The heroes were sunk in iron from head to foot,
Their appearance was like that of a mirror.
A man so encased himself in iron
That his eyelashes took the shape of needles.*

¹⁹¹ On that day the royal cavalier chiefly rode upon the elephant Bālsundar, and though the pretext of the ride was a joyous hunting-party, and only some servants of the Presence were in attendance, a great army made its appearance. On 31 Mihr, Divine month (about 11 October 1576), after Divine worship—which consisted in the arrange­ment of outward affairs—he marched from the pleasant spot of Ajmere towards Goganda. A sublime order was given that the officers of the guard (umrā-ī-ḱishik)* should every day after performing their ser­vice hasten forward and become the watchmen of the processes of enlightenment, and also that they should when entering on their duties of serving in the fore-court of the Presence perform the kornish. When the standards of fortune approached their destination many of the presumptuous ones of that country rubbed the forehead of obe­dience. The Rānā went into the hill country of contempt before the majesty of the Shāhinshāh. Out of precaution and farsightedness Qubu-d-dīn Khān, Rajah Bhagwant Dās, and Kūar Mān Singh with sundry of the imperial servants were sent off in order that they might go into the hollows of the hills and lay hands on the villainous dweller in ravines. Qulīj Khān, Khwāja Ghīāu-d-dīn 'Alī Āṣaf Khān, Mīr Ghīāu-d-dīn 'Alī Naqīb Khān, Timūr Badakhshī, Mīr Abulghai, Nūram Qulīj and many other strenuous men were sent on that day to Īdar in order that they might clear that country of the weeds of the ungrateful.

One of the occurrences was H.M.'s inclination towards the pil­grimage to the Ḥijāz. But on the petition of the officers of dominion he abandoned his intention. The world's lord in his abundant piety and recognition of the truth is ever strenuous in doing the will of God. And in spite of all his treasures, material and spiritual, he, owing to his wide capacity and ample talents, does not regard what he has attained to as the satisfaction (lit. breakfast) of his desires. And because the world-illuminating light has taken possession of his vision, he looks not at his own daily-increasing beauty, and the glance of search is ever beaming from the eastern horizon of his soul. The foot of his genius is ever in quest of the sign of the signless One (God). At this time a set of persons without ties* (lawandān) who hailed from the land of simplicity perceived the royal cavalier's eagerness for bodily acts of devotion and especially for visiting dis­tant shrines of martyrs,* and suggested again to this keen traveller of the wilderness of search the pilgrimage to the Ḥijāz. Though from the plenitude of his wisdom it was clear to him that pilgrimage* was the first step (only) for truth-seeking ascetics, and that those who had gone upon such journeys, and still more those who had reached the fountain-head of their desires, had gathered up their skirts from such earthly and formal worship and given their energies to other things. There were other tasks for the great ones of the social world, and their worship was of another character. Especially was this so in the case of justice-administering rulers, and most of all was it so in the case of such a world-Adorner who had taken the burden of mankind on his shoulders, and who, by his skilful projects, and flashing scimitar, had converted the territories of so many great princes into an abode of peace. How could such a form of worship be deemed suitable for him? Nevertheless the God-loving sovereign felt constrained to ¹⁹² fulfil every condition of solidarity, and so grasped this journey in the skirt of his energies. The Court-favourites and the sages of the holy assemblages described the devotions of the social and the recluse-state—they were already clear to his truthful mind—and repre­sented—in the manner in which the honest and upright make remon­strances—that some of the great geniuses who had garnered truth, and who had held such journeys to be legitimate for his holy class, had made it conditional upon no dust of failure entering thereby the pleasant abode of the cherishing of their subjects. The just sovereign, in accordance with his own lofty understanding, and for the sake of guarding the hearts of the sincere and single-minded, erased the characters of his desire from his heart-tablet.

As there* was a necessity for making some arrangement, his right-judging mind determined that an upright and experienced man should be sent to that country in order that, whilst the precious jewel of truth became polished by the spiritual retractation (of pur­pose), so also might outward performance be effected by means of this deputation. Sultan Khwāja Naqshbandī—who had an abundant portion of the above qualities—was on the day mentioned* appointed “Amīr-i-Ḥāj” and dispatched. He was given six lakhs of rupees and 12,000 khil'ats in order that he might distribute presents in accordance with the rules of propriety, and also might bestow gifts on those who chose to exile themselves for this long journey. An order was also given that inquiries should be undertaken and a clear list made of the recluses of that country, who from being occupied in looking after their souls, had not leisure to follow professions or handicrafts, and of the other patient paupers of the land. The object of his holy thought was that an enlightened person of the court might be sent every year to that country so that abundant provision might be made from the table of the Shāhinshāh's bounty for the needy of that country as for the necessitous of other climes. There were various classes of men in this auspicious caravan, and especially those connected with the family of contemplation and enlightenment, and those associated with demonstration and testimony (shahūd). Never before had there been such a coming of seekers of blessing from India to that country.

