Urge pleasantly the steed (thy dusty body), for the plain
(of life) is pleasant (for gathering good deeds for the
next world);
Draw not the rein (from good deeds); the steed (the dusty
body) is heart-pleasing (in so far as it moves swiftly).
From this ugly place (the sinful world),—with the best of
names,
It is proper to go towards the garden of Paradise.
It is not proper to place the heart on this dust (the world),
From which the treasure of Kárún descended into the clay.
The way of escape is in humility (doing good, benefiting
others);
For the sun is the collection (undiminished) by reason of
(its) dispersion (the falling of its rays on the earth).
As long as the path is on a lancet (dangerous),
In it,—the more the merchants' profit.
When the road is safe from blood-devourers,
In it,—the less the merchants' profit.
In that treasure-house where they found gold,
They found the path full of dangers from the dragon.
Verily, the soft-spoken man, the sweet discourser (the
historian),
Excited such softness from the surface of the work,
That—when the king came to Balkh, from Ghuznín,
He went aside from the water of the bitter sea.
From the many heads that came (in homage) to his
threshold,
The wish for (the conquest of) Hindústán seized him.
On this matter he expressed an opinion to the sages,
Saying:—“The empire (of Irán and Khurásán) have expressed
the kiss (of obeisance) on my foot.
“All the country of Irán—the whole is mine;
“I will give the rein (of inclining) towards Hindústán.
When the road is safe many merchants travel with rarities, but small is the profit. When the road is unsafe, few travel and great is the profit.
“When I turn my head towards Kaid, the Hindú,
“From him, I will place on one side malice and deceit.
“If he come to my service like other persons,
“To him, I will only be one causing favour to arrive (a
benefactor).
“But, if with me he conceive opposition,
“I and Kaid's neck and the sharp sword (will settle the
matter).
“Him, I will roll from side to side;
“He will sit in the place where I place him.
“When I bring the troop to the end of the distant road
(the frontier of Hindústán),
“I will bring the sword-point on Fúr's head.
“When I snatch the crown from Fúr (Porus) and Fúrán
(Kaunauj);
“I will incline the army towards the Khán-i-Khákan (the
king of Chín):
Anciently, B.C. 1000, the Rájpúts, the oldest race in India, had thrones in Northern India, at Indra-prastha (Delhi), Kannauj (Kinnauj, near Cawnpúr), Ayodhva (Oude), and Patali-putra (Patna).
Kannauj was mentioned in A.D. 140, by Ptolemy, as
In A.D. 700, Kannauj had a circuit of six hundred and sixty-seven miles, the limits lying between Khairabád and Tanda, on the Ghágra river, and Etawa and Allahabad, on the Jumna.
In A.D. 1016, Mahmúd of Ghuzní, approaching it, beheld a city (washed by the Ganges on its eastern face, entrenched and walled), that raised its head to the skies, and that in strength might justly boast to have no equal.
The modern town occupies the north end of the site (seventy to eighty feet above the level of the country) of the old city, including the whole of the citadel.
The ancient history of Rájpút India is told in two Hindú epics—the Rámayána (relating to the children of the sun) and the Mahá Bharáta (relating to the children of the moon).
“And thence I will go towards Chách (in Chín) and Tíráz
(in Hindústán);
“Will traverse the earth (Hindústán) in one excursion.”
The warriors of Rúm, the chiefs of the banquet,
Went with that judgment and resolve of his.
On the day when the auspicious star was his ally,
(And) the token of fortune appeared,
Sikandar raised his head above the sphere (mounted on his
steed);
Moved the troop like the brilliant sun:
Entered Hindústán from Ghúznín;
—The path, from his cavalcade, became like the rose-
Was on that intent that he might bring confusion into the
brain;
Might use despatch towards Kaid, the Hindu:
Might come like the cloud (the thunderer) for the spoil of
his country;
Might give his territory to the ravage of the sword.
Again, by the counsel of the sages,
He did not what comes from the foolish (he displayed no
haste).
A messenger, expeditious, swift of foot,
He sent, and gave to him a message for the Hindú:
“If thou be for war, lead forth thy army;
“For, behold I have arrived like the black cloud.
“But, if thou be girt of waist in service;
“Know so much—that thou hast escaped from my sword.
“The Narcissus (Kaid) comes from sleep (carelessness) at
that time,
“When on it,—the cloud, the rainer (Sikandar) sheds water
(the sword).
“The rose (Kaid) brings a bouquet to the garden at that
time
“When the sun's brain becomes ardent.
“I agitate,—the world through my majesty agitates!
“I move,—the plain and mountain all moves!
“The bold eagle (Sikandar's rage) sleeps not in a place,
“Where one can drop a drop of water upon him below
(and deceive him).
“If there (on thy part),—a hair (the Kákul) be upreared
(according to the Hindú religion or through pride)
from the head,
“Here (on my part),—that head is suspended by a hair
(ready to fall by the sword).
“And if your mountain be peak-possessing (lofty),
“My sword makes the mountain full of holes.
“If here I bring assault for treasure,—(it is a mistake);
“The western gold in the west is better.
“In this land and clime I seek not jewels,
“For I have in Rúm more capital than this.
“If impetuosity be mine as to lovely ones,
“The sun (the beauty of lovely ones) in Khwarazm is
more resplendent.
The preserving of the kákul (the hair-lock) is by the Hindú religion enjoined, and on its preservation a person's respect depends.
If az be omitted, the first line may be:—
If there,—the tip of a hair (on thy body) be raised (through pride or wrath).
“I have come to Hind, a sword of Indian steel in hand;
“For me is necessary—fresh meat (revenue) from the
raging black elephant (Hindústán, producing brave
black men).
“Enjoy not the frontier-tolls of Hind without recollection
of me;
“For my steel is more Indian (excellent) than thine.
“Since a head is needful to thee, turn not thy head from
(paying) tribute;
“And, if not—neither the head nor the crown will remain
with thee.
The sent one came to Kaid's court,
Cast down his words like the game-snare (words intertwined
with words):
Spoke to him stinging words,
More burning than the fire of the Judgment Day.
When Kaid beheld such a fierce fire,—
From it, he saw escape (only) in restraint.
For he had beheld a dream as to that matter (Sikandar's
coming);
Had feared the interpretation of that dream.
Moreover,—of the monarch, world-seizing,
He had news that the sky was his ally.
Of what he did in hate to King Dárá,
Of what he did from the confines of Abyssinia to Bukhárá.
To his judgment it came not—from him, to turn away his
face (in flight);
From his command, to hasten towards calamity (war).
“Píl-i-mast” may signify—Hindústán elephant-producing; or a tyrant-man. See canto xlvi. couplet 30, 31.
In this fierce passion, he knew not his
Strife,—how he might keep from himself.
He opened his tongue for entreaty-making;
Uttered much praise of the king,
Saying:—“Since in the world he is wisest,
“For him world-possessing is most fit.
“Be both the foot of his throne on the moon!
“Be also the path of peace towards him!
“Save love to him, no work of mine has been;
“What is the cause that he comes in battle against
me?
“If he desire treasure,—I will sacrifice it;
“If even the diadem,—I will cast it from my head.
“If he incline to my sweet life,
“I will draw it forth, seized with my teeth, for his service.
“And if he send a slave by the road,
“I will consign to him the treasure, and the throne, and
the crown.
“I depart not from the duty of the servant and of the
attendant;
“Sikandar (is) the lord, and I am the slave.
“If he employ favour I will employ supplication;
“He may, perhaps, again become pleased with the slave.
“But if the quarrel be of another sort,
“Such that the king inclines to malice-bearing,
It is not so disgraceful to kill one's self (couplet 55) as to be killed by order (couplet 59).
60“I will choose departure from (instead of) conflict with
him;
“I cast not this leathern bag (myself) beneath the foot of
the elephant (Sikandar).
“When I turn my head from conflict with him,
“Futile becomes his resolution as to my blood.
“If he hold the opinion that he may hold me little (of
small account),
“I bewail not when the belly-pain (arising from degradation)
seizes me.
“If he bring an army, my foot is not lame;
“In another direction I will fly:—The world is not
narrow.
“Yes; if he first make an alliance with me,
“On the condition that true be that treaty;
For encouraging the elephant they cast upon his feet a leathern bag filled with pebbles. He is thus also taught to kill a man by trampling on him.
See “Histoire Militaire des Elephants depuis les temps les plus reculés,” par le Chev. P. Armandí, Ancien Colonel d'Artillerie, 1843; Official Notes, by Captain H. Wilberforce Clarke, R.E., Deputy Consulting Engineer to the Government of India for Guaranteed Railways, dated— (a) 3rd April, 1879, on Elephants; (b) 16th April, 1879, on the Transporting of Elephants by Railway; (c) 2nd December, 1879, on Elephants (supplementary to that of the 3rd April), which (on proper application) may (it is believed) be seen at—the rooms of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta; the office of the Consulting Engineer for Guaranteed Railways, Calcutta; the Royal United Service Institution, London; the Institution of Civil Engineers, London.
If the second line be read affirmatively, dabbah will become díba, and díba andákhtan (to cast the brocade) signifies—to abandon empire.
In his “Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World,” vol. iii. p. 533, Rawlinson says:—
Elephants are said (by Ctesias) to have been used for the first time by Derbices, to whom the Indians lent elephants in their war with Cyrus the Great (B.C. 558), in which war Cyrus was slain. But probably they were used for the first time at the battle of Arbela (B.C. 331), by Darius.
65“That towards me he use not treachery and robbery;
“And place the quarrel on one side from this door;—
“I will give four things, which are without a fifth;
“They are the first-fruits, higher than the stars.
“One,—to the king I will send my own daughter;
“What a daughter! The resplendent sun and moon.
“Secondly,—a drinking-cup of pure ruby,
“By which wine, by drinking, becomes not less.
“Thirdly,—a philosopher, the hidden-unfolding,
“Who is a guide to the mystery of the sky.
“Fourthly,—a clever physician, wise, dexterous,
“Who makes lamenting ones sound of body.
“I am—with this present, the right-recognizer of the
king;
“If the king accept, I accept thanks (the king's acceptance,
I regard an obligation to myself).”
The sent one agreed, saying:—“These four,
“If thou wilt make a present to the king,
“The king will make thee renowned in this territory;
“Will make thee precious by relationship (by marriage)
with himself:
“Will exalt thy name among renowned ones;
“Will not turn his head from seeking thy desire.”
When the Hindú king saw that that pure brain (the
messenger)
Assigned not foot-stumbling (error) to him in this matter
(of sending the four presents),
Of the Hindú old men,—one renowned
He sent with the monarch's messenger,
On this condition, a treaty set up;
Speech mixed smooth and sweet,
Returned joyful,—the messenger (of Sikandar);
Also that messenger, the old man of Hindú descent.
They came towards the monarch's court;
Came for admission, rose-like (joyous), into that garden.
When the Hindú beheld the king's pavilion,
He saw all the tents on the tent of the moon (in the lofty
sky:
Entered; swept the earth with his eye-lashes;
Uttered the message which he brought to the king.
When the first part of the message was uttered,
He urged speech of those matters (the four rarities) that
were accepted:
Described those four forms to the king,
Saying:—“Such power was to none (in past times).”
Through that desire the king's heart was agitated;
The eye desired whatever it found in the ear (heard).
With the resolution that he might gain that present,
Of praise was no delay for a moment.
After that, with that Hindú, the soft-speaker,
He became peace-seeker with oath and compact.
Balínás and other chiefs,
He sent; and also Korah's (enormous) treasure (in sacks),
head-secured.
A letter which made the (hard) diamond (soft) wax,
(Which) made all Hind the slave of Rúm,
The first part relates to—the matters mentioned in couplets 54-63.
He (the scribe) wrote on Sikandar's part to the bold
Kaid;
From a savage dragon (Sikandar) to the roaring lion
(Kaid, the master of belt and of crown).
In it, beyond computation,—art (in setting forth the kingly
titles)
Which come to the scribe's use.
In respect to apology and esteem for him, many a condition
He raised with his ardent (friendly) heart.
When the letter-writer wrote this treaty,
A royal order composed of camphor (white paper) and
ambergris (black ink),
Balínás, with the office-holders of Rúm,
Went from that land and clime towards Kaid.
In that expedition, when the sage of Rúm
Came opposite to the camp of Kaid,
He found the heart of the Hindú Kaid full of luminosity
(void of malice);
Found (him) far from that treachery which the Hindú
practises:
Made him obeisance according to the custom of kings;
For he (Kaid) was master of girdle and also master of
crown:
Kissed the superscription (of the letter) and presented it;
Entrusted the key of the treasury to the Hindú (Kaid).
The bold secretary read the writing,
From awe of which the sphere fell down.
See canto xlvi. couplet 17. The reader may be either Balínás or the secretary of King Ḳaid.
In the writing (letter) of the King of Rúm, thus it was,
In a word (of hard sense) by which the hard stone became
like wax (soft).