Our list of the poets of this period might be greatly extended,

Other minor poets. for 'Awfí enumerates more than two dozen, and others are mentioned in the Chahár Maqála; poetesses like Rábi'a the daughter of Ka'b; poets like Labíbí, Amíní, Abu'l-Faḍl Ṭálaqání, Manshúrí, 'Uṭáridí,

Zínatí. and Zínatí-i-'Alawí-i-Maḥmúdí, who, from the opening verses of one of his qaṣídas:—

“Sire, whose protecting strength is sought by all,
Summon the minstrels, for the wine-cup call;
That we with molten ruby may wash out
From palate parched the march's dust and drought”—

would seem to have accompanied Sulṭán Maḥmúd on some of his endless campaigns, in allusion to which he says, in another fragment cited by 'Awfí:—

“With foeman's blood sedition thou dost stay;
Heresy's stain thy falchion wipes away.
Hast thou a vow that each new month shall show
A fortress opened and a firm-bound foe?
Art pledged like Alexander every hour
Before Earth's monarchs to display thy power?”

But only three poets of those still unnoticed in this chapter imperatively demand mention, to wit the dialect-poet Pindár of Ray, Kisá'í of Merv, and the mystic quatrain-writer Abú Sa'íd ibn Abi'l-Khayr. The last-named, whose long life (A.D. 968-1049) bridges over the period separating the Sámánids from the Seljúqids, is by far the most important of the three, and will be more conveniently considered in the next chapter, in which we shall have to say more of religious and didactic and less of epic and panegyric verse; so it only remains here to speak briefly of Pindár and Kisá'í.

Of Pindár of Ray, said to have been called Kamálu'd-Dín, hardly anything is known, save that he was patronised by Pindár of Ray. Majdu'd-Dawla Abú Ṭálib Rustam the Bu-wayhid prince of Ray, and earlier by the great Ṣáḥib Isma'íl b. 'Abbád. He is said to have died in A.D. 1010, and to have composed poetry in Arabic, Persian, and the “Dayla-mite” dialect. I can find no earlier mention of him than that of Dawlatsháh (pp. 42-44 of my edition), for 'Awfí and Ibn Isfandiyár, from whom we might have expected some light, are both silent; while even Dawlatsháh is unusually sparing of detail, and cites only two of Pindár's verses, one in Persian and one in dialect. The latter, addressed to an acquaintance who advised him to take to himself a wife, is only intelligible enough to make it clear that it could not be translated; the former, “very well known, and ascribed to many well-known poets,” may be thus rendered:—

“Two days there are whereon to flee from Death thou hast no
need,
The day when thou art not to die, the day when death's
decreed;
For on the day assigned by Fate thy striving naught avails,
And if the day bears not thy doom, from fear of death be
freed!”

Dawlatsháh also cites the following verse of the later poet Dhahíru'd-Dín Fáryábí as containing “an (implied) encomium on Pindár”:—

Through the depths unrevealed of my genius a glance should'st
thou fling,
Behold, out of every corner a Pindár I'll bring.”

I doubt, however, if the word Pindár in this line is a proper name; it is probable the common noun meaning “thought,” “fancy.”*

For the scantiness of his information about Pindár, Dawlatsháh endeavours to compensate by an anecdote about Majdu'd-Dawla's mother, who, during her lifetime, acted as Regent, which, whether true or not, is pretty enough. When Majdu'd-Dawla came to the throne, in A.D. 997, he was but a boy, and, as above mentioned, the actual control of affairs was in the capable hands of his mother. From her, it is said, Sulṭán Maḥmúd demanded tax and tribute, and the sending of her son with his ambassador to Ghazna; failing her compliance, he threatened “to send two thousand war-elephants to carry the dust of Ray to Ghazna.” The Queen-Regent received the ambassador with honour, and placed in his hands the following letter for transmission to the Sulṭán:—

“Sulṭán Maḥmúd is a mighty champion of the Faith and a most puissant Prince, to whom the greater part of Persia and the land of India have submitted. For twelve years, so long as my husband Fakhru'd-Dawla was alive, I feared his ravages and his hostility; but now, ever since my husband attained to God's Paradise, that anxiety has been obliterated from my heart. For Sulṭán Maḥmúd is a great king and also a man of honour, and will not lead his army against an old woman. Should he do so and make war, it is certain that I too would give battle. Should the victory be mine, it would be for me a triumph till the Day of Judgement; while, should he be victorious, men would say, ‘He hath only defeated an old woman!’ What proclamations of victory could he frame for publication through his dominions?