Qul-i-muḥammad the lutanist (‘aūdī) was another; he also played the guitar (ghichak) beautifully and added three strings to it. For many and good preludes (peshrau) he had not his equal amongst composers or performers, but this is only true of his preludes.
Shaikhī the flautist (nāyī) was another; it is said he played also the lute and the guitar, and that he had played the flute from his 12th or 13th year. He once produced a wonderful air on the flute, at one of Badī‘u’z-zamān Mīrzā’s assemblies; Qul-i-muḥammad could not reproduce it on the guitar, so declared this a worthless instrument; Shaikhī Nāyī at once took the guitar from Qul-i-muḥammad’s hands and played the air on it, well and in perfect tune. They say he was so expert in music that having once heard an air, he was able to say, “This or that is the tune of so-and-so’s or so-and-so’s flute.”[1167] He composed few works; one or two airs are heard of.
Shāh Qulī the guitar-player was another; he was of ‘Irāq, came into Khurāsān, practised playing, and succeeded. He composed many airs, preludes and works (nakhsh, peshrau u aīshlār).
Ḥusain the lutanist was another; he composed and played with taste; he would twist the strings of his lute into one and play on that. His fault was affectation about playing. He Fol. 182b.made a fuss once when Shaibāq Khān ordered him to play, and not only played badly but on a worthless instrument he had brought in place of his own. The Khān saw through him at once and ordered him to be well beaten on the neck, there and then. This was the one good action Shaibāq Khān did in the world; it was well-done truly! a worse chastisement is the due of such affected mannikins!
Ghulām-i-shādī (Slave of Festivity), the son of Shādī the reciter, was another of the musicians. Though he performed, he did it less well than those of the circle just described. There are excellent themes (ṣūt) and beautiful airs (nakhsh) of his; no-one in his day composed such airs and themes. In the end Shaibāq Khān sent him to the Qāzān Khān, Muḥammad Amīn; no further news has been heard of him.
Mīr Azū was another composer, not a performer; he produced few works but those few were in good taste.
Banā’i was also a musical composer; there are excellent airs and themes of his.
An unrivalled man was the wrestler Muḥammad Bū-sa‘īd; he was foremost amongst the wrestlers, wrote verse too, composed themes and airs, one excellent air of his being in chār-gāh (four-time),—and he was pleasant company. It is extraordinary that such accomplishments as his should be combined with wrestling.[1168]
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE RESUMED.