"تاريخ بلاد فارس، من أقدم فترة إلى الوقت الحالي: ويشمل تقريرًا عن الدين، الحكومة، وعادات وصفات سكان تلك المملكة. إعداد العقيد السير جون مالكوم، قائد فرسان وسام الطُهر، وفارس وسام الأسد والشمس، الوزير المفوض السابق إلى البلاط الفارسي من الحكومة العليا في الهند . في مجلدين." [‎٤‎٥‎٠] (٧٨٦/٤٩١)

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THE HISTORY OF PERSIA.
chapjcxiii which he desires (either from personal * or political reasons)
should be decided by their authority: and, in criminal cases,
where a regular procedure is adopted, the chief judge of the court
of Sherr^h pronounces sentence according to the decrees of the
sacred law.
The decisions of the courts of Persia, whether those of written or
customary law, are speedily obtained; and a suit in them is attended
with little apparent cost, though considerable sums are often given
in bribes. The administration of the customary law, or Urf, is more
summary than that of Sherr^h, because it is more arbitrary. All
forms and delays of law arise out of a respect for persons and pro
perty that is unknown to this branch of the administration of justice
in Persia; which always imitates, in its decisions, the promptness of
that despotic authority from which it proceeds, and by which it is
supported.
It has been already stated, that the King of Persia deems himself
vested with an authority independent of the law; and considers that
he can, from the prerogative of his high condition, take the life or
seize the property of any one of his subjects: but it has been shown
that the exercise of his absolute power is practically limited. In all
cases where he does not personally decide, or delegate his arbitrary
authority to others, the criminal law of Persia is administered in a
manner conformable to what is laid down in the Koran. Theft may
# In any case where a lay magistrate conceived his decision might involve him in
dispute with any person of rank or influence, or when he feared he might, by the punish
ment of a man of a tribe, excite a dangerous spirit of revenge, he would certainly refer
the case to the court of Shen&h.