§ 27 The Message of Afrásiyáb to Kai Khusrau

The Turkman chief selected from the host
Two veterans and sent the Sháh a message:—
“Thou hast destroyed a multitude of troops.
In truth between Irán and Gang, O king!
There are a thousand leagues of hill and plain,
Of sandy wastes and hard, and our two armies
Have been like ants and locusts while the soils
From Gang and Chín until thou reach Írán,
Are like an ocean with the blood of feud;
So that if holy God drew from the dust
To some abyss the blood of all the slain
'Twould make a Red Sea that would drown both hosts!
If thou wilt have my treasure or my troops,
The country of Túrán, the throne and crown,
I will resign them to thee and be gone,
But yield my life up only to the sword.
Attempt not that; I am thy mother's sire,
Descended from the warlock Farídún,
And if thy heart is troubled to avenge
Thy father, and thou hast no reverence left
For me, the fault was all with Siyáwush
In that he filled my heart with grief and care;
Besides the stars which circle over us
Are both our shelter and our bane at whiles.

V. 1352
Now sixty years have passed above my head
Since I went out with chiefs upon the plain,
While thou art young, Sháh of Írán, in fight
The Lions' Claws; so choose a battlefield
Remote, not on thy lieges' skirts, and we
Will wheel in combat far from either host.
If I fall by thy hand thy hook will serve
To draw forth crocodiles from waterways,
But strive not with my kindred and allies;
Refrain thyself, seethe not with such revenge;
And if thou shalt be slaughtered by my hand,
As God shall help me, I will suffer not
One of that folk of thine to feel a pang,
Or look upon the darksome dust of battle.”
Khusrau, when he had listened to the message,
Said to the son of Zál, the son of Sám:—
“This evil Turkman, who beguileth men,
Discerneth not between the ups and downs,
And talketh so of battle that perchance
He fain would lie in Shída's sepulchre!
'Tis no disgrace for me to fight with one,
Whose ancestor was Farídún, and sire
Pashang.”

But Rustam answered him: “O Sháh!

Have not the flame of battle in thy heart:
'Tis a dishonour for the Sháh to combat
Although a Leopard be thine opposite.
As for his saying: ‘Fight not with my host,
Nor yet against my family and realm,’
Thine army stretcheth out from sea to sea,
And never will consent. If thou wouldst make
A treaty with thy grandsire in God's sight
'Tis needful that his heart be free from guile.
Now let a general attack be made
In force; speak not of things that cannot aid.”