Muntakhab al-tawarikh 78.32.2

78.32.2

It was during these days that Abu-l-Fazl, son of Shaikh Mubarak of Nagor, came the second time to Court. He is now styled 'Allámi. He is the man that set the world in flames. He lighted up the lamp of the Sabáhis, illustrating thereby the story of the man who, because he did not know what to do, took up a lamp in broad daylight, and representing himself as opposed to all sects, tied the girdle of infallibility round his waist, according to the saying: “He who continually takes the offensive, does not commit himself as to his true opinions.” He laid before the Emperor a Commentary on the Ayat-ul-Kursi, which contained all the subtleties of the Qur’an; and though people said it was written by his father, Abul-Fazl was much praised. The numerical value of the letters in the words Tafsir-i-Akbari gives the date of the composition. But the Emperor praised it, chiefly because he expected to find in Abu-l-Fazl a man capable of teaching the Mullas a lesson (whose pride certainly resembles that of Pharaoh), though this expectation was opposed to the confidence which his Majesty had placed in the author of these pages. The reason of Abu-l-Fazl’s opinionativeness and pretensions to infallibility was this.