Is this the Resurrection day or is it a calamity from heaven 138.
which has come to light?
Is this a disaster or has the day of Judgment appeared
upon the earth?
That breach which has appeared this year in Hindustān
has given entrance to the flood of sedition below the
foundation of the world.
The assembly of his friends has been scattered like the
petals of the rose before the wind.
Autumn the leaf scatterer has, one would say, appeared in
the garden,*
Every eyelash, in the absence of friends, has become a
spear-point to the eye, and each point of the spear has
brought blood spouting forth to a spear's length.
The heart writhes in agony since Time has broken the thread
of companionship;
When the string is broken, the pearls are scattered far and
wide.
Such a flood of tears has been shed by the people on all
sides that five fresh rivers have appeared around Multān.*
I wished to bring my heart's fire upon the tongue in the
form of words,
When lo! a hundred tongues of fire appeared within my
mouth.
I dug deep in my breast, empty of all desire, and tears burst
forth from both my eyes; when the earth is hollowed out
then springs of water make their appearance.
Weeping has taken the bloom off my cheek, and disgraced
me, because by reason of it, the skin has left my cheek
and the bones have come in sight.
The planets are all conjoined in my eyes*
perchance it portends a storm, since in a watery constellation a conjunction of planets is seen.
I only wish for that same collection (of friends) and how
can this be! 139. It is essentially impossible—how can this Banātu-n-Na‘sh
become the Pleiades*
(How can mourning become joy).
With what omen*
did the king lead his army from Multān
and draw the infidel-slaying sword in order to slay the
infidels.
When they brought him tidings of the enemy, with that
strength which he possessed, ruthlessly he displayed his
wrath and unfurled his standards.
That army which was then present sought for no second
army,
For this reason that Rustum must not be indebted to an
armed host.*
One assault took him from Multān to Lāhor, saying
In my reign can any one rebel against me?
Am I not such a lion, that my sword which is like fire and
water
Has by its slaying turned every year of theirs to dust and
ashes?
Such torrents of blood often have I set flowing over the
earth,
That the vulture flies*
over the surface of blood like a
duck over the water.
In this year to such an extent do I stain the earth with
their blood,
That the evening twilight reddens with the reflection of
the earth.
He was bent upon this enterprise and did not know that
the Destiny of heaven had drawn the line of fate across
the writing of the page of intention.
His eyes were smitten by the stars; if I have the power
I must heat a needle, and like a shooting star thrust it
into the eye of the seven planets.
The first day of the month became Muḥarram*
for him, 140.
not for him only but for all people.
Since at the end of Zūl Hijjah he drove his dagger into
the neck of his enemies.
That the day of ‘Āshūra might arrive he entered the ranks
of holy war like Ḥusain; the dust of his steed served as
collyrium for the eye of the brilliant moon.
What an hour was that when the infidel reached the van of
the army!
One upon another his squadrons passed over the river and
came upon them unawares.*
Thou didst see the king's steed,*
casting the cloud of dust
to the sky.
The wind-footed courier charging the infidels worthless
as dust.
He raised a turmoil among the stars by the shouts of
his army.
He produced an earthquake in the world by the rushing
of his cavalry,
From the roll of the drums, the neighing of the horses, and
the shouts of their riders, he caused a quaking of the
plain and desert and mountain.
His horses were reeking (with sweat), with shoes as hot as
fire, so that the hoofs of each fiery-shod steed struck
sparks.*
What awe was there! at one time drawing up for battle,
What terror was there! at another time raising the battle
cries.* 141. From the flash of the sword in his hand he scattered heat
and oppressiveness around him.
While the very thought of his spear pricked the heart like
so many thorns.
The brave-hearted were attacking, bent on consuming their
enemies,
The faint-hearted were plotting intent upon flight.
[Whiles, the king the cherisher of brave men, in that
field of battle,
Was doing deeds of bravery and urging on the warriors].*
Striking manfully blow after blow upon the ribs of the
unmanly cowards,
And sending forth flames of fire from his well tempered
sword.
