ABSTRACT
Samarcand possesses an admirable mosque called Shah-i-Zindah, The Living Shah with a legend attached to it: the saint, Kussam-ibn-Abbas, whose tomb is the chief ornament of the place, is concealed, and when the divine bidding reaches him, he will come forth and again be a teacher of men. The saint's tomb is in a final mosque, quaintly situated on the right of the passage where it runs up against a high barrier, the limit of the enclosure. At the entrance, under the grand portal, stands a separate hall used as a rule for Friday-prayer, but likewise doing duty for the meetings of a mystic sect, the Naksh-Bendi. Unlike most other sects, whose zikrs take place in the day-time, the Naksh-Bendi come together each Thursday night, and one by one squat down on the floor, where for a time they remain enrapt in meditation.
