On first leaving his native land he went to the Dakan, where he was with Malik Qumī, the poet. Thence he went to Gujarāt and was there with Mīrzā Niẕāmu-d-dīn Aḥmad,* adopting the nom-de-plume of Mashghūlī. The Mīrzā changed it, giving him ¹⁹⁷ his present nom-de-plume. His poetry is good, and since it is easy and flowing I quote the following excerpts:—

“When love made the eyelashes of the fair ones a lancet,
It caused the blood to flow from my arteries and veins,
Alas, that before I could close my eyes the arrow of
thought of the loved one
Penetrated my eye and thence pierced my heart.”

“In place of tears my wounded heart itself drops piecemeal
from my eyes,
From this fiery cloud all the blood of my liver rains down.”

“So long as the bird of my heart was the prey of that
hunter.
Each separate hair of my head rose up as a bird rising to
flight.”

Baqā'ī has now left the service of the Khān-i-Khānān,* and they say that he has come to Āgra and intends to go to Lāhōr.