e (Mohammed) has attained
to the supremacy of his personal holiness; he has enlightened the
darkness by personal beauty; beautiful are all his deeds. The blessings
of God be upon him and upon all his children." Some darwishes travel
over all Persia, spending a short time in each city they visit doing
their work.

The cap which the darwish wears has embroidered upon it a verse from
Koran and signifies his consecration to the service of Allah. The
kashkul is a box in which to collect money for the poor and sick. The
white robe is a sign of purity. The sheepskin on his shoulder is a sign
of meekness. The beads on his neck are to remind him of the duty of
prayer. The tomahawk is a sign of war and victory for his prophet and
Allah. Those who have excelled in their holy service go to their leader
and he places on the skin of the right shoulder of the darwish an
inscription which remains as a sign of consecration and honor.

There is a low class of darwishes who are very ignorant, superstitious
and fanatical and are like beggars. They pitch their tents at the gates
of rich people and will not go away until they have been satisfied with
money. Sometimes a large crowd of this class will gather in a mosque
and spend several hours in howling unto Allah and the prophets until
made weary by the exertion.

When the good darwish goes home Friday evening he will have gathered
some money and also provisions, such as tea, coffee, sugar etc. He will
keep for himself and family enough to last one week; the remainder is
given to the poor.

THEIR PLACE IN MOHAMMEDAN RELIGION.

The darwish is highly respected by all classes from the royal family to
the most humble. No man dares to beat or lay hands on one of them, as
it would be considered a great crime. In case a darwish does wrong or
commits crime the government does not punish him but refers the matter
to the leader of the order. Sometimes they are called Kallander, which
means humble and holy men of Allah. They are exempted from paying tax
and from military service. Many presents are given to them by the
people. The salutation is different from the common people. The first
says, "Ya-ho" which means: "O living God"; the response is "Ya-mal-ho,"
which means: "O God the Giver of life."

So it is plain that the darwishes are one of the two pillars that
support Islamism. Thank God we have some darwishes converted to
Christianity.

CHAPTER VI.

THE LAYMEN.

The laymen are