Then by the Sháh's command they wrote a patent
That gave Hurmuzd the throne and crown, and when
The wind had dried that paper wrought in Chín
They set a seal of musk thereon. The Sháh,
In presence of the magnates and shrewd sages,
Charged the high priest therewith. I, by the grace
Of the victorious monarch of the world,
Put into verse this act of Núshírwán's.
The world in practice doth belie its show;
Beneath 'tis naught but dolour and chagrin,
But, whether thou hast crown or toil and woe,
Thou ne'ertheless must quit this Wayside Inn.
Peruse a letter of the kings of yore,
And see if Núshírwán hath any peer
For justice, rede, festivity, and war,
Yet, his day done, he found no tarriance here.
So turn from feast and pleasure, and be wise,
Thou agéd dotard and impenitent!
The world may still look freshly to thine eyes
When in thy cups thou scornest to repent;
Yet still, if thou be wise, repent anon;
The man of Faith is well advised for aye;
The seasons of thine age will soon be gone,
Spring, Summer-tide, and Autumn pass away!
Then when thy body is in dust below
Think whither that pure soul of thine will go!
What was it that the agéd chronicler
Said of the testament of Núshírwán?

When the responses of Hurmuzd were ended
The high priest entered on a new discourse.
The Sháh bade, and the counsellors and scribes
Wrote out on silk a gracious document
From Núshírwán to young Hurmuzd, beginning
With praise of the All-just and then proceeding:—
“This counsel of the offspring of Kubád
Hear graciously and write upon thy heart,
Which haply through these words of mine may live.
Know that this world is faithless, O my son!
And full of toil and trouble, pain and bale.
Whenever thou are joying therein and when
Thy heart is free from time's distemperature
That happiness hath no abiding-place,
And thou must quit this Wayside Hostelry.
As I resign the world to thee with justice
Thou must thyself resign it to another.
Since both by bright day and by longsome night
My thoughts are busied with mine own departure
I seek a head fit for the royal crown
To be a diadem on every head.
We have six sons—the Lustre of our heart—
Wise, generous, and just. We have made choice
Of thee because thou art the eldest-born,
A wise man and the adornment of the crown.
Kubád, the well beloved, had four score years
What time he spake to me of sovereignty;
Now I have come to seventy years and four,
And I have made thee monarch in the world.
Herein mine aim hath been but peace and weal
So that I might have worship after death.
My hope is that almighty God will make thee
All glad and fortunate. If by thy justice
Folk are secure through thee thou wilt thyself
Repose in peace, glad through thine own just dealing,
And for thy good works done win Paradise,
For he is blest that sowed but seed of good.
See that thou ne'er lose patience; haste is ill
In kings. The world-lord that is shrewd and learned
Will be in estimation all his years.
In no way go about to compass lies,
Else will the visage of thy fortune pale.
Keep haste afar both from thy heart and brain;
The wisdom that is joined to haste will slumber.
Incline toward the good and strive therefor,
And list the sage's rede in weal and woe.
Ill must not compass thee about, for ill
Will verily result in ill to thee.
Let both thy raiment and thy food be pure,
And keep thy father's counsels still in mind.
Make God thy refuge and incline to Him
As thou wouldst have Him for thy guide. When thou
Shalt make the world all prosperous by thy justice
Thy treasury will prosper, fortune joy
In thee. Reward men when they act aright;
Wait not till good men's toil hath waxen old.
Make glad the men of parts and have them near thee,
But keep the world dark to the ill-disposed.
In all affairs take counsel with the sage,
And fret not at the toils of sovereignty.
Whenas the wise hath access to thee, throne
With troops and treasure will continue thine.
As for thy subjects, suffer none of them
To be in cheerless case. The potentates
And nobles of thy realm must all partake
Thy good, but let the ignoble share it not,
And trust not aught to one that is unjust.
Give all thine ear and heart to mendicants,
And let their sorrows be thy sorrows too.
The chief that of his own accord is just
Will please the world as well as please himself.
Bar not thy treasury to men of worth,
But act with bounty to the virtuous;
Still if thine enemy become thy friend
Sow not thy seed of good on that salt soil.
If thou shalt follow this advice of ours
Thy crown will be exalted evermore.
May He that giveth good wish well to thee,
Thy throne be wisdom and thy crown success.
God grant that thou mayst not forget my words
Though thou be far removéd from my sight.
May thy head flourish and thy heart be glad,
Thy person pure and far from hurt of foes.
May wisdom be thy watchman evermore,
And righteousness the subject of thy thoughts.
When I shall pass away from this wide world
A goodly palace must be built for me,
Secluded somewhere from the haunts of men,
And where the swift-winged vulture flieth not* —
A palace lifted toward revolving heaven,
And in its height ten lassoes long and more,
And thereupon let there be limned my court,
The great men, and the warriors of my host.
Let tapestries of every kind be there
In plenty, strewings, colour and perfume.
Embalm my corpse with camphor and arrange
A crown of musk upon the head thereof.
Bring forth five pieces never handled yet
Of cloth of gold and of brocade of Chín,
And garb me in them in the Kaian mode,
As is the usance of Sásánian Sháhs,
* By which same token make an ivory throne
With crown suspended o'er the ivory,
And let the golden vessels that I used,
The goblets and the censers and the cups—
A score filled with rosewater, saffron, wine,
Ten score with camphor, musk, and ambergris—
Be set upon my left hand and my right,
No more or less, for such is my command.
Drain from my trunk the blood and afterwards
Let the dry space be filled with musk and camphor,
And lastly block the passage to my throne—
A passage that no other Sháh may see.
That court will be conducted otherwise,
And none will have e'en access unto us.
Let those among my sons and noble kin,
Who feel my death as a calamity,
Refrain from feast and pleasure for two months,
For that is usual at the Sháh's decease,
And 'twould be seemly for the good to drop
A tear on this, the Great King's, testament.
Depart not from the bidding of Hurmuzd
And breathe not save according to his will.”
All o'er that testament shed many a tear,
And Núshírwán survived it just a year.