حبیب السیر 17: The learned men who flourished during Mahmud's reign.
Habíbu-s Siyar of Khondamír (extracts) 17
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The learned men who flourished during Mahmud's reign.
17.1
Among the learned men who flourished during the time of Sultan Mahmud, one was 'Utbi, who composed the Tárikh-i Yamini, which is an account of the descendants of Subuktigin. That book has been translated Abu-s Sharaf Nasir bin Zafar bin Sa'du-l Munshi-l Jarbadkani, and the translation is well known among men. Another of the learned men of that time was 'Unsuri, who was the greatest poet of his age, and was always composing odes and quatrains in praise of Sultan Mahmud. The following is one of his quatrains : — " You are that monarch whom in the east and west, Jews, Fire-worshippers, Christians, and Musulmans Name when they count their beads, and ejaculate the praises of God, Saying, Oh God, give me an end that is laudable (Mahmud)." They say that 'Unsuri composed many verses in praise of Sultan Mahmud, and out of the many books which he wrote in the name of the Sultan there was one book, viz., Wamik o 'Azra. which is now lost. Another of the poets, who was a panegyrist of the Sultan Mahmud was 'Asjudi, who derived his origin from Merv. When Somnat was taken he composed a kasidah in praise of the Sultan of laudable virtues, the beginning of which runs thus : " When the acute-minded Sultan made his expedition to Somnat, He made his own exploits the standard of miracles."
17.2
Another of the poets contemporary with Sultan Mahmud was Farrukhi, who, from the excessive generosity of the Sultan, having amassed great wealth, determined to go to Samarkand. When he drew near that city, he was attacked by highwaymen and plundered of all that he had. Having arrived in Samarkand he showed himself to nobody, but after a few days he hoisted the flag of his return, having given utterance to the following lines : — " I have seen all the charms of Samarkand, I have looked upon its gardens, its villas, its valleys, and its deserts. But since my purse and my pockets are without dirhams, My heart has folded up the carpet of pleasure from off the court-yard of hope. From the learned men of every city I have heard that there is one Kausar and eight paradises ; I have seen thousands of rivers and thousands of paradises : But what profit if I always return with a thirsty lip ? The eye seeing wealth, and not having the money in the hand, Is like a head cut off in the midst of a golden basin."
17.3
Firdusi was another one of the poets contemporary with Sultan Mahmud : his history is well known. It is written in the books of learned authors, that during his first years Firdusi took great pleasure in versification. It happened that at one time he received ill-treatment from somebody, upon which he set out for Ghaznin, which was the royal residence of the Sultan Mahmud, with the intention of lodging his complaint. When he arrived near that city, he saw in a certain garden three persons who were sitting together, and seemed to be very intimate. He conjectured that they were the servants of the Sultan, and said within himself, " I will go to them, and tell them some of my business ; perhaps I shall gain some advantage by it." When he came near the resting-place where 'Unsuri, 'Asjudi, and Farrukhi were sitting, those individuals were astonished at him and said, " He will spoil our quiet converse." They communed with one another, and agreed to tell this person that they were the poets of the Sultan, and that they held no intercourse with any one who was not a poet ; that they would recite three verses, to which it would be difficult to add a fourth, and that they would say that whoever would make a fourth verse would be admitted into their society, and unless he could do so he would be excluded.
17.4
When Firdusi arrived where they were sitting, they played off upon him that which they had determined among themselves. Firdusi said, " Recite your verses." 'Unsuri said, " The moon has no brightness like your cheek." Farrukhi said, " There is not a rose in the rose-garden like your face." 'Asjudi said, " Your eye-lashes pierce through a coat of mail." Firdusi, upon hearing those verses, instantly replied, " Like the spear of Geo in the fight with Pushan." The poets were astonished at his readiness, and inquired about the story of Geo and Pushan. Firdusi told them the story at full length, and accordingly, when he arrived at Court, he experienced kind treatment, and Mahmud told him that he had made a paradise of his Court, and it was owing to this that he assumed his titular name of Firdusi. Having afterwards been appointed to compose the Shah-nama, he wrote a thousand verses, and took them to the king, who highly applauded them, and made him a present of a thousand dinars. When Firdusi had finished writing the Shah-nama, he took the book, which contained 60,000 verses, to the Sultan, expecting that he would get a dinar for each verse, as he had done before ; but some envious persons of mean disposition, indulging their malignity, wondered what must be the value of that poet who was worth being exalted by such a large gift, and they made the Sultan give him 60,000 dirhams instead.
17.5
When Firdusi came out of the bath, and they brought those dirhams before him, he was exceedingly vexed at the circumstance, and gave 20,000 dirhams to the bath-keeper, 20,000 to a sherbet-seller who had brought some beverage for him, and the remaining 20,000 dirhams he gave to the person who brought the money. Having composed about forty verses, as a satire upon the Sultan, he introduced them into the beginning or conclusion of the Shah-nama, and fled to Tus. One day, some little time after this circumstance, Ahmad bin Hasan Maimandi was out hunting with the Sultan, and having come close to him, he repeated several verses out of the Shah-nama, which were exceedingly applauded by the Sultan, who asked whose poetry it was. He answered that the verses were the produce of the genius of Firdusi. The Sultan repented of his neglect of that incomparable poet, and ordered them to take 60,000 dinars with rich robes of honour to Tus, and to ask Firdusi's pardon. In the Bahdristan it is written that when those presents came in at one gate of Tus, the coffin of Firdusi was carried out at the other. An only daughter was his heiress, to whom the emissaries of the Sultan offered those honourable presents; but she, from the pride inherent in her disposition, refused them and said, "I have enough wealth to last me to the end of my days; I have no need of this money." The agents of the Sultan built a caravanserai in the neighbourhood of Tus with that money.
17.6
Afzalu-l Anam Maulana Nuru-d din 'Abdu-r rahman Jami has written these lines at the end of this story: "It is pleasing to recognize one's merits, when the crooked sphere Has bent the final arrow of misfortune into the shape of a bow. The honour of the Sultan has perished from the world, and there remains not anything Except this tale, that he recognized not the merits of Firdusi." According to the Guzida, Firdusi died in the year 416, but God knows everything!