Dervishes

Mahdihassan, S. The Chinese origin of the the words Kimiya, Sufi, Dervish and Qalander, in the light of mysticism. J Bombay Univ 25 (1956) 124-151. 

In addition to the man-made environmental problems that have affected the Caspian adversely, the sea has exhibited a curious natural variation in its water level that has created additional problems and has wrought havoc on coastal infrastmcture. Since 1978, the sea level has risen almost 7.5 feet. Flooding in coastal zones has inundated residential areas, transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructure, chemical and petrochemical industries, croplands and hatcheries, forcing thousands of residents to be evacuated from flooded homes. In Turkmenistan, the town of Dervish, which is detached from the western part of the mainland, is turning into an island due to the rise in sea level, and Cheleken and Karakul are sinking into the water as well. 

FA068 Seabrook, W. B. Adventures in Arabia FA078 among the Bedouins, Druses, whirling dervishes Yezidee devil worshipers. 

Dervish. An Amer air-to-air missile manufd by the Northrop Corp, Beverly Hills, Calif. It consists of a small spin-stabilized rocket, 2.75 in diam, powered by a Thiokal solid propint Ref I.F.Ordway R.Wakeford, "International Missile and Spacecraft Guide , McGraw-Hill,... 

The following morning two men presented themselves at the oven. One was dressed as a dervish and seemed most pious, though he was in reality a mere pretender. The other who said nothing at all, reminded the baker of a man whom he did not like, by a coincidence of facial resemblance. 

The baker gave the bread with jewels in it to the man in the dervish robe, and the ordinary loaf to the second man. 

As soon as he got his loaf the false dervish felt it and weighed it in his hand. He felt the jewels, and to him they seemed like lumps in the loaf, unblended flour. He weighed the bread in his hand and the weight of the jewels made it seem to him to be too heavy. He looked at the baker, and realized that he was not a man to trifle with. So he turned to the second man and said "why not exchange your loaf for mine You look hungry, and his one is larger."... 

The false dervish got the ordinary loaf. The king concluded that Fate had intervened to keep the dervish protected from wealth. The really good man found the jewels and was able to make good use of the. The king could not interpret this happening. 

The king, the baker, and the false dervish all had their own views of what reality was. None of them was likely ever to correct his impression of this particular experience. 

According the general opinion of the uninitiated," mused Nasrudin, as he walked along the road, "dervishes are mad. According to the sages, however, they are the true masters of the world. I would like to test one, and myself, to make sure."... 

Then he saw a tall figure, robed like a Akldan dervish-reputed to be exceptionally enlightened men-coming towards him. 

Shah, I. Tales of the Dervishes. London Jonathan Cape, 1967. 

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