The poet tells how Mahbúd, sometime chief minister of Núshírwán and a virtuous and blameless man, was done to death by the machinations of Zúrán, the chamberlain, and of a Jewish sorcerer, how too late Núshírwán discovered the plot, put the chamberlain and the Jew to death, and made all the amends in his power. The poet then tells how the presents sent by the Khán of Chín to Núshírwán were plundered on the way by the Haitálians, of the wars that followed and how Núshírwán married the daughter of the Khán. Firdausí then discourses of the justice of Núshírwán, of the happiness and prosperity of the world under his administration, and of the tribute paid to him by Cæsar and other potentates. The Part ends with a discourse of Búzurjmihr's on good words and good deeds.
§§ 1 and 2. Sháh Kubád had left several sons, of whom Núshírwán was not the eldest, but he was the heir to the throne by his father's appointment, who appears also to have made some arrangement for his recognition as such with the Emperor Justin, or at all events to have suggested it. On Kubád's death his eldest son, Káús, claimed the throne, but the prime minister Mahbúd (Mebodes) was in a position to indicate what Kubád's wishes on the subject had been, and Núshírwán became Sháh. Another brother of his, however, Jam by name, was very popular but disqualified for the throne by a personal defect. In these circumstances a conspiracy was formed to overthrow Núshírwán and make Jam's son, Kubád, Sháh with Jam himself as regent, Kubád being still a child. The conspiracy, which had much influential support, was discovered, and a clean sweep—the usual course in such cases—made of the conspirators and all their male relations with the exception of Kubád, who ultimately escaped to Constantinople and was well received by the Emperor Justinian. There is no account of the conspiracy in the Sháhnáma, but it has been mentioned here because the poisoning incident and the drastic vengeance that followed may have been transferred from it to the story of the fall of Mahbúd as given in the poem. The Western account of the fall of Mahbúd is entirely different.*
§ 1. Milk, which “turns” so easily, especially in a hot climate, would be regarded as more sensitive to evil influences than other foods. Cf. Burton's Supplemental Nights, vol iv. p. 243 and note.
§ 2. In view of Núshírwán's tardy repentance and his reparation to the kindred of Mahbúd it is interesting to find a Mebodes in high command in the Persian army in A.D. 578.*
§ 3. The account of the building of Súrsán is a doublet of that of Zíb-i-Khusrau.*
§§ 4-11. At this point the Turks come historically upon the scene under the leadership of their Khán, whom Tabarí calls Sinjibú. In A.D. 569 or 570 they threatened to invade Írán, and Núshírwán sent his son Hurmuzd against them. As Hurmuzd was the son of the daughter of the Khán it is evident that the alliance between Sinjibú and Núshírwán must have been entered into at a considerably earlier period. The object of the alliance was to crush the Haitálians, and this was done. Núshírwán occupied their territory up to the Oxus—the old traditional boundary of Írán—while the Khán annexed all to the north of that river, but, according to Persian accounts, withdrew on the approach of Hurmuzd. Firdausí does not mention Núshírwán's wars with the Haitálians, and represents them as being the aggressors. No doubt they would do their best to prevent friendly relations between their two formidable neighbours. Later on the Khán, as Tabarí tells us, hearing from the vanquished Haitálians that Írán had been tributary to them, wished to assert his claim to a similar payment and marched southwards, as mentioned above, with that object. He found, however, the frontier of Írán too well guarded and soon withdrew.*
§ 11. For the so-called tribute paid by Rúm to Írán see p. 187, and for the temple of Ázargashasp, p. 5.
§ 13. See p. 278. The formula of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds plays an important part in Zoroastrianism. One of the most beautiful passages in the Zandavasta, Yasht XXII,*
deals with the subject and may be paraphrased briefly and metrically thus:—
Once Zoroaster asked, so Text and Comment saith,
“How fares the good man's soul when he has tasted death?”
And this was Heaven's reply: “The soul still sits anigh
Its tenement of clay for thrice a day and night,
And chants the sacred hymns in uttermost delight.
It sings: ‘Oh! happy he, the man whoe'er he be,
To whom the Great God grants all that he longed to see!’
And after that third night, at breaking of the dawn,
Mid lovely plants and scents that good man's soul is borne,
And from the South will come a perfume-laden air,
The sweetest breath e'er breathed; and then white-armed and
fair,
Bright, beautiful, and young, a Maid will meet him there;
Whereat the good man's soul will question: ‘Who art thou,
For never have I looked on loveliness till now?’
And she will make reply: ‘Thy Conscience, youth! am I.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, have made me thus
to be,
And they were all thine own, and I grew thus through
thee.’”