1 LEiLRMING OF TH£ AFGHAUN& 199
2 nude no oootMnptllile progress, llie degree of encontagementwliMii
3 leanuiig has reodved fiom the A^^iMtn Kings, deserves to be re*
4 marked. Alimed Shaiih was very find of ]ettefs» and used to bave
5 once a weA a MijUssee Oolnna (or assembly'of ihe learned), the
6 early part of which was devoted to subjects of .divinity and law, but
7 which ahvaya concluded with convenations on poetry and sdence^
8 and were often prolonged till near morning. TImoiir Shank retained
9 these meeting, 'and used to have his own tomposHions read at them ;
10 nor has the practice been laid aside to this day. Timour Shauh pub-
11 IMied a book of odes in Pei^ian, which is highly spcdbeii o( but is
12 mid to Iiave been conected. and improved by Feroghee* a oelebrated
13 poet of Timour*s cooit. Ahmed fihauh alao wrote several poems in
14 Persian, and I am in possession of a poetioai; epistie in that la^uag^
15 from ^lauh Zemann to his brother Shuja, which (though the person
16 idbo-^ve it to me, pretended that he had greatly embellished it at
17 Z&OMun's desire), is still a vcrv' poor performance. Shauh Zemaun^
18 indeed, is said to be the most illiterate of his family. He was at one
19 time persuaded by his Alooliabs to issue n prod fim at ion, forbidding
20 the studv of lo^ic, as dangerous to the ]\T;iii(.>iiiinL'(lan f-iifh ; but his
21 edict iiad no effect, except occasioniiig great raerrbnent anions ihf)se
22 lo whom it was addrett^ed. I have not heard of any works ot bhauh
23 Alahmood ; but Shauh Shuja is an Arabic scholiir, makes tolerable
24 verses, And is reckoned learned and accomplished ibr a King.