Verse.*

Who take dirams by force and give gold for ornamentation,
Dig up the foundation of the mosque* and gild the palace-roof.

About three months were spent in this way till the sound of the approach of His Majesty Jahānbānī from Badakhshān rose high in the province of Kābūl. The Mīrzā collected soldiers and zamīndārs from the Hazāras and others and set off with a full equipment. He left Bābā Jūjak and Mullā Shafāī in Kābūl, and took His Majesty the Shāhinshāh,—the marks of auspiciousness in whom were apparent, and were acknowledged by small and great and by friend and foe,—with him, either to bring himself good fortune or for greater security. Nor was he aware that God, the giver of life and adorner of the world, had assigned the benign influences of both worlds which were implanted in this holy personality to his friends, not to his foes. What lustre does antimony give to the blind?

Now that this parenthetical narrative has been completed, we must return to our subject and briefly describe the remaining occur­rences of His Majesty Jahānbānī.