English
In Praise of Sultan Mahmud
Since the Creator first shaped the world,
no guardian like him has ever appeared.
When the sun set its crown upon the sky,
the earth grew bright as gleaming ivory.
But how shall I say who that shining sun was,
the one whose light spread through the world?
Abul Qasim, that king of victorious fortune,
placed his throne above the crown of the sun.
He adorned the world from east to west,
and from his splendor rose a mine of gold.
My sleeping star awoke,
and many thoughts stirred within my mind.
I knew the time for words had come:
now the old world would be made new.
Musing on the king of the earth,
one night I fell asleep, my lips full of praise.
My heart, like a lamp in that dark night,
lay awake, open-hearted, its lips sealed.
My bright spirit saw in a dream
a radiant candle rising up from the water.
The whole lapis-blue face of the night
turned to yellow ruby from that candle.
Field and plain became like silk brocade,
and a turquoise throne came into view.
On it sat a king bright as the moon,
a crown upon his head in place of a helmet.
His army stretched in ranks for two miles,
and at his left stood seven hundred mighty elephants.
A pure minister stood before him on his feet,
guiding the king toward justice and faith.
My head grew dizzy at the king's splendor,
at those great elephants and so vast an army.
When I beheld that royal face,
I asked those famous nobles:
Is this the sky and moon, or crown and throne?
Are those stars before him, or an army?
One replied: this is the king of Rome and India,
from Kannauj to the shores of the Sindh.
Iran and Turan are his servants,
living by his counsel and his command.
He adorned the face of the earth with justice,
and only then set the crown upon his head.
The world-ruler Mahmud, the great king,
brings lamb and wolf to drink side by side.
From Kashmir to the shores of China,
kings sing his praises.
When a child's lips leave its mother's milk,
the first word it speaks from the cradle is Mahmud.
No one turns his head from his command,
nor dares to break his covenant.
You too must praise him, for you are a poet,
seeking through him a lasting name.
When I awoke, I sprang from my place,
after how long I had stood in the dark night.
I recited praise upon that king;
I had no coins, so I scattered my life instead.
I said in my heart: this is the answer to the dream,
for his name brings blessing to the world.
Praise be to him who blesses,
to that wakeful fortune and this blessed land.
By his splendor the world became like a spring garden,
the air full of clouds, the earth full of adornment.
The clouds sent down their rain in season,
and the world became like the garden of Iram.
All that is good in Iran comes from his justice;
wherever there are people, he is on their minds.
At the feast he is a sky of generosity;
in battle he is a dragon with sharp claws.
In body a mighty elephant, in soul Gabriel,
in hand a winter cloud, in heart the river Nile.
The proud fortune of his enemy, before his wrath,
is as worthless as a coin in his eyes.
He takes no tribute or treasure by force,
nor does his heart darken at war or hardship.
Everyone he has raised,
whether free men or good-hearted servants,
each of them, like true friends of the king,
has bound his belt firmly to obey his command.
First is his younger brother,
whose humanity has no equal.
A servant of glory and victory in the world,
he lives happily in the shade of the king of the age.
The one whose father was Nasir al-Din:
the head of his throne is the crown of the Pleiades.
And next the brave commander of Tus,
who toys with lions in battle.
He gives away every coin he gains from the world,
and from the world he receives only praise in return.
He guides the people toward God,
and wishes the king's crown to endure.
May the world never lack a king and crown;
may he always live, joyful and eternal.
May his body ever thrive with crown and throne,
free of pain and grief, of victorious fortune.
Now let me return to the start of my task,
to the famous chronicle of the kings.