Muntakhab al-tawarikh 379.7

379.7

Forsaking the custom of authors, who have in respect of each of their works of whatever sort, a hundred hopes of favour from the age and from the people of the age, and, having dedicated a work to somebody, make it a means of being admitted to the intimacy of kings, of begging for rewards, and of attaining their objects: I, without desire or expectation (of material gain, but) seeking aid from God, trusting in Him, and firmly laying hold of the skirt of his universal favour and his bounty well-known in bygone times, have placed these, my first fruits on the dish of speech merely for the sake of virtuosos among those to come, who may be desirous of, and anxious for, information regarding our times, that haply its flavour may please the palates of their souls, and also that some relish from the morsels on the table of their favour may become the lot of the palate of the compiler of the work, who is, as it were, their gardener. If thou drink wine, pour a draught out on the ground, Fear not that sin which carries some gain to others! I shall now explain what it was that originally led me to collect these fragments.