halifa al_1iuslan:?lr, who lecCireIgn a - f [. . '.I'his led to Jealousy. '. h )orks 0 ,\\Ol11.hlln wit 11 w . I t HasanJ t of other Ofllclals, ~ \ l 1 d at as . 'on t)e pH . . I-lavill" "ained hiS freefound himself In prl sou. . ' S ~ o ' " preu,chin" thet th'e years 10 \ l"lw, . '"dolU he spen 1 e 1 'rle mn,Dv converts,, T doctnnes an t nm JISll\a'l mil i 'b ' r 'ce }l'trl ly by str l1tagem,untii, at last, parl y ) fOt r'. r ~ r e ~ s tailed Alamut,

1. . oed !lOSSesslOn a n,


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3li THE D I ~ U S E S ' fHE DRUSES 37\ylULt it wn.s, and obedience to his will and d e ~ t hin his cn-nse would le:Ld to a more e l l d , ~ r ~ ~ , gstate of such joy. No wonder th:tt th e } Hj:t ISwere deyoted to IJ:Lsan. . ' f

ext to these came two orders, COllSIstmg 0tl ;lOvices and of th e common people.. Asle d the"e l"tter th e usua.l rcli


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disenga-ge it of n.ll attributes, and do not conceiveof it under :ll1V \Yards 01' figures, nor under anydefinition, A c ~ o r d i n g to th e books of th e Drusesthere are 1.\\'0 dangers to he avoided in the ideaone forms of the unity of God, They are expressed by the \Yards tashhih :md, t a ' ~ i l . ThefIrst word signif ies campa-rison and I I I theologIcallanguage comparison with somcthing cr:ate?;th e second means n. stripping off, and, I II Itsapplication to God, the denin.l in Him of anyatt ributes as being incompatible with His unity.,Some extreme forms of the Mu'tazi la doctr ineled to those who upheld them being called!\[ u'ttalllll. In some respects th e Druses arcc l o s ~ ' followers of the 'Mu't:Lzilas who, on thisquest ion of the a tt ribu tes of God, held thn.t. th eattributes of God were not et"rna-\ and had nor e ~ l existcnce in the divine eSsence, which wasin direct contlict. with the orthodox view, thatthe n.ttributes were eternn.lly inherent in theessence of God.\ Th e Druses n,\so follow th e'Mu'taziln.s in their views on th e (luestion of thefreedolll of the will.H.a-mza himself ta-ught thu s: 'G od cn.nnot beex\;ressed under any name, or any n.ttribute. I d.onot speak of Him as the ancient, becn.use thiSis created :Uld it is God who gives existence. HeIS neither the fIrst, which implies relation to

38 TH E DRUSES1'HE DRUSES

a second; nor the last, which presupposes a [JreCe?lllg one. \Ve cannot sn.y that Hc has soul or6 P ~ l ' I t , for th:1.t implies resemblance to createdbemgs; we cannot, in connexion with Him, speak?f body, form, suhstance, aecirlent, {or a-Il these1 m p l ~ relation to time and space. 1 do not sayHe IS ,L thing, for that is subject to destruction.I do not say He is not a thing, for that llleansnon-existence. He does not stand or sit. Thourrhthe divine natnre cannot be expressed in words,

. !e t ~ enable us to sec the veil under which HeIS hidden , in ord(,r that Hp. may be adored undera. fO:lll exterior :wo evident to Ollr sensp.s, Hemal1lfests Himself ill the hUlllan form of Hlik'T 1m.hus the words a-nd actions of that fonn ~ r th ewords and act ions of God, But in thus renderlDgHuuself intelligihle to men, God does not ceaseto be the Infinite, th e Incomprehensible.'

In an n,scripti()n (If praise to Goo, H:Llnza says:' l 'mise be to Thee, who [HI. d i s t i ~ g u i s h e ( l bygmndeur and by power. fLnd art. far above ailcreatnres; who dost exist :dways in every age,tunc. ~ n placp., who ar t bp.yond all comparison,defillltlOn :mo description, who cannot be mult iplied by any nnmber, nor augmented by anvgrowth, nor be related to ,my genealo"\ 1 who, , ,ar t the powerful without. [L rival, the victor againstwhom IS 110 l'efugp.; t.be judge not subject to

\ See,Sell ', Fai lh of I sM"' , (3rt! ed.) pp, 104-5. 1 i. e. h : l ~ lIt;ith(:1' a.nccstors llor dcsccnd.mts.


