cialities of existence in order to live a life con-
cerned with realities, by means of silent commun-
ion with the Infinite and disinterested service
of his fellow-beings. The former carried him into
the realms of religion, poetry and philosophy,
while the latter made him, even as an official, a
social reformer and a philanthropist.
In all his discourses, public and private, I find
him warning people against mistaking the shadow
for the substance, and caring more for personal gain
than for the real and lasting good of those around
them. Even as a lover of literature, he values
thought-content more than beauty of phrase.
His words, spoken or written, whether in prose
or in poetry, contain some high thought,
some useful idea or some message from the great
thinkers of the past, and more often from the
Qur'an, calculated to raise humanity from the
depths into which this glamorous but soulless
civilization of ours seems to have fallen. If
sometimes one finds him a little curt in conver-
sation or uninviting in his manner or a little im-
patient, it is because he is above the wiles of
hypocrisy, and does not hide what he feels at the
moment.
Seen against the background of the social
life of Hyderabad two particular characteristics
emerge prominently in the life-story of Sir
Nizamat Jung. One is that he did not change
his principles or ways of life to suit the changing
times. He did not begin to like a person merely
because he found him rising to greater heights