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MAS'UD-I-SA'D'S IMPRISONMENT ', '5*1
"Naught served tJx ends of statesmen save that 7, f
A helpless exile, should in fetters lie,
Nor do they dJem me safe within their cells,
Unless surrounded byt ten sentinelf j
Which ten sit ever by the gates and walls,
And ever one unto his comrade calls:
1Ho there ! On guard ! This cunning rogue is one
To fashion bridge and stepsfrom shade and sun / '
Why, grant I stood arrayedfor such h fight,
And suddenly sprangforth, attemptingflight,
* Could elephant or raging lion hope,
{Thus cramped in prison-cage, with ten to cope?
Can I, bereft ofweapous, take thefield, Or make of back and bosom bow and shield? "
So, by reason of his relation to Sayfu'd-I}awla, lie remained
1
imprisoned for twelve years in the days of Sultan Ibrahim, and,
2
911 account of his like relation to Abu Nasr of Pars , for eight
years more in the reign of Sultan Mas'ud ibn Ibrahim, though
none hath been heard of who hath produced so many splendid
elegies and rare gems of verse as were born of his brilliant genius.
After eight years Thiqatu'1-Mulk Tahir ibn 'All ibn Mushkan 3
brought him forth from his bondage, so that, in short, during
these two reigns this illustrious man spent all his life in captivity,
and the ill repute of this deed remained on this noble House.
I hesitate as to the motives which are to be assigned to this act,
and whether it is to be ascribed to strength of purpose, recklessness,
hardness of heart, or a malicious disposition. In any case
it was not a laudable deed, and I have never met with any
sensible man who was prepared to praise that administration for
such inflexibility of purpose or excess of caution. And I heard
it remarked by the King of the world Ghiyathu'd-Dunya wa'd-
* As Mfrza Muhammad has pointed out (Persian notes, pp. t YV- \ A ) there is some
confusion of facts here., Mas'ud suffered two separate periods of imprisonment, the
first for ten years, of which seven were spent in Sii and Dahak (between Zaranj and
Bust in Sistan), the second for seven or eight years in Maranj in India. Sultan
Ibrahim's death took place in A.H. 492 (A.IJ. 1098-9), so that, if he was still suffering
his first imprisonment at that time, it cannot have begun earlier than A.H. 482
(A.D. 1089-1090). We have Mas'ud's own authority for fixing the duration of his
imprisonment at ten (not twelvte) years. See his verses quoted at the top of p.
the Persian notes.
2
Qiwamu'1-Mulk Nizamu'd-Din Abu Nasr Hibatu'llah al-Farsi, a leading statesman
durirTg these two reigns and a friend and patron of our poet, fell into disgrace in
the reigh of Sultan Mas'ud, together with his clients and proteges. He died about
,
i A of
510/1116. ^
3
!Fe was prime minister to Sultan Mas'ud ibn Ibrdhfm, and patron of many poets,
intludimr, besides Mas'iid-i-Sa'd-i-Salma'n, Abu'1-Faraj-i-Runi, Mukhtail and Sana'i,
all of whom ha^esung his praises. His uncle Abu Nasr Mansiir ibn Mushkan was
'secretary to Sultan Mahmud and Sultan Mas'ud, author of a volume of Memoirs and
teacher of the historian Abu'1-Fadl-i-Bayhaqi.
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