Thus they relate that Aḥmad b. 'Abdu'lláh al-Khujistání*

was asked, “How didst thou, who wert originally an ass-herd, become Amír of Khurásán?” He replied: “One day I was reading the Díván of Ḥandhala of Bádghís,*

in Bádghís of Khujistán, when I chanced on these two couplets:—

‘If lordship lies within the lion's jaws,
Go, risk it, and from those dread portals seize
Such straight-confronting death as men desire,
Or riches, greatness, rank and lasting ease.’

An impulse stirred within me such that I could in no wise remain content with that condition wherein I was. I therefore sold my asses, bought a horse, and, quitting my country, entered the service of 'Amr b. Layth.*

At that time the fortune of the Ṣaffárís still floated at the zenith of its prosperity. Of the three brothers, 'Alí was the youngest, and Ya'qúb and 'Amr had precedence over him. When Ya'qúb came from Khurásán to Ghazna over the mountains, 'Alí b. Layth sent me back from Ribáṭ-i-Sangín (“the Stone Rest-house”) to act as his agent to his feudal estates in Khurásán. I had collected an army of a hundred on the road, and had with me besides some twenty horsemen of my own. Now of the estates held in fief by 'Alí b. Layth one was Karúkh*

of Herát, a second Khán-i-Níshápúr. When I reached Karúkh, I produced my warrant, and what was paid to me I divided amongst the army and gave to the soldiers. My horsemen now numbered three hundred. When I reached Khwáf,*

and again produced my warrant, the burghers of Khwáf contested it, saying, ‘Do we want a magistrate with [a bodyguard of only] ten men?’*

I thereupon decided to renounce my allegiance to the Ṣaffárís, looted Khwáf, proceeded to the village of Yashb,*

and came to Bayhaq, where two*

thousand horsemen joined me. I advanced and took Níshápúr, and my affairs prospered and improved until all Khurásán lay open to me, and I took possession of it for myself. Of all this, these two verses of poetry were the cause.”

Salámí*

relates in his history that the affairs of Aḥmad b. 'Abdu'lláh prospered so greatly that in one night at Níshápúr he distributed in largesse 300,000 dínárs, 500 head of horses, and 1,000 suits of clothes, and to-day he stands in history as one of the victorious monarchs, all of which was brought about by these two couplets of poetry. Many similar instances are to be found amongst both the Arabs and the Persians, but we have restricted ourselves to the mention of this one. So a king cannot dispense with a good poet, who shall conduce to the immortality of his name, and shall record his fame in díwáns and books. For when the king receives that command which none can escape,*

no trace will remain of his army, his treasure, and his store; but his name will endure for ever by reason of the poet's verse, as Sharíf-i-Mujallidí of Gurgán says:—*

“From all the treasures hoarded by the Houses
Of Sásán and of Sámán, in our days
Nothing survives except the song of Bárbad,
Nothing is left save Rúdagí's sweet lays.”

The names of the monarchs of the age and the princes of the time are perpetuated by the admirable verse and widely-current poems of this guild; as, for instance, the names of the House of Sámán by Ustád Abú 'Abdi'lláh Ja'far b. Muḥammad ar-Rúdakí,*

Abu'l-'Abbás b. 'Abbás*

az-Zanjí, Abu'l-Mathal*

al-Bukhárí, Abú Isḥaq Júybárí,*

Abu'l-Ḥasan al-'Ají,*

and Ṭaháwí, and Khabbází*

of Níshápúr, and Abu'l-Ḥasan al-Kisá'í*;

and the names of the kings of the House of Náṣiru'd-Dín [i.e. the Ghaz-navids] by such men as 'Unṣurí, 'Asjadí, Farrukhí,*

Bahrámí,*

Zaynatí,*

Buzurjmihr of Qá'in,*

Mudhaffar,*

Manshúrí,*

Manúchihrí,*

Mas'údí,*

Qasárámí,*

Abú Ḥanífa Iskáf (“the Cobbler”),*

Ráshidí, Abu'l-Faraj of Rúna,*

Mas'úd-i-Sa'd-i-Salmán,*

Muḥammad Abú Naṣr,*

Sháh Abú Rijá,*

Aḥmad Khalaf, 'Uthmán Mukhtárí,*

and Saná'í*;

and the names of the House of Kháqán through Lúlú'í, Gulábí, Najíbí,*

Farkhárí,*

'Am'aq of Bukhárá,*

Rashídí of Samarqand,*

Najjár (“the Carpenter”)*

-i-Ságharjí, 'Alí Pánídí,*

the son of Darghúsh,*

'Alí Sipihrí,*

Jawharí,*

Sa'dí, the son of Tísha,*

and 'Alí Shaṭranjí (“the Chess-player”)*;

and the names of the House of Seljúq by Farrukhí, Karkhání, Lámi'í of Dahistán,*

Ja'far of Hamadán, Fírúzí-i-Fakhrí,*

Burhání,*

Amír Mu'izzí, Abu'l-Ma'álí of Ray,*

'Amíd Kamálí,*

and Shihábí*;

and the names of the rulers of Ṭabaristán through Qumrí of Gurgán,*

Ráfi'í of Níshápúr,*

Kafáyatí*

of Ganja, Kúsa Fálí, and Búrkala*;

and the names of the kings of Ghúr, the House of Shansab (may God cause their rule to endure for ever!), through Abu'l-Qásim Rafí'í, Abú Bakr Jawharí, this least of mankind Nidhámí-i-'Arúḍí, and 'Alí Ṣúfí. The díwáns of these poets are eloquent as to the excellence, comeliness, munitions and forces [of war], justice, bounty, worth, nobility, doughty deeds, judgement, statecraft, heaven-sent success and influence of these former kings, of whom to-day no trace remains, nor of their hosts and retinues any survivor. How many nobles there were under these dynasties who enjoyed the favours of kings, and dispensed untold largesses to these poets, and conferred on them sources of income, of whom to-day no trace remains; though many were the painted palaces and charming gardens which they created and embellished, but which to-day are levelled with the ground and uniform with the deserts and ravines! Says the author:—

“How many a palace did great Mahmúd raise,
At whose tall towers the Moon did stand at gaze,
Whereof one brick remaineth not in place,
Though still re-echo 'Unṣurí's sweet lays.”

When the Monarch of the World Sulṭán 'Alá'u'dunyá wa'd-Dín Abú 'Alí al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥusayn, the Choice of the Prince of Believers (may his life be long, and the umbrella of his dynasty victorious!) marched on Ghazna to avenge those two martyred kings and laudable monarchs,*

whom Sulṭán Bahrámsháh had previously put to death after the fashion of common thieves, treating them with every indignity, and speaking lightly of them,*

he sacked Ghazna, and destroyed the buildings raised by Maḥmúd, Mas'úd, and Ibráhím, but he bought with gold the poems written in their praise, and placed them in his library. In that army and in that city none dared call them king, yet he himself would read that Sháhnáma wherein Firdawsí says:—

“Of the child in its cot, ere its lips yet are dry
From the milk of its mother, ‘Maḥmúd!’ is the cry!
Maḥmúd, the Great King, who such order doth keep
That in peace from one pool drink the wolf and the sheep!”

All wise men know that herein was no reverence for Maḥmúd, but only admiration for Firdawsí and his verse. Had Maḥmúd understood this, he would probably not have left that noble man disappointed and despairing.