Muntakhab al-tawarikh 359: CXLYII. Nishani.

359

He is Maulana ‘Ali Ahmad, the son of Maulana Husain Naqshi of Dihli, the seal-cutter, who was a learned man, saintly in religion, and was the instructor of the eldest prince. Both father and son attained the greatest proficiency in this art (of seal-cutting), but especially the Maulana named above (‘Ali Ahmad) whose own engraved seal is the exemplar of the age. Coins of which the dies have been cut by him are taken as talismans and relics to Iraq, Khurasan and Transoxiana. He is endowed with the accomplishments of learning and with such perfections as a man can possess, but this lesser accomplishment and mercenary art (of seal-cutting) has obscured all his great natural gifts, and for this reason he has not received that training and that position in military affairs and in the service of the state to which he is entitled. Had he attained the honourable rank which was his due he would have been in no way inferior to any of the more famous Amirs. He is deeply read in astronomy and natural philosophy, Which I had long ago, rolling in dust and blood like a bird half slain.