Character of Sultán Ahmed Khán
The pious royal defunct was a prince who, discarding envy, was the protector and encourager of the learned and the lovers of concord. He was the friend and support of the neglected, infirm, and poor, who were obedient to the laws, and of those who rooted out wickedness and heresy. He ascended the throne of his illustrious progenitors when he was only fourteen, and reigned fourteen years. His gracious but powerful firmáns were some of the benefits he conferred, and his reign is embalmed in the pages of poetry as the most prosperous. He was a zealous and active emperor, who incessantly manifested his good disposition.
It is related by Shábán Deddán, who had performed the office of washing the emperor, that he had perceived in the emperor’s beard two white hairs, which he (the emperor) during his life time would not allow to be extracted. “When with astonishment, and desirous of information, I showed them to his nearest relatives,” says Deddán, “they informed me, that these two hairs began to appear after the commander-in-chief had been sent against the Persians.” He was a prince who was kind to persons of every class, whose conduct deserved to be esteemed. In short, religion prospered during his reign. The benefits he conferred on Medina and Mecca exceeded those of all his predecessors. He purchased the two palaces in the At Meidán, belonging to Ahmed Páshá and Mohammed Páshá, on the area of which he caused a splendid temple to be built, which has not its equal on the face of the earth. In the galleries, on the tops of its six minarets, are shown the number of the Osmánlí Sultáns who have reigned; and from which also the Moslem muezzíns (public criers) proclaim the joys of paradise. Its lamps are all suspended: some of them are covered over with gold, and others are ornamented with gems. Both within and without, the utmost skill of the artist has been expended. This unequalled temple is very lofty. Some of the beautiful buildings which surround it are also memorials of the royal founder.