Then thus to Rustam spake Asfandiyár:—

“My time is at an end. Avoid me not,
Arise and come to me, since all our schemes
Are changed, that thou mayst hear my last requests
Upon my son's behalf—my chiefest Pearl.
Use all thine efforts to establish him,
Endowing him with greatness as his guide.”
The matchless Rustam hearkened to his words,
Dismounted, wailing, and approached on foot.
He poured down tears of blood for very shame,
And muttered to himself lugubriously.
When Zál gat tidings of that battlefield
He set forth from his palace, like the wind.
Zawára too and Farámarz went forth,
Like madmen, to the indicated spot.
A wail ascended from that scene of strife:—
“The faces of the sun and moon are darkened.”
Zál spake to Rustam, saying: “O my son!
I weep for thee betimes in pain of heart,
For I have heard from readers of the stars,
From archimages, and the men of lore:—
‘The slayer of Asfandiyár shall be
The prey of fortune, while he liveth see
Both pain and stress, and pass to misery:’”
Thus spake Asfandiyár to Rustam, saying:—
“Thou art not author of mine evil fortune.
This was my fate; what was to be hath been;
None knoweth the secrets of yon azure vault.
Not Rustam or Símurgh or bow and arrow
Have robbed my body of its life in battle,
For that hath been the doing of Gushtásp,
And little blessing hath my soul for him.
He said to me: ‘Go and burn up Sístán;
From this time forth I would have no Nímrúz.’
He laboured that the army, crown, and treasure
Should stay with him, and I abide in toil;
And now do thou with loving heart receive
From me the charge of this my noble son,
Bahman, wise, watchful, and my minister,
And what thou hearest from me bear in mind.
Keep him in gladness in Zábulistán,
Remembering what evil men may say,
Instruct him to array the host and order
The chase, the combat, and the festival,
The revel, minstrelsy, and polo; make
A great man of him both in deed and word.
Jámásp, once famed, and may he prosper never!
Said that Bahman would keep my name alive,
And be a greater king, and that his seed
Would be illustrious and deserve to reign.”
The matchless Rustam, hearing, stood and laid
His right hand on his breast in acquiescence.
“E'en if I die I will not fail herein,”
He said, “but bring thy words to pass, will set
Bahman upon the famous ivory throne,
And crown him with the heart-illuming crown.”
Asfandiyár, on hearing Rustam's words,
Replied to him: “O ancient paladin!
Know this, and God Himself will bear me witness
Who is my leader to the good religion,
That in despite of all thy noble acts,
And of thy head exalted by brave deeds,
Thy fame now hath been turned to infamy,
And earth grown clamorous for me. Herefrom
Crooked grew thy spirit's lot; so willed the Maker.”
Then spake he thus to Bishútan: “A shroud
Is all I need of this world. When I quit
This Wayside Inn take order for the host,
And lead it home. When thou hast reached Írán
Say to my sire: ‘Since thou hast gained thine end
Dissemble not; the age is all thine own;
Thy name is written now on every signet.
I had some hope of better things from thee,
Though such a crime befitted thy dark soul.
Reformed by me and by the sword of justice
The world was purged of miscreants' villainies,
And, with the good Faith stablished in Írán,
Both majesty and kingship called for me;
But thou didst speak me fair before the nobles,
And privily dispatch me to be slain.
Now thou hast gained thy heart's desire herein;
Take order then and sit with heart at ease,
And, since thou art secure, ban death itself,
And hold high revel in thy royal halls.
The throne is thine, the stress and toil are mine;
Thine is the crown and mine are bier and shroud.
What said the rustic minstrel old and tried?
“Death followeth hard upon the arrow-point.”
Trust not in treasure, crown, and throne. My soul
Will have its eyes on thy career, and when
Thou comest, and we go before the Judge
Together, we will plead and hear His sentence.’
When thou hast left Gushtásp say to my mother:—
‘This time 'twas Death that challenged me to fight,
And mail is only wind before his arrows,
For they would penetrate a mount of steel.
O loving mother! follow me with speed;
Grieve not for my sake nor aggrieve thy soul.
Show not thy face unveiled before the folk,
Or lift the winding-sheet to gaze on mine,
For such a sight will but increase thy woe,
And men of wisdom will commend thee not.’
Say likewise to my sisters and my wife,
Those wise and noble dames who shared with me
My private hours: ‘Farewell for evermore!
Ill hath befall'n me through my father's crown;
To him my death hath been the key of treasures.
Behold I have sent Bishútan to him
To shame his gloomy soul.’”

He spake, then gasped:—

“This wrong hath come upon me from Gushtásp.”
With that his pure soul parted from his body,
Which lay shaft-stricken on the darksome dust,
While Rustam, with his head and face besmirched
With dust, rent all his raiment o'er the prince,
And cried: “Alack! O valiant cavalier,
Whose grandsire was a warrior Sháh, whose sire
A king! I had a good name in the world,
But through Gushtásp mine end is infamous.”
Long while he wept and then addressed the slain:—
“O monarch peerless, matchless in the world!
Thy soul hath passed to Paradise above,
And may thy foeman reap what he hath sown.”
Zawára said to him: “Make not thyself
Dependent on the merey of this prince.
Hast thou not heard this adage from the sage,
Who quoteth from the sayings of old times:—
‘If thou shalt take a lion's whelp to rear
'Twill grow ferocious when its teeth appear,
And, soon being set on prey and waxen tall,
Will fall upon its feeder first of all’?
Both sides will be perturbed by evil wrath,
Whence first the ill will come upon Írán,
Since such a monarch as Asfandiyár
Was slain; then thou wilt see thine own ill day,
Zábulistán will suffer from Bahman,
The veterans of Kábulistán will writhe.
Mark this, that, when he cometh to be king,
Forthwith he will avenge Asfandiyár.”
To him said Rustam: “No one, bad or good,

Can strive with heaven. So will I choose my course
That wisdom, seeing, will restore my fame.
Fate will avenge if he doth wickedly,
But do not thou provoke the evil eye.”