Two roads were heard of as leading from where we were to Ghaznī; one was the Tunnel-rock (Sang-i-sūrākh) road, passing Birk (Barak) and going on to Farmūl; the other was one along the Gūmāl, which also comes out at Farmūl but without touching Birk (Barak).[902] As during our stay in the Plain rain had fallen incessantly, the Gūmāl was so swollen that it would have been difficult to cross at the ford we came to; moreover persons well-acquainted with the roads, represented that going by the Gūmāl road, this torrent must be crossed several times, that this was always difficult when the waters were so high and that there was always uncertainty on the Gūmāl road. Nothing was settled then as to which of these two roads to take; I expected it to be settled next day when, after the drum of departure had sounded, [Sidenote: Fol. 150.] we talked it over as we went.[903] It was the `Īd-i-fitr (March 7th 1505 AD.); while I was engaged in the ablutions due for the breaking of the fast, Jahāngīr Mīrzā and the begs discussed the question of the roads. Some-one said that if we were to turn the bill[904] of the Mehtar Sulaimān range, this lying between the Plain and the Hill-country (_desht u dūkī_),[905] we should get a level road though it might make the difference of a few marches. For this they decided and moved off; before my ablutions were finished the whole army had taken the road and most of it was across the Gūmāl. Not a man of us had ever seen the road; no-one knew whether it was long or short; we started off just on a rumoured word! The Prayer of the `Id was made on the bank of the Gūmāl. That year New-year's Day[906] fell close to the `Id-i-fitr, there being only a few days between; on their approximation I composed the following (Turkī) ode:— Glad is the Bairām-moon for him who sees both the face of the Moon and the Moon-face of his friend; Sad is the Bairām-moon for me, far away from thy face and from thee.[907] O Bābur! dream of your luck when your Feast is the meeting, your New-year the face; For better than that could not be with a hundred New-years and Bairāms.