He is a true* ‘Arab and is nephew to that Shaikh Zainu-d-dīn of Jabal-i‘Āmilī who was an ecclesiastical dignitary and religious guide among the Shī‘ahs, and on whom the Sulān of Turkey after much finesse and many stratagems laid hands when he was in Makkah the glorious, and after summoning him to Constantinople, put him to death. Shaikh Muḥammad is ranked among the manṣabdārs, and is distinguished for his bravery and valour and noted for that generosity and liberality which are characteristic of the ‘Arabs. He is also well known for his good breeding and courtesy and those branches of knowledge which are generally treated of in the Arabic language, and in the humanities generally his attainments are such that he may be called a second Kisā'ī.* The following letter, which he wrote in Lāhōr in answer to one from me, in which I had been guilty of some insolence, when our friendship first began, is an example of his correspondence.
[Here follow five letters in Arabic, of which the Editor of the Text writes in a footnote, “Be it known that the whole of the text of these five letters, from beginning to end, is full of errors, and I have found it impossible, notwithstanding the utmost care, to correct it from the three manuscripts at my disposal.” After a careful examination of the text in MSS. (A) and (B) I am compelled to agree with the Editor. Professor T. W. Arnold, who has kindly come to my assistance, agrees with me that the text is so corrupt that no satisfactory translation of these letters can be given. He also agrees, however, that the text, unsatisfactory as it is, is sufficient to indicate that the letters are not worth translating and consist, almost entirely, of long strings of bombastic and extravagant compliments. For this reason I have refrained from an attempt to reconstruct the text from other MSS.—T. W. H.]