The Book of Akbar 271.2

271.2

He used to observe and contemplate the strange make and ways of camels, which were the biggest animals in that region and, under the guise of amusement and metaphor, made serious reflections on the darvish-like constitution of those beasts—their endurance and patience, submission and resignation, their passive obedience even should the leading cord be in the hand of a child,—their being satisfied to eat thorns, and their endurance of thirst. He also applied his thoughts to the delight in an Arab horse which is a grand subject of dominion and exaltation, and carried off the ball of excellencies and of philosophy (hunarpardazi, love of science) with the polo-stick of the Divine help and of sempiternal instruction. And sometimes he opened the wings of his genius in the spacious atmosphere of meditation upon God and brought his contemplative mind to study the sport of pigeon-flying. He scattered grain in order to allure their timid breasts and proceeded from the superficial joy and ecstacy of these handfuls of wings and feathers to the recuperative and visible raptures of the lords of perfection, and thereby participated in the joys of the spiritual world. He carried his heart from the flying of these aerial fliers to the lofty soaring of the swift-winged ones of holy heaven, and under the guise of sport performed the work of adoration. Sometimes he would apply himself to coursing with dogs and thus occupy himself with sensuous things.