Muntakhab al-tawarikh 61.2.1

61.2.1

Suddenly check to the king happened to Muhleo: It would have been checkmate had not the piece Kenya protected him as ‘Arz.’ It is said that after this victory Sher Shah on several occasions used to say, "I have sold the empire of the whole of Hindustan for a handful of millet." Returning thence and making over the fortress of Rantambhur to his son ‘Adil Khan, he gave him leave for a few days to visit the fort, and put the garrison in order, when he was to follow his father. The writer has heard from a trustworthy source, that one day while on that expedition Mir Saiyyid Rafi'u-d-Din, the renowned and unique traditionist now pardoned and absolved, who has been already mentioned, said to Sher Shah, "All my ancestors were authors of authoritative compositions and used to give instructions in the two sacred cities. I alone of all my family have become so helpless and powerless that in search of the gold and fame of Hindustan I am blindly wandering. I beseech your Majesty to grant me permission to depart, so that at the end of my days I may be able to relight the lamp of those venerable ancestors of mine. Seeing that I was not worthy to succeed those mighty intellects who have gone before me, My hands have spoiled many books, my ignorance has wasted many parchments.