The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c16.s1.3

c16.s1.3

“I render allegiance to my chief and sovereign, ‘Abd-u’llah ibn ‘Abd-u’llah Abū Ja‘far Imām Qā’im bi-amr-i’llah, Commander of the Faithful, and make a vow of being obedient to him . . . As he is our sovereign and lord . . . it is incumbent on us and all followers of Muḥammad to obey him, to follow his advice, to recognize his leadership and to cherish him . . . I will never doubt this; I will not fail him; I will not turn to any one except him; I will be a friend to his friends and an enemy to his foes . . . I will never consider it justifiable to turn against him in any circumstances and at any time and will do nothing which may go against this vow . . . And whereas this oath of allegiance is like a collar on my neck, . . . if I break it or a part of it . . . openly or secretly, explicitly, or on some pretext, explaining it away by ambiguous interpretations . . . let it amount to my not believing in the Holy Qur’ān, in Him Who has revealed it and in him through whom it has been revealed, and my turning away from Allah and His Apostle . . . Everything that I possess at the time of taking this oath or which may come into my possession during the rest of my life . . . shall no longer remain my (lawful) possession . . . If I do not fulfil this oath that I have taken, may Allah not accept my repentance or amends and may He punish me on the day when I have to look to Him . . . for His support . . .” (Baihaqī, pp. 370-374.)