* On Sunday, the 11th Zill Qa’d, the men of the victorious army arrived before the august canopy and rubbed their mud-smeared fore­heads on the ground. The temples of Bīrdhūl had raised their heads to the drum of the sky and their foundations went down to water-depth; but now their foundations were dug up so thoroughly that below every foundation a well (bīr)* was excavated reaching down to the Fish and the sparkling treasures, which like ducks had been roosting in every corner of the building, were drawn out of the centre of the earth. So much dust was raised from these Hindū houses that the ‘heart’ of Saturn became a well of dust. Two days later the towering canopy started from here; on Thursday, the 15th Zil Qa’d, it arrived at the city of Kim;* five days later it reached the city of Mathrā, the dwelling place of the brother of the Rāī, Sundar Pāndyā. The city of the great Saturnian, who had a colossal palace, was found as empty as the constellation of Mars. The Rāī had fled along with the Rānīs and only two or three elephants had been left in the temple of Jagan­nath. In spite of all search for the lost Arrow (Mercury) and the Great Bear, only these two or three clouds (elephants) could be seen. The Malik was so inflamed with anger that he set fire to the temple of Jagannath.

From here the Malik ordered the elephants to be taken to the main camp, and in contradiction to the proverb, that ‘one hill does not go to another’, these elephants were taken to the other elephants. When the ‘Arīẓ counted them at the muster, the line of elephants was three farsangs long, and from farsang to farsang the ground was rubbed and beaten under their feet. Five hundred and twelve elephants, who would have torn ‘the wall of the (First) Alexander’ like a rampart of paper, were brought into the roll of captives by the powerful orders of the Second Alexander. Gigantic bodies they had, and if their feet made no noise when they walked, yet the earth groaned and cried, ‘Surely the violence of the hour is a grievous thing’.*

Praise of the elephants, with trunks like dragons, under whose feet the hills grew soft as wax.* They were like hills, so high that the vermilion on their foreheads gave a red lining to the clouds, or else like clouds so much above the ground that water took a long time in falling from their backs. Their bodies were so large that the wind striking their backs was unable to reach their tails; and the Creator of ether had hidden ‘fire’ in them just as lightning is hidden in the clouds. The driver sat on their necks with his goad like the spur of a mountain. But while other clouds rain water and cause vegetables to grow, these clouds drank water and ate vegetables; while other hills contain precious stones and are permanently fixed, these hills contained no treasures and were always on the move. Everyone present wondered at their shape—a sleep hill and a man guiding it. The driver sat on its neck like an angel directing a cloud, and the box on its back looked like a ship floating on the sea. When it was moving, you would have thought it a mighty wave in the ocean; when standing, it looked like the main tower of a fort, adorned with a trunk in place of the munjaniq. And if the waves of the sea are moved by the force of the winds, the elephants, when angry, moved the wind in waves; if the tower of the fort is surmounted by a wooden defence, this tower was adorned by a box of jewels. You might liken it to a dome on four columns, which crushes the infidels by its weight, or to a hill on four rocks, which causes the heretics to slip down its ‘nose’ … In spite of its weight, it moved gently like the wind; in spite of its movement, it seemed to stand still.

Praise of horses whose onslaught on the field of battle destroyed the stone-stables of Time.— * When the elephants had retired to their officers, the muster of the horses was taken. The Imperial Arīẓ counted them one by one; they were five thousand in number. There were ‘Yamāni’ and ‘Shāni’ horses, all going to their stables with alluring steps. The ‘marine’ horse could float like a bubble on water. They were swift as lightning; their qualities were those of the rose; their origin was from the wind and yet they yielded softly to the bridle. A man could never attain to their swiftness except in imagination. Their breath was like the morning breeze blowing over the Narcissus; their ears grew like lilies. Everyone of them was an Ahraman, who in the rapidity of his movement, left his shadow behind. Sometimes it would stand in the air; at other times (its swiftness) lay dormant like fire in stone. Its figure captivated the eye and was never again forgotten. It galloped rapidly over uneven paths and could see a needle in the darkness of the night; it finished its journey as quickly as a thread gets into the eye of a needle. When the horses, with such fine figure and qualities, had been reviewed, they were all assigned to the royal stables and enlisted in the service of the Emperor, so that in the Imperial battles another wall came along (with the wall of the elephants). May the whole globe, and even the nine heavens, remain under the Emperor’s rule!

