The Turkman watch upon Mount Kanábad
Beheld that wonder and came in apace;
He said: “Unless mine eyes are dim, unless
This sight of mine be dazed exceedingly,
God hath wrought havoc on the Turkmans, all
Their toils have turned to dust. The Íránians
Have come down shouting from their height, and each
With flag in hand. That of Pírán the chief,
I see, is down, his body drenched in gore,
While as for those ten warriors who went hence
With him, I see them far away o'erthrown,
And flung with bloody bodies o'er their steeds.

Toward Raibad a cloud of darksome dust
Appeareth and the plain is azure-dim.
Amidst the warriors is Káwa's standard,
While in the vanguard glitter blue-steel swords.
The standard of the king of kings appeareth
With trump and drum, and earth is ebon-hued.”
Lahhák and Farshídward went to the look-out,
And saw with their own eyes Pírán the world-lord,
Their chief and brother, slain, and with him those
Ten chosen cavaliers, the Turkman champions.
There, in the watch-tower, grievously distraught,
And wailing for their brother's blood, they cried
In their affliction: “O thou Lion, chief
Of Turkmans, and undaunted cavalier!
What do thy greatness and thine uprightness
Avail since thou hast willed to quit the world?
Our foes have everything for which they toiled;
The world hath ended for thee evilly.
Who is there to take vengeance for thy sake,
And who now will ensue thy precedents?
Calamity hath come upon Túrán,
And on Afrásiyáb, and all is lost.
We must behead ourselves and whelm in blood
Sword, hand, and body.”

When they called to mind

Pírán's last charge to them they acted not
Upon their own wild words, for he had said
To Farshídward, when challenging Gúdarz:—
“If I am slain abide not with the host,
For earth will prove too narrow for our nobles
When I am gone, and none of wits be left
Of Wísa's race, and if the Íránians
Slay us and bring Írán our trunkless heads
Our army will ask quarter of Gúdarz;
But do not ye demean yourselves so much:
Make for the waste and ye may yet survive.”

They went back to their camp, their eyes all tears
Of blood, their bodies failing. All the host
Knew that the flock was wandering shepherdless.
All were exceeding sorrowful and wept;
They burned as though upon consuming fire.
They came before Lahhák and Farshídward
With lips that breathed forth deep, cold sighs, and
said:—
“What shall we do now that our paladin,
The back-bone of our host, hath left the field?
Whom will he hearten more to gird his loins,
And set an iron helmet on his head?”
They answered: “Who hath limited God's will?
He brought it on Pírán thus to be slain
In battle wretchedly and miserably,
To be beheaded by the scimitar,
And have no winding-sheet but grimy dust,
What while his foemen hale him here and there
With head and mail and raiment drenched in blood.
What was to be hath been—Pírán hath gone,
And all his work and toil have turned to wind.
Alive he was the pillar of the host,
His soul full of affection for his troops;
He was their guardian from the enemy,
And under-prized that noble head of his.
The other world is his for good or ill,
But surely God hath set him with the just.
His care for us surviveth his departure:
He made this compact with Gúdarz, and said:—
‘If I am slain upon the battlefield
Thou shalt not punish the Túránian host,
But let them have free passage to Túrán,
Not doing them a mischief in revenge.’
The Íránians will respect the covenant,
We feel no apprehension on that score.
There are three courses open, only three,
So hearken all of you, both old and young!
If ye will ask for quarter so resolve
Forthwith; if ye will make for home set forward
For good or evil; but if ye propose
To fight, then let your spears be dipped in blood.
Discuss we these then from all points of view,
But God's will only can prevail at last.
If ye intend to fight delay a while
Because Pírán asked succour, and the king
Hath raised an army which may come in sight
At any time, and we shall be avenged.
If ye are purposed to return to land,
And throne, the Íránians surely will not hinder.
If ye would ask for quarter from the Sháh
Ye must bestir yourselves and go at once;
Each man of you is master of his fate,
And if your hearts are set upon Írán
Be not enraged against us brethren twain,
For never will we purge our hearts of wrath,
And there hath ne'er been one of Wísa's race
Whose waist the girdle's buckle hath not galled.
Obedient to Pírán's last words we go
To journey through the desert to Túrán,
And if the Íránians occupy the road
We will contend with them while strength remaineth.”
Mark what the Turkmans, hearing this, rejoined:—
“Our leader and ten noble warriors
Have been slain vilely thus. On the other side
Khusrau is seen approaching! Who dare tarry?
We have not steeds or arms or feet or wings,
We have not treasure, leader, field or fell,
We have not strength for fight or road for flight,
And have no cause to spite ourselves. If we
Retreat, and if Gúdarz and Kai Khusrau
Come after us with elephants and troops,
Not one among us will escape with life,
Or see again his home and family.
To ask for quarter is no shame for us,
Who, great as is our host, are leaderless.
Who now will fear the monarch of Túrán?
Afrásiyáb is but a pinch of dust.
Why was he not like Kai Khusrau, who showed
What great affection to his troops he owed?”