Next day they set the battle in array
And raised their standards. When the peerless Rustam
Had led his forces to the field, and viewed
The armies of three monarchs and three realms,
He thus harangued his noble warriors:—
“Keep your eyelashes well apart to-day,
And look to mane and forelock, steed and rein,
With both eyes on your spearpoints. Be the foe
A hundred or a hundred thousand horse
Their sum importeth not for, since the All-holy
Is our ally, I will bring down their heads
To dust.”

The monarchs on their side were seated

On elephants; their forces stretched two miles.
Barbaristán sent eight score elephants
All foaming like the Nile, Hámávarán
Contributed a hundred more—huge beasts—
And had a line of battle two miles long,
And thirdly was arrayed the power of Misr.
The atmosphere was darkened, earth was hidden,
And thou hadst said: “The world is all of iron,”
Or: “Mount Alburz hath donned a coat of mail.”
Behind the warriors' backs amid the dust
Waved flags of yellow, red, and violet;
The mountains echoed with the heroes' shouts,
And earth was weary of the tramp of steeds.
Then were the claws and hearts of lions rent,
And lusty eagles flung their plumes away,
The clouds of heaven melted in mid air,
For how could anything oppose such troops?
The Íránians ranked the host to right and left,
The heroes longed for battle and revenge.
Guráza held the right where was the baggage,
Upon the left was glorious Zawára—
A Dragon and a Lion in the fray—
While Rustam at the centre, with coiled lasso

Hung to his saddlebow, bade sound the advance.
Then sword and javelin gleamed; thou wouldst have
said:—
“Heaven hath sown earth with tulips,” and where
Rustam
Urged Rakhsh: “He spreadeth fire,” and: “All the
waste
Is as a Zam*

of blood, not like a field
Of elephantine Rustam's.” Helméd heads
Were smitten off, and plain and hollow strewn
With mail. The peerless hero urged on Rakhsh
And, deigning not to slaughter common folk,
Charged at the king of Shám and lassoed him
(Thou wouldst have said the lasso crushed his waist),
Then snatched him from the saddle, like a ball
Struck by a polo-stick, and flung him down.
Bahrám made fast his hands. They captured sixty
Of name and deluged plain and hill with blood.
The monarch of Barbar and forty chiefs
Were taken prisoners by Guráza's hand,

And when the monarch of Hámávarán
Beheld his soldiers slain on every side,
Beheld a troop of wounded warriors,
Another troop fast bound in heavy chains,
And valiant Rustam with his trenchant sword
Creating Doomsday on the battlefield,
He felt: “This day is one of bale,” and sent
To Rustam to ask quarter, promising
To give up Kai Káús and all the leaders,
And to restore the treasures, crowns, and jewels,
The tent-enclosures, thrones, and golden girdles,
And slaves. They made a peace and then disbanded
Three hosts. The monarch of Hámávarán
Went home and sat in council, sent, and fetched
Káús, and righted him. When Rustam thus
Released the Sháh with Gív, Tús, and Gúdarz,
He stored three kingdoms' arms, three monarchs' riches,
The tents, the crowns, and everything of value,
Among the treasures of Sháh Kai Káús,
Who then refulgent in his sun-like Grace
Prepared a gilded litter of brocade
Of Rúm, a crown of gems, a turquoise seat,
A sable housing decked with jewelry,
And placed them on a steed of easy pace,
Whose bridle was adorned with gold. He made
The litter out of fresh-cut aloe-wood
Inlaid with many divers kinds of gems,
And bade Súdába take her seat therein
Secluded like the sun beneath the earth,
Then led the army campward from the city
To reassert his claims upon Írán.
A hundred thousand horsemen from Barbar,
Hámávarán, and Misr assembled round him,
While his own host was fifteen thousand score
Of cavaliers on bardéd steeds and more.