American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition - n. A Muslim religious mendicant. - n. A Hindu ascetic
or religious mendicant, especially one who performs feats of
magic or endurance. Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia - n. A
Mohammedan religious mendicant or ascetic “who is in need of
mercy, and poor in the sight of God, rather than in need of
worldly assistance” (Hughes, Dict. of Islam). Fakirs are of two
great classes: those who are “with the law,” and govern their
conduct according to the principles of Islam, and those who are
“without the law,” and do not rule their lives according to the
principles of any religious creed, though they call themselves
Mussulmans. The former usually enter one of the various
religious orders, and are then commonly known as dervishes.
Hughes. See - n. A Hindu devotee or ascetic; a yogi. - n. A
misspelling of faker. - n. Islam A faqir. - n. Hindu an ascetic
mendicant, especially one who performs feats of endurance or
apparent magic GNU Webster's 1913 - n