مسالك الابصار في ممالك الامصار 2.117

2.117

These are the secretaries of the chancery, to the side of the place, where the Sultan's gaze does not fall on them. The tables are spread, and the chamberlains present the petitions to the chief chamberlain—he is the Ḥājib Khāṣṣī, placed over all—who lays them before the Sultan. Then, when the Sultan rises, he sits with the confidential secretary and conveys to him the letters with what the Sultan has ordered in that matter, and he dispatches them. Then, when the Sultan rises from the session, he sits in a private chamber and summons the scholars; those accustomed to it attend, and he sits with them, converses familiarly with them, eats with them, and talks with them—they are his inner circle. Then he dismisses them and withdraws with his boon companions and singers: at times he enjoys conversation, at times he is sung to. In every case, in assemblies and in private, he is chaste in seclusion and pure of conduct, calling himself to account for his movements and his silences, mindful of God in secret and in public; he commits nothing forbidden and allows no latitude in it.