A literary history of Persia

436 THE StfFl MYSTICISMAdh-Dhahabi also wrote a monograph (probablyno longerextant) on al-Hallaj, and in his Annah he speaks briefly of'Amr b. 'Uthman al-Maklcihim as consorting with al-Junayd,and other Sufi Shaykhs, and feigning an ascetic life, but beingled astray by his megalomania and love of power until he"quitted the circle of the Faith." Nevertheless, says thisauthor, many of the later Sufis almost deify him, and even thegreat " Proof of Isldm " al-Ghazzalf in his Mhhkatttl-Anwarmakes excuses for him, " explaining away his sayings in asense admirable enough, but far removed from the obviousmeaning of the Arabic language. He is also mentioned byAbu Sa c id an-Naqqash in his History of the Shfis as accused bysome of magical practices and by others of heresy (zindiqa] yand indeed the general view of some half-dozen other writersof authority cited by adh-Dhahabi is to the effect that al-Hallajwas " a detestable infidel " (Kafir khablth}.I have dwelt thus fully on the oldest and most authenticaccounts of this remarkable man because he became one of thefavourite heroes and saints of most of the later Sufis, thePersian mystical poets in particular constantly referring to himwith approval and even enthusiasm. Moreover, he mayprobably be credited with introducing to a large extent themore avowedly pantheistic and thaumaturgic forms of Sufiismwith which henceforth we constantly meet. Faridu'd-Din'Attar speaks of him in his Memoirs ofthe Saints as " thatMartyr of God in the Way of God, that Lion of the Thicketof the Search after Truth . . . that Diver in the TempestuousSea," &c., praises his character and attainments, celebrates hismiracles, and adds that " some charge him with practisingmagic, while some externalists denounce him as an infidel.""I am astonished," he remarks a little lower, alluding toMoses and the Burning Bush, "at those who consider itproper that the words, * Verily I am God,' should come from aTree which was as though non-existent, and who yet regard itas improper that the words, 4 1 am the Truth,' should come