among the messengers. If you find someone who is a Sabian, lead him along his own paths through al-ashānīʿ (1) and reverence for the heavenly bodies, for that is our religion and the greater part of our doctrine at the outset. Their position concerning al-ashānīʿ makes dealing with him very easy for you. If you find someone who is a Magian, you share with him the fundamental principle taught at the fourth degree: reverence for fire, light, the sun and the moon. Recount to them the matter of the Preceding One (2), and that he is a river from that which (3) they know, and his third is the hidden one, from his good opinion (4), and the written darkness. Together with the Sabians, they are the peoples closest to us and most deserving of our allegiance, were it not for a few things they have distorted through their ignorance of them.’

They said:

‘If you come across a Jew, approach him through his expectation of the Messiah, and explain that he is the very same Mahdi whom the Muslims await. Show them reverence for the Sabbath and draw close to them through that. Tell them that it is a symbol pointing to what it represents, and that what it represents (5) points to the awaited Seventh—they mean Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar—and that this is his cycle, and that he is the Messiah and the Mahdi. Upon recognizing him, there is (6) rest from deeds and abandonment of religious obligations, just as they enjoined rest on the Sabbath. The Sabbath rest signifies rest from religious obligations and acts of worship during the cycle of the awaited Seventh. Win their hearts by attacking the ignorant, bewildered Christians and Muslims who claim that Jesus