Muz̤affar _Barlās_ was another.[1063] He had been with the Mīrzā in the guerilla fighting and, for some cause unknown, had received extreme favour. In such honour was he in those guerilla days that the compact was for the Mīrzā to take four _dāng_ (sixths) [Sidenote: Fol. 170b.] of any country conquered, and for him to take two _dāng_. A strange compact indeed! How could it be right to make even a faithful servant a co-partner in rule? Not even a younger brother or a son obtains such a pact; how then should a beg?[1064] When the Mīrzā had possession of the throne, he repented the compact, but his repentance was of no avail; that muddy-minded mannikin, favoured so much already, made growing assumption to rule. The Mīrzā acted without judgment; people say Muz̤affar _Barlās_ was poisoned in the end.[1065] God knows the truth! `Alī-sher _Nawā'ī_ was another, the Mīrzā's friend rather than his beg. They had been learners together in childhood and even then are said to have been close friends. It is not known for what offence Sl. Abū-sa`īd Mīrzā drove `Alī-sher Beg from Herī; he then went to Samarkand where he was protected and supported by Aḥmad Ḥājī Beg during the several years of his stay.[1066] He was noted for refinement of manner; people fancied this due to the pride of high fortune but it may not have been so, it may have been innate, since it was equally noticeable also in Samarkand.[1067] `Alī-sher Beg had no match. For as long as verse has been written in the Turkī tongue, no-one has written so much or so well as he. He wrote six books of poems (mas̤nawī), five of them answering to the Quintet (_Khamsah_),[1068] the sixth, entitled the _Lisānu'ṯ-ṯair_ (Tongue of the birds), was in the same metre as the _Manṯiqu'ṯ-ṯair_ (Speech of the birds).[1069] He put together four _dīwāns_ (collections) of odes, bearing the names, _Curiosities of Childhood_, _Marvels of Youth_, _Wonders of Manhood_ and _Advantages of Age_.[1070] There are good quatrains of his also. Some others of his compositions rank below those [Sidenote: Fol. 171.] mentioned; amongst them is a collection of his letters, imitating that of Maulānā `Abdu'r-raḥmān _Jāmī_ and aiming at gathering together every letter on any topic he had ever written to any person. He wrote also the _Mīzānu'l-aūzān_ (Measure of measures) on prosody; it is very worthless; he has made mistake in it about the metres of four out of twenty-four quatrains, while about other measures he has made mistake such as any-one who has given attention to prosody, will understand. He put a Persian _dīwān_ together also, Fānī (transitory) being his pen-name for Persian verse.[1071] Some couplets in it are not bad but for the most part it is flat and poor. In music also he composed good things (_nīma_), some excellent airs and preludes (_nakhsh u peshrau_). No such patron and protector of men of parts and accomplishments is known, nor has one such been heard of as ever appearing.