Then from the champaign of Harát he sent
Again a warrior of eloquence,
A man all guileful, to Bahrám Chúbína
To say: “Thou hast not wedded heaven's own for­tune:
Wilt thou not hear advice and such appeals?
Make friends with wisdom, open thine heart's eyes.
Thou hast found two whose equals in the world
Have never yet been born of royal race;
They shine like suns in heaven and all the year
Are clad in mail, they are so valorous.
One is myself, the lawful king of earth;
The other is my high-born son Parmúda.
My troops are more than leaves upon the trees,
Had some the skill to number them. If I
Should reckon up my men and elephants
Thou wouldest smile at rain-drops from Spring-clouds.
There are tents, tent-enclosures, implements
Of war beyond conception; shouldst thou count
Withal my steeds and men, my wastes and moun­tains,
Thou wouldest marvel. All the other kings,
If worthy of such honour, are my lieges.
If seas had life* and mountains feet to run
They could not carry off my treasury,
Arms, implements, and fruitage of my toils.
The glorious Great, save for thy Persian lord,
Throughout the world acclaim me as their king,
And thy life also lieth in my hands

As well I know. If I lead on my troops
They will not let pass ant and gnat. Withal
I have a thousand barded elephants
Whose scent affrayeth horsemen. Who will come
To face me from Írán and from Túrán,
And by such coming aggravate my toils?
From this place to the gates of Taisafún
My powers extend, will stay, be amplified.
Some one hath duped thee, O mine enemy!
Some one, perchance a madman, for thou lov'st not
Thyself or else dissemblest since thine eye
Discriminateth not 'twixt good and ill.
How should such foolishness become the wise?
Cease this contention and present thyself
Before me, and I will not keep thee waiting,
But give to thee high office and my daughter
With worship and a crown. Thou shalt receive
A lordship at our hands and suffer not
The ills that subjects bear, and when the Sháh
Shall have been slain in fight, and when his crown
And throne are mine, on thee will I bestow them
With all his treasure, diadem, and goods.
Thence will I march on Rúm and then the troops,
The treasure and the land, will all be thine.
Thus have I spoken for thou pleasest me,
And wisely hast thou dealt with these affairs.
Thou knowest the conduct and the art of war;
Thy sire and grandsire held command in chief,
So what I say is not mere compliment
But pity for thy sake who hast arrayed
Thy puny force to fight with me to-day.
Thou shalt receive no further messages
If thou art retrograde to my desires.”
The envoy spake, the chieftain heard and made
A grim response: “O man of evil mark!
Among the magnates and the eminent
None reverenceth a monarch profitless
And wordy. From thy talk from first to last
I have perceived thee confident in speech.
The man whose day is ending seeketh prowess
In words not deeds. I heard thy feckless parle,
Yet my heart quaileth not for fear of harm.
As for thy saying: ‘I will slay the Sháh,
And give thee realm and throne,’ a chief once said:—
‘If thou shalt drive a mendicant away
From any town is he not sure to say:—
“There I was lord; the rest were 'neath my sway?”’
In our affair there will not intervene
Two days of sunlight ere I shall dispatch
By this same token to the Sháh thy head
Upon a spear. Again, for what thou saidest
About thy daughter, treasure, troops, and realm,
I should have thanked thee once and should have called thee
A monarch of discernment thus to give,
Without designs upon the Íránian throne,
Thy daughter to me and with her dispatch
A gorgeous throne and goods. Then thou hadst had
Myself for friend within Írán, not fought
Against its warriors; but now my lance
Is at thine ear and with my sword will I
Behead thee, and when thou hast gone thy pate,
Thy crown and treasure, are mine, and mine withal
Thy daughter and the fruit of thy past toils.
Thou saidest further: ‘I have crowns and thrones
With elephants and horsemen past compute.’
A chief said, battling in the ranks of war:—
‘The longer water is denied a hound
The greater will his eagerness be found.’
The dívs seduced thy heart so that thou camest
To fight the Sháh and thou wilt writhe beneath
God's chastisement and for thine evil deeds.
Again, thou sayest: ‘I have among my lieges
Great men possessed of crowns and coronets,
And all the cities of the world are mine.’
The age herein is witness to thy words.
To cities roads are open, lord and liege
May tramp the marches, but if thou shalt knock
Upon a city-gate thy kingship there
Will prove a brake of thorns. As for thine offer
To pardon me—a craven in thine eyes—
Thou wilt forgive me not when thou hast seen
My spear and shalt not have me as a liege.
As for thy troops, desires, and policy,
Thy mighty elephants and throne, what time
I rank mine army I account them naught,
And care no jot for all thy warriors.
Though thou art king thou utterest such lies
That thou wilt gain no glory in the world.
For what thou saidest: ‘I approve of thee,
And would select thee as my general,’
What I approve, since reaching man's estate,
Is the approval of the king of kings.
I have allowed the king three days and when
The Glory of the Lustre of the world
Shall show, the army in Írán shall see
Thy head upon a spear before the Sháh.”
The messenger returned with cheeks like gall,
And fruitful, youthful fortune waxen old.
He told king Sáwa what the answer was,
And at his words the monarch's visage loured.
Said the Faghfúr: “What feebleness is this?
Yon little host should rather ask our tears.”
Then to the entry of the camp-enclosure
He went and bade bring forth the Indian bells,
Gongs, mighty elephants, and kettledrums,
And make heaven ebon-hued. While that famed youth
Prepared to fight the haughty monarch mused;
Then to his son: “Thou chosen of the troops!
Refrain from fighting till to-morrow morn.”
The troops withdrew on both sides and the watch
Went from the tent-enclosures. In both hosts
They kindled fires, and rumour filled all coasts.