A city having palaces and streams,
Like Antákiya, radiant as a lamp—
All rosaries and mansions, parks and gardens.
The great men, bright of heart and happy, called it
Zíb-i-Khusrau.259
'Twas like the jocund spring—
A paradise all colour, scent, and beauty.
The captives taken in the towns of Rúm,
Whose hands and feet were galled with heavy bonds,
Were set at large by Núshírwán's command,
And sent to dwell in joy in that new city.
He said: “We have erected this new seat—
All gardens, rosaries, and palaces—
That each might have a dwelling to his mind
And worthy of his name.”
He gave to each
Goods, and the earth was decked like Paradise.
At sight of all the mansions, streets, and marts
Thou wouldst have said: “Each space is occupied.”
A clamorous cordwainer came and said:—
“O unjust Sháh! there was a mulberry
Within my dwelling at Kálíniyús
Before my courtyard; from Zíb-i-Khusrau
I have not any such advantages,
For there is no such tree before my door.”
So Núshírwán bade men to plant green trees
Before the door of that misfortuned one.
The Sháh then chose a Christian unto whom
He gave authority, wealth, troops, and said:—
“Zíb-i-Khusrau is thine and thine the charge
Of all the stranger-folk and their new home.
Be like a tree that beareth fruit and be
The city's sire at whiles, at whiles its son.
Be bountiful and beautify the place,
Not covetous, and keep the mean in all.”
The Sháh marched forth from Antákiya, leaving
A Christian and experienced man in charge.
Farfúriyús thereafter brought to Cæsar
Intelligence about Kálíniyús,
And said to him: “The experienced Núshírwán
Came in his state with troops and elephants.
So mighty is his host that seas and mountains
Are all confounded by the horses' dust.”
Then Cæsar writhed for that which he had spoken,
And called to him his prudent chiefs. His heart
Was full of fear because of Núshírwán;
All day and through three watches of the night
He canvassed what to do. Thus spake a priest:—
To fight with Núshírwán. The foe will raise
The dust from this fair realm and bring to naught
The achievements of the Cæsars. In debate
The feeble-tongued endangereth the state.”
Now Cæsar heard this and his heart was troubled,
His counsels were o'ercast by Núshírwán.
He chose of the philosophers of Rúm
From regions scathless of the enemy,
A man of eloquence and understanding,
While of the priests three score unsmirched in soul
And wisdom volunteered. He sent the Sháh
An embassage. Those magnates took their way.
Their leader was that man of wits, Mihrás—
A warrior old in wisdom, young in years.
There went before them treasures of all kinds
Past reckoning, while Cæsar, who repented
His language in the past, dispatched no stint
Of adulation, counsels, and fair words,
With heavy tribute and with hostages
Both of his own and of his nobles' kin.
Mihrás, when he had come to Núshírwán,
Pronounced his praises in the Rúman tongue,
And thou hadst said: “So shrewd and just is he,
He will produce stars from his sleeves!” 'Twas thus
He spake to Núshírwán: “Set not, O king!
Such value on the world. Thou art in Rúm
Now and Írán is void; it hath not worth
Or Glory. So, when Cæsar is away
From Rúm, this country valueth not one gnat.
The worth deriveth wholly from the man;
When he is lost the value is lost too.
If this commotion be but for wealth's sake—
That ruiner of wisdom and contentment—
Lo! I have brought thee all the wealth of Rúm,
For more than land and treasure is a soul
Serene.”
The king's heart, when he heard this, grew
As jocund as a garden in the spring,
And he accepted what the envoy brought—
The purses of gold coin, and hostages—
Gave commendations to the ambassadors,
Enlarging on the value of the gifts,
And said: “O clear in wisdom! any one
Whom wisdom feedeth is a mighty man.
If all the soil of Rúm were turned to gold
Thou wouldst out value still that noble land.”
They set as tribute on those fields and fells
A hundred ox-hides brimming with dínárs
Each year with other gifts and offerings.
His troops were not to ocupy Yaman,
Or to require aught of the people there.
Therewith was heard the blare of trump and clash
Of brazen cymbals, and the prudent world-lord
Led back his host. He went his way to Shám,
And tarried there awhile. He brought with him
So many implements of war and troops,
So many captives, purses, crowns, and thrones,
That earth's back bent beneath the elephants,
And purses full of drachms. When he resolved
To quit that land he set in charge thereof
Shírwí, son of Bahrám, and said: “Demand
The tribute due from Cæsar and accord not
Remission for a month or day.”
Shírwí,
Who kissed the ground, blessed and addressed the
Shah:—
“Mayst thou be happy and victorious,
And may the royal Tree ne'er pale its leaves.”
When at the monarch's portal had begun
The drum-roll flag and troops fared toward Arman.
Like to the sun was Núshírwán, the king—
The world's hope and its fear. Just as above
Sol speedeth on its pathway carrying
A sword in this hand and in that hand love,
Is all relentless in its hour of rage,
But in its day of ruth all clemency,
So was this Sháh of royal lineage,
Who had adorned the world with equity.
Know this—in my regard the monarch's state
And subject's, if they holy be and pure,
Requireth of necessity a mate,
Dress, provand, and a privacy secure;
While if the wife be pious and discreet
A heaped-up treasure will she prove, and all
The more if locks musk-scented to her feet
Descend, and she be more than common tall,
Wise, learned, well counselled, chaste, and can express
Herself in fair discourse with gentleness.
The noble Sháh possessed a wife like this,
In height a cypress and in looks a moon,
This Moon-face was a Christian, and her beauty
Engrossed the tongues of all. She bare a babe
Sun-faced, out-shining Venus in the sky.
The noble mother called the child Núshzád,
And no fierce blast assailed that lovely boy.
A youth of parts, the glory of the realm.
He knew of Hell, the path to Paradise,
Of Christ, of Esdras, and Zarduhsht, but he,
Believing not the Zandavasta, bathed
His visage in the fount of Christ, preferring
His mother's to his father's Faith: the age
Was lost in wonderment at him. The king
Was grievously concerned about his son,
Because that Rose bare only fruit of thorns.
They shut the portal of Núshzád's fair palace,
And there imprisoned him. His prison-house
Was at Gund-i-Shápúr264
far from his home
And father. Many criminals and captives
Were with him in that city and in ward.
Now when the Sháh was on his way from Rúm
The turmoil and the journey tried him sorely;
So weak was he that he could hold no court.
One bare the tidings to Núshzád and told him:—
“The Glory of the empire is bedimmed;
The watchful world-lord Núshírwán is dead,
Bequeathing to another earth and time.”
His father's death rejoiced Núshzád. Oh! may
No pleasure and enjoyment e'er be his!
He that doth joy when just kings pass away
Must have a gloomy temper. As to this
A famous ancient said: “If thou art glad
At my decease see that thou never die.”
From death thou know'st no succour can be had,
The past is one here with futurity;
But never death will wreck the soul of one
Whose toil hath favour in the sight of God.
Call we a reprobate and fool that son
Who in his father's footsteps hath not trod.
Wet be the seed of colocynth or dry
It will not savour musk, then where the need
That it should change from what should spring
thereby
By nature if the gardener sow its seed?
When any plant is predisposed to earth,
It parteth with the sunshine and pure air,
Therefrom no foliage or fruit hath birth,
It liveth for the earth and dieth there.
I have made mention of Núshzád. Take heed
That thou quit not the path of equity.
If heaven possessed a father then indeed
He would resemble Núshírwán, so why
Should his own son quit the paternal way,
And seek the royal dignity and throne?
And I will keep back nothing, O my son!
I have well ordered that I did receive
From rustic bard, and by that token too
Am fain some memory of myself to leave,
So be the honour unto whom 'tis due.
This is my wish that after I am dead
My fame as poet evermore shall last.
On this wise spake a Persian bard whose head
A hundred years and twenty had o'erpast:—
“He that is hostile to the world's great king
Not of man's stock but Áhriman's must be.”
Now of Núshzád they tell that very thing
As handed down by ancient legendry.
Whenas the son of Núshírwán had heard:—
“The throne of that right royal Tree is void,”
He oped his palace-door, and from all quarters
Troops gathered unto him—all that had 'scaped
From wisdom's bonds and had been put in ward
By Núshírwán. Núshzád unchained the mad,
And all the city was in consternation;
But he assembled of the citizens
All that were Christians, whether priests or prelates,
Assembled many haughty cavaliers
And swordsmen, while his mother gave him wealth—
The treasures lavished on her by the Sháh.
There gathered to him thirty thousand men,
All famous and prepared to fight. He took
The cities round; his fame was noised abroad.
He wrote a letter to his kinsman266
Cæsar,
Made known his dark designs, and said: “Arise
O king! for thou art lord, friend, of one Faith
With me, and Cæsar. As 'twere Rúm, Írán,
Its worship and its settlements, are thine,
My father hath been sick and now is dead,
His wakeful fortune hath been overthrown.”
