CXI. QAIDĪ OF SHĪRĀR.*

He came from the glorious city of Makkah and at once entered the emperor's service and received an appointment near his person. One day before the court he said to the emperor, “Men are much harassed by this new regulation of the gh-u-maḥallī* which Your Majesty has invented,’ and from that time forth he was debarred from court and never again girded his loins in service. For some time he wandered about in the Biyāna district as a qalandar* and then came to Fatḥpūr, where he suffered from haemorrhoids and hectic fever. A quack whom he consulted cut the veins of his fundament, and he died under the treatment. He was of an extremely cheerful disposition.

The following verses are by him:—

“The lover has much of the merchandise of complaints, it
will be better
That he open not his pack until the market day of the
resurrection.”

“O thou who hast never wandered from thy place in my
heart,
I marvel that thou should'st have found a place in the
hearts of all!”

“Though I be dying and no other comes to bid her farewell,
Hasten, camel driver, for her litter departs!”

“What ointment of thy favour is there on my heart,
That melts not my soul more than all the brands of regret?”