The author of this work heard what follows from the tongue of Guru Har-govind: “A mighty rája exists in the north or this mountainous country. One day he sent me an ambassador who asked information, saying: ‘I have heard that there is a town named Delhi; what is the name of its rája, and whose son is he?’ I was astonished to hear that he did not know even the name of Amír ul Múmenín saheb Karan sáni (Jehangír).” The Guru had eight hundred horses in his stable, three hundred troopers on horseback, and sixty men with fire-arms were always in his service. Among these some carried on commerce, and other trades and occupations. Whoever was a fugitive from his home took refuge with him.
The Guru believed but one God. A person desired from him some account of the creation and the constitution of this world. The Guru said: “The universe is an appearance without reality, and an unsubstantial manifestation of God, the highest being; and all bodies, as well as gods, are an idle illusion. I will tell thee, said he, a story of old times: There was a king who went to hunt the _hátah jori_, which in the Turkish language is called _kamer ghah_, and in Persian _barah shikar_, ‘a fawn of the chace.’ A deer came into the circle of the hunting party. The king said: ‘On whose side the deer will come forth, let him not return before me until he has taken it with his hand.’ By fate, the animal came out on the side of the king. Khusro run after it until he was far from the army, and reached a place where, on account of thick wood, he could not find a path. The king was glad to think the deer would now return towards him; but when he came near it, there was a small opening through which the game escaped. The king sharply pushed on his horse, which, contracting itself, passed through the thicket; but the pádsháh was taken by two branches, and his arms and feet fastened so as if it had been purposely brought about. He remained two days in such a state, until two persons, a man and a woman, who were gathering wood, arrived near him. The woman said to her husband: ‘Look! the king has hanged a thief.’ The man replied: ‘This is not a place for hanging; we must examine it nearer.’ When they had approached, they saw and recognised the king, and said to each other: ‘If we release him, it will be of use to us.’ The woman observed: ‘He is the king; once made free, what advantage will he grant us for it? If he promises to marry our daughter, we will release him.’ They said so to the king, who promied what they desired. After that, they liberated him, brought him to their house, and gave him their daughter. He remained there some time, and then joined his army. When he wanted to enter his palace, the door-keeper struck him with his stick; the king was seized with a trembling and awoke. He saw the high throne and the servants before him waiting for his orders. By this dream he was aroused from the emptiness of his illusion; he knew that the world is but an appearance without reality; and that, whatever we experience, being awake, is likewise nothing more than a dream. He found that the diversity of forms and of distinct bodies is but an image of existence, and that in truth there is but one real being, one praiseworthy, and raised above all others by superlative excellence.”
