Muntakhab al-tawarikh 374: CLXIII. VĀQIFĪ.

374

He was a facetious and jovial man. Leaving ‘Irāq he went on a pilgrimage to the Hijāz and thence travelled for India by sea. The sailors ran the ship into a whirlpool and disappeared in the sea of annihilation, but he, reaching the shore of safety, entered the dominions of Ibrāhīm Qutb Shāh of the Dakan. There he engaged in a wrestling bout with one of the wrestlers of that country, and threw him. The wrestler’s comrades, actuated by envy and rancour, put some poison into Vāqifī’s cup. The catastrophe of his death occurred in A.H. 977 (A.D. 1569-70). The following verses are quoted as a memorial of him:—
"My heart goes warily along its road, and I fear That some sorrow is following it. My darling, thou art become so harsh-tempered That no one can surpass thee in harshness of temper."