The Book of Akbar 9: CHAPTER I.
The Akbarnama (H. Beveridge), vols. I–II 9
- Language
- English
CHAPTER I.
9.1
Verse. O Lord, by the lamplight of Thy Essence, By the ocean pearls of Thy Attributes, By those holy Ones (prophets and saints) who come forth like pure roses, Whose souls are washed by the fountains of the sun. Grant a jewel to my fortune's crown; Grant a star to my exaltation’s heaven; Grant a moonlight to my chamber. Which may disperse the darknesses of the Universe; Irradiate my existence by a sun, That the nine heavens may come within my adoration. Give perpetuity to my afflicted soul. So that, if death come by a hundred ways, I may not die.
9.2
Of a truth, a son who will be one’s successor and take one’s place on the glorious throne, is something which is a compensation for life,—for which there is no compensation,— and is a substitute for bye-gone years. He is the fruit of life’s garden and a celestial lantern, fed from the oil of the Divine bounty. He kindles the family lamp of the whole line of ancestors and fixes it firmly on the throne of fortune. He lengthens and broadens the shades of justice and glory over the heads of mortals. Especially, if he be such a rare and exquisite product and so consummately dutiful that, if he be called Primus of the Poles of Saints, it is but proper, and if he be termed the knot in the grand chain of sovereignty, Father of Fathers, and Great Ancestor, it is but just and in accordance with the real facts. It is exceptionally suitable that a king who in succession to a line of ancestors is placed on a throne of rule and sway, and is world-dominating and world-adorning, should have an illustrious successor and such an one is of all men, the most eager in this quest.
9.3
At length, on 4th Rabi'u-l-awwal, 947, of the lunar (Hijra) era (Friday, 10 July, 1540) his Majesty Jahanbani Jannat-ashiyani had, after paying his devotions to the Author of bounty, laid for a time his head on the pillow of repose and his limbs on the couch of tranquility, when, suddenly, under the auspicious veil of sleep,—hence called the cabinet of secrets—he became aware that God, (Glory be to Him) was bestowing on him an illustrious successor whose greatness shone from his forelock, and the lightning of whose splendour was flashing from his temples. From the light of his guidance, the dark regions of thoughts and opinions were illuminated, and the glory of his justice was lighting up the fields of night and day. It is in accordance with the communication which was made by the messengers of the invisible world regarding his Majesty (Akbar) that the glorious name of that divine masterpiece exalts at the present day, pulpits and proclamations. The superscriptions of the gold and silver coins also tell of it. When his Majesty awoke, he first returned thanks to God for the majestic message and splendid grace and then told the circumstance to the intimates of his harem and the servants of his threshold. Verse. A sleep which tore the veil from before the eyes of the soul. Cannot be called sleep; it was the heart's waking.
9.4
Sharif Khan related that when his brother Shamsu-d-din Muhammad Khan Atga was in Ghazni, in the 22nd year of his age, he dreamt he saw the moon come into his arms. He related the fact to his venerable father Mir Yar Muhammad Ghaznavi who was a spiritually-minded householder, and the latter rejoiced at the happy appearance of the auspicious circumstance and interpreted it to mean that God would, one day, bestow a great privilege upon him which would be the means of exalting their family. And so it turned out, for by the blessings of that full Moon of glory of the heaven (Akbar) the family was raised from the nadir of the dust to the zenith of heaven. Another circumstance was communicated by religious, right-thinking persons, viz. that when her Highness Miryam Makani—may the shadows of her glory be eternal—was pregnant with the holy elements of his Majesty, a strange light was perceptible from her bright brows. Often her divine countenance had to observers, the appearance of mirrors such as are fastened by tirewomen near the temples of secluded chaste ones. And the star of fortune sang this strain with the tongue of ecstasy. Verse. I placed the clouded brow on the path of fortune, I hung a thousand mirrors on the forehead.
9.5
One day, near the time of the auspicious birth, her Highness Miryam Makani was riding on a camel. On the way, her eye fell on a mango-garden. As at such a time, there is an inclination for sub-acid drinks and for sour-sweet fruits, she bade her half-brother, Khwaja Mu'azzam fetch some mangoes. The Khwaja brought some, and was giving them into her blessed hand when he saw a light upon her glorious brows like that from a mirror. He said, “Have you put a mirror on your forehead?” She replied, “I have not attached any mirror. What are you referring to?” Then the Khwaja looked narrowly and saw that her Highness’ shining forehead was lighted by the light of God. He marvelled at the light eternal and mentioned the circumstance to several of the confidential courtiers. His statement was to the effect, that the glory of the divine light so streamed from the shining brows that he had not strength to gaze steadily at it.
9.6
The venerable mother of Khan A'zam Mirza 'Aziz Kokaltash, who was his Majesty’s nurse, related the following anecdote. “One morning, before I had the good fortune to hold this supreme office, a great light approached me and entered my bosom. I felt as if the world-warming Sun had fallen into my breast. A strange condition supervened and a great astonishment laid hold of me so that all the parts and particles of my body were moved and shaken, as by excess of joy and ecstacy. And the exquisiteness of that delight still suffuses me (lit. still possesses every hair of me). And from the time of that white dawn of the morning of majesty and beauty and rose-blooming of fortune and glory, I was on the watch, thinking, ' O God ! what will be the result of this sublime feeling ? ' At length, I was exalted to this lofty service which is the treasure of realm and religion (dīn u dunyā) and of trust." Hemistich. “ Fortune is what comes to our bosom without trouble."
