Finally he came to Sirhind,* and giving up all connection with the manners and customs of the Mahdawī party (moreover he turned all the Mahdawī party from that faith) began to deal with all the followers of Islām according to the tenets of the orthodox school, till eventually in the year 993 H., at the time when the Emperor was on his way to Benares, he summoned Shaikh ‘Abdu-llāh and granted him a portion of madad-i-maāsh* land in Sirhind with remainder to his children. And in the year 1000 H., he bade farewell to this transitory world at the age of ninety or thereabout.

Rubā‘ī.

If the courser of the sky give the reins into your hand,
And if the world gives you wealth as the dust under your feet
If your wisdom surpasses the wisdom of Aflāūn,*
^406. These are all as nought, at last you must die.

After that Islem Shāh had overcome the Niyāzī faction, and had returned to Āgra, Mulla ‘Abdu-llāh set about inciting him,* and giving him a song which reminded him of former intoxications, again induced him to summon Shaikh ‘Alā'ī from Hindīya, and to order punishment to be executed upon him, and spared no pains to remind him in the vilest possible way, that Shaikh ‘Alā'ī had been condemned to banishment, whereas now Bahār Khān had become his disciple and follower, and the whole army had shewn their leaning towards him. Seeing that his own relations had sought absolution from him and had adopted his faith, there was great probability of disturbance in the kingdom. Accordingly Islem Shāh summoned Shaikh ‘Alā'ī thence, and used still more strenuous exertions than before* to bring matters to a satisfactory settlement, and knowing as he did the ambitious nature of Shaikh ‘Alā'ī, and recognising that there was no other man among the learned men* of Dehlī and Āgra capable of settling this dispute, he therefore directed Shaikh ‘Alā'ī to be sent to Bihār to Shaikh Budh* the learned physician, in whom Sher Khān had the very utmost confidence, and who is renowned for the authoritative com­mentary which he wrote upon the Irshad-i-Qāẓī,* and bade him act in accordance with his directions.* When Shaikh ‘Alā'ī went thither, he heard the sound of singing and musical instruments pro­ceeding from the rooms occupied by Shaikh Budh the physician, and saw in his assembly certain other things repugnant both to the natural feelings and* to religious law* also, the very mention of which is disgraceful, so felt constrained to enjoin* what was lawful and to forbid what was prohibited. Since Shaikh Budh was very infirm* and aged, and was not strong enough to speak, his family answered for him that certain customs and observances which have obtained vogue in Hindustān are of such a nature that if one should forbid them in any way whatever, worldly injury, and loss both bodily and spiritual* would inevitably result to the prohibitor, also that the women of Hindustān who as a class are worthless, consider that loss ^407. as the result of restrictive measures, and for that reason become infidels. In any case legalising incontinence was probably a less sin than legalising infidelity.* Shaikh ‘Alā'ī said that this is an iniquitous conjecture,* as is proved by the fact that, whenso­ever worldly loss according to their belief is the result of the interference* with some prohibited pleasure, and the injunction to obedience is held by them to be the cause of personal death and injury to their property and position, they have not even the fundamental properties of Muslims, so that their conformity to Islām need not even be considered. Seeing that the argument concerns the validity of Nikāḥ,* why should one regret* the fact of their not being Muslims? for it is said, That which is based upon iniquity is most iniquitous of all.* That class therefore stand con­demned. Shāikh Budh the physician however,* having regard to equity became their apologist and entered a plea for them, praising* Shaikh ‘Alā'ī and treating him with the utmost courtesy and respect.

First of all he wrote a letter to Islem Shāh in the following terms, “Seeing that the Mahdawī question is not indissolubly bound up with the faith of Islām, and very great difference of opinion exists as* to the veritable signs by which the Mahdī is to be distin­guished, it is accordingly impossible to convict Shaikh* ‘Alā'ī of infidelity and impiety. At any rate, all doubts regarding him should be removed. Here books* are very scarce, whereas there are sure to be many* books in the library of the learned men of your country, let them settle the truth of the matter.”

The sons of the Shaikh impressed upon him that Makhdūmu-l-Mulk * was the Ṣadru-ṣ-ṣudūr,* and said, “This opposition of theirs to him has undoubtedly been the cause of your being summoned. At your great age it is far from wise for you to undertake so long a journey, and to undergo the severe fatigue incidental to it.” They accordingly cancelled his first letter* and, whether he would or not, secretly wrote another letter* as if from Shaikh Budh, couched in terms of flattery of Mulla ‘Abdu-llah, and sent it to Islem Shāh, saying, “Makhdūmu-l-Mulk is one of the most discriminating of the learned doctors of the day. What he says is the truth and his decision is the sound decision.”

At the time when Islem Shāh was encamped in the Panjāb ^408. Shaikh ‘Alā'ī arrived at the camp of Bin Bāū; when Islem Shāh read the sealed letter of Shaikh Budh the physician, he called Shaikh ‘Alā'ī to come close to him and said to him in a low tone of voice, “Do you only* say to me in my own ear that you are penitent for having made this claim, you shall then be accorded complete liberty to go where you will* and do as you please.” Shaikh ‘Alā'ī however refused to give ear to his proposals and paid no heed to him; Islem Shāh in despair* said to Mulla ‘Abdu-llāh, I leave him in your hands.* This he said, and gave orders for him to receive a certain number of stripes in his own presence.* Shaikh ‘Alā'ī himself had a wound in his neck, the result of an operation for the pestilence which raged in that year throughout the whole of Hindustān, and had destroyed the greater part of the people.* This wound had to be kept open by a tent,* in addition to which he was suffering from the fatigue of his journey, and had hardly a breath of life left in him, so that at the third lash his lofty soul quitted its humble frame and took its flight to the abode promised in the words “In the seat of truth, in the presence of the powerful king”* and rested in the pleasant places of which it is said “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard neither hath it entered into the heart of man.” And after his death they tied his delicate body* to the feet of an elephant, and trampled him to pieces* in the street of the camp, and issued orders forbidding the burial of his corpse,* and appointed agents (to see to this). At that very time a vehement whirlwind arose and blew with so great violence, that people thought that the last day had arrived,* and great lamentation and mourning* was heard throughout the whole camp, and men were in expectation of the early* downfall of the power of Islem Shāh.

And they say that in the course of the night such a wealth of flowers was scattered over the body of the Shaikh that he was completely hidden beneath them and was so to speak entombed in flowers.