S'aādat* Yār Koka, Shāh Khwāja, Malik Maḥmūd, Qāzi 'Imādu-l-mulk, Maulānā 'Abdu-r-Raḥmān Wā'ī* (preacher) Mullā 'Abdullah Wafādār, Khwāja Ashraf, Khwāja Ḥusain 'Alī Farkhārī, Maulānā Faẓlī Naushād, Shāh Mīrzā, Jamāl Khān Bilūc were among the pil­grims. In his great kindness H.M. ordered that the officers who had been dispatched to Goganda and Īdar should act as escort. The large caravan went by the way of the Haldī pass, and proceeded with the victorious army to Goganda. They passed through the defiles and ridges and reached Panwara. From that place Qubu-d-dīn Khān and Rajah Bhagwān Dās and the other soldiers who had been appointed to extirpate the Rānā, turned back and went off to Goganda. When they reached the native country of that ill-fated one, he went off to the pit of contempt and placed the mantle of ¹⁹³ concealment on his head. The troops which had been sent off to march to Īdar escorted the pilgrims stage by stage aud arrived there on the day of Amardād 7 Abān, Divine month. The haughty ones of that country went off to the defiles of the hill-country, but a number of Rājpūts took post in temples and houses and resolved to die. A number of heroes such as Hīra Bhān, 'Umr* Khān Afghan, and Ḥasan Bahādur hastened to extirpate them. The ill-fated ones unsheathed their swords and made ready their spears and came forward to the scene of life-sacrifice. Many of the imperial soldiers turned back, but those above named brought the jewel of firmness to the magnifi­cent market and behaved marvellously. Umr Khān and Ḥasan Bahādur drank the last wholesome draught and went to the paradise of repose. The stiff-necked and ignorant ones fell headlong into the pit of annihilation, and the city together with abundant plunder fell into the hands of the imperial servants, and they occupied them­selves in keeping order and in administering justice. From thence the pilgrim-caravan moved towards Gujarat, and Timur Badakhshī and a number of officers escorted it. On account of the periods being unseasonable for the sea-journey the caravan halted in Ahmadabad.

One of the occurrences was that the far-seeing prince raised Khwāja Shāh Manṣūr Shīrāzī, who was an adept at the mysteries of accounts, to the high office of Vizier. He had formerly been appointed one of the head-officers* of the Perfumery department, but owing to his quickness and zeal (josh-i-rashd) he had disputes with Moẓaffar Khān and was dismissed. After much ill-success he joined Mun'im Khān, and when he came to court about the affairs of Bengal his abilities became couspicuous. When Mun'im Khān died, Rajah Todar Mal on account of questions about accounts imprisoned him and put chains on him. H.M. from his great appreciation of merit sent an order, summoning him to court. At this time, which was the beginning of the smiling of the Spring of dominion, Shāh Manṣūr glorified the forehead of his fortune by prostration on the holy threshold, and without the recommendation of courtiers—which is what helps most men—and without experience—which the experts regard as the evidence for promoting servants—the weight and influence of the Khwāja increased. Though the wide capacity and abounding knowledge of H.M. are independent of the help of a minister (Dastūr), and though the brilliance of the wisdom of this unique one of creation puts the ordinary servants of the Sultanate into the straits of inactivity, yet from his appreciative power, and ¹⁹⁴ from his shutting his eyes to the shining of his own God-given beauty, he is ever searching for a good man (sara-i-adam) and con­tinually expresses by words and acts his wish for such a choice man, and assigns to him the office of a living second soul and a third eye (to Akbar's own). But it is apparent that the incomparable Deity wills that the holy personality of the Shahinshah should come forth from retirement and seclusion, and that the disciplinary laws of mortals—which are fitted to be universal regulations, should come forth from him whom He himself hath made great, and that the world-illuminating beauty of the lord of the earth should be impressed on the hearts of small and great. If such a wise man of wide capacity and the unique of the unequalled court—such as H.M. is looking for—were found, a number of short-sighted persons belong­ing to the world of formalism would adopt the injurious idea that those great laws emanated from this man's wisdom! Though the wise of the age do not see the propriety of the Unique one of God's having a Vizier, yet as H.M. observes the connection between spiri­tual and temporal things and preserves both of these high matters, he on the day of Gosh 14 Abān, Divine month, appointed the Khwāja to this high office. Although he possessed no share of the current sciences, yet he was at the head of the first-rate men of the age for excellence in speech and in action, and together with these qualities he had a wide capacity.