would I know, and others
likewise
still.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v02 - Aqu to Bag
WILLIAMS JACKSON
VESTA, or Zend-Avesta, an interesting monument of antiquity,
is the Bible of Zoroaster, the sacred book of ancient Iran,
and holy scripture of the modern Parsis. The exact mean-
ing of the name "Avesta" is not certain; it may perhaps signify
"law," "text," or, more doubtfully, "wisdom," "revelation. "
The
modern familiar designation of the book as Zend-Avesta is not strictly
accurate; if used at all, it should rather be Avesta-Zend, like "Bible
and Commentary," as zand signifies "explanation," "commentary,"
and Avesta u Zand is employed in some Persian allusions to the Zoro-
astrian scriptures as a designation denoting the text of the Avesta
accompanied by the Pahlavi version or interpretation.
The story of the recovery of the Avesta, or rather the discovery
of the Avesta, by the enthusiastic young French scholar Anquetil du
Perron, who was the first to open to the western world the ancient
records of Zoroastrianism, reads almost like a romance. Du Perron's
own account of his departure for India in 1754, of his experiences
with the dasturs (or priests) during a seven years' residence among
them, of his various difficulties and annoyances, setbacks and suc-
cesses, is entertainingly presented in the introductory volume of his
work 'Zend-Avesta, Ouvrage de Zoroastre (3 Vols. , Paris, 1771).
This was the first translation of the ancient Persian books published
in a European language. Its appearance formed one of those epochs
which are marked by an addition to the literary, religious, or philo-
sophical wealth of our time; a new contribution was added to the
riches of the West from the treasures of the East. The field thus
thrown open, although worked imperfectly at first, has yielded abund-
ant harvests to the hands of later gleaners.
With the growth of our knowledge of the language of the sacred
texts, we have now a clear idea also of the history of Zoroastrian
literature and of the changes and chances through which with vary-
ing fortunes the scriptures have passed. The original Zoroastrian
Avesta, according to tradition, was in itself a literature of vast dimen-
sions. Pliny, in his 'Natural History,' speaks of two million verses
of Zoroaster; to which may be added the Persian assertion that the
original copy of the scriptures was written upon twelve thousand
parchments, with gold illuminated letters, and was deposited in the
library at Persepolis. But what was the fate of this archetype?
Parsi tradition has an answer. Alexander the Great-"the accursed
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1085
Iskander," as he is called—is responsible for its destruction. At the
request of the beautiful Thais, as the story goes, he allowed the pal-
ace of Persepolis to be burned, and the precious treasure perished in
the flames. Whatever view we may take of the different sides of
this story, one thing cannot be denied: the invasion of Alexander
and the subjugation of Iran was indirectly or directly the cause of a
certain religious decadence which followed upon the disruption of the
Persian Empire, and was answerable for the fact that a great part
of the scriptures was forgotten or fell into disuse. Persian tradi-
tion lays at the doors of the Greeks the loss of another copy of the
original ancient texts, but does not explain in what manner this
happened; nor has it any account to give of copies of the prophet's
works which Semitic writers say were translated into nearly a dozen
different languages. One of these versions was perhaps Greek, for
it is generally acknowledged that in the fourth century B. C. the
philosopher Theopompus spent much time in giving in his own
tongue the contents of the sacred Magian books.
Tradition is unanimous on one point at least: it is that the
original Avesta comprised twenty-one Nasks, or books, a statement
which there is no good reason to doubt. The same tradition which
was acquainted with the general character of these Nasks professes
also to tell exactly how many of them survived the inroad of Alex-
ander; for although the sacred text itself was destroyed, its contents
were lost only in part, the priests preserving large portions of the
precious scriptures. These met with many vicissitudes in the five
centuries that intervened between the conquest of Alexander and
the great restoration of Zoroastrianism in the third century of our
era, under the Sassanian dynasty. At this period all obtainable Zoro-
astrian scriptures were collected, the compilation was codified, and a
detailed notice made of the contents of each of the original Nasks
compared with the portions then surviving. The original Avesta
was, it would appear, a sort of encyclopædic work; not of religion
alone, but of useful knowledge relating to law, to the arts, science,
the professions, and to every-day life. If we may judge from the
existing table of contents of these Nasks, the zealous Sassanians, even
in the time of the collecting (A. D. 226-380), were able to restore but
a fragment of the archetype, perhaps a fourth part of the original
Avesta. Nor was this remnant destined to escape misfortune. The
Mohammedan invasion, in the seventh century of our era added a
final and crushing blow. Much of the religion that might otherwise
have been handed down to us, despite "the accursed Iskander's"
conquest, now perished through the sword and the Koran. Its loss,
we must remember, is in part compensated by the Pahlavi religious
literature of Sassanian days.
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Fragmentary and disjointed as are the remnants of the Avesta,
we are fortunate in possessing even this moiety of the Bible of Zoro-
aster, whose compass is about one tenth that of our own sacred book.
A grouping of the existing texts is here presented:- 1. Yasna (in-
cluding Gathas). 2. Visperad. 3. Yashts. 4. Minor Texts. 5. Ven-
didad. 6. Fragments.
Even these texts no single manuscript in our time contains com-
plete. The present collection made by combining various Avestan
codexes. In spite of the great antiquity of the literature, all the
existing manuscripts are comparatively young. None is older than
the thirteenth century of our own era, while the direct history of
only one or two can be followed back to about the tenth century.
This mere external circumstance has of course no bearing on the
actual early age of the Zoroastrian scriptures. It must be kept in
mind that Zoroaster lived at least six centuries before the birth of
Christ.
Among the six divisions of our present Avesta, the Yasna, Vis-
perad, and Vendidad are closely connected. They are employed in
the daily ritual, and they are also accompanied by a version or inter-
pretation in the Pahlavi language, which serves at the same time as
a sort of commentary. The three divisions are often found combined
into a sort of prayer-book, called Vendidad-Sadah (Vendidad Pure);
i. e. , Avesta text without the Pahlavi rendering. The chapters in
this case are arranged with special reference to liturgical usage.
Some idea of the character of the Avesta as it now exists may be
derived from the following sketch of its contents and from the illus-
trative selections presented:-
1. Yasna (sacrifice, worship), the chief liturgical work of the
sacred canon. It consists mainly of ascriptions of praise and of
prayer, and corresponds nearly to our idea of a prayer-book. The
Yasna comprises seventy-two chapters; these fall into three nearly
equal parts. The middle, or oldest part, is the section of Gathas
below described.
The meaning of the word yasna as above gives at once some con-
ception of the nature of the texts. The Yasna chapters were recited
at the sacrifice; a sacrifice that consisted not in blood-offerings, but
in an offering of praise and thanksgiving, accompanied by ritual
observances. The white-robed priest, girt with the sacred cord and
wearing a veil, the paitidana, before his lips in the presence of the
holy fire, begins the service by an invocation of Ahura Mazda
(Ormazd) and the heavenly hierarchy; he then consecrates the zaothra
water, the myazda or oblation, and the baresma or bundle of sacred
twigs. He and his assistant now prepare the haoma (the soma of the
Hindus), or juice of a sacred plant, the drinking of which formed
## p. 1087 (#513) ###########################################
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1087
part of the religious rite. At the ninth chapter of the book, the
rhythmical chanting of the praises of Haoma is begun. This deified.
being, a personification of the consecrated drink, is supposed to have
appeared before the prophet himself, and to have described to him
the blessings which the haoma bestows upon its pious worshiper.
The lines are metrical, as in fact they commonly are in the older
parts of the Avesta, and the rhythm somewhat recalls the Kalevala
verse of Longfellow's 'Hiawatha. ' A specimen is here presented in
translation:-
At the time of morning-worship
Haoma came to Zoroaster,
Who was serving at the Fire
And the holy Psalms intoning.
"What man art thou (asked the Prophet),
Who of all the world material
Art the fairest I have e'er seen
In my life, bright and immortal? »
The image of the sacred plant responds, and bids the priest pre-
pare the holy extract.
Haoma then to me gave answer,
Haoma righteous, death-destroying:
« Zoroaster, I am Haoma,
Righteous Haoma, death-destroying.
Do thou gather me, Spitama,
And prepare me as a potion;
Praise me, aye as shall hereafter
In their praise the Saviors praise me. »
-
Zoroaster again inquires, wishing to know of the pious men of old
who worshiped Haoma and obtained blessings for their religious zeal.
Among these, as is learned from Haoma, one was King Yima, whose
reign was the time of the Golden Age; those were the happy days
when a father looked as young as his children.
In the reign of princely Yima,
Heat there was not, cold there was not,
Neither age nor death existed,
Nor disease the work of Demons;
Son and father walked together
Fifteen years old, each in figure,
Long as Vivanghvat's son Yima,
The good Shepherd, ruled as sovereign.
For two chapters more, Haoma is extolled. Then follows the
Avestan Creed (Yasna 12), a prose chapter that was repeated by
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AVESTA
those who joined in the early Zoroastrian faith, forsook the old
marauding and nomadic habits that still characterize the modern
Kurds, and adopted an agricultural habit of life, devoting them-
selves peaceably to cattle-raising, irrigation, and cultivation of the
fields. The greater part of the Yasna book is of a liturgic or ritual-
istic nature, and need not here be further described. Special men-
tion, however, must be made of the middle section of the Yasna,
which is constituted by "the Five Gathas" (hymns, psalms), a
division containing the seventeen sacred psalms, sayings, sermons, or
teachings of Zoroaster himself. These Gathas form the oldest part
of the entire canon of the Avesta. In them we see before our eyes
the prophet of the new faith speaking with the fervor of the Psalmist
of the Bible. In them we feel the thrill of ardor that characterizes
a new and struggling religious band; we are warmed by the burning
zeal of the preacher of a church militant. Now, however, comes a
cry of despondency, a moment of faint-heartedness at the present
triumph of evil, at the success of the wicked and the misery of the
righteous; but this gives way to a clarion burst of hopefulness, the
trumpet note of a prophet filled with the promise of ultimate victory,
the triumph of good over evil. The end of the world cannot be
far away; the final overthrow of Ahriman (Anra Mainyu) by Ormazd
(Ahura Mazda) is assured; the establishment of a new order of things
is certain; at the founding of this "kingdom" the resurrection of the
dead will take place and the life eternal will be entered upon.
