338 CXXXVI. KHẈĀJA MU‘AAM.*

He was the maternal uncle of the emperor, and was one of the sons of his holiness Shaikh Jām (may his tomb be hallowed). He was afflicted with insanity and mania to an extraordinary degree, so that he murdered his wife without any cause and was put to death on that charge in A.H. 971 (A.D. 1563-64), as has been mentioned in the record of the reign.* The following chrono­gram has been found for the date of that event:—

“The great Khẉāja, by name Mu‘aam,
Slew his wife, and was himself slain
By the wrath of the emperor, Jalāl-i-dīn Akbar.

When I asked of him the year of his death
That man of auspicious qualities said, while he still lived,
‘Without the world-illumining face of that lovely one
I suffered at length by the greater martyrdom’.”*

This chronogram appears to have been composed by Mīr ‘Alā'u-d-daulah, the author of the Taẕkiratu-sh-Shu‘arā.* The following opening couplet was composed by Khwāja Mu‘aam:—

“It is impossible for me, my soul, to recount to thee my
heart's anguish,
I suffer from this anguish to an extent which cannot be
told.”

In quoting this opening couplet of the Khwāja's I have simply followed Mīr ‘Alā'u-d-daulah. Otherwise, in spite of the following opening couplet by a master of poetry, I should have said that the Khẉāja's couplet was mere trash. The couplet of the master* is as follows:—

“Since I heard that I could call thy ruby lip my soul
A fire which I cannot describe has stricken my heart.”