Much time rolled on, while fate reserved its secrets,
Till wise Sháh Farídún was worn with age
And strewed with dust the Garden of his Spring.
This is the common lot of all mankind—
Man's strength is weakness when he groweth old.
Then gloom began to gather in the state,
The princes of the realm waxed turbulent.
Immersed in greed Salm changed in heart and mind.

He sat in conclave, for he much misliked
His sire's apportionment, which gave Íraj
The throne of gold. In rancour and with frowns
He hurried off a camel-post, an envoy,
To give this message to the king of Chín:—
“Live ever glad and happy! Know, great king
Of Turkmans and of Chín! that our shrewd hearts
Did ill to acquiesce when we were wronged:
Though we are cypress-tall our souls are base.
Mark with discerning heart this tale of mine;
None such hath reached thee from the days of old:—
Three sons were we who graced our father's throne,
And now the youngest hath the chiefest place!
Since I am first in wisdom and in years
Such fortune doth befit my signet-ring,
While if crown, throne, and diadem should pass
From me, O king! should they not deck thyself?
Shall both of us continue thus aggrieved
By that injustice which our father did
In giving to Íraj Írán, Yaman,
And Araby; the West and Rúm to me;
To thee the wastes of Turkestán and Chín?
The youngest hath Írán; I cannot brook
This settlement; thy father must be mad.”
The message filled Túr's brainless head with wind,
And savage as a lion he replied:—
“Heed well my words and tell them to thy lord:—
‘It was when we were youths, O most just king!
That we were cheated by our father thus.
This is a tree which his own hands have set;
The fruit is blood, the leafage colocynth;
So let us meet and parley as to this,
Fix on our course of action and raise troops.’”
Now when the envoy brought this answer back
The face of that veiled secret was laid bare,
This brother came from Chín and that from Rúm,
And, poison being mixed with honey thus,
They met together to deliberate
The matter both in council and in state.