The Book of Akbar 145: CHAPTER XX.

145

His Majesty Jahānbānī Jannat-Āshiyānī Naṣīru-d-dīn Muḥammad Humāyūn Pādshāh-i-Ghāzī.
Theatre of great gifts; source of lofty inspirations; exalter of the throne of the Khilafat of greatness; planter of the standard of sublime rule; kingdom-bestowing conqueror of countries; auspicious sitter upon the throne; founder of the canons of justice and equity; arranger of the demonstrations of greatness and sovereignty; spring of the fountains of glory and beneficence; water-gate for the rivers of learning; brimming rain-cloud of choiceness and purity; billowy sea of liberality and loyalty; choosing the right, recognizing the truth; sole foundation of many laws; both a king of dervish-race and a dervish with a king’s title; parterre-adorning arranger of realm and religion; garland-twiner of spiritual and temporal blossoms; throne of the sphere of eternal mysteries; alidad of the astrolabe of theory and practice; in austerities of asceticism and spiritual transports, a Grecian Plato (Aflātūn-i-Yūnānī); in executive energy and the paths of enterprise, a second Alexander (Iskandar-i-s̱ānī); pearl of the seven oceans and glory of the four elements; ascension-point of Suns and dawn of Jupiter; phoenix (Humā) towering to the heights of heaven,—Nāsiru-d-dīn Muhammad Humāyūn Pādshāh-i-Ghāzī,—May God sanctify his soul!
Great God! 'twas as if the veil of humanity and the elemental screen had been cast over a holy spirit and a sacred light. The open plain of language narrows in the quest of his praises, and the parade-ground of indication remains league upon league distant from the city of his virtues. God be praised that the time is nigh when I may withdraw my hand from lofty genealogy and plunge it in the skirt of my real intent. I now essay an abridged account of the astonishing actions of his Majesty Jahānbānī Jannat-āshiyānī, for this is at once a preliminary nigh to my far-seen goal and a commentary forming part of the history of my saint and sovereign (Pīr u Pādshāh). By unveiling the reflected godhead of the divine lord, I shall satisfy the thirsty-lipped with the sweet waters of knowledge and bring my own parched heart near the shore of the sea of the com-