Now noble Bishútan, the minister,
Was sorely troubled by this butchery,
And rising in the world-lord's presence said:—
“Just monarch! if revengement was thy due,
And 'twas thy heart's desire, that wish of thine
Is perfected in loss. Cease to enjoin
Raid, slaughter, turmoil, strife. Approve them not,
Refrain thyself, fear God, and think of us.
Consider well the turns of fortune's wheel,
How it exalteth this man to the clouds,
And putteth that man into sorry plight.
Thy sire, that world-lord and the army's Lustre,
Did he not go Nímrúz-ward for a bier,
And did not Rustam too when at Kábul
Go to the chase and perish in a pit?
While thou dost live, O king of pure descent!
Vex not a man of birth, for if the son
Of Sám, the son of Narímán, shall cry
Against his bondage to the great All-giver,
Thou wilt be pinched, successful as thou art,
When he appealeth to the Omnipotent.
To Rustam, warder of the Kaian throne,
Who used to gird his loins for every toil,
Thou wast indebted for this crown and not
To Sháh Gushtásp or to Asfandiyár.
Trace downward from the days of Kai Kubád
To those of Kai Khusrau of holy rede;
All owed their greatness to his scimitar,
And held the mightiest his inferiors.
If thou art wise release Zál from his bonds,
And turn thy heart back from the evil way.”
The Sháh repented of those deeds of his
When he had heard the words of Bishútan.

A proclamation issued from his court:—
“Ye paladins, ye just and upright men!
Make preparations for returning home,
And keep from pillage and from massacre.”
He bade them to release the feet of Zál
From bonds and give him much good counselling.
They built a charnel-house to hold the slain,
Such was the rede of righteous Bishútan.
When Zál returned from prison to his palace
His noble spouse wept o'er him bitterly,
And cried: “Alack thou brave, heroic Rustam,
Thou scion of the hero Naríman!
When yet thou wast alive who recognised
Gushtásp as Sháh? But now thy hoards are sacked,
Zál hath been captive, and thy son slain vilely
By showers of arrows! Oh! may none e'er see
Another day like this, and may the earth
Be void of offspring from Asfandiyár.”
Now tidings of this matter reached Bahman,
As well as glorious Bishútan, who grieved
For her; his cheeks grew wan at her complainings.
He spake thus to Bahman: “O youthful Sháh,
As 'twere a new moon in the midst of heaven!
At daybreak lead thy host forth from this land,
For matters here are grave and troublesome.
May evil eyes be distant from thy crown,
And may thy whole time be a festival.
The king of kings should stay not long beneath
The roof of Zál, the son of Sám the hero.”
Whenas the hills became like sandarach,
And when the sound of drums rose from the courtgate,
The monarch led the army from Zábul
Toward Írán—the country of the brave.
He rested, sat rejoicing on the throne,
And ruled the world by precedent and justice.
Great was the largess that the poor received,
And many men rejoiced in him or grieved.