And he quoted the saying of some of the sages, that a dog has ten virtues, and that if a man were possessed of but one of them he would be a saint, in support of this. And some of the courtiers who were most entertaining in all sorts of music,* and in the realm of poetry became a very proverb, by taking dogs to table with them, and eating with them. And some heretic poets, of 'Iráq and Hind, so far from objecting to this, followed their example, and even made a boast of it and vied with them, taking the dog's tongues into their mouths:—
“Say to the Mír, under thy skin thou hast a dog, as well as a carcase.
A dog runs about in front of his door, make him not thy messmate.”Another thing was this. The ordinance of washing the whole body after an emission of semen, was considered as altogether unworthy of observance. And he brought forward the following argument. The sperma genitale is the very essence of man, for the semen is the origin of the existence of the good and the pure. What sense then could there be in ceremonial ablution being unnecessary after evacuation of parva and magna, while the emission of so tender a fluid should necessitate it. It would be more fit [he argued] that people should perform the ablution first, and then have connection.
Similarly [he argued] that there could be no sense in offering food,* which is material, to the spirit of a dead person, since he certainly could not experience any benefit from it: much better, therefore, would it be, on the day of any one's birth to make that a high feast day. And this he named (P. 306) Ásh-i ḥayát ‘Food of life.’
The flesh of the wild boar and the tiger was also permitted, because the courage, which these two animals possess, would be transmitted to any one who fed on such meat.
It was forbidden to marry one's cousin or near relation, because in such cases the sexual appetite is but small. Boys were not to marry before the age of sixteen, nor girls before fourteen, because the offspring of early marriages is weakly.
The wearing of gold and silk dresses [at prayer-time] was made obligatory. One day I saw the Muftí of the imperial dominions clothed in a garment of unmixed silk. I enquired: “Perhaps a tradition about this matter has come to your notice?” He said, “Yes, in any city where silk is used, it is allowable to wear silken garments.” I replied: “One ought to get a sight of that tradition, for one cannot swallow a mere decree of the Emperor.” He said: “I don't blame you either. But God knows!”
The prayers of the Islám, the fast, nay even the pilgrimage, were henceforth forbidden. Some bastards, such as the son of Mullá Mubárik, a worthy disciple of Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl, wrote treatises, in order to revile and ridicule our religious practices, of course with proofs. His Majesty liked such productions, and promoted the authors.
The era of the Hijrah was now abolished, and a new era was introduced, of which the first year was the year of the Emperor's accession, viz., nine hundred and sixty-three. The months had the same names as at the time of the old Persians kings, and as given in the Niçáb-uç-çibyán.* Fourteen festivals also were introduced corresponding to the feasts of the Zoroastrians; but the Feasts of the Musalmáns and their glory were trodden down, the Friday prayer alone being retained, because some old, decrepit, silly people used to go to it. The new era was called the Táríkh-i-Iláhí.* On copper coins and gold muhurs the era of the Millennium was used, as indicating that the end of the religion of Muḥammad, which was to last one thousand years, was drawing near. Reading and learning Arabic was looked on as a crime; and Muhammadan law, and the exegesis of the Qurán (P. 337), and the tradition, as also those who studied them, were considered bad and deserving of disapproval. Astronomy, philolosophy, medicine, mathematics, poetry, history, and novels, were cultivated and thought necessary. Even the letters which are peculiar to the Arabic language, viz.,
, and were avoided. Thus for 'Abd-ulláh people wrote Abd-úllah; and for Aḥadí they wrote Ahadí &c. All this pleased His Majesty. Two verses from the Sháhnámah,* which Firdúsí of Ṭús gives as part of a story, were frequently quoted at Court:— “Through the eating of the flesh* of camels and lizards
The Arabs have made such progress,
That they now wish to get hold of the kingdom of Persia.
Fie upon Fate! Fie upon Fate!”And so any verse which involved something of dubious tendency favouring his sect he heard gladly from the doctors, and considered it a great point in his favour, such as the verse from the Sajahrák (?) in which the loss of the Prophet's teeth in an action against infidels is alluded to.
In the same way every command and doctrine of the Islám, whether special or general, as the prophetship, the harmony of the Islám with reason, the doctrines of Rúyat, Taklíf, and Takwín,* the details of the day of resurrection and judgment, all were doubted and ridiculed. And if any one did object to this mode of arguing, his answer was not accepted. But it is well-known how little chance a man has, who cites proofs against one who will reject them, especially when his opponent has the power of life and death in his hands; for equality of condition is a sine quâ non in arguing:—
“A man whom you cannot convince by the Qur'án and the Tradition,
Can only be replied to by not replying to him.”Many families plunged into these discussions, but perhaps ‘discussions’ is not the correct name; we should call them ‘meetings for arrogance and defamation.’ People who sold their religion were busy to collect all kinds of exploded errors, and brought them to His Majesty, as if they were so many rarities. Thus Laṭíf (P. 308) Khwájah, who came of a noble family in Turkistán, made a frivolous remark on a passage in Tirmizí's Shamá'il,* and asked how in the world the neck of the Prophet could be compared to the neck of an idol. Other remarks were passed on the “straying camel.”* Some again expressed their astonishment, that the Prophet in the beginning of his career plundered the caravans of the Quraish; that he had fourteen wives; that any married woman was no longer to belong to her husband, if the Prophet (peace be upon him!) thought her agreeable. And many other things which it would take too long to recount:—
“The woes caused by thy tresses, and cheek, to explain
Would require a long night, and moon-light.”At night, when there were social assemblies, His Majesty told forty courtiers to sit down as ‘the Forty,’* and every one might say or ask what he liked. If any one brought up a question connected with law or religion, they said: “You had better ask the Mullás about it, as we only settle things which appeal to man's reason.” But it is impossible for me to relate the blasphemous remarks which they made about the Companions of the Prophet (God be merciful to them!), when the historical books happened to be read out, especially such as contained the reigns of the first three Khalífahs, and the quarrel about Fadak, the war of the Çiffín &c. would that I were deaf! The Shí'ahs, of course, gained the day, and the Sunnís were defeated; the good were in fear, and the wicked were secure. Every day a new order was given, and a new aspersion or a new doubt came up; and His Majesty saw in the discomfiture of one party a proof of his own infallibility, entirely forgetting the proverb that, a man may be hoisted with his own petard.* And so those who were before in favour now fell out of favour, and those who were before out of favour came into favour, those who had been near, became afar, and those who had been afar became near. Praise be to Him! who ruleth absolutely in his kingdom as it pleaseth him. And the common people with as little sense as brute beasts repeated continually nothing but “Alláh Akbar.” This caused great commotion. Mullá Sherí (P. 309) at this time composed a qiṭ'ah of ten verses, of which the following are some:—
“Until in each age there arise some overwhelming calamity,
Disturbance in the street of events will be a householder.
By the punishment of the debt-exacting sword on heretics
The obligation of the head will be paid by the bond of the neck.
The collar of the lying philosopher will be torn,
And devotion clothed in rags will have its piety established.
It is utter confusion of brain, if a fool take into his head,
That love of the Prophet can ever be banished from mankind.
I cannot help smiling at that couplet, which so glibly
Will be recited at the tables of the rich, caught up by the beggar:—
The king this year has laid claim to be a Prophet,
After the lapse of a year, please God, he will become God!”At the new year's feasts His Majesty inveigled many of the Ullamá and the pious, nay even the Qázís and Muftís of the realm into the ravine of toast-drinking:—