Muntakhab al-tawarikh 313: CLII. FANA’I.

313

He is a Caghatai of noble descent. He has travelled much and has acquired honour by visiting the holy places of pilgrimage (Makkah and Madinah). He has performed notable services in the field and at one time held the title of Khan, but on account of some misconduct he was degraded from that rank. One day Hakim. By birth he belongs to the Langah clan. It seems probable that he was captured by a soldier in some of the wars in Hindustan and was placed in the service of the late Emperor, and was then brought up with Mirza Muhammad Hakim. He is somewhat studious, in a desultory manner, and is moderately skilled in penmanship. He has a general knowledge of music, and can beat the drum after a fashion. In body he is well proportioned. He came to court and paid his respects, with Qazi Khan of Badakhshan, between Jaunpur and Agra, when the Emperor was returning from his expedition to Patna. Although he does not study assiduously he is naturally somewhat ready in etymology, and it gradually becomes evident that he has understood the whole drift of any stiff argument.
The following verses are his:—
“Thou hast made a stranger the object of thy regard. What means this? Thou hast cast out the slave from thy regard. What means this? I have seen nobody in this age to equal thee in beauty and grace. But thou hast destroyed the value of beauty. What means this?”
“What remedy is there but death for this sick body? Go, physician, waste not thy pains on me.”
Nowadays it is reported that he boasts that he has written answers to most of the odes in the divans of ancient and modern poetry. He came from Thaṭṭha and obtained a post in the Emperor's service. The following verses are by him:—
“Why didst thou needlessly pass by the unworthy? And, if it was necessary to pass by him, why didst thou glance towards him?
Thou wert in talk with a stranger, and, when thou sawest me from afar, If thou didst not completely veil thyself from me, why didst thou draw thy veil but a little?
“When I arrived, and thou wert in talk with a stranger, Thou didst distract his attention, and then glance covertly towards me.”
“Fusūnī made his obeisance to thee merely to deceive others, Had it not been for this, such a worthless wretch would have been unworthy of making his obeisance.”
“When she had, after making a thousand promises, shown me her face but once, She then, for fear of strangers, showed it but for a moment and went.”
“He who is slain by the glance of the beloved closes not his eyes, As he draws his last breath he is dazzled by the face of his slayer.”