but this was not easy. In the month of Shawwál in the year nine hundred and eighty-three (983), on my applying for leave of ab­sence, it was refused, but the Emperor excused my inspections of the horses. Still through the unfriendly disposition of the Çadr, and the unpropitiousness of the times he only allotted to me a tenure to the amount of 1000 bígahs of land, which in that iron age appeared to be equivalent to the lief of a commander of twenty. It was styled also in the farmán a madad-i-ma'ásh. I represented that with this small tenure I could not afford to be always in attendance on the Court, to which the Emperor replied that he would also give me subsidies and presents during the marches. And Shaikh 'Abd-un-Nabí said that no (P. 207) person of my quality had received from him so large a grant of land. As for the presents which I was pro­mised, though twenty-two years have elapsed since my hopes were raised, I have received them but once or twice, and the rest have been concealed behind the veil of fate and have fallen like leaves to the ground. These fine promises were nothing better than a baseless mirage. I have performed services without rewards, and undergone useless restraints, from which I can now be relieved only by the good-humour of destiny:—

“Either faithfulness, or news of union with thee, or the death of the rival,
The playfulness of fate will do one of these three things.”

‘We are content with the decree of God, are patient under His trials, and thankful for His favours’:—

“In any case I must give thanks,
If I may never be in worse plight than now!”

And this qiṭ'ah of Fazúlí of Baghdád, who composed it in reference to Ḥairatí of Samarqand, when he was in the favour of Sháh Ṭahmásp, is expressive of the vain hopes of your humble servant:—

“I am from the dust of Arabia, and Ḥairatí from the kingdom of Persia;
Both of us have sought our desire in uttering our words.
We have found from two benefactors the desire of our hearts,
He a glance from the king of Persia, I from the king of Arabia.”*

Since the world, and what is in it, is known to me, my hopes are fixed on the Creator, who helps his servants, that at the last all may be well, and that the seal of the matter may be in the felicity of Religion:—“What is with you will pass away, what is with God is eternal”:* —

“This is our hope from the mercy of our Creator,
That Thou wilt not make hopeless those who hope.”*

The first of the questions which the Emperor asked in these days was this: ‘How many freeborn women may a man legally marry by nikaḥ?’ The lawyers answered that four was the limit fixed by the prophet. The Emperor thereupon remarked that from the time he had come of age he had not restricted himself (P. 208) to that number, and in justice to his wives of whom he had a large number, both freeborn and slaves, he now wanted to know what remedy the law provided for his case. Most expressed their opinions, then the Emperor remarked that Shaikh 'Abd-un-Nabí had once told him that one of the Mujtahids* had had as many as nine wives. Some of the Ulamá present replied that the Mujtahid alluded to was Ibn Abí Lailá, and that some had even allowed eighteen from a too literal translation of the verse of the Qur'án:* “Marry whatever women you like, two and two, and three and three, and four and four;”* but this interpretation is rejected. His Majesty then sent a message to Shaikh 'Abd-un-Nabí who replied that he had merely wished to point out to the Emperor that a difference of opinion existed on this point among lawyers, but that he had not given a fatwá, in order to legalize irregular marriage proceedings. This annoyed His Majesty very much. “The Shaikh,” said he, “told me at that time a very different thing to what he tells me now.” He never forgot this.

After much discussion on this point the Ulamá, having collected every Tradition on the subject, decreed, first that by mut'ah [not by nikáḥ] a man might marry any number of wives he pleased: and secondly, that mut'ah marriages were allowed as legal by Imám Málik. The Shí'ahs, as was well-known, loved children born in mut'ah wedlock more than those born of nikaḥ wives, contrary to the Sunnís and Ahl-i-Jamá'at. On the latter point also the dis­cussion became rather lively, and I would refer the reader to my work entitled Naját-ur-rashíd,* in which the subject is briefly discussed. But to make things worse, Naqíb Khán fetched a copy of the Muwaṭṭá of Imám Málik, and pointed to a Tradition in the book, which the Imám had cited as a proof against the legality of Mut'ah marriages.

