h, the Rafiqs or associates, in training for the higher
degrees; fifth, the Fadais or "devoted," who undertook to deliver the
secret blow on which their superiors had decided; sixth, the Lasiqus, or
law brothers; and lastly the "common people," who were to be simply
blind instruments. If the equivalents to the words "Dai," "Rafiqs," and
"Fadais" given by von Hammer and Dr. Bussell as "Master Masons," "Fellow
Crafts," and "Entered Apprentices" are accepted, an interesting analogy
with the degrees of Freemasonry is provided.

Designs against religion were, of course, not admitted by the Order;
"strict uniformity to Islam was demanded from all the lower rank of
uninitiated, but the _adept_ was taught to see through the deception of
'faith and works.' He believed in nothing and recognized that all acts
or means were indifferent and the (secular) end alone to be
considered."[133]

Thus the final object was domination by a few men consumed with the lust
of power "under the cloak of religion and piety," and the method by
which this was to be established was the wholesale assassination of
those who opposed them.

In order to stimulate the energy of the Fadais, who were required to
carry out these crimes, the superiors of the Order had recourse to an
ingenious system of delusion. Throughout the territory occupied by the
Assassins were exquisite gardens with fruit trees, bowers of roses, and
sparkling streams. Here were arranged luxurious resting-places with
Persian carpets and soft divans, around which hovered black-eyed
"houris" bearing wine in gold and silver drinking-vessels, whilst soft
music mingled with the murmuring water and the song of birds. The young
man whom the Assassins desired to train for a career of crime was
introduced to the Grand Master of the Order and intoxicated with
haschisch--hence the name "Hashishiyin" applied to the sect, from
which the word assassin is derived. Under the brief spell of
unconsciousness induced by this seductive drug the prospective Fadai was
then carried into the garden, where on awaking he believed himself to be
in Paradise. After enjoying all its delights he was given a fresh dose
of the opiate, and, once more unconscious, was transported back to the
presence of the Grand Master, who assured him that he had never left his
side but had merely experienced a foretaste of the Paradise that awaited
him if he obeyed the orders of his chiefs. The neophyte, thus spurred on
by the belief