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judgement; thou who orderest all by 'Thy nowf ree will, who :trt exalted far :,bove :111 soundSand w o r d ~ . ' I IJakim himself is sn.id t haveappeared in ten persons ttt different periods. oftime lInd in v a r i o u ~ places. 'I'he whole subjectis extremely obscu re ; but the general idea seemsto be that the personality of IJ:ikiro, humanand divine, was the slime nnder :Lll these diversem : , n i f e s t a t i o n ~ . They w,"re bu t veils to coverhim and t h , ~ i r actions ann their worns wereal l his. He is highly exn.lted above ,dl crea-.tures and one of the reasons gi \'en fur tIllSis th'e peculi[H n.nd re:Ll n:, tu re of his .existencein all these varied personihclLtioos which, fromtillie to time , h ave appmLl"ed ill the world. Qneobject in n.1I this is to remove the doubts ofmen and tu incline the ir heart s to the true confessi'on of the adorable Uoity, which is free of n.1Iattributes.'l'he habitS [lOd th e dress of I:fakil1l :Lll hn.veSOlDe speci"l significu.t ion to . the. Dn\!;es. Herode on an n.ss, an animal which IS t he emblemof the le"is\t,tor. I t is said that in the v e r ~ e ,' the l e a s ~ pleasing u[ vOices is sur ely th e VOIceof asses" th e asses represent t he p rophe ts who~ u p p o r t the exterior In.w. Th e black w o o l \ ~ n robehe wore si"llifies th e trials th r011gh whIch hiSfollowers I l l ~ S L pass. Tn sollle uf I,is wilder moods

I ...:;.)lAlJ\ , . . . : ; . ) ' , . . = ~ ' J.z;lJi,. ~ .l..",:,,:+..J\ ull. .J\ ~ r - ~:.! S{lra.l.\I'!.Luqml\n (xxxi) 18.

J Allfe, p. 1{).

he had gatherings of buffoons employed to dance,and ~ h o s e present amllsed themselves with playfulstriking of each other wit h whips, while th emost obscene language was used and the mostobscene actions were performed. This is a ll lookedupon as allegorical. The dancing refers to prophe ts and their d ispensat ions which have whi rl ed.away, the whipping means that knowled


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42 THE DlWSES THE DRUSES 43Ijamza, omitting th e a,rticle al. This use of th earticle in Hakim's case sionifies that no one else. "can be compared with him. l

There was a verv curious discussion ahout th euse of the pllras", ' , The peace of God be uponhim', a phrn,se used a ft er t he nn.rue of a prophet.I t w:ts considered d , ~ r o g a t o r y to use it after th ename of I:Hkim, as placing him in :t n inferiorposition. The a rgumen t aga inst it was basedon th e text, 'God witnesseth that there is no godbu t He, and the angels :Lnd nwn cnoued with know-ledoe and established in righteousness IJ?'oc/aim," ."'l 'here is no god bu t He, the mighty, the wIse.The trne religion with God is lsl:hn "." TheDruses say that iL is lVlul:Jamm:ul who herespe:tks, an'd that he wit ne ss et h that our IJord(JLikim) is God; th e :mg(,ls are thp. J:IliJis, thel1;en endued with knowledge are the Di'is. 'rhusthe true Muslim shoulrl acknowledge J ~ { l k i m [l,SGod,

1 This is explained lhuR: The lett"rs of the article al U')are reversed to ma.ke ht ( ' ~ ) and III means no , or not. and thusal-Ou'illl C O I J l C ~ to be cC}llnl to l ( ~ A ' i m , ann s o t he re is DO Qj,'imcqu"al to 1.lakim. An argulllc>nt ali to the 1 1 l 1 m b c r ~ of thel l \ i l l i ~ t c r 5 in the hierarchy i s nlso made fr01l1 two of the lettersin :'b.-ht'id. tl10 adored, a. name of J.Iakim. Thus 'ahd ( ~ isa !' cr \'a nt, or an ; l n o r ~ r : mn'hlla (..>,....,.,) I th c a.dorco, ha.::; twoaddiLiollid letters lIlim (,.) and w:\w (,). The lltlll1erit.::l.l "ulueof the5e letters is forty-siX, whieh is fixed a5 the lllllnher of thel n i n i ~ t ~ r ! ' , or th0511 who senc.

