The king of kings called unto him the wise,
And settled the affairs of all the world.
The world itself he parted into four,
Assigning that which was inhabited.
He first of all for Khurásán took thought,
And filled thereby the nobles' hearts with joy.
The second part was Kum and Ispahán—
The seat of magnates and the place of chiefs—
Wherewith Ázar Ábádagán, whereon
The Íránians lavished offerings, was comprised.
That Sháh of wary heart*

included too
Armenia up to Ardabíl and Gíl.

The third from east to west was formed of Párs,
Ahwáz, and of the marches of Khazar.
'Irák together with the land of Rúm
Came fourth—a splendid realm and populous—
And in these marches to the indigent,
Who had to toil to satisfy their needs,
The Sháh made largess of his hoarded treasures,
And all folk blessed him.

Now of former Sháhs—

Sháhs greater or inferior to himself—
All had required a portion of the crops,
And no man thitherto had 'scaped the tax.
The royal portion was a third or fourth
Until Kubád came and required a tenth.
He meant to have reduced it further still,
And strove to make the lowly like the lord,
But fortune gave him not the time.*

Whilst thou
Art in the stream ne'er trust the crocodile.
The crown of worship came to Núshírwán,
And he remitted all the tenth forthwith.
The sages, chiefs, great men, and archimages,
The shrewd of heart, assembled—all the rulers.
They had the land partitioned and surveyed,
And laid thereon a land-tax of one drachm
So that the owners might not be distressed.
All that lacked seed or beast, when they should be
Preparing for the crops, were subsidised
Out of the treasure of the king of kings
So that they might not let the ground lie fallow.
Land, if untilled, was left out of account;
The previous usages were done away.
On each six fruiting vines a drachm was levied,
Date-palm plantations paid an equal tax,
While each ten stems of olives and of walnuts,
And other trees that bear their fruit in autumn,
Brought one drachm to the treasury, and this
Was made the only burden of the year.
To fruits that ripened in the month Khúrdád
No heed was paid in taxing. From the men
Of means who neither owned nor tilled the soil
The tax-collector every year received
A payment varying from ten drachms to four;
But no one was oppressed because the money
Was paid in three instalments annually,
And thus a third part of the tax was paid
Each four months to the exchequer of the Sháh.
The royal scribes and officers employed
Within the taxing-office passed all count.
The Sháh had these above-named tolls and imposts
Recorded by the archmages in three ledgers,
Whereof he gave one to the treasurer,
And made that minister account for it;
The second was for sending through the realm
To all officials and the men in power;

