Vol. II, No. 8.] Bibliomancy, etc., amongst the Persians. 339 
[N.S.] 
45, Bibliomancy, Divination, Superstitions, amongst the Persians.— 
teut. Coronet D. C. Pau.orr, Secretary to the Board of 
Examiners, Calcutta. 
(a) Istikha@ra %\+4e}! signifies asking divine direction as to 
any course to be pursued about which the seeker is doubtful, by 
chapter “of ‘his Qur ‘an, the Siaratu- 1-Tk khlas on the a aden a 
God’s unity (chapter 112), and the 58th verse*® of the Siratu-l- 
An‘am or “ The Chapter of the Cattle” (6th chapter), three times, 
and then opens the Qur’in. Sometimes seven Sa/awat are repeated 
in addition. Or else the seeker first Si salawat mi-firistad, i.e., he 
says three times dese Jf pple y oosre cgle Ue welt “ Oh God, bless 
Muhammad, and the family of Muhammad. He then says one Al- 
hamd (i.e., the Fatiha or opening chapter), and three Qul huw? ’llah, 
and lastly the Aya-yi ra ipa l-Ghaib, which is the 58th verse 
of the sixth chapter, the “ Chapter of the Cat ttle.” | _ Then saying 
Allahumm? istakhir-ni, afiihis Oh God, choose for me,” the book is 
opened at random by the forefinger ‘of the right hand, and the top 
line of the right-hand page is selected. If no verse begins in this 
line, the seeker turns back and goes to the beginning of the verse. 
Verses i issuing commands or expressing piety, etc., are propitious, 
A r method is, after opening the book as above, to count 
the number of times the word Allah occurs on the page, and then 
the same number of lines from the top; then if no verse com- 
mences in that = i read forward and take the first verse that 
to the abies the Persians, even the most irreligious, iieally 
take an dstikhara from the tasbih or “ rosar, 4 The Fatiha is 
recited three times and any two beads are ‘taken hold of at 
random. As the first bead between these two saga slips —— 
the finger, the seeker says Subkan-llah, “ Glory to be God.” = 
the second is slipped, Al-hamd* Pillah, “ Praise be to God” ; as the 
scala Bp TS 5 ieee lie 
ee ee 
1 Istikhéra, lit. “ asking favours.’ The istikhéra that the Prophet taught 
Per The sed or for in nieve ra ae to a mullé, who takes no fee—except 
and is to take an omen from the first 
word of the first person heard r ending # the  oieauiel Taking an omen from 
a Bible suspended by a key is ail com 
2 Salat ¥5Le is properly any prayer, — 
peanrady by the Persians, however, the word has a a special signi- 
ay * choose for 
3 r-ni, ; 
¢ Thcorect Sayre bak of making this pours. One way is merely 
a game of “ odds and evens. 
being the Arabic equivalent of 
