The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 515
514 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI UL-WASĀWIS worshippers as a shepherd holds sway over sheep and goats. Then, their days of glory were overturned due to their misdeeds and they were oppressed at the hands of their brethren—the Sikhs. They used to await your Government as those who fast eagerly search for the moon of Eid. They used to seek your benevolence as a pregnant woman anticipates the birth of a goodly child. They would seek victory with your arrival. Indeed, they had times when they donned the robes of governance and held the sceptre of authority; therefore, they are often agonized by the memory of those glorious times, for old habits die hard. I have said all this as good counsel, the entire reward of deeds being dependant upon the intentions behind them. I swear by God, all good lies in honouring them and restoring their respect to them through offering some offices and gifts. I do not see any good in devising a plan for their destruction and slaughtering them like snakes. No soul can die or be expelled from a land except by the decree of the Lord of the Heavens. O gracious and benevolent Queen! Be kind to them. Allah will grant you the best reward. Pardon me if you find some bitterness in my discourse for truth is never free of bitterness, and forgiveness is antic- ipated only from the noble. I see that poverty and destitution have befallen Muslims so severely that even the children of nobility have nothing but bricks and stones left in their houses. The turbans have fallen from their heads and nothing is left for them to give in pledge but kettles and glasses. There was a time when they had retinues, serv- ants, wealth, and fine clothes, but now I find no servant for them but their own limbs, and due to the change of times, they appear to me as the drunken while they are sober, for they have been overwhelmed with grief as the people are overwhelmed by the severity of hardships and by the closure of all ways of deliverance. Verily I have seen that you are, indeed, gracious and glorious and the like of you is not to be found in kings. God has endowed you with wisdom and vigour. You comfort your subjects with excruciat- ing toil and take little rest. You spend most of your time in exploring