The third was handed to the archimages
To keep account of all the revenue.
All that concerned tax, toll, and husbandry
Was done by order of the Sháh himself,
And he had agents scattered everywhere
To keep him cognisant of good and ill.
He filled with justice all the face of earth,
And cultivated all the barren lands;
Both great and small slept safely on the waste,
And sheep and wolf came to one trough. He bade
To draw up in the olden tongue a letter—
One that will pleasure thee to hear from me.
It thus began: “From Núshírwán, the chief—
The king of kings, the worshipper of God,
A Bough fruit-bearing from the Tree Kubád—
Who hath assumed the crown of majesty,
And in especial prospered all the land,
For God, the just Judge, gave him Grace divine,
To all the officers of revenue—
Thralls of the shadow of our Grace and throne—
Our well weighed greetings unto you whose birth
Hath been exceeded by your own deserts.
Here at the outset of our task we first
Give praises to the Maker of the world.
Know that the man is wise and shrewd of heart,
Whose praise is of the righteous Judge of earth,
Well knowing that He hath no need of us,
And that all secrets are revealed to Him,
Who when He willeth to exalt a man
First maketh him superior to all want.
He bade me judge, but He is Judge Himself,
And higher than all height eternally.
In God's sight king and subject are as one,
And saving service none hath aught to do;
From the abyss of earth to heaven above,
And from the sun to dark and sorry dust,
The ant's foot beareth witness that He is,
That we are bondslaves and that He is king.
All His commands to us are righteousness;
It is the Dív that causeth lies and loss.
Now if my portion of the spacious world
Had been a garden only, park, and palace,
My heart had chosen naught but love and justice,
And kept a smiling face for everything;
But now the expanse of all the world throughout
From east to west hath God, the Holy One,
Bestowed upon me as my sovereignty—
All from the bright sun to the darksome dust—
And I must practise naught save love and justice
Although I furrow mine own face thereby.
If careless be the shepherd and the waste
Thus vast the sheep will 'scape not from the wolf.
As for my subjects, whether country-folk
Or those devoted to the Cult of Fire,
Be they in drouthy dust or ship at sea
By day or night alike, or be they merchants,
Engaged in voyaging over wet and dry
With monies and with lustrous pearls and musk,
The sun must shine not from the arch of heaven
Upon them save in justice and in love.
Now this hath been the custom of our race
That son should have his father's crown and this
The world hath recognised as just and right
With one consent in public and in private.
We have imposed a land-tax and a tree-tax
For sustentation of the throne and crown.
Now when they bring this letter to you may
Urmuzd prove fortunate to you. Whoever
Herein transgresseth by a single drachm,
Or doth injustice for a single breath,
I swear by God, who hath bestowed upon me
The diadem of Grace, that I will saw
That man in twain; such is God's chastisement
On those whose evil seed hath come to fruit.
Observe this letter and this ordinance,
And turn not from the glorious Way and Faith.
Demand with justice and with courtesy
The instalment of the tax due each four months;
But where the locusts have been ravaging,
Or sunbeams beaten on the parched-up earth,
Or where the blast or lightning of high heaven
Hath brought disaster on the cultured fields,
Or if rain falleth not at the New Year,
So that the jocund crops are vexed with drought,
Demand no tax upon those fields and crops,
Because the spring-clouds have not watered them,
And pay the seed sown and the labourers' hire
Back to the farmers from the treasury.
The lands whose owner is deceased and hath
No kith and kin must lie not waste, for they
Are underneath the shadow of the Sháh;
Else will the foe make scorn of my resources
With such a pretext ready to his hand.
Give what is needed from the treasury,
For God hath set me out of reach of need.
If lands within my power lie desolate,
Unsheltered by the shadow of my wing,
Whoe'er he be that is responsible,
And doth neglect the task, hard though it be,
Him, whether lord or underling, will I
Hang from the gibbet on the spot. The great—
The Sháhs of yore—had other usages,
With their officials rested right and wrong,
The world lay open to the cavaliers,
Who wantonly mocked wisdom and ne'er rested
From adding to their wealth. My wealth is justice;
The people of the land compose my host;
I will not cast a glance upon dínárs.
To win by equity the world's regard,
And to respect the worth of men of birth,
Are dearer to me than the wealth of foes
That seek to win my kingdom and my throne.
The general that selleth men for gold
Shall get no entry to my court whereat
They are esteemed that follow justice, love,
Law and the Way. When my shrewd officers
Assemble at the office of the archmage,
And falsehood showeth in the words of any,
He shall receive no grace from us henceforth.
I do not love the man that is unjust;
The leopard and the oppressor are as one.
All they that have ensued the way of God,
And bathed their dark souls in the stream of wisdom,
Shall have a lofty station at our court,
High estimation with the archimages,
And from their God for that which they have sown
The recompense of jocund Paradise.
We are ourselves exempt from need of wealth
Whereby the soul is minished and accursed.
He that doth eat the flesh of mendicants
Will find, no doubt, some nurture in their skins.
A pard is better than a king like that,
Who hath no modesty, no rule, no Faith.
The way of right is open to us. Why
Knock we in folly on the door of loss?
To do ill closely, justice openly,
So that the fame thereof may come to us,
Will have not God's approval, or be held
In high consideration at our court;
But he hath God's approval and our own
Whose love and justice are as warp and woof.”
If thou art just, O monarch! thou wilt give
The world a record of thee that will live,
For every one will praise eternally
The Sháh that brought the world prosperity.