And there are also other many charming poems attributed to him, of which the following ode is one:—
From the tongue of the pen my own story I tell in the words of the pen
On the page of my life, though the writing of grief has been traced by the pen
Since I lived in this world with the pen all my days have been black as the pen
And swift as I write my account, so fierce is the point of the pen
That like to my own gentle voice is the sharp loud lament of the pen.
Although in the midst of my loss I reap always rewards from the pen,
Still no one will mention my state to my Lord save the tongue of the pen.
'Tis from Khwája Manṣúr bin Sa‘íd thrives the market of test of the pen
That great one whose words load the burden of truth on the van of the pen.
He has mounted his beautiful thoughts on the steed of his swift running pen.*
In the road of just ruling he gallops, light holding the rein of the pen.
His skill hand in hand with his wisdom reveals hidden arts of the pen.
And in the year 626 H. Arab Ambassadors came from Egypt* bringing for him a robe of honour and titles, and out of joy at this they built triumphal arches in the city and held banquets. And in this same year the tidings arrived of the death of his son Sulán 67. Náṣiru-d-Dín, Governor of Lakhnautí, and the Sulán, after completing the duties of mourning, gave his name (i.e., Náṣiru-d-Dín) to his younger son after whom the Ṭabaqát-i-Náṣirí is named. In the year 627 H., be proceeded against Lakhnautí and quieted the disturbances of those regions, and after entrusting the government of that place to Izzu-l-Mulk Malik ‘Aláu-d-Dín Kháfí* returned to the capital and in the year 629 H. reduced the fortress of Gwálíar. Málik Táju-d-Dín the Secretary of State, wrote the following quatrain upon the taking of that fort, and they engraved it upon stone:—
Every fort which the king of kings conquered
He conquered by the help of God and the aid of the faith:
That fortress of Kálewar and that strong castle
He took in the year six hundred and thirty.*
It is apparently the date of the siege which accounts for the difference of one year. And in the year 631 H.* having made an incursion in the direction of the province of Málwah and taken Bhílsá* and also captured the city of Ujain,* and having destroyed the idol-temple of Ujain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahákál, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rái Vikramájít from whom the Hindús reckon their era* (the author of this selection, by the order of the Khalifa of the time, the Emperor, the Shadow of the Deity, in the year 972 H and again anew in the year 1003 H* with the assistance of Hindú pundits translated 32 stories about him which are a wonder of relation and strange circumstance, from the Hindúi into the Persian tongue and called it Náma-i-Khirad Afzá—) and brought certain other images of cast molten brass placed them on the ground in front of the door of the mosque of old Dehlí* and ordered the people 68. to trample them underfoot and a second time he brought an army against Multán;* this expedition was in every way unfortunate for him, and a very severe bodily illness afflicted him, he so returned and came to Dehli, and in the year 633 H, (1235 A D.) left this lodging house of the world for the eternal mansions of the next world. The duration of his sultanate was twenty-six years.
Verse.For this reason this heart-enthralling palace became cold.
Because when you have warmed the place, they say to you Rise*
And the prince of poets* (on him be mercy) says:—
* [In all Hindustán you saw the dust of the troops of Iyaltimish
Look now drink your wine, others walk in his plain]
It is the same Dehlí one would say, yet where is his victorious canopy?
It is the same kingdom at all events, where has that royal dignity of his gone?
The earth is a house of mourning, and mourns too for its own sake
At the time of the birth of that child whom they see weeping.
It is a well known story that Sulán Shamsu-d-Dín was a man of a cold temperament, and once upon a time he desired to consort with a pretty and comely girl, but found that he had not the power. The same thing happened several times: one day the girl was pouring some oil on the head of the Sulán and shed some tears upon the Sulán's head. He raised his head and asked the cause of her weeping, after a great deal of hesitation she answered: I had once a brother who was bald like you and that reminded me of him, and I wept. When he had heard the story of his being imprisoned it became evident that she was the own sister of the Sulán, and that God be he glorified and exalted had preserved him from this incestuous intercourse. The writer of these pages 69. heard this story from the lips of the Khalīfah of the world, I mean Akbar Shāh may God make Paradise his kingdom in Fatḥpur and also in Lahore, one evening when he had summoned him into the private apartments of the capital and had conversed with him on certain topics, he said, I heard this story from Sulān Ghiyāu-d-Dīn Balban and they said that when the Sulān wished to have connection with that girl her catamenia used to come on [and this occurrence was at the time of writing].*