Mainyo-i-Khard 41

The sage asked the spirit of wisdom

thus: 'How many kinds of man are there?'

The spirit of wisdom answered

thus: 'There are three kinds of man,

one is man, one is demi-man, and one is demi-demon.

A man is he who is without doubt as to the creativeness of Aûharmazd, the destructiveness of Aharman, and the existence of the resurrection and future existence; and also as regards every other happiness and misery, in the worldly and spiritual existences,

that its origin is from both of those beings, from Aûharmazd and Aharman.

And his belief is in this one pure, good religion of the Mazda-worshippers;

and he does not believe in, and does not hearken unto, any heterodoxy.

A demi-man is he who performs the affairs of the worldly and spiritual existences according to his own opinion, self-conceitedly and obstinately;

be they duties and good works by the will of Atharmazd, or be they by the will of Aharman, they proceed from him.

'A demi-demon is he in whom there is only as it were the name of man' and the human race, but in his doing of every action he is then like unto a two-legged demon.

He understands no worldly and no spiritual existence,

he understands no good work and no sin,

he understands no heaven and no hell,

and even the account which is to be rendered by the soul he does not think of.'