تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 12.29.3

12.29.3

'Or have you forgotten?' He reminded me of an incident that befell me on visiting Shaykh Shihāb al-Dīn, son of the Shaykh of Jām, and how the sultan had wanted to kill me for it, as will be related; so I turned back and did not visit him! Amīr Ghadhā was released from his prison at noon. The sultan showed him neglect, abandoned the governorship he had ordered for him, and wanted to banish him! The sultan had a brother-in-law called Mughīth son of Malik al-Mulūk, and the sultan's sister used to complain of him to her brother until she died; her slave-girls stated that she had died because of his ill-treatment of her. There was a blemish in his lineage, so the sultan wrote in his own hand: 'Let the foundling be expelled,' meaning him, and then wrote: 'And let the mūsh-khwār be expelled,' meaning 'eater of mice'! By this he meant Amīr Ghadhā, because the desert Arabs eat the jerboa, which resembles a mouse! He ordered the two of them to be sent out. The officers came to him to take him out; he wanted to go into his house and bid farewell to his family, but the officers came one after another demanding him, so he went out weeping! At that time I went to the sultan's palace and spent the night there. One of the amīrs asked me why I was staying the night, and I told him: 'I have come to speak on behalf of Amīr Sayf al-Dīn so that he may be brought back and not banished.' He said: 'That will not happen.' I said to him: 'By God, I will spend the nights in the sultan's palace, even if it comes to a hundred nights, until he is brought back.' This reached the sultan, who ordered him to be brought back and ordered him to serve Amīr Malik Qabūla al-Lāhūrī. He remained four years in his service, riding when he rode and travelling when he travelled, until he was disciplined and refined! Then the sultan restored him to his former position, granted him lands as a fief, put him in command of troops and raised his rank.