Untitled

72
'
XHIRD DISCOURSE. ON 'ASTROLOGERS
1
upon him , by His Grace la'nd His Favdur!^ Yet although I
witnessed this prognostication on the part of that Proof, of the
*
v Truth 'Umar, I did not observe that he had '
any 'great belief in
'astrological predictions nor have I seen or heard of ; any of the
great [scientists] who had,.such belief.
ANECDOTE XXIX.
In the winter of the year A.H. 508 (A.D. 1 1 14-1 1 15) the King
sent a messenger to Merv to the Prime Minister Sadru'd-Din
[Abu Jafar] Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar 3
(on whom be God's
Mercy) bidding him tell Khwaja Imam 'Umar to select a favourable
time for him to go hunting, such 'that therein should be no
snowy or rainy days. For Khwaja Imam 'Umar was in the
Minister's company, and used to lodge at his house.
The Ministe'r, therefore, sent a messenger to summon him,
and told him what ha'd happened. So he went and looked into the
matter for two days, and made a careful choice ; and he himself
went and superintended the mounting of the King at the
auspicious moment. When the King was mounted and had gone
but a short distance 4 , the sky became over-cast with clouds, a
wind arose, (it) and snow and mist supervened. All present fell
to laughing, and the King desired to turn back ; but Khwaja
Imam ['Umar] said, " Let the King be of good cheer, for this
very hour the clouds will clear away, and during these five days
there will not be a drop of moisture." So the King rode on, and
the clouds opened, and during those five days there was no
moisture, and no one saw a cloud.
* But prognostication by the stars, though a recognized art, is^
no^ to f be relied on, nor should the astronomer have any farreaching
faith therein ; and whatever the astrologer predicts he
must leave to Fate. ,
c
. companions
t ANECDOTE XXX. f
It is incumbent on the King, wherever he goes, to prove such
and servants as he has with him ; and if one is a
believer in the Holy Law, and Scrupulously observes* the rites
and duties thereof, he should make him an intimate, and treat
t
1 A. and C. have "cause him to dwell in Paradise."
2 In the printed text " Anecdote XXIX " begins here with the following sentence,
which is omitted in the Tihran lithographed edition.
3 He was the grandson of the great Nizamu'1-Mulk. His father, Fakhru'UMulk
Abu'1-Fath al-Muzaffar, was put to death by Sultan Sanjar, whose Minister he was,
in A.H. 500 (A.D. 1106-1107). Sadru'd-Din himself was murdered by dhe of Sawjar's
servants in A.H. 511 (A.D. 1117-1118). ^ %
4
I suppose this to be the meaning of the words :
Os5jJ &-t-*j Qvilj ^-> ^,
which is the reading of all the texts. It perhaps means the distance which the human
voice will carry when raised to its highest pitch.
t
{.