The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.139

v1.c11.139

Further, *a priori* the presumption is strong, that Sufism owes its origin and a good many of its details to the Bhaktism of India, and a host of European writers have adopted this view of the question. Sir William Jones was the first to notice the analogy between the two creeds, and others have since dwelt on it at more or less length. Mr. Brown in his *History of the Dervishes*, says: “The subject is not a new one. It can be traced in the Old and New Testament, as well as in the *Korān*, and, I fully believe, is peculiar to the learned ranks of the people of India, form whence it entered into Arabia and Persia. It has its origin in the belief that man's spirit is a Divine emanation, and, under certain peculiar circumstances, is possessed of a [ 157 ] Divine faculty disconnected with his corporeal part, and, therefore, attributed wholly to his spiritual.” ⁶⁷ Arguments, however, are not wanting to support an equally strong presumption in favour of the theory which would trace its source much nearer home than India. It is well-known that even during the early apostolic age many Christian professors were deeply imbued with mystic ideas about religion, and that they promulgated them so widely that for a long time those ideas rivalled the Christian faith in their currency. Herder, Ewald, De Wette, Renan and others are of opinion that the *Song of Songs* was originally understood in a literal sense, and that it was only in the first century of the Christian era, when the spirit of mysticism was rampant among a certain class of Christians, that it was subjected to allegorical treatment. The Gnostics were particularly remarkable for their devotion to mysticism, and the Syrian school of that sect flourished to the end of the sixth century, and there was nothing to prevent the Muhammadans from borrowing the dogma of mystic adoration from them. Several Sufi terms are of Greek origin and they must have been derived through the medium of Syrian Christians. Even the very name of the sect seems very like a Greek one. It is usual to derive it from *suf*, "coarse wool," the material of which the clothing of the Sufis is usually made; but this is not to the liking of the Sufis, and they say it means "pure," and one may without any violence recognise in it the *sophia* of the Gnostics—that female of heavenly origin who awakened to a consciousness of her spiritual character, watches over man, and never ceases to impart to him fresh supplies of spiritual influence, which it is the aim of Jaldabaoth to crush and destory." The question is, however, one that does not much concern the object of the present essay, and it may, therefore, be left for future enquiry, particularly as at present, I believe, there are not data sufficiently explicit and harmonious in their evidence satisfactorily to meet the requirements of the case.