The Turkman monarch's heart, as I have heard,
Was ever vexed by greed. When he had quitted
The field where Rustam gloomed the world for him
He fared apace until he reached Khallukh,
Avoiding other kings in his disgrace,
And entered with a heart fulfilled with anguish
His palace with his prudent veterans—
Pírán and Garsíwaz, his counsellor,
And Shída, Kurákhán and Karsiyún,
Húmán, Kulbád, Rúín son of Pírán—
A warrior-crocodile—and Farshídward.
He spake with them at large of what had passed,
Recalling every circumstance, and said:—
“Since I assumed the crown of sovereignty,
And sun and moon bestowed on me their light,

I have held sway among the potentates,
And nobody hath turned aside my rein;
Thus ever since the war with Minúchihr
Írán hath not laid hand upon Túrán.
Now from Írán they make a night-attack
Upon my life at mine own palace-door!
The craven hath become courageous,
The Stag hath ventured to the Lion's lair!
We must be up and doing in this strife,
Or they will make our marches reek. 'Twere well
To scatter messengers about the realm,
And gather of the Turkmans and from Chín
A thousand thousand girded for the fray
To compass all the army of Írán,
And make a battlefield on every side.”
Then all the priests advised him shrewdly, saying:—
“Cross we Jíhún and beat the royal tymbals
On yon wide plain, and, speeding night and day,
Camp at Ámwí; that is the place for battle,
For bloodshed, and for fighting Gív and Rustam—
Those haughty, city-taking warriors,
Who privily have dipped their hands in bane.”
Thereat the monarch's face and fortune brightened,
And, as the great are wont, he praised the priests
And paladins, then called and charged a scribe.
He sent ambassadors to the Faghfúr
And monarch of Khutan, sent through the realm,
Moreover, letters to all chiefs and nobles,
And summoned troops because he purposed war,
Enraged at Rustam's doings. Two weeks passed,
Then from the Turkman states, Chín, and Khutan,
A host assembled; like a troubled sea
Earth heaved; it was so that the waste was hidden.
Afrásiyáb collected in the city
All horse-herds running wild, undid the sacks
Of treasures closely kept and handed on
For generations since the time of Túr,
And parted with dínárs by night and day.
When all the army was equipped for war,
So that there was sufficiency for all,
He chose out fifty thousand warriors,
Arrayed for strife and eager to engage,
And said to Shída, his heroic son,
Exalted o'er the Lions of the fight:—
“I give to thee this well-appointed host;
Prepare to march toward Khárazm; there guard
The borders and be ever girt for battle.”
He bade Pírán choose fifty thousand men
Of Chín, and said: “Go thou against Írán,
And set a throne above the young Sháh's throne;
Seek not in any wise the door of peace,
And speak no word unless of war and vengeance;
To mingle fire and water spoileth both.”
Those two illustrious, prudent paladins
Went at the bidding of Afrásiyáb,
The old at leisure and the young in haste,
With iron mace and sword and golden gong,
And, like a cloud that thundered, roared along.