Note 351 — Chapter I

Azad Bahman is called by the Sipasian (see p. 6) the precious jewel of the intellectual principle. In the Zand-books and in the Bun-Dehesh, he is invoked as created by Ormuzd, and as one who is to conduct the heavens; he presides over the eleventh month of the year and the second day of the month; he is the king of the luminous world; the other angels repose under his guard; he is the principle of the intelligence of the ear, given by Ormuzd; the father of the purity of the heart; the Ized of peace who watches over the people; he aids in the distribution of the waters, and in the production of herds and other riches; it is he who receives the souls of the just at their entrance into heaven, congratulates them on their happy arrival, and clothes them with robes of gold.—Zend-Avesta, I, pp. 81, 134, 416, 418; II, pp. 75, 100, 144, 152, 316, and elsewhere. According to the Desátir (English transl. p. 63) Bahman is the first of the numberless created angels.—A. T.