Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 4.14.8

4.14.8

As soon as night came on, an infinity of fires and imitative stars threw out at once such a blaze as seemed to dispute of pre-eminence with the starry host of the firmament, and to reproach it with its inferior twinkling. Whilst the artificial parterres, by the variety of their colours, and the different shades of their hues, gave the beholder an idea of the celebrated gardens of Irem. Pleasures and shews of all sorts, as well as splendid entertainments, followed each other with so uninterrupted a profusion, that the lowest man in the city could partake of them, as well as the highest; and surprise, delight, and hilarity would run after every one of the spectators, like so many beings put in motion by some animal instinct. Such were the throngs and the crowds of attendance, and such the concourse of spectators, that the streets and markets of such an immense city seemed to have become narrower, and each of them more uneasy than the heart of a lover in despair; and, on the other hand, pleasure and joy were enlivening every face with such a bloom of florid freshness that the flowers of the gardens were stung with the pangs of envy, and roses felt themselves seated on the thorns of jealousy. At last, after several days of so animated a scenery, the Emperor attended by his whole Court, repaired to a noble hall of Hossein-aaly-khan's palace, where an illustrious assembly was waiting for him;