The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 1 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Religion
The Dabistán, or School of manners, Volume 1 (of 3): translated from the original Persian, with notes and illustrations
Iran -- Religion; Religions
_Firrah Kárí_, the attendant on the venerable _Shídósh_ (an account of
whom shall be soon given) was a person, whose essence was adorned with
science and decorated by purity; the possessor of extraordinary
probity and sound understanding, said thus: “I once received some
injury from the peasantry of Achán, a district bordering on the public
and sacred place of Kashmír: speaking of this to _Yazdán Silái_, a
disciple attached to the Móbed Sarósh, I said ‘the people of Achán
have grievously afflicted me,’ and stated to him the criminal conduct
of this wicked set of men. He answered: ‘Do you wish that the Almighty
should overwhelm with floods the cultivated grounds of these
wretches?’ I replied ‘Certainly.’ It then began to rain so
exceedingly, the loftiest and strongest-built houses were overthrown;
from the overwhelming deluge ruin fell on their buildings and tilled
grounds; and the fields of these men themselves were nearly destroyed
by the waters at the very commencement.” The Maulavi Mânevi says:
“As long as the heart of the righteous comes not to affliction,
God never brings calamity on any people.”
The rains still continued, which Sarósh having observed, he was
exceedingly wroth with his disciple and reproved him; and that same
day the rain ceased. Firrah-Kári used to say, “Mobed Sarósh was
acquainted with the desires of my heart, and possessed power over
men’s minds.” He also related the following story concerning him: “At
the time of arriving in the caravanserai of Bálik, in the city of
Tarkhan, the men of that place wished to act wickedly towards us, and
practise oppression. I explained the nature of their conduct to the
Mobed, on which he retired into a corner. That same night there
appeared in the air men whose heads reached to the heavens, whilst
their feet touched the earth. The people of the city were seized with
consternation and desisted from oppressing us, and the merchants at
the same time bestowed freedom on those who had been captives for many
years.” The Mobed Húshyár relates: “Being in want of a few direms, I
went to Yazdán Sitái, the disciple of the Mobed Sarósh; on this he
stretched forth his hand, and taking up some broken pottery, formed
twenty heaps of it: having breathed on these a few times, they all
became gold Mohurs: these he put into my hands, and I disbursed them
in the course of my ordinary expenses.” He also relates: “Yazdán Sitái
constructed a house of such a kind that, when any one entered, he
beheld the sun; and when the holy man sat with his friends, he
appeared as a crocodile coming to the river-bank, which was about to
snatch away all present. He sometimes threw into the fire towels on
which the flames had no effect: he frequently repeated something,
stirring his lips, and so rendered himself invisible; he used
sometimes to appear in the air, and used to say: ‘I am actually at
rest, although I appear otherwise.’” _Shidosh_, the son of _Anosh_,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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