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120 As a poet Azizuddin may be allowed a high place. His Persian verses, of the mystical character which the Sufis affect, are often beautiful, and distinguished by simplicity and great elegance of style. A few stanzas, literally translated, are inserted here to show the character of Sufi religious poetry: —

'If you attentively regard the world You will find it fugitive as a shadow: Why should you vex yourself with vain desires When you have no power to perform? Forget yourself, and leave your work with God; Trust yourself with all confidence to Him. Wait with patience until He shall bless you, And thank Him for what He has already given. Stop your ears from the sound of earthly care; Rejoice in God and be hopeful of His mercy. The wise would consider me as an idolater Should I thoughtlessly speak of myself as "I;" To the wise and to those who most nearly know, It is a folly for any mortal to assert "I am;" Although able to vanquish Sahrab, Zal, and Rustam. Yet at the last your stability is but as water. It is a vain thought that your reason may spin His imaginings, as a spider spins her web. It is well that I should breathe the air of freedom, For I know that everything is dependent upon God.'

The elaborately polished manners of Fakír Azizuddin, and his exaggeration of flattery and compliment, struck foreigners the more strangely at so rough and rude a court as that of Lahore. What was the natural atmosphere in the courtly Muhammadan circles