تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.30.1-11

13.30.1

وكنت حسبما ذكرته، قد استدنت من التجار مالا انفقته في طريقي وما صنعت به الهدية للسلطان، وما انفقته في إقامتي فلما أرادوا السفر إلى بلادهم ألحوا علي في طلب ديونهم فمدحت السلطان بقصيدة طويلة أولها:

As I have mentioned, I had borrowed money from the merchants, which I spent on my journey, on what I prepared as a gift for the Sultan, and on my stay. When they wished to travel back to their own countries, they pressed me hard for their debts, so I praised the Sultan in a long qaṣīda that begins:

When they prepared to return to their country, they importuned me to pay my debts, so I wrote a long poem in praise of the sultan and presented it to him. He received it with pleasure, and I was congratulated by everyone. After waiting for some time I wrote a petition and transmitted it to the sultan, who ordered the wazir to pay my debts. The wazir delayed for some days, and meanwhile received orders to proceed to Dawlat Abad. During this time the sultan had gone out hunting; the wazir set off, and I received nothing at all until some time later. When my creditors were ready to travel I said to them “ When I go to the palace, claim your debt from me according to the custom in this country,” for I knew that when the sultan learned of that he would pay them. Their custom is this; the creditor awaits the debtor at the door of the palace, and when the debtor is on the point of entering he says to him “ O enemy of the sultan, by the head of the sultan you shall not enter until you have paid me.” The debtor may not leave the place after that until he pays him or obtains a delay from him. They did this, and the sultan sent a chamberlain to ask the merchants the amount of the debt. They replied “ Fifty-five thousand dinars.” The sultan then sent the chamberlain to say to them “ The Master of the World says to you ‘ The money is in my possession, and I shall give you justice;

13.30.2

إليك أمير المؤمنين المبجلا ... أتينا نجد السير نحوك في الفلا

To you, revered Commander of the Faithful, / we have come, hastening our journey toward you across the desert.

13.30.3

فجئت محلا من علائك زائرا ... ومغناك كهف للزيارة أهلا

I have come as a visitor to a place of your exaltedness, / and your abode is a refuge worthy of visiting.

13.30.4

فلو ان فوق الشمس للمجد رتبة ... لكنت لأعلاها إماما مؤهلا

Were there a rank of glory above the sun, / you would be a leader fit for its highest point.

13.30.5

فانت الإمام الماجد الا وحد الذي ... سجاياه حتما أن يقول ويفعلا!

For you are the glorious, peerless imam / whose nature is bound to speak and to act!

13.30.6

ولي حاجة من فيض جودك أرتجي ... قضاها، وقصدي عند مجدك سهلا

I have a need that I hope your overflowing generosity / will fulfil, and my aim, before your glory, is easy.

13.30.7

أأذكرها أم قد كفاني حياؤكم ... فان حياكم ذكره كان أجملا!

Shall I mention it, or has your modesty spared me? / For to mention your modesty would be more fitting!

13.30.8

فعجل لمن وافى محلك زائرا ... قضا دينه، إن الغريم تعجلا!!

So hasten, for one who has come as a visitor to your abode, / the payment of his debt, for the creditor is in a hurry!!

13.30.9

فقدمتها بين يديه، وهو قاعد على كرسي، فجعلها على ركبته، وأمسك طرفها بيده وطرفها الثاني بيدي وكنت إذا أكملت بيتا منها أقول لقاضي القضاة كمال الدين الغزنوي:

I presented it before him while he was seated on a chair; he placed it on his knee and held one end of it in his hand and the other end in mine. Whenever I finished a verse of it I would say to the chief qāḍī Kamāl al-Dīn al-Ghaznawī:

