The Nāṣirī Generations 66.9

66.9

The temperature began to rise, and not one of his Court had the courage to represent that it would be well to return to the land of Bukhara. The climate of Bukhara agreed with a number of the nobles and great men. They urged Amir-i-Mu’azzi that he should, by means of verse, bring the charms and beauties of the villas and gardens of the city of Bukhara to the imperial hearing, so that Kamal-uz-Zaman might, at an opportune time, sing it, accompanied with lutes. Amir Mu’azzi, who was the Chief of Poets, or Poet-Laureate, and who, along with forty other adepts [in the art], was in the habit, on days of entertainment and at banquets, of recounting the deeds of the Sultan, and [of whom] it is related, that the whole of these [poets] were of his clan and followers, accordingly composed the following strophe: and the Minstrel, Kamal-uz-Zaman, early one morning, when the Sultan had taken his morning draught of wine, played it with such feeling and touching effect, that the Sultan, half-dressed as he was and in his slippers, came forth, mounted on horseback, and took neither rest nor repose until he reached the appointed destination: