The king, the country-seizer, the world-shatterer,
(In majesty)—of Firídún-girdle; nay, of Khákan-crown!
The king, Nasratu-'d-Dín,—by reason of whose justice
Everyone drinks wine to his memory:
(In loftiness), he is a sky, on which the (auspicious, natal)
star has shone;
(In extent of territory), an ocean from which the crown
has obtained the jewel:
Like the third river (rain), the washer of the bed of dust
(the earth),
He washed the world pure of—(the confessor) “the third
of three.”
In the world are three great seas—Daryá,e muhí, the sea that surrounds the earth; Daryá,e shor, the salt sea on the earth; and Daryá,e hawá, the sea between the earth and the sky, from which clouds get rain.
The washer here signifies—the washer of earth's surface from destruction and desolation by repelling the strife of strife-exciters.
“Sális-i-salásat” (musallas) signifies—the confessor of the Christian faith as understood in Ganja, Burda', and Arabia. He is the confessor of three persons (iḳáním), who are the three persons of the Trinity (iḳnúm), namely, God, Jesus, and Mary.
In place of Mary, some put the Holy Spirit (rúhu-'l-ḳuds), who is the angel Jibrá,il.
5Like the planet Jupiter, lofty of head;
His glances (of kindness on the people, and of wrath on
his enemies) altogether effective.
In (both star-aspects) the quartile (the sinister, or
inimical) and trine (the auspicious or amicable),—(he
is) the jewel-scatterer (both on friend and on foe).
The square-sitter (at ease, on the masnad); and the causer
(of others) to sit (before him) on two knees (with
reverence).
Jupiter's auspiciousness is in no way overpowered by the aspects of the other planets.
6The conjunction (ḳirán) of two planets may be—auspicious (sa'dayn), sinister (nahsayn), or indifferent (malíh). The last aspect may be— ním dushmání or ním dostí.
The zodiacal signs that are:—
| watery are Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces. | airy are Gemini, Libra, Aquarius. |
| fiery are Aries, Leo, Saggitarius. | earthy are Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. |
The zodiacal signs that are:—
moveable are Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn.
common are Gemini, Virgo, Saggitarius, Pisces.
fixed are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius.
The moveable, common, and fixed signs are always in quartile aspect to one another, three signs apart; and the fiery, earthy, and watery signs in trine aspect, four signs apart.
There are twelve zodiacal signs, each of 30°. When two planets are
distant from each other—60°, they are in sextile aspect, tasdís, half-
When two planets are in the same house, they are in conjunction— auspicious (sa'd), sinister (nahs), or indifferent (mutawassi), as the case may be.
“Murabba'-nishín” signifies—chahán pahlú nishínanda; char-zánú nishín. Thus do Amírs and Suláns sit cross-legged (tailor-like) at ease. In this posture the form of a square appears.
“Marba'” signifies—a place where they pass the spring-time; a throne of four corners; a place of retirement of four walls.
“Musallas (sális-i-salásat)-nishán” signifies—the putter away of the confessor of “the third of three”; one who causes others to sit on two knees with reverence, as attendants sit before the king. In this posture the form of a triangle appears; it is the posture used in confessing that Muhammadan faith (tashahhud), signifying:—“I profess that there is no God but God; I acknowledge that Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and I confess that Muhammad is His servant and Apostle.”
By his head-verdure (youthfulness),—the world prosperous;
Of so many kings a token to the world.
The (natal) star which rubs its head on the (lofty) sphere
Struck the coin of worship at his door.
By the power of sovereignty, the world
He made full of skill, and void of grief (by casting out
strife-exciters).
He is,—at the banquet, a sun enkindled;
In battle, a dragon, world-consumed.
“Musallas” signifies—wine that the Persians call síkí, wine boiled down to a third and mixed with sweet herbs; a diagram in which the effects are great.
“Maslas” signifies—the third chord of the rabáb; the three-stringed instrument, the ḳánún.
The second line may be:—
(a) Sitting in the place of spring-time, and placing the fragrant wine.
(b) Sitting on the four-cornered throne, and placing the ḳánún.
(c) Sitting in the place of retirement, and planting the diagram.
In the first line the jewel may mean:—
(a) The jewel stone fit to be given.
(b) The lustre of the sword of slaughter.
The first line will then be:—
In the sinister (inimical) aspect, sword (-blow) giving; in the auspicious (amicable) aspect, jewel-giving.
For further information on astrology see “A Christian Astrology, modestly treated of in three books,” by William Lilley, 1659; “An Introduction to Astrology,” by W. Lilly, edited by Zadkiel, 1835; and “An Introduction to Astrology,” by W. Lilly, with a “Grammar of Astrology,” by Zadkiel, 1852. Also canto xii. couplet 13.
7With an aged sovereign the world is distracted. For they say:—
“Behold he is at the point of death and his country will be convulsed!”
Nasratu-'d-Dín is a token of Naushíraván, in justice; of Rustám, in bravery; and of Jamshíd, in pleasure and ease.
A token they call him from seeing whom another comes to mind.
10The second line means:—a dragon that has consumed the world.
