carried off nearly one thousand of their virgin daughters from Samerkand and its neighbourhood, and that the orders of Alyas Khuajē were not listened to by his followers; again a number of the Syeds of Termuz came and complained to me, that the Tūrkish soldiers had carried into captivity seventy of their brethren and children, all descendants of the Prophet (on whom be the grace of God): on hearing of this my honour was roused, I pursued the plunderers, defeated them, and recovered the captives; on this account the Jetes bound up the loins of animosity against me, and carried their complaints to Tugleck Timūr Khān, and wrote to him that I had raised the standard of rebellion, in consequence of which he issued an edict for putting me to death, which edict fell into my hands; it was at this time that I had the dream above mentioned. Another happy omen was this, my _Peer_[23] wrote to me, he had seen in a vision, that the Almighty had appointed me his treasurer, and that the keys of the treasury would be consigned to me by his Vizier Mustafā; this good news exalted my ideas, and induced me to expect success from fate. Another time when I was very much annoyed by the oppressions of the Jetes, and knew not what to do, I received the following letter from my _Peer_. “The supported of the Lord, may God continue to protect him; I have seen in a vision, the messenger of the Lord of all worlds, who has promised to make you his vicegerent, and support you, and therefore be not afraid, nor despond, for he is with you.” I was much rejoiced by this letter, and became strong of heart, although I was in daily expectation of the arrival of Tugleck Timūr’s edict to put me to death; and when the edict did arrive, (the Saint) Amyr Kelan, sent me this verse of the traditions of the Prophet, “Flight is proper for him who has not the power to oppose.” I therefore fled to Khuarizm, with sixty horsemen, and wrote a description of my situation to my _Peer_, and received the following answer to my letter; “may God protect Abul Munsūr Timūr; let him lay down these four rules for his conduct, that with the arm of magnanimity he may be successful and prosperous through life, as is recorded in the traditions. “1st. Be determined in whatever you undertake, place your undertakings on faith in God, and do not relax your exertions. “2nd. Invest yourself with the robe of honour, and permit not fornication or adultery to be committed in your dominion: It is related that a Crane once saw in her nest, a young Raven associating with her young ones, and for several days and nights she permitted it to remain, at length a number of Cranes collected and tore the owner of the nest to pieces with their beaks and claws: the honour of a man should far exceed that of birds, especially that of Princes, which should ever protect the respectability and reputation of their subjects.