Page:History of India Vol 3.djvu/145

A REMARKABLE INTERVIEW 113 ury, the kadi said, " The time of my death is at hand. If I answer your question honestly you will slay me, and if I give an untrue reply I shall hereafter go to hell." Nevertheless he spoke out boldly and told Ala- ad-din that all treasure won by the armies of Islam belonged to the public treasury and not to the Sultan, and that if he wished to follow the highest example of the most enlightened caliphs he would draw no more from the treasury for himself and his family and establish- ment than was allotted to each fighting man in the army. This reply excited the Sultan's wrath and he said, " Dost thou not fear my sword, when thou tellest me that all my great expenditure on my harem is unlaw- ful? " The kadi replied, " I do fear your Majesty's sword, and I look upon this turban as my winding- sheet; but your Majesty questions me about the law, and I answer to the best of my ability. If, however, you ask my advice from a political point of view, then I say that whatever your Majesty spends upon your harem no doubt tends to raise your dignity in the eyes of men; and the exaltation of a king's dignity is essen- tial to good policy." After many questions and answers, the Sultan said to the kadi, " You have declared my proceedings in these matters to be unlawful. Now see how I act. When troopers do not appear at the muster, I order three years' pay to be taken from them. I place wine- drinkers and wine-sellers in the pits. If a man de- bauches another man's wife, I effectually prevent him from again committing such an offence, and the woman