(And he especially addressed himself to the destruction) of certain lofty fortresses, each so high that from its summit the sign of the virgin could be seen, and the angelic hymns could be heard, and surrounding each a moat or ditch of immense depth was dug, that if the crane were to penetrate to its bottom he could reach to the fountain-reser­voir of the waters that supply the whole globe of the earth. And the army of the Sultán surrounded this fortress, as exactly as a circumference encircles the centre, and, by the assistance of their own hands, they heaped together abundance of thou­sands of handsfull of dirt, and branches and arms of the trees which were around that place, and filled up the depth of that ditch, and enlarged it so as to be a pleasant circus* for cavalry and infantry; and the horses and the elephants of the Sultán earnestly exerted themselves for the destruction of that castle, and in making a breach in that wall, and each one of them put on the girdle of unpar­alleled zeal in his endeavours to seize that fortress. But the followers of Khalaf exerted themselves to repulse them, and all the excess of iniquity blazed forth; but the greater number of the elephants joining together dragged away the gate of the citadel by mere force, and cast it up into the air, and a considerable number of the officers of Khalaf were slain, but the rest fled into the interior (keep), and stood up to repel the attack. And Khalaf came from the place where he was to contemplate the event, and to witness the affair. And he saw the ruin of the place, and the obstinate defence of the forts, perceiving that the whole surface of the earth was like a stormy sea of waves of human demons, and embodied devils. And he saw that every one of the elephants took with his trunk before his eyes an individual by his decorated back and threw them up into the air the height of two spears, and when they descended they divided them whilst in the air into two parts, and crushed them beneath their feet; and they made a fulcrum with their shoulder, and struck against the fortress, and took it from its basis. And when Khalaf saw all this transaction, his soul nearly went out of his body, from his extreme fear and terror, and he cried out for help and asked for quarter. And the Sultán, through the generosity that was innate in his pure disposition, gave him quarter, and placed the sword of vengeance in the sheath. And Khalaf stretched forth his hand full of jewels and ornaments and gifts, and cast himself before the Sultán, and rubbed his white hairs in the dust, and filled the carpet of the presence chamber with the offerings of jewels, and scattered around so many pearls that the light veiled the brilliancy of the sun, and made the eyes dim-sighted. And more­over, in praising the good actions of the Sultán, and in expatiating upon his renewed mercy and returning favour, Khalaf unfolded the book of self-blame and the exhibition of his Majesty’s pardon and forgiveness to the utmost degree. And the Sultán, in the generosity of his dignity and in the exaltation of his rank, displayed the marks of his merciful breath, and restored Khalaf to his honours, and drew the pen of forgetfulness over the surface of past evil deeds, and he relinquished to him all the claim to the treasures in the citadel. And he resigned to him the chief part of the property and provisions of that place, in order that he might carry out whatsoever he wished, according to his free choice, and might make himself happy in his residence, and in his abode, and (consented) that his home might be in any of the provinces of the Sultán that he might wish, and they left it to the convenience of his choice, and to the computation of his preference, and to the calculation of his for­tune. And he chose the territory of Jurján,* on account of the convenience of the air and the water of that country. And the Sultán sent him to that place with the utmost respect, and he reposed for a space of four years under the shadow of that peacefully-quiet region. And after that time the flattering advance which he had written unto Ilek became known, and the Sultán, in order to pre­serve the peace of the State, sent him unto the fortress of Jurdin, and there he remained until his appointed time according to the Almighty’s will arrived, and the volume of his life received its last seal in the month of Rajib, in the year 399. And the Sultán gave a royal order that all the property which he had left behind him should be given up unto his son Amír Abu-Hass. And Abu-Mansur-Thaalabi in his poem, descriptive of all these affairs of the diminishing of the dignity and the diminu­tion of the kingdom of Khalaf, says thus (Verse)

The Amír Khalaf was one of the greatest kings of the world, celebrated for a generous, noble, and liberal brilliancy of glory; his gifts rendered his Court useful and profitable to the wise and inge­nious, and the worthies and poets of the world opened out the tongue in praising and commending him, and the renown of his merits dwelt on the tongue of the high and low. He assembled the learned of his time, in order that they might make a complete collection of interpretations of the glorious Korán, compiled from the words of inter­preters, and the expositions of ancient and modern commentators, with the explanation of the reasons of readings, the cause of grammatical constructions, and the derivations of words. It was laden with witnessing examples and verses, and interwoven with the citation of tales and stories, and it was reported from confidential quarters of the Court, that he had sunk twenty thousand dinars of red gold in providing for the compilation and composi­tion of this book. A volume of this interpretation was treasured up at the Sabúní College at Nisha­púr, until the occurrence of the conquest took place. At present this perfect and complete volume is at Ispahan, among the books of the family of Khajand (Heaven help true Moslems by their sur­vivors, and have mercy upon their fathers who have passed away). This poor author (i. e. Utbi), at the time when he had been expelled his native place, and was for some time settled at Ispahan, became familiarly acquainted with this gainful garden, and borrowed light from the beams of its subtleties and mysteries. This is a book of one hundred volumes, written in different hands, so that a lifetime would be absorbed in the endeavour to copy it, nor could such a result be possible ex­cept in long years, nor could it be successfully carried out but by the assistance of copiers and writers in divers characters. Utbi thus avers, the Shaikh Abúl-Fath-Busti told me, once it happened that there fell into my mind three verses in his praise, which I had no intention should reach his Highness. They fell into men’s mouths, and reached him by the tongue of quotation. One day, a confidential officer came to me from him, and brought me a present of three hundred dinars of red gold, as a reward for these verses, and he requested me to excuse him for the amount; the verses were as follows (Poem)

