Bízhan, when he had drawn up his array,
Prepared an ambush for the Íránians;
Máhwí knew of it and with loud exclaims
Departed from among his troops. Bízhan
Looked forth, beheld the flag, and knew: “Máhwí
Is minded to take flight,” and bade Barsám:—
“Lead from the central host what troops thou hast,
And draw toward one side; we must not let
Máhwí decline the battle and haste thus
Jíhún-wards. Speed and keep him well in sight,
For we must deal with him in other wise.”
Barsám of Chín observed the flag and drew
His troops apart until with frowning face,
And malisons upon his lips, he reached
The desert of Farab, there found Máhwí,
And, with his weight upon the stirrups, charged;
Then, closing face to face, he plied his sword,
Displaying valour, seized his foeman's belt,
Unseated him and dashed him to the ground,
Alighted, bound his hands, and then remounting
Drove him along in front. With that came up
Barsám's own comrades, and the bruit of him
Filled all the plain. They said: “O chief! Máhwí
Should be beheaded on the way.”

He answered:—

“Not so; Bízhan as yet is not informed
About the capture.”

Presently Bízhan

Gat news: “That ill-conditioned slave is taken,”
Heard and grew glad of heart. He hugged himself,
And thus released from care roared lion-like.
Then many valiant Turks came and discussed
The fashion of the slaying of Máhwí.
All that they recognised as of his court
They put to death—a countless multitude.
They looted all the baggage and dragged off
Máhwí stripped bare of all. The guilty wretch
Lost all his wits when he beheld Bízhan,

Was as a soulless body with affright,
And strewed upon his head the unstable sand.
Bízhan said: “O thou miscreant! may none have
A slave like thee! Why didst thou put to death
That righteous Sháh, the lord of victory
And throne, and by ancestral right both Sháh
And king, the memory of Núshírwán?”
Máhwí made answer thus: “The evil-doer
Can look for naught but slaying and reproach.
Now smite my neck for wrong done and fling down
My head in presence of this company.”
The other gave reply: “I will so act
That I shall banish vengeance from my heart,”
Struck off Máhwí's hand with the scimitar,
And said: “This hand hath not a peer in crime.”
The hand thus lopped, he said: “Cut off his feet
That he may not escape,” and further bade:—
Cut off his nose and ears, let him be placed
Upon a horse out on the burning sand
Until he sleepeth in his shame.”

They bound him

From head to foot with cords, the clarions sounded,
A herald went the circuit of the host,
And, as he passed the entry of the tents,
Made proclamation: “Slaves that slay your masters!
Indulge no foolish thoughts, and may all those
Without compunction for a monarch's life
Be as Máhwí and never see the throne.”
There was a prince, by name Guráz, at once
The glory and the pleasure of Máhwí.
He was the governor of Marv what time
Máhwí died wretchedly. As eldest son
He was his father's lustre, who had made
A crown of gold for him. When fortune loured
Upon Máhwí the horsemen rode to Marv
From all sides. Tumult spread. The war-cry rose,
And strife and turmoil filled the land. Guráz
Was slain mid those dark doings, and the day
Of all his race was done. He had three sons
Among his troops, three favourite sons possessed
Of crown and throne. A lofty pyre was kindled,
And he and his three sons were burned thereon.
None of the seed remained or if some did
Men harried them. The chieftains cursed that race,
All vengeful for the slaughter of the Sháh:—
“May it be cursed and may there never fail
A man to curse it as it hath deserved.”
Bízhan, the Turk, too was an evil-doer.
His own time came, his wisdom was estranged,
And I have heard that he grew mad at last,

And was so till he slew himself. Well done,
Thou still revolving, crook-backed sky! Since then
Hath been the epoch of 'Umar, made known
The Faith, and to a pulpit changed the throne.