When the Túránian troops returned from battle,
Their bodies bloody and their heads all dust,
They said: “The noble chieftain hath been slain,
His eager fortune hath been overturned,
And they have set his severed head and body
Blood-boltered upside down upon a gibbet!
The people of Írán are all in arms,
Their hearts ache with revenge for Siyáwush.”
Afrásiyáb hung down his head and crown,
Plucked out his hair, shed tears, and rent his robes,

Cast dust upon his head, and cried aloud:—
“O prince! O gallant heart! O warrior!
O chief! O man of name! O hero! King!
Woe for that moonlike cheek of cercis-bloom!
Woe for that royal breast and mien and stature!
Thy sire shall ne'er seek rest unless it be
Upon his charger's saddle on the field.”
Then to his men: “Our ease and feasts are over.
Keep ye your eyes wide open for revenge,
And make your jerkin and cuirass your bed.”
Rose at his gate the din of kettledrums:
His warriors armed. Upon the elephants
The trumpets blared, the world was like a sea
Of indigo, and when they bound the drums
Upon the elephants heaven kissed the earth.
Then said the king: “Ye chiefs and warriors!
When both sides sound the drum he is no soldier
That laggeth. Let our hearts be full of vengeance,
Full as the bodies of our foes with javelins!”
Thus spake he to the troops, then bade to sound
The clarions, cymbals, and the Indian bells.
Arose the war-cry and the blare of trumpets,
The din of cornet, pipe, and kettledrum,
Earth shook beneath the trampling of the steeds,
The shoutings of the soldiers reached the clouds.
Now when that army's dust rose from the plain
One came to vengeful Rustam and spake thus:—
“Afrásiyáb the chieftain is at hand;
His troops move like a vessel o'er the sea.
All have prepared for combat and revenge,
And set their hands to blood.”

Now when he heard:—

“The monarch of Túrán hath come in sight,”
The troops marched forth with Káwa's flag; the air
Turned blue with warriors' swords; a shout arose

From both sides and the world was filled with fighters.
Thou wouldst have said: “The sun and moon are
darkened,
A crocodile hath swallowed up the stars!”
The monarch of Túrán arrayed his men,
Who grasped their maces and two-headed darts.
Upon the right Bármán came proudly on
Before his troops, Kuhram was at the left,
And in the centre was the king in person.
On his side Rustam too arrayed his host,
And earth was lost in dust. He took the centre
With Farámarz in front and in the rear
Zawára; on the left he placed Gúdarz,
Hajír, and other chiefs. He stationed Gív,
And Tús—those wary horsemen—on the right
With trump and drum, then armed himself for battle,
And eased his heart by vengeance. Earth became
Musk-black with troops, air like a leopard's back
With spears. “It is an iron mount whose crest
Is full,” thou wouldst have said, “of helms and mail.”
The staff-heads of the banners rose towards
The clouds, and brightly flashed the blue-steel swords.