THE PETITION OF MIR AMMAN, OF DILLI.

Which was Presented to the Gentlemen Managers of the College [of Fort William].

May God preserve the gentlemen of great dignity, and the appreciators of respectable men.  This exile from his country, on hearing the command [issued by] proclamation, [1] hath composed, with a thousand labours and efforts, the “Tale of the Four Darweshes,” [entitled] the Bagh O Bahar [2] [i.e.  Garden and Spring,] in the Urdu, e Mu’alla [3] tongue.  By the grace of God it has become refreshed from the perusal of all the gentlemen [4] [of the college].  I now hope I may reap some fruit from it; then the bud of my heart will expand like a flower, according to the word of Hakim Firdausi, [5] who has said [of himself] in the Shahnama,

    “Many sorrows I have borne for these thirty years;
    But I have revived Persia by this Persian [History.] [6]
    I having in like manner polished the Urdu tongue,
    Have metamorphosed Bengal into Hindustan.” [7]

You gentlemen are yourselves appreciators of merit.  There is no need of representation [on my part].  O God! may the star of your prosperity ever shine!

MIR AMMAN’S PREFACE.

“The Name of God, Most Merciful and Gracious.”

The pure God! what an [excellent] Artificer he is!  He who, out of a handful of dust, hath created such a variety of faces and figures of earth.  Notwithstanding the two colours [of men], one white and one black, yet the same nose and ears, the same hands and feet, He has given to all.  But such variety of features has He formed, that the form and shape of one [individual] does not agree with the personal appearance of another.  Among millions of created beings, you may recognise whomsoever you wish.  The sky is a bubble in the ocean of his [eternal] unity; and the earth is as a drop of water in it; but this is wonderful, that the sea beats its thousands of billows against it, and yet cannot do it any injury.  The tongue of man is impotent to sound the praise and eulogy of Him who has such power and might!  If it utter any thing, what can it say?  It is best to be silent on a subject concerning which nothing can be said.

VERSE.

    “From earth to heaven, He whose work this is,
    If I wish to write his praise, then what power have I;
    When the prophet himself has said, ‘I do not comprehend Him.’ 
    After this, if any one pretends to it, he is a great fool. 
    Day and night the sun and moon wander through their course, and behold
        his works—­
    Yea, the form of every individual being is a sight of surprise: 
    He, whose second or equal is not, and never will be;
    No such a unique Being, Godhead is every way fit. 
    But so much I know, that He is the Creator and Nourisher. 
    In every way his favour and beneficence are upon me.”