The Mīrzā crossed the river with his horse and saddle and succeeded in reaching the Rāja. From there he proceeded alone clothed in a burqa‘,* and taking a jilaudār* with him, was escorted* by some of the Rājas' subjects till he arrived in the vicinity of the village of Gharī Khū,* on the bank of the river Behat, and rested there one night. Inasmuch as that village is near Sulānpūr the residence of Sulān Ādam Ghakkar, at a distance of three krohs from the fortress of Rohtās, some one went to Sulān Ādam and informed him that a Mughūl woman was encamped at such and such a place, attended only by one jilaudār and that her intention was to proceed on the following morning. Sulān Ādam sent messengers to make enquiries, and then proceeded* in person, and had an interview with the Mīrzā, who by persistent entreaty prevailed upon him to give a promise that he would send him in safety to a place of refuge. Sulān Ādam accordingly wrote a letter to Muḥammad Humāyūn Pādshāh, who had recently arrived in that neighbourhood, begging him to spare the Mīrzā's life.*

The Pādshāh wrote an order in accordance with this request* of his, and sent it to him; but eventually, two years later, he again seized the Mīrzā, and* after blinding him with a lancet (nīshtar). sent him to the holy city of Makkah. The word nīshtar records the date of this occurrence.* These incidents have only been briefly alluded to here, because they are related* fully in the Akbar Nāma and the (Tārīkh-i-) Niāmī.* Among the events which took place during the reign of Islem Shāh was the affair of Shāh Muḥammad of Dihlī, of which the follow­ing is a brief account. Shāh Muḥammad, in the reign of Shēr Shāh, had come from the country of ‘Irāq* to Hindūṣtān, and had given himself out* to be a Saiyyid. There was some hesi­tation among the people as to this claim; however, he used to live in accordance with the customs* of the Shaikhs and holy ^392. men, and was acquainted with the science of invocation of the mighty names,* and was not without an admixture of deceit.*

Verse.

What is expected of Shaikhs is the performance of miracles
and prayer-stations.
Whereas what we really see in them are ecstatic* and in­coherent ravings.

In spite of all, Shīr Shāh gave him credit for being a wālī, and Islem Shāh* also had reposed great confidence in him from the time he was a prince, and used to go and do reverence to him, and as is the custom of kings, used to take omens* con­cerning (his accession to) the kingdom, and from the excessively high opinion he had of him used to lift (the Saiyyid's) shoes. The story goes that one day they had brought a basket* of melons as a present to Shāh Muḥammad and just then* Islem Shāh arrived. The Saiyyid pointed to Islem Shāh and said, I present you with this basket confident in its being as a royal umbrella to you,* rise, and place it on your head and be gone. Islem Shāh without hesitation lifted the basket accepted it as a lucky omen and took his departure.

How good it is to take a lucky omen,
Not to strike one's cheek (in grief) but to give mate with the
rook.*

But eventually this matter became a source of annoyance to him* as is generally the case. At all events, when Islem Shāh succeeded to the kingdom, during his reign two Saiyyids of good birth, men of ascetic habit, clean-living, dignified, and agree­able, one of whom was named Amīr Abū* Ṭālib who was the inferior, and the other named Mīr Shamsu-d-Dīn who was his superior and brother's son to him, arrived from the country of ‘Irāq at the camp of Islem Shāh in the Panjāb, and came to Dihlī, where they took up their abode in one of the quarters of the city, and were resorted to by all classes. Amīr Abū Ṭālib was so marvellously skilled in the abstruse science of medicine, that the majority of the sick who came under his treatment obtained cures, and used to bring him presents and offerings in return, to ^393. say nothing of perquisites.* A report was spread that he was in possession of the ring of ‘Alī,* may God be satisfied with him, one of the properties of which was that no one who was sus­pected (of being of bastard origin) could stand in presence of that ring, and retain the power of seeing it. God knows the truth. Relying upon his former intimacy with Shāh Muḥammad, he desired to give his daughter in marriage to the nephew of Mīr Abū Ṭālib, but he was by no means inclined to agree to this proposal, and folk began to entertain increased suspicion against him, and both small and great talked openly about him. Shāh Muḥammad summoned these two holy men into his own private dwelling for safe custody, and took great pains to entertain them. One night, not long afterwards, an armed band entered his* house by the upper story and martyred both father and son who were engaged in their night's devotions. They then left the house, and in the morning the governor of the city came and enquired of Shāh Muḥammad how this had occurred. He abso­lutely denied any knowledge of the circumstances, and stated that he had no idea who the murderers were; then he prepared a report of the affair under the Great Seal, and sent it together with a despatch to Islem Shāh at his camp. Islem Shāh there­upon sent to Dihlī Makhdūmu-l-Mulk Mullā ‘Abdu-llāh of Sulānpūr,* who was Shaikhu-l-Islām and Ṣadru-ṣ-ṣudūr, to investi­gate this matter, and also despatched circular letters summoning the Chief ‘Ulamā of the time, for example Mīyān Ḥātim Sanbalī, Mīyān Jamāl Khān Muftī, and others. This conflict lasted two months after this time, and after great argument and enquiry it was with tolerable certainty conjectured* that the murderers were agents of Shāh Muḥammad.* This result was reported to ^394. Islem Shāh, but before any reply could be received Shāh Muḥam-mad, who had sunk from so high dignity to the depths of disgrace, could not endure the anxiety, underwent venesection and took sour milk in addition, and endured voluntarily humiliating penance. Report also says even more than this, but, every one knew perfectly well that all these austerities and self-inflictions, were the outcome of hypocrisy and deceit, and not inspired by religious motives.

Thou hast forsaken the world for the sake of the world.
Quatrain.

This long time thou hast made thy tongue like a sword,
So that thou givest the attributes of a lion to one who is but
a dog.
Thou turnest upside down the storehouse of falsehood
In order to satisfy thy own hungry belly.

This event took place in ths year 956 H. Another important incident was the affair of Shaikh ‘Alāī Mahdī of Baiāna,* which closely resembles the affair of Sīdī Maula,* which took place during the reign of Sulān Jalālu-d-Dīn Fīrōz Shāh, in fact the proverb, One shoe is like its fellow,* is exactly applicable here.

The following is a brief exposition of this affair: The father of the aforesaid Shaikh ‘Alāī was called Ḥasan, and was one of the great Shaikhs of the country of Bangāla, and on his arrival from Bangāla on the occasion of his pilgrimage to the holy city of Makka with his younger brother Shaikh Naṣru-llah, who was one of the most eminent of the ‘Ulamā, came from there to Hindūstān and took up his abode in the province of Baiāna. The words Jā‘a nasru-llāhi wal fatḥ,* were found to give the date of that event. The elder brother gave his attention to irshād* and hidāyat, and the younger* to fatw* and instruction in religious knowledge.*