Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/236

 226 pleting the collection of the ancient historical traditions of the empire especially attracted him. With the assistance of neighbouring princes and of many of the influential Dihkans, Mahmud collected a vast amount of materials for the work, and after having searched in vain for a man of sufficient learning and ability to edit them faithfully, and having entrusted various episodes for versification to the numerous poets whom he had gathered round him, he at length made choice of Firdousi. Firdousi had been always strongly attracted by the ancient Pehlavi records, and had begun at an early age to turn them into Persian epic verse. On hearing of the death of the poet Dakiki, he conceived the ambitious design of himself carrying out the work which the latter had only just commenced ; and, although he had not then any introduction to the court, he contrived, thanks to one of his friends, Mohammed Lashkari, to procure a copy of the Dihkan Danishwer s collection, and at the age of thirty-six commenced his great undertaking. Abu Mansour, the governor of Tus, patronized him and encour aged him by substantial pecuniary support. When Mahmud succeeded to the throne, and evinced such active interest in the work, Firdousf was naturally attracted to the court of Ghaznin. At first court jealousies and in trigues prevented Firdousi from being noticed by the sul tan ; but at length one of his friends, Mahek, undertook to present to Mahmud his poetic version of one of the well- known episodes of the legendary history. Hearing that the poet was born at Tus, the sultan made him explain the origin of his native town, and was much struck with the intimate knowledge of ancient history which he displayed. Being presented to the seven poets who were then engaged on the projected epic, Abu 1 Casim was admitted to their meetings, and on one occasion improvised a verse, at Mahmud s request, in praise of his favourite AyAz, with such success that the sultan bestowed upon him the name of Firdousi, saying that he had converted his assemblies into paradise (Firdoxs). During the early days of his sojourn at court, an incident happened which contributed in no small measure to the realization of his ambition. Three of the seven poets were drinking in a garden when Firdousi approached, and wishing to get rid of him without rude ness, they informed him who they were, and told him that it was their custom to admit none to their society but such as could give proof of poetical talent. To test his acquire ments they proposed that each should furnish an extem porary line of verse, his own to be the last, and all three ending in the same rhyme. Firdousi accepted the challenge, and the three poets having previously agreed upon three rhyming words to which a fourth could not be found in the Persian language, Ansari began Thy beauty eclipses the light of the sun ; Farrakhi added The rose with thy cheek would comparison shun ; Asjadi continued Thy glances pierce through the mailed warrior s jolisun; 1 and Firdousi, without a moment s hesitation, completed the quatrain Like the lance of fierce Giv in his fight with Foshun. The poets asked for an explanation of this allusion, and Firdousi recited to them the battle as described in the Shah- namak, and delighted and astonished them with his learn ing and eloquence. Mahmud now definitely selected him for the work of compiling and versifying the ancient legends, and bestowed upon him such marks of his favour and munificence as to elicit from the poet an enthusiastic panegyric, which is in- 1 A sort of cuirass. serted in the preface of the Shahnamali, and forms a curious contrast to the bitter satire which he subsequently prefixed to the book. The sultan ordered his treasurer, Khojah Hasan Meimendi, to pay to Firdousi a thousand gold pieces for every thousand verses ; but the poet preferred allowing the sum to accumulate till the whole was finished, with the object of amassing sufficient capital to construct a dike for his native town of Tus, which suffered greatly from defective irrigation, a project which had been the chief dream of his childhood. Owing to this resolution, and to the jealousy of Hasan Meimendi, who often refused to ad vance him sufficient for the necessaries of life, Firdousi passed the later portion of his life in great privation, though enjoying the royal favour and widely extended fame. Amongst other princes whose liberal presents enabled him to combat his pecuniary difficulties, was one Rustem, son of Fakhr ed dauleh, the Deilamite, who sent him a thousand gold pieces in acknowledgment of a copy of the episode of Rustem and Isfendiar which Firdousi had sent him, and promised him a gracious reception if he should ever come to his court. As this prince belonged, like Firdousi, to the Shiah sect, while Mahmud and Meimendi were Sunnites, and as he was also politically opposed to the sultan, Hasan Meimendi did not fail to make the most of this incident, and accused the poet of disloyalty to his sovereign and patron, as well as of heresy. Other enemies and rivals also joined in the attack, and for some time Firdousi s position was very precarious, though his pre-eminent talents and obvious fit ness for the work prevented him from losing his post. To add to his troubles he had the misfortune to lose his only son at the age of 37. At length the book was completed, and Firdousi entrusted it to Aj r az, the sultan s favourite, for presentation to him. Mahmud ordered Hasan Meimendi to take the poet as much gold as an elephant could carry, but the jealous treasurer persuaded the monarch that it was too generous a reward, and that an elephant s load of silver would be sufficient. G0,000 silver dirhems were accordingly placed in sacks, and taken to Firdousi by Ayaz at the sultan s com mand, instead of the 60,000 gold pieces, one for each verse, which had been promised. The poet was at that moment in the bath, and seeing the sacks, and believing that they contained the expected gold, received them with great satis faction, but finding only silver he complained to Ayaz that he had not executed the sultan s order. Aydz related what had taken place between Mahmud and Hasan Meimendi, and Firdousi in a rage gave 20 thousand pieces to Ayaz himself, the same amount to the bath-keeper, and paid the rest to a beer seller for a glass of beer (fonka}, sending word back to the sultan that it was not to gain money that he had taken so much trouble. On hearing this message, Mahmud at first reproached Hasan with having caused him to break his word, but the wily treasurer succeeded in turning his master s anger upon Firdousi to such an extent that he threatened that on the morrow he -would &quot; cast that Carmathian (heretic) under the feet of his dephants.&quot; Being apprised by one of the nobles of the court of what had taken place, Firdousi passed the night in great anxiety ; but passing in the morning by the gate that led from his own apartments into the palace, he met the sultan in his private garden, and succeeded by humble apologies in appeasing his wrath. He was, however, far from being appeased himself, and determined at once upon quitting Ghaznin. Returning home he tore up the draughts of some thousands of verses which he had composed and threw them in the fire, and repairing to the grand mosque of Ghaziiin he wrote upon the walls, at the place where the sultan was in the habit of praying, the following lines : &quot; The auspicious court of Mahmud, king of Zabulistan, is like a sea, What a sea ! One cannot see its shore. If