FAJARDO

fajardo, a district and town on the e. coast of porto rico, belonging to the department of humacao. pop. (1899) of the district, 16,782; and of the town, 3414. the district is highly fertile and is well watered, owing in great measure to its abundant rainfall. sugar production is its principal industry, but some attention is also given to the growing of oranges and pineapples. the town, which was founded in 1774, is a busy commercial centre standing 1-1/4 m. from a large and well-sheltered bay, at the entrance to which is the cape called cabeza de san juan. it is the market town for a number of small islands off the e. coast, some of which produce cattle for export. fakhr ud-din razi (1149-1209), arabian historian and theologian, was the son of a preacher, himself a writer, and was born at rai (rei, rhagae), near tehran, where he received his earliest training. here and at maragha, whither he followed his teacher majd ud-din ul-jili, he studied philosophy and theology. he was a shaf'ite in law and a follower of ash'ari (q.v.) in theology, and became renowned as a defender of orthodoxy. during a journey in khwarizm and mawara'l-nahr he preached both in persian and arabic against the sects of islam. after this tour he returned to his native city, but settled later in herat, where he died. his dogmatic positions may be seen from his work _kitab ul-muhassal_, which is analysed by schmolders in his _essai sur les ecoles philosophiques chez les arabes_ (paris, 1842). extracts from his _history of the dynasties_ were published by jourdain in the _fundgruben des orients_ (vol. v.), and by d.r. heinzius (st petersburg, 1828). his greatest work is the _mafatih ul-ghaib_ ("the keys of mystery"), an extensive commentary on the koran published at cairo (8 vols., 1890) and elsewhere; it is specially full in its exposition of ash'arite theology and its use of early and late mu'tazilite writings. for an account of his life see f. wustenfeld's _geschichte der arabischen arzte_, no. 200 (gottingen, 1840); for a list of his works cf. c. brockelmann's _gesch. der arabischen literatur_, vol. 1 (weimar, 1898), pp. 506 ff. an account of his teaching is given by m. schreiner in the _zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen gesellschaft_ (vol. 52, pp. 505 ff.). (g. w. t.) fakir (from arabic _faqir_, "poor"), a term equivalent to _dervish_ (q.v.) or mahommedan religious mendicant, but which has come to be specially applied to the hindu devotees and ascetics of india. there are two classes of these indian fakirs, (1) the religious orders, and (2) the nomad rogues who infest the country. the ascetic orders resemble the franciscans of christianity. the bulk lead really excellent lives in monasteries, which are centres of education and poor-relief; while others go out to visit the poor as gurus or teachers. strict celibacy is not enforced among them. these orders are of very ancient date, owing their establishment to the ancient hindu rule, followed by the buddhists, that each "twice-born" man should lead in the woods the life of an ascetic. the second class of fakirs are simply disreputable beggars who wander round extorting, under the guise of religion, alms from the charitable and practising on the superstitions of the villagers. as a rule they make no real pretence of leading a religious life. they are said to number nearly a million. many of them are known as "jogi," and lay claim to miraculous powers which they declare have become theirs by the practice of abstinence and extreme austerities. the tortures which some of these wretches will inflict upon themselves are almost incredible. they will hold their arms over their heads until the muscles atrophy, will keep their fists clenched till the nails grow through the palms, will lie on beds of nails, cut and stab themselves, drag, week after week, enormous chains loaded with masses of iron, or hang themselves before a fire near enough to scorch. most of them are inexpressibly filthy and verminous. among the filthiest are the aghoris, who preserve the ancient cannibal ritual of the followers of siva, eat filth, and use a human skull as a drinking-vessel. formerly the fakirs were always nude and smeared with ashes; but now they are compelled to wear some pretence of clothing. the natives do not really respect these wandering friars, but they dread their curses. see john campbell oman, _the mystics, ascetics and saints of india_ (1903), and indian census reports.