تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.28.4-9

13.28.4

أو التدريس أو المشيخة أعطيته ذلك! فسكت الجميع لأنهم كانوا يريدون تحصيل الأموال والانصراف إلى بلادهم! وتكلم أمير بخت ابن السيد تاج الدين الذي تقدم ذكره، فقال: أما الوزارة فميراثي، وأما الكتابة فشغلي، وغير ذلك لا أعرفه، وتكلم هبة الله ابن الفلكي فقال مثل ذلك، وقال لي خذاوندزادة بالعربي: ما تقول أنت يا سيدي؟ وأهل تلك البلاد لا يدعون العربي الا بالتسويد، وبذلك يخاطبه السلطان تعظيما للعرب، فقلت له: أما الوزارة والكتابة فليست شغلي، وأما القضاء والمشيخة فشغلي وشغل آبائي، واما الامارة فتعلمون أن الأعاجم ما أسلمت إلا بأسياف العرب! فلما بلغ ذلك إلى السلطان أعجبه كلامي. وكان السلطان بهزار أسطون يأكل الطعام فبعث عنا فأكلنا بين يديه وهو يأكل، ثم انصرفنا إلى خارج هزار اسطون وقعد أصحابي، وانصرفت بسبب دمل كان يمنعني الجلوس فاستدعانا السلطان ثانية فحضر أصحابي واعتذروا عني، وجئت بعد صلاة العصر فصليت بالمشور المغرب والعشاء الآخرة.

or teaching, or the office of shaykh, I shall give it to him!" Everyone was silent, because they wanted to acquire wealth and go back to their countries. Amīr Bakht son of al-Sayyid Tāj al-Dīn, mentioned above, spoke and said: "The vizierate is my inheritance and secretaryship is my occupation; anything else I do not know." Hibat Allāh b. al-Falakī spoke and said the same. Khudhāwandzāda said to me in Arabic: "What do you say, my lord (sayyidī)?" — the people of that country address an Arab only as "sayyid", and the Sultan addresses him so, out of respect for the Arabs. I said to him: "The vizierate and secretaryship are not my occupation; the judgeship and the office of shaykh are my occupation and that of my forefathers; and as for command, you know that the Persians embraced Islam only by the swords of the Arabs!" When this reached the Sultan, my words pleased him. The Sultan was in the Hazār Usṭūn eating a meal, and he sent for us, and we ate in his presence while he ate. Then we went out of the Hazār Usṭūn and my companions sat down, but I left because of a boil that prevented me from sitting. The Sultan summoned us a second time; my companions attended and made my excuses. I came after the afternoon prayer and prayed the sunset and night prayers in the council hall.

Each, of course, gave an answer suitable to his wishes. For my own part, I answered, I have no desire either for rule or writership; but the office both of judge and of magistrate, myself and my fathers have filled. These replies were carried to the Emperor, who commanded each person to be brought before him, and he then gave him such appointment as would suit him; bestowing on him, at the same time, a dress of honour, and a horse furnished with an ornamented saddle. He also gave him money, appointing likewise the amount of his salary, which was to be drawn from the treasury. He also appointed a portion of the produce of the villages, which each was to receive annually, according to his rank. When I was called, I went in and did homage. The Vizier said: The Lord of the world appoints you to the office of judge in Dehli. He also gives you a dress of honour with a saddled horse, as also twelve thousand dinars for your present support. He has moreover appointed you a yearly salary of twelve thousand dinars, and a portion of lands in the villages, which will produce annually an equal sum. I then did homage according to their custom, and withdrew.

13.28.5

ثم خرج الحاجب فاستدعانا فدخل خذاوند زادة ضياء الدين، وهو أكبر الإخوة المذكورين فجعله السلطان أمير داد ، وهو من الأمراء الكبار فجلس بمجلس القاضي، فمن كان له حق على أمير أو كبير أحضره بين يديه، وجعل مرتبه على هذه الخطة خمسين ألف دينار في السنة، عين له مجاشر فائدها ذلك المقدار، فأمر له بخمسين ألفا عن يد، وخلع عليه خلعة حرير مزركشة تسمى صورة الشير، ومعناه صورة السبع لأنه يكون في صدرها وظهرها صورة سبع، وقد خيط في باطن الخلعة بطاقة بمقدار مازركش فيها من الذهب، وأمر له بفرس من الجنس الأول، والخيل عندهم أربعة اجناس، وسروجهم كسروج أهل مصر، ويكسون أعظمها بالفضة المذهبة.

