320 
R. B. Shaw —A Grammar of the Language 
[No. 3, 
“ Then the Holy Prophet said : ‘ Zalika fazl-ullaJii yutihi man ya- 
sha 1 ;* that is : ‘ God the Exalted gives the merit of (paying) customs 
to (whatever) servant of His he chooses (lit. to his chosen servant). I, 
how shall I do (anything) ?’ Thus he answered. 
“ Therefore it is known that in (paying) customs there is exceeding 
profit. To this end I have not abandoned commerce,” he said. 
Extract II. 
‘ It is that Abu-an-nasr Samani’ said the Holy Prophet of God e who 
shall acquire Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan for the Faith.’ 
At once the companions computed the date and wrote : ‘ After the 
Prophet of God shall have passed from the world three hundred and thirty- 
three years, in the land of Turkistan, one by name the Holy Sultan Satuq 
Bughra Khan Ghiizi, a noble person, shall come into existence ; at the ago 
of twelve he shall be acquired to the Faith.’ Thus they wrote. 
And again on the spot the Prophet of God spoke : “ Aivwalu man asla- 
ma min at-Turk.'A 
The meaning of this saying is this : as much as to say that: ‘ from 
the direction of Turkistan Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan Ghazi will become a 
Musalman.’| 
So that after a certain period the Holy Kh’ajah Abu-an-nasr Sama¬ 
ni came into existence in this world ; as he went on reading the revealed 
knowledge, he saw this saying : “ Awwalu man aslama min at-Turk .” ‘ What 
sort of a person may this Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan be’ he said (to him¬ 
self). Without having seen him he began to love him. 
He looks § at the date ; but little (time) remains to the coming into 
existence of the Holy Sultan. His love and friendship coming oft victorious 
he started on a journey in search of the Sultan, in the direction of Turkis¬ 
tan. 
# # * # # 
Extract III. 
The Holy Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan Ghazi entered the twelfth year 
of his age. || Until that (time) the Holy Sultan was in appearance an 
infidel. 
* Lit. “That is the grace of God which falls upon whomsoever He chooses.” A. 
f Lit. “ The first who professed Islam among the Turks.” A. 
% This is of course a very free rendering hy the pious historian, for in the Pro* 
phet’s traditional saying no name is reported. 
§ Lit. “ ho might look,” Pres. Pot. But this tense is used in an historic scnso 
like the “ historic present.” 
|| Ho appears to have been the son of a King of Kashgliar of the family of tho 
mythic Afrasiab. 