!J Stlra.tn }.n 'In11'l\11 (iii) IG-17.

I t is believed that th e Druses worship Ijakimunder the form of [l, golden e[l,lf; bu t somp.say that this is used not :lS an objec t o f worsh ip ,but u.s :tn emblem of the dominant religions,superseded by their system. S011le S:lY th:ttthey repudiate idohttl 'y , and COlllp:lre Judaism,Christianity, and Islam to a c:tlf. Others sa\'thM it reprcscnts lbl is , th e devil, who IS t h r ival of J:Iakim,Th e hiemrchy of thc Druses is formed on the

model of th[l,t of the lUtinis. 'l'he five chief'Ie[l,ders :lre Cniversal Intellig'ence, or simply Intelli-gence I Ill[l,nifested in J:Iamzu.; Soul in Isma'il ibn,Mu!:Jamlmd; Word (Logos) 111 Abu 'Abdi'llahMu!:Jamm[l,d; Prcceder in Abu'l -.Kha ir Salama;Follower in Abu'I-J:I[l,san. ' l'hey ar c also calledthe H adud; [l, word signifying boundaries, hu tapplied ill th e Qur'an to the l[l,wS :lnd preceptsof God which must not hI; t,ml1sgressed. 'rhusthe assertion thu.t he who does not know theIjadlld, or five Ministers, is ignorant of the true

. religion is supporter l by the verse, 'This is theprecept (!:Jadd) of God :lnd whoso t ra l1sgresseththe prccp.pr. of God imperiller.h his own self."This use of the word is bor rowed frolll the Bll tinist Aecord ing to lhe: Tradition JAAJ\ ~ , - - ! J ~ L. J , \ -Thc first

thing God crca.ted w a intelligcnce.:1 J"..b. is thc plur:ll of ~ Sec Stlralu'J-Hadfrl (l\'iii) 7.3 S C l r a . L u ' ~ - 1 ' ; t l r i q (Ixv) 1. .


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' l'HE DHU8ES THE DlWSES 45who freely allegorized words taken from th eQur'3.n. 'l'his ma.kes it extremely d iff icul t to ge tat any very clear underst :Lllding o[ th e Drusehierarchy, for l:I:lIllZ:l, th e chief authority on it,wrote [or th e most part for those who hadalready been in itia ted i nt o the Ba tini sy stemand so does no t enter into detail with regardto th e explanation of mystica l terms , with th emeaning of which hi s re:Lders were supposed tobe acquainted.These :-.-linist.ers may be reg tw]ed as spi ri tual ,or as corporeal beings. In th e first case theyalW:LyS bear the saIlle mUlle, in the second theirn ~ t l l l e S may vary according to the differentepochs of their seveml manifestations. In thispersonifier] form they IHLVe been oppose,] by fivell1inisters of errol', who, t hough contemporaryopponents , were re,llly personifications o[ :\[u\:!aIllll1ad, Abu Bakr, 'Vthman, 'Umar, 'Ali, who werealso ministers of errol ', because they t[Lught andexpollnrled :Ll1 exterior law and no t it s esotericmeaning. Thus they missed it s real point ttl1d led!Den astray from th e tr l l th- the confession of th edivinity of the L onl l:Hkim.The Illtelligence is l:I[LlllZtL from whom a,ll know-.ledge eUln.nates. Since the time of Ada.m he ba sappeare(l ill t he world under seven different manifest'Lti')l1s. He W,tS created from th e light of.God hefore n.1I worlds. Existing before all things,he will Sl lrv ive ,til. ' fhe period between th e

manifestations is called tIle f,ot,o I I" w JUt thou"hthen conceal ed he was still ,dive. ' "The Soul ~ r o c e e d s frolll Inttlligence and bears

to It the relatIOn of femaie to ll1:lle, bu t with relYardto the other ministers it has the rank of I l ~ n . l e .In the person or ISllla'!I, it W,LS the v icar of Ham 'bavmg authority over th e re .. t 0[ ' tl ~ . r : ' Z,L,. ,le 1> mistersand over all bel Ievers .' The SOll1 'n 't- 'fI I J: 5 Jl l i tn l es -tatlOn under Isma'il is called the MUJ'tab' .eh 'T a, 01osen. he verse ' I betake mysel f for refuge to