Praise of the treasures of land and sea, worthy of the exalted Solomon.— * If a description of the boxes of jewels were attempted, there is no breast in which it could be contained, nor any heart that could appreciate its value. There were five hundred mans of precious stones, and every piece was equal in size to the disc of the (sinking) sun. The diamonds were of such a colour that the sun will have to stare hard for ages before the like of them is made in the factories of the rocks. The pearls glistened so brilliantly that the brow of the clouds will have to perspire for years before such pearls again reach the treasury of the sea. For generations the mines will have to drink blood in the stream of the sun before rubies such as these are produced. The emeralds were of a water so fine, that if the blue sky broke itself into fragments, none of its fragments would equal them. Every diamond sparkled brightly; it seemed as if it was a drop fallen from the sun. As to the other stones, their lustre eludes description just as water escapes out of a small vessel.

* Through the favour of the Lord of men and jins, and assisted by the sincere motives of the Imam and the Caliph of the age, the orthodox (sunnī) victors had now piously compelled all false houses of worship to bow their heads on the prayer-carpet of the ground and had broken all stone idols like the stony hearts of their worshippers. How clean the breasts of those who broke with the greatest severity these contaminated stones, which Satan had raised like a wall before him­self! The hearts of the Mussalmans were now quite satisfied with the breaking of false gods. The elephants, who had gone rubbing their noses against the ground to the thresholds of the temples, now considered the ruby velvet on their backs as their pilgrims’ dress for visiting the capital of Islam, and were ready to bow their heads in obedience to the Emperor of the Seven Climes. The treasure, which was the mainstay and the Ka’ba of those evil men, was collected for the Imperial court. The ceremonies of holy war, which are obligatory duties, had been performed in obedience to the orders of the ‘Com­mander of the Faithful’. The Malik-i Ghāzī and the holy warriors of the victorious army bowed their heads in thankfulness—‘Victory is only from Allah, the Mighty and the Wise’—and bathed the ground with their perspiration and tears. And in their prayer for the increased power of the Caliphate, they raised their hands so high, as to reach the Treasury of Acceptance.

Return of the victorious army to the Imperial Court of Land and Sea.— * On Sunday night the company of stars prepared to return to the Imperial Capital. The breaking up of the camp filled all hearts with a deep joy.* Next morning, Sunday, the 4th Ẓil Ḥijjah, 710 A.H. the numerous troops, accompanied by their elephants and loaded with their heavy treasure, began their march for the capital. Victory in all her glory led the van, planning further conquests; success accompanied them in all things, and the favour of God protected them. Yes! God will protect the army that protects the world. Young and old rejoiced on account of the favour from Allāh. The noise of ‘Huzza! Huz!’ rose from the infidels—‘They are nothing but as cattle; nay, they are straying further off from the path.’ As the desire to kiss the ground of the Court had overpowered the men of the army, they cheerfully underwent the hardships of the journey. They passed rapidly and without weariness over the mountains, the thought of which makes one feel tired, and crossed, with the indifference of a somnambulist, deep valleys, the dream of which would cause a man to jump up in his sleep. Thorns, the very memory of which pricks one like a spear, appeared to them soft like the hair of their own bodies. They swam through rivers, the thought of which drowns one’s imagination in a sea of wonder, and passed rapidly through hot wind and rain and hail, which was sometimes gentle and sometimes severe, till they finally reached the ‘Shadow of God’, and were protected from sunshine and heat, pain and sorrow. Indeed, they thanked God for the blessings of peace and for the privilege of being able to see the Head of the State.