Another night Qází Ya'qúb, Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl, Ḥájí Ibráhím, and a few other Ulamá were invited to meet His Majesty at the house near the Anúptaláo tank. Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl had been se­lected as the opponent, and laid before the Emperor several tradi­tions regarding Mut'ah marriages, which his father had collected, and the discussion commenced. At this juncture the Emperor sent for me also, and (P. 209) asked me what my opinion was on this subject. I said: “The conclusion to be drawn from so many contradictory Traditions and sectarian customs is in a word this:— Imám Málik and the Shíahs are unanimous in looking upon Mut'ah marriages as legal; Imám Sháfi'í and the great Imám* (the mercy of God be on them both!) look upon Mut'ah marriages as illegal. But should at any time a Qází of the Málikí sect decide that a Mut'ah is legal, it is legal according to the common belief, even for Sháfi'ís and Ḥanafís. Every other opinion on the subject is idle talk.” This pleased His Majesty very much. Qází Ya'qúb said something unintellegible. I reminded him that, when a matter is doubtful, it is generally in the power of the Qází to decide. “So what do you say about it?” And in reference to this appeal of mine I brought forward the question of reading the Fátiḥah according to the martyred Imám, and I adduced many other confirmations, and as briefly as possible the story of the going of Shaikh Bihá-ud-dín Zakaryáí of Multán to Baghdád to visit the Shaikh of Shaikhs Shiháb-ud-dín Saharúrdí (God bless the spirits of them both!), and of that great man's beginning to read the Fátiḥah according to the Sháfi'í school, and of the suspicions of the ordinary Ulamá against them, and of the bringing forward of traditions which allowed it, and of the matter being eventually decided by the Qázís of Dihlí. So I maintained that it is allowable. Then Qází Ya'qúb helplessly said after me: “What shall we say? God be praised it is allowed.” The Emperor then said, “I herewith appoint Qází Ḥusain 'Arab Málikí as Qází before whom I lay this case concerning my wives, and you Ya'qúb are from this day suspended.” This was immediately obeyed, and Qází Ḥusain on the spot gave the decree which made Mut'ah marriages legal. The veteran lawyers such as Makhdúm-ul-Mulk, Qází Ya'qúb, and others, were the losers by this affair, and from this moment their power began to wane. The result was that a few days later Mauláná Jalál-ud-dín of Multán, who was a pro­found (P. 210) and learned man, whose grant had been transferred, was ordered from Ágrah,* and appointed Qází of the realm. Qází Ya'qúb was sent to Gaur as district Qází. From this day forward the road of opposition and difference in opinion lay open, and remained so until His Majesty was appointed Mujtahid of the Empire: and so on, and on, and on, until he reached any degree of exaltation!

At this time Shaikh 'Abd-un-Nabí and Mukhdúm-ul-Mulk were ordered to examine into the matter, and to decide the amount of tax to be levied on Hindús, and farmáns were issued in all direc­tions; but this order quickly disappeared like a reflection on the water.

In these days His Majesty once asked how people would like it, if he ordered the words Alláh Akbar to be cut on the Imperial seal, and the dies of his coins. Most said that the people would like it very much, but Ḥájí Ibráhím objected, and said, that the phrase had an ambiguous meaning,* and that the Emperor might substitute the verse of the Qur'án Lazikrulláhi Akbaru,* because it involved no ambiguity. But the Emperor was much displeased, and said it was surely sufficient, that no man who felt his weakness would claim Divinity; he merely looked to the sound of the words, and he had never thought that a thing could be carried to such an extreme.

In this year, before the decision about Mut'ah marriages, the Emperor appointed Sayyid Muḥammad, Mír 'Adl, for whom he entertained the highest respect, to go to Bakkar, and presented him with one of his own swords, and a horse, and a dress. Some time after arriving there he died (the mercy of God be upon him!). After his death a dress came into vogue, which to this day has never looked well on any one's figure, one would say that it was as bizarre as the age! Some people mentioned that Ḥájí Ibráhím of Sarhind had given a fatwá, by which he made it legal to wear red and yellow cloths,* quoting at the same time a Tradition as his proof (P. 211). On hearing this the Mír 'Adl in the imperial presence called him an accursed wretch, abused him, and lifted up his stick to strike him, when the Ḥájí by some subterfuges managed to get rid of him.

During this year there arrived at Court Hakím Abu-l-Fatḥ, Hakím Humáyún (who subsequently changed his name to Humáyún Qulí, and lastly to Hakím Humán), and Núr-ud-dín, who as poet is known under the name of Qarárí. They were brothers, and came from Gílán, near the Caspian Sea. The eldest brother, whose manners and address were exceedingly winning, obtained in a short time great ascendancy over the Emperor. He flattered him openly, adapted himself to every change in the religious ideas of His Ma­jesty, or even went in advance of them, and thus became in a short time a most intimate friend of the Emperor.

Soon after there came from Persia Mullá Muḥammad of Yazd, who got the name of Yazídí, and attaching himself to the Emperor commenced openly to revile the Çaḥabah,* told queer stories about them, and tried hard to make him a Shí'ah. But he was soon left behind by Bír Baṛ—that bastard!—and by Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl, and Ḥakím Abu-l-Fatḥ, who successfully turned the Emperor from the Islám, and led him to reject inspiration, prophetship, the miracles of the prophet and of the saints, and even the whole law, so that I could no longer bear their company. Their eventual fates shall be told, each in its proper place, if God (He is exalted!) will.

At the same time His Majesty ordered Qází Jalál-ud-dín, and several Ulamá, to write a commentary on the Qur'án; but this led to great dissentions among them.

Deb Chand Rájah Manjholah—that fool!—once set the whole Court in laughter by saying that Alláh after all had great respect for cows,* else the cow would not have been mentioned in the first chapter of the Qur'án.*

His Majesty had also the early history of the Islám read out to him, and soon began to think less of the Çaḥabah. Soon after, the observance of the five prayers, and the fasts, and the belief in every­thing connected with the prophet, were put down as vain supersti­tions, and man's reason was acknowledged as the only basis of reli­gion. Portuguese (P. 212) priests also came frequently; and His Majesty enquired into the articles of their belief, which are based upon reason:—