التاريخ اليميني 46.1

46.1

When the Sultan Yamīn al-Dawla wa-Amīn al-Milla had finished the affair of Khwārazm, which had been joined, like one of its sisters, to the rest of his realms adorned with the marks of his rule and streaked with the colours of his justice and care, he decided to seal the page of the year with the stamp of completion, resting the mounts and riders and turning over in his heart the plan of a raid. So he turned to Bust, like the sun that has inclined to the north and passed the point of the equinox, the world there [being] like the borders of silk cloaks, or the ten-verse markers of Qurʾāns, or necklaces on throats, or the breasts of maidens come of age. He administered its affairs and deliberated over what would best protect it, until God permitted him to return to Ghazna, raising clouds of thought about a raid that would confirm the inimitability of the Qurʾān in what it contains of the promise of God the Bountiful to make His religion, restored through the lord of mankind, master of desert and town, Muḥammad, crown of creation and lamp in the darkness, God bless him and grant him peace, and his family, the choicest of the noble and righteous, prevail over all religion, even if souls be vexed, cheeks abased, and noses rubbed in the dust.