The third Gatha, Yasna 30, may be chosen by way of illustration.
This is a sort of Mazdian Sermon on the Mount. Zoroaster preaches
the doctrine of dualism, the warfare of good and evil in the world,
and exhorts the faithful to choose aright and to combat Satan. The
archangels Good Thought (Vohu Manah), Righteousness (Asha), King-
dom (Khshathra), appear as the helpers of Man (Maretan); for whose
soul, as in the old English morality play, the Demons (Dævas) are
contending. Allusions to the resurrection and final judgment, and to
the new dispensation, are easily recognized in the spirited words
of the prophet. A prose rendering of this metrical psalm is here
attempted: the verse order. however, is preserved, though without
rhythm.
A PSALM OF ZOROASTER: YASNA 30
Now shall I speak of things which ye who seek them shall bear in mind,
Namely, the praises of Ahura Mazda and the worship of Good Thought,
And the joy of [lit. through' Righteousness which is manifested through
Light.
## p. 1089 (#515) ###########################################
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2
Hearken with your ears to what is best; with clear understanding per-
ceive it,
Awakening to our advising every man, personally, of the distinction
Between the two creeds, before the Great Event [i. e. , the Resurrection].
3
Now, Two Spirits primeval there were-twins which became known
through their activity,
To wit, the Good and the Evil, in thought, word, and deed.
The wise have rightly distinguished between these two; not so the
unwise.
4
And, now, when these Two Spirits first came together, they established
Life and destruction, and ordained how the world hereafter shall be,
To wit, the Worst World [Hell] for the wicked, but the Best Thought
[Heaven] for the righteous.
5
The Wicked One [Ahriman] of these Two Spirits chose to do evil,
The Holiest Spirit [Ormazd]—who wears the solid heavens as a robe-
chose Righteousness [Asha],
And [so also those] who zealously gratified Ormazd by virtuous deeds.
6
Not rightly did the Demons distinguish these Two Spirits; for Delusion
came
Upon them, as they were deliberating, so that they chose the Worst
Thought [Hell].
And away they rushed to Wrath [the Fiend] in order to corrupt the life
of Man [Maretan].
7
And to him [i. e. , to Gaya Maretan] came Khshathra [Kingdom], Vohu
Manah [Good Thought] and Asha [Righteousness],
And Armaiti [Archangel of Earth] gave [to him] bodily endurance
unceasingly;
Of these, Thy [creatures], when Thou camest with Thy creations, he
[i. e. , Gaya Maretan] was the first.
8
But when the retribution of the sinful shall come to pass,
Then shall Good Thought distribute Thy Kingdom,
Shall fulfill it for those who shall deliver Satan [Druj] into the hand of
Righteousness [Asha].
11-69
## p. 1090 (#516) ###########################################
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1090
9
And so may we be such as make the world renewed,
And may Ahura Mazda and Righteousness lend their aid,
That our thoughts may there be [set] where Faith is abiding.
ness.
10
For at the [final] Dispensation, the blow of annihilation to Satan shall
come to pass;
But those who participate in a good report [in the Life Record] shall
meet together
In the happy home of Good Thought, and of Mazda, and of Righteous-
II
If, O ye men, ye mark these doctrines which Mazda gave,
And [mark] the weal and the woe-namely, the long torment of the
wicked,
And the welfare of the righteous-then in accordance with these [doc-
trines] there will be happiness hereafter.
The Visperad (all the masters) is a short collection of prosaic invo-
cations and laudations of sacred things. Its twenty-four sections
form a supplement to the Yasna. Whatever interest this division of
the Avesta possesses lies entirely on the side of the ritual, and not
in the field of literature. In this respect it differs widely from the
book of the Yashts, which is next to be mentioned.
The Yashts (praises of worship) form a poetical book of twenty-one
hymns in which the angels of the religion, "the worshipful ones"
(Yazatas, Izads), are glorified, and the heroes of former days. Much
of the material of the Yashts is evidently drawn from pre-Zoroastrian
sagas which have been remodeled and adopted, worked over and
modified, and incorporated into the canon of the new-founded reli-
gion. There is a mythological and legendary atmosphere about the
Yashts, and Firdausi's 'Shah Nameh' serves to throw light on many
of the events portrayed in them, or allusions that would otherwise
be obscure. All the longer Yashts are in verse, and some of them
have poetic merit. Chiefly to be mentioned among the longer ones
are: first, the one in praise of Ardvi Sura Anahita, or the stream
celestial (Yt. 5); second, the Yasht which exalts the star Tishtrya
and his victory over the demon of drought (Yt. 8); then the one
devoted to the Fravashis or glorified souls of the righteous (Yt. 13)
as well as the Yasht in honor of Verethraghna, the incarnation of
Victory (Yt. 14). Selections from the others, Yt. 10 and Yt. 19,
which are among the noblest, are here given.
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1091
The first of the two chosen (Yt. 10) is dedicated to the great
divinity Mithra, the genius who presides over light, truth, and the
sun (Yt. 10, 13).
Foremost he, the celestial angel,
Mounts above Mount Hara (Alborz)
In advance of the sun immortal
Which is drawn by fleeting horses;
He it is, in gold adornment
First ascends the beauteous summits
Thence beneficent he glances
Over all the abode of Aryans.
As the god of light and of truth and as one of the judges of the
dead, he rides out in lordly array to the battle and takes an active
part in the conflict, wreaking vengeance upon those who at any time
in their life have spoken falsely, belied their oath, or broken their
pledge. His war-chariot and panoply are described in mingled lines
of verse and prose, which may thus be rendered (Yt. 10, 128-132):—
By the side of Mithra's chariot,
Mithra, lord of the wide pastures,
Stand a thousand bows well-fashioned
(The bow has a string of cowgut).
By his chariot also are standing a thousand vulture-feathered, gold-
notched, lead-poised, well-fashioned arrows (the barb is of iron); likewise a
thousand spears well-fashioned and sharp-piercing, and a thousand steel bat-
tle-axes, two-edged and well-fashioned; also a thousand bronze clubs well-
fashioned.
And by Mithra's chariot also
Stands a mace, fair and well-striking,
With a hundred knobs and edges,
Dashing forward, felling heroes;
Out of golden bronze 'tis molded.
The second illustrative extract will be taken from Yasht 19, which
magnifies in glowing strains the praises of the Kingly Glory. This
"kingly glory» (kavaem hvareno) is a sort of halo, radiance, or mark
of divine right, which was believed to be possessed by the kings and
heroes of Iran in the long line of its early history. One hero who
bore the glory was the mighty warrior Thraetaona (Feridun), the
vanquisher of the serpent-monster Azhi Dahaka (Zohak), who was
depopulating the world by his fearful daily banquet of the brains of
two children. The victory was a glorious triumph for Thraetaona
(Yt. 19, 37):-
He who slew Azhi Dahaka,
Three-jawed monster, triple-headed,
## p. 1092 (#518) ###########################################
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1092
With six eyes and myriad senses,
Fiend demoniac, full of power,
Evil to the world, and wicked.
This fiend full of power, the Devil
Anra Mainyu had created,
Fatal to the world material,
Deadly to the world of Righteousness.
Of equal puissance was another noble champion, the valiant
Keresaspa, who dispatched a raging demon who, though not yet
grown to man's estate, was threatening the world. The monster's
thrasonical boasting is thus given (Yt. 19, 43):-
I am yet only a stripling,
But if ever I come to manhood
I shall make the earth my chariot
And shall make a wheel of heaven.
I shall drive the Holy Spirit
Down from out the shining heaven,
I shall rout the Evil Spirit
Up from out the dark abysm;
They as steeds shall draw my chariot,
God and Devil yoked together.
Passing over a collection of shorter petitions, praises, and blessings
which may conveniently be grouped together as 'Minor Prayers,' for
they answer somewhat to our idea of a daily manual of morning
devotion, we may turn to the Vendidad (law against the demons), the
Iranian Pentateuch. Tradition asserts that in the Vendidad we have
preserved a specimen of one of the original Nasks. This may be
true, but even the superficial student will see that it is in any case
a fragmentary remnant. Interesting as the Vendidad is to the stu-
dent of early rites, observances, manners, and customs, it is never-
theless a barren field for the student of literature, who will find in it
little more than wearisome prescriptions like certain chapters of
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It need only be added that
at the close of the colloquy between Zoroaster and Ormazd given in
Vend. 6, he will find the origin of the modern Parsi "Towers of
Silence. »
Among the Avestan Fragments, attention might finally be called
to one which we must be glad has not been lost. It is an old metri-
cal bit (Frag. 4, 1-3) in praise of the Airyama Ishya Prayer (Yt. 54, 1).
This is the prayer that shall be intoned by the Savior and his com-
panions at the end of the world, when the resurrection will take
place; and it will serve as a sort of last trump, at the sound of which
the dead rise from their graves and evil is banished from the world.
Ormazd himself says to Zoroaster (Frag. 4, 1-3):—
## p. 1093 (#519) ###########################################
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1093
The Airyama Ishya prayer, I tell thee,
Upright, holy Zoroaster,
Is the greatest of all prayers.
