Fakir

“ In the character of a Fakir he might beg with impunity, revile and anathematise with a vociferation that inspired terror, or he might remain obstinately silent, according to the pretended humour or real emergency of the moment. ”

“ On her way she met the same old Fakir, who accosted her, and asked her whither she was going.
He was much grieved when she told him her story, and said: “Brave men have lost their lives, and you, a woman, without half their strength, are going. I pray you be advised and return.”
“No, no,” she returned; “if men have lost their courage, I, a woman, shall not lose mine. I am very brave, and I mean to go.”
So the Fakir bade her God-speed very sadly, and gave her the same parting gift as he had given her brothers, directing her what to do with it. ”

“ Then the fakir proceeds to tell her that his reputation is staked on that picture, and that if it is satisfactory he will obtain a dozen orders for the ten-dollar size; and that he could not think of delivering such a work of art without a properly matched and corresponding frame.
The lady is already in a good state of mind, being elated over the idea of receiving such an elegant present, and is not at all inclined to quibble on the matter of expense; the fakir is argumentative, eloquent and persuasive. She falls his victim. ”

“ He even shows the street men how to gesticulate, and how to make faces—a startling face sometimes goes a long distance in getting trade for a street man. He invents traits of character, curiosities of dress—not too pronounced; he is the best imitation of a lame man of them all.
A good puzzle which takes plenty of action to solve is the fakir's pet, for the fakir is an actor, as has been seen, and puzzles of that kind sell well. ”

“ And said the Fakir, "O my daughter, in very truth these matters are exceeding rare and admirable: right fit are they for fair ones like thyself to win and take back with thee, but thou hast little inkling of the dangers manifold and dire that encompass them. Better far were it for thee to cast away this vain thought and go back by the road thou camest." Replied the Princess, "O holy father and far-famed anchorite, I come from a distant land whereto I will nevermore return, except after winning my wish ”

“ He sells a dozen gross of little iron dogs today, and tomorrow takes out a supply of rubber faces and balloon squeaks; seldom more than one kind of notion, almost never more than two, at a time. The boss fakir—the feeler of public opinion—sends out twenty five men today and one hundred and fifty tomorrow for no apparent reason. If it is a Dewey parade, or the day before Christmas, he sends out five hundred or a thousand, because there is reason in that. He supplies his men with toys—sometimes every one gets the same kind—and tells them what catch phrases shall be uttered that day. ”

“ The Fakir marvelled with great marvel and presently exclaimed, "O my lady, methinks thou art destined to get possession of the things thou seekest. This plan hath not occurred to any hitherto364 and hence it is haply that one and all have failed miserably and have perished in the attempt. Take good heed to thyself, however, not run any risk other than the enterprise requireth." ”

“ The word “Fakir” (pronounced Fa-keer, with the a broad) is an Arabic term signifying “poor,” or a “poor man,” because they profess to have taken the vow of poverty, and, in theory, hold themselves above the necessity of home, property, or money, realizing their living as a religious right from the people wherever they come.
Some wander from place to place, some go on pilgrimages, and others locate themselves under a great banyan tree, or in the depths of a forest in some ruinous shrine or tomb, or on the bank of a river, and there receive the homage and offerings of their votaries. ”

“ Next to this simple asceticism comes, I suppose, the ordinary discipline of the Church—the abandonment of sensible goods to secure spiritual ends, the turning away from the type to the prototype, from the sight of the eyes to the vision of the soul. For in the true asceticism, whatever its degree, there is always action to a certain end, to a perceived good. Does the self-tormenting fakir act from this motive? I don't know; but if he does not, his discipline is not asceticism at all, but folly, and impious folly, too. If he mortifies himself merely for the sake of mortifying himself ”

