It is commonly reported that he was a descendant of that pole­star of holy men, and king of true lovers of God Khāja Mu‘īn-u-'d-dīn-i-Sanjarī-yi-Ci shtī* (may God hallow his soul)! Since the Emperor, in the days when he first began especially to venerate his holiness the Khāja of Ajmer, happened to slight the claims of the Shaikh (to descent from him) some perverse fellows, prompted thereto by certain Shaikhs of Fatḥpūr, men who have endeavoured to the utmost to depose and discredit those of their own class (may God reward them therefor!), gave evidence against his claim to descent from the Khāja, saying that his holiness left no descendants, and the Ṣadrs and Qāẓīs also issued decrees to that effect, being guided by their time-serving disposi­tions.

Thus the hereditary trusteeship of the shrine which had come down to him through so many years was transferred to others. The Shaikh, who was a man of great estate, lived in that province like a king, and the Emperor's regal jealousy, both on this account and on account of certain other events which happened, could not endure the Shaikh's position, so he ordered him to leave India and to journey to Makkah, and the Shaikh according­ly took formal leave of his Majesty during the march to Bāns-wāla, * and, after successfully performing the pilgrimage to Makkah, returned. Having accomplished his journey to the Ḥijāz, he paid his respects at Court, on his return, on the very day on which the Emperor had marched from Fatḥpūr towards Kabul against Muhammad Ḥakīm Mīrzā; but he would not conform to the ceremonies which have in these days been estab­lished by those who have accepted a new faith and have been recently converted to Islām, new followers of a new order of ⁸⁸ things.

The Emperor, after studying the page of the Shaikh's life and the lines of his forehead read there the signs of disaffection to himself, and commanded that the Shaikh should be imprisoned in the fortress of Bakkar.* There he spent some years, and at last, in the year H. 1002 (A.D. 1593-94), owing to the efforts made on his behalf by certain courtiers who had his Majesty's confidence, he was summoned from Bakkar to the Imperial pres­ence, and, in company with some other prisoners, such as Shaikh Kamāl-i-Biyābānī, the impostor, some mention of whom has already been made,* and the Qāẓīs of Fatḥpūr, who had been im­prisoned in Bakkar for fourteen years, owing to the machinations of Shaikh Ibrāhīm-i-Cishtī,* and whose release had been ordered by means of the intercession of Mīrzā Niāmu-'d-dīn Aḥmad,* he arrived at Court, and there they all paid their respects to his Majesty, and all, with the exception of the Shaikh, prostrated themselves. He, an old man of seventy years of age, utterly unaccustomed to the ceremonial of kingly courts and the correct fashion of waiting upon royal personages, made a slight inclina­tion and a mere bow, after the old custom. The Emperor's displeasure with him was renewed, and the Mīrzā was ordered to have a grant of three hundred bīgas of land in Bakkar made out to him, as madad-i-ma‘āsh,* and to despatch the Shaikh thither once more. Begum Pādshāh, the mother of his Majesty, busied herself in the ladies' apartments of the palace in interceding for the Shaikh, and said to the Emperor, “My son, he has an aged and decrepit mother in Ajmer, whose heart yearns to see her son again. How would it be if you were to give him leave to depart to Ajmer? He desires no madad-ī-ma‘āsh from you.” The Emperor would not accede to her request, and said, “Mother, he will start business afresh in the place to which he is now going, and people will present to him alms, presents, and compli­mentary gifts in plenty. He leads a number of men astray. In fine, let him summon his mother hither.” This treatment of his mother was much bitterer to the Shaikh than was the mere going to Bakkar.

On the night on which the Ṣadr-i-Jahān summoned the com­piler of these historical selections to the Imperial presence in connection with the Shaikh's resignation of his trusteeship of the ⁸⁹ shrine in Ajmer, as has already been mentioned, the Emperor was perturbed in respect of that case, which he had himself brought forward, and refused to ratify the decree (with regard to the resignation), and retained the Shaikh in his service. He said to the Ṣadr-i-Jahān, “Where is that simple-hearted old man?” (meaning Shaikh Ḥusain). I reminded him that he was in Lāhōr, and urged the Ṣadr-i-Jahān, since I myself was unworthy to hold such a blessed position, to have him appointed as the trustee of the shrine in that protected* city, and so restore to him his just due. But, since it is not in the nature of natives of India to work in the interests of their own brethren, or to trust one another, the efforts of the Ṣadr-i-Jahān availed neither in my case, unfortunate wretch that I am, nor in the case of Shaikh Ḥusain. That aged man, whose sins have surely been forgiven by God, now lives in affliction and distress, in perturbation of spirit and in perplexity, seated in the nook of obscurity, unable to haunt the doors of the great ones of this world, or to obtain their influence and interest on his behalf; while at the same time the road of representation is closed to him, and all hopes* of the intercession of others in his behalf are ruined.

But, to continue: the Shaikh's existence is a blessing and a boon to be highly prized by his contemporaries. I was not personally acquainted with him till recently, but now that he has returned from his pilgrimage to the Hijāz, and has suffered bonds, he appears to me to be a quantity of (heavenly) light, and an angel in bodily form. Never have I known him to speak of worldly matters, either in public or in private. He is ever employed in austerities, in worship, and in striving in the way of holiness, fasting continually and always watching at night. It is my hope that God (may He be praised and glorified!) will open to him the door of his desire, in accordance with the text, “Verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease, aye, verily a difficulty shall be attended with ease.” It is my hope, too, that God will speedily recompense him for his afflictions with the blessing described in the couplet:—

Couplet.

When hardships press upon thee, think on the chapter “Have
we not opened?”*
And the word “difficulty” lies between two repetitions of the
word “ease,”
When thou thinkest on this rejoice.

I pray, too, that I, bondsman of this world as I am, may by ⁹⁰ the blessing of that leader of all the pious, attain salvation, that, being delivered from my purposeless pursuits, my wild talk, levity, folly, and futile scribbling, I may reach my “true native land” and abiding city, to meet there my departed wife, children, and relatives, and, above all my son, and that I may be enabled to employ what remains to me of life in some occupation that shall serve me hereafter.

Couplet.

My purpose is, if it be possible,
So to employ myself as to dissipate my grief.

And since these lines were written just as the scroll of felicity was unfolding itself, and the blessed breeze of morn was begin­ning to blow, and the true dawn was just breaking, what wonder if the arrow of my disinterested prayer strikes the target of acceptance through the bounty of the Lord, on whose boundless mercy I have always trained myself to believe, and by whose free grace I have been nourished?

Couplet.

91 “He may well unfold the desire of my fortune, for which
last night
“I prayed, and the true dawn broke.”*

These complainings are out of place here, but what can I do? My soul and heart are so oppressed with weakness and un­easiness that these few bitter lamentations have escaped from the pipe of my tongueless pen. Please God I shall be excused and forgiven.

Couplet.

“I am not one to weep from grief of heart,
But this load of grief heavily oppresses my heart.”