When Bazánúsh saw that reply the heart
In his pure body throbbed with joy. He bade
A hundred nobles quit fair Rúm with him.
They made up sixty asses' loads of drachms,
Of gems, and full-dress robes, and thirty thousand
Dínárs for largess gathered from all sides.
They went before the Sháh with naked feet
And heads all bare, and, as they poured dínárs,
Bestrewed the gold with gems. Shápúr received
The Rúmans graciously and seated them
In due degree. He said to Bazánúsh:—
“From Rúm no lack of curst and unjust men
Hath come. Where there were cities in Írán
Now there are thorn-brakes. I demand redress
For what hath been laid waste and made the lair
Of pard and lion.”

Bazánúsh replied:—

“Say what thou wilt and since thou gav'st us quarter
Frown not upon us.”

Said the noble Sháh:—

“If thou wouldst have full pardon for the wrong
Thou must pay tribute in dínárs of Rúm—
Two hundred thousand thrice in every year,
And further give up Nasíbín to me,
If thou wouldst end my vengeance.”

Bazánúsh

Replied: “Írán, Arabia, Nasíbín
Are thine, and I agree to this vast tribute,
For we can not withstand thy wrath and vengeance.”
Shápúr agreed by treaty not to march

On Rúm thenceforth, excepting by permission
In friendly wise, that Rúm might not be injured.
Then he dismissed those magnates graciously
And honourably, on their departure marched,
And thanked his Maker much. He sought Istakhr—
The world-famed glory of the land of Párs—
Rejoicing.

When the news of these events

Reached Nasíbín the people rushed to arms,
Exclaiming: “We will not let Sháh Shápúr
Take Nasíbín or bring an army hither
Because he is not Christian but observeth
The Zandavasta and the cult of Fire.
He will not hear us when he cometh hither,
And we will not accept the Zandavasta,
And ancient Faith.”

The populace prevailed,

The Faithful mounted for the war. When tidings
Reached Sháh Shápúr that Nasíbín rebelled
He was enraged against the Christian Faith,
And set a countless host upon the march.
He said: “Applaud I cannot an evangel
Whose author suffered death among the Jews.”
For one whole week they fought; the city's gate
Grew all too narrow for the combatants;
The Íránians slew a multitude of chiefs,
And placed those that survived in heavy bonds.
The citizens wrote to the Sháh for quarter,
Who pardoned them and bade his host withdraw.
He gained renown in all parts of the earth,
He gained supremacy o'er all the world.
Men used to call him “The victorious Sháh,”
And long did he possess the throne and crown.
She who had freed and given him his greatness,
Whom he named Diláfrúz-i-Farrukhpái,*

Was dearer to him than all other fair.
Moreover on the gardener he bestowed
Great treasure and dismissed him well provided;
But Cæsar stayed in prison and in bond,
In abject, evil case, and lasso-bound,
While all the treasure that he had in Rúm,
And toiled to gather in from every side,
He had conveyed and given to Shápúr.
He lived awhile with sighs upon his lips,
Within his prison-house, and there he died,
And let another have the crown of might.
Then Sháh Shápúr dispatched the corpse to Rúm,
Encrowned with musk upon a bier, and said:—
“This is our end but where we shall find rest
I know not. One is covetous and foolish,
Another wise and dowered with Grace, but life

Will pass with both. The good and abstinent
Alone are blest.”

He mounted on the throne

Of kings and ruled the world awhile. Thereafter
He settled many folk for good or ill
Within the land of Khúzistán and built
A city for his prisoners: folk at large
Shared not therein.*

'Twas called Khurram Ábád,*

But who were they who shared that pleasant place?
The men whose hands Shápúr had stricken off
Had this assigned to them as their abode;
They had it all, and every year a robe
Of honour. He erected too in Shám
A city which he called Pírúz Shápúr,*

And in Ahwáz a third with palaces
And hospitals, Kinám-i-Asírán*

They called it; prisoners there had rest and ease.
He reigned until he passed his fiftieth year
Of sovereignty; the age had not his peer.