Ch.XXIV, p.529, f.2
"There lived in that city a mujtahid called Mulla
Muhammad-'Aliy-i-Zanjani. He was a native of Mazindaran and studied
under a celebrated master. Dignified with the title of Sharifu'l-'Ulama,
Muhammad-'Ali had concentrated his attention on dogmatic theology and
jurisprudence, and had become famous. The Muhammadans affirm that, in his
function as mujtahid, he showed himself restless and turbulent. No
question ever seemed to him either sufficiently studied or properly
solved. His repeated fatvas disconcerted the conscience and confused the
practices of the faithful. Eager for change, he was neither tolerant in
discussion nor moderate in debate. Sometimes he would unduly prolong the
fast of Ramadan for reasons which no one had advanced before; sometimes he
would alter the ritual of prayer in quite a novel way. He became obnoxious
to the peaceful and odious to the traditionalists. But it is also admitted
that he counted many followers who considered him a saint, prized his zeal,
and put their faith in him. An impartial judge could recognize in him one
of the Muhammadans who are only so in appearance, but urged on by a living
faith and an abundant religious zeal for which they are eager to find a
scope. His misfortune was that he found, or thought he found, a natural
use for his powers in the overthrow of traditions whose minor significance
did not justify such a disturbance." (Comte de Gobineau's "Les Religions
et les Philosophies dans l'Asie Centrale," pp. 191-192.)