The third essential element in the religion of the devil-worshippers is the belief that their sect has taken its origin from Yezid, whom frequently they call God and regard as their ancestral father, to whom they trace their descent. No other worship is offered him. He is given, however, a place of honor in the court of the temple, where, on one side, there is the inscription “Melek Yezid, the mercy of God be upon him”; on the other side “Šeiḫ ‘Adi, the mercy of God be upon him.” In the corner of this court a lamp is kept burning all night in honor of the two. NOTES ON CHAPTER II [130] P. Anastase: _Al-Mašrik_, vol. II, p. 151; Bedrus Efendi Ar-Riḍwani, his letter to A. N. Andrus, April 22, 1887. [131] Lidzbarski, Z. D. M. G., vol. LI, p. 592; he is followed by Makas, _Kurdische Studien_, p. 35. [132] See “Tammuz” in Jastrow’s Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, and Cheney’s Dictionary of the Bible. [133] R. W. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 219; Aš-Šahrastanî, vol. II, p. 434. Yaḳut (vol. IV, p. 780) says: Originally nasr was worshipped by the people of Noah, and from them was brought to the tribe of Ḥamyar. According to the Syriac doctrine of Addai (Ed. George Philips, p. 24) the people of Edessa worshipped “the eagle as the Arabians.” [134] So far as I am aware no writer on the Yezidis has ever raised this question. [135] Hughes: _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 21. [136] Victor _Dingelstedt_, SGM, vol. XIV. [137] Badger: _The Nestorians_, vol. I, p. 125; Layard, Nineveh, vol. I, p. 297. [138] P. Anastase: _Al-Mašrik_, vol. II, p. 152. [139] The Hibbert Journal, vol. V, No. 2, Jan., 1907, p. 337. [140] Layard: Ibid; _Victor Dingelstedt_, Ibid, p. 299. [141] Dingelstedt: Ibid. [142] R. W. Smith: _Religion of the Semites_, p. 120; Fihrist, p. 322, 326, calls the gods of the Ḥarranians devils. [143] _Hagibah_ is a Turkish word, meaning a saddleback. [144] Badger: Ibid, p. 247. (137) Ibid, p. 112. Mr. Badger seems to contend that the Kurdish-speaking people do not pronounce the letter ‘ain. This is not true, the Kurds pronounce this letter as well as other gutturals. They sometimes even change the Arabic Alif to ‘ain. This is to be said, however, that in some localities the ‘ain is pronounced alif, just as the ḳaf is changed to alif, but this is not confined to the Kurds, such changes are made by the Arabic-and the Syriac-speaking people also.