As, from his early years, the notes of greatness and the glory of government shone from the lustrous brows of that new fruit of the tree of sovereignty and that splendour and nosegay of the garden of the khilāfat and fortune,—to wit, His Majesty the Shāhīnshāh,—at this time, when he was ten years old, all the servants of M. Hindāl, together with all his Jāgīrs, viz., Ghaznīn, etc., were assigned to him, so that, by the practice of rule, he might exhibit favour and severity in the management of men; and by administration of a part, he might become accustomed to administer the whole. One of the wonderful things of fate was that some days earlier, the turban of this light of the eyes of dominion came off in a crowd when he was riding in the seryice of His Majesty Jahānbānī. M. Hindāl was there and from perfect reverence, he took off his own fortunate cap (tāj) in the midst of that crowd and placed it on the star-brushing head (i.e., of Akbar). The far-seeing drew the omen from this that the time when the Shāhinshāh would wear the diadem and wield authority, was nigh at hand. The Almighty, in recompense for this deed, elevated the Mīrzā to the rank of martyrdom which is equivalent to life and joy eternal. His Majesty the Shāhinshāh—who is the Divine nursling,—shewed such marks of greatness, graciousness and appreciation of men, in winning hearts, that grief for the Mīrzā left men's souls and they became possessed of constant joy.
Verse.O God! so long as the world hath lustre and colour,
The heavens gyration and the earth stability;
Grant him enjoyment of life and youth;
Above all, give him abundance of existence.
The names of the principal servants of the deceased Mīrzā who entered into the service of the Shāhinshāh, are as follows;—(1). Muḥibb ‘Alī Khān; (2). Nāṣir Qulī; (3). Khw. Ibrāhīm; (4). Maulānā ‘Abdu-l-lāh; (5). Ādīna Tuqbāī; (6). Samānjī; (7). Qarghūjī; (8). Jān Muḥammad Tuqbāī; (9). Tāju-d-dīn Maḥmūd bārbegī; (10). Tīmūr Tāsh; (11). Maulānā ānī, now known as ānī Khān;* (12). Maulānā Bābā Dost* ṣadr, who was highly regarded by the Mīrzā; (13). Mīr Jamāl* who was also a favourite with the Mīrzā; (14). Khaldīn Dōst Sahārī. Bābā Dōst was also a servant of the Mīrzā but, as in the educational canon, nothing is worse than bad company, he, on account of his bad character was not taken on. Though Muḥammad āhir Khān was an old servant of the Mīrzā, yet, inasmuch as he had not been able to keep charge of Qundūz,* he was excluded from the glance of the truth-discerning eye, and was not made a companion on this auspicious expedition. As the Court of this bestower of glory on the earth, was a test of the jewel of humanity, the condition of every one of these men who was of good disposition and pure character, became better day by day, and they attained lofty positions. And it is to be hoped that they will remain to the end in that condition. Everyone who was evil had the veil stripped from his acts and was so dealt with as to be a warning to all who were evil or negligent.
As the village of Bihsūd became the camp of the pavilions of fortune, an order was given to build a strong fort. His Majesty the Shāhinshāh was sent off* in order to strengthen the city of Kābul and that he might there practise the methods of spiritual and temporal sovereignty. His Majesty himself remained at Bihsūd under the Divine aid and exercised vigilance with regard to M. Kāmrān. The army remained there for four or five months. The Mīrzā, from want of sense, (az bī istiā‘atī) was each day the guest of a clan and each night took refuge with a landholder. From a defect of nature, he remained veiled in self-conceit and excluded from the auspicious service and fellowship of such a benefactor, and was for ever indulging in seditious thoughts.
At this time, a set of superficialists who were in the service of His Majesty the Shāhinshāh and were oblivious of an internal abode of wisdom, wrote to His Majesty Jahānbānī and complained about his Highness. His Majesty, notwithstanding that he was aware of the inner light of the Shāhinshāh, had regard to externals, and sent a gracious letter containing instructions and admonitions, full of kindness and paternal affection and not at all of a censuring or cautioning character. For what need has he who has been taught at the Divine school,—of human instructions? or what concern has the nursling of Heaven with such didactics? In that letter this verse of Shaikh Niāmī was quoted.