“ Some time passed, and one day the Fakir appeared, and said, "King! bring me that son of yours!"
What did the King do but bring two slave-girls' sons and present them to the Fakir. While the Fakir was sitting there the King's sons were sitting down below in their cellar eating their food. Just then a hungry ant had carried away a grain of rice from their food, and was going along with it to her children. Another stronger ant came up and attacked her in order to get this grain of rice. The first ant said, "O ant, why do you drag this away from me? ”

“ A Hindu fakir, who has frequently come to the mission premises for conversation on religious subjects, returned a few days ago from a pilgrimage. He happened to see a Hindu bathing in the Jhelum to-day, praying at the same time. The fakir called to him, and said that he must not {192} suppose that there was any efficacy in washing with water. He said–'Ever so much water can never wash away sin; only the atonement paid by Christ can suffice to do that.' He then spoke of the Christian religion being the only true one. ”

“ Whenever they passed an embedded fakir, they obtained an incantation from his lips, but still Baal-Zeboub failed. Thereupon, the native Grand Master suggested that the evocation should be performed by the holiest of all fakirs, who was produced from a cupboard more fetid than the temple itself, and proved to be in the following condition:— (a) face eaten by rats; (b) one bleeding eye hanging down by his mouth; (c) legs covered with gangrene, ulcers, and rottenness; (d) expression peaceful and happy. ”

“ A fakir gives to a monarch who is without issue one hundred and sixty lichí fruits, which resemble plums—one for each of his wives.77.4 Barleycorns are given by another holy man for the same pious purpose.77.5 The Adventures of Kâmrûp, a literary romance {78} in Hindustani, tells of a king who had no children. He is presented by a fakir with a fruit of srî, or prosperity. It is eaten by his queen; and she and six other ladies who taste it add to the population on the same day.78.1 The youngest of seven brothers, in a Santali story, plants a certain vegetable which bears a fruit. ”

“ When, years after, the wicked queens find out that the children are still alive and dwelling in a miraculous palace, the gift of the friendly fakir, they send to persuade the maiden (it is always the woman) to ask for a nightingale that dwelt in a certain jungle, could sing a thousand notes, and could talk like a man. The fakir warns the elder brother not to {100} answer when the bird cries out to him, else he will be turned into stone. ”

“ On the third day, however, he could bear the uncertainty no longer, and tearing off her jewels saw, not the face of his own little wife, but another woman. Then he was very angry and turned her out of doors, saying: "Begone! since you are but the wretched tool of others, I spare your life." But of the Fakir's wife he said to his guards: "Fetch that woman here instantly, for unless she can tell me where my wife is, I will have her hanged." It chanced, however, that the Fakir's wife had heard of the Muchie Rajah having turned her daughter out of doors ”

“ These orders are of very ancient date, owing their establishment to the ancient Hindu rule, followed by the Buddhists, that each “twice-born” man should lead in the woods the life of an ascetic. The second class of Fakirs are simply disreputable beggars who wander round extorting, under the guise of religion, alms from the charitable and practising on the superstitions of the villagers. As a rule they make no real pretence of leading a religious life. ”

“ Some few of these Fakirs are undoubtedly sincere in their profession of giving up the world, and its social and domestic relations, to embrace lives of solitude, mortification, or self-torture, or to devote themselves to a course of religious contemplation and asceticism; others of them do it from a motive of vain-glory, to be honored and worshiped by their deluded followers ”

“ Amongst them there are many men who have wonderful powers of conjuring and of second sight. No one can explain the tricks they do, and there is a weirdness about the men that adds to the weirdness of their doings. Many an English child would run home in terror at the mere sight of a Fakir. But the sight of a Fakir is not nearly so eerie as the sight of some of the things he seems to do. ”

“ Union with God is gained by ecstasy and leads to enthusiasm. These terms will therefore show us in what quarter we must seek the strongest impulses to mysticism. The concepts, if not the actual terms, are to be found in Islam: they were undoubtedly transmitted by Christianity and undergo the wide extension which results in the dervish and fakir developments. Dervish and fakir are the Persian and Arabic words for "beggar": the word sufi, a man in a woollen shirt, is also used in the same sense. The terms show that asceticism is a fundamental element in mysticism ”

