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.

  • Niẓāmī ʻArūz̤ī, active 1110-1161.
Date:
1921
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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.

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    “ When I recited these verses ‘Ala’u’d-Dawla warmly ap¬ plauded me, and by reason of his applause the King gave me a thousand dinars. Then ‘Ala’u’d-Dawla said, ‘ He hath not yet received his salary and allowances. To-morrow I will sit on the Minister’s skirt until he writes a draft for his salary on Ispahan, and orders his allowances to be paid out of the treasury.’ Said the King, ‘ Thou must do it, then, for no one else has sufficient assurance. And call this poet after my title.’ Now the King’s title was MuHzziid-Dunya wa'd-Din, so Amir ‘Ah' called me ‘Master Mufizzf.’ ‘Amir Mufizzi',’ said the King, [cor¬ recting him]. And this noble and nobly born lord so wrought for me that next day, by the time of the afternoon prayer, I had received a thousand dinars as a gift, twelve hundred more as allowances, and likewise an order for a thousand maunds of corn. And when the month of Ramadan was past, he summoned me to court, and caused me to become the King’s boon-companion. So my fortune began to improve, and thenceforth he made continuing provision for me, and to-day whatever I have I possess by the favour of that Prince. May God, blessed and exalted is He, rejoice his dust with the lights of His Mercy, by His Favour and His Grace! ” Anecdote XVII. The House of Saljuq were all fond of poetry, but none more so than Tughanshah ibn Alp Arslan1, whose conversation and intercourse was entirely with poets, and whose favourite com¬ panions were almost all of this class—men such as Amir Abu ‘Abdu’llah Qurashi, Abu Bakr Azraqf2, Abu Mansur the son of Abu Yusuf3, Shuja‘1 of Nasa, Ahmad Badfhi4, Haqi'qi and Na- si'mi, all of whom were ranked in his service, while many others kept coming and going, all departing with gifts and joyful countenances. One day the King was playing backgammon with Ahmad Badi'hf. They were finishing a game for [a stake of] ten thousand [? dirhams\ (t *) and the Amir had two pieces in the sixth house and 1 His full names and titles were Sham su’d-Daw la Abu' l-Fawdris Tughanshah ibn Alp Arslan Muhammad ibn Chaghri Beg ibn Mikd'il ibn Saljuq. During the reign of Alp Arslan he governed Khurasan from Herat. By Rida-quli Khan (Majmaiu'l- Fits aha, i, 139) and other biographers he has been confused with Tughanshah ibn Mu’ayyad Ay-aba. See the Editor’s note on the text, pp. \Y- — \Yy, where many passages from poems in his praise by Azraqi are cited. 2 See Note XX at the end, and the Editor’s long note on pp. tYt— \YA of the text; ‘Awfi’s Lubab, ch. x, No. 3; Dawlatshah (pp. 72-73 of my ed.), Tabaqa n, No. 1; and Majma'-Fl-Fusahd, vol. i, pp. ut. 3 Abu Mansur ‘Abdu’r-Rashid ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Yusuf al-Hirawi. See ‘Awfi’s Lubdb, vol. ii, p. 1 \. A few lines lower in this story the author mentions having met him at Herat in 509/hi5-6. 4 Majma'u’l-Fttsaha, i, p. \ V\. His laqab was Majdu’d-Din and his nisba Sajawandi.