Then the chamberlain came out and summoned us. Khudhāwandzāda Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn, the eldest of the brothers mentioned, went in, and the sultan made him amīr dād, who is one of the great amīrs: he sits in the seat of the qāḍī, and whoever has a claim against an amīr or a great man, [the amīr dād] brings him before him. He fixed his salary for this office at fifty thousand dinars a year, assigned him villages whose revenue amounted to that sum, ordered fifty thousand to be given him in cash, and bestowed on him a robe of honour of embroidered silk called ṣūrat al-shīr, meaning 'the figure of the lion', because on its front and back there is the figure of a lion; and inside the robe a label is sewn stating the amount of gold embroidered into it. He also ordered him a horse of the first breed — horses with them are of four breeds — and their saddles are like the saddles of the people of Egypt, and they cover the greater part of them with gilded silver.

13.28.6

ثم دخل أمير بخت فأمره أن يجلس مع الوزير في مسنده، ويقف على محاسبات الدواوين، وعين له مرتبا أربعين الف دينار في السنة، أعطى مجاشر فائدها بمقدار ذلك، وأعطى أربعين ألفا عن يد، وأعطى فرسا مجهزا، وخلع عليه كخلعة الذي قبله، ولقب شرف الملك.

Then Amīr Bakht went in, and he ordered him to sit with the vizier on his cushion and to examine the accounts of the government offices. He assigned him a salary of forty thousand dinars a year, and he was given villages whose revenue matched that amount, and he was given forty thousand in cash and a fully equipped horse, and a robe of honour like that of the one before him was bestowed on him, and he was given the title Sharaf al-Mulk.

13.28.7

ثم دخل هبة الله ابن الفلكي فجعله رسول دار ، ومعناه حاجب الأرسال وعين له مرتبا أربعة وعشرين الف دينار في السنة، أعطي مجاشر يكون فائدها بمقدار ذلك، وأعطى

Then Hibat Allāh ibn al-Falakī went in, and he made him rasūl dār, meaning chamberlain of the envoys, and assigned him a salary of twenty-four thousand dinars a year; he was given villages whose revenue would match that amount, and he was given

13.28.8

اربعة وعشرين الفا عن يد، وأعطى فرسا مجهزا، وخلعة، وجعل لقبه بهاء الملك، ثم دخلت فوجدت السلطان على سطح القصر مستندا إلى السرير والوزير خواجة جهان بين يديه والملك الكبير قبولة واقف بين يديه فلما سلمت عليه، قال لي الملك الكبير: اخدم، فقد جعلك خوند عالم قاضي دار الملك: دهلي، وجعل مرتبك اثنى عشر الف دينار في السنة، وعين لك مجاشر بمقدارها وامر لك باثنى عشر الفا نقدا تاخذها من الخزانة غدا إن شاء الله واعطاك فرسا بسرجه ولجامه، وأمر لك بخلعة محاريبي وهي التي يكون في صدرها وظهرها شكل محراب، فخدمت وأخذ بيدي فتقدم بي إلى السلطان فقال لي السلطان لا تحسب قضاء دهلي من أصغر الأشغال، وهو اكبر الأشغال عندنا، وكنت أفهم قوله ولا أحسن الجواب عنه وكان السلطان يفهم العربي ولا يحسن الجواب عنه، فقلت له: يا مولانا على مذهب مالك وهؤلاء حنفية، وأنا لا أعرف اللسان، فقال لي: قد عينت بهاء الدين الملتاني وكمال الدين البجنوري ينوبان عنك ويشاورانك وتكون أنت تسجل على العقود، وأنت عندنا بمقام الولد، فقلت له: بل عبدكم وخديمكم، فقال لي باللسان العربي: بل أنت سيدنا ومخدومنا، تواضعا منه وفضلا وإيناسا، ثم قال لشرف الملك أمير بخت، وإن كان الذي رتبت له لا يكفيه لانه كثير الانفاق فأنا أعطيه زاوية إن قدر على اقامة حال الفقراء وقال: قل له هذا بالعربي، وكان يظن أنه يحسن العربي، ولم يكن كذلك، وفهم السلطان ذلك، فقال له بروويكجا بخصبي وآن حكايه بر او بگوي وتفهيم كني تا فردا إن شاء الله بيش من بيايي جواب أو بگوي ، معناه امشوا الليلة فارقدوا في موضع واحد، وفهمه هذه الحكاية فإذا كان بالغد إن شاء الله تجيء الي وتعلمني بكلامه.

