He came of the Saifi Sayyids of Qazvīn* and in book-keeping 280 and penmanship he came first among accountants and scribes, and he also had some proficiency in those branches of learning which are not treated of in Arabic literature. He was for some time a dīvān-i-sa‘ādat,* and when Karoris* were appointed throughout the empire of Hindūstān he, having with much trouble collected five karors (of dāms)* from the Sambhal district, was appointed to the administrative and revenue charge of that district,* and at last he was for several years under suspension, engaged in rendering accounts to the dīvān and his honour was changed to disgrace, and he was subjected to torture, and suffered much, and he surrendered all that he had, even to the uttermost farthing,* to the imperial treasury, and, after surrendering all his possessions, surrendered his life with them. He composed a dīvān of short odes, a poem in praise of the people of his town,* a poem on roses and wine, and many other treatises in verse, but his poetry is all in the style of the poets of the time of Sulān Ḥusain Mīrzā,* and most of the works which I have named are in that style. The following verses are his:—
“The fresh down has sprung from her ruby lip with moisture
and splendour,
For she ever drinks water from the fountain of the sun.”“I am thus fallen in the road of grief and toil like rubbish,
Perchance some breeze of thy favour and grace will raise
me from the dust.”“O Lord, I am distracted by the multitude of my sins,
Show me some mercy, for I am heavily weighed down by
my sins.
I have grief in plenty, boundless sorrow, but no comforter.
How shall I make friends for myself? I am heavily
afflicted.”
It is evident that he composed these last few verses while
he was in prison.