t in fasts and self-renunciation and bear wrongs
patiently. The best man is he who helps his fellow-men, and the
best speech is a brief one which leads to knowledge. Praise be to
God alone!

He is buried at Iconium, and his tomb, like those of all Mohammedan
saints, in a greater or lesser degree, is a centre of pilgrimage. The
reverence with which he is regarded is expressed in the saying current
among Moslems:--

Paigumbar nest, wali darad Kitab
(He is not a prophet, but he has a book)

[55] The mountain which encircles the world.

[56] The Eastern Phoenix.

[57] All Mohammedans pray towards the Kaaba.

[58] Koran, c. 18.

CHAPTER XV

SHARANI, THE EGYPTIAN
(AD 1550)

One of the last representatives of the mystical school of Islam is
Sharani, who wrote in the middle of the sixteenth century. In his time
Egypt had just been conquered by the Turks, whose military despotism
took the place of the feudal anarchy which had prevailed under the
Mameluke sultans. The supremacy of Islam was not affected by the change,
the Turks being as sincere Moslems as the Arabs. The administration of
the country was centralised in the hands of a Pasha, who resided at
Cairo as governor-general. As elsewhere in the Muhammadan world, the
most powerful class was that of the Ulema, or learned men. The generous
gifts which the Sultan showered upon them and the privileged position he
allowed them quickly reconciled them to the new regime. But there was
another numerous body, who, though deprived of the substantial
advantages which the Ulema enjoyed, had, however, with the masses a
prestige almost as great. These were the Sufis. Poor and humble, they
were lost in the crowd, whence they drew their origin, and whose
miseries they shared. A smouldering animosity existed between these
Essenes of Islam and the Ulema, who corresponded to the Pharisees. These
last claimed to be the exclusive depositaries of religious knowledge
and divine wisdom; they administered justice and monopolised benefices.

The doctrine of the Sufis was in diametrical opposition to this. In
their eyes the knowledge derived from books and theological science was
far inferior to the inner perception of the supernatural, the mystic
intuition to which they claimed to attain in their religious ecstacies.
They regarded the theosophist as far superior in every respect to the
theologian. Besides this, they considered the different sects of Is