He is a Caghatāī of noble descent. He has travelled much and has acquired honour by visiting the holy places of pilgrimage (Makkah and Madīnah). He has performed notable services in the field and at one time held the title of Khān, but on account of some misconduct he was degraded from that rank. One day he said, ‘Nobody has excelled me in these three shīns,* Shamshīr (‘the sword’), shi‘r (‘poetry’), and sharanj (‘chess’).’ The Em­peror at once replied, ‘The same might be said of two other shīns, shaiānī (‘devilry’) and shaāḥī* (‘effrontery’).’ Fanā'ī spent some time in prison, and when he was released he was seized with madness, which, taking him by the hand, led him away into some wilderness, whither, nobody knows. He has written a dīvān and his poetry is of the character of that of the debauched Caghatāī nobles. The following couplet is by him,

“Every one attains his object by his nightly cries of ‘O Lord,
O Lord!’
O Lord! Why do not I attain my object by my cries of
‘O Lord!’”

The following opening couplet also, which I have borne in my mind for the last fifty years, and which is quoted in the Tārīkh-i- ²⁹⁷ Niāmī,* is by him:—

“I say not that I have a house worthy to be honoured by
thy footsteps,
I am a stranger, and humble, and have but a waste corner.”

(The following is another opening couplet.)

“Whilst thy rosy face blossomed above the rosy wine
The wine blossomed in the cup from the reflection of thy
rosy face.”