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NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
things, or sometimes, reversely, a multitude of things in that which is apparently one; for he sits on the throne of distinction, and is thus equally removed from joy or sorrow.
Now this is the case with the monarch of the present age, and this book is á witness of it.
Men versed in foretelling the future, knew this when Hig Majesty was born, and together with all others that were cognizant of the secret, they have since been waiting in joyful expectation. His Majesty, however, wisely surrounded himself for a time with a veil, as if he were an outsider, or a stranger to their hopes. But can man counteract the will of God ? His Majesty, at first, took all such by surprise as were wedded to the prejudices of the age; but he could not help revealing his intentions: they grew to maturity in spite of him, and are now fully kuown. He now is the spiritual guide of the nation, and sees in the performance of this duty a means of pleasing God. He has now opened the gate that leads to the right path, and satisfies the thirst of all that wander about panting for truth.
But whether he checks men in their desire of becoming disciples, or admits them at other times, he guides them in each case to the realm of bliss. Many sincere enquirers, from the mere light of his wisdom, or his holy breath, obtain a degree of awakening which other spiritual doctors could not produce by repeated fasting and prayers for forty days. Numbers of those who have renounced the world, as Sannásís,
1 This is an allusion to the wonderful event which happened at the birth of the emperor. Akbar spoke: I'rom Mirz Shah Muhammad, called Ghaznín Khán, son of Shah Begkhán, who had the title of Daurán Khán, and was an Arghún by birth. The author heard him say at Láhor, in A. H. 1053, I asked Nawab 'Aziz Kokah, who has the title of Khán i A'zam, whether the late emperor, like the Messiah, had really spoken with his august inother." He replied, “His mother told me, it was true."! Dabistan ul Mazahib, Calcutta Edition, p. 390. Bombay edition, p. 260. The words which Christ spoke in the cradle, are given in the Qorán, Sur. 19, and in the spurious gospel of the * Infancy of Christ,' pp. 5, III.
