The Institutes of Humāyūn 1: Origin of this Work.

1

When this humble and insignificant slave, Ghiyāsu-d din, son of Humāmu-d din, alias Khondamir,—may God facilitate all difficulties to him! — obtained the honour of meeting this great king, and the rays of royal kindness shone on the surface of his hopes and circumstances, he conceived the desire and entertained the idea in his mind that he would describe, as a memorial for future days, some of the works and inventions of this monarch; because the histories of kings, by means of the black water of ink, which has the effect of the water of life, are immortalized, and the great names and writings of clever authors, by virtue of their praises of celebrated kings, are stamped on the page of time. For instance, the excellencies of Mahmud were described by 'Utbi and 'Unsuri, and the poems of Mu'izzi and Anwari celebrated the character of Sanjar.
"Who would remember Hakim Anwari, Had he not spoken about Sanjar and his works? Because 'Utbi conferred praises on Mahmud, Therefore he obtained the object of his desire. Sharaf was celebrated in the world, Because he wrote the eulogy of Timur Gurgan."
Although the compiler of this book, on account of his having little knowledge and possessing no ability, withheld his tongue from commencing the history of this renowned monarch's exploits and deeds, and did not allow the pen which possessed two tongues to describe the character of this most prosperous king, yet he always entertained that desire in his faithful heart, and the intention never forsook his mind. One night which was full of light, this insignificant man (the author), having obtained the honour of being present in His Majesty's Court at Gwalior, was ordered to sit down, and the fingers of the generosity of that sun of the heaven of glory opened the gates of kindness to him, and the tongue of that king of kings, who was as dignified as Alexander the Great, pronounced these pleasing words: "It seems proper and desirable that the inventions of my auspicious mind, and the improvements of my enlightened understanding, should be arranged in a series, and written down, in order that in future ages the light of these happy works may shine among the people of countries near and remote." Consequently the writer, who was wishing for a long time that such an order might pass, engaged, like his pen, in writing these very interesting subjects; and having commenced to mention the wonderful inventions, he has imparted eloquence to the pen which possesses two tongues. He hopes that through the favour of the Almighty God, these pages, which contain useful things, will meet the approbation of the most clever characters of the high Court, and that they will view these lines of the book of eloquence with the eye of acceptance, and overlook the mistakes which may have been committed therein by the deficient tongue of the pen.