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and came to Bayhaq 1
QREAT DEEDS INSPIRED BY^OETRY*, 2$
, where
two tho*usand horsemen joined me.
I advanced and took Nishapur, and my affairs prospered and
'continued to improve until I had subdued all Khurasan to myself.
Of all this, these two ventes of poetry were the originaj cause." ,
Sallami 2 relates in^his history that Jhe affairs of Ahmad ibn
'Abdu'llah prospered so greatly that in^ one night in Nishapur -
he distributed in largesse 306,600 dinars, 500 head' of horses, and
IOOO suits of clothes, and to-day he stands in history as one of
the victorious monarchs, all of which was brought about by these
two verses of poetry. Many similar instances are to be found
amongst both the Arabs and the Persians, but we have restricted
Ou/selvas to the mention of, this one. So a king cannot dispense
with a good 'poet, who shall provide for the immortality of his
name, and shall record his fame in diwdns and books. For when
3
the king receives that command which none can escape no
,
traces will remain of his army, his treasure,,and his store; but
his name jwill endure for ever by reason of the poet's verse, as
Sharif-i-Mujallidf of Gurgan says 4 :
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