Verily among all prayers
It is this one which I gifted
With revivifying powers.
This prayer shall the Saoshyants, Saviors,
Chant, and at the chanting of it
I shall rule over my creatures,
I who am Ahura Mazda.
Not shall Ahriman have power,
Anra Mainyu, o'er my creatures,
He (the fiend) of foul religion.
In the earth shall Ahriman hide,
In the earth the demons hide.
Up the dead again shall rise,
And within their lifeless bodies
Incorporate life shall be restored.
Inadequate as brief extracts must be to represent the sacred books
of a people, the citations here given will serve to show that the
Avesta which is still recited in solemn tones by the white-robed
priests of Bombay, the modern representatives of Zoroaster, the
Prophet of ancient days, is a survival not without value to those who
appreciate whatever has been preserved for us of the world's earlier
literature. For readers who are interested in the subject there are
several translations of the Avesta. The best (except for the Gathas,
where the translation is weak) is the French version by Darmesteter,
'Le Zend Avesta,' published in the 'Annales du Musée Guimet >
(Paris, 1892-93). An English rendering by Darmesteter and Mills is
contained in the Sacred Books of the East,' Vols. iv. , xxiii. , xxxi.
A. r. Williams
A PRAYER FOR KNOWLEDGE
is Jackans
THIS
HIS I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: when praise is to
be offered, how shall I complete the praise of the One like
You, O Mazda ? Let the One like Thee declare it earnestly
to the friend who is such as I, thus through Thy Righteousness
within us to offer friendly help to us, so that the One like Thee
may draw near us through Thy Good Mind within the Soul.
## p. 1094 (#520) ###########################################
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2. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright how, in pleas-
ing Him, may we serve the Supreme One of the better world;
yea, how to serve that chief who may grant us those blessings
of his grace and who will seek for grateful requitals at our
hands; for He, bountiful as He is through the Righteous Order,
will hold off ruin from us all, guardian as He is for both the
worlds, O Spirit Mazda! and a friend.
3. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who by gen-
eration is the first father of the Righteous Order within the
world? Who gave the recurring sun and stars their undeviating
way?
Who established that whereby the moon waxes, and
whereby she wanes, save Thee? These things, O Great Creator!
would I know, and others likewise still.
4. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who from
beneath hath sustained the earth and the clouds above that they
do not fall? Who made the waters and the plants? Who to the
wind has yoked on the storm-clouds the swift and fleetest two?
Who, O Great Creator! is the inspirer of the good thoughts
within our souls?
5. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who, as a
skillful artisan, hath made the lights and the darkness? Who, as
thus skillful, hath made sleep and the zest of waking hours?
Who spread the Auroras, the noontides and midnight, monitors to
discerning man, duty's true guides?
6. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright these things
which I shall speak forth, if they are truly thus. Doth the Piety
which we cherish in reality increase the sacred orderliness within
our actions? To these Thy true saints hath she given the Realm
through the Good Mind? For whom hast thou made the Mother-
kine, the produce of joy?
7. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who fashioned
Aramaiti (our piety) the beloved, together with Thy Sovereign
Power? Who, through his guiding wisdom, hath made the son
revering the father? Who made him beloved? With questions
such as these, so abundant, O Mazda! I press Thee, O bountiful
Spirit, Thou maker of all!
Yasna xliv. : Translation of L. H. Mills.
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1095
THE ANGEL OF DIVINE OBEDIENCE
WE
E WORSHIP Sraosha [Obedience] the blessed, whom four
racers draw in harness, white and shining, beautiful and
(27) powerful, quick to learn and fleet, obeying before speech,
heeding orders from the mind, with their hoofs of horn gold-
covered, (28) fleeter than [our] horses, swifter than the winds,
more rapid than the rain [-drops as they fall]; yea, fleeter than
the clouds, or well-winged birds, or the well-shot arrow as it
flies, (29) which overtake these swift ones all, as they fly after
them pursuing, but which are never overtaken when they flee,
which plunge away from both the weapons [hurled on this side.
and on that] and draw Sraosha with them, the good Sraosha and
the blessed; which from both the weapons [those on this side
and on that] bear the good Obedience the blessed, plunging for-
ward in their zeal, when he takes his course from India on the
East and when he lights down in the West.
Yasna lvii. 27-29: Translation of L. H. Mills.
TO THE FIRE
OFFER my sacrifice and homage to thee, the Fire, as a good
offering, and an offering with our hail of salvation, even as
an offering of praise with benedictions, to thee, the Fire, O
Ahura, Mazda's son! Meet for sacrifice art thou, and worthy of
[our] homage. And as meet for sacrifice, and thus worthy of our
homage, may'st thou be in the houses of men [who worship
Mazda] Salvation be to this man who worships thee in verity
and truth, with wood in hand and baresma [sacred twigs] ready,
with flesh in hand and holding too the mortar. 2. And mayst
thou be [ever] fed with wood as the prescription orders. Yea,
mayst thou have thy perfume justly, and thy sacred butter with-
out fail, and thine andirons regularly placed. Be of full age as
to thy nourishment, of the canon's age as to the measure of thy
food. O Fire, Ahura, Mazda's son! 3. Be now aflame within
this house; be ever without fail in flame; be all ashine within
this house: for long time be thou thus to the furtherance of the
heroic [renovation], to the completion of [all] progress, yea, even
till the good heroic [millennial] time when that renovation shall
have become complete. 4. Give me, O Fire, Ahura, Mazda's
son! a speedy glory, speedy nourishment and speedy booty and
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abundant glory, abundant nourishment, abundant booty, an ex-
panded mind, and nimbleness of tongue and soul and understand-
ing, even an understanding continually growing in its largeness,
and that never wanders.
Yasna xii. 1-4: Translation of L. H. Mills.
THE GODDESS OF THE WATERS
Ο
FFER up a sacrifice unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura
Anahita (the exalted, mighty, and undefiled, image of the
(128) stream celestial), who stands carried forth in the shape of
a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded, pure,
nobly born of a glorious race, wearing a mantle fully embroid-
ered with gold. 129. Ever holding the baresma in her hand,
according to the rules; she wears square golden ear-rings on her
ears bored, and a golden necklace around her beautiful neck, she,
the nobly born Ardvi Sura Anahita; and she girded her waist
tightly, so that her breasts may be well shaped, that they may
be tightly pressed. 128. Upon her head Ardvi Sura Anahita
bound a golden crown, with a hundred stars, with eight rays, a
fine well-made crown, with fillets streaming down. 129. She is
clothed with garments of beaver, Ardvi Sura Anahita; with the
skin of thirty beavers, of those that bear four young ones, that
are the finest kind of beavers; for the skin of the beaver that
lives in water is the finest colored of all skins, and when worked
at the right time it shines to the eye with full sheen of silver
and gold.
Yasht v. 126-129: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
GUARDIAN SPIRITS
W*
E WORSHIP the good, strong, beneficent Fravashis [guardian
spirits] of the faithful; with helms of brass, with weap-
(45) ons of brass, with armor of brass; who struggle in the
fights for victory in garments of light, arraying the battles and
bringing them forwards, to kill thousands of Dævas [demons].
46. When the wind blows from behind them and brings their
breath unto men, then men know where blows the breath of vic-
tory: and they pay pious homage unto the good, strong, benefi-
cent Fravashis of the faithful, with their hearts prepared and
their arms uplifted. 47. Whichever side they have been first
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worshiped in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side
turn the awful Fravashis of the faithful along with Mithra [angel
of truth and light] and Rashnu [Justice] and the awful cursing
thought of the wise and the victorious wind.
Yasht xiii. 45-47: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
AN ANCIENT SINDBAD
THE
HE manly-hearted Keresaspa was the sturdiest of the men of
strength, for Manly Courage clave unto him. We worship
[this] Manly Courage, firm of foot, unsleeping, quick to
rise, and fully awake, that clave unto Keresaspa [the hero], who
killed the snake Srvara, the horse-devouring, man-devouring,
yellow poisonous snake, over which yellow poison flowed a
thumb's breadth thick. Upon him Kerasaspa was cooking his
food in a brass vessel, at the time of noon. The fiend felt the
heat and darted away; he rushed from under the brass vessel
and upset the boiling water: the manly-hearted Keresaspa fell
back affrighted.
Yasht xix. 38-40: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
THE WISE MAN
V
ERILY I say it unto thee, O Spitama Zoroaster! the man who
has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he
who keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who
has children is far above the childless man; he who has riches is
far above him who has none.
And of two men, he who fills himself with meat receives
in him good spirit [Vohu Mano] much more than he who does
not do so; the latter is all but dead; the former is above him
by the worth of a sheep, by the worth of an ox, by the worth
of a man.
It is this man that can strive against the onsets of death;
that can strive against the well-darted arrow; that can strive
against the winter fiend with thinnest garment on; that can strive
against the wicked tyrant and smite him on the head; it is this
man that can strive against the ungodly fasting Ashemaogha [the
fiends and heretics who do not eat].
Vendidad iv. 47-49: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
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INVOCATION TO RAIN
"Co
OME, come on, O clouds, along the sky, through the air,
down on the earth, by thousands of drops, by myriads
of drops," thus say, O holy Zoroaster! "to destroy sick-
ness altogether, to destroy death altogether, to destroy altogether
the sickness made by the Gaini, to destroy altogether the death
made by Gaini, to destroy altogether Gadha and Apagadha.
"If death come at eve, may healing come at daybreak!
"If death come at daybreak, may healing come at night!
"If death come at night, may healing come at dawn!
