Muntakhab al-tawarikh 368: CLIX. VUQŪ‘Ī OF NĪSHĀPŪR.
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 368
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CLIX. VUQŪ‘Ī OF NĪSHĀPŪR.
368.1
He was a relation of Shihābu-d-dīn Ahmad Khān and his name was Muhammad Sharīf. Alas, that such a noble name should be borne by such a vile fellow! For he was more heretical than any person who, in this brief age, was known by the same and is enrolled in that band of poets who are entitled gentlemen of the suite. In imitation of that qasidah by Shaikh Nizami of Ganja (may God rest his soul,) which begins, “I am king of the kings of learning, by means of the excellence of my grace of language The earth and the age have taken on themselves the likeness of the sky,” he wrote the following qasidah:— “I can scarcely contain myself in my excellence when the wine of my songs in its vat Rends the clothes on my body, when sublime realities seethe within me. Waylay me not with foolish stories, for, with the fire of high resolve I desire to raise a steam from my brain and my eyes throughout the night. I have become the trusted adviser of those who hasten towards reunion (with the Beloved) For I never return a boastful answer. I am the dog of the threshold, but all night I gnaw my collar, For the desire of hunting seizes me, not the intention of watching.” The following verses also are by him:— “Although for an age I have girt up my loins in thy service what rank have I gained? I should have become a Brahman had I so often girt myself with the sacred thread.”
368.2
“I travel on a deadly road, not knowing to what end it may lead “The torment of the stranger’s hard-heartedness has cast fire into my heart, For though thou afflictest him a hundred times he turns not to thee.” “Beneath the wound of thy sword I flinch not intentionally; It may be that I give thee some knowledge of my weakness.” “She reminds me of the restlessness which I suffer in her absence, One would think that once in the days of my youth she had asked me how I did.” “For each one of the fair that I see I experience such ecstasies of love, That the fire of desire for her leaps into flame in my soul.” “Every hour thou accusest me of some fresh fault, As thou seekest only to vex me I wonder not at this.” “I wish not to be questioned at the day of judgment, For I fear that I should have to tell what I have suffered in my love for thee.” “Thou vexest none but me, and I am glad That thou hast such dealings with none but me.” “In the night of absence from thee I suffer grief in a hundred forms, In the midst of the sighs and lamentations which my mouth utters.”
368.3
“One can see from without the burning of my heart in my body, name. He was not a Nuqṭavī pure and simple nor a Ṣabāḥī pure and simple, but was betwixt and between these two sects damned by God and cursed by the people, and believed in cycles and held the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, nay, he contended and strove for these doctrines. One day in Bhimbar, which is a city on the border of the highlands of Kashmir, he came to my lodging in order to ask me to accompany him into Kashmir. He saw some slabs of rock, weighing over thirty-five tons each, lying about, and said sorrowfully ‘These unfortunates are awaiting the time when they shall put on human form.’ In spite of all these vile beliefs he has written qaṣīdahs in praise of the holy Imāms (may the acceptance of God be on them all), but these must have been written when he was young. In penmanship, letter-writing and accounts he had wonderful skill, and although he was not studious he had devoted some attention to Arabic works on history and had acquired familiarity with their style. The following few couplets are by him:— “In order that my lamentations in thy absence may not betray my secret, I pray that my weakness may utter no sound in the night of my sorrow.” “How will shame allow me to raise my head when thou seest me? For my love for thee has made thy name the talk of all tongues.”
368.4
It may be that will yet give thee a feeling heart. I die of jealousy when I consider that love for thee Gives to each heart which it enters pain eternal. By night when I light my heart with thoughts of thee The burning glow of my heart is a lamp to the seven heavens.” He wrote this qasīdah in praise of her holiness the lady who is the shining one of paradise and the chief of women, (may God accept her), but when it came to me in this form I found it to be one of his blasphemous compositions, and I have therefore not considered it right to quote any of the encomiastic couplets. Sharif’s death occurred in A.H. 1002 (A.D. 1593-94). He left many valuable books behind him, but they were lost in the deep sea and found their way to the ocean which surrounds the world.