On Mubārak-shamba (Thursday), the 27th, I presented Ḥakīm Masīḥu-z-zamān with 20,000 darbs (8 anna pieces), and to Ḥakīm Rūḥu-llah 100 muhars and Rs. 1,000. As he had thoroughly diagnosed my constitution, he perceived that the climate of Gujarat was very inimical to it. He said: “As soon as you moderate your habit of taking wine and opium, all these troubles of yours will disappear.” Indeed, when I in one day diminished (the quantity I took of) both of them, there was a great gain on that first day. On Mubārak-shamba (Thursday), the 3rd Khūrdād, Qizilbāsh K. was promoted to the manṣab, original and increased, of 1,500 personal and 1,200 horse. A report was received from Gajpat K., super­intendent of the elephant stables, and Balūch K., chief hunts­man (Qarāwul Beg), that up to this time sixty-nine elephants, male and female, had been caught. Whatever took place after this would be reported. I ordered them to beware not to take old or small elephants; but with this exception they should catch all they saw, male or female. On Monday, the 14th,* the sum of Rs. 2,000 was presented for Shāh ‘Ālam's an­niversary, to Sayyid Muḥammad, his representative. A special Kachh horse, one of the good horses of the Jām which had been presented to me, was given to Rāja Bīr Singh Deo. I made a present of Rs. 1,000 to Balūch K., the chief huntsman, who is engaged in capturing elephants. On Tuesday, 15th, I found I had a severe headache, which at last ended in fever. At night I did not drink my usual number of cups, and after midnight crop-sickness* was added to my fever, and till morning I rolled about on my couch. On Wednesday, the 16th, at the end of the day, the fever diminished, and, after asking the advice of my doctors, I took my usual number of cups on the third night. Although they urged me to take some broth of pulse and rice, I could not make up my mind to do so. Since I arrived at the age of diseretion, I never remem­ber having taken būghān* broth, and hope that I may not want it in future. When they brought food for me this day, I had no inclination for it. In short, for three days and two nights I remained fasting. Though I had fever for a day and a night, and my weakness was such that it appeared as if I had been confined to bed for a long time, I had no appetite left, and had no inclination towards food.

I* am amazed to think what pleasure or goodness the founder of this city could have seen in a spot so devoid of the favour (of God) as to build a city on it. After him, others, too, have passed their lives in precious trouble in this dust­bin. Its air is poisonous, and its soil has little water, and is of sand and dust, as has already* been described. Its water is very bad and unpalatable, and the river, which is by the side of the city, is always dry except in the rainy season. Its wells are mostly salt and bitter, and the tanks in the neighbourhood of the city have become like buttermilk from washermen's soap. The upper classes who have some property have made reservoirs in their houses, which they fill with rainwater in the rainy season, and they drink that water until the next year. The evils of water to which the air never penetrates, and which has no way for the vapour to come out by, are evident. Outside the city, in place of green grass and flowers, all is an open plain full of thorn-brakes (zaqqūm), and as for the breeze that blows off the thorns, its excellence is known:

“* O thou, compendium of goodness, by which of thy names shall I call thee?
I had already called Aḥmādābād Gardābād (the a bode of dust).”

Now, I do not know whether to call it Samūmistān (the place of the samūm or simoom) or Bīmāristān (abode of sick­ness), or Zaqqūm-zār (the thorn-bed), or Jahannamābād (the house of Hell), for it contains all these varieties. If the rainy season had not prevented me, I would not have delayed one day in this abode of trouble, but, like Solomon, would have seated myself on the throne of the wind, and hastened out, and released the people of God from this pain and trouble. As the men of this city are exceedingly weak-hearted and wretched, in order to guard against any of the men from the camp entering their houses with a view to oppress them, or interfering with the affairs of the poor and miserable: and lest the Qāẓī and Mīr ‘Adl (judge) should, from fear of the face of men (rū-dīdagī), temporize and not stop such oppression, I, from the date on which I entered the city, notwithstanding the heat of the air, every day, after completing the midday prayer, went and sat in the Jharoka. It was towards the river, and had no impediment in the shape of gate, or wall, or watch­men (yasāwul), or chobdārs (mace-bearers). For the sake of administering justice, I sate there for two or three sidereal hours and listened to the cries for redress, and ordered punish­ments on the oppressors according to their faults and crimes. Even in the time of weakness I have gone every day to the jharoka, though in great pain and sorrow, according to my fixed custom, and have looked on ease of body as something unlawful* (ḥarām) for me.