:\1 'h o itd t cr tn meaning interruption, and gf"'nerally u!':cd I yu. ~ u ~ m ~ : \ ans to denot e th e period of lime which ;1"CS b IJ,ho miSSion of onc p rophet and th. I . p, .. c ~ w c c nth . t . ,10.0 cr. ,t I ,lisa app li ed toc periCH 111 th e carly millistr . of ~ 'h ' . .t . .' d ( . ) . u . , ~ J I l I J l a . ( l WhClIl hi'S IIlSjJir'L-Ion c(':l.SC or a whtlc. .... . F' s' de;.J.W ;.. . . to hi:-:; J u t i C ~ l hCC S;lCY > ,'TpO o.

:1 For iul l Il1HructlODS as.. 26-) 271ia Religion des Dnlses, \'01. ll , pp. -,' . b_ . name' \Ving' is also g lYCll to . t c d ~ } ' t ~ 1 . T h l ~ , ters who are d is tinguished a. RIghtfourth a ~ l d the flf


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48 'I'HE DlWSES 'l'HE DRURES 49These th ree n,inisters also possess allegoric:t l

names. The Da'i i s e:tlled th " Endeavour , onaccount of his great devot ion to the sacred cause.'I'he Ma'dhtlll is called tIle Opener, as he opensthe door clentrance to :t11 aspirants after the t ru th .The i'I'Iuka,ssir is named the Phantem, who byhis disconrses gives a glimpse of the truth WIthoutum'eilinct the whole.''1'here"are a few other names which frequentlyoccur in the Druse books. The N atiq is one. ofthe great prophets who introduces a nc,: r e 1 l g 1 1 ~ ninto the world, EtLch onf) has a subordmate Suswho succeeds him, During the existence of eachSItch reliction there is a succession of seven'0 ThministNs called Samets, or silent ones, ey arealso cn.lIed Im:Lllls and e:tch Imam hn.s twelveIIujjats, or Proofs, who go into the world : L . n ~t ~ a c h the doctr ines of their master. The 'Aqlpl,or th e Illost wise, are those members of. the mnercircle to whom alone th e most esoterIc dogn,l:lsof th e reli"ion are known. They are sn.ld tobear t h e l \ l s ~ l \ ' e s with gre:Lt Circlllllspection. They

live sober and tel tlpcmte lives, abstn.illing fromall intOxiGa.ting 1I'}110rS, from tobacco (Lnd evenfrom coffee.' The Sbaikhs of the 'Aqq:l.l asleaders of the religious commonwealth, performfunctions corresponding in some degree to thoseof the old Ilebrew prophets (Lnd judges. At theirword th e hos ts gather from f:Ll' alld Ile'lr, placethemselves unrler the comm:uHl of chosen ch ief sand go forth to warfare. They also conveliecouncils for the discussion of weighty matters ofreligion or policy.'

Amongst those who believe in the existence ofsuch ;\linisters of the Faith there :1re dilferent. ways of c lass ifying them; but J:Ialll7.a maintainsthat his method, which is given above, is theonly true one and that (Lll o ther s ar c completelywrong, Lengthy discussions, too wearisome toreproduce here, have been held on this subject.SOllie of the Ministers also have many differentnames.

The Druses believe in the transmigrat ion ofsonls, which, according to their views, first C:1meinto existence after the creation of the Minis-ter, who is called Intelligence, that is, 1,Ialliza.'I'hey were formed from his light. The soul of aDruse after his death passes into the body ofanother Druse ; that of a polytheist into anotherpolytheist. The number of souls is fixed and they

1 Ewiug, .hoao art(l Druze at Hom.s, pr. DO , 04.'!


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\-;... , r--


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I 1t \\';1..'; sn.id thn.t. he wanid feappear in Egypt in the montho f . l: ll na di , o r o f B aj ah.

