Then tidings came from Chín and from Khutan
How that Afrásiyáb was with that folk:—
“His cause is taken up by the Faghfúr,
And clamour filleth all the land of Chín
Whence troops extend to the Gulzaryún;
The Khán of Chín himself is in command.
None knoweth how much wealth, how many slaves,
And steeds with harness, the Faghfúr hath sent
Afrásiyáb. A host acclaimeth him,
And he hath all the treasures of Pírán—
Enough dínárs to load six thousand camels—
And as he bare them from Khutan an army
Flocked round him.”

All that had been given quarter

Thereat revolted from the Íránians,
And girded up their loins to take revenge.
Now when Afrásiyáb came from Khutan
He brought with him an army-shattering host;
“Earth,” thou hadst said, “will not sustain them all,
The stars will not avail to reckon them!”
In dudgeon, with this warlike host, he set
His face from Chín to go against Khusrau,
Who, when he heard, sent scouts out on the road,
And bade Gúdarz and lion-bold Farhád:—
“Abide ye here, be just and politic,
And let your scouts be out both night and day.”

Then said he to Gúdarz: “This host is thine,
Thou art its refuge both by day and night.
Hang every Turkman, whom thou shalt perceive
To be in favour of our enemies
In aught, forthwith alive upon the gibbet,
Head downward, feet aloft; forbear to vex
The inoffensive. Watch o'er host and treasure.”
Drums sounded from the monarch's tent-enclosure,
There was a blare of gong and clarion.
An army such that it embroiled the sun
Marched forth from Gang. When he had left the city
The Sháh arrayed his men against the foe.
Two leagues divided host from host. Khusrau
Convoked his noble chiefs, and said: “To-night
Let matters rest, yet be not lax or slothful.”
The scouts, distributed upon the waste,
Went all night long their rounds about the host.
He stayed one week preparing for the strife,
And on the eighth day, when the scouts fell in
Reporting to him that a host had come,
He had his troops arrayed in such a fashion
That sun and moon grew eager for the fray.
Afrásiyáb beheld this, ranked his powers
To face the enemy, and told his sages:—
“This battlefield is sleep and feast to me;
I would have welcomed it at sleeping-time,
And had provoked it had it not been offered.
Long have I been a fugitive, and now
My heart and head are full of strife and vengeance.
If Kai Khusrau's Grace, or mine own new fortune,
Constraineth me I know not, but I purpose
To fight with him come triumph, death, or sorrow.”
The sages of his kin and alien
Replied: “What need for host and combating,
If kings must fight in person? All of Chín
And native Turkmans, of thy race as well
As alien, acknowledge thee. Oh! may
Our souls and bodies be a ransom for thee!
Our loyalty hath never wavered yet;
If hundreds perish, thousands shall come on:
Hold not thyself so cheap. We are thy lieges,
And live but in the glory of thy crown.”
Then from the army there arose a shout,
And earth and time grew full of strife and stir;
Stars shone through tawny dust, and to the eye
Sol's yellow face was lapis-lazuli.