He had to face all dizzy as he was
A desert waterless, a heat intense
That dried the birds to powder; plain and waste

Were as they had been scorched thou wouldst have said,
Rakhsh was exhausted, while his rider's tongue
Failed through the heat and drought, and Rustam,
clutching
A double-headed dart, went staggering
Like one bemused, and saw no means of safety.
He looked up saying: “O all-righteous Judge!
Thou bring'st all toil and hardship on my head,
And if Thou findest pleasure in my pains
My hoard is great indeed! I fare in hope
That God will grant deliverance to the Sháh,
And that the Ruler of the world will free
The Íránians from the clutches of the Dív,
Unscathed. They sinned, and Thou hast cast them out,
But still they are Thy slaves and worshippers.”
This said, that elephantine form became
Weak and distraught with thirst, and fell, with tongue
All cracked and blistered, on the burning dust.
Auon a well-fed ram passed by. The hero
On seeing thought: “Where is its watering-place?
In sooth God's mercy is extended to me!”
Then in the Worldlord's strength rose to his feet
And followed up the ram, with scimitar
In one hand while the other grasped the reins,
Until he saw the spring, for thither went
That stately ram. Then Rustam looked toward heaven,
And said: “O Judge, that ever speakest sooth!
The ram hath left no tracks about the spring!
It is no desert-sheep of flesh and blood!”
When hardships press on thee, in thy concern
Flee unto God, the Just One; they who turn
Away from Him have wisdom still to learn.
He blessed that ram and said: “Ne'er may mishap
From circling heaven be thine; green be thy pastures;
May cheetah never mark thee for its prey;
Snapped be the bow and dark the soul of him
That shooteth at thee who hath rescued Rustam,
Else were he thinking of his shroud; but now
He is not in the mighty dragon's maw
As yet, or in the clutches of the wolf,
So that the fragments of his clothes and limbs
Should serve as tokens to his enemies.”
His praises offered he unsaddled Rakhsh,
Washed him, and made him shining as the sun.
Then Rustam much refreshed filled up his quiver
And as he hunted dropped an onager
Huge as an elephant, removed the entrails,
The hide, and feet, lit up a blazing fire,
And having washed the carcase roasted it.
This done he feasted, breaking up the bones,
And having quenched his thirst prepared for sleep.
He said to Rakhsh: “Firght not and make no friends.
If any foe approacheth run to me,
But venture not to counter dívs and lions.”
He lay and slept, his lips in silence bound,
While Rakhsh till midnight grazed and strayed around.