His age was fifty-one years, and the duration of his reign*
was
twenty-five years and a fraction. He was a man of kingly proportions,
adorned with all excellencies and perfections, both of
appearance and reality, unequalled in the sciences of astrology
and astronomy and all abstruse sciences.*
He was the preceptor
of the followers of excellence and perfection, the refuge
of the seekers after piety and rectitude. Fond of poetry and*
of poets, he used himself to compose good verses; he never
remained for an instant without the wuẓū',*
nor did he ever
take*
the name of God nor of the prophet, may the peace and blessing
of God be upon him, without Ṭihārat;*
and if it chanced*
that
the necessity arose for mentioning a name*
compounded of this
word ‘Abd, or one of the Asmāu-l-ḥasna*
such as ‘Abdu-llāh or the
others, in such a case he would confine himself to the word ‘Abd
(servant), for example he would call ‘Abdu-l-Haīyy, ‘Abdul simply.
In this same way in writing letters in place of the word “huwa”*
when the necessity arose he used to write two Alifs side by side
thus (
Whether in the house or in the mosque even by mistake he never placed his left foot down before the right, and if any one placed the left* foot in his house he would say, “It is the left foot,” and would make him turn back and bring him in again. From his excessive reserve he never opened his lips in a smile, nor did he ever cast an angry glance at any one. They say that Shāikh Ḥamīd, the commentator of Sanbal, on the occasion of the conquest of Hindustān, for the second time went to Kābul to receive him, and in spite of the extreme confidence which Humāyūn had in him, one day he fell into a passion and said “My king, I see the whole of your army are Rāfiẓī* (heretics).” Humāyūn replied, “Shaikh, why do you say such a thing, and what have you to say about it?” He answered “Everywhere the names of your soldiers are of this kind.* I find they are all Yār ‘Alī (Friend of ‘Alī), or Kafsh ‘Alī (Shoe of ‘Alī), or Ḥaidar ‘Ali (Lion of ‘Ali), and I have not found a single man bearing the name of any other Companion.” Humāyūn was indignant at this, and dashing his drawing pencil* upon the ground in anger, said “The name of my grandfather himself was ‘Umar Shaikh* and I know no more than this,” then he rose and went into the ḥaram and returning, with great gentleness and kindliness informed the Shaikh of the purity of his faith.*
Verse.Preserve a lively faith so that thy reliance thereon may not
falter,
Nothing of a surety delivers the servant from the wrath of
God save a lively faith.
And in order to recount the many virtues of that monarch who has obtained pardon and remission, may his resting-place be happy, a separate record would be necessary. Countless* poets, the wonder of the age, sprung from under the skirt of his auspicious reign.* Among these, in Badakhshān was Maulānā Junūnī* 469. Badakhshī the enigmatist, who composed a qaṣīdah made up of thirty-eight couplets in honour of that* monarch, whose refuge is the pardon of God, during the time that he was a Mīrzā; and certain tours de force which had escaped the net of the qaṣīdah which Mīr Saiyyid Ẕū-l-fiqār Shirwānī composed in honour of Khwāja Rashīd Vazīr, and the qaṣīdah of Salmān Sāwajī which he wrote in honour of Khwāja Ghīas Vazīr, this poet* seized, for example the mu‘ammā,* and Ihār-i-muẓmar,* and the tārīkh,* and other (tricks) of this kind, and in very truth that work of art is a veritable kārnāma (record of deeds), a miracle in the world of speech. The following are the opening couplet and another, taken from it:
Verse.*Shahanshāhā rukh-i-tū lāla o nasrīn lab-i-tū jān
Hamī bīnam lab-i-tū ghuncha-i-rangīn shuda khandān
Namī gūyam kha-i-tū sabza o raiḥān khad-i-tū gul
Shavad āhir qadd-i-tū fitna-i-daurān dam-i-jaulān.
And by taking all the verses of this qaṣīda after the manner of an acrostic,* the following opening couplet is formed:—*
Shahanshāh-i-dīn pādishāh-i-zamān
Zi bakht-i-Humāyūn shuda kāmrān.
While again, if the ḥashw* of the two first couplets are written in red ink, the following opening couplet results, which may be read in three different metres.*
Rukh-i-tū lāla o nasrīn khatt-i-tū sabza o raiḥān
Lab-i-tū ghuncha-i-rangīn qadd-i-tū fitna-i-daurān.*
And if they be read in reversed order a couplet is formed which may also be referred to three several metres,* and with a change of qāfiyah* and radīf* in the following manner:—*
470.
Kha-i-tū sabza o raiḥān, rukh-i-tū lāla o nasrīn
Qadd-i-tū fitna-i-daurān,* lab-i-tū ghuncha-i-rangīn.
And from that which remains in black letters, a distinct opening couplet remained.* Other tours de force also existed in this opening couplet, which are explained in the marginal notes to the work.
And from the four* couplets of a qaṣīdah* some of the words of which are written in red ink, the following qia‘h* containing the conquest of Badakhshān may be obtained, and the qia‘h also has a hidden meaning, the explanation of which is obtained from certain verses extracted from these two qaṣīdahs.*
Qia‘h.Tū-ī Shāh-i-Shāhān-i-daurān ki shud
Hamīsha turā kār fatḥ o afar.
Giriftī Badakhshān o tārīkh shud.
Muḥammad Humāyūn Shah-i-baḥr o bar.*Rubā‘ī.*Until the weak body of the beggar became the dust of his
threshold,
His heart on account of his sorrow and vexation, fell desolate.
The life of this helpless one left him because of desire for the
beloved,
His love exceeded all bounds, if haply at that time that king
might summon him.