The first of these however is scarcely to be called an exception, as
lying beyond the limits of all credible history, Rocail is said to
have been the younger brother of Seth, the son of Adam. A Dive, or
giant of mount Caucasus, being hard pressed by his enemies, sought as
usual among the sons of men for aid that might extricate him out of
his difficulties. He at length made an alliance with Rocail, by whose
assistance he arrived at the tranquillity he desired, and who in
consequence became his grand vizier, or prime minister. He governed
the dominions of his principal for many years with great honour and
success; but, ultimately perceiving the approaches of old age and
death, he conceived a desire to leave behind him a monument worthy of
his achievements in policy and war. He according erected, we are not
told by what means, a magnificent palace, and a sepulchre equally
worthy of admiration. But what was most entitled to notice, he peopled
this palace with statues of so extraordinary a quality, that they
moved and performed all the functions and offices of living men, so
that every one who beheld them would have believed that they were
actually informed with souls, whereas in reality all they did was by
the power of magic, in consequence of which, though they were in fact
no more than inanimate matter, they were enabled to obey the behests,
and perform the will, of the persons by whom they were visited. [147]
HAKEM, OTHERWISE MOCANNA.
Hakem was a leader in one of the different divisions of the followers
of Mahomet. To inspire the greater awe into the minds of his
supporters, he pretended that he was the Most High God, the creator of
heaven and earth, under one of the different forms by which he has in
successive ages become incarnate, and made himself manifest to his
creatures. He distinguished himself by the peculiarity of always
wearing a thick and impervious veil, by which, according to his
followers, he covered the dazzling splendour of his countenance, which
was so great that no mortal could behold it and live, but that,
according to his enemies, only served to conceal the hideousness of
his features, too monstrously deformed to be contemplated without
horror. One of his miracles, which seems the most to have been
insisted on, was that he nightly, for a considerable space of time,
caused an orb, something like the moon, to rise from a sacred well,
which gave a light scarcely less splendid than the day, that diffused
its beams for many miles around. His followers were enthusiastically
devoted to his service, and he supported his authority unquestioned
for a number of years. At length a more formidable opponent appeared,
and after several battles he became obliged to shut himself up in a
strong fortress. Here however he was so straitly besieged as to be
driven to the last despair, and, having administered poison to his
whole garrison, he prepared a bath of the most powerful ingredients,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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