Untitled

46 .
SECOND
DISCOURSE. ON POETS
"So my* father's salary and 'allowances 1
\tere transferred to me,
and I became Malikshtih's court-poet, and spent a year in the
King's service; yet during this time I was unable to see hhn '
Sf.ve once Jrom a distance, nor did I get one dinar of my salary
or one maund of my allpwances, while my expenditure was in-
creased. I became involved in debt, and my brain was perplexed
by my affairs. For that great Minister ttae Nizamu'1-Mulk (may
God be merciful to him !), had no opinion of poetry, because he
had no skill in it; nor did he pay any attention to any one
except religious leaders and mystics.
" One day it was the eve of the day on which [the new
moon of] Ramadan was due [to appear], and I had not a forthing
for all frhe expenses incidental to that month and th6 feast which
follows
marz
it I went thus sad at heak to the Amir 'All ibn Far'a-
2
'Ala'u'd-Dawla, a man of royal parentage, a lover of poetry,
and the intimate cpmpanion of the King, with whom he was
connected by marriage and enjoyed the highest honour, and
before whom he could speak boldly, for he held high rank under(
that administration. And he had already been my patron.
'
I said, May my lord's life be long ! Not all that the father
could do (tv) can the son do, nor does that which accrued to the
father accrue to the son. My father was a bold and energetic
man, and was sustained by his art, and the martyred King Alp
Arslan, the lord of the world, entertained the highest opinion of
him. But what he could do that can I not, for modesty forbids
me, and my retiring disposition supports it. I have served- [this
prince] for a year, and have contracted debts to the extent of a
thousand dinars, and ,have not received a farthing. Crave permission,
then, for thy servant to go to Nishapur, and discharge
his de"bts, and live on that which is left over, and pray for this
victorious Dynasty.'
"'Thou speakest truly,' replied Amir 'Ah' : ',We have all
been at fault, but this shall be so no longer. The King, at the
time of Evening Prayer, will come out to look for the new moon.
Thou must be present there, and we will see what chance Fortune
will offer.' Thereupon he at once ordered me to receive a hundred
dindrs to defray my Ramadan expenses, and a purse 3
containing
1
According to the Editor's note (p. \1^ of the texj.) jdmagl is equivalent to the
modern mawdjib or mustamirri, and means wages in cash, while ijrd (the modern
jtra) means allowances, especially in kind,
i
2
'Ali ibn Faramarz the Kakwayhid is intended. See S. Lane-Poole's Muhemmadau
\T\-\Y- of the text. , is
Dynasties, p. 145, and Mirza Muhammad's note on pp. He
called Ddmdd ("son-in-law," but here in the wider sense of "sib") because in
469/1076-7 he married Malikshah's paternal aunt, Arslan Khatiinj widow