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النشر الإلكتروني

MEMOIRS OF TIMUR.

PREFACE

TO THE PERSIAN TRANSLATION.

In the Name of the most merciful God,

Eternal praise is due to the Almighty, who, through his special favour, said to Adam, Verily we have made thee our vicegerent over the earth ;—

He, who fixed the nest of the Phoenix (Ankay) with expanded wings of victory of the everlasting dominion of his Majesty (Timur) on the pinnacle of the lofty mountain of Kaf, commanding the world;—

Boundless thanks be also to the Omnipotent, who has exalted above all the sovereigns of the world the dignity of the Khelafet and the family of the Prophet, in order to disseminate the glorious religion of Muhammed, and renovate the luminous law of Mustafā ;—

Glory to the Creator, who, having formed the circumference of the heavens, with all the elements, around the axis of the earth, established the circle of supreme sovereignty in the blessed person of his Majesty, confirming the sacred verse of the Korān,

"A just monarch is the Shadow of God, and the guardian of his kingdoms.” The unworthy and sinful Abu Talib al Hussyny represents to those who stand at the foot of the royal throne, that during my residence in the two sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, I saw in the library of Jafer, Governor (Hākim) of Yemen, a book, in the Turky language, dictated (mulfuzat) by his Majesty, who now dwells in paradise, Timūr Sahib Kerāny, may God pardon him all his offences, in which are inserted all the occurrences of his life from seven to seventy-one years, and in which he narrates the means by which he had subdued so many countries, and had become the sovereign of so many dominions, in

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hopes that this book may become an exemplar for posterity, and the cause of promoting religion.

But as the work was written in the Türky language interspersed with Arabic, and therefore difficult to be understood, I have translated it from Turky into easy Persian, that it may be useful to Princes in administering their affairs and in preserving their authority. Ministers and Generals may also derive great benefit from the perusal of it in conducting the business of Government.

May the Almighty God preserve and protect his Imperial Majesty Sahib Kerany Sany* (Shāh Jehān) from all the vicissitudes and evils of life, and keep extended over the heads of mankind the Shadow of his Sovereignty and Justice through the (intercession) of the Arabian Prophet, his illustrious descendants, and his beneficent companions.-The Text will be found in Appendix No. I.

* Sahib Keran, signifies Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction; Sany, the second. Shah Jehan mounted the throne of Hindustan, A. H. 1037, A.D. 1628.

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MEMOIRS OF TIMUR.

BOOK I.-TEZŪKĀT.

CHAPTER I.

Be it known to my victorious and fortunate Sons, to my noble and princely Grandsons and others, that,*

Turky.

*

I have written my Memoirs in the Turky language, in order that each and every one of my posterity, who, by the divine aid, and the protection of Muhammed, (upon whom and upon his descendants be the peace of God) shall ascend my Throne and succeed to my Sovereignty, which I obtained by much labour, toil, marches and wars, (having understood them) may put in practice those rules and regulations, by which their Sovereignty and Dominion may be preserved safe from ruin or decay.

N. B. Here follow Books 2d and 3d, being the Institutes and Designs translated by Major Davy and edited by Professor White, 4to. edition, Oxford, A. D. 1783; and which also appear in the French edition of the Institutes, by Monsieur Langlès, Paris, A. D. 1787. In some of the MSS. that I have examined, the Memoirs precede the Institutes, but in Col. Davy's copy they follow them.

* The following two lines are in the ancient Jagtay Turky, the words of which are not to be found in Meninski's Dictionary. The lines will be found in Appendix No. 2.

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MEMOIRS OF TIMUR.

BOOK IV.-MULFUZĀT.

CHAPTER I.

Be it known to my fortunate Children, to my intelligent Ministers, to my faithful and zealous Nobles, that Almighty God, on account of the Twelve following Rules, which I have constantly practised, hath conferred greatness on me, and hath made me the Shepherd of his flock, and hath assisted me by his celestial aid so that I have attained the high pre-eminence of Sovereignty ;

1st. Having taken in hand the Scales of Justice, I have neither increased nor decreased (the portion of any one) but weighed equally to all;

2d. I have administered strict justice to mankind and endeavoured to discriminate between truth and falsehood;

3d. I paid obedience to the orders of God and respected his holy laws, and honoured those whom he had honoured;

4th. I had compassion on mankind and conferred benefits on all, and, by these qualities, I gained the affections of God's creatures, nor did I ever vex a single heart by injustice, I never turned away a supplicant from my court, but whoever took refuge with me I assisted;

5th. I ever gave the affairs of religion precedence over worldly affairs. I first performed my duty towards God and then attended to my worldly concerns;

6th. I always spoke the truth, and ever listened to the truth, and with sincerity performed my religious and secular duties, and avoided the paths of crookedness. For I have heard that, when God created Adam, the Angels said to each other, “a creature has been formed whose posterity will be liars, breakers of their promise, and guilty of wickedness." The Lord said to the Angels, I will send a Sword among them, which shall cut in pieces every perverse or unrighteous person it encounters, as I have heard that the Sword there meant is (the power of) Princes, it is therefore incumbent on every Monarch to speak and listen only to truth;

7th. I have always performed whatever I promised to any person, nor ever deviated from my agreement. I was never guilty of Tyranny nor Injustice, nor ever permitted myself to fall into vice or infamy, nor, on any occasion, did I cut the cord of affection due to my children, grand-children, relations, or connexions;

8th. I considered myself as the Treasurer of the property of God, and never expended any of his sacred property without the sanction of his deputies (the clergy). In collecting the revenues from his servants, I observed lenity and discretion, nor did I ever take the wealth or possessions of any person unjustly, neither did I employ myself in accumulating riches or substance, but ever looked to the welfare and happiness of my soldiers and subjects: thus I did not touch the accumulations of my Father's nobles, nor was I covetous of the property of any person; for it is known to me, by experience, that Amyr Hussyn having cast the eyes of covetousness upon the property of his soldiers and subjects, and seized upon the wealth of his Father's nobles, his prosperity was soon annihilated; 9th. I considered obedience to God as consisting in submission to his prophet, and therefore acted according to the Law of Muhammed, and did nothing contrary to that sacred code: I always considered the Descendants of Muhammed (on whom be the peace of God) and the companions of his Holiness as my friends, and performed to them the duties of affection;

10th. I gave currency to the faith of Islam through all my dominions, and supported religion, by which means I gave stability to my Government ;—for I had heard that Church and State are twins, and that every Sovereignty that is not supported by religion soon loses all authority, and its orders are not obeyed, but that every person, worthy or unworthy, presumes to meddle therewith;

11th. I gave free admission to the Syeds,* to the learned, and to the prelates of religion, and always treated them with great respect, and never turned any of them away from my court, so that they constantly attended my assemblies, and induced the people to pray for my prosperity; I constantly associated with the learned and religious, and heard from them many anecdotes, both of sacred and profane history;

Thus they related to me that the King of Constantinople, once invaded the dominions of the King of Ry, but having heard that his Court was attended by numbers of Syeds, and many learned and devout personages, he refrained from subduing his country, but wrote to the Ministers and Nobles, " I have read in the Heavenly books, that whatever Court is attended by learned, devout, and religious persons, that Government cannot be overturned, and having been

* Descendants of Muhammed.

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