The tidings reached the towns of Madá'in
Of what the son of Núshírwán had done,
Whereat the warden of that march dispatched
To Núshírwán a cavalier to whom
He told what he had heard and what was secret.
The messenger went like a rapid stream,
And came to Núshírwán to whom he gave
The letter, telling all that he had heard,
And of the overt actions of Núshzád.
The Sháh, when he had listened and had read
The letter, grieved thereat and was confounded,
Held session with the noble archimages,
Debating much with them in privacy,
And, when the consultation reached its end
In resolution, bade a scribe attend.
And sighing lips, then had this letter written
Wherein he first of all gave praise to Him,
Who fashionéd the heavens, time, and earth,
The Artificer of Sun and Moon and Saturn,
The Illuminer of Grace, of crown, and throne:—
“From worthless stubble up to elephant
And lion, from the dust on emmet's foot
Up to the Nile, though men shall roam from earth
To turning heaven they roam beneath God's sway.
No limit can be seen to His behest,
And none will rob Him of the sovereignty.
Of that unpleasing letter have I heard,
Sent by that most injurious son of mine,
And of the criminals who brake from ward,
And are assembled now about Núshzád.
'Twere better one should quit the world than see
A day like this, for all are born to die;
First Núshírwán and then Núshzád must go.
From gnat and ant e'en to rhinoceros,
And elephant, none can escape the claws
And beak of death. If earth revealed its secrets,
Displaying everything from first to last,
Its bosom would be found fulfilled with kings,
Its breast with blood of cavaliers, its skirts
With men of lore, the creases of its robe
With fair-cheeked dames. Then wherefore set a crown
Or helmet on thy head when death's plumed shaft
Will pierce them both? No one rejoiceth much
At death of son, albeit all must die;
But as for those consorting with Núshzád,
Who reckon on the death of Núshírwán,
The death of them would be a cause for joy
If but Núshzád should 'scape the evil day.
Moreover none but misbegotten knaves
Would count upon the death of righteous Sháhs.
Now though Núshzád hath turned his head from us,
In that the Dív thus hath conspired with him,
His purpose is not firm in this regard;
He was inflamed when he obtained his wish.
He could not have the post as well as we,
And thus was ruined by a false report,
For had the crown been void of Núshírwán
Núshzád had been the glory of the realm.
Still such an act is worthy of his Faith,
And suited to an evil soul like his.
In that our son's religion is impure:
Moreover for the wealth that he hath wrecked,
That matter weigheth nothing on my heart;
While as for all that have combined with him,
And banished from their hearts their awe of us—
The ill-doers, the malignant, and base-born,
Unworthy to be subjects to myself—
We look upon them also with contempt:
Let not their doings make thy heart afraid.
My fear is of the Master of the world,
Who is in wisdom wiser than the wise.
We must not grow unthankful in our souls
To God who is omniscient in good.
Me hath He given triumph and success,
Grace and the diadem of king of kings,
And had my praise been worthy of His gifts
It would have bettered my prosperity.
My son hath found a home and rest elsewhere;
No single drop of him came from my loins.
With his awakening my foe arrived,
And, I do fear me, toil. Still if the World-lord
Hath no occasion to be wroth with me
I reck not of such things. In my regard
All they that are confederate with my son
Are vile and despicable. 'Tis his letter
That, if it bringeth Cæsar, will befoul
My stream. The twain must be akin, methinketh,
Since they are one in Faith and policy.
The man that quitteth his forefathers' Faith
Is one whose wits are much to seek. That son
Is best who is of one Faith, not at war,
With his own sire. Albeit though that insensate
Turn from the right no lip must ope to curse him.
To curse him is in essence to curse us,
Because he is of our own flesh and blood.
Array the host, take order for the war,
But act with moderation and hold back,
While if the matter cometh to a pass,
And if he offer battle, be not fierce.
To capture him is better than to slay:
Perchance he will turn back from evil doing,
And then the stream that reared that noble Cypress
Must come not on it in a bath of dust;
But if he hold his honoured person cheaply,
If that tall Cypress shall demean itself,
And if he spurn the pillow of delight,
Withhold not thou the mace and scimitar.
A man of rank indulging base desires
Can not be freed from that propensity,
And such a high-born man is base indeed
When he doth fight the monarch of the world.
Fear not to slay him if he would pour out
His own head's blood upon the dust. He hasteth
Allegiance to our crown, whereby his greatness
Hath grown vile, wretched, and calamitous,
And he hath chosen ruin from high heaven.
In this regard said Mihr-i-Núsh—a sage
Who worshipped God and wore the woollen vest:—
‘The man that joyeth in a father's death,
May his be neither happiness nor breath.’
Seek not for light from darkness, else wilt thou
But mingle fire and water in the stream.
Man's only rest is when his toil is done:
It is fate's law and we must acquiesce.
Be not in friendship with the turning sky,
For whiles thou art the kernel, whiles the shell.
Why seek from its pomegranate hue and scent,
For it will rob thee of them both at sight?
Whene'er the turning sky exalteth thee,
Then is thy time for travail, fear, and loss.
As for the soldiers that are with Núshzád,
And err so greatly from the path of duty,
Know that they are but wind and sport to us,
The mockery of the wise, no mystery.
As for the Christians that are in his host,
And have revolted for religion's sake,
The regimen of Christ is such that they
Are frighted if one lifteth up one's voice,270
Desert his precepts and his path, and end
By turning into foemen of the Cross.
As for the other folk—the common herd,
Ill-taught, ill-minded, and adventurous—
They will not fright the heart of any man:
Their counsel and a breath of air are one.
Now if Núshzád be taken in the fight,
Discourse not with him touching these affairs;
His person must not suffer injury,
His raiment must not show the rents of blows,
Because his women-folk will slay themselves.
His palace will afford the best of prisons
Both for himself and those that follow him.
Bar not to him the portal of my treasures,
Albeit one so dear hath grown so vile,
And as for raiment, vietuals, tapestries,
And carpets there must be no stint at all,
For he is fitted but for things like these.
As for those marchlords of the Íránians—
Those that have girded up their loins with him—
When thou hast conquered do not hesitate,
But cleave them through the middle with the sword,
For all that are the great king's enemies
Thou rightly flingest to the crocodiles.
Besides these, all that are opposed to me
At heart—the seed of wicked Áhriman—
Who have forgotten all our benefits,
Thou now wilt test in dealing with Núshzád.
And were in terror of our punishments.
For those on-lookers who have vilified,
And wagged their tongues against, Núshzád, know thou
That they have in especial cursed ourselves,
Preparing trouble in mine evil day.
Do not thou too as they; thus foemen speak.
Unworthy as he is he is mine own,
Such is the truthful witness of my heart.
The tongue of each man that hath spoken ill,
Or acted with injustice toward him, brand
In presence of the folk. May such an one
Have neither tongue nor mouth. As for the man
That warreth to o'erthrow the Sháh, employing
Guile, enmity, hostility, and faith
In Áhriman, such, as the famed Sháh's foe,
Must not be suffered in the realm.”
They set
The Sháh's own seal upon the letter. Then
The messenger departed with all speed,
And, when to Rám Barzín he made his way,
Told all that he had heard the great king say.
That done, he gave to Rám Barzín the letter
With its behests for dealing with Núshzád,
To levy troops, make war, and banish ruth.
When the old man had read it, and had heard
The messenger at large, the din of tymbals
Arose at cock-crow at the palace-portal,
A mighty host marched forth from Madá'in,
And Rám Barzín went swiftly to the war.
News reached Núshzád who called and paid his host,
While all the Christians and grandees of Rúm
That dwelt along the march of that fair land
Assembled with Shammás as general:
Those warriors' hands all had been bathed in blood.
A shout rose from the portal of Núshzád,
And then the army, like a wind-tossed sea,
Moved from the city out upon the plain,
Their heads all war, their hearts revenge and venom.
When Rám Barzín beheld that army's dust
He blew the trumpets and arrayed the host.
The dust of cavaliers, the charge of chieftains,
The brandishing of mighty maces, rent
The hearts of flints; none saw the bright sun's face.
Set on his head a Rúman helm. His host
Was full of Christian clericals from Rúm;
The soil was hidden by their horses' hoofs.
Thou wouldst have said: “Earth seetheth, and the air
Is shrieking over it.”
A warrior,
Beclad in mail and hight Pírúz the old,
Came boldly forth and cried: “O famed Núshzád!
Who wantonly hath turned thy head from right?
Contend not with the army of the king
Because thou wilt repent thee of this strife.
Thou hast abjured the Faith of Gaiúmart,
The pathway of Húshang and Tahmúras.
