Master Abu'l-Qásim Firdawsí*

was one of the Dihqáns of Ṭús, from a village called Bázh, in the district of Ṭabarán,*

a large village capable of supplying a thousand men. There Firdawsí enjoyed an excellent position, so that he was rendered quite independent of his neighbours by the income which he derived from his lands, and he had but one child, a daughter. His one desire in putting the Book of Kings (Sháhnáma) into verse was, out of the reward which he might obtain for it, to supply her with an adequate dowry. And to this end he left nothing undone, raising his verse as high as heaven, and causing it in sweet fluency to resemble running water. What genius, indeed, could raise verse to such a height as he does in the letter written by Zál to Sám the son of Naríman in Mázandarán, when he desired to ally himself with Rúdába the daughter of the King of Kábul:—*

“Then to Sám straightway sent he a letter,
Filled with fair praises, prayers, and good greeting.
First made he mention of the World-Maker,
Who doom dispenseth and doom fulfilleth.
‘On Níram's son Sám,’ wrote he, ‘the sword-lord,
Mail-clad and mace-girt, may the Lord's peace rest!
Hurler of horse troops in hot-contested fights,
Feeder of carrion-fowls with foemen's flesh-feast,

Raising the roar of strife on the red war-field,
From the grim war-clouds grinding the gore-shower.
Who, by his manly might merit on merit
Heaps, till his merit merit outmeasures.’”*

In eloquence I know of no poetry in Persian which equals this, and but little even in Arabic.

When Firdawsí had completed the Sháhnáma, it was transcribed by 'Alí Daylam*

and recited by Abú Dulaf,*

both of whom he mentions by name in tendering his thanks to Ha'íy-i-Quṭayba,*

the governor of Ṭús, who had conferred on Firdawsí many favours:—

“Of the men of renown of this city 'Alí Daylam and Abú
Dulaf have participated in this book.
From them my portion was naught save ‘Well done!’
My gall-bladder was like to burst with their ‘Well dones.’*

Ḥa'íy the son of Qutayba is a nobleman who asks me not for
unrewarded verse.
I am cognizant neither of the principles nor the applications
of tax-collecting;
I lounge [at ease] in the midst of my quilt.”*

Ḥa'íy the son of Qutayba was the revenue-collector of Ṭús, and deemed it his duty at least to abate the taxes payable by Firdawsí; hence naturally his name will endure till the Resurrection and kings will read it.

So 'Alí Daylam transcribed the Sháhnáma in seven volumes, and Firdawsí, taking with him Abú Dulaf, set out for Ghazna. There, by the help of the great Minister Aḥmad Ḥasan*

the secretary, he presented it, and it was accepted, Sulṭán Maḥmúd expressing himself as greatly indebted to his Minister. But the Prime Minister had enemies who were continually casting the dust of perturbation into the cup of his position, and Maḥmúd consulted with them as to what he should give Firdawsí. They replied: “Fifty thousand dirhams, and even that is too much, seeing that he is in belief a Ráfiḍí and a Mu'tazilite. Of his Mu'tazilite views this verse is a proof:—

‘Thy gaze the Creator can never descry;
Then wherefore, by gazing, dost weary thine eye?’

“while to his Ráfiḍí proclivities these verses of his witness:

*

‘When the Lord of the World established the Sea, the fierce wind
stirred up waves thereon,
Thereon, as it were, seventy ships wrought, all with sails set.
Amongst them one vessel, fair as a bride, decked with colour
like the eye of the cock,
Therein the Prophet with 'Alí, and all the household of the
Prophet ana his Vicar.
If thou desirest Paradise in the other World, take thy place
by the Prophet and his Trustee.
If ill accrues to thee thereby, it is my fault: know this, that
this way is my way.
In this I was born, and in this I will pass away: know for
a surety that I am as dust at the feet of 'Alí.’”

Now Sulṭán Maḥmúd was a zealot, and he listened to these imputations and caught hold of them, and, to be brief, only twenty*

thousand dirhams were paid to Ḥakím Firdawsí. He was bitterly disappointed, went to the bath, and, on coming out, bought a drink of sherbet,*

and divided the money between the bath-man and the sherbet-seller. Knowing, however, Maḥmúd's severity, he fled from Ghazna, and alighted in Herát at the shop of Azraqí's father, Isma'íl the bookseller (Warráq), where he remained in hiding for six months, until Maḥmúd's messengers had reached Ṭús and had turned back thence, when Firdawsí, feeling secure, set out from Herát for Ṭús, taking the Sháhnáma with him. Thence he came to Ṭabaristán to the Sipahbad Shír-zád of the House of Bávand, who was king there; and this is a noble house which traces its descent from Yazdigird the son of Shahriyár.

