rmQ - ON THE -ROSIfENIAH SECT 



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Tdsefze'i. He studied under %iD;Aiti Tirmizi, who resided in Barvher ; mid 

 he was a most inveterate opponent of Ba'yezI© Ans'a'ri, The MaJihzafi 

 jAfghdni, of which he is the principal author, is a miscellaneous eoitipila- 

 tion, on the ritual and mora! pra6i:ice oi Islam, -composed in t\\Q Paskiu 

 or Afghan language, in a style ^f measured prpse. tPhe texture of the 

 work is of a very loose' and unconnected iaatuiie:; ;so "^hat the different 

 'ifChapters, of which it consists, -^^It f©f ]easy la-ans position-; a circum- 

 efStahce -which has given rise to great. diversity of arrangement and variety 

 _^f readings. The Makhzan v^fe^*^^^ ^^s. long been popular among the 

 Afghdnsy and chiefly among those .classes, who are by no means curious 

 with respeel to style and arrangement. Hence, though the pra6lice of 

 writing is by no means common or general among the Afghans, not even 

 among those persons who are well versed in the ./ir^fe/t language, and skilled 

 in the do6lrines of Mam, yet such diversity of readings has arisen in this 

 work, that almost every copy differs widely from another, and the omission, 

 or transposition of the chapters, seems to depend entirely on the pleasure 

 of the transcriber. Of this work, the narrative concerning Ba^yezid An- 

 sa'ri, forms a part, and is composed in the Pashtil language. .Some copies, 

 besides the Pashtu relation, contain a similar narrative of the same trans- 

 a(5lions, in the Persiafi language, composed in a very crude and inelegant 

 style, "With the addition of some trivial fa.6ls, and the omission of others, 

 it coincides in general with the Pashtk account. Having, by the zeal and 

 friendly exertions of Brigadier General Malcolm, procured several copies 

 of this work, I have carefully collated the text, as the basis of the following 

 narrative, in which I have retained as much as possible of the peculiar co- 

 louring and manner of the original ; supplying, from native authorities, 

 those local and historical elucidations wkich the subject seemed to require. 

 ^■^imts^ BfiRwEZEH, author of the Mdkhzan Afghdni, omits no opportunity 



