The Successors of Genghis Khan - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian ...

THE SUCCESSORS OF GENGHIS KHAN
Islam took firm root in his heart. He learnt the Qur'an and writes the
Tazik script extremely well, and his time is always devoted to acts of
devotion and worship. There are nearly 150,000 Mongol troops subordinate
to him, and he has converted the majority of them to Islam.
One of his emirs, called Sartaq, who was opposed to Islam, went to the
Qa'an and complained that Ananda was always in the mosque,
praying, fasting, and reading the Qur'an; that he had circumcised
the children of most of the Mongols; and that he had converted the
greater part of the army to Islam. The Qa'an was extremely annoyed
at this report and he sent Jirghalang and Chirtaqu, who are brothers
and in charge of the qushchis, to forbid his performing acts of devotion
and worship, to withdraw the Muslims from his Court, and to encourage
him to worship idols and burn incense in idol temples. He
refused to do so and would not listen to them, saying: "An idol is a
man-made thing—how can I worship it? The sun was created by the
Great God and is the soul of the corporeal world and the cause of the
life and growth of animal and vegetable, and yet I do not think it
right to worship it. How then should I worship a material form made
by man? I worship Him Who created the Qa'an and me." The Qa'an
was extremely angry at these words and ordered Ananda to be imprisoned.
But he remained constant in his faith and Islam and continued
to affirm his belief, saying: "Our fathers were all monotheists and
knew and worshipped God alone. Therefore, thanks to that sincere
belief, the Ancient God bestowed upon them the whole face of the
earth so that they held their heads high in pride and never bowed to
any idol." The Qa'an sent for him and asked: "If thou hast dreamt a
dream, or heard a voice, or something has appeared to thee, or someone
has guided thee to Islam, tell me so, that he may guide me too."
Ananda replied: "The Great God guided me through knowledge of
Him." Said the Qa'an: "It was a devil that guided thee." He replied:
"If it was a devil that guided me, who was it who guided Ghazan
Khan, who is my aqa?" The Qa'an was silent and reflected for awhile.
Kokejin Khatun said to him by way of advice: " It is 2 years since thou
mountedst the throne and the realm is not yet settled. Ananda has a
large army, and all those troops and the people of the Tangqut country
are Muslims and opposed to this state of affairs; moreover they are
close to enemy territory. Heaven forbid that they should change their
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