A*
sleep which tore the veil from before the eyes of the soul,
Cannot be called sleep; it was the heart's waking.
Sharīf Khān related that when his brother Shamsu-d-dīn Mu. Khān Atga* was in Ghaznī, in the 22nd year of his age, he dreamt he saw the moon come into his arms.* He related the fact to his venerable father Mīr Yār Mu. Ghaznavī who was a spiritually-minded householder,* and the latter rejoiced at the happy appearance of the auspicious circumstance and interpreted it to mean that God would, one day, bestow a great privilege upon him which would be the means of exalting their family. And so it turned out, for by the blessings of that full Moon of glory of the heaven (Akbar) the family was raised from the nadir of the dust to the zenith of heaven.
Another circumstance was communicated by religious, right-thinking persons, viz. that when her Highness Miryam Makānī—may the shadows of her glory be eternal—was pregnant with the holy elements of his Majesty, a strange light was perceptible from her bright brows. Often her divine countenance had to observers, the appearance of mirrors such as are fastened by tirewomen* near the temples of secluded chaste ones.
And the star of fortune sang this strain with the tongue of ecstacy.
VERSE.I placed the clouded brow on the path* of fortune,
I hung a thousand mirrors on the forehead.
One day, near the time* of the auspicious birth, her Highness Miryam Makānī was riding* on a camel. On the way, her eye fell on a mango-garden. As at such a time, there is an inclination for sub-acid drinks and for sour-sweet fruits, she bade her half-brother,* Khwāja Mu‘aam fetch some mangoes. The Khwāja brought some, and was giving them into her blessed hand when he saw a light upon her glorious brows like that from a mirror. He said, “Have you put a mirror on your forehead?” She replied, “I have not attached any mirror. What are you referring to?” Then the Khwāja looked narrowly and saw that her Highness' shining forehead was lighted by the light of God. He marvelled at the light eternal and mentioned the circumstance to several of the confidential courtiers. His statement was to the effect, that the glory of the divine light so streamed from the shining brows that he had not strength to gaze steadily at it.
The venerable mother of Khān A‘am Mīrzā ‘Azīz Kokaltāsh, who was his Majesty's nurse,* related the following anecdote. “One morning, before I had the good fortune to hold this supreme office, a great light approached me and entered my bosom. I felt as if the world-warming Sun had fallen into my breast. A strange condition supervened and a great astonishment laid hold of me so that all the parts and particles of my body were moved and shaken, as by excess of joy and ecstacy. And the exquisiteness of that delight still suffuses me (lit. still possesses every hair of me). And from the time of that white dawn of the morning of majesty and beauty and rose-blooming of fortune and glory, I was on the watch, thinking, ‘O God! what will be the result of this sublime feeling?’ At length, I was exalted to this lofty service which is the treasure of realm and religion (dīn ū dunyā) and of trust.”
“God be praised! What a blessing it was that came to my bosom and what a fortune was received within my breast. Though externally, I was strongly made for the service of that sublimely-born pearl, yet in reality, it was Fortune who inclined her face* towards me and supported me and my family. Whenever I took his Majesty on my shoulder, auspiciousness raised me from the dust. Accordingly, by the blessing of this service which was destined for me, a great grace and a lucky star were conferred on me. And I and my family became famous throughout the seven climes.”
Another story was told by Maulānā* Nūru-d-dīn Tarkhān and some others who were in attendance on the Court, viz., that near the emergence of the sun of fortune (Akbar), his Highness Jahānbānī was recreating himself in a room* which had latticed windows, and the formula of the rectification* of the glorious birth was before him. Suddenly rays of divine light shone from the lattices, so that all who were privileged to be present, both small and great, perceived them. Those who were entitled to speak, asked his Highness Jahānbānī the meaning of the phenomenon, and he replied, “A rose of the rose-garden of the Khilāfat will just now come into bloom, and a child of light will emerge from the hidden chamber of magnificence and glory, and from the gorgeous sarāī of Honour and Fortune and plant his foot in the circle of existence. The refulgence* of his greatness will melt the hearts of the enemies of the State in the crucible of destruction, and confer new splendour and glory on our race and family. Nay, rather, the night-chamber of the universe will acquire grandeur and beauty from his world-lighting rays.”