The arch-deceiver Christ was put to death
Because he had renounced the Faith of God;
So choose not him, of all that founded Faiths,
Who so mistook the aspect of his work,
For if the Grace of God had shone in him
How could the Jews have gained the upper hand?
Heard hast thou what thy sire, that noble man,
The world-lord, did to Cæsar and to Rúm,
Yet now thou wouldst contend with him and raise
Thy head to heaven! For all thy moon-like mien,
Thy Grace and stature, neck, limbs, hands, and
mace,
I see no wisdom with thee anywhere,
Such recklessness possesseth thy dark soul!
Woe for this head of thine, crown, name, and birth,
Which now thou wouldst abandon to the blast!
For son to seek his living father's throne,
How should this be? 'Tis neither use nor right.
To seek the crown, if he be dead, is well;
To seek to fight him now is criminal.
Save thou be snorting elephant or lion
Thou canst not match Sháh Núshírwán, and though
I have not seen, O prince! a bridle-hand
Like thine limned in the palace of the Sháhs,
Such foot and stirrups, such a breast and neck,
Such ardour in the fight and such a mace,
Though painter never looked on such a picture,
Or any age on such a prince, yet burn not
The soul of Núshírwán by childishness,
Or stultify the world-illuming crown,
For hostile howsoe'er a son may be
His father will lament when he is slain.
Dismount, ask quarter of the Sháh, and fling
This mace and Rúman helmet to the ground;
Then if far hence some chilling blast should make
The dark dust settle on thy countenance,
The Sháh's heart would consume for thee, the sun
Weep o'er thy face. Sow not throughout the world
The seed of enmity, for hastiness
Becometh not a prince. If thou dost swerve
From mine advice and trust to violence,
And to thy might, the counsel of Pírúz
Of thine ill counsellors will seem but wind.”
Núshzád made answer: “O wind-pated dotard!
Ask not my troops—exalted warriors—
Or me—the Sháh's son—to cry out for quarter.
The Faith of Núshírwán is naught to me;
My heart inclineth to my mother—her
Whose constant practice is the Faith of Christ.
I will not quit her Grace and Faith. Although
Its Founder—Christ—was slain, the World-lord's
Grace
Hath not forsaken Him. That Holy One
Hath passed from this earth back to holy God,
Such was His aspiration when on earth.
I may be slain but shall not fear to die,
For to that bane there is no antidote.”
He answered thus the old Pírúz and veiled
Air's face with shafts. The warriors of the host
Advanced, the battle-cry and clarion's blare
Went up, Núshzád, the chief, spurred on like fire,
Came as it were Ázargashasp, and brake
The left wing of the army of the Sháh,
Where none remained to fight with him. He slew
Full many a Lion of the host, whereat,
Grown wrathful, Rám Barzín bade shower arrows,
And fill the air as 'twere with hail in spring.
The din of battle went up on both sides
From all the valiant soldiers there engaged.
Núshzád was wounded in the mellay. Oft
He called to mind the counsel of Pírúz,
And reached in pain the centre of the host,
Pierced by a shaft and pale with agony.
Thus said he to the warriors of Rúm:—
“To fight one's sire is wretched, vile, accursed!”
Bewailing and lamenting thus he summoned
A bishop and confessed his heart's desires.
He said: “The evil fortune caused by me
Hath fallen rigorously upon myself.
Now, since my head will pass beneath the dust,
Dispatch a horseman to my mother. Say
To her: ‘Núshzád hath left this world. For him
The days of right and wrong are at an end.
I prithee be not grieved at heart for me;
Such is the fashion of this Wayside Inn!
Since I have been allotted this dark day
How could my heart be glad and brighten earth?
All living creatures are but born to die;
Grieve not for me, for thou art mortal too.
'Tis not my slaying that confoundeth me,
But worse—my sire's displeasure. Let me have
No mausoleum, throne, or stately rites,
But bury me with Christian burial.
I need no camphor, musk, or spicery,
For arrow-stricken I depart the world.’”
That noble Lion-heart. Now when his troops
Heard of his death they fled the battlefield.
The Íránian leader, hearing that the prince
Was slain, went weeping to his couch in haste
The troops ceased slaying on the field of fight,
And neither joyed nor spoiled. They saw the prince
Slain and o'erthrown with ignominy, his head
Upon a Rúman bishop's breast: the field
Was filled with wailing for him. Rám Barzín
Was troubled to the heart and asked the prelate:—
“What know'st thou of the prince's dying wishes?”
“Except his mother,” thus the bishop answered,
“None must behold his head exposed. He, seeing
That he was wounded by a shaft, forbade
All obsequies and musk and spicery,
Or coronet, brocade of Rúm, and throne,
Perceiving his to be the slave's dark lot.
His mother now will shroud him and provide
A tomb and winding-sheet with Christian rites,
While his condition now is that of Christ's,
Although he did not die upon the Cross.”
Of all the Christians that were in the land
There was not one but had his visage torn.
A cry rose from the country. Men and women
Assembled. From the plain they raised the corpse
Of that young, gallant prince—the Heart and Eyes
Of Núshírwán, the Sháh—upon a bier,
Transporting it three leagues by hand, then set it
Upon two mules which bare it to his mother.
Now when she was aware of what had chanced
Her head and crown descended to the dust.
She came forth to the street unveiled. A crowd
Assembled round her in the market-place.
They set a camp-enclosure round about,
And all the folk cast dust upon their heads.
They laid him in the earth. He passed. He came
From wind and suddenly to wind returned.
Gund-i-Shápúr276
was all in tears, consumed
With sorrow for the anguish of the Sháh.
Why writhe so madly in the bonds of greed?
Thou know'st that here thou canst not long remain.
Seek to escape, give not the world such heed,
Smell not its rose so fondly, 'tis but bane.
From Faith and righteousness turn not thy head,
Or else the wrath of God will chasten thee;
“A father's wrath,” a pious Arab said,
“Will bring upon thy life calamity.”
When sire shall be displeased with son in aught
Know that in seed and fruit that son is bad.
Oh! never make thy father's soul distraught
Whatever trouble thou from him hast had.
Nor on thy heart the fire of trouble fling,
Let not thy passions master wisdom so,
But act with seemliness in everything.277
Now be the world's king happy all his days,
And may he bear these words of mine in mind.
Mahmúd, the world-lord, who ensueth praise,
A niche therefor in every heart will find.
Love ever shineth from his Grace divine,
His crown's top is the pillar of the sky.
Now ask, if cup thou hast, for amber wine,
And hold not quaffing acting sinfully.
Seek joy and mirth but never be bemused,
Nor think that talk—wise talk—should be abused.
The Sháh, being disquieted by a dream, sends emissaries through the empire to find an interpreter. One is discovered at Marv in the person of Búzurjmihr, then a youth, who having been brought before the Sháh interprets the dream and is advanced to great honour. The Sháh subsequently gives a series of entertainments at which discussions on wisdom and morals are substituted for the usual diversions of Oriental banquets, and Búzurjmihr again greatly distinguishes himself.
Persia, like other nations, has its Wisdom-literature. This comprises apologues, apothegms, proverbs, parables, the interpretation of dreams and dark sentences, astrological forecasts, the solution of problems, the supplying the correct answer to questions relating to religion, morals, conduct, and expediency, and longer discourses thereon, reflections on fate and fortune, on the uncertainty of all terrestrial affairs, on the vanity of striving after wealth and fame, and the importance of leaving behind one a good name after death. All these forms of wisdom find expression in the Sháhnáma, and the poet himself has been not backward in contributing his quota. At the first available opportunity in his work he utters his “Praise of Wisdom”—the first created of God and His best gift to man.278
A collection of all the passages dealing with such themes and subjects as are mentioned above, and including Firdausí's own reflections on such matters, as have occurred in the poem up to this point, would amount to something considerable, but scattered through a mass of narrative they are apt to be overlooked. In this reign, however, we are confronted by formal collections of primitive Persian Wisdom associated for the most part with the name of Búzurjmihr but to some extent with other great officials and with Núshírwán himself. Firdausí availed himself of the opportunity of the conjunction of the just Sháh with the wise counsellor to bring together all that he could find in his authorities and elsewhere on some of the subjects mentioned at the beginning of this note. That a large Pahlaví literature once existed on such matters, and arranged sometimes in the form of question and answer, we know from what is extant. Thus the sage in the “Díná-í Maínóg-í Khirad” (“Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom”) consults the Spirit of Wisdom on sixty-two points and receives answers, e.g. “The sage asked the spirit of wisdom thus: ‘Which man is the mightier?’ … The spirit of wisdom answered thus: ‘That man is the mightier who is able to struggle with his own fiends; and, in particular, he who keeps these five fiends far from his person, which are such as greediness, wrath, lust, disgrace, and discontent.’”279
The concluding question is: “Which is that good work which is greater and better than all good works, and no trouble whatever is necessary for its performance?” The answer is: “To be grateful in the world, and to wish happiness for every one. This is greater and better than every good work, and no commotion whatever is necessary for its performance.” 279a
These questions and answers are quite of a piece with the sages' gnomes in the poem. There are also extant in Pahlaví the “Pandnámak-í Vadshórg-Mitró-í Búkhtakán” or “Bakhtagán,” i.e. the “Book of Counsels of Búzurjmihr the son of Bakhtagán,” the “Characteristics of a Happy Man,” and other texts dealing with similar subjects.279b
There can be no doubt but that Firdausí derived the sententious, gnomic, parenetic, or whatever one chooses to call them, portions of the Sháhnáma, like the narrative, indirectly from the Pahlaví. Four series of such passages occur in the present reign. The first and longest is in the present Part. The second is Búzurjmihr's Discourse on good deeds and works in Part III. The third is Núshírwán's answers to the questions addressed to him by the archmages. The fourth is the vivû voce examination that Hurmuzd, Núshírwán's son, has to pass at the hands of Búzurjmihr, by order of the Sháh, before being nominated as his father's successor. One cannot help feeling a sneaking sympathy, reprehensible though it be, with him when we find him signalising his advent to the throne by making a clean sweep of his father's ministers from whose “wise saws and modern instances” doubtlessly he had suffered much in the days of his youth. Nero acted similarly in the case of Burrus and the younger Seneca. Of these four series the third is concerned only partly with Wisdom-literature, some of the questions dealing with Núshírwán's own conduct on specified occasions. This and the fourth series will appear in Volume VIII.