* On Monday, the 14th Jamādius ānī, 711 A.H. the exalted Sun (Sultan) held a public durbar in the Golden Palace.* The ‘Shadow of God’ sat under the canopy, and the rays of his face drove away the evil eye, as if with a baton. The dormant fortunes of men awakened; it seemed that the black shadow of his canopy had lined their sleepy eyes with antimony. His baton struck its light on the head of blood-shedding Mars; his sword cast its scabbard-strap in the neck of the sun. The sky, for all its fearless tyranny, was overpowered by the lustre of the spears, and Time, in spite of its overbearing strength, felt afraid of the fearful bow. The Maliks in innumerable rows rubbed their waists together like so many rubies and diamonds.* White and brown horses stood in magnificent files, stamping the ground with their feet and turning it into gold. The earth seemed full of (small) hillocks after the great Maliks had rubbed their foreheads upon it, while the prostration of the Tīkadār Rāīs gave it the colour of saffron. The cry of Bismillāh came to the ears of the angels and reminded them of their bowing before Adam; the sound of Hadākallāh fell on Satan’s ears, compelling him to bow down to Adam’s descendants.* The wind of Imperial favour blew so generously as to take away the power of self-restraint from the wishes of men; yet such was the awe of His Imperial Majesty, that but for the anchor-loads on their backs, the elephants would have fled away. When the right and left wing of the Imperial Court had assembled, the sky recited the ‘Ayatal Kursi’* and the four angels read the four Quls* at the four columns. The Emperor’s servant, the Sah-Kash, who had performed more services than can be described, was introduced along with other Maliks and great men who had survived the campaign in which they had so often risked their lives. He bowed the broad forehead of his fortune before the throne and placed his obedient face on the carpet of the Court. The cry of Bismillah rose so high, that Divine favour descended down it from the sky as down a strong rope. Then the review of the spoils began. The ground was covered by the large bodies of the elephants and faultless gems. While the jewels were on the backs of the animals, they indicated that the ‘essence of things’ was finer than the ‘eye’; but when they were scattered at the feet of men and horses, it was proved that the eye was superior to the jewels. All men, who were adorned with two eyes, just as the eye is adorned with two ‘jewels’, wondered at the sight of elephants and jewels. Every gigantic elephant had a female, and the female also had a gigantic stature. The body of the elephant was strong and large; there was a great distance between its head and feet, and the distance between its trunk and tail was greater still; nor could you see the whole of its back and breast except in three views (from three different points). The forgiving Emperor thanked the merciful God, who gives and takes away life, for the acquisition of those valuables; and the circumference of the sky was not extensive enough to contain his gratitude. And it will not be strange, if, in return for his thankfulness, all the creatures of the broad world are conquered by his sword, for gratitude to God is the condition of all great success.

A few words of apology for the innumerable mistakes and defects of this book.*— By the favour of the Creator this ‘book of victories’ ornamented with the great deeds of Abūl Muẓaffar Muḥammad Shah Sultān, has been brought to an end. It is a specimen of Khusrau’s prose. May this account of some of the victories of this conqueror wander all over the world through the realm of day and night till the Day of Resurrection! My reason for making the book short, and contenting myself with the description of a few victories only, is this: Since the Imperial orders are being issued for the conquest of the whole globe, there is no doubt that victory will carry these commands to every part of the world from east to west. It was easier for me (under the circumstances) to adorn my book with a few gems only to illustrate these victories. So from necessity, I have described a part of the Emperor’s virtues and a few of his conquests; and in words that may fully and correctly express my meaning, I have written a few pages. Nor did I wish that verses in any language, other than Persian and Arabic, should blacken the lip of my pen and the pages of my book. It is certain that the few sentences I have composed are more meaningless than the two-lettered words that are taught to children; that the pages of my book are more weakly joined together than pieces of paper, which it is attempted to stick together with the water of the mouth; and that the ideas I have expressed, though in my opinion fine as hair, are (in reality) no better than a letter written with a hair sticking to the point of the pen. But since I have appealed to Divine assistance in the composition of this book, I hope my inventions will find acceptance in the Sultān’s eyes.

Prayers to God for the acceptance of this book (by the Sultān) and for his forgiveness.*— May God who has cast the light of guidance on the hearts of the Mussalmāns, procure this description of political events, which is founded on the ‘Opening Chapter’ and verses in support of the Muslim Faith, a good fortune before the last ‘Commander of the Faithful’, Muhammad, on whose forehead shines the verse, ‘Surely we have made you a ruler in the land’. If my pen in its wanderings has ever passed beyond the bounds of respect, and in its ignorance and forgetfulness has said anything not worthy of the Royal Protector of the Faith, may the Lord send this verse from His Book to the Sultan’s inspired heart—‘and those who restrain their anger and pardon men’—so that in his mercy to all men, he may spare my life also. If there is anything defective in my composition, on which men of wit and learning can place their fingers, send me a ray of Thy favour, so that these defects may remain concealed. Lest from the obvious or hidden meaning of my words any conclusion is drawn against the ‘Mother of Books’, I finish my treatise with the sentence—‘There is no God but Allāh, and Muhammad is His Prophet’. And my last prayer is: ‘Make me die a Mussalmān and join me with the good.’ ‘O Lord! Send Thy blessings on Thy creature and Thy messenger, the unlettered Prophet, and on his Family and his Companions, the innocent and the pure, out of Thy mercy, Thou who art the most Merciful of all.’