'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎224r] (452/862)

PEOPLE
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Book which contains a myth of the creation of the world and of the
origin of the Yezidis with the name of Satan erased when it occurs.
They have a holy village and shrine at Shaikh Adi, 30 miles north-east
of Mosul. Shaikh Adi himself was apparently a Moslem and a pupil
of the Sunni saint Abdul Gailani (p. 329). Friendly strangers may be
admitted to his tomb but not to an inner shrine which even Yezidis
seldom enter. On the door of the shrine is a black serpent, the symbol
of Shaitan, which pilgrims kiss, and there is a holy spring supposed
to draw its water from the well of Zemzem at Mecca (photo. 143).
The community has for its head a Mir or Amir, and there are often
rival claimants. There is also a religious hierarchy: shaikhs, mullas,
and qawals are preachers and teachers, the qawals also being concerned
with the ritual of the Peacock King. Other priests are pirs, and the
attendants of the shrine of Shaikh Adi are called kuchaks and faqirs.
The sh taboo has made it difficult to educate Yezidis, though attempts
have been made to provide them with expurgated text-books.
Yezidis are greatly despised by their Moslem neighbours.
Sabians
The Sabians (Subbu) or Mandeans who live mostly in the southern
delta and in Persian Arabistan (p. 382) are, like the Yezidis, a pagan
sect of ancient origin and diverse elements. Their distinctive charac
teristic is the importance of baptism and of frequent ceremonial
ablutions, for which reason they always live near fresh water. Because
of this and of the respect which they pay to John the Baptist they were
first reported by Europeans as the ‘Christians of St. John’. Their
Supreme Being is the King of Light, and their faith contains elements
of Manichaeism (p. 238) but not of Islam; also it lacks the notion of a
Saviour. They pay attention to astrology and at prayers turn towards
the Pole Star, where they are said to place Paradise. They have
several holy books written in Aramaic, which is their ceremonial
language. By Mohammed they were classed in the Koran as a
tolerated sect with the other Peoples of the Book, Jews and Christians
—one reason for their survival—but they consider both Moses and
Christ as false prophets.
They have a special calendar of 12 months of 30 days, with 5 extra
intercalary days; at their New Year festival they stay 36 hours indoors.
Sunday is a day of rest, but has no special services. Their headquarters
in Iraq are at Suq ash Shuyukh, where as elsewhere they ply their craft
either as silversmiths or as boat-builders, for both of which they are
famous (photo. 160).