A band of robbers had collected in the desert of Kirmán, and whenever the king sent a force against them they saved themselves by flight. Sultán Mas'úd was informed of this when he was king in 'Irák, and after some consideration he hit upon a plan for getting rid of them. Some poison was taken out of the store-house, and a quantity of apples were brought from Isfáhán. He then directed a trusty servant to make holes in the apples with a bodkin and to introduce the poison. When the apples were all poisoned, they were given in charge of a caravan that was passing through the desert. A party of the king's men was also sent with the caravan, and directed to lag behind when they approached the haunt of the robbers. The caravan would no doubt be attacked and taken, and the robbers would eat up the apples and all of them would die. The king's men were then to advance and liberate the caravan. This scheme was effectually carried out. The thieves, delighted with their prize, devoured the apples, and no one that ate thereof ever rose again. Sultán Mas'úd's men then came up, released the merchants, and restored them their goods without any loss. By this ingenious scheme* the robbers were destroyed without giving any trouble to the soldiers. The wise may thus learn that stratagem will accomplish that which a thousand horsemen cannot effect.
An injured man came to Sultán Mas'úd and complained that as he was proceeding to Ghor, the chief of the country seized and forcibly took from him all his property. A letter was consequently written to the chief directing the restoration of the man's property. The man got the letter and took it to the chief of Ghor. The chief was vexed, and ordered him to be punished. The man returned to Ghaznín and complained once more against the Ghorians. The Sultán directed that another letter should be written in threatening terms, that if the chief did not in every way satisfy the man, he would march against him and humble his pride. The man said, “O king, direct that the letter be written in as small a compass as possible, because I shall be forced to swallow it, and if there is but a small quantity of paper it will be the easier to get down.” Sultán Mas'úd was extremely incensed at this, and on the same day pitched his tents, and marched against Ghor. He took possession of the country, and chastised the chief, returning to the poor man more than had been taken from him. The Amír of Ghor was thus punished for his tyranny.
It is related in the Táríkh-i Násirí that during the time Amír 'Abdu-r Rashíd reigned at Ghaznín, he had a young slave named Túmán, a man of bad disposition, base and low minded, 'Abdu-r Rashíd was, however, favourably disposed towards him, and conferred on him a high rank. The slave began to interfere in the affairs of government, and being a mean and worthless fellow he did all in his power to ruin and extirpate the nobles and great men. He showed favour to Abú Suhail Rázihí, and they both joined cause and conspired against the great Khwája, the minister of the throne, 'Abdu-r Razzák. He quarrelled with Ahmad Maimaní and had him suspended and called to account. He elevated his own brother, called Mubárak Marde, to high rank, and at last entrusted him with several offices at Parsháwar. He encouraged tale-bearers and back-biters, and these people obtained great influence at court. They gave false reports, representing that the assignments were in excess of the authorised amount, and this brought destruction upon the kingdom, for the government servants and the orphans were subjected to reductions in a manner which had not been resorted to by any one before.
Amongst the other slaves who were notorious for their wickedness and bad character, was one whose name was Khatíb Lút. This man was exalted by him and made accountant of the state, an office which had been held by Khwája Abú Táhir Husain with great credit and to the satisfaction of the government. When three months had elapsed after the Khwája's appointment, he was ordered to go to Hindústán, and after collecting the revenues of that country, to return to the capital.
Khwája Abú Táhir proceeded to Hindústán, and in every
place that he visited he found an agent of Túmán oppressing
the people and exercising authority; and thus great embarass-
When Abú-l Fazl was removed, Túmán had an unbounded field for the exercise of his power. He conferred a khil'at of investiture on Khatíb Lút, and sent him to Parsháwar. This officer lighted the fire of oppression, and exalted the standard of bloodshed. He made all kinds of demands upon the people. When Khwája Husain reached Parsháwar to examine and report upon the affairs of that province, people complained to him against the Khatíb. The Khwája admonished him, but it was all in vain. The Khatíb gave him disrespectful replies and uttered abusive words against him to his very face. Husain could not restrain his indignation, and ordered him to be taken away from his presence. The matter was reported to Túmán, who told 'Abdu-r Rashíd that as Khatíb Lút was aware that Husain had unlawfully exacted money from the people, the latter had thrown the Khatíb into prison with the view that he might retain in safety the money which Husain had extorted.
When Túmán had made these representations, Amír 'Abdu-r Rashíd ordered him to go and bring Husain a prisoner to the court. Túmán marched the same night to Parsháwar with three hundred thousand* horse, and when he arrived there he showed the royal mandate to the governor of the place. He seized Khwája Husain, and took Khatíb out of prison. He dishonoured and disgraced many good Musulmáns, and then returned to the court.
Khwája Husain was put in heavy chains, and when they had reached the pass at Búdrí some horsemen came and reported that Amír 'Abdu-r Rashíd had himself been murdered, and that the ingrate Tughril had usurped the government. On receiving this intelligence, the soldiers, horse and foot, all came forward to Khwája Husain and said unto him, “circumstances have now taken altogether a different turn: he who had triumphed has been vanquished, and now we are all ready to obey your command. What orders may you be pleased to address to us?” The Khwája replied, “Your first duty is to remove the chains from off my feet, and put them on those of Túmán.” Upon this the soldiers seized Túmán, pulled him down with great ignominy, and put the chains on his feet. They placed the Khwája on a horse, and Túmán, Khatíb Lút, and his other slaves were seated on camels, and in this manner they took them to Ghaznín. God the most glorious and powerful thus punished Túmán for his wickedness. The moral of this story is to show the consequences of tale-bearing, and to teach that great and wealthy men should not encourage base characters, or take wicked men into their favour, and thus bring disgrace and shame upon themselves.