Livro IV - Mulfuzāt, Capítulo II

I appointed four righteous Ministers to govern my dominions, the first of these was the praiseworthy Mahmūd, commonly called the _Meteor of Khorasān_, the next was Nasir Addeen; I gave them positive orders that they were never to advise me to do any thing that was unjust, that they themselves should never deviate from the path of rectitude, nor mis-represent evil for good, that they should always tell me the truth, and never deceive me by falsehood, and that they should not pry into the wealth and property of my subjects.

For I had been informed that whenever God Almighty exalts any person to the throne of Sovereignty, he confers on him special dignity and wisdom, by means of which he renders mankind obedient to him, this virtue is a ray of the Grace of God which shines on the Monarch, and as long as he is grateful for that favour, his fortune and dominion continue to increase.

Thus when I reviewed my army in the plains of Anatolia, and found that it extended fifteen miles in length, I considered that this innumerable host were all obedient to me, and returned thanks to God, for having made so many of his creatures subservient to my will, although but a weak mortal like themselves.

When I mentioned this subject to the learned of my court, they said, the Grace of God has thrown on you a Divine ray, which is called “the Shadow of God,” as the Prophet hath said, “a just King is the shadow of God,” by means of which shadow a just Monarch keeps mankind in subjection, and from the dread of that shadow, the people are obedient, and his power and authority become current over the empire; wherefore as long I have been seated on the throne of Sovereignty, I have been ever grateful for that favour, and have constantly paid respect to the orders of God, by shewing kindness to his creatures, and have always conducted myself with equity and justice.

In consequence of this determination, when I had reached my twenty-first year, I resigned the guidance of my conscience into the hands of the Pole star of religion, Shaik Zyn Addeen Abu Beker, _Tatyabady_, upon which occasion he bound round my loins his own shawl-girdle, he then placed his _own_ cap on my head, and put on my finger a ruby ring, on which was engraved, (Rāsty va Rūsty) Righteousness and Salvation, and said, “the aurora of your good fortune will shortly dawn, for I have seen by inspiration, that in obedience to the orders of the chief of the descendants of the Prophet (Aly) a man of God will become your tutelar Saint, it is not convenient that you should _now_ see him, but, the time will come, when he shall see you, and you shall see him.” Thus when I was seventy years of age, and was returning in A. H. 806, from the conquest of Anatolia, I paid my respects to the Kutb al Aārifyn, (Pole star of Wisdom), Shaikh Sudder Addeen Ardebelly, and having begged his blessing, requested that he would allow one of his disciples to accompany me, to be my spiritual guide; he replied, “in the Mountain of _Salaran_, there is a fountain, the water of which is sometimes cold, sometimes warm, go thither, and the first person that shall come there to perform his ablutions, and say his prayers, will be your guide:” in compliance with the commands of the Shaikh, I went up to the fountain, performed my ablutions, and having said my prayers, waited with anxiety to see who should come; to my great surprise, the first person who came to the fountain in the morning, made his ablutions and prayed, was my Head Groom, (Myr Akhūr); the second and third day, the same circumstances were repeated, I was astonished and said to myself, surely the Shaikh has made a mistake, but addressing myself to the man, I said, “O Syed, I have hitherto considered you as one of my inferior servants, how is it that you have attained this dignity and honour;” he replied, by order of the _Kutb al Aktab_, (Star of Stars), even from the very commencement of your Sovereignty, I have been the firm supporter of your government; he then began to say his prayers, in which I joined him; during this religious act, I experienced both delight and inspiration. When we had finished our prayers, he said, “O Prince you are at this moment the Guest of God, whatever the guest asks of his host, is gratuitously given;” accordingly I wished for Faith, he replied, “the faith in Muhammed is eternal; it is a city where those who encompass it proclaim, ‘there is no God but God,’ and those in the interior reply, ‘it is known there is no God but God;’ That city is the Gate of Gates, and those who enter or come forth from it, are constantly repeating those words;” at this time I bent down my head in prostration, when I again raised my head, I saw that my companion had resigned his soul to his Creator; I was much affected. When I reported the circumstances I had seen to the Shaikh, he replied, “the arrangement of the affairs of every country, and the power of placing and displacing of Monarchs, with the bestowing of Kingdoms on the Worthy, and taking them from the Unworthy, is in the hands of the True Worshippers, who are the Agents of God; every country has its peculiar Guardian, or Patron Saint, appointed by the _Kutb al Aktab_, whilst the Guardian supports the Monarch, the country flourishes, but otherwise it falls to decay: as long as the Guardian exists, the State prospers, but whenever he is withdrawn it declines, and if another Patron is not appointed in his stead, that dominion is shortly subverted.” The Shaikh continued, “the Man of God, who had charge of the Kingdom of _Kyser_, died this year, on which account you have been easily victorious over him.” I considered this was a warning, that my turn would soon come, but as I had still hopes that another Patron would be appointed in the room of my deceased saint, I made an offering to the Shaikh of four thousand captives, natives of that country, (Rūm) in order to supplicate his intercession.

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Footnote 13:

See Appendix IV.

Footnote 14:

The Shaikh must have received some imperfect information of the Patron Saints of Europe, unless the invention is Asiatic, but I fear this passage will be thought very obscure.

Footnote 15:

_Cæsar_, being the title assumed by Bajazet and other Ottoman Emperors.

Footnote 16:

See Appendix IV.