According to the Chahár Maqála (the most ancient and important of our extraneous sources of information) Firdawsí
Account of Chahár Maqála. was a dihqán, or small squire, of a village called Bázh, * in the Ṭabarán district of Ṭús, the famous city of Khurásán, which occupied the site of the present Mashhad. He was independent, living on the rents derived from his lands, and had an only daughter. To provide for her an adequate dowry was, says our author, Firdawsí's sole object in composing his great poem, and seeking some wealthy patron who would bestow on him an adequate reward for his toil. When he had completed it (after thirty-five, or, according to other authorities, twenty-five years of labour), probably, as Nöldeke (op. cit., p. 22) observes, in the beginning of the year A.D. 999, it was transcribed by 'Alí Daylam and recited by Abú Dulaf, both of whom, together with the Governor of Ṭús, Ḥusayn b. Qutayba, from whom Firdawsí had received substantial help and encouragement, are mentioned in the following passage of the Sháhnáma:—“Of the notables of the city in this book 'Alí Daylam and Abú
Dulaf have a share.
From these my portion was naught save ‘Well done!’ My
gall-bladder was like to burst with their ‘Well done's.’ *
Ḥusayn * b. Qutayba is one of the nobles who seeks not from
me gratuitous verse:
I know naught of the ground-tax, root or branch; I lounge [at
ease] in the midst of my quilt.”
In explanation of the last line, our author tells us that the above-mentioned Ḥusayn b. Qutayba, who was the revenue collector of Ṭús, took upon himself to remit Firdawsí's taxes; “whence naturally,” he adds, “his name will endure till the Resurrection, and Kings will read it.”
The Sháhnáma having been transcribed in seven volumes by the above-mentioned 'Alí Daylam, Firdawsí set out with it for Ghazna, taking with him his ráwí, or “repeater,” Abú Dulaf. He succeeded in interesting the Prime Minister, Abu'l-Qásim Aḥmad b. al-Ḥasan al-Maymandí, * in his work, which was, by his instrumentality, brought to the notice of Sulṭán Maḥmúd, who expressed himself as greatly pleased with it. “But the Minister had enemies,” continues our author, “who were continually casting the dust of perturbation into the cup of his position, and Maḥmúd consulted with them as to what he should give Firdawsí. They replied, ‘Fifty thousand dirhams, and even that is too much, seeing that he is in belief a Ráfiḍí (i.e., a Shí'ite) and a Mu'tazilí.’ Of his Mu'tazilí views they adduced this verse as a proof:—
‘Thy gaze the Creator can never descry; *
Then wherefore by gazing dost weary thine eye?’
While to his Ráfiḍí (Shí'ite) proclivities these verses bear witness.” (Here the author cites seven couplets in praise of Alí, of which both text and translation will be found on pp. 80-81 of my translation of the Chahár Maqála.)
Now if the above account be true (and there seems no
reason for doubting its substantial correctness), we are greatly
tempted to connect Firdawsí's disappointment with the disgrace
and imprisonment of his patron, al-Maymandí, which, as Ibnu'l-
“Now Sulṭan Maḥmúd,” continues the author of the Chahár Maqála, “was a zealot, and he listened to these imputations and caught hold of them, and, to be brief, only twenty thousand * dirhams were paid to Ḥakím Firdawsí. He was bitterly disappointed, went to the bath, and, on coming out, bought a drink of sherbet, * and divided the money between the bath-man and the sherbet-seller. Knowing, however, Maḥmúd's severity, he fled from Ghazna by night, and alighted in Herát at the shop of Azraqí's * father, Isma'íl the bookseller (warráq), where he remained in hiding for six months, until Maḥmúd's messengers had visited Ṭús and had turned back thence, when Firdawsí, feeling secure, set out from Herát for Ṭús, taking the Sháhnáma with him. Thence he came to Ṭabaristán to the Ispahbad Shahriyár b. Shírwín * of the House of Báwand, who was King there; and this is a noble House which traces its descent from Yazdigird, the son of Shahriyár.*
“Then Firdawsí wrote a satire on Sulṭán Maḥmúd in the Preface, from which he read a hundred couplets to Shír-zád, saying, ‘I will dedicate this Sháhnáma to thee instead of to Sulṭán Maḥmúd, since this book deals wholly with the legends and deeds of thy forbears.’ The Ispahbad treated him with honour and showed him many kindnesses, and said: 'Maḥmúd had no right knowledge of this matter, but was induced to act as he did by others, who did not submit your book to him under proper conditions, and who misrepresented you. Moreover you are a Shí'ite, and naught will befall him who loves the Family of the Prophet which did not befall them. * Maḥmúd is my liege lord: let the Sháhnáma stand in his name, and give me the satire which you have written on him, that I may expunge it, and bestow on thee some little recompense; and Maḥmúd will surely summon thee and seek to satisfy thee fully. Do not, then, throw away the labour spent on such a book.’ * And next day he sent Firdawsí 100,000 dirhams, saying: ‘I will buy each couplet of the satire on the Sulṭán at a thousand dirhams; give me those hundred couplets and rest satisfied therewith.’ * So Firdawsí sent him those verses and he ordered them to be expunged; and Firdawsí also destroyed his rough copy of them, so that this satire was done away with, and only these few * verses are preserved:
‘They said: “This bard of over-fluent song
Hath loved the Prophet and 'Alí for long.” *
Yea, when I sing my love for them, I could
Protect from harm a thousand like Maḥmúd.
But can we hope for any noble thing
From a slave's son, e'en were his sire a King?For had this King aught of nobility
High-throned in honour should I seated be.
But since his sires were not of gentle birth
He hates to hear me praising names of worth.’
“In truth the Ispahbad rendered a great service to Maḥmúd, who was thereby placed deeply in his debt.
“In the year A.H. 514” (A.D. 1120-21), continues Nidhámí of Samarqand, “when I was in Níshápúr, I heard the Amír Mu'izzí * say that he had heard the Amír 'Abdu'r-Razzáq of Ṭús relate as follows: 'Maḥmúd was once in India, returning thence towards Ghazna. It chanced that on his way was a rebellious chief possessed of a strong fortress, and next day Maḥmúd encamped at its gates, and despatched an ambassador to him, bidding him come before him on the morrow to do homage and pay his respects at the Court, when he should receive a robe of honour and return to his place. Next day Maḥmúd rode out with the Prime Minister * on his right hand, for the ambassador had turned back and was coming to meet the King. “I wonder,” said the latter to the Minister, “what reply he will have given?” The Minister answered:
“‘And should the reply with my wish not accord,
Then Afrásiyáb's field, and the mace, and the sword!’”
“‘Whose verse,’ inquired Maḥmúd, ‘is that? For he must have the heart of a man.’ * ‘Poor Abu'l-Qásim Firdawsí composed it,’ answered the Minister; ‘he who for five-and-twenty years laboured to complete such a work, and reaped from it no advantage.’ ‘You speak well,’ said Maḥmúd; ‘I deeply regret that this noble man was disappointed by me. Remind me at Ghazna to send him something.’