Muntakhab al-tawarikh 77.1.3

77.1.3

I have heard from trusty friends, that the last time the late Emperor honoured Qandahar with his presence, Shah Abu-l-Ma‘ali one evening, having drunk too much wine, slew in his bigotry a zealous Shi‘ah. When the heirs of the murdered man came to demand justice, and the Emperor sent for Shah Abu-l-Ma‘ali, he put on the dead man’s robe of black velvet lined with (P. 10) red and blue, and putting the hanger, burnished bright, the very same with which he had despatched him, under his skirt, swaggered drunken into the royal assembly, and denied the deed. Bairam Khan on the occasion quoted these lines: “ His dishevelled locks of hair To night-debauch confess ; Lo ! a blazing proof is there, The lamp beneath his dress.” The Emperor was exceedingly delighted; but the blood of that innocent one was hidden in the dust, and his murder was never proved. In short, when the royal Amirs summoned Abu-l-Ma‘ali to the assembly on the occasion of the Accession, he returned answer, that he had an excuse and could not come; the second time they sent the message, that the Council was sitting and waited his presence, again he made excuse and sent some message of empty compliments, which Bairam Khan, thinking it the best course to pursue, accepted. But, when he came afterwards, Bairam Khan gave the order to Tulak Khan Qurchi, a man of great bodily power, who at that moment appeared on the scene like a spider’s web [ready to catch a fly];