The Book of Akbar 138.1

138.1

Whene’er a design takes root in the bosom of an auspicious one, on whose honoured head God, the World-arranger, hath placed the diadem of true sovereignty, and whose lofty intellect is set on obeying the behests of the Lord of Lords, his action rises above the petty views of the vulgar, and he achieves success in realm and religion (dīn u dunyā). The wondrous deeds of his Majesty Gītī-sitānī Firdaus-makānī are an instance of this, for as his felicity increased so also did his wisdom, and in proportion as the causes of dizziness augmented, so also did his prudence become enhanced. He ever took refuge in the Divine Unity, and in the administration of justice and the management of State affairs, never deviated a hair’s breadth from the highway of reason. And at this time when Rānā Sangā, in the pride of his numbers and courage and with his brains full of boastful madness, began to act presumptuously, and to remove his foot from the circle of equanimity, and was drawing nigh with the stride of boldness, he (Bābar) made the favour of God his stronghold, and gave no admission to the attacks of dismay but proceeded to quell that ill-fated disturber of the Age. On Monday, 9 Jumāda-l-awwal (11th February, 1527), he marched out from Agra to extirpate this sedition, and pitched his camp in the neighbourhood of the city.