The Mystical Principles Of Islamism; Or, A Lecture On The Derviches.

as I have been able to learn them , what are the general principles of the Derviehes , and what the mysteries of their Orders . There are , doubtless , many excellent and pious Mussulmans Avho , though they belong to one or more of the Orders , make a wide distinction between ordinary piety and the princiles of those who indulge in a raptured love of the

p Divinity , and the harmony of His creation ; and cultivate the conversation of the Sheiks , who are also often very pious and learned men ,- such , for example , as those of the Mevlevees , or " Dancing Derviehes , " —and repel all communion with those wild devotees who give themselves up to all the errors of a heated

imagination , and conceive that they approach God by departing from all that is deemed rational among men . Some of the Ottoman Sultans have become members of a Dervich Order . Mohammed II ., the " Conqueror , " was a Khtilvettee , as also was Sultan Soliman ; Byazid was aKaderee Sultan ; Mahmoudll .

aMevlevee ; and , at the present time , some of the highest functionaries of the Sublime Porte are Derviehes , and either visit Ihe Sheiks at their Tekkehs , or receive their visits in their own palaces . These functionaries also believe in the efficacy of their prayers ; ancl I am informed that , when they have had the misfortune to lose their offices , they spend considerable sums to induce the " holy Sheiks" to pray them into them again .

I will now terminate my remarks , which I fear have severely tried the patience of the reader , with an account of the mystical initiation of a Murid , or disciple of the Bektash Order . Hadji Bektash , the Peer or founder of this Order , came originally into Asia Minor from Persia , or the

city of Balk , and already Avas a celebrated Sheik in the reign of Sultan Orkhau , by whom , some historians assert , though others deny it , he Avas invited to give a name and his blessing to his new troops , known as the Janissaries . On doing tliis , he is said to have covered the head of one of them with his own cap ,

and the sleeve oi his mantle hung over his shoulders whilst he blessed and promised them many future conquests . Ever afterwards , these formed a part of the costume of that celebrated soldiery , aud a large number of them always embraced his Order . Hadji Bektash received his mantle from the great Sheik Ahmed Yessavee , of Bokhara , who traced his own

descent to the Caliph Abu Bekr , father-in-law of the Prophet , ancl one of the original founders of the Siddikkee ( Sooffee ) sects . His principles are , hoAVever , now strictly those of the Aalyides , or followers of Aali , the fourth and'last of the elective Caliphs , and consequently they are Sheea , or " heterodox" in

their nature . They are eminently mystical , and embrace all the chief points of the Sooffees aforedetailed . Some of them take vows of celibacy , called the Mujared Ikrar , but the majority do not . Their distinct acceptance of their Pantheistic doctrine , of God in all animated nature , and au extensive belief

in the metempsychosis , forbids their killing any animal for food . They freely admit the Avords of Christ , when he said "I and my Father are one ;" and much of Christ ' s prayer to His Father is in unison with what they believe to have been the existence of all mankind in the Deity , and their final return to it after the death of the body . Their white felt cap contains four or twelve gores or scallops , —

the first in reference to the four columns of Suffeeism , and the latter to the twelve Imaams . * The Sheiks , like all those of the other Orders , distinctively wear a white turban wound round his cap . Their white Khirka , or mautle , has a figure on each shoulder , denoting the Zulfikiar , or sword of Aali ; their belt ,

called Teebeud , made on the occasion of the disciple ' s initiation , has a certain number of knots ( three ) r allusive to the cord Avith which the Prophet ' s groom , Kamber , used to tether his master ' s horse ; and thewhite agate , or alabaster stone , generally from Kerbelay , worn in the centre of the belt , is called the

Kanaat Tash , or " stone of contentment , " in remembrance of the stone which the Prophet , on a remarkable occasion , —and since then imitated by wandering-Fakeers , —placed in his belt to appease the cravings of hunger . Some of them wear ear-rings called Hassanee and Hassainee , in memory of the two' sons of

the Caliph Aali . Some carry a horn , called Niften , with which they cry out , " Ya , Vidood ! " ( 0 , God of love ! " ) to attract the attention of the benevolent , or assemble the fraternity . Like all the other Orders ,, they say a prayer of thanks at their meals , called the-Gulbend , or " rose-tie of fraternal love . "

I have taken the following initiation from two manuscripts on the subject of the Order of Bektash , one AA'ritten by an individual named Tehaoush Asbee , whose grave at Merdiven Kieuy , iu the valley beyond Cady Kieuy , on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus , is much revered and visited by pious Mussulmans ; and the other by Ilashim Baba , an eminent writer on tho Ritual of the Order .

To be enabled to join the Order of the Bektashees ,. it is necessary to be recommended by two . members , then called Rehpers , or " guides , " AA'ho act as the securities of the applicant , and prepare him for the initiation . A year , or more , is required for his probation , during which false secrets are confided to him

to test his powers of secrecy and fidelity . At the termination of this period he is taken to the Tekkeh by his proposers ; he takes with him a sum of money as an offering , according to his means , Avhich is delivered to one of its officers for distribution among the membersaccording to its rulesand a sheep to

, , be sacrificed at the sill of its portal . From the wool of the sheep a rope is made , called the Rishtay-i-Teslim , and put round his neck , and the remainder is reserved for a belt , called Teebend , to be worn always ; by him after his acceptance . He is divested of all his clothingretaining at the most only a girdle for

, his loins ; and , when he is to take the vow of celibacy , every object of a metal or mineral nature is removed from his person . At the outside of the Tekkeh one of the brethren is placed as a guard . The two Rehpers AVIIO accompany him into the Tekkeh are each armed with a sword of a peculiar form and

shape , called Zulfikiar , or the SAvord of Aali , or by its own proper name of Tebber , ancl more resembles a battle-axe than a sword . This weapon is often seen in the streets , in the hands of Derviehes and Fakeers . Three of the members , called Pervannehs , act as ser-