Mīr ‘Abdu-l-ḥai Ṣadr,* one of the purely-born, related as follows:—“One morning, his Highness Jahānbānī Jannat-āshiyānī was bowed down in reverie, and seemed much distraught.* After a time, he raised his head and exclaimed, “Praise be to God the Gracious, the lamp of our royal family has been relit.” On my asking the meaning of his giving thanks, his Highness replied, “While I was in a state of wakeful* sleep, a brilliant star emerged from a certain quarter (here his Highness pointed to the region where the glorious parturient was) and rose higher and higher every moment. And as it ascended, its size and brilliance increased, until its light had embraced the greater portion of the world. I asked a holy man what the luminous body was, and he replied that it was the light incarnate of my successor, and that whatever part of the earth had been shone upon by this world-illuminating ray, would come under his dominion, and be civilized by the light of his justice.” Two days after this visiou, the news came of the ascension of the auspicious star above the horizon of hope, and when the period of the spiritual manifestation and holy vision was compared,* it appeared that the auspicious birth and the delivery of the miraculous message had occurred at one and the same time.” When such an illustrious progeny is the lot of an eminent man,* why should such a communication not be vouchsafed? And when such a boon followed, why should there not have been such a reverie, and such an interpretation? Such things may appear extraordinary to superficial observers and to materialists, but the pure-minded and far-seeing conjectured before the event, and knew with certainty afterwards that this was the shining of the world-lighting star and that the message betokened the darkness-destroying sun. And to those who have had the bliss of being long in the service of this Lord of the World and of understanding his glorious qualities, the appearance of such portents is no stumbling-block.
Nor is it hidden from the acute and scrutinising that though Maulānā Sharafu-d-dīn ‘Alī-i-Yazdī has in the afarnāma* taken a superficial view of things and stayed Qācūlī Bahādur's* true vision and Tūmana Khan's interpretation at His Majesty the Lord of Conjunction (Timur) and has explained the eighth shining star that issued from Qācūlī Bahādur's breast* and lighted up the world, of the appearance of his Majesty the Lord of Conjunction who is the seventh* ancestor of his Majesty (Akbar), yet it is clear to the minds of those far-sighted light-dwellers who understand hermeneutics and the secrets of the dream-world that to explain seven stars as seven persons whose heads were not exalted by the diadems* of rule, nor were seen on the dominion-adorning Divan of excellence, is remote from the principles of interpretation and the significance of dreams. Rather those seven stars are seven world-adorning potentates, and the world-irradiating light is the holy personality of his Majesty the King of Kings who hath by the light of his Being illumined the terrene and terrestrials. It is the auspicious Akbar* who was the resplendent light which arose from the breast of that Jupiter of good fortune (Qācūlī Bahādur). Although the latter be, numerically his Majesty's fifteenth* ancestor, yet among those there are seven stars of the zodiacal Sign of greatness and having the light of this world-illuminating King of Kings emblazoned on the foreheads of their biographies. These seven out of the fifteen* have been distinguished for greatness and world-adornment, and the eighth of the noble band is his Majesty the King of Kings. The light of their rectitude has made the horizons brilliant, and in the noble series of the fifteen* great ones, there has been given the glorious vesture of spiritual and temporal sovereignty to this perfect witness of Divine Power, and he has been made light-bestower of the inner and outer worlds. This explanation is not hidden from the subtle investigators of real significations. On this account a synopsis of the perfections of this series will be found in this noble volume, and then the prudent and alert of mind will get proof of these words. Whoever at the present day shall peruse with the eyes of discernment and knowledge, the account of these illustrious magnates and understand the office of the Caliph* of the Age, and become acquainted with the stages of the degrees of greatness of the Lord of the World, will applaud the exposition. Away, Away! I am no word-seller,* seeking for approving glances from men. What more choice blessing can there be than this, that my truth-electing heart has been made a fount of true impressions,*
and that my scrutinising reason has become an alighting-stage* for these divine subtleties? With these night-gleaming jewels* I frame glorious earrings as abiding ornaments for the understanding ears of the fortunate lovers of wisdom.