98 



Mr. Arthur Branson on two 



Of Naziri's works there are here, as we have said, two 

 books " The Kussaid" and " The Diwan." ( d I £j , <x> Uw) 

 The manuscript is in Shikasta and bears evident marks 

 of not having been written by a Persian. If we may ex- 

 press an opinion without going further than the appear- 

 ance of the writing, we should say that it was written some- 

 where about the middle of the last century in the North- 

 West. Of the time at which Naziri wrote it is hard with- 

 out a thorough examination of his poems to speak with 

 certainty. A glance at the headings of some of the Kus- 

 said shews us first an ode in praise of God and the Prophet, 

 next twelve odes to the twelve Im&ns (Naziri was a 

 Shiya), and then follows an ode to Abd-ul Muzuffur Jalahl 

 Udin Akbar Patsha, and this is followed by several odes 

 to f Abd-ul Rahim Khan-i Khan (the Khan of Khans i. e. 

 prime minister) of Akbar. This would lead us to the con- 

 clusion that this writer lived about 300 years ago; but 

 there is little doubt that a careful perusal of his writings 

 will easily set this point at rest. 



Of the quatrains of 'Omar Khayyam which are bound up 

 with these two books of Naziri's it is to be remarked 

 that the manuscript is incomplete, breaking off at the catch 

 word of the 802nd quatrain. This fact would lead us to 

 join issue with the Calcutta Reviewer who says of 'Omar 

 " every other poet of Persia has written too much, even her 

 noblest sons of genius weary with their prolixity. The 

 language has a fatal facility of rhyme, which makes it 

 easier to write in verse than in prose, and every author 

 heaps volumes on volumes until he buries himself and his 

 reader beneath their weight. Our mathematician is the one 

 solitary exception. He has left fewer lines than Gray." We 

 are however unwilling to differ on so hasty an inspection of 

 this manuscript from the careful reviewer whose opinion we 

 have quoted. The inexcusable failing of oriental copyists, 