I replied, this story is similar to that which occurred with regard to Ibrahún-Sábi to whom, at Bagdad, a messenger came on the part of Saif-Addoulat-Hamadúnï, requesting a poem from him, expressing verbally the sincere desire of Saif-Ad­doulat (for this poem). Sábi delayed preparing it, until the time for the departure of the messenger drew near, when the latter came to Sábi, and as a matter of great need, urged him to comply with his request, and to accomplish the object sought. Sábi speedily improvised these three verses (Verse)

The next time that the messenger came to Bagdad he presented him with three hundred dinars of red gold as a reward. The Shaikh Abúl-Fath-Busti composed this Kasidah in his praise (Verse)

Utbi says— “I have heard from Abú-Jafar that the following was written upon the door of his palace: ‘Let him who has been gladdened by the sight of Paradise but look at these porticoes.’ ‘If he has been delighted by the Heaven of works, let him by the aid of his eyes only look at this building.’”

And when the Sultán had obtained firm posses­sion of Sajastán, when the stars of confusion had set, and the state of that country was peaceful and secure, and the longings of the children and kindred of variance was cut short, the Sultán came to Ghazna, the fame of this important victory spread through the lands, all allowing that at no time, and for no king, had such fortunate events occurred with regard to captured fortresses and portioned kingdoms. And Abú-Mansúr-Thaalabi thus speaks of the conquest of Sistán (Verse)

And the Sultán appointed to the Vízïrat of Sajasthán, Kanají, the Chamberlain, who had been one of his privy counsellors and royal deputies. He, in guiding the subjects and ruling the country, displayed vestiges of justice and equity, and exhibited good morals and pleasing manners. Then a company of vile wretches and odious scoundrels, through their agreeable condition, and wide field (of comfort), and the insolence of ease, and their devilish rebelliousness, rubbed themselves upon the wall of misfortune, and became receivers of trouble and misery, and in their ill-will, and iniquity and opposition, drew the sword from the sheath, and openly declared themselves rebels to the Sultán. And when the Sultán knew that the course of the government of his Nuwwáb was traitorously inter­rupted by the ugly wickedness of those lost ones, he came to Sistán with ten thousand men. And the Amír Nasr-’bn-Nasir-Addin, and Altontash-Hájib, and Abú-Abdullah-Táí, an Arabian chief, assembled beneath the shadow of his standard, and he besieged those men in the citadel of Ark. And when he had brought the strength of his army to surround them, and had consigned the sides of the fort and the troops of their chief to the singular Amírs and special heroes of his army, upon Friday, at mid-day, in the month Dhúl-Hajjah, and in the year 390, the battle began. And the generals for a time returned the onset, but when they beheld the eminent strength and incomparable fury of the Sultán’s army they were frightened, and fled within the walls of the fort, and when the Dhúl-Karanin (the Alexander) of the sun descended into the darkness of night, and black streaks began to appear upon the white cheek of day, all of them submitted to the Sultán’s will, and his soldiers shouted at the watchword of his royalty, and the enemy leaving the way free, they fell upon the castle, and scattered heads down from the fort like the leaves of autumn. “Then they were like demons after the morning draught.” “And they wore the amulets from the carcases of the slain.” And the rest cast their swords into the wells and fountains of the land. And this country was de­livered from their foulness and iniquity, and these tribes of malignity fled from the streets and pools of the kingdom, and these coasts were emptied from the power of these scorpions, and the noxious­ness of these locusts. A certain ingenious person says, in narrating this victory, “Oh! thou art a king who strikest out a high flame from thy tinder. Thy mouth never ceased its vigour (in encourage­ment) until thou didst win the pass.”

And the Sultán gave the country of Sistán unto his brother Nasr-’bn-Nasir-Addin, and annexed it to the territory of Nishapúr, and the crown of Khurasán. And the Amír Nasr appointed as his deputy in that administration his Vízíer Nasr-’bn-Ishak, who distinguished himself in the govern­ment of this country, and the regulation of those deserts, by vestiges of peace, by the lights of pro­tection, the niceties of administration, and the regulations of security. But the Sultán returned to his capital at Balkh, with the intention of a war which, if God will and ordain, shall appear in its place.