Búzurjmihr, the son of Bakhtagán, of Marv, the man chiefly associated with the Wisdom-literature of the Sháhnáma, is but a semi-historical figure hardly mentioned by any historian before Firdausí's time with the exception of Mas'údí who died when the poet was a youth. Mas'údí gives twelve maxims of Búzurjmihr's and little else,280
so that practically we are dependent on what Firdausí tells us, and this, with regard to the incidents recorded, generally has something of the præternatural about it. Bú-zurjmihr's career begins with a dream, and while sleeping on his journey to the court a snake, which seems an Arab rather than a Persian touch, comes and breathes over him. Moreover, his fall from power is preceded by an omen and his restoration to favour accomplished by another. We never hear of him as being associated with any of Núshírwán's great achievements in administration or in war. He is employed, it is true, upon two missions, once to expound a game—chess—and to propound another of his own invention—nard—and once to negotiate in time of war a loan for his master, which falls through owing to the fact that Núshírwán has a higher conception of the dignity of the office of the scribe than Búzurjmihr himself. His repute seems largely due to Firdausí, who used him as a peg whereon to hang all the old clothes of the Wisdom-literature that the poet was too conscientious to discard but could not dispose of elsewhere. There is, however, a thanksgiving couplet to testify that he was not sorry when the worst of his task was over.280a
If the number seven were not such a favourite in Persian story one might suggest that the Seven Banquets of Núshírwán originated in a perverted reminiscence of the seven Greek philosophers who were entertained for a while at his court when Justinian closed the schools of Athens,280b
and that Búzurjmihr himself is not much more than a native composite reproduction of those hapless and disillusioned sages.
Mohl has some apposite remarks on the Wisdom-literature:
“Ce qui a le plus contribué à la gloire du règne de Nouschirwan, c'est la réputation de son vizir, Buzurdjmihr, qui est en Orient le représentant de toute la sagesse humaine, comme Nouschirwan lui-même est la représentation de la justice. On les a entourés tous les deux d'une auréole de fables, et l'on a mis sous leurs noms tous les contes qui se rattachent par leur nature à la renommée particulière de chacun. On a donc attribué à Buzurdjmihr tous les traits de sagesse et toutes les moralités qu'on a pu trouver, et Firdousi les rapporte au long les uns et les autres. Quant aux moralités, le poëte avait évidemment découvert quelques collections où on les avait réunies, et il nous en donne à trois reprises différentes, ou des traductions complètes, ou d'amples extraits. Je crois que les originaux ont dû être composés en pehlewi, et que ces sentences out éprouvé quelque dommage, soit de la part des copistes, soit de celle des traducteurs, car les questions et les réponses ne paraissent pas toujours s'accorder suffisamment. De plus, les copistes du Livre des Rois on évidemment été arrêtés par le texte et ont fait pour le redresser beaucoup d'effort mal-heureux… Il est très-probable encore que les sentences que nous trouvons dans les moralistes arabes et persans sont des restes de cette antique sagesse des Perses. Les observations et les règles qu'elles contiennent nous paraissent en général bien simples et parfois bien puériles; mais cela même parle pour leur origine reculée. Elles ont été une fois neuves et frappantes et ont été transmises aux nouvelles générations, entourées du respect qu'-inspire en toute chose la réputation d'antiquité. Ce n'est certaine-ment pas dans une monarchie comme celle de la Perse sous Nouschirwan, que commençait à tomber de vétusté, qu'on avait besoin d'inventer des moralités élémentaires.”281
On the same subject Nöldeke says: “In the discourses on wisdom and riddles which take up so much space in the story of the first Chosrau (Kisrâ) are probably to be found many duplicates of whole passages; to settle these questions much material besides the Sháhnáma is available, but truly to investigate these wearying fragments would require an unusual amount of patience!”281a
Now in the tale of Búzurjmihr will we
Reveal a cheerier visage. Do not deem
That there is naught but folly in a dream;
Know that a dream may smack of prophecy,
And in especial when such visitings
Impress the clear mind of a king of kings.
The stars with sky and moon hold conference,
Their words are whispered and dispersed through
space,
And clear souls dreaming see the future thence
As fire is mirrored in the water's face.
One night Sháh Núshírwán, the wise and shrewd,
That lucid spirit, lay asleep and dreamed:
A royal tree grew up before the throne,
And joyed his heart. He called for harp and wine
And minstrelsy, but on his throne of peace
And joy there sat with him a sharp-toothed boar,
Sat ready-dight for revelry and claimed
To quaff the wine from Núshírwán's own cup.
Sol rose in Taurus and the skylark's note
Was heard on all sides yet the monarch sat
Upon his throne in dudgeon at that dream.
They called the interpreter of dreams and held
A session of the magnates at the court.
The Sháh narrated to those archimages,
The counsellors, his dream. The interpreter
And one that pleadeth ignorance is excused.
The Sháh, thus left unanswered by the sages,
Was instant what to do in his concern,
And sent to every side an archimage,
One enterprising, shrewd of heart, and wise.
He made each take a purse and entertained
High hopes from their return. In every purse
There were ten thousand drachms that every envoy
Might seek out some interpreter of dreams,
Some man of understanding, some adept,
To solve the world-king's dream and to reveal
The mystery, and then bestow on such
A full purse and the royal compliments.282
So to all parts a veteran archmage went—
A prudent cavalier and man of lore.
One of these chiefs—Ázád Sarv282a
—came to Marv,
Went through the town and saw an archimage,
Who taught the Zandavasta to some youths
With harshness, anger, and raised voice. The tallest,
An earnest student of the Zandavasta,
One whom they used to title Búzurjmihr,
Was poring lovingly upon the roll.
Ázád Sarv turned his rein, drew near, and sought
An explanation of the great king's dream.
The scribe replied: “'Tis not my business;
The Zandavasta is my help to knowledge.
I teach these children but I do not dare
To breathe of aught beyond,” but Búzurjmihr
Said blushing to his master, having heard
The envoy's words: “This quarry is for me;
It is my business to interpret dreams.”
His teacher bawled: “Hast thou thy roll by heart
That thou shouldst thus exalt thy neck in pride,
And set up as a dream-interpreter?”
The envoy said to him: “O learnéd man!
He may possess this skill; abash him not.
This youth's lot may be high through fortune's teaching,
Not thine.”
The master wroth with Búzurjmihr
Cried: “Tell then what thou knowest,” but he
answered:—
“I will speak not till set before the Sháh.”
The envoy gave him money and a steed
With all things needful. They set off from Marv,
As pheasants pace 'neath roses, and discoursed
Till at the hour for provand and repose
They reached a spot with water, lighted down
Beneath a tree and, having eaten, rested.
While Búzurjmihr slept in the shade, his mantle
Drawn o'er his face, his noble way-mate saw,
Being still awake, a snake which drew away
The mantle from the sleeper, vehemently
Breathed over him from head to foot, then clomb
The tree. When that black snake had scaled the stem
The youth awoke, and when the serpent saw
The youth's discomfiture it disappeared
Amid the dusky boughs. The envoy stood
Astound, invoking oft the name of God,
And thought: “This wise youth will attain to great-ness!”
They left that wood, pushed on, and reached the
Sháh.