“ EXPLANATORY NOTES. “Fakir.”—Much has been previously said under this 72heading, but it is well to give here a few of the sayings of the noted Fakir known by the name generally of “Baba Farīd,” whose shrine is still to be seen in the town of “Pak Pattan” in the Montgomery district, not far from Mūltān. He was one of the “Chisti class” and a Shiah, belonging to a tribe of Arab descent. The Shiahs differ from the Sunnis in the belief that Ali ought to have succeeded the Prophet, instead of Abubakr, Omar, and Osman. ”

“ The tiger's cub he left at home.
He rode on and on through a very large jungle, and he rode a long, long way: at last in a jungle he saw a fakír, who was living in it. He made him salaams, and the fakír was delighted to see him, "because," he said, "for many years I have been in this country, and all that time have never seen any man." The prince sat down by the fakír, and the fakír was very much pleased. He asked the boy who had sent him to the jungle, and why he had come to it. "My mother has sore eyes," he answered, "and wants some night-growing rice. ”

“ FAKIR (from Arabic faqīr, “poor”) , a term equivalent to Dervish (q.v.) or Mahommedan religious mendicant, but which has come to be specially applied to the Hindu devotees and ascetics of India. There are two classes of these Indian Fakirs, (1) the religious orders, and (2) the nomad rogues who infest the country. The ascetic orders resemble the Franciscans of Christianity. The bulk lead really excellent lives in monasteries, which are centres of education and poor-relief; while others go out to visit the poor as Gurus or teachers. Strict celibacy is not enforced among them. ”

“ In the course of time they all died, and their graves are to be seen in the village of “Lalliân,” in the district of Jang.
EXPLANATORY NOTES. “Fakir.”—So often described that little new can be really said. There are both Mahomedan and Hindu Fakirs. They are indeed ascetics and recluses, or monks who have retired from the world in all its temporal concerns, and have devoted themselves to a religious life.
Ordinarily they are poor men, and so they are mostly represented to be; but some of them are known to possess great wealth, and many are even landed proprietors. ”

“ Presently the holy man turned to the merchant and seeing him changed of colour and conduct asked him, "What is with thee to do, and what ill hast thou to rue that thy case and complexion are so changed to view?" "O Fakir," answered the other, "verily a matter of marvel hath betided me and I know not how to act therein." Quoth the ghostly man, "And what may that be?" whereupon the Merchant related to him all his affair first and last, and how he had heard a Voice saying to him, "In very deed thy daughter shall conceive after unlawful fashion by the King's son of Al-Irak." ”

“ Those who, like the Indian fakir or the hermits of the Middle Ages, have staked their all on this ideal of perfection, have found it necessary to suppress life in every way possible, the fakirs often remaining motionless for long periods at a time, and one of the mediaeval saints going so far as to live on the top of a high column where life and movement were well-nigh impossible. ”

“ In the first place, it is an untenable idea that religiosity or devoutness of spirit is valuable in itself, without reference to the goodness or badness of the dogmatic forms and the practices in which it clothes itself. A fakir would hardly be an estimable figure in our society, merely because his way of living happens to be a manifestation of the religious spirit. ”

“ There are two versions of this alleged conjuring trick. One story makes the fakir throw a rope into the air, where it remains suspended; if one may use the term, when there is presumably nothing up aloft for it to remain suspended from. The fakir then orders a small boy to climb the rope, which he does, afterwards drawing it up after him and vanishing with it into space, to presently reappear from somewhere behind the audience at the bidding of his master. ”

“ It is a popular delusion that fakirs will not accept alms from anyone for any purpose, for I have considerable personal experience to the contrary. I have offered money to hundreds of them and have never yet had it refused. A fakir will snatch a penny as eagerly as any beggar you ever saw, and if the coin you offer is smaller than he expects or desires he will show his disapproval in an unmistakable manner. ”