Kabbalism, Secret Societies , And Masonry.

hammed left no son , and he did not distinctly point out who was to be his successor ; his followers then divided ; one party held with Ali , his son-in-law , who had married his daughter Eatmah another supported Abu-bekr ; the former is called the first Imaun , tho latter the first Khalif ; thr followers of the former are called Shiitesthe latter Sonnites . Omarthe

, , successor of Abu-Bekr , was murdered , ancl Otliinan , who succeeded him , shared the like fate ; Moawiyah seized the khalifate , and held it by mere force of arms ; he was the founder of the dynasty of the Omeyades . Ali , acknowledged by the other party , had to maintain his position against Telha and Zobeirtwo of

Moham-, med's companions , and Ayesha , his widow . Ali had two sons , two of whom , Hassan and Hosein , with nine of his descendants , are the twelve Imauns , whom the Shiites reverence as the onl y true successors of Mohammed . Speaking generallr , tha Persians and

Indians , and the Mohammedans east of the Euphrates , are Shiites ; while the Arabs , Turks , and western Mohammedans are Sonnites ; these two great parties are not only hostile , but oppose ancl absolutely anathematize each other . In the west , however , there are found many sects of Shiites : the Druses , Ansaireeh ,

and other tribes of Mount Lebanon , as well as tlie turning and howling Dervishes of Constantinople and other places , are Shiites , the latter being of Persian origin ; the Yezidees , devil worshippers , are probably a remnant of the Manicheans . The last of the twelve Imauns , Mohammed , was only six months old when

his father , Hassan the Eleventh , ivas poisoned hy the Khalif of Baghdad . Mohammed lived till he was twelve years old , when he was drowned in crossing the Tigris ; the Shiites believe that he stilllives , sleeping in a cave , from whence , when the hour comes , he will emerge to lead his followers to the conquest of the world .

We must now speak of the traditions and tenets of of the Shiites , to illustrate our position that they have engrafted on tho Khoran the Kabbalistic system of interpretation , and have adopted , and carried to excess , the Kabbalistic system of emanations . We shall follow in this the investigations of Yon Hammer , do

Saey , and Mr . Lyde , into the Druse , Ansaireeh , and Ismaeleeh mysteries . The Thiite traditions , being Persian in their origin , present themselves to us in all the wild extravagance of oriental thought and language ; immense durations of time , incalculable distance , immeasurable height

and size , are the form in whieh eastern imagination delights in expressing divine things ; it aims at apprehending infinity by getting beyond human calculation . The great doctrine of ' the Shiite is the glorification of Mahommed , Ali , ancl the Imauns . The world seems , to his imagination , to have been

created in order to manifest the glory of Mohammed and Ali everything else is subservient to that . Thus , the divine li ght which shone on these two persons was created four hundred and twenty-four thousand years before the formations of the heavens and the earth .-in this light God formed twelve compartments , viz .

of power , greatness , grace , mercy , felicity , munificence , official dignity , religious direction , prophecy , exaltatation , majesty , ancl intercession . In each of these successively was the li ght stationed , giving praise ¦ unceasingly ; then it was placed in the loins of Adam , from whence ifc was regularly transmitted to Abcl-Allah , the father of Mohammed , and in Abu-Taleb ,

Kabbalism, Secret Societies , And Masonry.

the father of Ali . Mohammed , Ali , Eatmah , Hassan , and Hosein , were created before the worlds , and they are more excellent than the heaven or the earth , or angels . The light of Mahommed passed through twenty seas of glory , patience , humility , & c . & e . till it formed one hundred and twenty-four thousand

drops , from each of which God formed a prophet . It would be useless to go further into the account of the Creation ; the narrative is full of such-like extravagances ; very many are clearly derived from Jewish sources , others betray a Persian origin . One thing we notice , that the allegorical element runs

through the whole ; thus , when it is said that the divine light passed through twenty seas , we are told that these are not material seas , but are glory , patience , and other virtues ; in this manner , most of the descrip tions are not intended to be understood literallybut figuratively ; while afc the same timewe

, , must confess that there is a very perplexing mixture of allegory with historical description ; one thing is clear , that the divine lig ht is an emanation , like the Xabbalistic Sephirah , or the Gnostic rcon . Extravagant as Shiite doctrine may be , it is far exceeded by that of its erratic childrenthe tribes of

, Mount Lebanuon : the Shiite doctrine of the emanation of divine light culminating in Mohammed , is far outstripped hy the Ansaireeh conception of Ali , and the Druse belief of their founder Hakem . According to the former , Ali was not a man in reality , he was

only so in appearance : in their catechism , the first question is , " Who created its- ? Ans . Ali , son of Abu-Taleb . . . . IV . If Ali is God , how did he take man ' s nature ? Ans . He did not take it , but he concealed himself in Mahommed in the period , of his change of shapes , and took the name of Ali

Y . How often has our Lord changed his form , and shown himself in the likeness of man ? Ans . Seven times . 1 st , he took the name of Abel , and took Adam as his veil ; 2 nd , Seth , with . Noah for his veil ; 3 rd , Joseph , ivith Jacob as veil ; 4 th , Joshua , with Moses for his veil ; 5 thAsafwith Solomon ; GthPeter

, , , , with Jesus ; 7 th , Ali , ivith Mohammed .... YIII . What is the divine appearance ? Ans . It is the appearance of the Creator by means of the veiling himself in human form , and the best of sheaths within a sheath . IX . Explain this more exactly . Ans . As the Maana [ Sense ] entered into the door

[ Bab ] , it concealed itself under the name [ Ism ] , and took it for itself ; . . . . N . What are the Maana , the Ism , and the Bab ? Ans . They are an inseparable trinity , as one says ; ' In the name of God , the compassionate , the merciful . ' The word God signifies the Maana ; the words compassionate and merciful

denote the name , and the door . XL How did the Maana create the Ism , and how did the latter create Bab ? Ans . The substance of substances produced the name out of the light of his unity . "—The Asian Mi / stery , by Rev . S . Lyde , pp . 271 , 272 ,

This so-called trinity , being in reality only another form of emanation , is a primary doctrine with the Ansaireeh ; these two , the Ism and the Bab , accomjianied all die manifestations of the Deity from Abel to Ali ; thus , when Abel was the Maana , Adam was the Ism , and Gabriel was the Bab ; thusthe twelve

, Imauns ivere Ism and each had a Bab . The Ism is sometimes called also the veil , because under it the Maana conceals his glory , while by it he reveals himself to men . The Bab is also a necessary accompam-