m than good to our
religion. But if on the other hand your arguments are better than
his, and he can bring no answer to them, then indeed he is a kafir, an
infidel; and according to our law is worthy of death."

'Finding ourselves balked again, we departed breathing vengeance; and
I verily believe, had we met the dervish at that moment, he would have
been tom into a thousand pieces. He was so well aware of this, we soon
heard that he had left the city in secret; and so far our endeavours
were successful, for it was long before he ventured again to show
himself.

'I had put myself so much forward on this occasion, and had shown my
zeal in so many different ways, that I had become a prominent character.
But hitherto I had got nothing by it. The capital I felt, after all,
was the place where I ought to endeavour to gain some permanent and
lucrative situation; and to that I turned my views. To gain this end,
I took myself to Kom, with a view of ingratiating myself with the
mushtehed, whose recommendation I knew would do me more good than
ten years of prayer and fasting. I succeeded perfectly; for with
the character I had acquired of being the scourge of infidels, I was
received by him with great favour, and he was delighted to acknowledge
me for one of his most diligent disciples. I soon took up his cause
against the Sufies with all the ardour that he could wish; and it was
not long before I ventured to solicit his recommendation to the body of
the Ullemah at Tehran, and to the principal men in office at court. He
professed to be sorry to part with me, but acceded to my request; and I
was soon after counted one of the holy fraternity at the seat of empire.

'I confess to you, although I enjoy as good an opinion of myself as most
men, that I was much less successful in making my way at court than I
had expected. My competitors for advancement were numerous, and more
versed in the ways of the world than I. Like them, I was obliged to
begin by paying a most assiduous attention to men in office. Having once
gained the privilege of being seated in the _mejlis_ (assembly) of the
head of the law, who was in fact my chief, I little by little became
noticed by the grand vizier, the lord high treasurer, the secretary of
state, the chief executioner, and others. I was constantly to be seen
at their uprisings, and at their evening meetings; but after all, I
was nothing but a poor mollah, and I longed for some opportunity of
distingu