Khusrau gave ear, then made a sage reply:
“Old man of honest brain!” he said to Zál,
“Right goodly are thy counsels and thy speech.
Since Minúchihr was on the throne till now
Thou hast been kindly and benevolent,
While Rustam of the elephantine form,
That man of name, the pillar of the Kaians
And people's joy, became the fosterer
Of Siyáwush and source of good to him.
Troops that have looked on Rustam's iron mace,
His breast, his helmet, and his lion-limbs,

Have often fled before the fight, and dropped
Their bows and arrows on the plains and dales;
He helped mine ancestors to seek revenge,
And was their glorious minister and guide.
Were I to tell thy toils the tales would last
A hundred generations and be fresh,
And were inquiry made of thy good deeds
My praise would only be disparagement.
Next, as to what thou askest of my case
In thus refusing audience and lamenting,
I will inform thee of each circumstance
That thou mayst know the matter point by point:
By God, I have no wish on earth but one—
To quit this wretched world. Five sennights now
Have passed while I have stood to supplicate
The Judge and Guide to pardon past offences,
To brighten my dark moon, convey me hence,
And leave on earth no pain or grief through me.
I must not quit the right and turn aside
Like former Sháhs. I have attained my wish,
And must dispatch because glad news hath come.
Whenas mine eyes were sleeping yester-morn
Surúsh, the blessèd, came to me from God,
And said: ‘Prepare, for 'tis thy time to go,
Thy watching and distress are overpassed.’
So now mine audiences, care for the host,
For crown and throne and belt, are at an end.”
The paladins were troubled in their hearts
About the Sháh and knew not what to do.
Zál, when he heard the monarch's words, was wroth
And from his liver drew a deep, cold sigh;
He said to the Íránians: “This is bad!
No wisdom still abideth in his brain;
Since first I girt a girdle round my loins
I have attended at the Kaians' throne,
But never saw I one who spake like this!
Yet may we not ignore what he hath said,
Or give assent thereto in any way,
When he is holding forth in such a strain.
He may have been in conclave with the Dív,
And thus his head is turned away from God.
Húshang and Farídún, God's worshippers,
Ne'er laid their hands on such a branch as this.
I will declare to him the honest truth
E'en at the cost of life.”

The Íránians said:—

“No Kaian e'er spake thus! We are with thee
In what thou say'st to him. May God prevent
His wandering from use and precedent.”