450
HINDUSTAN
" O Lord ! we have dealt unjustly with our own souls ; if Thou forgive us not, and be not merciful unto us, we shall surely be of those that perish " r {Qordn cap. 7 v. 22).
Taking anew the place of the penitent pleading for pardon, I gave my mind rest2 from such empty thinking and such unlawful occupation. I broke my pen. Made by that Court, such reproof of sinful slaves is for their felicity ; happy are the highest and the slave when such reproof brings warning and its profitable fruit.
{c. Narrative resumed?)
{Dec. 8th continued) Marching on that evening, we dismounted at 'All-masjid. The ground here being very confined, I always used to dismount on a rise overlooking the camp in the valleybottom.3 The camp-fires made a wonderful illumination there at night; assuredly it was because of this that there had always been drinking there, and was so now.
{Dec. gth and iotJi) To-day I rode out before dawn ; I preferred a confection {ma'jfw)4 and also kept this day a fast. We dismounted near Blgram (Peshawar); and next morning, the camp remaining on that same ground, rode to Karg-awl.5 We crossed the Siyah-ab in front of Blgram, and formed our huntingcircle looking down-stream. After a little, a person brought
quoted. My translation differs from those of Mr. Erskine and M. de Courteille ; all three are tentative of a somewhat difficult verse.
Ni gild min sining bila ill til ?
Jihating din mining alchlm qiin diir.
Nlchayakkshi disang bit had alia slu'r
Biri-si fahash u birlyalghan dur.
Gar disang kuimd min, bujazm bila
Jalan'ingni bu 'arsa din yan dur.
1 The Qoran puts these sayings into the mouths of Adam and Eve.
2 Hai. MS. tlndUrub; Ilminsky, p. 327, yandurub; VV.-i-B. I.O. 217, f. 175, sard sakhta.
3 Of 'All-masjid the Second Afghan War (official account) has a picture which might be taken from Babur's camp.
4 Shaikh Zain's list of the drinking-days (f. 252 note) explains why sometimes Babur says he preferred nia'j'un. In the instances I have noticed, he does this on a drinking-day; the preference will be therefore for a confection over wine. December 9th was a Saturday and drinking-day; on it he mentions the preference; Tuesday Nov. 21st was a drinking day, and he states that he ate ma'jiln.
s presumably the karg-khana of f. 2221$, rhinoceros-home in both places. A similar name applies to a tract in the Rawalpindi District, Babur-khana, Tiger-home, which is linked to the tradition of Buddha's self-sacrifice to appease the hunger of seven tiger-cubs. [In this Babur-khana is the town Kacha-kot from which Babur always names the river Haru.]
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