Raising aloft like Jamshīd the standard, to restrain the
demons,
Urging on his steed, like the sun, to capture kingdoms.
Bringing the sky into supplication from that affliction.
Making the sun perform the Tayammum*
with that dust.
[At that time when there was a distinction between brave
and coward,
Many a one there was whose lips were dry and his cheeks
pale].*
The day was cast into darkness when they hurled*
one
upon the other,
The sun became pale when dagger was interweaved with
dagger.
The day was nearing its decline, seeing that the swords*
were weaving a sky of rust over the sun of the army.
The rows of swords in both ranks resembled (the teeth of)
a comb,
The combatants are entangled one with the other like hair
with hair.* 142. The Earth looked like a sheet of water when cuirass was
knit with cuirass, the plain resembled a rose garden
when shield was woven with shield.
The heaven flies away as though flying from an arrow,
The arrows flying above their heads are thick as the feathers
of a wing.
When half the force of the infidels had their heads swept
off by the sword
Those infidel heads*
which were matted together like the
locks of black hair.
Ruby-red drops of blood sprang like tears*
from the sword
So that the gold-woven standards were besprinkled with
the jewels.
Each single head was cleft in twain when the swords
blows met.
The cloven heads became as one again when head was
thrust against head.
The slain were lying on all sides of that verdant plain*
Like the figures which they weave on the green brocade.
Long had they been striving even from morning till even-
ing, face to face, and hair to hair, and hand to hand.*
The king*
wished to spread the carpet of victory but to
what avail
Since the heavens had woven that carpet in another pattern. *
[His auspicious sword did not cease from contest for
one moment.
From the declining day till night in that day of declining
fortune].
Oh Lord! was that blood which flowed over the face of the 143.
plain
Or was it a river urging its waves toward the lips of the
thirsty.
Just as water drops to the earth when you sift it*
in
a sieve
So the blood dript from the limbs of the weary warriors.
The mortally wounded lay in the death-agony writhing on
the ground, while from his throat blood burst in billows,
spouting in the air.
The arrows drove the bodies over the sea of blood like
boats,
Plying their oars madly and urging their course onwards.*
The river bore those (the infidel enemies) to hell and the
stream bore these (the Muslims) to Paradise, although
the blood of infidel and Muslim was flowing side by side.
The chargers were plunging and the heads of the riders
falling.
The feet of the horses speeding and the heads of the riders
bowling along.
Every spurt of blood which spurted from the body struck
by an arrow
Leapt without restraint like a man who leaps to avoid an
arrow.*
The arrow of every man who from stoutness of heart had
an arm nerved for the fight, fitted accurately to the bow
flew straight to the heart of the enemy's army.
And he who from faint-heartedness has lost command of
his arms and legs, was running now to the water and
now to the plain.
The king, the commander of the army, was urging on the
charger of his fortune, and it galloped with him in drawing up his line, and planning the scheme of action. 144. The heavens turned Victory backwards seizing it by the
hair,
Although Victory was speeding towards us having left the
accursed (infidels). *
[The infidels were expecting the coming of night, to take
to flight,
Suddenly the scale of the balance turned against us].
What a night was that! when the sun had fallen from the
sky!
And demons were hurling fire upon the earth, and the stars
had fallen.
When nothing of day remained for that sun of fortune.*
Some little daylight remained when the sun (of royalty)
fell.
Although Ḥusain of the famous Kerbelā*
was in straits for
want of water.
He was the Muḥammad whose end came upon him in the
water.*
The heart of mankind became (full of holes like) a fishing
net because, from the craft of the demon the royal signet
which was on the hand of Solomon fell into the water.*
The infidels were wallowing in blood as the donkey wallows
in the gutter, the believers lay in the mud like jewels in
the mire.
One army was passing through the water of the flood of
disaster,
The other parched with thirst had fallen in with a mirage.
Each one of them was put down on the tablet of the earth
for this reason that their affairs had fallen into the
account of the day of reckoning.
