Whenas Dárá had fled before Sikandar
He sent off cavaliers on every side
In haste and called the chieftains of Írán
And of Túrán. He gave out pay, he summoned
The commissaries and, by next new moon,
Reorganised the troops and filled with bluster
The chieftains' heads. Again he crossed the river
And ranged his army on the spacious plain.
Sikandar, hearing this, marched forth; he went
To meet Dárá and left behind his baggage.
When those two hosts encountered, earth and time
Contended too. They battled for three days
Till all the field was straitened by the slain.
Vast numbers of the Íránians perished there,
The day was lost to the aspiring Sháh,
Who turned in anguish from the battlefield
When sun and moon alike refused him aid.
Sikandar followed swift as flying dust,
Invoking much the Maker of the world.
A proclamation went forth to the troops:—
“Ye subjects who are wandering astray!
There is no fear that I shall injure you,
And ye are no concernment to my troops.

Abide in safety in your own abodes,
And trust your persons and your lives to God.
Ye have escaped the Rúmans safe and sound,
Although ye have imbrued your hands in blood.”
The soldiers, quarter being granted, turned
Their faces toward the Rúmans, while Sikandar
Went on the battlefield, collected all
The spoil, and gave it to his troops. His army
Was all equipped anew. They stayed awhile
Upon the field till king and hosts were rested.
Dárá, the world-lord, reached Chahram where lay
His treasures' key. The chiefs all came to him,
Fulfilled with sorrow, misery, and anguish.
There sire lamented, seeing not his son,
And son in like wise, seeing not his sire;
The country of Írán was full of wailing,
And tears like hailstones were in every eye.
Then from Chahram he journeyed to Istakhr—
The Persians' glory. Envoys went on all sides
To all the chieftains and the paladins.
The soldiers mustered at the royal palace,
They set a golden throne for Sháh Dárá,
And when he sat upon that seat of gold
The nobles, faithful still to him, drew nigh,
And he harangued the Íránians: “O ye chiefs,
Ye men of wisdom, Lions, warriors!
Consider now our course.”

He spake in anguish,

And wept awhile, then added: “Better die
To-day with fame than live while Rúmans triumph.
Of old our ancestors and Sháhs took tribute
Each year from them; Rúm was submiss in all
To us; but now the Persians' fortune loureth,
Sikandar hath possessed him of all kingship,
Become world-lord, hath compassed throne and crown,

And will not pause, but presently be here;
All Párs will be as 'twere a sea of blood,
Men, women, children will be taken captive,
And neither young nor old left in the land.
If ye will give me aid I will avert
This anguish, travail, and calamity.
The Rúmans used to be our nobles' quarry,
They used to be in terror of Írán,
But we are now the quarry, they the leopards,
And in each battle we forsake the field.
Yet still if ye will struggle back to back
Ye shall renew your clutch upon their land,
But if one showeth slackness in the fight,
And striveth not to hazard his own life,
Abandon hope of this world in that Rúm
Is the Zahhák and we are the Jamshíd.”*

He spake in tears with anguish in his heart;
His lips were livid and his cheeks were wan.
The prudent nobles rose to make reply;
A mournful wail ascended from the court:—
“We would not have the world without the Sháh.
We all will face the conflict, make the world
Strait to our foes, and bind our skirts together*

For conquest or the grave.”

Of all that coast

He paid and armed the leaders and the host.