The envoy hurried first before the throne
Of Núshírwán, and said: “Oh! may thy fortune
Be ever young, O Sháh! From court I went
To Marv and roamed about as pheasant doth
Within a rosary. Amid the sages
I found a wise youth and have brought him hither
In haste.”
He told withal what Búzurjmihr
Had said and of the portent of the snake.
The world-lord called and told the dream to him.
He heard, grew full of matter, and replied:—
“There is a youth disguised in women's garb
Within thy bower. Now put all strangers forth,
That none may know our purpose, and command
Thy ladies all to pass before thy presence
With measured tread, and then I will demand
Of that bold reprobate how came he thus
Within the Lion's lair, for God will show
The secret fact to be as thou hast dreamed.”
The Sháh put forth all strangers, closed the palace
Of king of kings, and bade the eunuchs bring,
As swift as smoke, the Idols dwelling there.
They came, those Idols of his bower, in all
Exhaling jasmine, dainty, modest, passed
With leisured tread before him, but no man
Appeared among them, and like angry lion
Raged Núshírwán. Then said the interpreter:—
“This should not be; there is a youth among them.
Bid them to pass a second time all bare,
And probe their practice to the uttermost.”
The Sháh spake thus: “Cause them to pass again,
And put away the veil of modesty.”
They passed the second time and, when all thought
The dream an empty one, a youth appeared
Of cypress-stature and of kingly looks,
But quaking like a willow and despairing
Of his dear life. Now in the great king's bower
Were seventy girls, all noble Cypresses,
And one of them, with cheeks of ivory,
Was daughter to the governor of Chách.
The youth with jasmine-face and musk-perfumed
Had been her love at home. He followed her
Where'er she went and served her like a slave.
The Sháh inquired of her: “Who is this man
So cherished by my slave, so favoured, young,
And daring, in the bower of Núshírwán?”
“He is not,” said the girl, “as old as I.
He is but young. One mother bare us both.
Our sire was different, our mother one.
There is naught wrong between us. He assumed
This kind of habit, for through modesty
He did not dare to look upon the Sháh.
Oh! make it not a pretext that my brother
From shamefastness before thee veiled his face.”
The Sháh said to the youth: “Thou worthless dog!
Both race and family are smirched by thee.”
He frowned. He was amazed at that young pair,
Then bade in wrath the executioner:—
“Let the dust hide them.”
So he haled them back
Behind the curtains of Sháh Núshírwán,
And hung them there—a warning to the rest.
The Sháh gave that interpreter of dreams
Purse, steeds, and robes, and, wondering at his know-
ledge,
Observed his sayings. They inscribed his name
Among the counsellors, the archimages.
Thus prospered Búzurjmihr, and circling heaven
Showed him its face, while ever day by day
His fortune greatened, and the Sháh's heart joyed
In him exceedingly.
Of right; the Sháh was cultured, heart and brain.
He had residing at his court archmages,
And sages understanding in all knowledge.
Three score and ten—all men of eloquence—
Were lodged and entertained continually.
He used, when not engaged with justice, largess,
Festivity or war, to question them,
And deck his heart with knowledge. Búzurjmihr,
Though still a youth, was eloquent and shrewd
And fair to look upon, surpassing all
The famed archmages, readers of the stars,
And sages, in his knowledge, and became
Exalted over those philosophers.
None was so learnéd in astrology.
In leechcraft he excelled286
and spake with ease
Of conduct, government, and policies.
The board was spread one day. The Sháh com-manded:—
“Bid the archmages come, the learned, the curious,
The eloquent, the prudent, and observing.”
The archmages vigilant of heart, the chiefs
That were accomplished in all knowledge, came,
And, having feasted, called for wine and drank
Until their spirits rose, not bringing wisdom
To disrepute but to refresh their souls.
The prudent Sháh said to those men of lore:—
“Display the hidden knowledge that ye have;
Let every one possessed of understanding
Within his heart hold forth and pleasure me.”
The wise men bold and mighty in discourse
Set loose their tongues in presence of the king,
Both young and old, as he required of them.
When Búzurjmihr had listened to their words,
And noted that the Sháh held knowledge dear,
He rose, did reverence, and said: “Just judge!
Be earth the bondslave of thine ivory throne,
Heaven lustrous with the Glory of thy crown.
If now the Sháh shall bid his slave unlock
His tongue then I will speak although unworthy,
And, in respect of knowledge, least of all.
His tongue in presence of Sháh Núshírwán.”
The monarch looked upon the sage and said:—
“What reason can there be for hiding knowledge?”
The youth forthwith displayed his mastery,
And spread light round him while his eloquence
And counsels fixed the archimages' hearts.
He first displayed his gifts in praise of God,
And then proceeded: “One whose mind is clear
Will utter much in little; hasty folk
Are talkative and tedious. When fools' talk
Endureth long the speaker is despised.
Seek worth and not addition, for the world
Is fleeting, and we are but sojourners.
Were our days to endure for evermore
The world would have too many candidates.
While here below humanity is best,
And knowledge in that view will not gainsay thee.
Our inward light we owe to righteousness,
And we must weep o'er darkness and chicane.
The heart of every one is slave to passion,
Which differeth with each, and in the world
Each hath his humour; it is well that thou
Conform therewith. All foremost in affairs
Still will be scheming and endeavouring more,
But sages, scholars, and the inly blest
Dwell here below and set their hearts above.
Vex not thyself about the unattained;
'Tis toil of body and distress of soul.
He that is strong will act straightforwardly,
But lies and double-dealing come of weakness.
If thou lack knowledge silence is the jewel,
While if thou art in love with thine own knowledge
Debate will take that wisdom out of thee.
Rich is the man that hath not greed, and blest
Is he that hath not covetise for mate.
Humanity is brother unto wisdom,
Which is as 'twere the crown upon the soul.
To have a sage for mortal enemy
Is better for thee than a fool for friend.
The man content is rich; he putteth greed
And care in bonds. Thou wilt give ear to sages
If thou art humble in thy wish to learn.
When one is masterful in counselling
Men falter not in action. Let the man
That hath forgot his knowledge hold his tongue.
When thou hast wealth in hand with gold and silver,
Be neither close nor lavish. Choose the mean,
And let thine only guide be rectitude.
The wise man keepeth foes afar, and they
Become his servants. Know thou, he that doth
His best will win in war. Speak not vain words,
For from that fire ensueth naught but smoke.
Spend not thy thoughts upon what ne'er can be,
Because with water thou canst pierce not iron.
A king if he be learned is humble too
Though knowledge make him great and powerful.
He that acknowledgeth God's handiwork
Hath passed the ills of fortune; he will serve
God more and more, cast out the Dív's suggestions,
Refrain himself from what should not be done,
Afflict not those that should be unafflicted,
And in the last resort incline to God,
Who is our Nourisher and Fosterer.”
Now at that goodly speech of Búzurjmihr
The doctors all grew fresh of countenance,
Rose in the presence of the king of kings,
And proffered praise anew. The company
Were all astound at Búzurjmihr, that one
So young should rise so high. The world-lord mar-velled
At him, then summoned the chief registrars,
And bade them set his name first on the roll:
His fortune shone forth like the sun in heaven.
Again the archmages entered on discourse,
While all the sages were in wonderment;
The youth set loose his tongue, for he was pure
Of heart and of an ardent soul, and thus
He said: “We must not even in our thoughts
Turn from the king, the righteous judge, for he
Is as the shepherd and we are the sheep;
Again, we are the earth, he is high heaven.
We must not quit our fealty to him,
Must not renounce his way and ordinance,
But joy when he is glad, if we are fain
To proffer to him all the age's due,
Diffuse his excellences in the world,
But keep his confidence inviolate.
Presume not thou upon his dignity,
For e'en the lion's heart is frayed by fire.
We should call e'en a mountain that despised
His bidding foolish-hearted and light-witted.
All evil and all good come from the Sháh,
From him come bond and dungeon, crown and throne.
The world hath from his love its worth and Grace,
While at his wrath our livers seethe within us.
Hath joy and mirth therefrom. Of Áhriman
Is he that joyeth not; his heart and brain
Are cultured not with knowledge.”
They gave ear
To what the young man said, and those outworn
Revived in soul. With tongues and mouths all praise
That mighty convocation went its ways.
A se'nnight passed. That king of ardent heart
Convoked the wise and shelved the world's affairs
Because he wished to hear the words of sages—
Those that were worthy to be called to court,
And were approved by knowledge to the Sháh.
They came, the wise in utterance, both young
And elders of experience. With the doctors
Of ardent soul fared youthful Búzurjmihr,
The exalted one. These doctors sage and shrewd
Sat near the lofty throne and turned their looks
On Búzurjmihr because at him the face
Of Núshírwán grew bright. One of the wisest
Then questioned him concerning fate and fortune:—
“What is their character and who ordained them?”
