1919.] Letter from the Emperor Babur. 333 
discussions! Be not misled by flatterers and plausible thd 
Should they chance to say anything to the purpose, hear it 
see it and perpend it. It may, however, happen that what at 
first looks sound: turns out to be a quite old drum and so a 
thing to furnish sorrow to friends and laughter to foes. (Per- 
haps there is an allusion to the story of the Fox and the Drum 
Anwari Sohailt, Eastw ick’s translation, Story VII of Chap. I. ) 
and foes. As the verse “has it, “In the flowerbed, a flower, 
in the thornbrake, a thorn 
As regards (taqi, again, item) the Qandahar army, it is a 
militia (thsham). Donotaccepta recruit on the recommendation 
of 
Y ap 
serve the procedure of the leaders of assemblies, follow the 
rules and ceremonies of the Girgans (tora tawaga gurgan tuzik ; 
see P. de C. Dict. 240, s.v. tawaga and Haid MS., 2374); be 
hearty and frank with your well-wishers, and speak ‘politely to 
people in general. Set out on an expedition after full prepara- 
tion. Listen to everybody, and get acquainted with every- 
body whether they are far off or near at hand. As for insignifi- 
cant and meanly-born people, do not educate them or emplo 
them in state-affairs, even though they be well-dispositioned 
and rca of ability. As his Excellency Shaikh S‘aadi has 
said: ‘‘A nobody does not become somebody by being edu- 
ane Tulips grow in gardens, weeds and thorns in saline 
oil.” Hazrat Maulana Jami’s verse is ‘ell known: “Ar van 
ioteltious pee does not become efficient by change of cire 
es. Transpose the words sag magas (dog fly) the haart (of 
the beast) still remains sag-magas 
The people of Transoxiana are simple, but when they have 
brains they are worthy of trust and of office. By the in- 
citement of that orb of the night, that candle of ee wi 
majesty, that eloquent nightingale of the flower garden 
rat Khwaja Ubaid Ullah, who has rendered help, through | an 
been ca 
you do them due honour and that you make no short-coming in 
this. (For) “They who dwell within the portals of Love love 
even ag name of the Beloved. 
the affairs of India, you will learn them from the 
Bulletin of Victory. The son of Ibrahim who was the os of 
1 Naturally, Klaproth did not know the technical word ihshiam, nor 
the Chaghatai expression kichtkkarim. See Irvine’s Army of the Indian 
translation of the passage in Ilm minsky where the words occur, but I 
not think the translation in the latter an improvement. 
