each volume.  And no herbed transgressed upon the volume of another.  And the MOBED MOBEDAN was the superintendent of the whole of those scriptures.  Now whatever is in this condition has its contents altered and modified and each of the transcripts is in this state.  Hence they are corrupt and do not deserve to be regarded as authentic.  Thus whatever is in their books cannot be held to be authentic except by reason of faith alone since there are evident falsehoods in them like the statement that their king mounted on Iblis and rode on him wherever he willed, that man in the beginning originated from a vegetable like grass called Sharaliya, and the birth of Bayarawan Siyawush son of Kay Kawash who built a city called Kangdez between the earth and the heaven and settled therein 80,000 men belonging to the people of family, that they are there to this day, and that when Behram Hamawand manifests himself on his bull to restore to them their sovereignty that city will descend to earth and will help him to restore their religion and Empire.  Says Abu Muhammed, may God be pleased with him.  And every book in which is incorporated a falsehood is invalid and fictitious.  It does not come from God.  Thus there is corruption in the religion of the Magians just as there is in the religion of the Jews and the Christians to an equal degree.

IBN HAUKAL.

Ibn Haukal has been edited in the Bibliotheca Geogra phorum Arabicorum by De Goege, but as the text is not available the following excerpts from a translation of it made over a century ago by Sir William Ouseley will indicate its importance.  He flourished in the middle of the 11th century.

[Sidenote:  Fire Temples.]

“There is not any district nor any town of Fars without a fire temple.  These are held in high veneration.  We shall hereafter minutely describe them.  Also throughout Fars there are castles one stronger than another.

[Sidenote:  Nirang.]

“There is not any district of this province nor any without a fire temple.  One near Shapur they call Kunbud Kaush....  And in the religion of the Guebres it is ordained that ’Omnis Foemina quae tempore gravid it at is aut tempore menstruorum, fornicationem seu adultarium fecerit, pura non erit, donec ad Pyraeum (seu templum Ignicolarum) accesserit (et) coram Heirbed (sacerdote) nuda ferit et urina vaccae se laverit.’

“In the province of Fars, they have three languages—­the PARSI, which they use in speaking one to another, though there may be some variations of dialects in different districts yet it is in fact all the same and they all understand the languages of each other and none of their expressions or words are unintelligible; the Pahlavi language which was formerly used in writings; this language now requires a commentary or explanatory treatise; and the Arabic language which at present is used in the Divans or royal courts of justice and revenue, etc.