When it became known that Sikandar had assembled an army, and that the knot of this affair would not be unloosed until the for­tune of the Shāhinshāh turned her reins in that direction, the expedi­tion to the eastern provinces was postponed, and a march to the Pan­jab was determined on. One of the wonderful omens was that a number of the courtiers took an augury from the diwān of the tongue of mystery (Ḥāfi) and by chance this verse came up.

No water was vouchsafed to Sikandar,
It does not come by might and money.

The hearts of the far-seeing loyalists received fresh support, and the minds of the superficial acquired stability. When the world-adorning God is the fortune-increaser of this eternal dominion, the far-seeing ones of the company of reality look to the beauty and glory of the Chosen One of God, and are not concerned about the ordinary course of the world. Those who have not the blessing of lofty views are, at such times of anxiety, comforted in their hearts by enquiries of this kind. A world-obeyed order was issued that the great officers and leaders should make preparations for the expedi­tion and attend on the sublime stirrup.

the preparations had been completed, the discriminat­ing mind (of Akbar) rested from all the cares of state, and though the army of cold was in full force, the march to the Panjab was com­menced on 23 Āzar, Divine month, corresponding to Monday 4 Ṣafar, 7 December 1556, Mahdī Qāsim Khān being left in charge of Delhi. The march was made leisurely stage by stage, and there was hunting by the way. There was both munificence and pleasure. Turks and Tājiks came in crowds, attracted by the fame of benevolence and the lights or justice; especially there was not a day when large numbers did not come from Kabul, Badakhshān, and Qandahār, and do homage. On the way the news was brought from Lahore that in the house of Bairām Khān Khān-Khānān, his wife, who was of the family of the Khāns of Mewat, had borne on 6 Dai, Divine month, corresponding to Thursday 14 Ṣafar (17 December 1556), a son to whom they had given the name of 'Abdu-r-raḥīm.

circumstance is that when H.M. Jahānbānī was at Delhi, he, in order to soothe the minds of the Zamindars, entered into matrimonial relations with them. Among these, Jamāl Khān, the cousin of Ḥasan Khān of Mewat, who was one of the great zamindars of India, came and did homage. He had two beautiful daughters. H.M. himself married the elder sister, and gave the younger in marriage to Bairām Khān Khān-Khānān. At the time that the standards of the Shāhinshāh were directed towards the sup­pression of Hemū, the Khān-Khānān had sent his household to Lahore. The news came when the lofty genius was proceeding towards count­less victories, and it was taken as a good omen. Bairām Khān pre­pared a grand feast. Astronomers read his greatness and excellence in his horoscope and declared that he would be exalted by the tuition of the Shāhinshāh and perform noble services by virtue of his loyalty, and would arrive at high dignities. The readers of the page of the forehead read the lines of devotion on his temples and rejoiced loyal hearts thereby. And in truth so it happened, in consequence of the attention of H.M. the Shāhinshāh who is the elixir of skill, and the alchemist of the jewel of auspiciousness. Accordingly, day by day were the lights of rectitude and the notes of loyalty read in his fore­head. A* brief account thereof will be given in each place as the occasion arises.

station of the sublime camp, Iskan­dar, who upreared in that province the standards of strife and sedi­tion, withdrew to the hill-country of the Siwāliks, which was his appointed asylum and permanent residence, in order that he might stay there for a while and wait upon events. The victorious army, in the hope of a final good, and of extirpating once for all his sedi­tion, applied itself to putting him down. Without regard to the difficulties of the march and the intricacies of the country, it followed Sikandar into the hill-country of the Siwāliks, which is a world apart, and the refuge of the disaffected and headstrong spirits of India, and encamped at the town of Dēsūhah*. From there the army proceeded to the pleasant town of Dahmirī and made it a rose-garden of dominion and a springtide of fortune.