Verse.Sit not idle, 'tis not the time for play:
'Tis the time for arts and for work.
He was first taken before Mullāzāda Mullā ‘Aṣāmu-d-dīn to be taught. As this teacher was devoted to pigeons, the servants reported against him. His Majesty discharged him and made over the duty of outward instruction to Maulānā Bāyāzīd. He performed this duty, but as the world-adorning Deity did not wish that His own special pupil should become tainted by exoteric sciences, He diverted him from such pursuits and made him inattentive to them. The shallow thought it was the fault of the teachers and reported against them, but as the latter were right-thinking and of good character, the complaints were not accepted or acted upon. At last His Majesty had an inspiration, to wit, that for the purpose of instructing that pupil of the Divine school, lots should be cast between Mullā ‘Abdu-l-Qādir, Mullāzāda Mullā ‘Aṣāmu-d-dīn, and Maulānā Bāyazīd, so that he, on whom the lucky chance should fall, should be exalted by being made the sole teacher. It happened that the lot fell on Maulānā Abdu-l-Qādir, and an order issued for the removal of Maulānā Bāyazīd and the appointment of Maulānā ‘Abdu-l-Qādir.
It is not hidden from the wise and acute that the appointment of a teacher in a case like this, springs from use and wont, and does not pertain to the acquisition of perfections. For him who is God's pupil, what occasion is there for teaching by creatures, or for application to lessons? Accordingly his holy heart and his sacred soul never turned towards external teaching. And his possession of the most excellent sciences together with his disinclination for the learning of letters were a method of showing to mankind, at the time of the manifestation of the lights of hidden abundancies, that the lofty comprehension of this Lord of the Age was not learnt or acquired, but was the gift of God in which human effort had no part. His Highness in that period assimilated external glory and temporal dominion in abundance, but feigned ignorance of inward perfections and spent much time in sport, and practised wisdom under a veil of concealment, so that even the farseeing failed to notice it.* But, as his genius was soaring, he was making a perfect veil for himself out of grand external performances. And he put his heart into acts so that though their beauty was not evident to the superficial yet the profound perceived the desigus. Among them was his continually giving his attention* to that wondrous creature the camel and his delight in the marvels of Divine power. He used to observe and contemplate the strange make and ways of camels, which were the biggest animals in that region and, under the guise of amusement and metaphor, made serious reflections on the darvish-like constitution of those beasts—their endurance and patience; submission and resignation, their passive obedience even should the leading cord be in the hand of a child,—their being satisfied to eat thorns, and their endurance of thirst. He also applied his thoughts to the delight in an Arab horse which is a grand subject of dominion and exaltation, and carried off the ball of excellencies and of philosophy (hunarpardāzī, love of science) with the polo-stick of the Divine help and of sempiternal instruction. And sometimes he opened the wings of his genius in the spacious atmosphere of meditation upon God and brought his contemplative mind to study the sport of pigeon-flying.* He scattered grain in order to allure their timid breasts and proceeded from the superficial joy and ecstacy of these handfuls of wings and feathers to the recuperative and visible raptures of the lords of perfection, and thereby participated in the joys of the spiritual world. He carried his heart from the flying of these aerial fliers to the lofty soaring of the swift-winged ones of holy heaven, and under the guise of sport performed the work of adoration. Sometimes he would apply himself to coursing with dogs and thus occupy himself with sensuous things. Outwardly it was cynegetics, inwardly it was quickening the senses. Apparently his heart was fixed upon dog-fancying, in reality he was conducting his companions in the methods of government. And* although he was pursuing his quests under the veil of irrecognition and kept himself attired in the garb of superficialists, he could not hide his sweet savour or his brilliancy. Divine glory ever shone from his lustrous brows, and the attributes of spiritual and temporal leadership were conspicuous in the irradiated countenance of that elect of God!