Page:History of India Vol 5.djvu/330

278 AKBAE'S EELIGIOUS VIEWS the course of the last few years the emperor had gained many great and remarkable victories, and his dominion had grown in extent from day to day, so that not an enemy was left in the world. He had taken a liking for the society of ascetics and the disciples of the cele- brated Mu'iniyyah, and spent much time in discussing the Word of God and the sayings of the Prophet, like- wise devoting his attention to problems of Sufism, sci- ence, philosophy, law, and similar matters. He passed whole nights in meditation upon God and upon the modes of addressing Him, and reverence for the great Giver filled his heart. In order to show his gratitude for his blessings, he would sit many a morning alone in prayer and mortification upon the stone bench of an old cell in a lonely spot near the palace. Thus engaged in meditation, he gathered the bliss of the early hours of dawn. Having completed the construction of the " Hall of Worship," he made a large chamber in each of its four divisions and also finished the construction of the tank called anuptaldo. After prayers on Fridays he would go from the monastery of the Shaikh-al-Islam and hold a meeting in this new building. Shaikhs, learned and pious men, and a few of his own companions and attend- ants were the only people who were invited, and dis- cussions were carried on upon all kinds of instructive and useful topics. Every Sabbath evening he invited Sayyids, shaikhs, theologians, and nobles, but ill feel- ing arose in the company about the order of precedence, so that his Majesty commanded that the nobles should