yearly subsidy from the Shah's son the sum of 700 tumans, and in the
other, owing chiefly to a malicious colleague, his theological
doctrines brought him into much disrepute. Yet he lived as a pious
Muslim, and died in the odour of sanctity, as a pilgrim to Mecca.
[Footnote: See _AMB_ (Nicolas), pp. 264-272; _NH_, pp. 235,
236.]

One of his opponents (Mulla 'Ali) said of him that he was 'an
ignorant man with a pure heart.' Well, ignorant we dare not call him,
except with a big qualification, for his aim required great knowledge;
it was nothing less than the reconciliation of all truth, both
metaphysical and scientific. Now he had certainly taken much trouble
about truth, and had written many books on philosophy and the sciences
as understood in Islamic countries. We can only qualify our eulogy by
admitting that he was unaware of the limitations of human nature, and
of the weakness of Persian science. Pure in heart, however, he was;
no qualification is needed here, except it be one which Mulla 'Ali
would not have regarded as requiring any excuse. For purity he (like
many others) understood in a large sense. It was the reward of
courageous 'buffeting' and enslaving of the body; he was an austere
ascetic.

He had a special devotion to Ja'far-i-Sadik, [Footnote: _TN_,
p. 297.] the sixth Imam, whose guidance he believed himself to
enjoy in dreams, and whose words he delighted to quote. Of course,
'Ali was the director of the council of the Imams, but the
councillors were not much less, and were equally faithful as mirrors
of the Supreme. This remains true, even if 'Ali be regarded as himself
the Supreme God [Footnote: The Sheykh certainly tended in the
direction of the sect of the 'Ali-Ilabis (_NH_, p. 142; Kremer,