The mīrzā replied: ‘You were wrong. (You should have) said rather: “May there be a blessed martyrdom.”’ Then he went on: ‘Friends all! be my witness that I abjure all forbidden things and all indecorous acts.’ Those present recited the fātḥiha and prayed: ‘May there be benediction.’ He said: ‘Bring my vest and cuirass and surtout.’ He put them on and went out to the trenches to encourage and solace his men. Just then his abaqchī,* hearing his voice, cried: ‘They are attacking me.’ The mīrzā, hearing this, dismounted and said: ‘Friends, it is far from brave to give no help when my servant is at the point of the sword.’ He himself went down into the trench but not one of his followers dismounted. Twice he sallied from the trenches, and in this endeavour became a martyr.
I do not know what pitiless oppressor slew that harmless
youth*
with his tyrant sword! Would to Heaven that
merciless sword had touched my heart and eyes, or Sa ādat-