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Tibet, followed the practices of the Yemenites in that they made the
graves in the form of a house, burying the corpse together with his or her goods. He was buried along with a woman-attendant, and arrangements for their food and lighting, etc., were such as to last for a year. The grave was finally covered by earth. It seems that these people believed in metempsychosis like the Hindus, whose women are burnt with their dead husbands. Because of the persistence of this custom, coffin-thieves have been in
existence. These thieves desecrate the graves in Turkestan and get nothing but minerals, gold, and silver. Everything else is eaten up by the earth. Mineral stones (jalazat) have ingredients that would (decompose) and melt on their own. The word (jalazat) is also employed for the jewels that are mined, even though they might comprise only a few kinds. THE SECOND DISCOURSE ON MINERALS AND METALS
God has said:
"And (We) placed therein (flha) firm hills, and caused each
seemly thing to grow therein. And we have given unto you livelihoods therein.' 117 The earth is meant for cultivation. Its produce is measured through the standards devised for this purpose and commercial transactions are, therefore, run. The existence of mountains is appropriate to the production of objects that are or can be weighed. Wood is also weighed, if it is brought
from mountains. The inner parts of the mountains comprise these things and they constitute the prices of objects, and the sources of livelihood are derived from them. In the word flha the feminine gender of the pronoun attests to the mountain, since weight is for the stony ground and the measure is for the soft earth. The creation of mineral deposits — or inorganic things — their order,
arrangement and the capacity to remain in existence are all the works of God, and God has, therefore, said: "He sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys flow
according to their measure, and the flood beareth (on its surface) swelling foam — from that which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foamjike unto it — thus Allah coineth (the similitude of) the true and the false. Then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth." 118 Almighty God illustrates the difference between Truth and Non-Truth |
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