Ode 605

KIWAM-ED-DIN,* strong pillar of the state,

Prop of the faith, is dead; before his gate

The very sky bowed down—he was so great.

Yet underground he journeys, in despite

Of his unmatched magnificence and might;

From living things he passes out of sight.

With him, too, from this iron world departs

The last protector of the liberal arts;

His day of death is written on our hearts.

The very figures fitly signify

“Learning's last hope”—for so interpret I:

In the eleventh month he came to die.