[No. 2, 
88 
C. E. Yate —Notes on the City of Hirat. 
The tomb of the saint Abu Isma’il Khaja ’Abdu-llah Ansari is a 
large mound, some 10 yards long by 6 feet high, covered ’with stones, 
and stands immediately in front of the arched portico under the shade 
of a tree. 
The tradition is that the original buildings having fallen into decay, 
the present structure was erected by Shall Rukh Mirza, the youngest 
son of Amir Timur, who ruled at Hirat from A. D. 1408 to 1446. 
The great feature of the shrine is the headstone of white marble to 
the grave of the saint, which stands some 14 or 15 feet in height and is 
most exquisitely carved throughout. This stone is a beautiful piece of 
work, as not only is the carving of texts and inscription well executed, 
but the whole proportions of the stone are beautiful. The whole of the 
Arabic inscription, carved in what is known as the ‘ Kliat-i-Suls ’ 
character, could not be deciphered, but at the end of it the name of the 
saint is entered in full, Abu Isma’il Khaja ’Abdu-llah Ansari, and the 
date A. H. 859 also appears. This date, though, corresponds to about 
A. D. 1455, or 9 years after the death of Shah Rukh. and owing to the 
whole of the inscription not having been deciphered, it is uncertain 
what it refers to. 
The date of the death of the saint, recorded in the following 
quartrain, seems to have been subsequently inscribed, as it appears on a 
separate corner of the stone and in a different character :— 
JbUt ^ J * (3) 
•• 
Jttfl i ^ -fcX-SA. 
. 1 
J” 
* ( e5 '' i ) * 
* A_IJ|jk_ xc A*.), 
ClAi, • J Xj • 
“ Fat ” by the Abjad reckoning equals A. H. 481, or about the year 
A. D. 1089. 
On one side of tho tomb the following inscription appears, recorded 
by Hasan, son of Husain Shamlfi, in tho year A. II. 1094 or A. D. 
1640 
* (U- \j U # (4) 
# A._li)J lX£ A^.)jA. jd • 
* j ] ** -sir tJ -V * 
• jb ) j* £ ^ ] J # 
1 Rond j» A. H. A. 
