Thus the whole road was rendered winding from my stumblings.”
Sathrah and Jadú were two fakírs. Sathrah drew in Nagarikot[154] the mark of the cast on his forehead, and threw the zunar on his neck; he ate however roasted cow-flesh, with bread of the bazar, and indulged himself in pleasure-walks. Some Hindus arrested him by force, and brought him before the judge. The judge said to him: “If thou art a Hindu, it becomes thee not to eat cow-flesh and bread of the bazar; and, if thou art a Muselman, wherefore the mark of the cast and the zunar?” The answer was: “The mark of the cast is of safran and sandal-wood; the zunar is a woven thread; the cow-flesh comes from grass and barley; bread from corn, and the oven from earth and water: if thou considerest things according to truth, thou wilt find that all is composed of four elements, which are neither Muselmans nor Hindus; as to the rest, let thy commands be conformable to law.” The judge set him at liberty. Jadú was one of his disciples, and went to Balkh, the dome of Islam. He appeared in the mosque with the mark of the Hindu cast, and with the zúnar, and, arrested, was brought before the judge, who saluted him as a Muselman. Jadú replied: “If thou givest me a wife and settlest me in a house, I will be a Muselman.” The judge gave him a beautiful widow for a wife, and Jadú, having become a Muselman, went into her house. After the lapse of a few days, he said to the woman: “Give me the daughter whom thou hast had with thy late husband, in order that I may sell her, and spend the price that I receive for her for my subsistence. When we shall have another child, I will dispose of it in the same manner, by selling; for this is my profession, and except this I know no trade.” The woman dismissed him. Jadú, being at liberty, went to Kabul;[155] he put a feather on his head, as messengers used to do, fastened a bell round his waist, and, with a loose belt on his shoulder and a striped coat, he appeared in the bazar. The messengers arrested him, and said: “Why hast thou taken our dress?” Jadú answered: “The crown and feather are upon the head of the nightingale and of other birds, and the bell hangs upon the neck of the sheep and of the cow; reckon me too one of them.” The messengers began to handle him roughly; Jadú asked: “What is your desire?” They said: “Thou art now to exercise with us the nimble pace of a courier.” Jadú did not refuse: he ran with them, and gained so much over them that at the morning dawn not one of the couriers remained near him. During seven days and nights he neither ate nor drank any thing, practising running. Jadú acquired the habit of religious austerity; in the year 1052 of the Hejira (1642 A. D.), having convoked his friends in Jelálabad,[156] between Peshaver[157] and Kabul, he took leave from them and resigned his life.
Pertábmal Chadah (Chadah is a tribe of Kshatriyas) is a Jnání, that is a pious man; his native country is Síál kut; he attained to perfection in the exercise of virtue; he is not confined to any faith or religion; but knows that every religion is a road leading towards God; he sees in every face a friend revealed. One day he joined, on account of an affair, Davárah, a man who was one of the chiefs appointed by the government of Hargovínd, a successor of Nanak;[158] he became his disciple, and declared himself as his adherent. Davárah washed his feet, and the water thereof was drank by all the present followers of the faith, which they did to every body whom they had gained over to their religion. At last, a dispute arose between Pertábmal and Davárah; the latter said to the other: “But yesterday I washed thy feet (that is, made thee my disciple), and to-day thou makest war upon me?” Pertábmal answered: “Oh weak-minded man! the Jats always wash my feet as thou hast done: my own hand never touches my feet.” [The Jats are a low class of the Hindus.]
It is an established custom among the followers of Nának to present, when they pursue a desire, a few direms to the chief of their master, or to their master, and solicit his favor. Pertábmal offered some dírems to Kábelí, who was a religious chief appointed by Harigovind, and then in Kabul; he said with his hands joined: “I wish to convoke for prayer, according to their custom, all the followers of Nának; let that be granted.” Kabeli, before giving his agreement, asked: “Thou wishest perhaps to see Haragovind?” Pertábmal said: “I wish something more precious.” Kabeli asked: “What is this?” The answer was: “I wish the arrival of all the buffoons, dancers, and musicians from Péshawar to Kabul, that we may see their actions, arts, and tricks.”
In the house of Pertábmal was an idol which the Hindus worship. A mouse having made a hole in his furniture, he put the whole idol, instead of a lump of earth, into the mouse-hole, in order to shut the passage. The Hindus said: “What art thou about?” He answered: “The deity who cannot obstruct the road of a mouse, and settle any thing with a mouse, how will he protect me, and preserve me from the tyranny of the Muselmans?” In like manner Pertábmal had in his house a Sivalingam, which is a post of stone which the Hindus venerate: having carried this lingam out of his house, like a post, he tied a dog to it.
A Muselman said to him: “Two persons only of all unbelievers, namely, Nushirvan and Hatam, will go to heaven.” Pertábmal replied: “According to your faith, two persons only of the unbelievers will go to heaven; but our belief is that not one of the Muselmans will go to heaven.”
Azadah (this was his adopted title) is a Brahman. One day he ate at table with some Muselmans and drank wine. They said to him: “Thou art a Hindu, and thou takest thy meal in common with Muselmans? Your people never eat but with persons of their religion.” Azádah replied: “I did not suppose that you were Muselmans; hereafter I will at eating and drinking keep myself separate from you.” Another day he found himself again drinking wine in company with them, and did not turn his head from the meal; during the repast they said to Azádah: “Yesterday we made ourselves known to thee as Muselmans.” He answered: “I knew that you were joking with me. God forbid that you should be Muselmans.”
Binaváli is the son of Híráman, a Káyastha.[159] The Káyasthas are a tribe of the fourth cast which Brahma has created; among the illustrious poets his name was Walí;[160] from his childhood he liked very much the society of durvishes; and in his tender age he was with the religious chief, named Ularváh, a great durvish, whose continual exclamation was: “God, thou art present, thou art one, God, I attest this.” In the year of the Hejirah 1045 (A. D. 1634) he associated with the durvishes of India, and enjoyed the fruit of it; he came to Kashmir in the service of Mulla Shah Budakhshí, and acquired the desired knowledge. The Sufí is by no necessity bound to a creed; no faith nor religion fetters his choice; he befriends the idol and the temple of the idol, and is no stranger to the mosque; by the power of ecstacy, not by any external knowledge, he utters loud sublime speeches. In the year 1050 of the Hejira (1640 A. D.) the doors of friendship opened between him and the author of this work; from the refulgencies of his mind are the following lines:
“We are not ourselves that what we are; we are that what thou art;
Thou art without a mark; we are thy mark.