third,--that their religious law
was comprised in what has disappeared. Now since this is the condition
of their religion, then their claims are void altogether became of the
disappearance of the majority of their books; since God does not held
responsible any person with reference to anything that has not been
entrusted to him.

[Sidenote: Zoroastrians extant scriptures are corrupt.]

And among their books there is one entitled the _Khudhay_ to which they
pay great reverence, in which it is related that king Anushirwan
prohibited the teaching of their religion in any one of the cities
except Ardeshir Khurrah and the religion spread from Datjird. Before
this time it was not taught anywhere except Istakhar and it was not
proper for anyone to engage in its study except a special class of
people. And of the books which remained after the conflagration by
Alexander there were 23 volumes and there were appointed 23 _herbeds_,
one _herbed_ for each volume. And no herbed transgressed upon the volume
of another. And the MOBED MOBEDAN was the superintendent of the whole of
those scriptures. Now whatever is in this condition has its contents
altered and modified and each of the transcripts is in this state. Hence
they are corrupt and do not deserve to be regarded as authentic. Thus
whatever is in their books cannot be held to be authentic except by
reason of faith alone since there are evident falsehoods in them like
the statement that their king mounted on Iblis and rode on him wherever
he willed, that man in the beginning originated from a vegetable like
grass called Sharaliya, and the birth of Bayarawan Siyawush son of Kay
Kawash who built a city called Kangdez between the earth and the heaven
and settled therein 80,000 men belonging to the _people of family_, that
they are there to this day, and that when Behram Hamawand manifests
himself on his bull to restore to them their sovereignty that city will
descend to earth and will help him to restore their religion and Empire.
Says Abu Muhammed, may God be pleased with him. And every book in which
is incorporated a falsehood is invalid and fictitious. It does not come
from God. Thus there is corruption in the religion of the Magians just
as there is in the religion of the Jews and the Christians to an equal
degree.

IBN HAUKAL.

Ibn Haukal has been edited in the _Bibliotheca Geogra phorum Arabicorum_
by De Goege, but as the text is not available the following excerpts
from