1848.] Notice of the Ikhwdn al safd. 185 



the Arabs would be much disappointed ; the authors dwell here as else- 

 where on generalities, and repeat their dreamy speculations on astrology 

 and natural philosophy as they do in every chapter. 



2 (42.) On the road to God ; — admonitions to a virtuous and pious 



life 0*&y*U\J\ <3ir kJ, ** AU V- 



3 (43.) On the faith of the Brothers of purity, and on the religion 

 of the Rabbaniary e^'i/'v^^J l ^' O^^ alfik%Lj ^9-. 



Qorhazry derives the word o^'J from U*c ; this may be etymogically 

 wrong, yet in several Sufi books, (among others in the Kashf al-Mahjiib,) 

 in Sa'dy, &c. "brothers of purity," and " Sufis," are used as synonymous 

 terms. The tenets of this fraternity are chiefly explained in parables 

 A physician came into a town, in which the plague prevailed ; he disco- 

 vered a remedy by which he cured a man ; and by degrees he gained 

 the confidence of the whole town. The physician is likened to a pro- 

 phet. The duty of sacrificing one's self for the good of others, is illus- 

 trated by the story of Zopyrus : the hero, however, is a counsellor of 

 the King of the Hayatilah, and the enemy is Fyroz, King of Persia. 

 The authors conclude that the body is for the soul, what the egg is for 

 the chicken, it must be destroyed before the soul can find life and free- 

 dom : we must, therefore, despise pain and death for higher objects. 

 Examples of devotion are quoted from the life of Mohammed and his 

 followers. The authors do not neglect to mention the great example of 

 resignation : they give an outline of the life of our Saviour, which is 

 exceedingly well worked out to illustrate the principle of their fraternity. 

 They complain in several passages, that their contemporaries were 

 devoid of a practical belief in the immortality of the soul ; and they show 

 that Abraham, Moses, and other prophets, as well as Plato, Aristotle, 

 arid most of the philosophers were actuated by the conviction of another 

 life in their actions. 



4 (44.) I give the first part of this chapter in a translation and in 

 the original. 



On the social intercourse of the brothers of purity ; on the mutual 

 assistance which they rendered each other in the spirit of true 

 charity ; on their benevolence, affection and kind-heartedness. The ob- 

 ject of this treatise is to inculcate unity, and the duly of aiding each 

 other in worldly and spiritual concerns. 



" In the name of the most merciful God ; — Know, O dutiful and 



2 b 2 