The skull caps which were lying in the fresh crimson blood
looked like cocoanuts engraved and ornamented with
vermilion.* 145. The wounds of the heart were weeping tears of blood in
bidding farewell to the soul, and the bodies were lying
desolate owing to separation from life.
Alas! many were the living who were lying among the
dead overcome with terror, their bodies blood-stained and
their eyes sunk in (feigned) sleep.
Look at the deeds of this crafty old wolf (the sky) for lions
were as though bound in chains and elephants in fetters
at the hands of (infidel) dogs.
[This was not a battle, I veriḷy saw that that was the day
of resurrection. If these are the tokens of the resurrection, then I have seen it].*
Look at the revolution of the heaven, for it brought about
such a change, that it made the centre of Islām to go
round and round (in perplexity) like the compasses.*
Has one ever seen an atom carry off the water of the sun's
spring?
Has one ever seen a stone, which has rivalled the princely
pearl?
When the king entered the cave of the protection of God,
that man is a dog who did not wake the sleepers of the
cave*
with his lamentations.
That he entered the secret cave (of death) when fleeing
from his enemies, is no disgrace.
The elect of God (Muḥammad) fled towards the cave to
avoid the attack of his enemies.*
And if a spark reached him from the arrow of his enemies
this too is right*
for the wrath of Nimrod at last com- 146.
mitted Abraham to the fire.*
And if he went to the holy place (Paradise) do not be vexed
and count it as a shame to him*
for ‘Īā through the
spite of the Nazarenes devoted his life on the cross.
And if the (infidel) dogs were crafty as foxes to him, say
this, that it is of a piece with the dog like behaviour
which was shewn to (‘Alī) the Ḥaidār-i-Karrār (lion of
repeated attacks).*
And if the demons caused him to drown, then say this that
it is like when a demon drowned Rustum in the ocean.*
Every year he used to devote his life and energy to fighting
the Mughūls,
At last he yielded up his precious life in this endeavour.
This is one of the tricks of fate which at one time sheds
blood and at another gives life;*
we are powerless, it is
useless to strive against the all-powerful tyrant (fate).
The mighty lion when stung by the ant roars aloud in
agony.
The infuriated elephant when pricked by a thorn shrieks
from pain.
[It was on Friday, the last day of Zūl Ḥijjah that this battle
took place
At the end of eighty-three and the beginning of eighty-
four].*
The sun and moon wept over the face of that one of
auspicious features,
Day and night wept over the youth of that short-lived one.
Like his orders, tears from the eyes, flowed from east to
west
Behold the obedience of the servants*
who wept without
any master.
In his reign birds and fishes were so happy 147. That the fishes wept in the water and the birds in the air.
The heavens with its thousand eyes wept over the people
of the earth like vernal showers upon the grass.*
The dew which falls every morning from heaven and waters
the earth, consider that as the tears of the stars who are
weeping in the highest heavens.
The people of Multān, men and women, weeping and tearing their hair, in every street, face to face and every
where.
No one could sleep at night for the noise of the wailing,
and the beating of the drums, for in every house the
mourners were weeping bitterly.
They were preparing to perform the waẓū in the water of
their eyes,
Hoping for pardon for that they wept at the time of prayer.
Their tongues were blistered like the feet of prisoners,
So sorely did they weep for the captives of calamity.
Their eyes poured forth blood upon the earth like the
throat of the slain,
So bitterly did each one weep for his own dead.*
And if by chance a captive returned from that bond of
calamity,
Every one seeing his face wept honest tears of sorrow.
[So great was the weeping that the waves of the tears
were greater than those of the Jīhūn.
This was my own condition, the state of the others how can
I describe!]*
Shall I wring my hands, or shall I with my own teeth
make my arm livid,
Or shall I wear clothes of a darker blue than this blue 148.
heaven?*
Every man of reputation, tattoos his arm with the needle,
But when I make my arm blue with my teeth, the name of
the king leaps forth on my arm.
Alas! that he by the tyranny of the blue sky, is sleeping
beneath the earth, while*
because of his sleeping there
the whole horizon has become blue (dark).
