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The imams and the Legionaries followed, and with them about fifty of the Arabs, of superior rank. The rest drew rein outside, still in complete silence. The lessened cavalcade now found itself in what at first glance seemed an enchanted garden.

Work stopped for the day. The men and youths of the Zaouïa climbed the worn stairs to the roof of the mosque, where, in their white turbans and burnouses, they prostrated themselves before Allah, going down on their faces as one man. The doves of the minaret called Imams, because they never leave the mosque or cease to prostrate themselves, flying head downwards began to wheel and cry plaintively.

The twelve Imams are the descendants of the prophet, by his daughter Fatima, who was married to her cousin-german 'Ali, who is considered as the first Imam; the other eleven were the following, viz., Hasan, the son of 'Ali; Husain, the son of 'Ali; 'Ali, surnamed Zainu-l-'Abidin, son of Husain; Muhammad, son of the last mentioned; Ja'far Sadik, son of Muhammad; Musa-l-Kazim, son of Ja'far; 'Al-i Raza, son of Musa; Muhammad, son of 'Ali Raza; 'Ali 'Askari, son of Muhammad; Hasan 'Askari: and lastly Muhammad Mahdi.

He would be unable any longer to overawe the Red Sea, or secure the pilgrim routes. The Princes of Nejd would certainly not tolerate the presence of Turkish soldiers at Medina, and the Sherifs of Mecca would have to make terms with them and with the restored Imams of Yemen till such time as they should find a new protector elsewhere.

The imperial temples have one Sheik, one Khatib, from two to four Imams, twelve Maazeens, and twenty Cayuns, among whom, except in a few of the chief mosques of Constantinople, the Khatibs have the pre-eminence. All these ministers are subject to the civil magistrate, who is looked upon as a sort of diocesan, and who may perform at any time all the sacerdotal functions.

a mysterious being, the last in succession of the twelve holy Imams, who, untouched by death and withdrawn into the recesses of a mountain, was destined, at the appointted hour, to come forth again among men. His title was the Mahdi, the guide; some believed that he would be the forerunner of the Messiah; others believed that he would be Christ himself. Already various Mahdis

Afterward it is said: “upon her head is a crown of twelve stars.” These twelve stars are the twelve Imáms, who were the promoters of the Law of Muḥammad and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance.

In the tenth century it was held by the Karmathian heretics, in the thirteenth by the Imams of Sana, and for seven years in the present century by the Wahhabis. Still the de facto sovereignty of the Harameyn, or two shrines, was one of Selim's pleas; and it is one which has reappeared in modern arguments respecting the Caliphal rights of his descendants. Possession of the Amanat or sacred relics.

The sacred tradition relates a saying of Mohammed: "The imams are from Qoraish," intended to confine the Khalifate to men from that tribe. History, however, shows that this edict was forged to give the stamp of legality to the results of a long political struggle.

O God! as these four Darweshes and the king Azad Bakht attained their wishes, in like manner grant to all hopeless beings the wishes of their hearts, through thy power and goodness, and by the medium of the five pure bodies, the twelve Imams, and the fourteen innocents, on all of whom be the blessing of God! Amen, O God of the universe.