13.30.10

بين معناه لخوند عالم! فيبينه ويعجب السلطان، وهم يحبون الشعر العربي، فلما بلغت إلى قولي: فعجل لمن وافى، البيت قال: مرحمة، ومعناه ترحمت عليك، فأخذ الحجاب حينئذ بيدي ليذهبوا بي إلى موقفهم، وأخدم على العادة، فقال السلطان: اتركوه حتى يكملها، فاكملتها وخدمت وهنأني الناس بذلك واقمت مدة وكتبت رفعا، وهم يسمونه عرض داشت، فدفعته إلى قطب الملك صاحب السند، فدفعه للسلطان، فقال له: امض إلى خواجة جهان، فقل له يعطي دينه، فمضى إليه وأعلمه، فقال: نعم، وأبطأ ذلك أياما، وأمره السلطان في خلالها بالسفر إلى دولة آباد، وفي أثناء ذلك خرج السلطان إلى الصيد وسافر الوزير فلم آخذ شيئا منها الا بعد مدة، والسبب الذي توقف به عطاؤها أذكره مستوفى وهو انه لما عزم الذين كان لهم علي الدين على السفر، قلت لهم: إذا أنا أتيت دار السلطان فدرهوني على العادة في تلك البلاد، لعلمي أن السلطان متى يعلم بذلك خلصهم، وعادتهم أنه متى كان لأحد دين على رجل من ذوي العناية وأعوزه خلاصه وقف له بباب دار السلطان، فإذا أراد الدخول قال له:

"Explain its meaning to Khwand ʿĀlam!" He would explain it, and the Sultan would be pleased, for they love Arabic poetry. When I reached my words "So hasten, for one who has come," the verse, he said: "Marḥamat," meaning "I have taken pity on you." Then the chamberlains took me by the hand to lead me to their standing place, so that I might make obeisance according to custom, but the Sultan said: "Leave him until he finishes it." So I finished it and made obeisance, and people congratulated me on it. I waited some time and wrote a petition, which they call ʿarḍ dāsht, and handed it to Quṭb al-Mulk, the lord of Sind, who handed it to the Sultan. He said to him: "Go to Khwāja Jahān and tell him to pay his debt." He went to him and informed him, and he said: "Yes," but it was delayed for some days, during which the Sultan ordered him to travel to Dawlat Ābād. Meanwhile the Sultan went out hunting and the vizier departed, so I received nothing of it until after some time. The reason its payment was held up I shall relate in full. It was this: when those to whom I owed the debt resolved to travel, I said to them: "When I come to the Sultan's palace, make a claim of 'darōhī' against me, according to the custom of that country," since I knew that the Sultan, once he learned of it, would pay them. Their custom is that when someone has a debt owed him by a man enjoying favour and cannot obtain its payment, he stands in his way at the gate of the Sultan's palace, and when the man wishes to enter he says to him:

13.30.11

دروهي السلطان ، وحق رأس السلطان، ما تدخل حتى تخلصني، فلا يمكنه أن يبرح من مكانه حتى يخلصه أو يرغب إليه في تأخيره! فاتفق يوما أن خرج السلطان إلى زيارة قبر أبيه ونزل بقصر هنالك، فقلت لهم: هذا وقتكم، فلما اردت الدخول وقفوا لي بباب القصر، فقالوا لي: دروهي السلطان، ما تدخل حتى تخلصنا! وكتب كتاب الباب بذلك إلى السلطان فخرج حاجب قصة، شمس الدين وكان من كبار الفقهاء فسألهم: لأي شيء درهتموه؟ فقالوا: لنا عليه الدين، فرجع إلى السلطان فأعلمه بذلك، فقال له: اسألهم كم مبلغ الدين؟ فسألهم، فقالوا له خمسة وخمسون ألف

"Darōhī of the Sultan! By the head of the Sultan, you shall not enter until you pay me!" Then he cannot leave his place until he pays him or begs him for a delay! It happened one day that the Sultan went out to visit his father's tomb and stopped at a palace there. I said to them: "This is your moment." When I wanted to enter, they stood in my way at the palace gate and said to me: "Darōhī of the Sultan! You shall not enter until you pay us!" The gate clerks wrote about this to the Sultan, and the chamberlain of petitions, Shams al-Dīn, who was one of the leading jurists, came out and asked them: "For what reason have you made a claim of darōhī against him?" They said: "He owes us a debt." He went back to the Sultan and informed him, and he said to him: "Ask them how much the debt amounts to." He asked them and they told him: fifty-five thousand