He wrote a letter to the king of earth,
With*

praises of him from the righteous Judge,
Then said: “Since thou departest from the pact
Made by just kings I will not call thee royal.
Thine ancestors had acted never so,
Those rulers of the world elect and pure.
By breaking thus the compact of the Persians,
And flinging to the dust the mark of greatness,*

Thou forcest me to break the treaty also,
And draw the scimitar in self-defence.”
He wrote at large and sent too many gifts.
A noble cavalier and eloquent
Went with the letter which when Sháh Pírúz
Had read he raged against that famous prince,
And bade the envoy: “Rise and get thee gone,
Return to that base man and say to him:—

‘Bahrám concluded terms of peace whereby
The country was your own to the Tarak,
But now thou hast the whole to the Jíhún,
Hill, dale, and desert, all alike are thine.
Behold! I lead a vast, a noble host,
And warriors bent on fight, and I will leave not
For long on earth the shade of Khúshnawáz.’”
The envoy came like flying dust and told
What he had heard. When Khúshnawáz had hearkened
Thereto, and read what had been writ to him,
He called his scattered followers to horse,
Led forth the army to the battlefield,
And set upon a lance's point the treaty
Accorded to his grandsire by Bahrám
To this effect: “Our frontier is Jíhún.”
He chose a man of mark among the troops—
One who was shrewd of heart and eloquent—
And said: “Approach Pírúz with courteous words,
Hear his reply, and say: ‘I will confront thee
Upon the march with thine own grandsire's treaty—
That man of lofty fortune, thine own guide—
Set on a spearhead like a shining sun
Before the host that all possessed of wisdom
May look upon the patent of the just.
I shall be praised while thou wilt be condemned,
And called “The impious Sháh.” God and his wor-
shippers,
And subjects everywhere, will not approve
That any one should seek to do injustice,
And break the treaties of the kings of kings.
None like to Sháh Bahrám for equity
And manhood e'er set crown upon his head.
God is my witness, and it is not well
To have to make appeal to Him, that thou
Art with injustice seeking war with me
In falling thus upon me with thy host.
Herein thou wilt be not victorious,
And likewise get no fruitage from good fortune.
Henceforward I shall send no messengers:
God will avail to aid me in this fight.’”
The envoy came dust-swift with this dispatch,*

And to Pírúz repeated all these words.
When that haught Sháh had read what Khúshnawáz
Had written in the letter he was wroth,
And said thus to the envoy: “One of years
And world-experience would speak not like that;
But if from Chách thou comest o'er the river
My spearheads are prepared to welcome thee.”
The messenger returned to Khúshnawáz,
Spake with him privily at large, and said:—
“I see not in Pírúz a reverence
For God; he hath not wisdom for his guide;
He careth only for revenge and strife,
And walketh not according to God's will.”

When Khúshnawáz had heard these words he sought
To God for shelter, making supplication,
And saying: “O Thou Judge that judgest right,
And art the Master both of wind and dust!
Thou knowest that iniquitous Pírúz
Is not in prowess better than Bahrám.
He speaketh words unjust and fain would win
Addition by the scimitar. Break Thou
His foot-hold from the earth. Oh! may he have
No strength, no wit, no heart!”

Around his host*

He dug a trench which he made shift to hide;
'Twas lasso-deep and twenty cubits wide.