Muntakhab al-tawarikh 124: II. Maulana ‘Abdu-’llah of Sultanpur.
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 124
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II. Maulana ‘Abdu-’llah of Sultanpur.
124.1
He was of the tribe. His ancestors came to Sultanpur and settled there. He was one of the greatest sages of his time, and had not his equal in this age, especially in his knowledge of Arabic, Quranic exegesis, scholastic theology, history, and all those branches of learning which depend upon the exercise of the memory. He has left wonderful compositions, worthy of himself, the best known among them being the books known as ‘Ismat-i-Anbiya and Sharhu Shama'ili-n-Nabi (may God bless and save him!). From the Emperor who now has his resting place in paradise (scil. Humayun) he received the title of Makhdumu-’l-Mulk, and also that of Shaikhu-l-Islam. He always strenuously exerted himself to enforce the holy law, and was a bigoted Sunni. Owing to his exertions many heretics and schismatics went to the place prepared for them. He used, owing to his extreme bigotry, to aver of the third volume of the Rawzatu-l-Ahbab that it was not the work of Mir Jamalu-’d-din the traditionist. In the year in which Gujarat was conquered and while Maulana ‘Abdu-’llah possessed great honour and dignity as agent of the exalted Court in Fathpur, I, who had just then returned from my journey to the Panjab, went in company with Shaikh Abu-’l-Fazl, who had not yet entered the Imperial service, and Haji Sultan of Thanesar to see Makhdumu-’l-Mulk.
124.2
We saw that he had before him the third volume (of the Rawzatu-l-Ahbab), and he said to us, “See, what mischief those who are followed in this land have wrought in the faith,” and thus saying he showed us that couplet which occurs in the encomium:— “This alone is sufficient to prove his resemblance to God, That it has been doubted that he himself was God.” and said, “He has passed beyond mere schism here, and has placed the question of his misbelief in quite another category, avouching his belief in the doctrine of incarnations. I am firmly resolved to burn this book in the presence of a Shi‘ah.” I, notwithstanding that I was unknown to any present, and had never met Makhdūmu-’l-Mulk before, made bold to say, “This couplet is a translation of those verses which are attributed to the Imām Shāfi‘ī (may God have mercy upon him!). He looked towards me sharply and asked, “From what are you quoting?” I said, “From the commentary on Amīr’s dīwān.” He said, “The commentator, Qāzī Mīr Husain-i-Maibadī, has also been accused of schism.” I said, “This is wandering from the point.” Shaikh Abū-’l-Fazl and Hājī Sultān, with their fingers on their lips, were every now and then signing to me to be silent.
124.3
Again I said, “I have heard from some trustworthy men that the third volume is not the work of Mīr Jamālu-’d-dīn, but is the work of his son Sayyid Mīrak Shāh, or some other person, and that it is for this reason that its style differs from the style of the first two volumes, being poetical, and not the style peculiar to traditionists.” He answered me, saying, “My child, in the second volume also I have found passages which clearly prove the heresy and misbelief of the author, and I have written notes on them. One of these passages is the statement by the author that ‘Alī, the leader of the faithful (may God be gratified with him!), on the occasion, when Talhah (may God be gratified with him!) was the first to swear allegiance to him, said, “My hand is withered and thine allegiance is worthless,” that is to say, that ‘Alī Murtazā, the leader of the faithful, actually took as a bad omen the fact that Talhah’s arm was withered—that arm which in the battle of Uhud was the shield of his holiness the prophet (may God bless and save him and his family!), and was pierced with eleven wounds,— a presumption expressly forbidden by the holy law. God forbid that such should be the case! It is impossible that ‘Ali should have followed such a custom, and it is impossible to believe that he did so.” I said, “There is manifestly a distinction between foreboding and augury.” Shaikh Abu-’l-Fazl secretly pressed my hand and warned me to be silent.
124.4
‘Abdu-’llah said to him, “Tell me something about this person (scil. Badaoni); who is he?” He and Haji Sultan then told him something of my affairs, and our meeting passed off quietly. After we had left him my friends said to me, “You have passed through a great danger, but (fortunately) he did not set himself to persecute you. Had he done so who could have saved you?” Maulana ‘Abdu-’llah, when he first set eyes on Shaikh Abu-’l-Fazl, in the early years of the Emperor’s reign, said to his pupils, “What injury will this man not do to the faith? “When I saw him in his childhood I showed him to those of the faith, “(Saying) ‘He will work mischief among the souls of men, to your guardianship I entrust him.’ ” Maulana ‘Abdu-’llah departed to eternity in Gujarat in the year H. 990 (A.D. 1582), after his return from the pilgrimage to the glorious city of Makkah, and the chronogram in the following verses was found to give the date of his death:— Makhdum-i-Mulk departed and took with him, As a sign on his forehead, (the words) “the mercy of God.” When I sought of my heart the date of his death, It replied to me, “ Reckon the second hemistich (of these verses)” He left behind him some degenerate sons who are unworthy of mention, and here I may remark that all the rising generation give cause of complaint to their progenitors, for indeed it seems that the climate of this age will cherish, nay will produce, none better than such fellows —
124.5
I see no good in the world, This seems to be the age of impotence This state of affairs reminds us of the story that a certain king who was a bigoted Sunni led an army against Sabzawar, which is a hotbed of schism, its inhabitants being all fanatics. The chief men of the place came out and made their representations to the king, saying, “We are Musalmans, what fault have we committed that you should have brought an army against us?” The king replied, “Your fault is your zeal for schism.” They replied, “This is a false accusation that has been brought against us.” The king said, “Produce from your city in support of your allegation a man of the name of Abu Bakr, and I will swerve from my intention of slaying you and of plundering your city.” After much search and with much difficulty they produced before the king an unknown pauper, saying, “This man is called by the name which you desired.” After observing the man's old garments and despicable condition, the king asked, “Had you nobody better than this to produce before me?” They said, “O king, ceremony apart, the climate of Sabzawar cherishes an Abu Bakr no better than this.” And the Maulavi-yi-ma'navi (may his tomb be hallowed) refers to this story in his Masnavi as follows: — “This unstable world is a Sabzawar to us, We, like Bu-Bakrs, live in it mean and despised.”