The Institutes of Akbar 2.4.2

2.4.2

Two years later, Faizi was appointed Sadr of Agrah, Kalpi, and Kalinjar, in which capacity he had to enquire into the possibility of resuming free tenures (sayúrghál), which in consequence of fraudulent practices on the part of government officers and the rapaciousness of the holders themselves had so much increased as seriously to lessen the land revenue; and Abul Fazl, in the very beginning of 1585, was promoted to the mansab of Hazari, or the post of a commander of one thousand horse, and was in the following year appointed Diwan of the Province of Dihli. Faizi’s rank was much lower; he was only a commander of Four Hundred. But he did not care for further promotion. Devoted to the muse, he found in the appointment as Poet Laureate, with which Akbar honored him in the end of 1588, that satisfaction which no political office, however high, would have given him. Though the emperor did not pay much attention to poetry, his appreciation of Faizi’s genius was but just; for after Amír Khusrau of Dihlí, Muhammadan India has seen no greater poet than Faizí.