He answered: “One aspireth, being young.
He toileth night and day, and yet his path
Is dark and narrow and his conduit low,
While some mere dolt will sleep on fortune's throne,
And rose-trees scatter roses over him.
Such is the character of fate and fortune,
No toil avoideth their apportionment;
The World-lord, the All-wise, our Fosterer,
Hath fashioned thus the star of destiny.”
Another said: “What man attaineth greatness?
To whom is high estate the most becoming?”
He said: “The man that hath the better know-ledge
Of what is good and putteth it in practice.”
Another said: “What is there best in us?
Who from the world is worthiest of good?291
He answered: “Gentleness, munificence,
With magnanimity and courteousness.
The humble man who boweth down his neck;
His hand will give, expecting no return;
He toileth and by toil would win the world,
And keepeth step with fellow way-farers.”
“What is the special virtue of the sage,”
Another said, “in moments of dispute?”
And modify his methods and his views.”
Another one inquired: “How should one act
To make existence more endurable?”
He thus made answer: “Whensoe'er the heart
Is fraught with wisdom there is gladness too.
Then will the man both give and take aright,
And shut the door of fraud and knavery,
Will pardon faults whene'er he hath the power,
And not be hasty or irascible.”
Another asked of him: “Among the folk
Who is best able to command himself?”
He said: “The man that is not led by passion
Away from nobleness and native worth,
And likewise he that can command his weakness,
Aware that evils follow on excess.”
Another said: “Is there aught anywhere
More excellent than bounty and good nature?
Who bringeth speedily his crop to fruit,
And furnisheth two springtides in a year?”
“One,” thus he made reply, “that all unasked
Doth deck his soul with generosity,
But one that hath the praise of the receiver
Regard him not as giving but as trading.”
One said: “What are the adornments of a man,
And which is noblest?”
Búzurjmihr replied:—
“He that is bounteous toward a worthy object;
He towereth like a cypress in a garden,
And never withereth, but one unworthy,
Though he be set in musk, will savour not;
No flower will grow upon that arid thorn.
To question of the dumb or of the deaf,
Though thou art justified, is profitless.”
“Within this Wayside Inn,” another said,
“The sage is not exempt from pain and trouble.
How shall we act that we may win fair fame,
And so begin that nobly we may end?”
He answered: “Keep from sin; treat all the world
As though it were thyself; what thou mislikest
Inflict not on another—friend or foe.”
Another said: “Which sayest thou of the twain
Is better—labour moderate or great?”
He answered thus: “From wisdom's standpoint
thought
Alone is worthy. If thou needest fruit
Toil in proportion to the work in hand.”
“If we must weep o'er those that are to blame,”
Another asked, “who can deserve our praise?”
He answered thus: “Whoever hath the most
Of hope and fear and awe of holy God.”
Another said: “O thou illustrious
In wisdom and whose head out-toppeth heaven!
What is the goodliest destiny for me
From this exalted and unstable sky?”
Who is secure and is exempt from need;
Him fortune treateth with benevolence
So long as he is just in all his ways.”
“What is the knowledge,” asked another one,
“Whereby I may be happy in the world?”
He answered thus: “That of the patient man,
Who holdeth in contempt the impudent,
And his whose brain is not perturbed by wrath,
And who, though wroth, will wink at others' faults.”
Another asked: “What man is he, O sage!
That winneth the approval of the wise?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “The man whom wisdom
feedeth,
Who mourneth not the lost but giveth up
His darling to the dust without regret,
Pain, or dismay, rejecteth empty hopes
Like willow's fruit, is always glad and gay,
And careless of the processes of time.”
Another said: “What are the faults of kings
Whereby the hearts of righteous men are saddened?”
He answered: “Wise men say that there are four:
The first is terror of the foe in fight;
The second being niggardly in giving;
The third rejecting wise advice in war;
The fourth is hastiness of temperament,
And sleeping not upon their purposes.”
Another one inquired: “What man is faultless,
And what is there to blame in noble men?”
“We call one upright,” thus said Búzurjmihr,
“When wisdom beareth witness to his words,
While those that seek by cunning and injustice
To shine are blamed for falsehood and deceit.
Between them is the man of violence,
Abusive, with his head fulfilled with strife,
And who, though meek and humble with the king,
Yet madly persecuteth holy men.”
Another said: “What kind of character
Will profit him that seeketh not mishap?”
“The speaker of the truth is true in all
His deeds,” he answered, “governeth his tongue,
Is modest, and soft-voiced amidst of clamour.
Best is the sage who holdeth it unmeet
To banish wisdom for the sake of passion.”
Another sage inquired: “Who is the man
That can without mishap transact affairs,
Tend his own life, and profit kith and kin?”
He thus made answer: “He that from the first
Hath known and sought the door of holy God—
The Source of thy thanksgivings and thy Refuge,
The Lord of day and night, of sun and moon.
Moreover heartily he must obey
The Sháh's behests in public and in private,
Thereon the door of travail and of greed,
Must care for his own kindred, feed the poor,
And give his children teachers, for the world
Must not be trusted to the ignorant,
And when a son is docile to command
'Tis for the father to make much of him.”
“What is the place an upright son should hold,”
Another asked him, “in his sire's esteem?”
He thus made answer: “In his father's eyes
A glorious son is dear as life itself:
The father's name abideth after death
Because the son will say: ‘My father taught me.’”
Another asked: “What dost thou see in riches
To grace the heart?”
He made reply: “The man
Of wealth is honoured though the wealth is vile;
But there is much that is bound up therewith,
Take heed that thou misprize not these my words,
For, first, whate'er thou hast a mind unto
Will by its nature show if thine be good;
And, next, for thee to have and not employ
Is to treat stones and royal gems as one.”
“Among the kings with fame and lofty crown,”
Another said, “whom callest thou the best?”
“That king,” he made reply, “with whom the good
Dwell safely while the bad quake at his voice:
The earth reposeth underneath his throne.”
Another said: “What maketh a man rich,
And who in this world is distressed and poor?”
He thus replied: “The man that is content
With what the Master of high heaven bestoweth,
While for the man whom fortune favoureth not
There is not any evil worse than greed.”
The famous men were full of wonderment
At him and lauded him with one consent.
A se'nnight passed. The eighth day with the dawn
The all-conquering Sháh sat on his throne and sum-moned
Before him all the men of understanding,
The wise and eloquent, who all discoursed
At large, but truly none much pleased the Sháh,
Who after said to Búzurjmihr: “Unveil
Thy shamefast face.”
That fluent sage set loose
His tongue, displayed his varied lore, and first
He blessed the Sháh, and said: “Be this crowned head
Victorious,” adding: “None becometh great
Unless he shun the pathway of mishap.
If thou wouldst rise to greatness by thy knowledge
Thou needest wisdom in thy choice of words.
Rejecteth faint-hearts. If thou seek'st the throne
Accomplishments are needed since the bough
That putteth forth its green must bear thee fruit.
When folk make question of accomplishments
'Tis vain to cite mere aptitude,296
for that,
With these to seek, is not approved and worthless.
In dealing with this point a wise man said:—
‘If roses savour not forbear to speak
Of colour; none in fire a stream will seek.’
A king is all the richer for his bounty,
And hath no credit for his secret treasures.
If thou hast claimed attainments justify
What thou hast fairly spoken by thy deeds.
The sage is happy being fed by heaven
With wisdom, and the man of simple heart
Because 'tis free from all deceitfulness.
In this world wisdom is a trusty tree,
And the great king's heart is its first of fruits.
Thou wilt be easy if thou art content,
But practise greed and thou wilt quake therefor.
Do not thy kindness in the sight of men,
For thou wilt have small kindness in return.
Good fortune favoureth the open-hearted,
And he is blest who beareth patiently.
Still if a man would rise he must be furnished
With certain things to aid him in the struggle.
First, rede and crudition; secondly,
A ripe experience; thirdly, friends to help
In time of action and to estimate
The chances every way for good and ill,
And to be profitable afterward
In every-day life and emergencies.
He needeth, fourthly, rectitude and wisdom
To purge his heart of falsehood and of fraud,
And, fifthly, if thou art possessed of strength
Toil with thy body; greatness will result.297
The strong unless they labour ne'er will reach
The height of their desires, but over-toil,
Know, endeth in despair. I will set forth
The five characteristics of the sage,
Which to observe involve him not in trouble,
With seven too of the fool, and 'tis no marvel
If he be irked thereby: and, to begin,
No sage is vexed at loss or prematurely
Is glad, for disappointment will perturb him.
He counteth not upon the unattained
So as to break his heart if he should miss it.
He neither hopeth that which ne'er can be,
Nor saith: ‘The willow-bough will bring forth fruit.’
