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FARRUKHI'S SUCCESS . '39<br />
ANECDOTE XV,<br />
:.:/..<br />
Farrukhi was a native of Sistan, and was the son of Julugh,<br />
the slave of Amir Khalaf-i-Banu 1 . He possessed' excellent<br />
talents, composed pleasing verses, and was a dexterous performer<br />
on the harp ; and he was retained in the service* of one of the<br />
dihqdns of Sistan, who gave him a yearly allowance of two<br />
hundred measures of corn, each containing five maunds, and a<br />
hundred dirJiams in silver coinage of Nuh, which amply sufficed<br />
for his needs. But he sought in marriage a woman of KhalaPs<br />
clientage, whereby his expenses were increased and multiplied<br />
in all directions 2<br />
that 'Farrukhi remained without sufficient<br />
, 50<br />
provision, nor was there in Sistan anyone else save his 3 nobles.<br />
"<br />
He therefore appealed to the dihqdn saying, My expenses have<br />
been increased how would it be if the ; dihqdn, having regard to<br />
his generosity, should make my allowance of corn three hundred<br />
measures, and make my salary one hundred and fifty dirhams, so<br />
'that my means may perhaps be equal to my expenditure ? " The<br />
diJiqdn wrote on the back of the appeal, " So much shall not be<br />
refused you, but there is no possibility of any further increase."<br />
Farrukhi, on hearing this, was in despair, and made enquiries<br />
of such as arrived and passed by to hear of some patron in some<br />
region or part of the world who might look upon him with favour,<br />
so that he might chance on a success ; until at length they in-<br />
forme,d him that the Amir Abu'1-Muzaffar-i-Chaghani<br />
in Cha-<br />
ghaniyan 4 was a munificent patron of this class, conferring on<br />
them splendid presents and rewards, and was at that period unrivalled<br />
in this respect amongst the kings of the age and nobles<br />
6f the time. So Farrukhi set out thither, having composed t\te<br />
qasida beginning :<br />
" With caravan/or Hilla boundfrom Ststdn did I start,<br />
With fabric* spun within my brain and woven by my heart?<br />
In trutH it is a fine rhapsody in which he has admirably described<br />
the Poetic* Art, while as a panegyric it is incomparable.<br />
So Farrukhi, having furnished himself with what was necessary<br />
for the journey, ^set out for Chaghaniyan. And when he<br />
i<br />
'<br />
/.^..the Amir Abii Ahmad Khalaf ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf ibn<br />
Layth as-Saffarf, King of Sistdn, whose mother, called Bdmi ("the Lady"), was the<br />
daughter of 'AmPibn Layth. He died in captivity in 399/1008-9.<br />
2<br />
,See the fiarhang-i-Aujuman-drd-yi-Ndsiri, s.v. **Jj 3 <br />
*J.e. Khal*f5.<br />
4<br />
Or, in its Arabicized form, Saghanidn, a place in Transoxiana, near Tirmidh and<br />
Qubadhiyan. See de Goeje's Bibl. Geogr. Arab., where it is mentioned repeatedly.<br />
.<br />
*