ISLAMIC MYSTICAL LITERATURE 691
third Abu Zarr, fourth Naqib,^91 and fifth Najib.
These first five special ranks are the foremost,
and the sixth rank belongs to waverers.
The elected recognized the high creator.AZAZI'IL REBELS AND FALLS FROM GLORY
"The king said to Azazi'il, 'Azazi'il,
lie on the ground before Salman. All followers
lie on the ground before the foremost who
confirm Salman or I will cast you down
below.' As it is written, 'When we said to the angels,
lie down before Adam, they all lay down
except for Iblis, who arrogantly refused.
He was faithless.'^92
"Then Azazi'il
turned to the king. He was a fool and claimed
divinity.^93 A second and a third
arose and came to aid Azazi'il.
They claimed divinity, calling the king
a common liar and a thief, a trickster,
and then they said that 'god is one of three.'^94
"The six denying ranks turned on Salman
and battled him at length with arrogance.
The high king said, 'You, unbelieving demons,
corruption, rebels! You attempt to rule
this realm and the eternal far white sea,
but you cannot rule unless you will affirm
me and my regent.' This fulfills god's word,
'Jinns and humans! You try to penetrate- Halm, Die islamische Gnosis, 160, reads Najib, probably in error.
- Qur'an sura 2.
- As noted before, he acted like the gnostic demiurge.
- Qur'an sura 5. This claim may recall the Christian trinitarian confession.