It is related that Ebn Rûmi,* surnamed Ashkal by the ancients, but now called Shughâl, arrived towards the end of the reign of Naushirvân from Turkestân, and made his appearance in the country of E’râq. At first the people were frightened, and trembled when they heard the voice of Shughâl [jackal]; but Naushirvân was only astonished, and asked a Mobed for the cause of the apparition of such a wild beast in his country. The Mobed replied that he had learnt from records of ancient times that whenever injustice predominated above equity in any country, wild animals invaded it. Naushirvân, struck by this information, secretly assembled thirteen persons in whom he placed full confidence, and ordered them to roam in disguise all about the country, and to make inquiries concerning the officials and agents of his government. They obeyed, and discovered that many revenue officials and scribes had committed misdemeanours. They thereon presented their report to Kesra, who immediately despatched a company of men to strike off the heads of ninety officials who had been convicted of tyranny and extortion. After this summary justice the king was satisfied, and the wolf adopted the sheep for his sister.*
It is related that on a certain occasion Naushirvân became displeased with an officer, and told him not to show his face at court. As it was customary with the sovereigns of Persia to hold once a year a general audience, the just-mentioned officer likewise made his appearance on that day at the public banquet given by Naushirvân, and threw down his table-cloth among the nobles of the court. They supposed that a reconciliation had taken place between him and the king, and therefore offered no opposition. Watching his opportunity, this officer took hold of a golden dish weighing one thousand mithqâls, but his theft was perceived by no one except by Naushirvân himself. The officer was allowed to depart to his house, but when the table-decker counted the royal plate, he found one dish wanting. Accordingly he placed the screw of torture upon his subordinates, but the king said: ‘Let these poor wights alone, because he who has taken the dish will not return it, and he who has seen the theft committed will not reveal it.’ The next year, on the day of the annual public levée, the same officer came again to pay obeisance to the king. As soon as the eye of Naushirvân caught sight of the man, he beckoned to him, and whispered into his ear: ‘Have you spent the amount of the past, that you have again presented yourself this year?’ The officer then prostrated himself at the feet of Naushirvân, and began to make excuses; the righteous sovereign, however, pardoned his crime, and again received him into his service.
It is said that once an ambassador from the Qaisar arrived with gifts for Naushirvân, and having contemplated the dome of the Ayovân [name of a famous palace] of Kesra, greatly admired the height, ornamentation, and elegance of that edifice; but casting a glance on the irregularity of the open ground in front of the Ayovân, he asked for the reason of this incongruity. He was then told that the want of regularity must be ascribed to the following circumstance: An old woman possessed some land in that direction, and the king entreated her to sell him her house in order to make his grounds regular, but she persistently refused. Therefore the king left the property of the hag undisturbed. With reference to this statement the envoy of the Qaisar replied: ‘Irregularities attributable to justice are better than straight lines resulting from tyranny.’
Chroniclers have narrated of a Mobed having reported to Kesra that a certain commandant of the army had fallen asleep in the desert, and had been robbed of his clothes by a thief, and that he was now asking for permission to search for him. Naushirvân replied: ‘I maintain commandants to take care of the army, but as this commandant needs a guard to take care of him, I dispense with his services.’—A certain individual had written a statement that there was a man whose wealth exceeded that of the king’s treasury, but Naushirvân endorsed the petition as follows: ‘If that man, or anyone else, possesses so large an amount of property, and injures no one, he is welcome to it.’—Another man wrote to him that the people are blessing the sovereign [ironically], because his treasury was empty, on account of his having given away all its contents as presents. To this complaint he replied as follows: ‘All the wealth accumulating in the treasury is the property of meritorious individuals, and if I do not bestow it upon them, it will be my fault.’—A person submitted a petition to the effect that as the king was constantly moving about with a number of persons, enemies were likewise on the alert, and possibly his majesty would be hurt by the ‘evil eye.’ Naushirvân wrote the following endorsement: ‘Justice is the guardian of a righteous king.’ —Another writing, in which it had been stated that a certain man had given away three millions of dirhems as alms, was endorsed by the king as follows: ‘Whatever sum is given to worthy persons is to be considered as if it had been disbursed for our own expenses.’
It is related that when one day Kesra was sitting on the throne of power, and dispensing justice to the poor and oppressed, a philosopher said: ‘I am anxious to know what has induced your majesty to perform those exalted acts?’ The king replied: ‘Once, when I was in the vigour of youth on a hunting expedition, I saw a pedestrian who broke the leg of a dog, by throwing a stone at it. Shortly afterwards a rider passed near the pedestrian, whose leg was in turn broken by a kick from the horse. The horseman rode further, but at last the leg of his horse was also fractured as the animal stepped into a mouse-hole. These events startled me, and the tongue of the circumstances suggested to me the idea that: “Whoever acts unjustly will be punished.” And from that time I took warning.’
One of his sayings is: ‘The most excellent king is not independent of his wazir, nor the wisest woman of her husband, nor the best horse of the whip, nor the finest sword of polishing.’ He also said: ‘A windy day is for sleeping, a cloudy day for hunting, and a rainy one for drinking, but a sunny day is good for carrying on business.’
It is said that none of the sons of Kesra were on the maternal side of royal blood, except Hormuz, whose mother was the daughter of the Khâqân of China. All his other children were the progeny of his own subjects or by slave-girls.
When forty-eight years of the reign of Naushirvân had elapsed, he was struck with a mortal disease; he then filled the ears of his son Hormuz with advice, and bequeathed to him his diadem and throne:
Verses: I heard that in his last agony,
Naushirvân spoke thus to his son Hormuz:
Bridle your temper, be of lowly mind,
And do not be a slave to comfort.
In a chronicle several distichs occur concerning Naushirvân, some of which are here inserted:
Verses: Be aware that among the perfect kings,
Not one was like Naushirvân the Just,
Liberal, righteous, prudent and learned,
A sage, a shrewd and a virtuous man.