The Rashīdī History 199.1

199.1

Kabul; Shah Muhammad Sultan stayed in Badakhshan with Mirza Khan. On hearing of the conquest of Kashghar, he went to join the Khan, who loved, and treated, him as his own son. He was brought up in the special apartments of [the Khan's] children, and when he was grown up, the Khan gave him his full sister, Khadija Sultan Khanim, as a proof of his love and a token of his perfect regard for him. [Couplet]. . . . We spent most of our time in each other's society. During nine years Shah Muhammad Sultan, Baba Sultan and I had remained continually in the Khan's service. Like the three dots under the letter Sin in Said, we were never separated, nor did we leave his service for a moment on any pretext. Our worldly goods we shared in common, and were participators in each other's praise and blame. . . . For nine years this unanimity of feeling and action continued. But at length the crooked wheel of fortune worked a change. . . . In the spring following the winter in which Baba Sultan fled, a strange circumstance happened to Shah Muhammad Sultan. The details are as follows. There was, at this time, a certain Baba Sayyid, son of the sister of Mirza Muhammad Begjik, for whom Shah Muhammad Sultan conceived a great friendship. But Baba Sayyid was a young man who, from the first, passed the limits of decency and moderation. [Verses concerning impiety and immorality]. . . . The remonstrances, reproofs and advice of the Khan and myself were in vain;