Then Firdawsí wrote a satire on Sulṭán Maḥmúd in the Preface, and read a hundred couplets to Shír-zád,*

saying: “I will dedicate this Sháhnáma to you instead of to Sulṭán Maḥmúd, for this book deals wholly with the legends and deeds of thy forebears.” Shír-zád treated him with honour and showed him many kindnesses, and said: “Maḥmúd was induced to act thus by others, who did not submit your book to him under proper conditions, and misrepresented you. Moreover, you are a Shí'ite, and to one who loves the Family of the Prophet nothing will happen which did not happen to them. Maḥmúd is my liege-lord: let the Sháhnáma stand in his name, and give me the satire which you have written on him, that I may expunge it and give you some little recompense; and Maḥmúd will surely summon thee and seek to satisfy thee fully. Do not, then, throw away the labour spent on such a book.” And next day he sent Firdawsí 100,000 dirhams, saying: “I buy each couplet at a thousand dirhams; give me those hundred couplets, and rest satisfied therewith.” So Firdawsí sent him these verses, and he ordered them to be expunged; and Firdawsí also destroyed his rough copy of them, so that this satire was done away with, and only these few verses remained:—*

*

“They cast imputations on me, saying: ‘That man of many
words
Hath grown old in the love of the Prophet and 'Alí.’
If I speak of my love for these
I can protect a hundred such as Maḥmúd.

No good can come of the son of a slave,
Even though his father hath ruled as King.
The King had no aptitude for good,
Else would he have seated me on a throne.
Since in his family there was no nobility
He could not bear to hear the names of the noble.”

In truth good service was rendered to Maḥmúd by Shír-zád, and Maḥmúd was greatly indebted to him.

When I was at Níshápúr in the year A.H. 514 (A.D. 1120-1121), I heard Amír Mu'izzí say that he had heard Amír 'Abdu'r-Razzáq at Ṭús relate as follows:—“Maḥmúd was once in India, and was returning thence towards Ghazna. On the way, as it chanced, there was a rebellious chief possessed of a strong fortress, and next day Maḥmúd encamped at the gates of it, and sent an ambassador to him, bidding him come before him on the morrow, do homage, pay his respects at the Court, receive a robe of honour and return to his place. Next day Maḥmúd rode out with the Prime Minister on his right hand, for the ambassador had turned back and was coming to meet the king. ‘I wonder,’ said the latter to the Minister, ‘what answer he will have given?’ The Minister replied:

‘Should the answer come contrary to my wish,
Then for me the mace and the arena of [combat with]
Afrásiyáb.’

‘Whose verse,’ enquired Maḥmúd, ‘is that? For he must have the heart of a man.’ ‘Poor Abu'l-Qásim Firdawsí composed it,’ answered the Minister; ‘he who laboured for five and twenty years to complete such a work, and reaped from it no advantage.’ ‘You speak well,’ said Maḥmúd; ‘I deeply regret that this noble man was disappointed by me. Remind me at Ghazna to send him something.’

“So when the Sultan returned to Ghazna, the Minister reminded him; and Maḥmúd ordered Firdawsí to be given sixty thousand dínárs' worth of indigo, and that this indigo should be carried to Ṭús on the King's own camels, and that apologies should be made to Firdawsí. For years the Minister had been working for this, and at length he had achieved his work; so now he caused the camels to be loaded, and the indigo arrived safely at Ṭabarán.*

But as the camels were entering through the Rúdbár Gate, the corpse of Firdawsí was being borne forth from the Gate of Razán.*

Now at this time there was in Ṭabarán a preacher whose fanaticism was such that he declared that he would not suffer Firdawsí's body to be buried in the Musulmán Cemetery, because he was a Ráfiḍí; and nothing that men could say served to move this doctor. Now outside the gate there was a garden belonging to Firdawsí, and there they buried him, and there he lies to this day.” And in the year A.H. 510 (A.D. 1116-1117) I visited his tomb.*

They say that Firdawsí left a daughter, of very lofty spirit, to whom they would have given the King's gift; but she would not accept it, saying, “I need it not.” The Post-master wrote to the Court and represented this to the King, who ordered that doctor to be expelled from Ṭabarán as a punishment for his officiousness, and to be exiled from his home, and the money to be given to the Imám Abú Bakr Isḥáq for the repair of the rest-house of Cháha,*

which stands on the road between Merv and Níshápúr on the boundaries of Ṭús. When this order reached Ṭús and Níshápúr, it was faithfully carried out; and the restoration of the rest-house of Cháha was effected by this money.