Naudar, on hearing that Káran had gone,
Sped after him, all instant to escape
The evil day, lest heaven should trample him.
Afrásiyáb gat tidings that Naudar
Had sought the waste, collected troops, and followed
As 'twere a lion. Drawing near he found
The foemen ready for a running fight,
And as he marched mused how to take the head
That wore the crown. They fought all night till noonday,
And earth was dark with warriors' dust. At length
The Sháh was taken with twelve hundred nobles;
Thou wouldst have said: “Their place on earth is void.”
Strive as they might to flee they were ensnared

Within the net of bale. Afrásiyáb
Put into bonds the captured host and Sháh.
Though thou shouldst sit in conclave with the sky
Yet will its revolutions grind thee down.
It giveth majesty and throne and crown,
It giveth too despair and misery.
It playeth friend and foe, and proffereth thee,
At times a kernel and at times a shell;
It is a conjurer that knoweth well
The sleights of every form of jugglery.
Although thy head may touch the clouds, it must
Have in the end its place amid the dust.
Afrásiyáb gave orders: “Search,” he said,
“The caves, the hills, the waters, and the waste
That fierce Káran may not elude our troops.”
But hearing that Káran had gone to save
The women he was furious. “Let Bármán,”
He bade, “speed forth and lion-like pursue
Káran, and bring him me a prisoner.”
They told the monarch how Káran had served
Bármán, and brought him from his steed to dust;
Whereat Afrásiyáb was sorely grieved,
Food, rest, and sleep were bitterness to him,
And thus he spake to Wísa: “Let the death
Of this thy son steel thine own heart, for when
The son of Káwa warreth leopards shrink
Before his spear. Go with a valiant host
Well furnished, and take vengeance for the lost.”*