542 REPORT —-1890. 
that is to say, they believe that Ali dwells in the moon, which he created 
as a palace for himself, and the dark spots thereon resemble him, they 
say, with the crown on his head and the sword by his side. Most of the 
Ansairee dwelling around Mersina and Tarsus belong to this sect, and 
we had ample opportunities of verifying for ourselves the respect they 
pay to the moon. At full moon they go out and worship to the sound 
of tambourines, and make a great noise. Andagain, when the new moon 
first appears, they prostrate themselves before it. When they pray the 
Kalazians make the sign of the crescent with their thumb and first 
finger. 
"3. The third sect of the Ansairee say that Ali dwells in the twilight, 
and at that period of the day, the hour of prayer, he pervades the whole 
heaven. 
4. The fourth sect say that he dwells in the air and is for ever present ; 
but of these two latter sects I have had no personal experience, and pre- 
sume they are only to be met with in the Ansairee mountains of Syria. 
The next point of interest, and the one which appears more than any- 
thing else to connect them with Christianity, is the Ansairee Trinity. 
Dr. Wolff and other Orientalists have tried to prove that they have really 
a Christianity of a decayed form, but from my own investigations I should 
rather believe that what we find of Christianity amongst them was 
borrowed and incorporated by the early founders. We have traces of 
Judaism, Mohammedanism, and sun-worship also in large numbers, and 
I cannot see that Christianity has any special right to claim them for 
itself. 
Ali is the Father, Mohammed the Son, and Salman el Farsi, abbreviated 
to Sin, the Holy Ghost. Ali became man, they say, not in his own 
person, but through his veil Mohammed, and Mohammed when he returned 
to heaven appointed Salman to superintend the affairs of this world. 
This Trinity is known amongst them as the mystery of the Ain, Min, 
Sin, from the three initial letters of the Trinity, A. M. 8S. By this 
mystery the novice at his initiation is always made to swear and to repeat 
the words Ain, Min, Sin over 500 times. Salman is supposed to have 
superintended the creation of the world, and to have made five incom- 
parables to assist him in regulating the affairs of men. 
Bar Hebreeus tells us that the old man of Nazere was an inhabitant of 
the village of Nazaria, in Arabia; he is somewhat cast into the shade as 
the founder of the religion by one Al Khusaibi, who is said to have 
perfected it, and to have formed the prayers as they are now used. He 
taught that all great men and prophets in all ages, leaders of men in fact, 
are incarnations of Ali—a subtle way, common also to Mohammedans, of 
trying to introduce the cream of several religions into their own. In this 
list we find Plato, Socrates, Alexander the Great, Jesus Christ, Mohammed 
the founder of Islamism, and many others; whereas celebrated women, 
the wives of these great men, with the exception of Noah’s and Lot’s 
wives, are said to be incarnations of Salman el Farsi. 
From the surrounding religions they have borrowed their festivals 
and religious observances, and arguing from this Dr. Wolff has gone as 
far as to say that Nazere is derived from Nazareth, and that the errors 
only crept in when Al Khusaibi recognised the religion; but this is mere 
speculation, and I think it much more likely that he strove to embrace 
in his cult all that he thought expedient from all parties. 
The cup of wine common in all their feasts may be said to be of 