“For the care of the people of God
At night I make not mine eyes acquainted with sleep;
For the ease of the bodies of all
I approve of pain for my own body.”

By the grace of Allah, it has become my habit not to sur­render the nycthemeron, for more than two or three sidereal hours of the coin of Time, to the plundering of sleep. In this there are two advantages—one, the knowledge of the king­dom; the other, wakefulness of heart in calling God to mind. God forbid that this life of a few days should pass in care­lessness. As a heavy sleep is in front, I must reckon as a gain this time of my wakefulness, which I shall not see again in sleep, and must not be careless of recollecting God for a single wink. “Be wakeful, for a wondrous* sleep is ahead.” On the same day that I contracted fever, my son Shāh-Jahān, who is close to my heart, also contracted it. His attack lasted a long time, and for ten days he could not come to pay his respects. He came on Thursday, the 24th, and waited on me, and appeared very weak and powerless, so much so that if anyone had not explained the matter, one might have supposed he had been ill for a month or more. I am grateful that at last all ended well. On Thursday, the 31st, Mīr Jumla, who had come from Īrān—a summary of what had happened to him has been already written—was honoured with the mansab of 1,500 personal and 200 horse. On this day, in consequence of the weakness I suffered from, I bestowed as alms on deserving people an elephant, a horse, and varieties of quadrupeds, with a quantity of gold and silver and other valuable things. Most of my servants also brought alms according to their means. I told them that if their object was to parade their loyalty, their proceeding was not acceptable, and if they were acting from genuine piety there was no need for bringing their alms into the Presence; they could secretly and personally distribute them to the poor and needy. On Mubārak-shamba (Thursday), the 7th Tīr, Divine month, Ṣādiq K. Bakhshī was promoted to the mansab of 2,000 personal and horse, original and increased; Irādat K., the Mīr Sāmān, to that of 2,000 and 1,000 horse, Mīr Abū Ṣāliḥ Riẓawī to the mansab of 2,000 and 1,000 horse, with the title of Riẓawī Khān, and, being honoured with a standard and an elephant, he took leave for the Deccan.

At this time it was represented to me that the Commander-in-Chief, the Ātālīq Khān-khānān, as a sequel to the celebrated line, “For every rose one must bear the pain of a hundred thorns,” had written an ode, and that Mīrzā Rustam Ṣafawī and Mīrzā Murād, his son, had also tried their skill. An impromptu opening couplet came into my mind:

“A cup of wine should be poured* on the cheek of the rosebed.
There are many clouds, much wine should be poured.”

Of those who were present at the entertainment who had the poetic temperament each composed an ode, and presented it. It became known that the hemistich was from Maulānā ‘Abdu-r-Raḥmān Jāmī. I looked at the whole of his ode (or odes). Except this hemistich, which like a proverb has become famous over the world, he has not written anything epigrammatic. All is very simple and smooth.* On this day arrived the news of the death of Aḥmad Beg K., governor of Kashmir. His sons, who were of the house-born ones of the Court, and on whose foreheads the signs of intelligence and zeal were manifest, obtained suitable mansabs, and were sent to do duty in the Ṣuba of Bangash and Kabul. His mansab was that of 2,500; his eldest son obtained that of 3,000 (?),* and three other sons that of 900 each. On Thursday, the 14th, Khwāja Bāqī K., who was adorned with the high qualities of dignity, honour, generosity, and valour, under whose rule was one of the thānas of the country of Berār, was promoted to the mansab of 1,500 and 1,000 horse, original and increased, and the title of Bāqī K. Rāy Kahnūr (Kunwar?), who was formerly Dīwān of Gujarat, was chosen for the dīwānship of Mālwa.

