The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan

Hakim Ben Allah, called Mokanna the Veiled, was the founder of an Arabic sect in the eighth century, during the reign of Mahadi at Meru in Khorassan.

He commenced his extraordinary career as a common soldier, but soon rose to be commander of a band of his own.

An arrow pierced one of his eyes; and, to hide this deformity, he always wore a veil.

Hakim finally set himself up as God; he assumed to have been Adam, Noah, and other wise men of various times; and now he had taken the human form of the Prince of Khorassan.

He was well versed in the arts of magic, and produced some startling effects of light and color.

Among other miracles, for one week, to the delight and bewilderment of his soldiers, he caused a moon to issue from a deep well. So brilliant was this luminary, that the real moon paled beside it.

Hakim had many followers, and was soon able to seize several fortified cities.

The Sultan Mahadi marched against him, and after a long siege took his last stronghold. Upon that, Hakim, having first poisoned his soldiers with wine at a banquet, threw himself into a vessel filled with a burning acid of such a nature that his body was dissolved, nothing but a few hairs remaining.

He wished to leave the impression that he had ascended bodily into heaven.

Some remnants of this heresy still exist.

Hakim has been made the subject of many romances, of which the one by Moore in his "Lalla Rookh" is the most brilliant and best known.