Muntakhab al-tawarikh 78.26.1

78.26.1

“ Thy servants in the field of battle are like tailors, Though they are not tailors, O King conqueror of realms ! By the ell of the spear they measure the stature of thine enemies, That they may cut them up with the sword, and sew them with arrows.” After the victory was gained, the Emperor ascended a hill which skirted the field of battle, and applied himself to investigating the individual acts of prowess of the combatants, when suddenly Ikhtiyar-ul-mulk, who had been employed in keeping Khan-i A'zam from joining the Emperor, when he heard the news of the defeat of the Mirzas, left off blockading the city and made his appearance on the open plain. Great commotion was observable among his men, and a great hubbub arose, so the Emperor ordered a body of men to discharge arrows at them. They raised a terrific shout of “ Ya Mu'in !” and stretched on the dust of death the band which was marching in advance of Ikhtiyar-ul-mulk. Now Husain Khan was of the number of the very foremost in the conflict, so that the Emperor presented him with his own crescent cimeter which was the most renowned of cimeters. And Ikhtiyar-ul-mulk having broken his bridle fled with one rein, till his horse fell into a bed of prickly-plants, like an ass into clay, and the swift-footed steed of his life also lost its footing, and became the spoil of the Turk of Avenging Death. Sohráb Bég Turkman, who was pursuing him, came up and seized him.