In the year A.H. 472 (A.D. 1079-1080)*
a certain spiteful person laid a statement before Sulṭán Ibráhím to the effect that his son, Maḥmúd Sayfu'd-Dawla, intended to go to 'Iráq to Maliksháh. The King's jealousy was aroused, and it so worked on him that suddenly he had his son seized, bound, and interned in the fortress of Náy. His son's intimates also he arrested and interned, amongst them Mas'úd-i-Sa'd-i-Salmán, whom he sent to Vajíristán,*
to the Castle of Náy; whence he sent to the King the following quatrain which he had composed:—
“O King, 't is Maliksháh should wear thy chain,
That royal limbs might fret with captive's pain,
But Sa'd-i-Salmán's offspring could not hurt,
Though venomous as poison, thy domain!”
'Alí Kháṣṣ brought this quatrain to the King, but it produced no effect on him, though all wise and impartial critics will recognize what rank Mas'úd's poems of captivity*
hold in lofty feeling, and what degree in eloquence. Sometimes, when I read his verses, the hair stands on end on my body, and the tears are like to trickle from my eyes. But when these verses were read to the King, and he heard them, they affected him not at all, and not one particle of his being was warmed to enthusiasm, so that he departed from this world leaving that noble man in prison. Khwája Salmán says:—*
“Naught served the ends of statesmen save that I,
A helpless exile, should in fetters lie,
Nor do they deem me safe within their cells,
Unless surrounded by ten sentinels;
Which ten sit ever by the gates and walls,
And ever one unto his comrade calls:
‘Ho there! On guard! This cunning rogue is one
To fashion bridge and steps from shade and sun!’
Why, grant I stood arrayed for such a fight,
And suddenly sprang forth, attempting flight,
Could elephant or raging lion hope,
Thus cramped in prison-cage, with ten to cope?
Can I, bereft of weapons, take the field,
Or make of back and bosom bow and shield?”
So, by reason of his relation to Sayfu'd-Dawla, he remained imprisoned for twelve years in the days of Sulṭán Ibráhím. And Abú Naṣr of Párs,*
on account of his like relation, was imprisoned for eight years, though none hath been heard of who hath produced so many splendid elegies and rare gems of verse as were born of his brilliant genius. After eight*
years Ṭáhir 'Alí of Múshkán, Thiqatu'l-Mulk, brought him forth from his bondage, so that, in short, during this King's reign that illustrious man spent all his life in captivity, and the ill repute of this deed remained on this House. I hesitate as to the motives which are to be assigned to this act, and whether it is to be ascribed to strength of purpose, or a heedless nature, or hardness of heart, or a malicious disposition. In any case it was not a laudable deed, and I have never met with any sensible man who was prepared to praise that dynasty for such inflexibility of purpose or excess of caution. And I heard it remarked by the King of the World Ghiyáthu'd-Dín wa'd-Dunyá Muḥammad,*
the son of Maliksháh, at the Gates of Hamadán, on the occasion of the rebellion of his son-in-law, Amír Shihábu'd-Dín Qutulmush Alp Ghází: “It is the sign of a malicious heart to keep a foe imprisoned, for one of two things, either he means well or ill. Then, if the former, it is an injustice to keep him in prison; and if the latter, it is again an injustice to suffer an ill-doer to live.” In short that misery of Mas'úd passed, while this ill repute will endure till the Resurrection.