twenty-four thousand in cash, a fully equipped horse and a robe of honour, and his title was made Bahāʾ al-Mulk. Then I went in and found the sultan on the roof of the palace, leaning against the throne, with the vizier Khwāja Jahān before him and the great malik Qabūla standing before him. When I greeted him, the great malik said to me: 'Make obeisance, for Khwand ʿĀlam has made you qāḍī of the royal seat, Dihlī, has fixed your salary at twelve thousand dinars a year, has assigned you villages to that amount, has ordered you twelve thousand in cash, which you will take from the treasury tomorrow, God willing, has given you a horse with its saddle and bridle, and has ordered you a miḥrābī robe' — that is one on whose front and back there is the shape of a miḥrāb. So I made obeisance, and he took my hand and led me forward to the sultan, and the sultan said to me: 'Do not think the qāḍī-ship of Dihlī one of the least of offices; it is the greatest of offices with us.' I understood what he said but could not answer it well, and the sultan understood Arabic but could not answer well in it. So I said to him: 'O Mawlānā, I follow the school of Mālik, and these people are Ḥanafīs, and I do not know the language.' He said to me: 'I have appointed Bahāʾ al-Dīn al-Multānī and Kamāl al-Dīn al-Bijnawrī to act as your deputies and consult you, and you will sign the contracts; and you are with us in the place of a son.' I said to him: 'Rather, your slave and your servant.' He said to me in the Arabic tongue: 'Rather, you are our master and the one we serve,' out of humility, graciousness and kindness on his part. Then he said to Sharaf al-Mulk Amīr Bakht: 'If what I have assigned him is not enough for him, since he spends a great deal, I will give him a hospice, if he is able to keep up the state of the poor.' And he said: 'Tell him this in Arabic.' He supposed that he knew Arabic well, but it was not so, and the sultan realised it and said to him: 'Barawīd yakjā bakhuspī wa ān ḥikāya bar ū bigūy wa tafhīm kunī tā fardā in shāʾ Allāh pīsh-i man biyāyī jawāb-i ū bigūy,' meaning: 'Go tonight and sleep in one place, and make him understand this matter; then tomorrow, God willing, come to me and inform me of what he says.'

13.28.9

فانصرفنا وذلك في ثلث الليل، وقد ضربت النوبة، والعادة عندهم إذا ضربت لا يخرج أحد فانتظرنا الوزير حتى خرج وخرجنا معه، ووجدنا أبواب دهلي مسدودة فبتنا عند السيد أبى الحسن العبادي العراقي بزقاق يعرف سرابور خان، وكان هذا الشيخ يتجر بمال السلطان ويشتري له الأسلحة والأمتعة بالعراق وخراسان.

So we withdrew, and that was a third of the way through the night, and the nawba had been sounded; the custom with them is that once it is sounded no one goes out. So we waited for the vizier until he came out, and we went out with him, and we found the gates of Dihlī shut, so we spent the night with al-Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan al-ʿAbbādī al-ʿIrāqī in a lane known as Sarābūr Khān. This shaykh traded with the sultan's money and bought arms and goods for him in ʿIrāq and Khurāsān.