At this time the pairing of the sāras, which I had never seen before, and is reported never to have been seen by man, was witnessed by me. The sāras is a creature of the crane genus, but somewhat larger.* On the top of the head it has no feathers, and the skin is drawn over the bones of the head. From the back of the eye to six finger-breadths of the neck it is red. They mostly live in pairs on the plains, but are occa­sionally seen in flocks. People bring a pair in from the fields, and keep them in their houses, and they become familiar with men. In fact, there was a pair of sāras in my establishment to which I had given the names of Lailā and Majnūn. One day a eunuch informed me that (the) two had paired in his presence. I ordered that if they showed an inclination to pair again they should inform me. At dawn he came and told me that they were about to pair again. I immediately hastened to look on. The female having straightened its legs bent down a little: the male then lifted up one of its feet from the ground and placed it on her back, and afterwards the second foot, and, immediately seating himself on her back, paired with her. He then came down, and, stretching out his neck, put his beak to the ground, and walked once round the female. It is possible they may have an egg and produce a young one. Many strange tales of the affection of the sāras for its mate have been heard. The following case has been recorded because it is very strange. Qiyām K., who is one of the khānazāds (houseborn ones) of this Court, and is well acquainted with the arts of hunting and scouting, in­formed me that one day he had gone out to hunt, and found a sāras sitting. When he approached, it got up and went off. From its manner of walking he perceived signs of weakness and pain. He went to the place where it had been sitting, and saw some bones and a handful of feathers on which it had been sitting. He threw a net round it, and drew himself into a corner, and it tried to go and sit in the same place. Its foot was caught in the net, and he went forward and seized it. It appeared extremely light, and when he looked minutely he saw there were no feathers on its breast and belly: its flesh and skin had separated, and there were maggots. Moreover, there was no sign of flesh left on any of its members: a handful of feathers and bone came into his hand. It was clear that its mate had died, and that it had sate there from the day it lost its companion.

“My burning heart hath melted my body with separation's pang;
A soul-consuming sigh burnt me, as 'twere a lamp.
The day of my joy became black like the night of grief,
Separation from thee hath made my day like this.”

Himmat K., who is one of my best servants, and whose word is worthy of reliance, told me that in the Doḥad* pargana he had seen a pair of sāras on the bank of a tank. One of his gunners shot one of them, and in the same place cut off its head and stripped* it of its feathers (?). By chance we halted two or three days at that place, and its mate continually walked round it, and uttered cries and lamentation. “My heart,” he said, “ached at its distress, but there was no remedy for it save regret.” By chance, twenty-five days afterwards, he passed by the same spot, and asked the inhabi­tants what had become of that sāras. They said it died on the same day, and there were still remains of feathers and bones on the spot. He went there himself, and saw it was as they said. There are many tales of this kind among the people, which it would take too long to tell.

On Saturday, the 16th, there came the news of the death of Rāwat Shankar, who was one of those on duty in Bihār. Mān Singh, his eldest son, was raised to the manṣab of 2,000 personal and 600 horse: his other sons and connections were also raised in manṣab, and were directed to obey him. On Thursday, the 21st, the elephant Bāvan,* the pick of my catch, which had been left in the pargana of Doḥad to be tamed, was brought to Court. I ordered him to be kept near the jharoka on the river side, that he might be constantly under my eye. In the elephant-stables of H.M. Akbar the largest elephant I saw was Durjan Sāl. It was long the premier elephant. Its height was 4 yards (dara‘* ), and 3 1/2 quarters of the Ilāhī gaz, which is 8 yards and 3 fingers of the ordinary gaz. At present, among the elephants of my establishment, the largest athlete is ‘Ālam-Gajrāj, which H.M. Akbar himself had caught. It is the chief of my special elephants. Its height is 4 1/8 yards, or 7 yards and 7 fingers* of the ordinary yard. The ordinary gaz has been fixed at 24 fingers' breadth of an average-sized man, and the Ilāhī gaz is 40 fingers' breadth.

On this day Muaffar K., who had been promoted to the Subadarship of Thatta (Sind), had the good fortune to kiss the threshold. He presented 100 muhars and Rs. 100 as nazr, and the equivalent of Rs. 100,000 in jewels and jewelled things. At this time news came that God Almighty had bestowed on my son Parwīz a son* by the daughter of Shāh Murād, deceased. It is to be hoped that his coming will be of good omen to this State.