Fadʹladeenʹ.

The great Nazir’, or chamberlain of Aurungze’bë’s harem, in Lalla Rookh. The criticism of this self-conceited courtier upon the several tales which make up the romance are very racy and full of humour; and his crest-fallen conceit when he finds out that the poet was the Prince in disguise is well conceived.

“He was a judge of everything—from the pencilling of a Circassian’s eyelids to the deepest questions of science and literature; from the mixture of a conserve of rose-leaves to the composition of an epic poem … all the cooks and poets of Delhi stood in awe of him.”—T. Moore.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.