Mark what Shádán, son of Barzín, revealed—
A matter that till then had been concealed:—
When Núshírwán was king of kings, and may
His fame endure throughout eternity,
He sought for sages learnéd in all lore
To give a greater lustre to his court.
The whole world was beneath his sovereign rule—
The great men and the much experienced chiefs,
The doctors, with the eloquent and brave,
The interpreters, proved leaders, and withal*

A famous chief, the wearer of a crown.
This was Barzwí, the eloquent physician,
An orator and stricken well in years,
A man proficient in each branch of learning,
And for each branch acclaimed throughout the world.
One day Barzwí at audience-time drew near
The famous king, and said: “O Sháh, the friend
Of knowledge, apt to seek it and retain!
I scanned with heed an Indian scroll to-day,
And there within 'twas written: ‘On the mountains
Of Hind there is a herb like Rúman silk,
Which if the expert shall collect, prepare
According unto knowledge, and then strew
Upon the body of one dead, the corpse,
Good sooth, forthwith will speak.’ Now if the king
Permit I will adventure this hard journey,
And, with much lore to guide me on my way,
Achieve perchance this wondrous enterprise.
'Tis fitting that the dead should come to life
When Núshírwán is monarch of the world.”
The Sháh made answer: “Hardly this may be,
But ne'er the less the endeavour should be made.
Convey my letter thither to the Rája,
And look upon the attractions of that land.
Seek for a comrade in the enterprise,
As well as wakeful fortune's comradeship.
Thou wilt reveal some wonder to the world,
Because the words are enigmatical.
Bear to the Rája worthy offerings,
For doubtless he must furnish thee with guides.”
Then Núshírwán unlocked his treasury,
And of the havings that are fit for kings*

—
Dínárs, brocade, silks, beaver-skins, and signets,

Crowns, musk, and spicery, with armlets too,
With royal jewelry, and torques and earrings—
He had three hundred camel-loads made ready.
The envoy left the presence and, on reaching
The Rája, gave the letter, and unpacked
The bales before him, who, when he had read
The letter of the Sháh, said thus: “Good sir!
Hath not my wealth been given by Núshírwán?
Our persons, troops, and royal treasuries
Are one. 'Twere not strange if the pious world-lord,
By reason of his justice, throne, and Grace,
His splendid fortune and his high achievement,
Should raise the dead. The Brahmans on the moun-
tains
Are all at thy dispose. My minister,
An idol-worshipper of high degree,
My noble treasurer and hoarded wealth,
With Hindústán and all its good and ill,
And all my power o'er great and small, are thine.”
They lodged the envoy with magnificence
Hard by the Rája as his rank required,
Providing him with provand, tapestries,
With dainty raiment and with carpetings.
All night the Rája held talk with the priests,
The great men of Kannúj and with the sages,
And when the daylight showed above the hills,
And when the world-illuming Lamp appeared,
He called the learned physicians and all those
Best qualified by knowledge to advise,
And bade them wait upon the learned Barzwí
To hear his statement. All the erudite,
Adept in leechcraft, went to him and, when
He set forth to the mountains, fared with him.
Barzwí roamed all the mountain-tops afoot,
Companioned by his learnéd guides, and culled
The divers herbs—the dry, the succulent,
The withered, and the flourishing, He brayed
Herbs succulent and dry of every kind,
And spread them on the dead, but none revived
For any herb, and verily it seemed
That all the virtue had gone out of them.
The company roamed all the heights afoot,
But had no fruit from travail, and Barzwí
Then understood: “This task is for the King
That liveth and that reigneth evermore.”
Thoughts of the Sháh, of those illustrious chiefs,
And that long journey, moved his heart to shame.
He thought too of the wealth that he had brought,
And was concerned at all his senseless talk.
He was chagrined about the scroll and said:—
“Why did that ignorant and stupid man
Write in his folly and his levity
That which produceth travail and foul words?”
Thereafter he addressed those sages thus:—
“Ye chiefs experienced and worshipful!
Know ye of one more learnéd than yourselves,
One eminent in every company?”
The troop of sages said with one accord:—
“There dwelleth here a very ancient man,*

Surpassing us in wisdom and in years,
And in his knowledge besting every chief.”
Thereat Barzwí said to those men of Hind:—
“Ye men of high renown and ardent soul!
Exert yourselves yet more on my behalf,
And point me out the way to him. Perchance
That eloquent old sage may succour me
In this affair.”

They led Barzwí to him,

Full of solicitude, with much to say.
Now when Barzwí, that man of eloquence,
Approached the sage and told all his own toils,
About the writing that he had discovered,
And of the experts' words, the ancient sage
Replied, informing him at large, and said:—
“We in those writings found the selfsame thing,
We too were instant in the same desire.
Now will I tell thee our discovery:
The noble heart must hear to understand.
The herb then is the sage, the mountain know-
ledge,
As being ever distant from the throng;
The corpse the man whose knowledge is to seek,
Because the unwise are kill-joys everywhere.
In sooth 'tis knowledge that doth make men live;
Blest is the constant toiler for its sake.
When men are stupefied through ignorance*