"Let showers shower down new waters, new earth, new trees,
new health, and new healing powers. "
Vendidad xxi. 2: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
A PRAYER FOR HEALING
A"
HURA MAZDA spake unto Spitama Zoroaster, saying, "I,
Ahura Mazda, the Maker of all good things, when I made.
this mansion, the beautiful, the shining, seen afar (there
may I go up, there may I arrive)!
Then the ruffian looked at me; the ruffian Anra Mainyu, the
deadly, wrought against me nine diseases and ninety, and nine
hundred, and nine thousand, and nine times ten thousand dis-
eases. So mayest thou heal me, O Holy Word, thou most glori-
ous one!
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand fleet, swift-running
steeds; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by Mazda
and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand fleet, high-humped
camels; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by
Mazda and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand brown faultless
oxen; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by Mazda
and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand young of all spe-
cies of small cattle; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka,
made by Mazda and holy.
And I will bless thee with the fair blessing-spell of the right-
eous, the friendly blessing-spell of the righteous, that makes the
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1099
empty swell to fullness and the full to overflowing, that comes to
help him who was sickening, and makes the sick man sound
again.
Vendidad xxii. 1-5: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
FRAGMENT
Α'
LL good thoughts, and all good words, and all good deeds are
thought and spoken and done with intelligence; and all
evil thoughts and words and deeds are thought and spoken
and done with folly.
2.
And let [the men who think and speak and do] all good
thoughts and words and deeds inhabit Heaven [as their home].
And let those who think and speak and do evil thoughts and
words and deeds abide in Hell. For to all who think good
thoughts, speak good words, and do good deeds, Heaven, the
best world, belongs.
And this is evident and as of course.
Avesta, Fragment iii. : Translation of L. H. Mills.
AVICEBRON
(1028-? 1058)
VICEBRON,
or Avicebrol (properly Solomon ben Judah ibn
Gabirol), one of the most famous of Jewish poets, and the
most original of Jewish thinkers, was born at Cordova, in
Spain, about A. D. 1028. Of the events of his life we know little;
and it was only in 1845 that Munk, in the 'Literaturblatt des Orient,'
proved the Jewish poet Ibn Gabirol to be one and the same person
with Avicebron, so often quoted by the Schoolmen as an Arab
philosopher. He was educated at Saragossa, spent some years at
Malaga, and died, hardly thirty years old, about 1058. His disposi-
tion seems to have been rather melancholy.
Of his philosophic works, which were written in Arabic, by far
the most important, and that which lent lustre to his name, was
the 'Fountain of Life'; a long treatise in the form of a dialogue
between teacher and pupil, on what was then regarded as the funda-
mental question in philosophy, the nature and relations of Matter
and Form. The original, which seems never to have been popular
with either Jews or Arabs, is not known to exist; but there exists
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AVICEBRON
a complete Latin translation (the work having found appreciation
among Christians), which has recently been cdited with great care
by Professor Bäumker of Breslau, under the title 'Avencebrolis Fons
Vitæ, ex Arabico in Latinum translatus ab Johanne Hispano et
Dominico Gundissalino' (Münster, 1895). There is also a series of
extracts from it in Hebrew. Besides this, he wrote a half-popular
work, 'On the Improvement of Character,' in which he brings the
different virtues into relation with the five senses. He is, further,
the reputed author of a work 'On the Soul,' and the reputed com-
piler of a famous anthology, 'A Choice of Pearls,' which appeared,
with an English translation by B. H. Ascher, in London, in 1859. In
his poetry, which, like that of other medieval Hebrew poets, Moses
ben Ezra, Judah Halévy, etc. , is partly liturgical, partly worldly,
he abandons native forms, such as we find in the Psalms, and fol-
lows artificial Arabic models, with complicated rhythms and rhyme,
unsuited to Hebrew, which, unlike Arabic, is poor in inflections.
Nevertheless, many of his liturgical pieces are still used in the serv-
ices of the synagogue, while his worldly ditties find admirers else-
where. (See A. Geiger, 'Ibn Gabirol und seine Dichtungen,' Leipzig,
1867. )
The philosophy of Ibn Gabirol is a compound of Hebrew mono-
theism and that Neo-Platonic Aristotelianism which for two hundred
years had been current in the Muslim schools at Bagdad, Basra, etc. ,
and which the learned Jews were largely instrumental in carrying to
the Muslims of Spain. For it must never be forgotten that the great
translators and intellectual purveyors of the Middle Ages were the
Jews. (See Steinschneider, 'Die Hebräischen Uebersetzungen des
Mittelalters, und die Juden als Dolmetscher,' 2 vols. , Berlin, 1893. )
The aim of Ibn Gabirol, like that of the other three noted
Hebrew thinkers, Philo, Maimonides, and Spinoza, was-given God,
to account for creation; and this he tried to do by means of Neo-
Platonic Aristotelianism, such as he found in the Pseudo-Pythagoras,
Pseudo-Empedocles, Pseudo-Aristotelian Theology' (an abstract from
Plotinus), and 'Book on Causes' (an abstract from Proclus's 'Institu-
tio Theologica'). It is well known that Aristotle, who made God a
"thinking of thinking," and placed matter, as something eternal,
over against him, never succeeded in bringing God into effective
connection with the world (see K. Elser, 'Die Lehredes Aristotles
über das Wirken Gottes,' Münster, 1893); and this defect the Greeks
never afterward remedied until the time of Plotinus, who, without
propounding a doctrine of emanation, arranged the universe as a hier-
archy of existence, beginning with the Good, and descending through
correlated Being and Intelligence, to Soul or Life, which produces
Nature with all its multiplicity, and so stands on "the horizon »
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AVICEBRON
IIOI
between undivided and divided being.
In the famous encyclopædia
of the "Brothers of Purity," written in the East about A. D.
1000, and representing Muslim thought at its best, the hierarchy
takes this form: God, Intelligence, Soul, Primal Matter, Secondary
Matter, World, Nature, the Elements, Material Things. (See Dieterici,
'Die Philosophie der Araber im X. Jahrhundert n. Chr. ,' 2 vols. ,
Leipzig, 1876-79. ) In the hands of Ibn Gabirol, this is transformed
thus: God, Will, Primal Matter, Form, Intelligence, Soul - vegetable,
animal, rational, Nature, the source of the visible world. If we com-
pare these hierarchies, we shall see that Ibn Gabirol makes two very
important changes: first, he introduces an altogether new element,
viz. , the Will; second, instead of placing Intelligence second in rank,
next to God, he puts Will, Matter, and Form before it. Thus,
whereas the earliest thinkers, drawing on Aristotle, had sought for
an explanation of the world in Intelligence, he seeks for it in Will,
thus approaching the standpoint of Schopenhauer. Moreover, whereas
they had made Matter and Form originate. in Intelligence, he includes
the latter, together with the material world, among things com-
pounded of Matter and Form. Hence, everything, save God and His
Will, which is but the expression of Him, is compounded of Matter
and Form (cf. Dante, 'Paradiso,' i. 104 seq. ). Had he concluded from
this that God, in order to occupy this exceptional position, must be
pure matter (or substance), he would have reached the standpoint of
Spinoza. As it is, he stands entirely alone in the Middle Age, in
making the world the product of Will, and not of Intelligence, as the
Schoolmen and the classical philosophers of Germany held.
The Fountain of Life' is divided into five books, whose sub-
jects are as follows:- I. Matter and Form, and their various kinds.
II. Matter as the bearer of body, and the subject of the categories.
III. Separate Substances, in the created intellect, standing between
God and the World. IV. Matter and Form in simple substances.
V. Universal Matter and Universal Form, with a discussion of the
Divine Will, which, by producing and uniting Matter and Form, brings
being out of non-being, and so is the 'Fountain of Life. ' Though the
author is influenced by Jewish cosmogony, his system, as such, is
almost purely Neo-Platonic. It remains one of the most considerable
attempts that have ever been made to find in spirit the explanation
of the world; not only making all matter at bottom one, but also
maintaining that while form is due to the divine will, matter is due
to the divine essence, so that both are equally spiritual. It is espe-
cially interesting as showing us, by contrast, how far Christian
thinking, which rested on much the same foundation with it, was
influenced and confined by Christian dogmas, especially by those of
the Trinity and the Incarnation.
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I 102
AVICEBRON
Ibn Gabirol's thought exerted a profound influence, not only on
subsequent Hebrew thinkers, like Joseph ben Saddig, Maimonides,
Spinoza, but also on the Christian Schoolmen, by whom he is often
quoted, and on Giordano Bruno. Through Spinoza and Bruno this.
influence has passed into the modern world, where it still lives.
Dante, though naming many Arab philosophers, never alludes to Ibn
Gabirol; yet he borrowed more of his sublimest thoughts from the
'Fountain of Life' than from any other book. (Cf. Ibn Gabirol's
'Bedeutung für die Geschichte der Philosophie,' appendix to Vol. i.
of M. Joël's 'Beiträge zur Gesch. der Philos. ,' Breslau, 1876. ) If we
set aside the hypostatic form in which Ibn Gabirol puts forward his
ideas, we shall find a remarkable similarity between his system and
that of Kant, not to speak of that of Schopenhauer. For the whole
subject, see J. Guttman's 'Die Philosophie des Salomon Ibn Gabirol'
(Göttingen, 1889).
ON MATTER AND FORM
From the Fountain of Life,' Fifth Treatise
I
NTELLIGENCE is finite in both directions: on the upper side, by
reason of will, which is above it; on the lower, by reason of
matter, which is outside of its essence. Hence, spiritual sub-
stances are finite with respect to matter, because they differ
through it, and distinction is the cause of finitude; in respect to
forms they are infinite on the lower side, because one form flows
from another. And we must bear in mind that that part of
matter which is above heaven, the more it ascends from it to the
principle of creation, becomes the more spiritual in form, whereas
that part which descends lower than the heaven toward quiet
will be more corporeal in form.
