Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/130

Rh principle stated by tLe Proplict, that &quot; the seeker of gain is tbe friend of God.&quot; Some also are- permitted to marry, just as among the Sikh fakirs of Nanuk those named Bashara (with the law), or Salik (travellers), are allowed to marry and to move about ; those named Beshara (without the law), or Majzub (the abstracted), are condemned to celibacy and seclusion. But their lives are mainly directed to the production in themselves of the ecstatic state in which the soul enters the Aleni-i-misal, or world of dreams, and becomes one with God. This part of Sofism strongly resembles Vedantism. Kaif, or quiescence, is often caused by the use of hashish (the Arabic khoshkhosh, sold at Constantinople in pastilles called esrar), or by khalwet, retirement, and the erba cin, or fast for 40 days. Then they indulge in excessive and rapid repetitions of particular phrases, as the Esami Ilahi, or seven attributes of God, viz. La ilaha ill Allah (no God but Allah), Ya Allah (O God), Ya Hoo (0 Him), Ya Hakk (0 just God), Ya Hay (O living God), Ya Kayyoum (0 living God), Ya Kahhar (O revenging God). The Zikr consists mainly in a chant, always becoming louder and more violent, of the first attribute ; thus This leads to the Devr, or rotation, in which the Rufai, or Howling Dervishes, stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, each on his right foot, and swaying the body and the left leg backwards and forwards or from side to side ; the Sein a of the Mevlevis, or Spinning Dervishes, in which a pirouette is performed all round the khaneh on the left heel, the eyes being closed, the arms outstretched ; and other more violent dances, accompanied by the music of the nay, or flute, and tambourine, and by the cries of the dancers. In the Halet, or final ecstasy, the dervishes tak~ hold of red-hot implements, place glowing charcoal in the mouth, and exhibit prodigies of muscular strength, which are in some cases the genuine and interesting effects of excitement, in others mere calculated imposture. At last the Jezbed, or attraction of God, begins to operate. Besides daily readings from the Koran, an infinity of small figurative prayers, or terjumans, is repeated. These are connected with the khirka, the paleuk, the postaki, or seat, the seggadeh, or carpet, and with almost every act and motion of the dervish within the monastery. A rabouta, or silent prayer, is also practised. In return for these mystical rites the dervish obtains spiritual powers, of which the most remarkable is that called fascination, kuvveh iradat, the power of the will, which depends on certain physical conditions, and seems to include prophecy and the phenomena of mesmerism. By vifk, or the science of numbers, a charm, composed of the names of the matloob, or patient, and the arif, or knowing person (each letter of the alphabet has a numerical value), is placed on the knee of the latter, and by diligent blowing and mental con centration he is able to summon before him the spirit of the matloob. Some dervishes cure diseases, sell talis mans, called tilsiins and nushkas, charm snakes, and some are musicians and dancers. It is in Egypt and Hindustan that the extreme degrees of squalor, of imposture, and also of self-mortification are found. Some spend their lives in absolute nakedness, their bodies smeared with wood ash, their unkempt hair twisted into a turban ; some roll head over heels for hundreds of miles ; some contemplate the tip of the nose from 84 different postures ; some live by the fraudulent sale of drugs or by feats of legerdemain. All Mahometan dervishes hold a powerful belief in the per petual agency of the evlia, or saints, and the departed salihin (pure ones), the &quot;unseen men or masters of destiny,&quot; who are sent forth from the kutb, or centre of the roof of the Kaaba, to control the spiritual affairs of the world. This is closely connected with the doctrine of tenassuh, or metem psychosis, which, however, is held chiefly in a spiritual sense. The Bektashis believe that every one has a mesal, or equal (doppel-gii nger 1), who watches over him from the unseen region. For an account of dervishes in Persia, where mysticism has been refined by the poetry of Jelaleddin, Saadi, and Hafiz, and where the seven original orders of Hulullieh, Ittihadieh, Yusoolieh, Ashkieh, Telkinieh, Zurikieh, Wahdettieh, are still preserved, see Malcolm s History of Persia, andDeGobiueau s Three Years in Asia, 1859 ; for Central Asia, the vorksof Vamberyand other travellers ; for Hindustan, The Peoples of India, by Kaye and &quot;VVatson, 1868- 72, and Steel s Hindu Castes. For Egypt, where four orders are presided over by the Sheikh el Bekri, and where the ceremony of the Doseh, or the mounted sheikh riding over the bodies of the dervishes, is still practised, see Lane s Modern Egyptians ; and for the general subject, The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism, by J. P. Brown, Constantinople, 1868, which contains a number of valu able translations of Dervish MSS. (W. C. S.)

 DESAIX DE VOYGOUX, Louis CHARLES ANTOINE (1768-1800), one of the most eminent generals of the French republic, was born at the Chateau d Ayat, near Riom. in Auvergne, on the 17th August 1768. He studied at the military school founded by the Marshal d Effiat, and distinguished himself by his eagerness in acquiring a know ledge of his chosen profession. After joining the army he spent some time in garrison at Briangon and Huningue. He was favourable to the Revolution, but was an object of suspicion to the Convention, on account of his aristocratic birth and his popularity with his men. He was twice sus pended, and on the earlier occasion he was imprisoned for two months by order of Carnot. The first engagement in which he took part was the battle of Lauterburg, in which he was wounded ; and when Moreau executed his masterly retreat through the Black Forest, Desaix contributed not a little co the success of that memorable exploit. After some gallant achievements, such as the repulse of the Archduke Charles at Rastadt, and the defence of the bridge of Kehl, he accompanied Bonaparte (1798-9) to Egypt, where he dispersed the Arabs, and for his various services was made commander of Upper Egypt. The campaign of eight months in which he completed the conquest of L T pper Egypt was the great achievement of his military career. During his occupation he conducted himself in such a way as to win from the inhabitants the title of the Just Sultan, and to be compared by his soldiers to Bayard. On his return to Europe he found Napoleon marching to the con quest of Italy. With a small squadron he hastened to join the first consul, whom he overtook at Marengo at the very moment when the Austrians had deemed themselves secure of the victory. His timely arrival changed the fortune of the day ; but in the moment of victory he was shot through the heart and immediately expired, 14th June 1800. His body was embalmed at Milan, and finally deposited in the convent of Mount St Bernard, where a handsome monument is erected to his memory.

 DESAUGIERS, MARC ANTOINE MADELEINE (1772- 1827), a Freuch dramatist and song-writer, son of Marc Antoine Desaugiers, a musical composer, was born at Frejus on the 17th November 1772. Being intended for the church, he studied at the Mazarin College in Paris, where he had for one of his teachers the celebrated critic Geoffroy. He did not continue his studies long, however, having shown signs of a decided dramatic talent, which his father thought it well to encourage. Ere he completed his twentieth year he had written a comedy in verse in one act, which was well received when produced on the stage in 1792. In the following year he wrote some verses which appeared in the Almanack des Muses. Dur ing the stormy period of the Revolution he emigrated to St Domingo with a sister who was about to marry a creole 