There is another sect which, assuming the conviction of a material and immaterial world, and the power of reason, believe in a prophet, and say, that these distinguished persons have established the law for the good of God’s creatures and the order of cities; and to that effect they possess a knowledge of the highest and most perfect kind; they are supported by the self-existing Being for the establishment of regulations and the decision of what is legal and forbidden, and what they announce concerning the world of spirits, angels, the ninth heaven, the throne of God, the tables of destiny, the written characters, and the like, are all ingenious inventions, rendered sensible to the understanding of the vulgar under forms which strike the imagination and offer tangible bodies; in this manner, in the account of the other world, they represent figuratively paradise, and húrís, kasúrs, rivers, birds, and fruits, merely with the intention of subduing the hearts of the vulgar, as allurement often renders their minds inclined to the proposed ends. And what they relate of chains, bolts, and hell, is calculated for alarming and terrifying the people. This class of men, that is the philosophers, direct also their hints and interpretation to this object, and their disciples say, that their wish is to follow the indicated footsteps of the prophet; these are the pious sages to whom they give the title of “philosophers of God,” and in Persian, _Jánsáyi_, “the polishers of souls.” The sect which adopts the material and immaterial world, adopts also the precepts of reason, but not the laws of the prophet. These are named _Sábíah_.[269] Another sect agrees to the material and immaterial world, and to the precepts of religious reason, but they say that the law of the prophet is to be conformable with reason, and every prophet who appears is not to be opposed to his predecessor, and not self-complacently to exalt his law: these are the _Yézdanían_. Some adopt the law of tradition, which others, with respect to literal meaning, reject as contrary to reason. It is known that there are five great religions, viz.: that of the Hindus, Jews, Magians, Nazárean, and Muselmans. Each of these five proffer claims that their law is the true one, and set forth demonstrations for the confirmation of its truth.