The number of the commands of the Imáms is seven, like the seven days of the week, the seven heavens, and the seven planets.[597] They hold the number of the religious leaders to be twelve, and therein the Imámíyas have committed an error, by counting the Imáms after the leaders, and these are the _Baténian_, “interior.”[598] These sectaries do not conform themselves to the evidence of the divine law; they declare: “we do not say, God is omnipresent or not omnipresent, omniscient, or not omniscient, almighty, or not almighty, and so in all attributes;” they maintain further as a confirmation of the truth, that there is a connexion between God and the _other_ beings, and this is the creed of the _Tashbíah_, “assimilators;” but from an absolute negation a connexion takes place with non-existences, which is maintained by the _Tâtíl_, “indifferent,” and the application of this thesis to the Lord, the self-existent, leads to the opinion, that there is no community to be imagined between the Lord God, self-existent, _and other beings_. They also say that the Almighty God is the operator of opposite effects, and the creator and ruler of conflicting results. They further set forth, that when the lord Yzed, the most sublime, bestowed the gift of knowledge upon the inhabitants of the world, they called him all-knowing; when he displayed his power on account of his majesty, they called him all-mighty: certainly the attribution of knowledge and power to the being of the most sublime Yzed is founded upon the belief that he is the giver of knowledge and force. Moreover they assert that, by a single command, God created intelligence, which among all things is perfect, and by means of perfect intelligence, he brought forth the spirit which is not perfect; there is a relation between intelligence and spirit, a relation between the sperm and the child produced, as well as a relation between the egg and the bird, or a relation between father and son, or husband and wife. The spirit becomes then desirous of, and longing for the excellence of perfect intelligence[599] which he derives from expansion, therefore he feels himself pressed to move out of his deficiencies towards excellence,[600] but he does not attain at perfect motion, except by means of an instrument.