Firishta's History (Gulshan-i Ibrāhīmī) 19.2

19.2

Boozoorjmehr, after comprehending the game of chess, is reported to have won several games from the ambassador who brought it, and who was famed for his skill in the game of "Nurd," which it is said was invented on this occasion by Boozoorjmehr, the minister of the Persian king. The present of the chess-board was said to be intended as an experiment of the genius of the minister, and to indicate, that in the great game of state, attention and foresight were of more importance than chance; while the book, in its whole tenour, strongly inculcated that wise maxim, that wisdom is always in the end an overmatch for strength. The nurd table, which was returned, signified, that attention and foresight alone cannot always ensure success; but that we must play the game of life, according to the casts of fortune.