VESTA, or Zend-Avesta, an interesting monument of antiquity,
is the Bible of Zoroaster, the sacred book of ancient Iran,
and holy scripture of the modern Parsis. The exact mean-
ing of the name "Avesta" is not certain; it may perhaps signify
"law," "text," or, more doubtfully, "wisdom," "revelation. "
The
modern familiar designation of the book as Zend-Avesta is not strictly
accurate; if used at all, it should rather be Avesta-Zend, like "Bible
and Commentary," as zand signifies "explanation," "commentary,"
and Avesta u Zand is employed in some Persian allusions to the Zoro-
astrian scriptures as a designation denoting the text of the Avesta
accompanied by the Pahlavi version or interpretation.
The story of the recovery of the Avesta, or rather the discovery
of the Avesta, by the enthusiastic young French scholar Anquetil du
Perron, who was the first to open to the western world the ancient
records of Zoroastrianism, reads almost like a romance. Du Perron's
own account of his departure for India in 1754, of his experiences
with the dasturs (or priests) during a seven years' residence among
them, of his various difficulties and annoyances, setbacks and suc-
cesses, is entertainingly presented in the introductory volume of his
work 'Zend-Avesta, Ouvrage de Zoroastre (3 Vols. , Paris, 1771).
This was the first translation of the ancient Persian books published
in a European language. Its appearance formed one of those epochs
which are marked by an addition to the literary, religious, or philo-
sophical wealth of our time; a new contribution was added to the
riches of the West from the treasures of the East. The field thus
thrown open, although worked imperfectly at first, has yielded abund-
ant harvests to the hands of later gleaners.
With the growth of our knowledge of the language of the sacred
texts, we have now a clear idea also of the history of Zoroastrian
literature and of the changes and chances through which with vary-
ing fortunes the scriptures have passed. The original Zoroastrian
Avesta, according to tradition, was in itself a literature of vast dimen-
sions. Pliny, in his 'Natural History,' speaks of two million verses
of Zoroaster; to which may be added the Persian assertion that the
original copy of the scriptures was written upon twelve thousand
parchments, with gold illuminated letters, and was deposited in the
library at Persepolis. But what was the fate of this archetype?
Parsi tradition has an answer. Alexander the Great-"the accursed
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1085
Iskander," as he is called—is responsible for its destruction. At the
request of the beautiful Thais, as the story goes, he allowed the pal-
ace of Persepolis to be burned, and the precious treasure perished in
the flames. Whatever view we may take of the different sides of
this story, one thing cannot be denied: the invasion of Alexander
and the subjugation of Iran was indirectly or directly the cause of a
certain religious decadence which followed upon the disruption of the
Persian Empire, and was answerable for the fact that a great part
of the scriptures was forgotten or fell into disuse. Persian tradi-
tion lays at the doors of the Greeks the loss of another copy of the
original ancient texts, but does not explain in what manner this
happened; nor has it any account to give of copies of the prophet's
works which Semitic writers say were translated into nearly a dozen
different languages. One of these versions was perhaps Greek, for
it is generally acknowledged that in the fourth century B. C. the
philosopher Theopompus spent much time in giving in his own
tongue the contents of the sacred Magian books.
Tradition is unanimous on one point at least: it is that the
original Avesta comprised twenty-one Nasks, or books, a statement
which there is no good reason to doubt. The same tradition which
was acquainted with the general character of these Nasks professes
also to tell exactly how many of them survived the inroad of Alex-
ander; for although the sacred text itself was destroyed, its contents
were lost only in part, the priests preserving large portions of the
precious scriptures. These met with many vicissitudes in the five
centuries that intervened between the conquest of Alexander and
the great restoration of Zoroastrianism in the third century of our
era, under the Sassanian dynasty. At this period all obtainable Zoro-
astrian scriptures were collected, the compilation was codified, and a
detailed notice made of the contents of each of the original Nasks
compared with the portions then surviving. The original Avesta
was, it would appear, a sort of encyclopædic work; not of religion
alone, but of useful knowledge relating to law, to the arts, science,
the professions, and to every-day life. If we may judge from the
existing table of contents of these Nasks, the zealous Sassanians, even
in the time of the collecting (A. D. 226-380), were able to restore but
a fragment of the archetype, perhaps a fourth part of the original
Avesta. Nor was this remnant destined to escape misfortune. The
Mohammedan invasion, in the seventh century of our era added a
final and crushing blow. Much of the religion that might otherwise
have been handed down to us, despite "the accursed Iskander's"
conquest, now perished through the sword and the Koran. Its loss,
we must remember, is in part compensated by the Pahlavi religious
literature of Sassanian days.
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Fragmentary and disjointed as are the remnants of the Avesta,
we are fortunate in possessing even this moiety of the Bible of Zoro-
aster, whose compass is about one tenth that of our own sacred book.
A grouping of the existing texts is here presented:- 1. Yasna (in-
cluding Gathas). 2. Visperad. 3. Yashts. 4. Minor Texts. 5. Ven-
didad. 6. Fragments.
Even these texts no single manuscript in our time contains com-
plete. The present collection made by combining various Avestan
codexes. In spite of the great antiquity of the literature, all the
existing manuscripts are comparatively young. None is older than
the thirteenth century of our own era, while the direct history of
only one or two can be followed back to about the tenth century.
This mere external circumstance has of course no bearing on the
actual early age of the Zoroastrian scriptures. It must be kept in
mind that Zoroaster lived at least six centuries before the birth of
Christ.
Among the six divisions of our present Avesta, the Yasna, Vis-
perad, and Vendidad are closely connected. They are employed in
the daily ritual, and they are also accompanied by a version or inter-
pretation in the Pahlavi language, which serves at the same time as
a sort of commentary. The three divisions are often found combined
into a sort of prayer-book, called Vendidad-Sadah (Vendidad Pure);
i. e. , Avesta text without the Pahlavi rendering. The chapters in
this case are arranged with special reference to liturgical usage.
Some idea of the character of the Avesta as it now exists may be
derived from the following sketch of its contents and from the illus-
trative selections presented:-
1. Yasna (sacrifice, worship), the chief liturgical work of the
sacred canon. It consists mainly of ascriptions of praise and of
prayer, and corresponds nearly to our idea of a prayer-book. The
Yasna comprises seventy-two chapters; these fall into three nearly
equal parts. The middle, or oldest part, is the section of Gathas
below described.
The meaning of the word yasna as above gives at once some con-
ception of the nature of the texts. The Yasna chapters were recited
at the sacrifice; a sacrifice that consisted not in blood-offerings, but
in an offering of praise and thanksgiving, accompanied by ritual
observances. The white-robed priest, girt with the sacred cord and
wearing a veil, the paitidana, before his lips in the presence of the
holy fire, begins the service by an invocation of Ahura Mazda
(Ormazd) and the heavenly hierarchy; he then consecrates the zaothra
water, the myazda or oblation, and the baresma or bundle of sacred
twigs. He and his assistant now prepare the haoma (the soma of the
Hindus), or juice of a sacred plant, the drinking of which formed
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1087
part of the religious rite. At the ninth chapter of the book, the
rhythmical chanting of the praises of Haoma is begun. This deified.
being, a personification of the consecrated drink, is supposed to have
appeared before the prophet himself, and to have described to him
the blessings which the haoma bestows upon its pious worshiper.
The lines are metrical, as in fact they commonly are in the older
parts of the Avesta, and the rhythm somewhat recalls the Kalevala
verse of Longfellow's 'Hiawatha. ' A specimen is here presented in
translation:-
At the time of morning-worship
Haoma came to Zoroaster,
Who was serving at the Fire
And the holy Psalms intoning.
"What man art thou (asked the Prophet),
Who of all the world material
Art the fairest I have e'er seen
In my life, bright and immortal? »
The image of the sacred plant responds, and bids the priest pre-
pare the holy extract.
Haoma then to me gave answer,
Haoma righteous, death-destroying:
« Zoroaster, I am Haoma,
Righteous Haoma, death-destroying.
Do thou gather me, Spitama,
And prepare me as a potion;
Praise me, aye as shall hereafter
In their praise the Saviors praise me. »
-
Zoroaster again inquires, wishing to know of the pious men of old
who worshiped Haoma and obtained blessings for their religious zeal.
Among these, as is learned from Haoma, one was King Yima, whose
reign was the time of the Golden Age; those were the happy days
when a father looked as young as his children.
In the reign of princely Yima,
Heat there was not, cold there was not,
Neither age nor death existed,
Nor disease the work of Demons;
Son and father walked together
Fifteen years old, each in figure,
Long as Vivanghvat's son Yima,
The good Shepherd, ruled as sovereign.
For two chapters more, Haoma is extolled. Then follows the
Avestan Creed (Yasna 12), a prose chapter that was repeated by
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those who joined in the early Zoroastrian faith, forsook the old
marauding and nomadic habits that still characterize the modern
Kurds, and adopted an agricultural habit of life, devoting them-
selves peaceably to cattle-raising, irrigation, and cultivation of the
fields. The greater part of the Yasna book is of a liturgic or ritual-
istic nature, and need not here be further described. Special men-
tion, however, must be made of the middle section of the Yasna,
which is constituted by "the Five Gathas" (hymns, psalms), a
division containing the seventeen sacred psalms, sayings, sermons, or
teachings of Zoroaster himself. These Gathas form the oldest part
of the entire canon of the Avesta. In them we see before our eyes
the prophet of the new faith speaking with the fervor of the Psalmist
of the Bible. In them we feel the thrill of ardor that characterizes
a new and struggling religious band; we are warmed by the burning
zeal of the preacher of a church militant. Now, however, comes a
cry of despondency, a moment of faint-heartedness at the present
triumph of evil, at the success of the wicked and the misery of the
righteous; but this gives way to a clarion burst of hopefulness, the
trumpet note of a prophet filled with the promise of ultimate victory,
the triumph of good over evil. The end of the world cannot be
far away; the final overthrow of Ahriman (Anra Mainyu) by Ormazd
(Ahura Mazda) is assured; the establishment of a new order of things
is certain; at the founding of this "kingdom" the resurrection of the
dead will take place and the life eternal will be entered upon.