When at his ease from travail and from ill
He recketh of the future, wherefore when
Time bringeth hardship on him he will prove
Beforehand and not slack in enterprise.
His wrath is kindled with the innocent,
His treasure opened to the unworthy man
Without return of meed or recompense,
While, thirdly, he is an ingrate to God,
And is not wise and cognizant of good,
But, fourthly, talketh loudly of himself
To every one and, fifthly, is involved
In pain and loss through his own feckless words;
He trusteth, sixthly, to untrusty folk,
Expecting thorns to bear him painted silk,
And, lastly, uttereth lies in argument,
Endeavouring to shine by impudence.
Know this, O thou exalted sovereign!
That no man getteth aught but harm from ill.
When any one is mute in company
That silence is melodious to the heart.
By hearing some one wise and eloquent
Thou wilt get provand for thy body, counsel
And prudence for thy heart. Forget not thou
Such words because they crown the throne of knowledge.
If thou wouldst bring that knowledge into bearing
Release thy jewel from its case by speech,
And if thou wouldst extend thy fame draw forth
Thy tongue as 'twere a falchion from its sheath;
But if thou holdest session with the unwise298
The under then will have the upper hand.
By knowledge are the soul and heart illumed;
See thou go not about to compass lies.
When one of eloquence is holding forth
Abide his words, be not impatient;
Thou mayst get wisdom from his utterances,
And afterwards repeat what thou hast heard.
Use not thy wisdom as a means of gain
Though not to do so may result in hardship.
With heart and tongue in an accord of right
The door of loss is barred on every side.
Oh! may the heart of Núshírwán, the Sháh,
Be open to instruction evermore.”
An archimage of subtle intellect
Then asked: “What are the good and seemly things
That give a man a lustre in the world,
And quittance from the troubles of the time?”
He answered thus: “Whoe'er attaineth wisdom
Will gain thereby the fruitage of both worlds.”
“But if he hath not wisdom,” said the archmage,
“Since wisdom is God's radiant robe of honour?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “Then knowledge is the best,
The learned is mighty midst the men of might.”
“But if,” the archmage said, “he hath not sought
That stream and never bathed his soul therein?”
Thus Búzurjmihr replied: “The warrior
Must count his body as a worthless thing,
And if he striveth in the day of battle,
And layeth foemen's heads upon the dust,
He will be cherished in the great king's heart,
For ever happy and in good command.”
Nor seeketh after knowledge, law, and Faith?”
Then Búzurjmihr replied: “'Twere well that death
Should set the helm of darkness on his head.”
Another asked: “How shall we act that all
Of us may eat the fruitage of the tree
Set by the sage within the garth of spring,
And walk moreover underneath its shade?”
Said Búzurjmihr: “The man that barreth up
His tongue from evil vexeth not his soul,
And rendeth not in talk another's skin.
He will be likewise friends with all the folk,
All troubles will be smoothed away for him,
And enemy and friend will be as one.”
Another asked him, saying: “Are the men
That shun the way of failure great or good?”
Thus Búzurjmihr replied: “An evil deed
Is like a tree that beareth evil fruit.
Thus if a man speak gently with his tongue
But little harshness will befall his ear,
For know it is the tongue that troubleth men;
So if thou wouldst be easy weigh thy words.
The man of few words and a loyal subject
Hath only one fit post—before the throne.
Moreover he escapeth ills not come,
As bird or beast escapeth from the net,
While furthermore he triumpheth o'er evil,
Is self-controlled and wise exceedingly.
He leaveth well alone and troubleth not
The inoffensive, letteth no good 'scape him,
And counteth not upon the days to come.
He shunneth foe with more than quarry's speed,
And cleaveth unto friend like shaft and feather.
For any pleasure that will end in grief
The man of wisdom hath but little yearning.
Put ease and indolence afar from thee,
Take pains and make a feast of toil; without it
Thou wilt win not addition in the world;
There is no treasure for the indolent.300
May this world live in Núshírwán, be he
Its world-lord ever and his fortune young.”
They held discourse at large upon this theme:
The hearts of those grown drowsy were awakened.
The archimages, magnates, and shrewd sages
Blessed Búzurjmihr and gave the Sháh great praise,
Then went rejoicing on their several ways.
Two se'nnights passed away and then the Sháh
Relinquished public business for a day,
And bade the archimages and great men
Assemble at the palace with the sages.
About wrath, peace, the intellect, and justice,
About the sovereignty, the crown, and power,
And how good fortune doth begin and end.
He questioned those archimages and inquired
Concerning that which pleased him. When the others
Had spoken as their knowledge was, but failed
To gratify the Sháh, he next addressed
Himself to Búzurjmihr and said: “Bring forth
The splendid jewel from its hiding-place.”
Then Búzurjmihr gave praises, saying thus:—
“O Sháh most loving and serene of heart!
Know that in all the world no king like thee
For justice, understanding, crown, and throne,
For Grace and mien, for counsel and for fortune,
Hath set the diadem upon his head.
The king that exerciseth self-control
Will be at rest from vengeance and from war
Because to shun unwarrantable deeds
Is better than to get a sorry heart.
How goodly is the saying of the sage:—
‘Self-discipline is goodly in a king.’
In seasons of dispute he feareth God,
Inclineth not to vengeance and to prowess,
And maketh wisdom ruler of his passions
When he is choleric. A monarch's thoughts
Should not displease the Master of the world
Through whom he doth discern 'twixt good and
evil,
And seeketh Paradise as virtue's meed.
A tongue truth-speaking and a reverent heart
Will be his glory in the world for aye,
While every one that is his counsellor
Will be a man of weight among the people,
Be eloquent, serene of heart, and just,
And give to small and great alike their due
According to the measure of their states.
The man that is the servant of the Sháh
Should not be damnified on that account,
And while a monarch holdeth sages dear
His crown will be exalted; but if he
Shall take the counsel of the ignorant
He will bring down his crown's head underfoot,
For knowledge frighteneth the fool away,
Who in his ignorance is combative.
The world-lord, whose informants are all wise,
Aware of what is going on at court,
And able thus to foil the malcontent,
Will be still glorious. None must sleep aggrieved
Lest ill befall the Sháh from that mishap,
Who should ban him deserving chastisement,
The misbegotten and the ill-disposed,
Lest such should trouble those that are offenceless.
All captives in the prisons of the Sháh,
The guilty and the innocent alike,
Should be enlarged by the decree of God,
Who thus directed in the Zandavasta.
The face of earth should be relieved of him,
For while his evil day continueth
He will bring ruin on the homes of men.
The world-lord must rejoice in faith and right
So long as he is in the world as Sháh.
'Tis his to cleanse it from the wicked Dív
In public and in private by the sword.
The king that ruleth his troops well will be
Untroubled by the griefs of suppliants.
When thou art wary of thy foes in counsel
Thine evil-wishers will lose heart. Man all
The breaches of the realm ere war betide.
Whenas the Sháh is blamed for anything
Reproach too falleth on the crown and throne,
Through grief the wish is to be quit of him,
And to make wisdom testify thereto.
Let grow the love thou bearest to thy son,
Who is as 'twere the reflex of thy face
In water. Teach him wisdom and good sense,
And seek but to illuminate his soul.
Unlock for him the portal of thy treasures;
He must have no cause to bewail himself,
And when he putteth forth his hand to wrong
There is no need to break the prince's heart.
Recall him to the way with gentleness,
And keep a hold upon him from the first.
If in his heart thou find hostility
It is an ill weed; pluck it from his plot,
For if it bideth 'twill grow strong and fill
The garden of the sovereignty with tares;
But when the atheling hath Grace and sense
He must not hear the words of evil speakers;
Still when the hand can reach the miscreants
Haste not to bloodshed save at God's command.
Destruction cometh on the royal crown
Through rascal-ministers and wicked wives.
Give fools a hearing, but when they propose
An unjust action do not thou consent.
'Tis needful to fulfil all righteousness,
And clear thine own heart of perversity.
The sole adornment for the mighty Sháh
Is right, for 'tis the Dív that causeth wrong.
Now when the Sháh shall hearken to these words
He in his heart will witness unto wisdom,
The crown will call down blessings on the king,
The throne of empire be confirmed to him,
Both will rejoice in him, his foes despair
Of fortune; while this restless sky revolveth
His good name will be his memorial.
Now may the accomplished soul of Núshírwán
Be young while day endureth.”
At his words
The assembly was amazed, compared with them
The counsels of the wise seemed lustreless.
When Núshírwán had listened to this speech
His greatness greatened great although it was.
He filled the speaker's mouth with lustrous pearls.
Then from the palace with their lips all praise
The company departed on their ways.
