Now, the Shí‘ite theory of Divine Right certainly harmonised with Persian ideas, but was it also of Persian origin? On the contrary, it seems first to have arisen among an obscure Arabian sect, the Saba’ites, whose founder, ‘Abdulláh b. Sabá (properly, Saba’), was a native of Ṣan‘á in Yemen, and is said to have been a Jew.[398] In ‘Uthmán's time he turned Moslem and became, apparently, a travelling missionary. "He went from place to place," says the historian, "seeking to lead the Moslems into error."[399] We hear of him in the Ḥijáz, then in Baṣra and Kúfa, then in Syria. Finally he settled in Egypt, where he preached the doctrine of palingenesis (_raj‘a_). "It is strange indeed," he exclaimed, "that any one should believe in the return of Jesus (as Messias), and deny the return of Muḥammad, which God has announced (Kor. xxviii, 85).[400] Furthermore, there are a thousand Prophets, every one of whom has an executor (_waṣí_), and the executor of Muḥammad is ‘Alí.[401] Muḥammad is the last of the Prophets, and ‘Alí is the last of the executors." Ibn Sabá, therefore, regarded Abú Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmán as usurpers. He set on foot a widespread conspiracy in favour of ‘Alí, and carried on a secret correspondence with the disaffected in various provinces of the Empire.[402] According to Shahrastání, he was banished by ‘Alí for saying, "Thou art thou" (_anta anta_), _i.e._, "Thou art God."[403] This refers to the doctrine taught by Ibn Sabá and the extreme Shí‘ites (_Ghulát_) who derive from him, that the Divine Spirit which dwells in every prophet and passes successively from one to another was transfused, at Muḥammad's death, into ‘Alí, and from ‘Alí into his descendants who succeeded him in the Imámate. The Saba’ites also held that the Imám might suffer a temporary occultation (_ghayba_), but that one day he would return and fill the earth with justice. They believed the millennium to be near at hand, so that the number of Imáms was at first limited to four. Thus the poet Kuthayyir († 723 A.D.) says:--
"Four complete are the Imáms ‘Alí and his three good sons, One was faithful and devout; One, until with waving flags Dwells on Mount Raḍwá, concealed: of Quraysh, the lords of Right: each of them a shining light. Karbalá hid one from sight; his horsemen he shall lead to fight, honey he drinks and water bright."[404]