The third Gatha, Yasna 30, may be chosen by way of illustration.
This is a sort of Mazdian Sermon on the Mount. Zoroaster preaches
the doctrine of dualism, the warfare of good and evil in the world,
and exhorts the faithful to choose aright and to combat Satan. The
archangels Good Thought (Vohu Manah), Righteousness (Asha), King-
dom (Khshathra), appear as the helpers of Man (Maretan); for whose
soul, as in the old English morality play, the Demons (Dævas) are
contending. Allusions to the resurrection and final judgment, and to
the new dispensation, are easily recognized in the spirited words
of the prophet. A prose rendering of this metrical psalm is here
attempted: the verse order. however, is preserved, though without
rhythm.
A PSALM OF ZOROASTER: YASNA 30
Now shall I speak of things which ye who seek them shall bear in mind,
Namely, the praises of Ahura Mazda and the worship of Good Thought,
And the joy of [lit. through' Righteousness which is manifested through
Light.
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2
Hearken with your ears to what is best; with clear understanding per-
ceive it,
Awakening to our advising every man, personally, of the distinction
Between the two creeds, before the Great Event [i. e. , the Resurrection].
3
Now, Two Spirits primeval there were-twins which became known
through their activity,
To wit, the Good and the Evil, in thought, word, and deed.
The wise have rightly distinguished between these two; not so the
unwise.
4
And, now, when these Two Spirits first came together, they established
Life and destruction, and ordained how the world hereafter shall be,
To wit, the Worst World [Hell] for the wicked, but the Best Thought
[Heaven] for the righteous.
5
The Wicked One [Ahriman] of these Two Spirits chose to do evil,
The Holiest Spirit [Ormazd]—who wears the solid heavens as a robe-
chose Righteousness [Asha],
And [so also those] who zealously gratified Ormazd by virtuous deeds.
6
Not rightly did the Demons distinguish these Two Spirits; for Delusion
came
Upon them, as they were deliberating, so that they chose the Worst
Thought [Hell].
And away they rushed to Wrath [the Fiend] in order to corrupt the life
of Man [Maretan].
7
And to him [i. e. , to Gaya Maretan] came Khshathra [Kingdom], Vohu
Manah [Good Thought] and Asha [Righteousness],
And Armaiti [Archangel of Earth] gave [to him] bodily endurance
unceasingly;
Of these, Thy [creatures], when Thou camest with Thy creations, he
[i. e. , Gaya Maretan] was the first.
8
But when the retribution of the sinful shall come to pass,
Then shall Good Thought distribute Thy Kingdom,
Shall fulfill it for those who shall deliver Satan [Druj] into the hand of
Righteousness [Asha].
11-69
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9
And so may we be such as make the world renewed,
And may Ahura Mazda and Righteousness lend their aid,
That our thoughts may there be [set] where Faith is abiding.
ness.
10
For at the [final] Dispensation, the blow of annihilation to Satan shall
come to pass;
But those who participate in a good report [in the Life Record] shall
meet together
In the happy home of Good Thought, and of Mazda, and of Righteous-
II
If, O ye men, ye mark these doctrines which Mazda gave,
And [mark] the weal and the woe-namely, the long torment of the
wicked,
And the welfare of the righteous-then in accordance with these [doc-
trines] there will be happiness hereafter.
The Visperad (all the masters) is a short collection of prosaic invo-
cations and laudations of sacred things. Its twenty-four sections
form a supplement to the Yasna. Whatever interest this division of
the Avesta possesses lies entirely on the side of the ritual, and not
in the field of literature. In this respect it differs widely from the
book of the Yashts, which is next to be mentioned.
The Yashts (praises of worship) form a poetical book of twenty-one
hymns in which the angels of the religion, "the worshipful ones"
(Yazatas, Izads), are glorified, and the heroes of former days. Much
of the material of the Yashts is evidently drawn from pre-Zoroastrian
sagas which have been remodeled and adopted, worked over and
modified, and incorporated into the canon of the new-founded reli-
gion. There is a mythological and legendary atmosphere about the
Yashts, and Firdausi's 'Shah Nameh' serves to throw light on many
of the events portrayed in them, or allusions that would otherwise
be obscure. All the longer Yashts are in verse, and some of them
have poetic merit. Chiefly to be mentioned among the longer ones
are: first, the one in praise of Ardvi Sura Anahita, or the stream
celestial (Yt. 5); second, the Yasht which exalts the star Tishtrya
and his victory over the demon of drought (Yt. 8); then the one
devoted to the Fravashis or glorified souls of the righteous (Yt. 13)
as well as the Yasht in honor of Verethraghna, the incarnation of
Victory (Yt. 14). Selections from the others, Yt. 10 and Yt. 19,
which are among the noblest, are here given.
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The first of the two chosen (Yt. 10) is dedicated to the great
divinity Mithra, the genius who presides over light, truth, and the
sun (Yt. 10, 13).
Foremost he, the celestial angel,
Mounts above Mount Hara (Alborz)
In advance of the sun immortal
Which is drawn by fleeting horses;
He it is, in gold adornment
First ascends the beauteous summits
Thence beneficent he glances
Over all the abode of Aryans.
As the god of light and of truth and as one of the judges of the
dead, he rides out in lordly array to the battle and takes an active
part in the conflict, wreaking vengeance upon those who at any time
in their life have spoken falsely, belied their oath, or broken their
pledge. His war-chariot and panoply are described in mingled lines
of verse and prose, which may thus be rendered (Yt. 10, 128-132):—
By the side of Mithra's chariot,
Mithra, lord of the wide pastures,
Stand a thousand bows well-fashioned
(The bow has a string of cowgut).
By his chariot also are standing a thousand vulture-feathered, gold-
notched, lead-poised, well-fashioned arrows (the barb is of iron); likewise a
thousand spears well-fashioned and sharp-piercing, and a thousand steel bat-
tle-axes, two-edged and well-fashioned; also a thousand bronze clubs well-
fashioned.
And by Mithra's chariot also
Stands a mace, fair and well-striking,
With a hundred knobs and edges,
Dashing forward, felling heroes;
Out of golden bronze 'tis molded.
The second illustrative extract will be taken from Yasht 19, which
magnifies in glowing strains the praises of the Kingly Glory. This
"kingly glory» (kavaem hvareno) is a sort of halo, radiance, or mark
of divine right, which was believed to be possessed by the kings and
heroes of Iran in the long line of its early history. One hero who
bore the glory was the mighty warrior Thraetaona (Feridun), the
vanquisher of the serpent-monster Azhi Dahaka (Zohak), who was
depopulating the world by his fearful daily banquet of the brains of
two children. The victory was a glorious triumph for Thraetaona
(Yt. 19, 37):-
He who slew Azhi Dahaka,
Three-jawed monster, triple-headed,
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With six eyes and myriad senses,
Fiend demoniac, full of power,
Evil to the world, and wicked.
This fiend full of power, the Devil
Anra Mainyu had created,
Fatal to the world material,
Deadly to the world of Righteousness.
Of equal puissance was another noble champion, the valiant
Keresaspa, who dispatched a raging demon who, though not yet
grown to man's estate, was threatening the world. The monster's
thrasonical boasting is thus given (Yt. 19, 43):-
I am yet only a stripling,
But if ever I come to manhood
I shall make the earth my chariot
And shall make a wheel of heaven.
I shall drive the Holy Spirit
Down from out the shining heaven,
I shall rout the Evil Spirit
Up from out the dark abysm;
They as steeds shall draw my chariot,
God and Devil yoked together.
Passing over a collection of shorter petitions, praises, and blessings
which may conveniently be grouped together as 'Minor Prayers,' for
they answer somewhat to our idea of a daily manual of morning
devotion, we may turn to the Vendidad (law against the demons), the
Iranian Pentateuch. Tradition asserts that in the Vendidad we have
preserved a specimen of one of the original Nasks. This may be
true, but even the superficial student will see that it is in any case
a fragmentary remnant. Interesting as the Vendidad is to the stu-
dent of early rites, observances, manners, and customs, it is never-
theless a barren field for the student of literature, who will find in it
little more than wearisome prescriptions like certain chapters of
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It need only be added that
at the close of the colloquy between Zoroaster and Ormazd given in
Vend. 6, he will find the origin of the modern Parsi "Towers of
Silence. »
Among the Avestan Fragments, attention might finally be called
to one which we must be glad has not been lost. It is an old metri-
cal bit (Frag. 4, 1-3) in praise of the Airyama Ishya Prayer (Yt. 54, 1).
This is the prayer that shall be intoned by the Savior and his com-
panions at the end of the world, when the resurrection will take
place; and it will serve as a sort of last trump, at the sound of which
the dead rise from their graves and evil is banished from the world.
Ormazd himself says to Zoroaster (Frag. 4, 1-3):—
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The Airyama Ishya prayer, I tell thee,
Upright, holy Zoroaster,
Is the greatest of all prayers.
Verily among all prayers
It is this one which I gifted
With revivifying powers.
This prayer shall the Saoshyants, Saviors,
Chant, and at the chanting of it
I shall rule over my creatures,
I who am Ahura Mazda.