9.7
“ God be praised ! What a blessing it was that came to my “ bosom and what a fortune was received within my breast. “ Though externally, I was strongly made for the service of that “ sublimely-born pearl, yet in reality, it was Fortune who inclined her “ face towards me and supported me and my family. Whenever “ I took his Majesty on my shoulder, auspiciousness raised me from “ the dust. Accordingly, by the blessing of this service which was “ destined for me, a great grace and a lucky star were conferred on me. “ And I and my family became famous throughout the seven climes." Another story was told by Maulānā Nūru-d-dīn Tarkhān and some others who were in attendance on the Court, viz., that near the emergence of the sun of fortune (Akbar), his Highness Jahānbānī was recreating himself in a room which had latticed windows, and the formula of the rectification of the glorious birth was before him.
9.8
Suddenly rays of divine light shone from the lattices, so that all who were privileged to be present, both small and great, perceived them. Those who were entitled to speak, asked his Highness Jahanbani the meaning of the phenomenon, and he replied, “A rose of the rose-garden of the Khilafat will just now come into bloom, and a child of light will emerge from the hidden chamber of magnificence and glory, and from the gorgeous sarai of Honour and Fortune and plant his foot in the circle of existence. The refulgence of his greatness will melt the hearts of the enemies of the State in the crucible of destruction, and confer new splendour and glory on our race and family. Nay, rather, the night-chamber of the universe will acquire grandeur and beauty from his world-lighting rays.” Mir ‘Abdu-l-hai Sadr, one of the purely-born, related as follows:—“One morning, his Highness Jahanbani Jannat-ashiyani was bowed down in reverie, and seemed much distraught. After a time, he raised his head and exclaimed, “Praise be to God the Gracious, the lamp of our royal family has been relit.” On my asking the meaning of his giving thanks, his Highness replied, “While I was in a state of “wakeful sleep, a brilliant star emerged from a certain quarter (here his Highness pointed to the region where the glorious parturient was) and rose higher and higher every moment. And as it ascended, its size and brilliance increased, until its light had embraced the greater portion of the world.
9.9
I asked a holy man what the luminous body was, and he replied that it was the light incarnate of my successor, and that whatever part of the earth had been shone upon by this world-illuminating ray, would come under his dominion, and be civilized by the light of his justice.” Two days after this vision, the news came of the ascension of the auspicious star above the horizon of hope, and when the period of the spiritual manifestation and holy vision was compared, it appeared that the auspicious birth and the delivery of the miraculous message had occurred at one and the same time.” When such an illustrious progeny is the lot of an eminent man, why should such a communication not be vouchsafed? And when such a boon followed, why should there not have been such a reverie, and such an interpretation? Such things may appear extraordinary to superficial observers and to materialists, but the pure-minded and far-seeing conjectured before the event, and knew with certainty afterwards that this was the shining of the world-lighting star and that the message betokened the darkness-destroying sun. And to those who have had the bliss of being long in the service of this Lord of the World and of understanding his glorious qualities, the appearance of such portents is no stumbling-block.
9.10
Nor is it hidden from the acute and scrutinising that though Maulana Sharafu-d-din 'Ali-i-Yazdi has in the Zafarnama taken a superficial view of things and stayed Qaculi Bahadur’s true vision and Tumana Khan’s interpretation at His Majesty the Lord of Conjunction (Timur) and has explained the eighth shining star that issued from Qācūlī Bahādur’s breast and lighted up the world, of the appearance of his Majesty the Lord of Conjunction who is the seventh ancestor of his Majesty (Akbar), yet it is clear to the minds of those far-sighted light-dwellers who understand hermeneutics and the secrets of the dream-world that to explain seven stars as seven persons whose heads were not exalted by the diadems of rule, nor were seen on the dominion-adorning Divan of excellence, is remote from the principles of interpretation and the significance of dreams. Rather those seven stars are seven world-adorning potentates, and the world-radiating light is the holy personality of his Majesty the King of Kings who hath by the light of his Being illumined the terrene and terrestrials. It is the auspicious Akbar who was the resplendent light which arose from the breast of that Jupiter of good fortune (Qācūlī Bahādur). Although the latter be, numerically his Majesty’s fifteenth ancestor, yet among those there are seven stars of the zodiacal Sign of greatness and having the light of this world-illuminating King of Kings emblazoned on the foreheads of their biographies.
9.11
These seven out of the fifteen have been distinguished for greatness and world-adornment, and the eighth of the noble band is his Majesty the King of Kings. The light of their rectitude has made the horizons brilliant, and in the noble series of the fifteen great ones, there has been given the glorious vesture of spiritual and temporal sovereignty to this perfect witness of Divine Power, and he has been made light-bestower of the inner and outer worlds. This explanation is not hidden from the subtle investigators of real significations. On this account a synopsis of the perfections of this series will be found in this noble volume, and
Linked texts (1)
- Akbarnāma — Abū'l-Faḍl ʿAllāmī 1589, Persian