2 J-;b .JI ~ ~ "'\1" N J r3 The following expressions C;l"n :\lso be used l,J"'.1.ii3' J----the Holy pL":.ce; M \ " ' ~ ' U""..u-thc Sanctuary of th e lma.mat";b } - ~ I j=-o-the Place of purity. Sacy, however, considers tbatt he se t er ms a.re m orc properly a pp lie d, n ot t.o the pcr60n ofHtikim himself, but to the p al ac e in which he will dw el l afterhis return. Expost de la Ilcliyion des Druscs, \'01. ii. p. 22G.

neath of Hakim, it was bel ieved that it wouldoccur in hi's lifetime r\nd that he in person wouldtriuIDph over all enemies. His followers werecalled upon to destroy the polyLheists, to abolishtheir religions, to massacre those who walked inthe path of error, to exterminate the men, andto take captive the WOIDen and th e children.

After th e de:lth of JJakirn, th e Druses werebidden not to be discouraged at the delay, butto look forward with hope '1nd confidence to hisreturn,l whell by th e aid of the ministry ofH:1I1lZ:L, the victory over all upponents will hecomplete. He will come surrounded. as witha veil , by multitudes of holy angels, and by a vasthost of cherubim. 'l'he figure under which hewill re-appear is called the ' spiritual resurrectionform." Th e humanity in which he will come iscalled the abode or domic il e.' Th e signs of hisadvent will, for th e mos t par t, be those to whichMuslims look forward :LS destined to happen before the Day of Judgement. One special sign\\.ill be the :tlling of [1 thunderbolt on th e K'1'ba,

the destruction of houses in Mecca :tnd the ruinthrough earthquakes, of mosques in Svria. T h e ~th e enemies of 'Air will be c O l l l p e l l ~ r l to wen,rheavy earl'lngs made of lefld and to pay :L tax.~ h Jews and Christians will have. earrings ofIron and thell' tax will be heavier still. Theseverest punishment is to be reserved for th e~ p o s t a t e s , whose earrings will bl' of glass, whichm summer burn like fire :tnd ill win te r ar c ascold ,tS icc. 'rheir hen.d-dress will be made ofpig skIn.

'l'he fJord J:Iakim w.ill be :tdored in n.ll languages,and With a loud vOice people in all lands willsay: 'To whom does the kingrlom now :Lnd forever belong ') ' The replv will be 'To th L dH ' . . J ' l e or. akun, the Victorious, th e powerful '. Those whobefore the day of resurrect ion, believerl. who c o n ~fessed th e Un itv who accepted th e I ' I, d ' . mama, anthe varIOUS order of the spiritual hierarchy, willnow enter l ~ t O the felicity of life eternn.l; butthose who did not these th ing s will be deliveredup to torment for ever.

~ order to sustain th e courage of those whosu.t1ererl persecution, J:Iilmm spoke much of th etnumph,tnt return of J:l:ikim, n,nrl in f igurat ivelanguage bade them bewn.re of the Rowin


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THE DRUSES 'rHE DRUSES 55ci ted as a proof of this fact: 'Between themshall be se t a wall with a gateway, within whichshall be the mercy, and , in front, without it, thetUlment.' 1 Th e words' without it ' are th e ts,nzil,the Inw of th e Natiq; the word 'wiLhin' is thet,lwil, the bw given by the Asas; bu t both leadup to something else, ' the mercy' which is thereligion of the Unity. Another verse is alsoqnoted to show the inferiority of all precedingteachers. 'Verily, \Ve proposed to th e heavensand to th e enrth and mountains to receive theFaith, bu t t.hey. ~ ~ f u s e d the burden and theyfeared to receIve It. The heavens, earth mountains signify. the ~ a t i r ' J s , the Asas, the'ij:ujjatswho have rejected the true doctrine of the Unityand have preached error .Christians are reminded that Christ said:

'Verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying?e shall never see death.' The saying, or word,IS the re ligion of the Unity. for the word isIl.nited to the Messiah, who is I;Iamza; so Christ Ians should awake, for already he who has sownrejoices in the approach of harvest: 3 alrea.dy theword of truth' bears witness against error. Jesus~ r o c l a i i l l e d the Gospel of the Kingdom :1nd saidlt would be preached in all the world. Now itha.s come and ye t Christians refuse to acceptth e truth.

who belonged to the Lord l :I ikil ll would find inhim a powerfu l prot ec to r, when with angels andwith cherubim he would appear in ,til his royalsplendour. Then would ,til men bow in subjection to him. 'The i'dlzan, or b n . b n c e ~ \ \\'ould beprepared, all actions t ried, all excuses t aken awayfrom th e wicked, and rewanls be given to thegood. The true believers would have abundanceof gol'l n.nd silver, authority would be given tothem to rule in the new kingdom; they wouldbe the Amirs, the Shahs, th e Sultans of thecOInIng age.

