He wrote moreover to the folk of Tús,
With full heart and with face like sandarac,
First offering his praises to the Judge
“From whom are fortune, strength, and excellence,
Grace, triumph, throne, and diadem of kingship.
From foot of ant to soaring eagle's plume,
From elephant on land to crocodile
In water, all are faithful, do His will,
And draw no breath unless by His command.
This from the world's Sháh, mighty Yazdagird,
Son*

of a famous king and valorous,
Victorious leader of the Íránian host,
Who guardeth his domain, desireth more,
And cometh of a great, God-fearing race
That thank their stars that they possess the crown,
Have peopled earth and made crown, throne, and
signet
Resplendent, to his marchlords with their thrones
And treasures, Grace, high-bearing, crowns and host
At Shamírán, Rúína,*

and Mount Ráda,
Kalát and elsewhere. May the Fosterer
Watch over us and keep you from the scath
Of evil hap. In sooth the chiefs have heard,
For it hath been an ensign in the world,
That in regard to warfare, valour, birth,
Our hearts are full of kindness, love, and justice.
High birth especially constraineth us—
The Sháhs—to let our toils exceed our treasures
On your behalf. What time Bahrám Chúbína,
That malcontent, grew noted and rejected
Our rule and diadem ye all abandoned
Your marches, spacious cities, pleasances,
Your parks and palaces, and in that case,
In terror of disaster, made your homes

On dale and lofty height. If God almighty
Shall grant me strength and fortune favour us
I will repay your good deeds lavishly,
And pray to Him who watcheth o'er the world.
In sooth ye must have heard of what the stars
Have brought upon our head by these vile Snakes
With looks like Áhriman, who lack all knowledge,
Shame, fame, and treasure, fortune and descent,
And fain would let the world go to the winds.
It is the compass of the lofty sky
That tribulation shall befall this realm
By these vile miscreants, these Raven-heads,*

Devoid of sense and knowledge, fame and shame.
These greedy men, who covet diadems,
Have fixed their eyes upon this royal state,
And Núshírwán once dreamed that this our throne
Would lose its brilliant lustre. He beheld
A hundred thousand Arabs—raging camels
With bits*

snapped—seeking how to cross the Arwand,
And bring destruction on our fields and fells,
Saw that both Fire and Fane of Fire would perish,
The light of New Year end and Sada feast,
That in Írán and Babylon dark smoke
Would rise from tilth and crop to Saturn's sphere,
While on the world-king's hall the battlements
Would tumble to the ground.*

The dream is now
Fulfilled and heaven's favour fain to quit us.
Those that we value most will be misprized,
The base will be set up on high by fortune,
Ill scattered through the world, mishap apert
And good concealed. In all the provinces
Some tyrant, some obscene calamity,
And signs of dark night's coming will appear,
Our glorious fortune be cut off from us.
Now as our counsellors and paladins—
Men of pure rede—advise we purpose going
To Khurásán and to its warlike marchlords.
Because now of the governor of Tús
Have I led here the elephants and drums,
And we shall see how fortune will make bonds
Of our frail knots. I am girt up for battle
That I may meet the Arabs face to face,
While Farrukhzád—my very veins and skin,
And my firm friend—is now at Altúníya,
Intent on fight, and host confronteth host,
While Kashmigán, that warrior's son, hath reached
Our court and spoken well and loyally.

I heard what he could tell about these marches,
Their heights and depths, their caves, retreats, the
hold
Upon Mount Gumbadán and Jarmana,
The fort of Lázhawardí for our stores,
Spots such as Ál, Makhzúm, and waste of Gil:
He kindly opened all his heart to me.
My host for battle is too numerous
To tarry long within these narrow holds.
We have held council; all the paladins
Attended; we debated and resolved
To take with us crown, throne, and seal and
signet,
All garments of Kashmír and Rúm and Chin,
Such goods as we can gather from Kibchák
And from Kírwán, all that we have in hand
Of clothes and carpets, articles of gold,
With gems uncut and all that most we prize,
And provand and equipment for the future.
Of oxen forty thousand will drag loads
Of unthrashed corn and after these will come
Twelve thousand asses drawing loads of dates
For us. A trusty archimage will bring
Pistachios, millet, and pomegranate-juice.
Attending on the outcome they will send
Thereafter many asses' loads of salt,
And add a thousand camels' loads of millet,
Fat from the tails of sheep and butter-skins.
A thousand Bactrian camels will bring dates,
Another thousand sugar, as their loads.
Twelve thousand also will bring drums of honey.
All these will come at one time to the holds.
Besides all these my servants will bring in
Some forty thousand salted carcases,
And of black naphtha in the next two months
Three hundred camel-loads. An archimage
With escort will arrive from*

Shamírán,
And from Mount Ráda while, in sight of all
The elders and the wise, the mountain-chiefs,
Sent by the marchlords, will convey whate'er
Is needed to the gates and give the list
To our own treasurer, and if the Great
Among the folk will but restrain themselves
They will in sooth receive no injury
Among the valleys and the lofty hills
From Arab or from Turkman. Help from you
In these our strenuous times will aid us much.
Our minister, that wise and holy man,
Will now give orders to our treasurer
To send five robes of Persian make to all

That toil for us and, when those toils are over,
A splendid turban of gold broidery.
In these our present troubles each shall have
Two score drachms from our treasures, afterwards,
For service rendered, for each drachm three-score,
Each worth more than ten dángs,*

and he will read
This legend: ‘In the name of holy God,
The Object of our reverence, hopes, and fears,’
Upon one side. The other side will bear
Our face and crown, the legend: ‘Through our love
The earth becometh fruitful.’ These have been
Prepared for New Year's Day, the nobles' eyes
Fulfilled with wealth. God's blessing on the man
Whose faults are few and who forgetteth not
Our diadem.”

The Sháh when he had sealed

The letter sent it to the army-chiefs.
With this king's missive in his hand there came
A horseman of high fortune and high aim.