By that illumined heart, like (pure, translucent) water,
that he has,
By it,—the (resplendent) sun has become luminous of eye.
When his sword gathers resolve for blood,
It brings forth water and fire (a fountain of blood) from
stone.
When he casts the arrow from the bow into the ambuscade,
He hurls sky's summit to the earth.
Europe and Palestine and the provinces of Rúm,—
Accepters of his seal's order, like (soft) wax.
When I saw that on the victorious throne
He became lofty of head by the prosperity of fortune,
I had no offering (of scattering) worthy of him,
Which I might pour at his royal throne.
From the Iskandrian water of life (the tale of Sikandar,
pure of dross),
I prepared a limpid water bejewelled (speech beset with
the subtleties of verse) like this.
When from preparing it I became disengaged,—
It, I made the present (in place of an offering of scattering)
at his court.
I gave the bejewelled seal-ring (the Sikandar Náma,e
bara) like this,
Of a Sikandar (Zu-'l-Karnain) to a Sikandar (Nasratu-'d-
For the king,—be permanency by fortune's power!
By him,—be the prosperity of the crown and the throne!
In stone collected in mass water and fire exist; in broken stone they do not.
In his rose-garden (Turkistán), a nightingale (Nizámí) like
this—
Be its breath auspicious to his soul!
A crown-possessor,—O excellent! the crown of the sphere
Raises the summit of thy throne to the sun.
In the world, thou art the king of vigilant fortune;
Fortune considered thee worthy of the throne.
In the world, none has that power
That he may send a present worthy of the king.
If a drop of water (the Sikandar Náma,e bara) trickle
from this clay pitcher (Nizámí's dusty body),
In that deep sea (Nasratu-'d-Dín, of great majesty),—how
may it be visible?
The fountain that comes from the hard stone
When it is little,—how may it reach the sea?
Nizámí, who made himself thy slave (thy praise-utterer),
Made representation of speech in thy name:
Before the throne, he arranged the same (humble) entertainment
As the ant arrayed before Sulaimán (Solomon).
Regard not the voice (of song) of the peacock (Firdausí),
nor his (long) flight (of verse),
For his voice comes harshly, like the (voice of the) cat.
Look at this small nightingale (Nizámí), who by (magic)
melody
Brings down the bird from the sky.
This work, containing 6,887 couplets, is a drop compared with Firdausí's Sháh-Náma, containing 60,000 couplets.
28It is said that by way of repast the ants offered Solomon the leg of a locust. See Sale's Ḳurán, art. Solomon.
That happy nightingale, am I who hastened from Iram
(happy 'Irák);
(And) made my place of repose in thy garden (empire).
Of thy time, I sing a song
By which thy name will years endure.
In thy name (praise), I made this book, for that reason
That the picture (thy name) makes (my) pen golden.
The object (of this composition) is not the elephant-load
of gold from thee;
For thy elephant (laden with gold) is not like the elephant
of Mahmúd.
Without a person's desiring it,—thou givest
Abundant treasure and dresses of honour.
If I had uttered this book for gold (from the kings of the
age),
How could I have pierced a single jewel (of verse of this
work) in a long lifetime?
To this task, verily love (of verse) kept me;
Love kept many a weak tongue like me.
Mahmúd bin Sabuktagín, the Sulán of Ghuzní (A.D. 997), enchanted with the powers of verse exhibited by Hakím Abú-'l-Ḳásim úsí, directed that the records of Persian history should be given to him to versify; and that a thousand misḳáls of gold (£674) should be given for every thousand couplets he wrote,—or, in all, an elephant-load of gold. He honoured him with the title of Firdausí (from Firdaus, Paradise), because of the paradise-like delight that he had shed on his court.
The poet unfortunately preferred waiting for his reward till he should have completed the work (the Sháh-Náma, which he began A.D. 980 and completed in A.D. 1009), containing 60,000 couplets.
For this Mahmúd sent him sixty thousand silver dirams (£2,600). Firdausí, being in the bath at the time, gave twenty thousand to the bath-keeper, and an equal sum to the refreshment-seller and to the slave who brought the money.
37If dásht be contracted for dáshtam, the second line may be:—
When, weak of tongue (silent, sitting in retirement),—I possessed much love of verse.
God gave me the grace of uttering;
Lasting be thy skill and judgment!
Before that thou bringest it to mind,
Be country-seizer and world-taker!
Age to age, from the lofty sphere,
Be victorious as to further victory (over fresh lands)!
May Time (till the Day of Judgment) be merely the foretaste
of thy (long) youth!
May thy life be greater than (that of) all (kings)!
Come, cup-bearer! from the jar of the old villager
Give me a cup (of senselessness) and seize my hand.
(A cup) of that wine by which sense may be the soul's;
Be it—for me, the draught (of senselessness); and for the
king, the water of life!
This wine gives life to my reason, so that I plant not my foot out of the highway of the sharí'at (the law of Muhammad) and the ma'rifat (the knowledge of God).
From this it appears that Nașratu-'d-Dín was of the number of holy travellers.