; \ ' l e a n w h i l , ~ th e Druse rel igion excels all othersand is superior to them. Previous religions IHLvebeen those introduced by the ; S a t i ( l s , ~ and beingexoteric beliefs are known n.s tanzil; bu t each~ A t i q before he passed ;Lway nominated an Asas,who g,we the esoteric I lle' tn ing of the religionfounded by his lluLster. This is known n.s t,twil.Thus th e N,ltiq and the Asas cowbine togetheras it is s'Lid: ILnd of everything have we createdpairs; '3 bu t all tbis is inferior tu the religion ofthe Unity .' The fol lowing verse of t he Qur' an is

I Sec Sen's Faith of Islcilll, (3rd cd.) p, 2:,8.A >tte p. ,18.

3 Sll ratu'gJ!- Dhamy,a (Ii) 49... It. must he' uorn!: ill mi:ld tha.t t hi s u sc of the word' lJnity t

is a. technical one. The Druse writer.'; mean by it the dt)gma.t.ha.t God i s united to Hakim. Unitaria.ns arc t h o ~ c who believein the divinity of J:lakim. not aR. aillongst. Muslim:.; t h m ; ( ~ whobelieve tbat God is One, and who deny the doctrine "f the Trinity. I s'' '.tu'I-I:bdfd (lvii) 13.3 A reference tu John (i\') ::JG. , Suratu'l-Ahz'b ( ~ x x i i i ) 7 ~ 4 i .0 . J:la.m?::.


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5G THE DRUSES THE DRVSES 57In short, the case now stands thus. All onli..

nances of religion prp.scribp.d by the l:1w have rtno u t w ~ l ! d form, and rtn inward signification; eachreyelation. which comes throngh a N ~ i t i ' J ' has anrtllegorical interpretation ,t


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58 THE D l ~ U S E S THE D l ~ U S E S 59\Vhen Chri st s ~ l i d : 'Destroy this temple andin three d


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60 THE DRUSES THE D l ~ U S E S 61reproached for not living IIp to th e :;t andard oflife laid down in the Sermun on the IVlount.

Spiritual men! and \\'omen should be free fromall faults


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(i2 THE DTWSES ' rHE DRUSES 63Some attention is pn.id to education a.nd women

arc taught to read a,ud write. Thcir literatureis chietly theological but for a, tribe so limited innumbers is comparatively extensive. They guardthe manuscr ip ts of their more important workswith great jea.!ousy, but ma.ny ,Ire now to befound in th e great European libraries.

.\s rega.rds lUutua.1 help. th e Druses were toca.rry a. sword to defend their friends, to watchover them, to meet their wishe" to satisfy theirwa.nts, to help th e poor a.nd to succour th e oppressed. All such good deeds would make th ereligions profession perfect. They sti ll mainta.inthe ancient custom of hospita.lity. Their braveryis notor ious and th e blood-feud is s ti ll kept up.Absolute submission to the will of the Lordf.[akilll is enjoined . Should he require n. lUan tosla.y his own son he lUust do it, for only un


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64 ' rHE DHLJSES THE DIloUSES 65duties of life amongst themselves. That a rel igionshould gro\\ ' ou t of the caprices of ~ madman,and that generat ion after generation should secil l a bloodthirsty despot th e illcarnD,tion of theDivine, shows to what an e ~ t e l l t mcn may bedeluded, when they el(lse their eyes to the ' truelight which lighteth every lllan tbat cometh intoth e world.'

The Druses are sn.id to number over a hundredthQusand. 'l'heir home for many generations wasin the Lebanon; 'but now they arc founcl as farnorth

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