Jawamiʿ al-hikayat wa lawamiʿ al-riwayat 22.1

22.1

When Khwája Ahmad acted as minister to Sultán Mahmud (may God be merciful to him!) all the principal officers of State were inimical to him and traduced him to the Emperor, who thus contracted a great dislike to him, and was desirous of removing him from office. On this subject Abu Nasr Mishkán says that Arslán wrote him a letter, saying that "The king is displeased with Khwaja Ahmad, and we, his Majesty's servants, must beware of resisting his will. But in common charity we are bound to declare what we know or have heard. Khwaja Ahmad is undoubtedly the most able minister of the time, and has been very useful to our sovereign. He has long been in government employ and has experienced great changes of fortune. It is now some time since he was appointed Minister of State, and now all men of influence, rank, and dignity are his enemies. The cause of their hatred to him is his devotion to his master, and his disregard of their wishes and pleasure. His associates in office are also inimical to him for the same reason. You would do right to communicate this letter to his Majesty, although I know that his mind has been so perverted by them that my counsel will be useless. Still the time may come when his Majesty may feel some regret, when he will not check but excuse our representations."