Muntakhab al-tawarikh 294: LXXXIII. ZUHURI.
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 294
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LXXXIII. ZUHURI.
294.1
He used to live in the Dakan, and was characterized by his unrestrained manner of life, his indifference to public opinion, and his disinclination from attending at the courts of kings. Shaikh Faizi used to dilate much on the praiseworthy qualities of him and of Malik Qumi, known as Malik-ul-Kalam, and these two poets wished to accompany the Shaikh to the imperial court at Lahor, but Burhan-ul-Mulk prevented them from going. It is Devotees who drag about the idolater’s thread then prayer-carpets would exchange their rosaries for. Nobody counts the cash of both worlds offered by the buyer in that place where the merchandise consists of wounded hearts. “I am he who has grown to love the lancet of grief: ointment is shamed by the wound in my breast.” “From our manner of dealing with Islam in the day of retribution, it is likely that infidelity will seize us by the shirt.” “The song of love's feast this night inflamed the plectrum; her glances were the maghrap and her eyebrow the rebeck-players this night.” “O heart, let my lips for once be wreathed with smiles: for to-night will be seen the splendour of love’s tears of blood.” “I fear no reproof, for the reproaches of the jealous watcher are as applause to the followers of love’s religion.” “Ah! See how thy glance imperils our true faith; trust in thy promises is a sure way to disappointment.” “Brahman, despair not of the efficacy of thy prostrations to thy idol, for the mark on thy forehead is the mirror of thy fate.”
294.2
Tajdid, and also some marginal notes on the Mutawwal, in which he writes, “This book is copied from the book Tuwal, which is equal in length to the Mutawwal, or even longer.” He has also written a book containing accounts of the Shaikhs of India, in which he has entered everything that he has heard from every mosque-sweeper and beggar, adding also some conjectures of his own, and he has named it Wa fawatih-ul-wilayah. When they questioned him regarding this title, saying, “The particle wa (‘and’) requires something preceding it, to be coupled with the latter clause, and what should precede it does not appear,” he replied, “That which precedes it is here understood, and is manifest by transposition, that is to say, the title should be Fawatih-ul-walayah, with a fathah over the waw of walayah as the waw preceding the phrase indicates, not with a kasr under the waw of wilayah, as it is commonly read.” The Mulla was always jealous of Qazi Khan of Badakhshan, on the ground of his having invented the sijdah (‘prostration’). One day in Fathpur he led the late Mirza Nizam-ud-din Ahmad and the author off to his house at early dawn, with much solicitation, and, having given us an appetizing electuary, began to show ‘Azīz Kūka cracked some pleasant jests on his appearance, and the Mulla returned pleasant answers to them.
294.3
As his birthplace was Gulbahār, a village in the district of Kābul, he wrote for some time under the poetical name of Bahārī, but afterwards, having recognized that the name was unbecoming, as it called to mind the names borne by servant girls, he changed it, and called himself Rabī‘ī. The motto which he composed for his seal was, “He had a well-ordered mind.” The following few couplets are quoted as a memorial of him:— “That eye in which I delighted every moment flees away, It may be that I shall place a straw from her wall upon it.” “The glass of delight has been shattered, with whomsoever I sat; The bond of fellowship has snapped, with whomsoever I bound it. She has risen to slay me, with the sword of hatred in her hand, Whenever I sat in kindness with anybody for a moment.”
294.4
He has composed some couplets in the metre of ‘The Chain of Gold’ and he has called his book of nonsense “The Tinkling of the Bell,” and has enumerated in it books said to be of his own composition, some of which have no existence but in his verses, and has given them imaginary names, as in the following verses:— us his books, talking about them from dawn till midday, while we remained hungry and were not able to get a word in. At last the Mirza, no longer able to endure it, asked the Mulla whether he had anything to eat. The Mulla answered, “I thought that you had eaten before you came. I have a lamb here; if you wish I will kill it now.” We rose and went home. It is impossible to recount all pranks of this nature which he played.
294.5
When he saw that Shaikh Abu-l-Fazl, Qazi Khan, and others of his contemporaries from being mullas rose to the rank of amirs of the highest grade, while he continued to draw a small stipend, he petitioned that he too might be admitted as a soldier. His request was granted, and one day, at the time when the guard turned out for the evening salute, he appeared in military guise before the emperor, girt in a grotesque fashion with a borrowed sword, and, having approached the presence from one side of the darbar, stood, and, catching his scabbard to him, said, without any introduction, “By which mansabdar shall I stand, and from what place shall I make my obeisance?” The emperor was sagacious enough to penetrate his design and said, “Make your obeisance from that place in which you are now standing.” When the Mulla saw that this effort to obtain recognition had failed he wandered at large. One day, in order to show that he possessed all that became a soldier, he came to court, in the noonday heat, in dirty, greasy clothes quilted with cotton, which had been either given or lent to him by somebody, and Mirza In which I have collected a hundred and twenty different branches of learning, Say who else can be thus described.”
294.6
In spite of all this fooling he was a good friend, tactful, accomplished, able, sympathetic, unceremonious, agreeable, acceptable, and jocular. I hope that God (He is praised and exalted!) may in His grace and benevolence have made him a partaker of eternal life in heaven.