And in his place the Emperor appointed, as Qázi-l-quzát, Qází 'Abd-us-samí' the Transoxonian of Miyánkál,* of whom the poet Qásim Khán Moují might have composed the verse:—
“An elder from an honoured tribe,
With a beard, like a white rose, a yard long.”He used to play chess for a wager, and to give away a great deal. His cup-draining was notoriously a congenital habit, and in his sect bribery and corruption were considered as a duty for the moment, and the making profit on bonds for debt, and on signing judicial decrees, as a positive command. But verily since there was no reference to faith or religion left, even this amount was something towards the removal of opprobrium.
During those days also the public prayers, and the azán, which was chanted five times a day for assembly to prayer in the state hall, were abolished. Names like Aḥmad, Muḥammad, Muçtafa &c. became offensive to His Majesty, who thereby wished to please the infidels outside, and the princesses inside the Harem, till after some time those courtiers, who had such names, changed them; and such names as Yár Muḥammad, Muḥammad Khán, were altered to Raḥmat. To call such miserable wretches by the name of our blessed prophet would indeed be wrong, and there was not only room for improvement by altering their names, but it was even necessary to do so, according to the proverb, ‘It is wrong to put fine jewels on the neck of a pig.’ This destructive fire broke out first in Ágrah (P. 315), and burnt down house and home of both great and small, and eventually the fire extended to the graves* of those who kindled it (may God abandon them!)—
“Thou, O man, fond of words,
Who for some worthless handfuls
Desertest the Faith of God,
In the confidence of thine own sophistry,
What weakness hast those seen in the Tradition,
That thou wentest towards the irreligious?
What fault didst thou find in the Qur'án,
That thou followest the present world?”In Rabi'-us-sání* of the year nine hundred and ninety the Sayyid Mír Fatḥ-ulláh of Shíráz, who in the regions of Theology, Mathematics, and Physics* and in all branches of science both logical and and traditional, and in talismans, and incantations, and discovering treasures, was without his equal in that age, in obedience to a farmán requiring his presence, left 'Ádil Khán of the Dak'hin, and came to Fatḥpúr. The Khán Khánán, and Ḥakím Abu-l-Fatḥ in accordance with the Emperor's command went out to meet him, and brought him to the imperial presence. He was honoured with the post of Çadr, whose only duty was erasure, in order that he might confiscate the lands of the poor, not give them. When the Emperor heard that he had been an immediate pupil of Mír Ghiyás-ud-dín Mançúr of Shíráz, who had not been over strict in religious matters, he thought that Fatḥ-ulláh would be only too glad to enter into his religious scheme. But Fatḥ-ulláh was such a staunch Shí'ah, and at the same time such a worldly office-hunter, and such a worshipper of mammon and of the nobility, that he would not give up a jot of the tittles of bigoted Shí'ism. Even in the State hall he said with the greatest composure his Shí'ah prayers, a thing which no one else would have dared to do. His Majesty, therefore, put him among the class of the bigots, but he connived at his practices (P. 316), because he thought it desirable to encourage a man of such attainments and practical knowledge.
He married him to the younger daughter of Muzaffar Khán, and treating him with regal promp associated him in the vazír-ship with Rájah Todar Mal. And he, entering boldly into negotiations with the Rájah, came to an agreement with him. He became devoted to teaching the children of the Amírs, and every day would go to the houses of the courtiers, and would act the elementary teacher, first of all to the servant of Ḥakím Abu-l-Fatḥ, and at another time to the son of Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl, and to other children of Amírs of seven or eight years of age, and even younger, and taught them to point, and to draw straight lines and curves, and even taught them the Alphabet:—
“In the hands of children new to instruction
Do not place a tablet of astronomical calculations.
A horse, which is of Arab breed,
Do not mark with a Grecian brand.”*Putting a gun on his shoulder and a belt of ammunition round his waist, like a Runner, he used to accompany the Emperor at his stirrup in the chase, and all the glory of the knowledge, which he had not already lost, he utterly trampled in the dust. But in spite of all this want of dignity, and vileness, and baseness, he practised such heroism in bluff honesty, that no Rastam could have surpassed. The date of his arrival is given by the hemistich:—
“Sháh Fatḥ-ulláh Imám of saints.”*One night the Emperor, in Fatḥ-ulláh's presence, said to Bír Bar, “I really wonder how any one in his senses can believe that a man, whose body has a certain weight, could in the space of a moment leave his bed, go up to heaven, there have 90,000 conversations with God, and yet on his return find his bed still warm!” So also was the splitting of the moon ridiculed. “Why,” said His Majesty, lifting up one foot (P. 317), “it is really impossible for me to lift up the other. What silly stories men will believe!” And that wretch [Bír Bar] and some other wretches—whose names be forgotten, —said “Yea, Your Majesty is right,” and chirped in confirmation. But Fatḥ-ulláh—His Majesty had been every moment looking at him, because he wanted him to say something: for he was a newcomer—looked straight before him, and did not utter a syllable, though he was all ear.
About this time Mullá Aḥmad of Tat'hah, who was a bigoted Shíah, and had made himself a ḥakím by pure affrontery, came from the Dak'hin and was presented at Court. His ancestors, who resided in Sind, had been very scrupulous orthodox believers, and this wretch used to shower anathemas on those unfortunate persons. But, in accordance with the saying of the Prophet (Peace be upon him!) ‘God curses him, who curses his father,’ his cursing recoiled on his own head. When, in the time of Sháh Tahmásp, he associated in 'Iráq with some old Tabará'ís, he became orthodox. Then he deserted them. When Sháh Ismá'íl the second, becoming an excessive Sunní in opposition to the opinions held by his father, proceeded to kill and ill-treat the Shí'ahs, Mullá Aḥmad in the company of Mírzá Makhdúm (who was a Sharíf, and a zealous Sunní, and wrote the Kitáb-un-náqiz in blame of the Shí'ah, which contains the date of its composition), went to Makkah. Thence he proceeded to the Dak'hin, and afterwards to Hindústán, and finding no opposition to the prosecution of his designs, he began to teach his absurd doctrines, and invite converts to the Shí'ah persuasion: but in a short time he met the penalty of his evil deeds. He had as yet had no interview with Shaikh Faizí, and had not yet assumed that air of confidence, with which his intimacy with that minister inspired him, when I saw him one day in the bázár, where some 'Iráqís took the opportunity of mentioning my name to him in terms of praise. Upon this he addressed me and said: “I see the mark of a Shí'ah stamped on your forehead.” (P. 318) I replied promptly: “Just as much as I see Sunní stamped on yours!” The friends, who were present, all laughed, and were pleased. I shall, if God (He is exalted!) will, notice the close of his life in its proper place.
The year 1,000 of the Hijrah era, which is in general use, being now on the point of completion, the Emperor ordered a history of all the kings of the Islám to be written, which should in reality supercede all other histories, and directed that such a name should be given to the work as to denote the year of its composition. It was for this reason that the work was entitled Alfí. He further ordered the word rihlat* to be substituted for ḥijrah* in the different dates, and employed seven persons to undertake the compilation from the date of the death of the last of the Prophets (the blessing of God be upon him, and may He give him peace!) up to the present day, and to mention therein the events of the whole world.