196 Translations from the Tarilch i Firuzshahi. [No. 3, 
should go from Dihli to Audh, and Sultan Nacjir-uddin should come 
from Lak’hnauti to the banks of the river Sarw, and the meeting 
of father and son should take place there. Mu’izz-uddin at first 
thought of departing for Audh privately ; but Malik Nizam-uddin 
represented that it was not a wise thing for the emperor to make 
so long a journey unattended. It was a great distance from Dihli 
to Audh. The usages and ceremonies of royalty must be observed, 
and an escort corps of veterans organized before the journey could 
be commenced. “ For,” said he, “ one empire cannot hold a father 
and son together. Our forefathers have said ‘ Almulku’aqlmun’ 
and the interpretation they put on these two Arabic words, is, 
that, when the lust of empire possesses them, fathers will kill 
their sons, and sons destroy their fathers ; where an empire is at 
stake, the natural affection between fathers and sons is lost sight 
of; and for this cause, no matter what faith they held, fathers 
have slain their sons for the sake of their personal safety, and 
sons, carried away by the lust of empire, have laid waste their 
father’s dominions. Nor has one ever suffered the other to be a 
hindrance to his ambition. On an occasion like this, where the 
emperor goes to meet his father, and that father is one who has 
imperial prayers read for him, and coins struck with his own 
superscription, and is in fact the legitimate heir of the empire, 
who knows what may happen, when the two forces meet to¬ 
gether ? It will be better for the emperor to take an army with 
him. Moreover splendour and pomp and reverence and respect 
are the inseparable concomitants of royalty, and as your Majes¬ 
ty’s road lies through Hindustan, all the chiefs and princes of the 
provinces will come to do fealty at your court, and if they only 
meet with a private reception, the awe and terror of the throne 
will be lessened in the eyes of the general public, and the sub¬ 
missive temper of many will change into stubborn opposition.” 
This counsel, which was obviously sound, approved itself to the 
emperor Mu’izz-uddfn, and he ordered a military force to be assem¬ 
bled, and the paraphernalia of imperial pomp to be got ready. In 
the course of a few days the preparations were complete, and with 
imperial state and a well-equipped force the Emperor took his de¬ 
parture for Audh. Reaching Audh they pitched the imperial 
