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[[207]] Worship and devotion are incumbent on every class of the sons of
Adam, and the worship which befits the household of sovereignty, and the
thanksgiving which is prescribed for the princely dispensers of justice,
is that they be continually meditating the tranquillity of their subjects;
that they apply their royal energies to the raising up of the injured and
oppressed; and that they free the heads of those distressed ones from the
heavy burden of tyrants and troublers. First, let them take proper measures
for appointing right-thinking, right-speaking intelligencers. If the collecting
of such a band cause delay, let them, by the strength of their understanding
and foresight, appoint individuals who have no mutual acquaintance, and
let them by this excellent means learn the characters of high and low.
Secondly, let them bring to bear that steady contemplation which has in
it a divine illumination, and let them observe right reason both in their
wrath and in their levity. Thirdly, let them by every method which their
lofty intelligence may suggest practise extensive views and wide sagacity,
and give power and influence to men of talent who have partaken of the
sweet waters of sincerity, and let them increase their authority and preserve
their own dignity.
Let them not take microscopic views on great occasions, and let them treat every member of the tribe of the disloyal according to his deserts. Let them, after warning, inflict suitable chastisement on the seditious and intriguing who have uplifted the head of troubling and who for the sake of their own lusts regard corruptions as emendations. And as mighty princes maintain such principles within their own territories; so, too, do they in other countries exercise such administration of justice and build their world-conquests upon this foundation, so that their glory and their dominions increase day by day. As these world-adorning qualities are not acquisitions, but are innate in the holy personality of the Shahinshah, he at this auspicious time, when he was becoming prominent and was opening the gate of joy for mankind, gave [[208]] some measure of attention to the affairs of sovereignty and took to bestowing light and justice on the darkened world. When the facts of the oppression of the people of Malwa and of the injustices of Baz Bahadur, of whom an abridged description has already been given, were brought to the Shahinshah's notice, his justice demanded that an army should be prepared and dispatched against that intoxicated, right-disregarding one, and that the classes of humanity in that country, who are a grave trust from God, should be delivered from the evils of the time. Stringent orders were issued to those charged with the administration of affairs to make ready a large army commanded by brave and loyal officers and to employ it in this lofty service. In a short space of time the administrators prepared an army in accordance with these orders. In the end of the fifth Ilahi year, and beginning of 968 AH [Sept/Oct 1560], [list of names] and other sincere heroes and devoted men were appointed under the command of Adham Khan to proceed southwards and display justice and liberality, and to be balm for the wounds of the oppressed ones of Malwa. If the ruler of that country should awake from his negligent slumbers and be prepared to amend his ways, he was to be made hopeful of the royal clemency and to be exalted by kissing the lofty threshhold, so that he might be treated in accordance with his behavior. If his foot was slippery from the wine of insouciance and could not convey him swiftly on the highway of obedience and service, punishment was to be brought home to him, so that he might be a lesson to other stiff-necked ones. The victorious troops [[209]] tightly bound the strap of courage according to the rules of service and set forth to conquer, placing their feet aright on this highway. They did not march so fast that the camp-bazaar could not keep pace with them, nor did they go so slowly that anyone could suppose they were sparing themselves. Verse:
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== Akbar-nama
vol. 2 == Abu'l-Fazl == Glossary
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