He sent a messenger in swiftness like
The flash and thunder-clap to Sa'ad. They wrote,
In apprehension yet not in despair,
A letter on white silk and thus endorsed:—
“This from the paladin of paladins—
The warlike Rustam, son of Hurmuzdsháh*—

To Sa'ad, son of Wakkás, the prudent, wise,
And circumspect, who hath come forth to fight.”
It thus began: “We still must fear the World-lord,
The Holy, who sustaineth turning heaven,
Whose rule is justice and beneficence.
May blessings from Him rest upon the king,
The lustre of the signet, crown, and throne,
The lord of sword, of diadem and lasso,
Whose Grace restraineth Áhriman in bonds.
A hateful matter hath occurred to us
In these uncalled for labours and this strife.
Reply to me and say who is your king,
Who thou art, what thy rule and custom are,
And whose assistance is it that ye seek
With unmailed soldiery and unmailed chief?
Fed up with bread thou art still ravenous;
Thou hast no elephants, no throne, no baggage.
Enough for thee to live within Írán,
For crown and signet are another man's,
Who hath Grace, elephants, and crown and throne—
A famous Sháh of lengthy lineage.
No throned king hath such stature or the moon
In heaven such aspect. When enthroned he sitteth
With smiles that make his silvern teeth appear;
His gifts would purchase Arabs in the gross,
And not impoverish his treasury.
His dogs, his hawks, and cheetahs are twelve thousand,
And they are decked with golden bells and varvels.
The whole waste of the wielders of the spear
Could find not in a year from end to end
Enough to feed his cheetahs and his hounds
When he is hunting on the plain. The Arabs,
From drinking camels' milk and eating lizards,
Have reached a pitch whereat the Persian throne
Is coveted! Shame, shame on circling heaven!
Ye have no veneration in your eyes,
Or, in your wisdom, love or reverence.
With such a visage and such tastes and ways
Is thy heart set upon the crown and throne?
If thou art seeking power within thy means,
And art not merely speaking words in jest,

Dispatch to us some man of goodly speech,
Send some brave veteran and man of lore,
That he may tell me thine intent and who
Doth lead thee to attempt the royal throne.
Then will I send a horseman to the Sháh
To ask of him whatever thou wilt ask,
But seek not with so great a king to fight,
For shame at last will come upon thy face.
His grandsire was the world-lord Núshírwán,
Whose justice made the agéd young again.
His fathers have been Sháhs, and he is king;
The age remembereth none like to him.
Fill not the world with curses on thyself,
Misprize not thine own precedents. Regard
This letter of advice and bar not thou
Thine eyes and ears to wisdom.” When the letter
Was sealed he gave it to high-born Pírúz,
Son of Shápúr. To Sa'ad, son of Wakkás,
This paladin and magnates from Írán,
Of ardent soul, went whelmed in iron, silver,
And gold, with golden shields and golden girdles.
On hearing, Sa'ad, that noble man, set forth,
Swift as the flying dust, to meet Pírúz
With troops, forthwith dismounted and inquired
About the army and its paladin,
About the Sháh, his minister and host,
The watchful leader and his provinces.
He spread his cloak beneath Pírúz and said:—
“We hold the sword and spear to be our mates:
Brave warriors make no mention of brocade,
Of gold and silver or of food and slumber.
Ye have no part in manhood but are like
To women with your colours, scents, and forms.
Your prowess is in donning broidery,
Adorning roofs and decorating doors.”
Pírúz then gave the letter and told Sa'ad
The words of Rustam. Sa'ad heard, read, and
wondered.
He wrote an answer back in Arabic,
Announcing good and ill. He wrote there first
The name of God and of His messenger,
Muhammad, who directeth to the truth.
He spake of Jins and men, of what the Prophet,
The Háshimite,*

had said, the Unity
Of God, of the Kurán, of promise, warning,
Of menace and of novel usages,
Of liquid pitch, of fire, and icy cold,
Of Paradise, its streams of milk and wine,
Of camphor and of musk, of bubbling springs,
Of wine and honey and the trees of heaven.*

Then: “If the Sháh accepteth the true Faith
He will obtain both worlds with joy and kingship,
And have withal the earrings and the crown,
Perpetual beauty and prosperity.

His intercessor there will be Muhammad,
His form like pure rose-water. In as much
As Paradise will be thy recompense
We must not plant thorns in the garth of bale.
The personality of Yazdagird,
This spacious world, such gardens, riding-grounds,
And halls and palaces with all the thrones
And crowns, the festivals and revelries,
Are less worth than one hair of an Hourí.
In this our Wayside Hostelry thine eyes
Are dazed by crown and treasure, and thou trustest
Too much in ivory throne, in wealth, and signet,
In fortune and in crown. Why be concerned
About a world when one draught of cold water
Out-prizeth it? Whoever cometh forth
To fight with me will see a narrow grave,
And Hell, naught else; but Paradise is his
If he believeth. Mark how he should fare.
He still will choose the one and shun the other
As every wise man knoweth.”

Then he set

The Arab seal thereon and praised Muhammad.
The messenger of Sa'ad, son of Wakkás,
Went with all speed to Rustam. Now what time
Shu'ba Mughíra went forth from the chiefs
To journey to the paladin, a noble,
One of the Iránians, came in from the way
Before the captain of the host, and said:—
“A messenger hath come—a weak, old man—
Without a horse or weapons and ill-clad,
With thin sword slung about his neck and shirt
All plainly tattered.”

Rustam thus apprised

Prepared a tent-enclosure of brocade.
They laid a carpet of gold thread of Chín;
The soldiery turned out like ants and locusts.
They set a golden ante-throne whereon
The captain of the host assumed his seat
With eight score warriors attending him—
Horsemen and lions on the day of battle—
With crowns, with violet robes, and golden boots,
With torques and earrings, while the tent-enclosure
Was royally adorned. Shu'ba Mughíra,
On coming to the tent-enclosure, walked not
Upon the cloth but humbly on the ground,
And used his scimitar as walking-stick.
He sat upon the dust without a look
At any—captain of the host or chief.
Then Rustam said to him: “May thy soul joy,
And by its knowledge make thy body strong.”
Shu'ba Mughíra said: “If thou, good sir!
Acceptest the true Faith, peace unto thee.”
Now Rustam, hearing this, was vexed and frowned.

He took and gave the letter to a reader.
That learned man told him what was writ, and Rustam
Made answer: “Tell him: ‘Thou art neither king
Nor an aspirant to the diadem,
But thou hast seen my fortune in eclipse,*

And so thy heart ambitioneth my throne.
The case is one of moment to the wise,
But thou hast not considered it. If Sa'ad
Had the Sásánian throne I well might share
His feasts and fights, but since the faithless stars
Bode ill, what shall I say? This is the day
Of bale. If for my guide I take Muhammad,
And this new Faith for old, all will go wrong
Beneath this crook-backed sky, and all go hard
With us.’ But as for thee, depart in peace;
The day of battle is no time for words.
Tell Sa'ad: ‘To die with honour is a thing
Far better for me than crude parleying.”