The principal historians state that between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates there was a city named Khazar, ruled by an Arab governor named Zirân, who had subjugated the whole of the country of Mesopotamia. While Shâpûr was absent in Khorâsân, this Arab had invaded the adjoining plains of his realm; but as soon as the king returned, he attacked Zirân and besieged him two years in the fortress of Khazar, which he was unable to subjugate, until one day the daughter of Zirân, who was a maiden of unsurpassed beauty, happened to catch sight of him from one of the battlements, and was so captivated by the charms of his person that she sent him the following message: ‘If the mighty king will accept me as a servant in his harem, I shall cause him to obtain possession of the fortress;’ at which Shâpûr was so rejoiced that he despatched to her the following answer: ‘If the princess will fulfil her promise, I shall in return for this service make her the chief ornament of my harem.’ After this agreement the maiden, whose name was Nazirah, sent the instruction to the king, to take hold of a turtle-dove and to write on its foot a letter with the blood of a virgin, and then to liberate it so that it should alight on a tower. This having been done, a tower of the fortress collapsed, the city was taken, Shâpûr killed Zirân, and sent Nazirah to his harem.
It is related that some days afterwards Nazirah was not able to sleep during the whole night on account of the pain she felt in her side. When the morn dawned her couch was examined, and a rose-leaf found on it. Shâpûr, astonished at this event, asked what her food had been in her father’s house, which made her body so sensitive. She replied: ‘The marrow of the bones of lambs and Egyptian vegetables. In lieu of water I drank pure wine, which may be described so bright that:
Distich: If a fairy soared in the night across its rays,
She could not hide herself from mortal eyes.’
Shâpûr said: ‘As you have acted so treacherously towards your own father, what good may be expected from you?’ Then he ordered the hair of Nazirah to be fastened to the legs of a race-horse, which immediately galloped away, inflicting the punishment due to the parricide maiden.
After the conquest of the fortress of Khazar, Shâpûr marched with his army to Nassibîn, which he likewise besieged, but was unable to conquer, until admonished in a dream ‘to order his army to purify their hearts from all deceit and falsehood, and to turn in humble supplication to the Qiblah of their aspirations, whereon success would crown their efforts.’ Accordingly Shâpûr harangued his warriors, and guided them to humiliation. Then a general onslaught was made, a tower of the citadel immediately fell down, and the whole fortress was conquered.
Thence Shâpûr marched to the country of Rûm, the greater portion of which he conquered. Returning afterwards to his own dominions, he founded several large cities. Towards the end of his reign, Mâni the Zendiq, who was an exquisite painter, laid claim to prophetship; but when Shâpûr summoned him to his presence, he fled; Masu’di, however, states that at first Shâpûr made a profession of the religion of Mâni, but afterwards rejected it. The duration of the reign of Shâpûr amounted to thirty-one-years.*
It is related that Shâpûr was so liberal as to be accused of prodigality, but he replied: ‘He alone is truly liberal who accounts gold and stones to be of the same value.’ He also said: ‘The conversation of a wise man is wealth, but the words of a fool are a loss to the hearer.’ Also: ‘There is no innocence except by the grace of God, no meekness except by His support, and no decision except by consultation.’