THAT spring, Hazrat Makhdumi Nurá set out for India by way of Badakhshán. The Khán escorted him as far as the pass of Shah-náz, * [representing] seven or eight days' journey. I, being in Aksu at the time, was denied participation in this happiness. On my return from Aksu the Khán said to me: “On bidding farewell to Khwája Nurá, I begged him to recite the Fátiha, and just as he was about to commence I asked him, as a favour, to first of all repeat it for Mirzá Haidar and afterwards for me. He granted my request, and having first recited it for you, he then did so for me.” [Two couplets]… Those who were present relate that the Khán, during the few stages he made with the Khwája, was over­come with grief, and whenever the Khwája spoke, he was so over­powered with emotion, that he could not restrain his tears,—a circumstance that greatly impressed those who were present. [Verses]… As this was the last time the Khán would see the Khwája, he naturally felt severely the pangs of separation.

In short, Khwája Nurá arrived in Hindustán. The frontier towns of Hindustán, namely, Kábul and Láhur, were then held by Kámrán Mirzá, who humbly begged the Khwája to stay in Láhur, but the Khwája replied: “From the first, it had been my intention to wait upon the Emperor [Bábar]; therefore I must now go and condole with Humáyun. Having performed this duty, should I return, I will accept your invitation.” He then went to Agra, the capital of India, where he was received with great honour by the Emperor [Humáyun].

At that period there had arisen in Hindustán a man named Shaikh Pul. Humáyun was anxious to become his disciple, for he had a great passion for the occult sciences—for magic and conju­ration. Shaikh Pul having assumed the garb of a Shaikh, came to the Emperor and taught him that incantations and sorcery were the surest means to the true attainment of an object. Since doctrines such as these suited his disposition, he became at once the Shaikh's disciple. Besides this person, there was Mauláná Muhammad Parghari who, though a Mulla, was a very [irreligious] and unprincipled man, and who always worked hard to gain his ends, even when they were of an evil nature. The Shaikh asked the aid of Mulla Muhammad and, in common, by means of flattery, they wrought upon the Emperor for their own purposes, and gained his favour.

Not long after this I went to visit the Emperor, as shall be presently related, but I could never gather that he had learned anything from his Pir, Shaikh Pul, except magic and incantations.* But God knows best. The influence of Shaikh Pul being thus confirmed, Mauláná Muhammad, or rather the Emperor and all his following, neglected and slighted Khwája Nurá, who had an hereditary claim to their veneration. This naturally caused the Khwája great inward vexation. It was mentioned above that when passing through Láhur, he had been invited by Kámrán Mirzá to take up his abode in that place, and he had promised to do so on his return. In pursuance of his promise, he now set out from Agra to Láhur. Humáyun and his companions begged him [to stay], but he would not listen to their entreaties. He reached Láhur in the year 943 [1536-7]. I had arrived in Láhur just before, and I now had the honour of kissing his feet.

In those days I used frequently to hear him say: “I have seen in a vision, a great sea which overwhelmed all who remained behind us in Agra and Hindustán; while we only escaped after a hundred risks:” and thus did it come about three years later— just as he had said—as shall be presently related.”* After the devastation of Hindustán he escaped, in safety, to Mávará-un-Nahr, by way of Káshghar.