Pure in heart, however, he was;
no qualification is needed here, except it be one which Mulla?„ 'Ali
would not have regarded as requiring any excuse. For purity he (like
many others) understood in a large sense. It was the reward of
courageous 'buffeting' and enslaving of the body; he was an austere
ascetic.
He had a special devotion to Ja'far-i-S??adik??, [Footnote: _TN_,
p. 297.] the sixth Ima?„m, whose guidance he believed himself to
enjoy in dreams, and whose words he delighted to quote. Of course,
'Ali was the director of the council of the Ima?„ms, but the
councillors were not much less, and were equally faithful as mirrors
of the Supreme. This remains true, even if 'Ali be regarded as himself
the Supreme God [Footnote: The Sheykh certainly tended in the
direction of the sect of the 'Ali-Ilabis (_NH_, p. 142; Kremer,
_Herrschende Ideen des Islams_, p. 31), who belonged to the _ghulat_
or extreme Shi'ites (Browne, _Lit. Hist. of Persia_, p. 310).]
identical with Allah or with the Ormazd (Ahura-Mazda) of the
Zoroastrians. For the twelve Ima?„ms were all of the rank of
divinities. Not that they were 'partners' with God; they were simply
manifestations of the Invisible God. But they were utterly veracious
Manifestations; in speaking of Allah (as the Sheykh taught) wer may
venture to intend 'Ali. [Footnote: The Sheykh held that in reciting
the opening _sura_ of the K??ur'an the worshipper should think of
'Ali, should intend 'Ali, as his God.
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