Another very encouraging presage, was this; when Tugleck Timūr Khān advanced into Maveralnaher, I was doubtful whether I should go and meet him; I dreamt that a Falcon came and sat on my hand, and a number of cattle gathered around me;* among the cattle was a Lion, which I seized, and put a collar on him: the interpretation of this dream was thus explained; viz. The Falcon was the emblem of good fortune and sovereignty, the cattle signified abundance and prosperity, the Lion typified the Monarch, on whom I should place the collar, and subdue him; being thus encouraged, I went and met Tugleck Timūr Khān.*
When I invaded Fars, I saw in a dream, that a number of bottles of wine had been presented me, and that I broke them in pieces with my sword, by which means I much injured the sword; the interpretation of this dream was, that I should suffer some misfortune. It was shortly after this that Shāh Munsūr attacked me suddenly with five thousand horse, and although I completely defeated him, nevertheless at that time my troops were defeated in the desert, by Tucktumush Khān, who forgetting my kindness to him, and my raising him to be King of the Desht Kipchāk, had watched his opportunity, and attacked me with an army as numerous as the drops of rain; I therefore wrote to him, “Whoever returns evil for good, must be a bastard, and will certainly receive his reward; when you fled from Aurūs Khān, did I not give you an asylum, I released you and made you King of the Desht: as you have not been sensible of my kindness, but have taken this opportunity to attack me, be assured you shall suffer for your bad intentions.”
About this period I dreamed, that the sun arose in the east, and having ascended over my head, became suddenly eclipsed, it then retrograded and sunk in the east: the interpretation of this dream was, that Tucktumush Khān was typified by the sun, that he should advance against me, that he should be defeated, and compelled to retreat by the same road he came; thus it was that Tucktumush Khān came against me with a numerous army, but my troops attacked him with the fierceness of lions, and destroyed them, by which means the tribe of Jujy were plundered and put to shameful flight, and I returned successful and victorious.*
When I was about to invade Arabian Irāc, I dreamed that I had entered a valley, in which I saw a number of lions, that they came close to me, and in fact surrounded me: afterwards when I entered that country, I found that the inhabitants of it, although Arabs by descent, had very much the features of lions; they however brought me valuable presents, and I subdued the kingdom of Irāc Arab.
When I was about to invade Hindūstan, and my chiefs, by their backwardness, rendered me doubtful whether I should proceed; I dreamt that I was in a large garden, and saw a number of people who were pruning the trees, and sowing seeds; that the garden was full of trees, both great and small, on the tops of which the birds had built their nests; I thought that I had a sling in my hand, and that I destroyed the nests with stones from the sling, and drove away all the birds: this dream was realised when I took that country, by my expelling all the Sultāns, and taking possession of the kingdom.
Again, when I invaded Syria, the armies of Egypt and Constantinople both joined the Syrians, on which occasion my nobles came to me, and said in a desponding manner, “to contend with three nations, and to defeat three armies, requires a greater force than we have;” I was then engaged in prayer, and soon after having fallen asleep, I dreamt that I ascended a mountain, and that when I arrived at the top, I was overwhelmed in black and white clouds, and caught in a whirlwind of dust, this was succeeded by a heavy shower of rain, which soon laid the dust; the learned of my court expounded the dream in this manner; viz. “The mountain is the kingdom of Syria, the black and white clouds are the armies of Egypt and Syria, the rain is the army of your Majesty, which will shortly annihilate your enemies, and settle all these disturbances.” I placed much faith in my dream, persevered in my intentions, and shortly defeated the armies of Syria and of Egypt, and was successful and victorious. Again when the Kyser Bayazid (Bajazet) advanced against me with four hundred thousand warriors, and the shouts of the Rūmians were excessive, I addressed myself to the Prophet and his descendants, and employed myself in prayer that night; I dreamt that I was travelling through a wilderness, and that I saw a number of people on all sides, at this time I observed a great light, which seemed attached to the horizon of the heavens; I went towards the light, but was interrupted by three mounds of earth, which fell before me, and from which there arose a great smoke; I also saw five persons, who having taken the hands of each other, proceeded before me; from seeing these persons, I felt a degree of awe and dread, and I heard some one say, this is the Prophet who is going with his friends to heaven; upon which I hastened, and having overtaken them, made my obeisance to Muhammed, “upon whom and upon his descendants be the grace of God.” The prophet made a sign to one of his four companions who had a club in his hand, to give it me; when I took it in my hand, it became very long; when I awoke from my sleep, I found myself exalted and exhilirated by this dream, and became strong of heart, as if I had been strengthened and aided by the white standard of Aly; and it was in consequence of this dream that I was enabled to take from the Kyser the kingdom of Rūm.
After this, when I called to mind the toils and labours I had undergone, in subduing so many countries of the world by the arm of courage, I considered whether it was likely that my good fortune and sovereignty should endure, and was anxious to discover which of my sons or descendants, the Almighty would place upon my throne, in order to preserve my fame and glory: shortly after this I saw in a dream the Prophet of God, who told me “that seventy-two persons of my descendants should be rulers of the earth.”
Still I was anxious on this subject, till I saw in a dream, that I was sitting under a shady tree, having innumerable branches and leaves, the top of which reached to the heavens; from the leaves and branches of this tree, there fell, like a heavy shower of rain, various kinds of fruit, immediately all sorts of reptiles, birds, cattle, and other animals, surrounded the tree, and voraciously began eating the fruit; afterwards they violently attacked each other with their claws and beaks; when I had tasted the different kinds of fruit, I found some of them sweet, some sour, some bitter, some insipid, at this time I heard a voice proclaim, “this is the tree which you yourself have planted;” when I awoke, the interpreters expounded the dream thus, “you are the tree, the leaves and branches are your posterity, who shall be the supporters of your state and sovereignty, and will benefit mankind by their benevolence.”