or ESRAKITES, a sect of philosophers, among the Mahometans, who adhere to the doctrines and opinions of Plato. The word is derived from the Arabic word schraka, which in the fourth conjugation prwv af hrao, signifies "to shine, glitterlike the sun," so that Eschraotic seems to import "illumined."

The Eschraotics, or Mahometan Platonists, place their highest good and happiness in the contemplation of the Divine Majesty; despising the gross imaginations of the Alcoran touching paradise. They are very careful in avoiding all vice; they preserve an equal and easy temper, love music, and divert themselves with composing little poems or spiritual songs. The shaicks or priests, and the chief among the preachers of the imperial mosques, are Eschraotics.