Muntakhab al-tawarikh 278: LXV. Shāh Abu-’l-Ma‘ālī.

278

He has been mentioned in the historical record of the reign. He was a man of cheerful disposition and had good taste in poetry. I reproduce these few couplets of his “My soul, to keep company with strangers is not good, It is not good to associate with every beloved one and to leave one friendless It is pleasant sometimes to torment a lover, but kindness is also pleasant sometimes, To sit ever on the throne of scorn is not good Sit in the corner of separation, happy in the hope of reunion To despair of the good fortune of seeing the beloved one again is not good.”
“Beloved, I have been alone, and separated from thee I have been, for a purpose, a prisoner in the bonds of separation In every place have I read the story of thy love so often That on this account I am become a by-word in the world.”
“My heart suffers grief of a thousand descriptions on her account, If my grief kills me not what other boon shall I obtain from her?”