Not shall Ahriman have power,
Anra Mainyu, o'er my creatures,
He (the fiend) of foul religion.
In the earth shall Ahriman hide,
In the earth the demons hide.
Up the dead again shall rise,
And within their lifeless bodies
Incorporate life shall be restored.
Inadequate as brief extracts must be to represent the sacred books
of a people, the citations here given will serve to show that the
Avesta which is still recited in solemn tones by the white-robed
priests of Bombay, the modern representatives of Zoroaster, the
Prophet of ancient days, is a survival not without value to those who
appreciate whatever has been preserved for us of the world's earlier
literature. For readers who are interested in the subject there are
several translations of the Avesta. The best (except for the Gathas,
where the translation is weak) is the French version by Darmesteter,
'Le Zend Avesta,' published in the 'Annales du Musée Guimet >
(Paris, 1892-93). An English rendering by Darmesteter and Mills is
contained in the Sacred Books of the East,' Vols. iv. , xxiii. , xxxi.
A. r. Williams
A PRAYER FOR KNOWLEDGE
is Jackans
THIS
HIS I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: when praise is to
be offered, how shall I complete the praise of the One like
You, O Mazda ? Let the One like Thee declare it earnestly
to the friend who is such as I, thus through Thy Righteousness
within us to offer friendly help to us, so that the One like Thee
may draw near us through Thy Good Mind within the Soul.
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2. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright how, in pleas-
ing Him, may we serve the Supreme One of the better world;
yea, how to serve that chief who may grant us those blessings
of his grace and who will seek for grateful requitals at our
hands; for He, bountiful as He is through the Righteous Order,
will hold off ruin from us all, guardian as He is for both the
worlds, O Spirit Mazda! and a friend.
3. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who by gen-
eration is the first father of the Righteous Order within the
world? Who gave the recurring sun and stars their undeviating
way?
Who established that whereby the moon waxes, and
whereby she wanes, save Thee? These things, O Great Creator!
would I know, and others likewise still.
4. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who from
beneath hath sustained the earth and the clouds above that they
do not fall? Who made the waters and the plants? Who to the
wind has yoked on the storm-clouds the swift and fleetest two?
Who, O Great Creator! is the inspirer of the good thoughts
within our souls?
5. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who, as a
skillful artisan, hath made the lights and the darkness? Who, as
thus skillful, hath made sleep and the zest of waking hours?
Who spread the Auroras, the noontides and midnight, monitors to
discerning man, duty's true guides?
6. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright these things
which I shall speak forth, if they are truly thus. Doth the Piety
which we cherish in reality increase the sacred orderliness within
our actions? To these Thy true saints hath she given the Realm
through the Good Mind? For whom hast thou made the Mother-
kine, the produce of joy?
7. This I ask Thee, O Ahura! tell me aright: Who fashioned
Aramaiti (our piety) the beloved, together with Thy Sovereign
Power? Who, through his guiding wisdom, hath made the son
revering the father? Who made him beloved? With questions
such as these, so abundant, O Mazda! I press Thee, O bountiful
Spirit, Thou maker of all!
Yasna xliv. : Translation of L. H. Mills.
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THE ANGEL OF DIVINE OBEDIENCE
WE
E WORSHIP Sraosha [Obedience] the blessed, whom four
racers draw in harness, white and shining, beautiful and
(27) powerful, quick to learn and fleet, obeying before speech,
heeding orders from the mind, with their hoofs of horn gold-
covered, (28) fleeter than [our] horses, swifter than the winds,
more rapid than the rain [-drops as they fall]; yea, fleeter than
the clouds, or well-winged birds, or the well-shot arrow as it
flies, (29) which overtake these swift ones all, as they fly after
them pursuing, but which are never overtaken when they flee,
which plunge away from both the weapons [hurled on this side.
and on that] and draw Sraosha with them, the good Sraosha and
the blessed; which from both the weapons [those on this side
and on that] bear the good Obedience the blessed, plunging for-
ward in their zeal, when he takes his course from India on the
East and when he lights down in the West.
Yasna lvii. 27-29: Translation of L. H. Mills.
TO THE FIRE
OFFER my sacrifice and homage to thee, the Fire, as a good
offering, and an offering with our hail of salvation, even as
an offering of praise with benedictions, to thee, the Fire, O
Ahura, Mazda's son! Meet for sacrifice art thou, and worthy of
[our] homage. And as meet for sacrifice, and thus worthy of our
homage, may'st thou be in the houses of men [who worship
Mazda] Salvation be to this man who worships thee in verity
and truth, with wood in hand and baresma [sacred twigs] ready,
with flesh in hand and holding too the mortar. 2. And mayst
thou be [ever] fed with wood as the prescription orders. Yea,
mayst thou have thy perfume justly, and thy sacred butter with-
out fail, and thine andirons regularly placed. Be of full age as
to thy nourishment, of the canon's age as to the measure of thy
food. O Fire, Ahura, Mazda's son! 3. Be now aflame within
this house; be ever without fail in flame; be all ashine within
this house: for long time be thou thus to the furtherance of the
heroic [renovation], to the completion of [all] progress, yea, even
till the good heroic [millennial] time when that renovation shall
have become complete. 4. Give me, O Fire, Ahura, Mazda's
son! a speedy glory, speedy nourishment and speedy booty and
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abundant glory, abundant nourishment, abundant booty, an ex-
panded mind, and nimbleness of tongue and soul and understand-
ing, even an understanding continually growing in its largeness,
and that never wanders.
Yasna xii. 1-4: Translation of L. H. Mills.
THE GODDESS OF THE WATERS
Ο
FFER up a sacrifice unto this spring of mine, Ardvi Sura
Anahita (the exalted, mighty, and undefiled, image of the
(128) stream celestial), who stands carried forth in the shape of
a maid, fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded, pure,
nobly born of a glorious race, wearing a mantle fully embroid-
ered with gold. 129. Ever holding the baresma in her hand,
according to the rules; she wears square golden ear-rings on her
ears bored, and a golden necklace around her beautiful neck, she,
the nobly born Ardvi Sura Anahita; and she girded her waist
tightly, so that her breasts may be well shaped, that they may
be tightly pressed. 128. Upon her head Ardvi Sura Anahita
bound a golden crown, with a hundred stars, with eight rays, a
fine well-made crown, with fillets streaming down. 129. She is
clothed with garments of beaver, Ardvi Sura Anahita; with the
skin of thirty beavers, of those that bear four young ones, that
are the finest kind of beavers; for the skin of the beaver that
lives in water is the finest colored of all skins, and when worked
at the right time it shines to the eye with full sheen of silver
and gold.
Yasht v. 126-129: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
GUARDIAN SPIRITS
W*
E WORSHIP the good, strong, beneficent Fravashis [guardian
spirits] of the faithful; with helms of brass, with weap-
(45) ons of brass, with armor of brass; who struggle in the
fights for victory in garments of light, arraying the battles and
bringing them forwards, to kill thousands of Dævas [demons].
46. When the wind blows from behind them and brings their
breath unto men, then men know where blows the breath of vic-
tory: and they pay pious homage unto the good, strong, benefi-
cent Fravashis of the faithful, with their hearts prepared and
their arms uplifted. 47. Whichever side they have been first
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1097
worshiped in the fulness of faith of a devoted heart, to that side
turn the awful Fravashis of the faithful along with Mithra [angel
of truth and light] and Rashnu [Justice] and the awful cursing
thought of the wise and the victorious wind.
Yasht xiii. 45-47: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
AN ANCIENT SINDBAD
THE
HE manly-hearted Keresaspa was the sturdiest of the men of
strength, for Manly Courage clave unto him. We worship
[this] Manly Courage, firm of foot, unsleeping, quick to
rise, and fully awake, that clave unto Keresaspa [the hero], who
killed the snake Srvara, the horse-devouring, man-devouring,
yellow poisonous snake, over which yellow poison flowed a
thumb's breadth thick. Upon him Kerasaspa was cooking his
food in a brass vessel, at the time of noon. The fiend felt the
heat and darted away; he rushed from under the brass vessel
and upset the boiling water: the manly-hearted Keresaspa fell
back affrighted.
Yasht xix. 38-40: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
THE WISE MAN
V
ERILY I say it unto thee, O Spitama Zoroaster! the man who
has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he
who keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who
has children is far above the childless man; he who has riches is
far above him who has none.
And of two men, he who fills himself with meat receives
in him good spirit [Vohu Mano] much more than he who does
not do so; the latter is all but dead; the former is above him
by the worth of a sheep, by the worth of an ox, by the worth
of a man.
It is this man that can strive against the onsets of death;
that can strive against the well-darted arrow; that can strive
against the winter fiend with thinnest garment on; that can strive
against the wicked tyrant and smite him on the head; it is this
man that can strive against the ungodly fasting Ashemaogha [the
fiends and heretics who do not eat].
Vendidad iv. 47-49: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
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INVOCATION TO RAIN
"Co
OME, come on, O clouds, along the sky, through the air,
down on the earth, by thousands of drops, by myriads
of drops," thus say, O holy Zoroaster! "to destroy sick-
ness altogether, to destroy death altogether, to destroy altogether
the sickness made by the Gaini, to destroy altogether the death
made by Gaini, to destroy altogether Gadha and Apagadha.
"If death come at eve, may healing come at daybreak!
"If death come at daybreak, may healing come at night!
"If death come at night, may healing come at dawn!
"Let showers shower down new waters, new earth, new trees,
new health, and new healing powers. "
Vendidad xxi. 2: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
A PRAYER FOR HEALING
A"
HURA MAZDA spake unto Spitama Zoroaster, saying, "I,
Ahura Mazda, the Maker of all good things, when I made.
this mansion, the beautiful, the shining, seen afar (there
may I go up, there may I arrive)!
