H.M. had in the course of seven months done the work of many years in conquering new countries, administering the old, in favouring the sincere and serviceable, and o'erthrowing the ungrateful, in extending justice, in general benevolence, and in advancing the science of worship. On the day of Ardībihisht (18 January 1575) 3 Bahman, Divine month, he illuminated Fatḥpūr by his presence.
What ray is it that fortune sheds upon the earth?
What commotion is it that dominion casts into the sky?
Is it the dust of the cortège or the breeze of success
Which sends a fragrance of peace and repose to the nostrils of my soul?
The degrees of sovereignty and the stages of world conquest, 112 which are based upon increase of wisdom, and on perception, went on augmenting, and that which is apt to become in mortals, whether in former or in present times, a source of insouciance, only increased his circumspection. Although Almighty God raised the pure-dispositioned one to lofty heights, viz., to increased territory, abundance of devotees, the overthrow of enemies, the gaining possession of the wonders of the world, and the opening of the doors of knowledge, and lofty perception, yet this suppliant of Deity increased his supplications, and the thirst for inquiry augmented.
At this* time when the capital (Fatḥpūr Sikrī) was illuminated by his glorious advent, H.M. ordered that a house of worship ('Ibādatkhāna) should be built in order to the adornment of the spiritual kingdom, and that it should have four verandahs (aiwān). Though the Divine bounty always has an open door and searches for the fit person, and the inquirer, yet as the lord of the universe, from his general benevolence, conducts his measures according to the rules of the superficial, he chose the eve of Friday,* which bears on its face the colouring (ghāza) of the announcement of auspiciousness, for the out-pouring (ifāzat). A general proclamation was issued that, on that night of illumination, all orders and sects of mankind—those who searched after spiritual and physical truth, and those of the common public who sought for an awakening, and the inquirers* of every sect—should assemble in the precincts of the holy edifice, and bring forward their spiritual experiences, and their degrees of knowledge of the truth in various and contradictory forms in the bridal chamber of manifestation.
Wisdom and deeds would be tested, and the essence of manhood would be exhibited. Those who were founded on truth entered the hall of acceptance, while those who were only veneered with gold went hastily to the pit of base metal. There was a feast of theology and worship. The vogue of creature-worship* was reduced. The dust-stained ones of the pit of contempt became adorners of dominion, and the smooth-tongued, empty-headed rhetoricians lost their rank. To the delightful precincts of that mansion founded upon Truth, thousands upon thousands of inquirers from the seven climes came with heartfelt respect and waited for the advent of the Shāhinshah. The world's lord would, with open brow, a cheerful countenance, a capacious heart and an understanding soul, pour the limpid waters of graciousness on those thirsty-lipped ones of expectation's desert, and act as a refiner. He put them into currency, sect by sect, and tested them company by company. He got hold of every one of the miserable and dust-stained ones, and made them successful in their desires,—to say nothing of the be-cloaked* and the be-turbaned. From that general assemblage H.M. selected by his far-reaching eye a chosen hand from each class, and established a feast of truth. Occasionally he, in order to instruct the courtiers, sent perspicuous servants who could discriminate among men, and these reflective and keen-sighted men brought every description of person to perform the kornish. Then that cambist and tester of worth examined them anew and invited some of them. There were always four noble sections in that spiritual and temporal assemblage. In the eastern chamber of worship ('Ibādatkada) were the great leaders and high officers who were conspicuous, in the courts* of society, for enlightenment. In the south- 113 ern compartment the keen-sighted investigators, both those who gathered the light of day (i.e. the Illuminati) and those who chose the repose of the night-halls of contemplation, sate in the school of instruction. In the western compartment those of lofty* lineage practised auspicious arts. In the northern compartment were the Ṣūfīs of clear heart who were absorbed in beatific visious. A few of felicitous and wide comprehensiveness which they had attained to by the bliss of H.M.'s holy instructions— lighted the torch of knowledge in all four compartments. Lofty points and subtle words passed from the holy lips, and physical and Divine truths trickled from that soothsayer of the court of variety, so that the leaders of the arena of manifestation, and the swift coursers on the mountains of contemplation burned* with shame. It is of this condition that ahīr* sings.
In the glorious assemblage of his thoughts
Shame befalls the rose and the rosarium.
A set of wisdom-hiving, judicious men were in readiness to propound questions and to record views. The difficulties of the various classes of men were fittingly resolved. The mirrors of the inquirers of the Age were polished. The whole of that night was kept alive by discussions which approved themselves to one and all. The degrees of reason and the stages of vision were tested, and all the heights and depths of intelligence were traversed, and the lamp of perception was brightened. By the blessedness of the holy examination, the real was separated from the fictitious, and the uncurrency of those who were only coated with wisdom was brought to light.
The fictitious (lit., copper-cored) Ḥāfi* did not pass with him.
For the expert sees all the hidden faults.
The various forms of ability came from the darkness of concealment to the hall of manifestation. Rather they came from the abyss of non-existence and were resplendent on the height of existence. If I were to record in detail the illustrious events of these glorious assemblages, and describe the attainments in learning of this school of truth, a separate volume would be required.
During this spring-time of enlightenment, the writer of this noble volume presented himself a second time, and had the glory of a second birth. The brief account of the instructive story is that in the beginning of this year he brightened his forehead by performing the prostration in Agra, the capital. As he had the pride of common place knowledge in his head he delayed in proceeding to the eastern provinces in spite of the spirit of sincerity and loyalty which he had borrowed from his honoured father. Though he had not the equipment for a journey yet there was also in his idolatrous and conceited soul no aspiration for such an expedition. Also 114 there was pride in the idol-temple of his knowledge. A desire for physical retirement and for contemplating the world was seething in his soul. But he did not think it proper to traverse the world without the permission of his honoured father. That mine of kindness could not bring himself to bid me adieu. At last a gracious letter came from my most excellent of brothers from the eastern provinces to the effect that the prince of the world had remembered me. As his (A. F.'s) means were insufficient, his design of entering into service was not carried out.
