Muntakhab al-tawarikh 21: The 'Ibadat-khana — Polemical Discussions.

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[Text, vol. ii. p. 200.] [In the year 983 the buildings of the 'ibadat-khana were completed. The cause of their erection was this. In the course of the last few years the Emperor had gained in succession many great and remarkable victories, and his dominion had grown in extent from day to day. Not an enemy was left in the world. He had taken a liking for the society of ascetics and the disciples of the celebrated Mu'iniyyah (God rest his soul!). He spent much time in discussing the Word of God and the sayings of the Prophet; and he devoted his attention to questions of Sufism, science, philosophy, law and other matters. He passed whole nights in meditation upon God and upon the modes of addressing him as ya hu and ya hadi. Reverence for the great Giver filled his heart. In order to show his gratitude for some of his blessings, he would sit many a morning alone in prayer and mortification upon the stone bench of an old cell which lay near the palace in a lonely spot. Thus engaged in meditation, he gathered the bliss of the early hours of dawn. * * *
Having completed the building (of the 'ibadat-khana), he made a large hall in each of the four divisions of it. He also finished the construction of the tank called anuptalao. He called the building 'ibadat-khana, and by degrees it became at last a On Fridays after prayers he would go from the new khankah of the Shaikhu-l Islam, and hold a meeting in this building. Shaikhs, learned and pious men, and a few of his own companions and attendants, were the only people who were invited. Discussions were carried on upon all kinds of instructive and useful topics. * * * Every Sabbath evening he invited saiyids, shaikhs, doctors and nobles. But ill feeling arose in the company about the seats and order of precedence, so His Majesty ordered that the nobles should sit on the east side, the saiyids on the west, the 'ulama on the south, and the shaikhs on the north. His Majesty would go from time to time to these various parties, and converse with them and ascertain their thoughts. Quantities of perfume were used, and large sums of money were distributed as rewards of merit and ability among the worthy people who obtained an entry through the favour of the Emperor's attendants. Many fine books which had belonged to 'Itimád Khán Gujarátí, and had been acquired in the conquest of Gujarát, were placed in the royal library, but were subsequently brought out and distributed by the Emperor among learned and pious men. Among the rest he gave me a book called Anwáru-l mashkút.
One night the vein of the neck of the 'ulamá of the age swelled up, and a great outcry and tumult arose. This annoyed His Majesty, and he said to me (Badáúní), "In future report any one of the assembly whom you find speaking improperly, and I will have him turned out." I said quietly to Ásaf Khán, "According to this, a good many would be expelled." His Majesty asked what I had said. When I told him, he was much amused, and repeated my saying to those who were near him.
He used to summon Makhdúmu-l Mulk Mauláná 'Abdu-lla Sultánpúrí to that assembly, in order to annoy him; and he set up to argue against him Hájí Ibráhím and Shaikh Abú-l Fazl, then a new arrival, but now the prime leader of the New Religion and Faith, or rather the infallible guide and expositor de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis. His Majesty used to interrupt the Mauláná at every statement, and at a hint from him his companions also would interfere with interjections and observations, and would tell queer stories about the Mauláná, and exemplified in his person the verse of the Kurán, "And some of you shall have life prolonged to a miserable age."]