The Institutes of Akbar 131.1

131.1

[Badáoní, edited by Maulawí Aghá Ahmad ’Alí, in the Bibliotheca Indica, Vol. II, p. 198.] “It was during these days [end of 982 A. H.] that Abulfazl, son of Shaikh Mubárik of Nágor, came the second time to court. He is now styled ’Allámí. He is the man that set the world in flames. He lighted up the lamp of the Sabáhis, illustrating thereby the story of the man who, because he did not know what to do, took up a lamp in broad daylight, and representing himself as opposed to all sects, tied the girdle of infallibility round his waist, according to the saying, ‘He who forms an opposition, gains power.’ He laid before the Emperor a commentary on the A'yat ul-kursí, which contained all subtleties of the Qorán; and though people said that it had been written by his father, Abulfazl was much praised. The numerical value of the letters in the words Tafsír i Akbarí (Akbar’s commentary) gives the date of composition [983]. But the emperor praised it, chiefly because he expected to find in Abulfazl a man capable of teaching the Mullás a lesson, whose pride certainly resembles that of Pharaoh, though this expectation was opposed to the confidence which His Majesty had placed in me. The reason of Abulfazl’s opinionativeness and pretensions to infallibility was this.