One of the wonderful things was that at the time when the predominance of the Afghans was bruited abroad, and there were praters in the city, one night of nights when my soul had been freed from the connections of existence, and had gone to the world of dreams, a window suddenly opened into the mystic world. The victory of the eastern provinces with all the circumstances which actually occurred, from the beginning of the siege to the time when Dāūd went to annihilation, and also the attainment, by this confused one of Creation's contingent, of the bliss of service and the degrees of favour from H. M.—which came to be realised— became visible before his astonished eyes. And in that long night, whenever he awoke from dreams, he contrary to custom immediately fell asleep again, and what was still more strange, whenever he began again to dream he commenced where he had left off. At dawn he went to his honoured father's chamber and described to him what had happened. He displayed great joy, and congratulated him. A desire to serve arose in his heart's core, and he wrote out the draft of a commentary on the beginning of the Sūra (chapter) of Victory in order that he might offer it as a present to the holy assembly. When the royal standards came to Ajmīr and H. M. in the banquet of wisdom again remembered this disturbed one of the desert of existence, and when by the great kindness of the (A. F's) noble brother this was revealed, the longing to kiss the threshold increased. All my aspiration was that I might behold for some days the world-adorning beauty of the world's lord, and then retire to the corner of obscurity and enter into a contest with myself. The sole desire of my troubled mind was that the horrid desert of hermitage might be trodden by the feet of my energy, for my heart was aweary of beholding the men of my own land, and I had no inclination for society. Thousands of thoughts careered in my mind. I had not the detaching reason to enable me to dispense with plans and to make the thorn-brake of solitude the mantle (purnyān) of repose, and when it chanced to me to be in that emporium, there was no gracious one to help me, and pride did not suffer me to search for an introduction (to Akbar). Nor had I a place where for a time I might burn the lamp of privacy. My brother, greater in years and in wisdom than I, guided me to his own cell (zāwīya), and as he was one of the feeders on spiritual food I of necessity conceived a longing for the Spiritual chief (Akbar). Next day I happened to go to the chief mosque, which is one of the grand edifices of the Shāhinshāh, and suddenly, on that great assemblage, the world's lord cast the shadow of kindness (i.e. Akbar came into the mosque). I had the bliss of performing the prostration from afar off. I had the sense to be entrusted with the thought “If the Shāhinshāh 115 does not see you, yet you are seeing that holy light, and if I be not favoured by a glance from the Shāhinshāh I have attained vision and understanding by beholding that holy one.” In this thought I was absorbed in the contemplation of Divine power, when the appreciative sovereign cast an educating glance upon me and summoned me. Inasmuch as there were present to my mind the circumstances of the time and the nature of mankind, and there was added to the fact of my being a long way off from H. M., I regarded my sight of him as the consummation of my wishes. But at length it appeared from the glorious interest which the Shāhinshāh took in me, that my good fortune was powerful, and that the star of my destiny had emerged from its obscurity. I approached him and rubbed my forehead on the sublime threshold. On one occasion he accosted me in that assemblage of realm and religion, where hundreds of thousands of sects and schools were gathered together, and described my condition beyond what I myself was conscious of, to the special guests at the sacred festival. Many lassoes fell on my soul's neck and drew my heart towards the slavery (giraugānī) of the hall of dependence. Though for two more years a longing, which nearly came to action, held my heart so that in the recesses of soul there rose the strain “Ho, come out from among citizens and men of the world and indulge your idiosyncrasy in the ample abode of uniqueness, and the pleasant place of singularity,” yet the Shāhinshāh's graciousness was daily lifting me from the floor of grovelling (khasī) to the summit of personality (kasī) and was elevating me, degree by degree, on the steps of education. Accordingly the key of the temple (Bait-al-maqaddas) of Attainment fell into my hand, and Truth, spiritual and temporal, removed the veil from my eyes. In the first place I emerged from the tumult of Desire, and my second birth began. By my good fortune I reached the lofty chamber of discipleship to the sublime Director and so turned my face towards the border of my third birth. I came from the womb of conceit to the land of supplication and became a front-sitter in the reposeful hall of universal peace. By the blessing of the Divine aids and from the light-shedding of the sitter on the throne of fortune I came from the thorny ground of “Peaco with all” to the ever-vernal rose-garden of Love, and became a gatherer of the flowers of joy. A fourth child was born to my mother-nature. At this stage my endeavour is to obtain a lofty-chambered dwelling in this thornless garden and autumnless spring, so that by the blissful ray of the Shāhinshāh's glance and by perseverance, a fifth child may glorify my mother-nature and I be exalted to the exceeding bliss of absolute Resignation, and so the cheating commotion of Desire may sink her face in annihilation. When I shall have obtained in this holy heaven a heart-pleasing abode, may I, by the guidance of the Foreseer of Creation's banquet obtain the fresh honour of a sixth birth and enter the glorious ocean and sit* at ease in the four-arched portico of Surrender, and abode of enlightenment, where the feet of Desire have been amputated, until at the seventh birth— which is the time of loosening the links of the elements—I may cast off from the shoulder of my nature the burden of social life, and arrive at the privy-chamber, which appears as non-existence, but which is full of joy. In that holy shrine there will be bestowed, together with an easy mind and an open brow, leisure for denudation and permission for separation, till at the eighth birth—either in the abode of metempsychosis or in the cessation of resurrection—I 116 shall not be within the circle of Desire.*