Then the ruffian looked at me; the ruffian Anra Mainyu, the
deadly, wrought against me nine diseases and ninety, and nine
hundred, and nine thousand, and nine times ten thousand dis-
eases. So mayest thou heal me, O Holy Word, thou most glori-
ous one!
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand fleet, swift-running
steeds; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by Mazda
and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand fleet, high-humped
camels; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by
Mazda and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand brown faultless
oxen; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka, made by Mazda
and holy.
Unto thee will I give in return a thousand young of all spe-
cies of small cattle; I offer thee up a sacrifice, O good Saoka,
made by Mazda and holy.
And I will bless thee with the fair blessing-spell of the right-
eous, the friendly blessing-spell of the righteous, that makes the
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1099
empty swell to fullness and the full to overflowing, that comes to
help him who was sickening, and makes the sick man sound
again.
Vendidad xxii. 1-5: Translation of J. Darmesteter.
FRAGMENT
Α'
LL good thoughts, and all good words, and all good deeds are
thought and spoken and done with intelligence; and all
evil thoughts and words and deeds are thought and spoken
and done with folly.
2.
And let [the men who think and speak and do] all good
thoughts and words and deeds inhabit Heaven [as their home].
And let those who think and speak and do evil thoughts and
words and deeds abide in Hell. For to all who think good
thoughts, speak good words, and do good deeds, Heaven, the
best world, belongs.
And this is evident and as of course.
Avesta, Fragment iii. : Translation of L. H. Mills.
AVICEBRON
(1028-? 1058)
VICEBRON,
or Avicebrol (properly Solomon ben Judah ibn
Gabirol), one of the most famous of Jewish poets, and the
most original of Jewish thinkers, was born at Cordova, in
Spain, about A. D. 1028. Of the events of his life we know little;
and it was only in 1845 that Munk, in the 'Literaturblatt des Orient,'
proved the Jewish poet Ibn Gabirol to be one and the same person
with Avicebron, so often quoted by the Schoolmen as an Arab
philosopher. He was educated at Saragossa, spent some years at
Malaga, and died, hardly thirty years old, about 1058. His disposi-
tion seems to have been rather melancholy.
Of his philosophic works, which were written in Arabic, by far
the most important, and that which lent lustre to his name, was
the 'Fountain of Life'; a long treatise in the form of a dialogue
between teacher and pupil, on what was then regarded as the funda-
mental question in philosophy, the nature and relations of Matter
and Form. The original, which seems never to have been popular
with either Jews or Arabs, is not known to exist; but there exists
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1100
AVICEBRON
a complete Latin translation (the work having found appreciation
among Christians), which has recently been cdited with great care
by Professor Bäumker of Breslau, under the title 'Avencebrolis Fons
Vitæ, ex Arabico in Latinum translatus ab Johanne Hispano et
Dominico Gundissalino' (Münster, 1895). There is also a series of
extracts from it in Hebrew. Besides this, he wrote a half-popular
work, 'On the Improvement of Character,' in which he brings the
different virtues into relation with the five senses. He is, further,
the reputed author of a work 'On the Soul,' and the reputed com-
piler of a famous anthology, 'A Choice of Pearls,' which appeared,
with an English translation by B. H. Ascher, in London, in 1859. In
his poetry, which, like that of other medieval Hebrew poets, Moses
ben Ezra, Judah Halévy, etc. , is partly liturgical, partly worldly,
he abandons native forms, such as we find in the Psalms, and fol-
lows artificial Arabic models, with complicated rhythms and rhyme,
unsuited to Hebrew, which, unlike Arabic, is poor in inflections.
Nevertheless, many of his liturgical pieces are still used in the serv-
ices of the synagogue, while his worldly ditties find admirers else-
where. (See A. Geiger, 'Ibn Gabirol und seine Dichtungen,' Leipzig,
1867. )
The philosophy of Ibn Gabirol is a compound of Hebrew mono-
theism and that Neo-Platonic Aristotelianism which for two hundred
years had been current in the Muslim schools at Bagdad, Basra, etc. ,
and which the learned Jews were largely instrumental in carrying to
the Muslims of Spain. For it must never be forgotten that the great
translators and intellectual purveyors of the Middle Ages were the
Jews. (See Steinschneider, 'Die Hebräischen Uebersetzungen des
Mittelalters, und die Juden als Dolmetscher,' 2 vols. , Berlin, 1893. )
The aim of Ibn Gabirol, like that of the other three noted
Hebrew thinkers, Philo, Maimonides, and Spinoza, was-given God,
to account for creation; and this he tried to do by means of Neo-
Platonic Aristotelianism, such as he found in the Pseudo-Pythagoras,
Pseudo-Empedocles, Pseudo-Aristotelian Theology' (an abstract from
Plotinus), and 'Book on Causes' (an abstract from Proclus's 'Institu-
tio Theologica'). It is well known that Aristotle, who made God a
"thinking of thinking," and placed matter, as something eternal,
over against him, never succeeded in bringing God into effective
connection with the world (see K. Elser, 'Die Lehredes Aristotles
über das Wirken Gottes,' Münster, 1893); and this defect the Greeks
never afterward remedied until the time of Plotinus, who, without
propounding a doctrine of emanation, arranged the universe as a hier-
archy of existence, beginning with the Good, and descending through
correlated Being and Intelligence, to Soul or Life, which produces
Nature with all its multiplicity, and so stands on "the horizon »
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AVICEBRON
IIOI
between undivided and divided being.
In the famous encyclopædia
of the "Brothers of Purity," written in the East about A. D.
1000, and representing Muslim thought at its best, the hierarchy
takes this form: God, Intelligence, Soul, Primal Matter, Secondary
Matter, World, Nature, the Elements, Material Things. (See Dieterici,
'Die Philosophie der Araber im X. Jahrhundert n. Chr. ,' 2 vols. ,
Leipzig, 1876-79. ) In the hands of Ibn Gabirol, this is transformed
thus: God, Will, Primal Matter, Form, Intelligence, Soul - vegetable,
animal, rational, Nature, the source of the visible world. If we com-
pare these hierarchies, we shall see that Ibn Gabirol makes two very
important changes: first, he introduces an altogether new element,
viz. , the Will; second, instead of placing Intelligence second in rank,
next to God, he puts Will, Matter, and Form before it. Thus,
whereas the earliest thinkers, drawing on Aristotle, had sought for
an explanation of the world in Intelligence, he seeks for it in Will,
thus approaching the standpoint of Schopenhauer. Moreover, whereas
they had made Matter and Form originate. in Intelligence, he includes
the latter, together with the material world, among things com-
pounded of Matter and Form. Hence, everything, save God and His
Will, which is but the expression of Him, is compounded of Matter
and Form (cf. Dante, 'Paradiso,' i. 104 seq. ). Had he concluded from
this that God, in order to occupy this exceptional position, must be
pure matter (or substance), he would have reached the standpoint of
Spinoza. As it is, he stands entirely alone in the Middle Age, in
making the world the product of Will, and not of Intelligence, as the
Schoolmen and the classical philosophers of Germany held.
The Fountain of Life' is divided into five books, whose sub-
jects are as follows:- I. Matter and Form, and their various kinds.
II. Matter as the bearer of body, and the subject of the categories.
III. Separate Substances, in the created intellect, standing between
God and the World. IV. Matter and Form in simple substances.
V. Universal Matter and Universal Form, with a discussion of the
Divine Will, which, by producing and uniting Matter and Form, brings
being out of non-being, and so is the 'Fountain of Life. ' Though the
author is influenced by Jewish cosmogony, his system, as such, is
almost purely Neo-Platonic. It remains one of the most considerable
attempts that have ever been made to find in spirit the explanation
of the world; not only making all matter at bottom one, but also
maintaining that while form is due to the divine will, matter is due
to the divine essence, so that both are equally spiritual. It is espe-
cially interesting as showing us, by contrast, how far Christian
thinking, which rested on much the same foundation with it, was
influenced and confined by Christian dogmas, especially by those of
the Trinity and the Incarnation.
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I 102
AVICEBRON
Ibn Gabirol's thought exerted a profound influence, not only on
subsequent Hebrew thinkers, like Joseph ben Saddig, Maimonides,
Spinoza, but also on the Christian Schoolmen, by whom he is often
quoted, and on Giordano Bruno. Through Spinoza and Bruno this.
influence has passed into the modern world, where it still lives.
Dante, though naming many Arab philosophers, never alludes to Ibn
Gabirol; yet he borrowed more of his sublimest thoughts from the
'Fountain of Life' than from any other book. (Cf. Ibn Gabirol's
'Bedeutung für die Geschichte der Philosophie,' appendix to Vol. i.
of M. Joël's 'Beiträge zur Gesch. der Philos. ,' Breslau, 1876. ) If we
set aside the hypostatic form in which Ibn Gabirol puts forward his
ideas, we shall find a remarkable similarity between his system and
that of Kant, not to speak of that of Schopenhauer. For the whole
subject, see J. Guttman's 'Die Philosophie des Salomon Ibn Gabirol'
(Göttingen, 1889).
ON MATTER AND FORM
From the Fountain of Life,' Fifth Treatise
I
NTELLIGENCE is finite in both directions: on the upper side, by
reason of will, which is above it; on the lower, by reason of
matter, which is outside of its essence. Hence, spiritual sub-
stances are finite with respect to matter, because they differ
through it, and distinction is the cause of finitude; in respect to
forms they are infinite on the lower side, because one form flows
from another. And we must bear in mind that that part of
matter which is above heaven, the more it ascends from it to the
principle of creation, becomes the more spiritual in form, whereas
that part which descends lower than the heaven toward quiet
will be more corporeal in form.
