134 , Baddoni and his Works. [No. 3, 



Nor was 'Abdul Qadir more fortunate in his translation into Persian 



of the Mahabharat. Akbar even called him a Hardmhhur (sweeper) 



and a Shalghamklmr (turnip-eater), " as if that was the share due to 



him for his labours," (Ain translation, p. 105, note 1.) At the 



same time, however, he was engaged in writing a Persian translation 



of the Ramayan, which after four years' labour he finished. In 



Jumada I, 997, he presented his work, after a second revision, to the 



emperor. "I had put," he says, " at the end of the translation the 



following verse by Hafiz — 



I have finished my tale, who will take it to the Sultan ? 

 I have worried my soul, who will tell it the Beloved ? 



And this pleased His Majesty very much. He asked me how many 

 juz [one juz=tvto sheets of paper] there were? ''At first," said I, 

 "there were about seventy; but after revising it, I got one hundred 

 and twenty."* " But you must write a preface to it," replied the 

 emperor, " according to the custom of authors." But I had no in- 

 clination (inWasli) for it, as prefaces had to be written without the 

 usual laudation fnaH) of the prophet ; so I shut my eyes, and did as if 

 I assented. I take refuge with Grod against the consequences of com- 

 posing this black book [the Ramayan], which, like the book of my life, 

 is nothing but wretchedness. Relating the words of unbelievers, after 

 all, is not unbelief, and I earnestly denounce unbelief. * * * A 

 few days after, His Majesty was reminded that he owed me a present 

 for my translation. He said to Hakim Abulfath, " Just give him 

 this shawl here, and let him have a horse, and some money," and to 

 Shah Abulfath he said, " I give you the whole of Basawar as jdgir, 

 and the grantholders there are also yours ;" and mentioning my 

 name, he said, " This man goes to Badaon ; and having neither 

 seen, nor heard any thing against him, I hereby transfer his grant 

 from Basawar to Badaon." * * * As soon as I received the farmdn 

 specifying my transfer, I took leave for twelve months, and went to 

 Badaon (p. 368). 



This transfer, in 997, from Basawar to Badaon is the cause why 

 'Abdul Qadir has been called Baddoni. On his return, in 998, from 

 Badaon to Court, he met his friend the Historian Nizamuddin 



* From the number of sheets which Badaoni presented, it may be^inferred 

 that the translation was an abstract of the contents of the Kamayan, not a 

 translation. 



