'A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English; with a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations' [‎33r] (70/1826)

DISSERTATION.
xlix
species of fiction as originating among the Ara
bians ; but there are many reasons for believing
that it was absolutely unknown to them before the
era of the Hijra, and that they did not adopt that
mode of writing till long after the Persian conquest.
Muhammad, as before observed, was uncommonly
alarmed at the first romantic glimmerings, which
were brought from Persia by the merchant Nasar.
He was afraid lest the minds of his countrymen
should be more strongly impressed with those
wildly pleasing tales, than with the doctrines of the
Kur’an ; and he accordingly reprobates those
foreign figments, as abhorred by God and the
prophet. The warriors, who figure in Faery-land,
are all ancient Persian kings and heroes. The
Arabians have not even a word in their language
expressive of the greatest beauty of Eastern
romance, the Pari; and although Jin is now used
synonimously with Dive, yet its proper and original
meaning was merely an infernal fiend, a being very
distinct from the romantic inhabitant of Kaf. The
same observation will hold with regard to the most
uncommon monsters, who seem all to be natives
of Persian fancy; the words used by the Arabians,
to express the Persian Simurg/i, Ouranabdd, or
Rakshah, as well their dragons and other machinery
of romance, having in general simple radical signi
fications, expressive of creatures which really exist,
and seem only to have been figuratively applied to
those imaginary monsters in later times. A large
serpent, for example, is transformed into a dragon;
an eagle, or a long-necked animal, represents the
Slmurgh; a dangerous or inhuman villain is turned
into a giant, a demon, or any terrifying appear
ance'; and a word, expressive of a dreadful
calamity, or sudden horror, which deprives people
of their senses, is metaphorically converted into a
species of monster, supposed to haunt woods,
church-yards, and other lonely places; and not
only to tear the living to pieces, but to dig up and
devour the bodies of the dead. As the language
then of every people will always be observed to
abound in radical words, expressive of every kind
of imagery which has been long familiar to them,
we must conclude, upon the best grounds, where
such words are not to be found, and metaphorical,
or exotic expressions, appear to be the only sub
stitutes, that the ideas described by those words
are not indigenous, but adopted from foreign
nations; and as the Arabians have no terms, in
their tongue, radically expressive of any thing
superhuman, excepting angels and devils, romance,
whose characteristic genius rolls entirely on a
peculiar and distinct species of machinery, could
not apparently have originated in Arabia. 91
Exclusive of the universal belief in the fanciful
Pari system, which may be called the mythology of
romance, the ancient Persians appear in general to
have acknowledged one Supreme Being, and to
have paid a high degree of veneration to angels, as
subordinate deities. This, with a respect for the
stars, was the great doctrine of the Sabean religion,
which prevailed of old in Persia, Arabia, and other
Eastern countries. As these angels are not only
frequently alluded to in Eastern authors, but
throw considerable light on the detail of private
life, a few observations upon them may not be
unuseful. 92
When Ormuzd, or Omnipotence, created man
kind, the Persians suppose that he gave, at the
same time, the superintendency of the world, and
of every thing animate or inanimate, to certain
guardian angels. Though man was the peculiar
charge of the Supreme Being, yet all his actions,
and every accident to which he was liable, were
still imagined to be, in a great measure, dependent
on the influence of the presiding angel. Every
circumstance of public or family-concern had, in
consequence, their favourite times ; established
ceremonies were observed with anxious attention;
and various public festivals were appointed, to
conciliate the benevolence of those ministers of
heaven. 93
To procure the favour, or command the service
of beings, who were supposed to be the cause of
the felicity or misery of man, was a natural wish ;
and some there were who pretended to possess this
power. Hence the origin of charms, of talismans,
h