A literary history of Persia

THE ISMA'fLf DOCTRINE 413that this is the Tntlh." . . . And again (Qur'dn, xvii, 74)," Whosoeveris blind in respect to [the tilings of] this life is also blind in respect to[the things of] the other life, and follows a misleading path."'Finally, by some or all of these means, the dd'l prevails uponthe neophyte to take the oath of allegiance, saying r" Bind yourself, then, by placing thy right hand in mine, andpromise me, with the most inviolable oaths and assurances, thatyou will never divulge our secret, that you will not lend assistance toany one, be it who itmay, against us, that you will set no snare forus, that you will not speak to us aught but the truth, and that youwill not league yourself with any of our enemies against us."The full form of the oath will be found, by such as arecurious as to itsdetails, at pp. cxxxviii-cxlvii of de Sacy'sExpose.The further degrees of initiation are brieflyas follows :Second Degree. The neophyte is taught to believe that God'sapproval cannot be won by observing the prescriptions of Islam,unless the Inner Doctrine, of which they are mere symbols, bereceived from the Imam to whom itsguardianship has beenentrusted.Third Degree. The neophyteis instructed as to the nature andnumber of the Imams, and is taught to recognise the significancein the spiritual and material worlds of the number Seven which theyalso represent. He is thus definitely detached from the Imdmiyyaof the Sect of the Twelve, and istaught to regard the last six of theirImams as persons devoid of spiritual knowledge and unworthy ofreverence.Fourth Degree. The neophyteis now taught the doctrine of theSeven Prophetic Periods, of the nature of the Ndtiq, the Sus or Asdsand the remaining six Sdmits (" Silent " Imams) 8 who succeed thelatter, and of the abrogation by each Ndtiq of the religion of hispredecessor. This teaching involves the admission (which definitelyplaces the proselyte outside the pale of Islam) that Muhammad was1 De Sacy (op. cit., p. xciii).They are called " silent " because, unlike the Prophet who introduceseach Period, they utter no new doctrine, but merely teach and developthat which they have received from the Ndftq.