Revised translation of the Chahár maqála : ("Four discourses") of Nizámí-i-ʼArúdí of Samarqand, followed by an abridged translation of Mírzá Muhammad's notes to the Persian text / by Edward G. Browne.

  • Nizami Aruzi
Date:
1921
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Revised translation of the Chahár maqála : ("Four discourses") of Nizámí-i-ʼArúdí of Samarqand, followed by an abridged translation of Mírzá Muhammad's notes to the Persian text / by Edward G. Browne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    36/210 page 16
    grew more vexed, and broke out in anger, saying, “ I was his father’s servant, but when my master passed from this transitory to that eternal abode, he entrusted him to me, not me to him. Although, to outward seeming, I should obey him, when you closely examine this matter a contrary conclusion results, seeing that I am in the last stages of old age, and he in the first stages of youth. Those who have impelled him to act thus are destroyers of this Dynasty, not counsellors, and are overthrowers of this House, not supporters.” Then in extreme ill-temper he instructed Iskaff saying, “When thou answerest this letter omit no detail of disrespect; and I desire that thou shouldst write the answer on the back of the letter.” So Iskaff answered it on the spur of the moment, and first wrote as follows : “In the Name of God the Merciful the Clement. 0 Null, thou hast contended with us and made great the contention with us. Produce, then, that zvherewith thou tlireatenest us, if thou art of those who speak trulyxd When this letter reached Nuh ibn Mansur the Amir of Khurasan, he read it, and was astonished; and all the gentlemen of the Court were filled with amaze, and the scribes bit their fingers [in wonder]. And when the affair of Alptagfn was dis¬ posed of, Iskaff fled away privily, for he was fearful and terrified; until suddenly Nuh sent a messenger to summon him to his presence, and conferred on him the post of Secretary (H). So his affairs prospered, and he became honoured and famous amongst the votaries of the Pen. Had he not known the Quran well, he would not have hit upon this verse on that occasion, nor would his position have risen from that degree to this limit. Anecdote III. When Iskaff’s affairs waxed thus prosperous, and he became established in the service of the Amfr Nuh ibnJVtansur, Makan son of Kakuy1 2 rebelled at Ray and in Kuhistan, withdrew his neck from the yoke of obedience, sent his agents to Khwar and Simnak, captured several of the towns of Kumish3, and paid no heed to the Samanids. Nuh ibn Mansur was afraid, because this was a formidable and able man, and set himself to deal with this matter. He therefore ordered Tash, the Commander-in-chief, to 1 Qur'an, xi, 34. 2 The chronological difficulties involved in these two stories are considerable, for the rebellion of Makan ibn Kakuy occurred in 329/940-1, towards the end of the reign of Nasr II ibn Ahmad, i.e. long before the rebellion of Alptagin (see n. 2 on p. 15 supra). See Defremery’s Samanides, pp. 248 and 263-264. See Notes IV and V at the end. a Better known as Qumis, the arabicised form of the name. See B. de Meynard’s Did. Geogr., Histor.,et Lilt, de la Perse, pp. 454-455. For the three other towns mentioned, see the same work, pp. 213, 317 and 318.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3