There was both the blackness of the Hindū and the whiteness of the Turk, whereas now both Turk and Hindū are
wearing blue (as mourning) *
[It was as though the people were tearing the heavens
and dividing them among themselves,
To such an extent was the earth in all directions blue with
mourning garments.]
Now it has become customary to wear blue—so that henceforth it behoves the weavers of white cloth to dye their
thread blue in the shuttle.*
In every street*
of Cairo a river blue like the Nile was
flowing; to such an extent were blue garments being
washed in tears on all sides.
The dyers of blue cloth were as happy as if there was a
bridal in their houses, because so many brides had their
garments dyed blue in mourning for their husbands.*
The lovely ones who were smiting their foreheads and
shedding tears of blood had their cheeks below their
eyes red (with blood) while above their eye-brows it was
blue.
The beauties have no need of blue (patches) and redness
(rouge) after this,
For the cheeks are torn till they are red (with blood) and
the face is smitten till it is blue (with bruises).
In such quantities do they tear their hair from their
delicate brows, one and all
That the root of every hair becomes blue from such rough
treatment. 149. [How long shall I tear out the hair of my head in this
lamentation and mourning!
Nay I will pluck this body of mine like a hair from the
head of my life].*
Alas! that my heart has suddenly turned to blood on
account of (the loss of) my friends.
Alas! for that assembly who were a constant fresh joy to
their friends.
The eyes became flooded with water and blood on account
of their friends, so long as I saw my friends in the
midst of blood and water.
Such priceless blood of my friends has the earth swallowed
That it is my right to demand from the Earth the blood
money for my friends.
If it were possible for those who sleep in the dust to arise,
I would devote the remainder of my life to secure the
existence of my friends.
It were a pity that the eye should have its pupil always
with it, and yet that its friends should be out of sight.*
How can one bear to look at others instead of one's friends,
My friends are gone! How can I embrace a stranger!
How can I clothe any other person in the mantle of any
friends!
I will place their dust in my eyes (as a collyrium). How
can it be right that the dust of my friends' feet should
be so little valued.*
In desire for my friends, even though they sever my head
(from my body),
Still the desire for my friends will never be severed from
my*
head.
Oh my King! whenever thou biddest me I will tear my
garment of life to the very edge in mourning for my
friends.
My life has been torn to shreds in a hundred places through 150.
grief, how can it be right that I should tear a shred into
shreds for the sake of my friends.*
My friends have gone of whom are you talking,
Once for all bring your speech to an ending and breathe
a prayer for my friends.
[Always remember the departed, especially at the time
of prayer,
Because nothing shews you the way to mercy save the
guidance of prayer].*
O Lord may the illumination of the sun of mercy light
upon their souls,*
May their souls shine like the sun from the bounty of thy
light.
In the day of battle the Great Khān was their leader,
May the same Khān be also their leader to the Garden of
Paradise.
If an angel flies thither in desire for him it becomes a fly,*
May the wings of the peacock of Paradise drive away the
flies from them.
The bounty of mercy is the water of life in the gloom of
the grave,*
Oh Lord, in the darkness of the tomb may they have the
water of life.
[When the faces become black from the sun of resurrection
May the wings of the angels cast protecting shade over
their heads].*
When they give*
into their hands the record of their deeds
taken from the book of punishment,
May the record bear as its heading the words “A book for
the right hand.”*
May the drops of blood which were shed from their throats
Become the most costly rubies of their crown of pardon.
For the thirsty ones*
whose souls departed for lack of
water,
May the cloud of mercy rain continuously upon their heads.
For the captives*
who were long subjected to hardships, 151.
Oh Lord! may the hope of speedy release make their way
light for them.
May the affliction which they suffered in imprisonment, be
to those who have escaped from prison (by death) the
cause of their eternal salvation,
And those who have survived and have returned from
that calamity,
May they experience the mercy of the Author of good,*
and
may the favour of the Sulān be theirs.
Since Muḥammad has departed may the event be happy for
the king. May his son Kaiqubād be most fortunate and
his son Kaikhusrū be blessed.