Of the last events and of the final catastrophe, namely the soul-piercing, sense-destroying, heart-rending occurrence of the passing of the empire-adorning Khāqān, and of the march of the caravan-leader of Truth's highway from this perishable caravansarai to the Holy world and to the everlasting kingdom.

In the beginning of winter, when the air was cold, and the con­stitution became torpid.

From the cold blasts of Mihrgān (autumn)
The life of the garden congealed,
Recuperative powers remained imbedded,
⁸⁴⁰ There was no start of vegetation,
The rose was bared of her silken kerchief,
The hearts of the trees were congealed,
The rose garden (gulzār) was congealed into clay (gil),
The hundred lamps of the house of mourning died out,
In the garden the glory of the jasmine faded
As when the face of the moon is eclipsed,
The market of flowers and spring broke up,
The world's grandeur was dissolved,
Both the tulip's diadem was reversed
And the cypress's standard laid low.

The wind of autumn blew on the house-garden of world-rule, and the cold blast of Mihrgān passed over the rose-garden of fortune. The ever-vernal flower of the parterre of sovereignty was touched by the hand of decay, and the verdant tree of the garden of the Caliphate lost its foliage. Why should I not speak plainly. The throne-adorner, the world's fortune withdrew his skirt from realm and clime. The sitter on the masnad of glory shook out his sleeve over throne and diadem. The world-lighting luminary which, con­trary to the sun and moon, shed his light day and night, became in a moment dark, and the constellation of fortune, the centre of the world's light, which, contrary to the fixed stars and the planets, bestowed its rays night and day, suddenly became extinguished. The sound of the drum of dominion which for years had filled the spheres with joy, at once ceased. The notes of the flute of joy, on hearing which Venus used to dance with joy during the night-time, altogether died away.

The account of this liver-burning, heart-melting catastrophe, which is another name for the grief of time and the terrene, and the despair of men and animals, is as follows. On 12th Mihr, Divine month, 22nd September, 1605, a change occurred in the holy consti­tution which had given equability to thousands of winters and springs. A great mistake was committed by Ḥakīm 'Alī in spite of his preten­sions to medical knowledge. His ignorance was clearly manifested. For eight days he used no remedy. The weakness became great and the illness became powerful. The disease became a bloody flux, and there was a great illness. At this time the foolish physician thought of applying remedies! But from want of knowledge, every medicine which he used to check the disease, assisted it. He had shown simi­lar slackness in the treatment of that learned one of the age, Shāh Fatḥ Ullah Shīrāzī. In these days H.M. said to him on one occa­sion by way of reproof, “We raised you from the position of a der­vish to lofty rank though you had not performed any service, with the idea that one day you would be of use to us. In the end the opposite has appeared.” Thereupon he remembered that wise man of the age, Ḥakīm Abu-l-fatḥ Gilānī and the Galen of the time, Ḥakīm Miṣrī, and lamented over the deaths* of those two famous ḥakīms. The following lines apply to the condition of H.M. at this time.

Bid the druggist close his shop,
I've tried his drugs a thousand times,
⁸⁴¹ Remove the doctor's forefinger that the sick man
May cease chiding, and the pulse will remain calm.

The antidotes do the work of poisons,
Methinks the asp thereof has got new life,
If it is a star's disk break it into clay,
If it is prophets' balm fling it into the dustbin.

The treatment of that physician produced no effect. The debility gradually increased, and matters became critical. In such a state of things that lord of the spiritual and temporal world came out every day with perfect composure at the Darsan* and accepted the salutations (kornish) of his subjects. Those waiting in expectation at the gate of the Caliphate gathered light from the sun-rays of the august countenance. When the pangs of weakness seized upon his mental and bodily powers, he spent several days in bed. On the nineteenth* day the physician became confounded at his treatment, and withdrew his hand from applying remedies. Either he was afraid of the monarch's wrath or he feared the inmates of the Harem who were showing great impatience. He withdrew from H.M., who was in a state of extreme weakness, and put himself under the pro­tection of Shaikh Farīd, the Mīr Bakhshī. Bravo for the stony-heartedness of that Amīr who applied himself to his protection! On the eve of Wednesday,* 4th Abān, 15th October, 1605, H.M. with­drew the shade of his heavenly self from the heads of mortals, and spread out the shadow of his beneficence over the heads of the celes­tials. The men of this world sate down in the dark days of failure, while the inhabitants of the other world attained their long-cherished wishes. The report of this disaster caused lamentation in heaven and earth. There was a daily-bazaar of consternation and terror, and sorrow and affliction became active. Darkness took possession of the earth, and the evening of sorrow fell upon mortals in the mid­??ay of contentment. The lightning of labour and sorrow struck mankind's harvest of joy. The stone of violence and oppression smote on the vases of the hearts of the sincere. Good God! What a personality he was! He was pure from every stain and endowed with all perfections. What a jewel free from every blemish and pure of every stain! Lofty prestige, a happy horoscope, an awakened fortune, complete auspiciousness, a daily-increasing dominion, mount­ing victoriousness, pleasant friendship, a love of pleasantry, friend-cherishing, foe-destroying, a kingdom-bestowing liberality, a might that overthrew enemies, a world-embracing majesty, a world-con­quering resolution, a firmness and gravity together with the working of conspicuous miracles, lofty converse, an illuminated mind, a God-given understanding, an enlightened soul, a taste for knowledge, an expounder of mysteries, and an opener of mysteries, conquest over difficulties, etc., etc.—all these were gathered together in that sublime personality and created astonishment among the lords of insight.

The scrutineers who counted all the perfections
Gave him the title of the Imām of the Age,
He is the spiritual and temporal lord, the unique Akbar Shāh,
Who made the poor, lords of fortune,

That elementary mould has gone, from whose spirit
The pure-hearted gathered eternal truths.

On the morning of Wednesday, which deserved to be called the evening of evil and the black night of grief, the pure body, which had been cleansed and washed by the limpid waters of the Divine Mercy, was further bathed according to the custom of mortals, was placed on a bier and brought out from the fortress of Agra. The smoke of sorrow ascended from the people on beholding the unwel­come sight, and there was a storm of weeping. Their hearts wer?? deeply wounded, and burning sighs arose from every quarter, etc., etc.

All the Amīrs and nobles cast dust upon their heads and accom­panied the corpse, weeping and lamenting. The sacred garden (Rauẓa Muqaddas) known as Bihishtābād was fixed upon as his rest­ing ⁸⁴³ place and the earthly mould was committed to the earth. Mor­tals call residence in this inn of five days, Life, but who can comprehend the courts of eternity. For awakened spirits of this calibre the use of the word Death is a mistake.

They ne'er died nor will die those who are spiritual,
Death is but a name in reference to them.

The following words give the date of H.M.'s death. Wafāt-i-Ak­bar shud, “The death of Akbar occurred,” or, “There was a mighty death.” The following remarkable lines also announce it.

(Here a number of lines are given which are chronograms of Akbar's birth, accession and death.)

May Almighty God preserve the wise and truth-seeing one from the false calumnies which the blind and superficial have brought against that wise sovereign who was the guide of the searchers after truth, and the Lord of the God enlightened.

(Then follows the abridged khātima or conclusion which I have placed at the end of the 46th year.)