When Sol rose o'er the hills the Turkman horsemen
Prepared to march. The city was astir,
And, thou hadst said, a deafening clamour rose.
Before the court-gate of Afrásiyáb
The troops formed rank, the great men loosed their
loins,
And bowed their heads in dust before the king,
Exclaiming: “Things with us have passed all bounds!
What must be done? This business of Bízhan
Will be a lasting stigma, the Íránians
Will call us men no more, but women armed.”
Thereat Afrásiyáb raged like a pard,
And bade them fight for shame. He bade Pírán
To bind the tymbals on, and thus he said:—
“This flouting from Írán is over-much!”
The brass blared at the court-gate of the king,
The troops were all in motion in Túrán,
The warriors ranked themselves before the palace,
Arose the din of trump and Indian bell,
And to the frontier from Túrán a host
Marched that left earth no surface save the sea.
Now when the Íránian watchman from the look-out
Rustam made reply:—
“We fear not, we will strew it on their hands.”
He left Manízha with the baggage, donned
His battle-mail, went to a height, observed
The foe, and roared out like a savage lion.
That gallant horseman spake a proverb, saying:—
“What doth a fox weigh in a lion's claws?”
Then to his valiant warriors he shouted:—
“The wage of war confronteth us to-day.
Where are the swords and iron-piercing darts?
Where are the ox-head maces and the spears?
Now is the season to display your prowess,
And rank yourselves upon the battlefield.”
Anon arose a sound of clarions,
While matchless Rustam mounted Rakhsh and led
His army plainward from the heights what time
The foe was seen approaching.*
Both the hosts
Deployed upon that broad expanse and formed
Two camps empanoplied. Then Rustam chose
His battle-ground, whereat the world grew black
With horse-raised dust. Ashkash and Gustaham
Were on the right with many cavaliers,
Upon the left were Zanga and Ruhhám.
All rose superior to that conflict. Rustam,
The warriors' warden and the host's support,
Was at the centre with Bízhan the son
Of Gív. Behind the host was Mount Bístún,
In front a citadel of scimitars.
Afrásiyáb, when he beheld that host,
With Rustam who was seen commanding it,
In dudgeon donned his armour for the battle,
And bade his troops to halt. He drew them up
In due array against the foe. The earth
Was hidden and the air like indigo.
The left wing he intrusted to Pírán,
While brave Húmán departed to the right;
The centre he consigned to Garsíwaz
And Shída; he himself o'erlooked the whole.
The matchless Rustam went about the host,
And seemed a sable mountain in his mail.