Next from Gílán he marched toward Madá'in,
Not knowing his troops' number or extent.*

Now as he journeyed on appeared afar
A boundless host of wielders of the spear.
A cavalier—one of that great array—
Approached as quick as dust on their behalf,
And, having lighted from his charger, said:—
“Behold Munzir the Arab.”

When Munzir

Drew near the Sháh all chiefs made way for him.
The Sháh saluted him with signs of joy,
And brightened at his looks. That veteran
Set loose his tongue, discoursed of Rúm and Cæsar,
And said: “If thou art monarch of Írán,
The guardian and the backbone of the brave,
Why do the Rúmans lord it so and prance
Upon the desert of the cavaliers?
While if the Sháh be Cæsar's overlord
That haughty potentate should lose his head.
Now if the noble Sháh will give permission
No more will he behold us asking aid,
And in the fight the horsemen of the desert
Shall triumph o'er the eavaliers of Rúm.”
The Sháh was wroth that Cæsar should exalt
His crown, as said Munzir, and, having chosen
Among the troops a man of eloquence,
And learned in Cæsar's tongue, said thus: “Go thou
To Rúm, take not thine ease in peopled parts,
And say to Cæsar: ‘If thou lackest wisdom
Thy brains will sorrow for thy policy.
The warrior-lion chasing onager
Will batten on them even in a salt-marsh.
For thee to have thy just dues from Munzir
Sufficeth seeing that Vega is his throne.
Discern then 'twixt thy left hand and thy right,
And, when thou knowest, claim what march is thine.
Since I am the distributor of lands
And realms, am highest in the world and chief,
My conduct shall be worthy of myself:
I will let not the wind blow on Munzir.
Since thou hast stretched thy hand upon the Arabs
In fight take privy heed for thine own self.
Moreover all that sovereignty is mine,
And mine is all between the Bull*

and Pisces.
If I shall send an army into Rúm
Thy sword of steel will prove a sword of wax.’”*

The ambassador came forth from Núshírwán

As 'twere a torrent, came and gave the message
To Cæsar, but that worthless one recoiled
From what was just, replied evasively,
Imagining a fall from power remote,
And answered thus: “As for that fool Munzir,
Take what he stateth at its proper worth.
If he complaineth out of wantonness,
Exaggerating thus the evil done,
Or if a single man complain within
The desert of the wielders of the spear,
I will convert the heights of earth to breadths,
And that unwatered desert to a sea.”
The envoy heard, came swift as dust, and told
The words of Cæsar. Núshírwán enraged
Said to his minister: “The brains of Cæsar
Are wedded not to wisdom. I will show him
Who hath authority, the power to conquer
The world, to levy war, and make a pact.
His overweening and his haughtiness,
His labour, pillaging, and harrying,
He shall repent more dearly than the drunkard,*

That thrusteth both hands in the fire at night.”
He then bade blow the trumpets, and a host
Was gathered unto him from every side;
The din of tymbals went up from the court-gate,
Earth was pitch-hued and air was ebony.
He chose of cavaliers from that famed host
A hundred thousand armed with scimitars,
Entrusted that great army to Munzir,
And bade him: “From the desert of the spearmen
Lead unto Rúm an army of the brave
To set the frontier and the land afire,
For youthful monarch though I be and though
I am but newly famouséd in fight,
Yet fear not Rúm or Rúman, thou! for I
Regard the Rúman as a pinch of dust.
Now will I send me an ambassador—
A man of eloquence—to him. Henceforth,
If thou experience naught calamitous,
That Cæsar should keep Rúm would pleasure us.*