Kalíla*

is the herb, and understanding
The mountain. In the monarch's treasury,
On making quest there, thou wilt find a book
Of knowledge that will point thee out the way.”
Barzwí, when he had heard, rejoiced thereat,
And all his travail seemed like wind to him.
He blessed the sage and sped back to the king,
Like fire. Arrived he praised the Rája, saying:—
“Live thou while Hind shall last. There is a
book,
O potent Rája! that in Indian
Is called Kalíla.*

It is under seal,
And fondly treasured in the monarch's hoards—
A guide-book both to knowledge and to counsel.
Kalíla is the herb in mystic parlance;
So now, O king of Hind! be thou mine aid,
And, if I be not troublesome, command
Thy treasurer to hand the book to me.”
The Rája's soul was sad at that request,
He writhed upon his throne and answered thus
Barzwí: “No one has sought of us this thing
In times of yore or in these latter days.
However if the world-lord Núshírwán
Shall ask of me my body or my soul

I will withhold not from him aught that is
In being whether high or low; albeit
Thou shalt peruse it not save in my presence,
That spirits ill-disposed to me may say not
Within their hearts: ‘Some one hath copied it.’
So read and learn and mark it every way.”
Barzwí made answer thus and said: “O king!
Thou hast expressed my whole intent herein.”
The Rája's minister then brought Kalíla;
Barzwí perused it with a sage's help,
And, as he read each chapter of the book,
He spent the day in learning it by heart,
For, having read as much as he could learn,
He read no further till the morrow came,
But, writing to the monarch of the world,
Sent privily a chapter of Kalíla.
The Indians' book by this expedient
Was introduced to royal Núshírwán,
What while Barzwí continued hale and happy,
By laving thus his ardent soul in knowledge,
Until the answer to his letters came:—
“The Sea of Lore hath come to hand for us.”
Then from his palace he approached the Rája
To ask for leave to go. At that request
The Rája graciously entreated him,
And had prepared an Indian robe of honour—
Two valuable armlets and two earrings,
A torque of jewels worthy of a king,
An Indian turban and an Indian sword,
Whereof the blade was watered steel. Barzwí
Came from Kannúj, rejoicing, having gained
Much knowledge there. On his return to court
He went before the Sháh and did obeisance,
Then told about his converse with the Rája,
How knowledge had been found instead of herbs.
The Sháh replied: “O man approved in all!
Kalíla hath restored my soul to life.
Take from my treasurer my treasury's key,
And make thy choice according to thy needs.”
So to the treasury the sage departed,
But gave small trouble to the treasurer.*

There drachms and jewels lay to left and right,
And yet he chose him but a royal robe,
Put on that costly raiment and went forth
Back to the court of Núshírwán in haste.
When he approached the throne he did obeisance,
And praised the king, who said: “O man of toils!
Why hast thou left the treasury and brought
No purses with thee and no royal gems,
For treasure is the meed of them that travail?”
Barzwí replied: “O thou whose crown is higher
Than sun and moon! the wearer of king's
raiment
Hath access to the crown and throne of might,

And furthermore, when people shall behold
Mine own unworthy self in royal robes,
My foes' hearts will be strait and overcast,
My friends' cheeks keep their lustre and their
bloom.
Still there is somewhat I would ask the king
That I may leave my memory in the world—
Let Búzurjmihr, when copying the book,
Show favour to Barzwí's endeavourment,
And give account of me in Chapter One,
By order of the conquering king, that so,
When I am dead, my travailing may be
Forgot not by the sages in the world.”
“A great thing this to ask!” the Sháh replied,
“And one beyond the licence of a liege,
And yet thy labour hath deserved as much,
Although thy standing warranteth it not.”
Then said the Sháh to Búzurjmihr: “This wish
Of his is not to be ignored.”

So when

The fashioning of pen from kex was done
The scribe wrote of Barzwí in Chapter One.
As for the royal book which thus was writ
'Twas in the script of bygone centuries;
Among the royal hoards men treasured it,
But 'twas beheld not by unworthy eyes.
It was perused not, till the people took
To Arabic, save in the ancient tongue;
But when Mámún had made earth fresh and young
He dealt in other fashion with the book,
For he had clerkly lore, was politic
In kingly wise, and learned in every way.
'Twas then translated into Arabic,
Just as thou mayest hear it read to-day.
In Arabic, till Nasr was king, it stayed;
Then noble Abú'l Fazl, his minister
And, in respect to lore, his treasurer,
Gave orders, which were readily obeyed,*

For folk to speak in Persian and Darí.*

Thereafter precedent and policy
Conducted Nasr in wisdom's way when he
Was fain by whatsoever means might be
To leave within the world his memory.
They held a session with interpreters,
Who read the whole book out to Rúdagí.*

That poet linked the scattered words in verse,
And threaded*

thus those pregnant pearls, that he
Who is a scholar might new graces find,
And one unlearnéd more facility,
For words in prose escape us, but combined
In metric guise possess the brain and mind.
Life to Mahmúd, the world's great potentate!
May earth and time as slaves before him wait,
How it would joy the heart if but the bad
From Sháh Mahmúd less free allowance had!
Yet be not thou concerned thereat. Anon,
Since life is far advanced, thou must be gone.

Thou hast thine ups and downs from day to day,
At whiles assistance and at whiles dismay;
But neither of them will for aye remain
With thee; the hope of tarriance here is vain.