§ 24
How the Archmages questioned Zál
V. 208

The Sháh called Zál to prove him by hard questions.
The shrewd archmages and the men of lore
Sat in full conclave, and examined him
On many matters veiled in mystery.
One asked that man of insight, wit, and knowledge:—
“What are the dozen cypresses erect
In all their bravery and loveliness,
Each one of them with thirty boughs bedeckt—
In Persia never more and never less?”
The second said: “O noble youth! explain—
What are those two steeds moving rapidly:
As crystal bright is this one of the twain
And that one sable as a pitchy sea;
They gallop at their utmost speed and strain
Each one to catch the other, but in vain?”
The third said thus: “What are the thirty men
Who ride before their king in order meet
And seem but twenty-nine to thee, but when
Thou countest them their number is complete?”
The fourth inquired: “What is the meadow-land,
Where streams abound and herbage groweth strong,
To which a fierce man cometh, in whose hand
There is a scythe, a sharp one and a long:
He cutteth all the grass both green and dry,
And if thou criest heareth not thy cry?”
“What are those cypresses—a lofty pair—
Like reeds above a sea whose waters heave,”
Another asked, “and what bird nesteth there
On this at morning, and on that at eve?
The bird departeth and the leaves turn pale,
The bird arriveth and they musk exhale.

V. 209
In all their verdure both are never seen
Together, but one sere, the other green.”
The sixth said: “On a mountain I descried
A city that was strongly fortified.
The citizens, those men exceeding wise,
Preferred thereto a thornbrake on the waste;
And there as monarchs or as subjects placed
A town with buildings lifted to the skies.
The memory of the city now hath gone,
'Tis not accounted of by any one;
But some day suddenly the earth will quake,
The country vanish from the sight of men,
Remembrance of the city will awake,
And long regret possess the citizen.
Now look behind the veil, explore the words,
And if thou canst the secret sense unfold,
Declare it here in presence of the lords,
And make the purest musk from grimy mould.”