Thus seven days passed away. Upon the eighth,
Whenas the world-illuming sun blazed forth,
Put off its robe of lapis-lazuli,
And decked the world with golden-hued brocade,
The king of kings sat with the archimages,
The veterans, and officers of state—
Ardshír, the high priest and the chief of nobles,
Shápúr and Yazdagird, the scribe, the men
Of science and the readers of the stars,
The wise, the enlightened, and the eloquent.
The youthful Búzurjmihr, the orator,
Came to the presence of Sháh Núshírwán,
And did obeisance to his sovereign,
Who joyed at him and thus addressed the sages:—
“Who wotteth aught whereby the Faith of God
May be confirmed, the royal throne kept scathless?”
Thereat the high priest loosed his tongue amid
The chiefs and said: “The justice of the Sháh
Will cause his Grace, his crown, and throne to shine,
And when it openeth his treasury-door
His high renown will last when he is dead.
Moreover he should purge his tongue of lies,
And seek not lustre in the world by guile.
Next he will be both just and merciful,
And make his throne the glory of the age.
Then too the head of the illustrious Sháh
Should be not wrathful with an erring liege,
And, fifthly, he will speak so that his fame
In this world never will grow obsolete;
He will speak truth in all things small and great,
And never derogate in any thing.
He will esteem withal as his own fortune
The servant of his throne. If wise in words
His speech will be convincing, and his heart
Ne'er satiate of learning and consuming
His brains with thought. All men are set at large
By wisdom and have little cause to wail
At fortune. Wisdom nourisheth the souls
Of sages, wisdom pointeth out the way
To those that seek. Tear not thy heart, O Sháh!
From wisdom's path, for wisdom fostereth
Fame and a noble end. Base and a fool
Is he that ever said: ‘I am the man,
Because there is no peer to me in knowledge.’”
“O wise and wisdom-loving Sháh! in Sháhs
It is a thing unseemly to shed blood,
Or suffer trifles to disturb the heart.
Moreover when the king is light of wit
He putteth hand to matters thoughtlessly,
While, further, he is hasty with the wise,
And all the more so through his ignorance.
When lust for vengeance hath possessed his heart
The Dív is the associate of his soul;
So too a judge's words, if he be hasty,
Lead not to fair results. The warrior,
Moreover, that is fearful of his life
In battle-time, not of disgrace, and he
Whose heart, though he be rich, is mean and narrow,
Were better hidden underneath the ground.
Authority becometh not a beggar,
Since he himself becometh not high rank.
A guileful elder is a hateful thing,
And after death his soul will be in fire.
When any youth is slack in business
The heart of fortune will grow sick of him,
Disease will make him prematurely old,
And may his vigour and his spirit cease.”
When Búzurjmihr had heard these goodly words,
And had adorned his brain with wisdom's lore,
He said: “O Sháh whose face is like the sun's!
May shining heaven be at thy dispose.
Know this: that men of wisdom will sustain
Their souls with knowledge since the hearts of stones
And mountains sorrow o'er the ignorant,
For none respecteth him. He knoweth not
End from beginning, fame from infamy.
The common folk, still more the wisdom-seekers,
Despise the doings of such men as these—
The lying judge unhonoured by the sage;
The general who guardeth well his treasure,
And is abandoned by his toil-worn troops;
The sage that feareth not to do amiss
If he can have enjoyment therewithal:
The leech that aileth; how can he cure others?
The mendicant that braggeth of his wealth
While that whereof he talketh is but naught;
A Sháh who letteth not his people rest,
Or sleep at night, disquieting their hearts,
And yet when favouring breezes blow on thee
Assumeth all the merit for himself;
A choleric sage who eyeth others' goods,
And lastly he that counselleth a fool,
Or giveth the indolent authority.
They that lack wisdom and acquire it not
Will have occasion to repent their words.
The heart of any man, my gracious lord!
That hath not wisdom wrestleth with desire
Or maketh provand of a bed of reeds.
Long live the heart of Núshírwán, may he
Have this world's chiefs his servitors to be.”
The Sháh allowed another week to pass,
Then issued orders to prepare the court,
Came and assumed his seat upon the throne
Of gold, with armlets, crown, and golden girdle.
On one hand was the archmage that was vizír,
And on the other Yazdagird the scribe,
While round him were the other archimages,
The chiefs, and Búzurjmihr the eloquent,
To whom the Sháh: “Why keep the jewels hidden—
Those words which are a profit to the soul,
And make the unprized man of high estate?
The speaker's treasure is not minished,
While 'tis a pleasure to the listener.”
Thus spake the archimage to Búzurjmihr:—
“O thou more famous than the turning sky!
Know'st thou the thing whose more will harm, whose
less
Will strengthen thee?”
He thus made answer, saying:—
“By eating less thou wilt be easier
In body and withal feed up thy soul,
But by too much well-doing wilt advance
Thy rival.”
Then said Yazdagird, the scribe:—
“O man of eloquence and heedful mind!
What are the heart's three308
secret blemishes
Which men retain although they need them not?”
He answered: “In the first place thou must purge
Thy heart of all censoriousness, for none
In this world publicly or privily
Is free from fault. A chieftain, jealous of thee,
Will weep308a
on growing thine inferior,
While, thirdly, he that is a slanderer—
The man of double face—endeavoureth
To raise dust e'en from water.”308b
Then the archmage
Inquired: “O thou that art supreme in knowledge!
None in this world is franchised from desire,
Which may be hidden or exposed to all.
Supposing ways to gratify it open,
So that 'tis manifestly in one's power,
In my case which way will advantage me,
And which result in travail, pain, and loss?”
He answered thus and said: “The ways are twain,
And thou canst journey either at thy choice.
The other that of wisdom and well-doing,309
And therein wisdom is the guide for thee—
A fact that is beyond all questioning.
God's robe of honour is upon the sage;
Observe what man is worthy of that gift.
No one will purchase one of giant strength
Devoid of wisdom. In defect thereof
It is not well to live, for God is witness
That wisdom is the very life of life.
The man that hath acquired a base of knowledge
Is fitted for the warfare and the struggle.
First, let thy knowledge make thee turn to God,
Who is and who will be for evermore.
By faith in Him thou hast thy heart's desire,
And hast attained the goal whereto thou spedest.
Another point of knowledge is that thou
Shouldst use discretion in the choice of food.
Strive after purity in food and raiment,
And thus uphold the ordinance of God.
When thou hast need to earn thy daily bread
Run not to misers for their help and treasure,
But let thy choice be of some business
Whose reputation will not sink repute.
Make to thyself a friend of some great man,
Who can assist thee when thou art in straits.
Be silent when thou art in company
If thou wouldst win the praise of every one,
But if thou speak'st speak that which hast learned,
And branded on thy liver. Weigh thy words,
Not the dínárs within thy treasury,
For to a wise man treasures are but vile.
When thou art speaking let thy tongue be shrewd,
Make it thy shaft and let thy bow be wisdom.
Be not imprudent when a fight is toward,
But guard thy body from the enemy,
And when he hath arrayed the host against thee
Be prudent and preserve thy self-control.
When thou beholdest thine antagonist
Thy face must pale not. Thou wilt be victorious
If thou art prompt, but slackness will undo thee.
Be wary as thou urgest on thy steed,
And watch the weapons of thine opposite.
If he is eager do not turn away,
And choose thee prudent fellow-combatants;
But strive not and have sense to quit the fight
On finding that thou art no match for him.
Thus tender too thy body when thou eatest;
Food should not harm thee; eating much will do it,
While taking little will increase thy strength.
Make not thyself a carfax at thy meals,
But always leave off with an appetite.
Use wine but use it for refreshment only,
For drunkards hear no praise from any one.
The world will be a head and thou the eye.
Let all thy converse be of the Creator
With adoration for the base thereof.
Profoundly watch the occasion when to act,
And when to take repose by night and day.
Select the mean in every enterprise,
In making peace as well as waging war.
All wind and water blent with dust art thou;
Forget not thou the way of holy God.
Think more about thy worship than thy meals;
Be still a novice though the law is old;
Incline to good; acknowledge benefits;
Attribute all to Him who made the world;
Prefer not lust to wisdom and advice,
Or wisdom will regard thee not thenceforth;
Go not about to compass wickedness,
But being wise adorn thyself with virtues.
He that is good in public and in private
Is most to be commended in the world.
Teach to thy son the business of the scribe
That he may be as life to thee and thine,
And as thou wouldest have thy toils bear fruit
Grudge not instructors to him, for this art
Will bring a youth before the throne and make
The undeserving fortune's favourite.
Of all professions 'tis the most esteemed,
Exalting even those of lowly birth.
A ready scribe who is a man of rede
Is bound to sit e'en in the royal presence,
And, if he be a man of diligence,
Will have uncounted treasure from the Sháh,
While if endowed with fluency and style
He will be studious to improve himself,
Use his endeavours to be more concise,
And put his matter more attractively.
The scribe hath need to be a man of wisdom,
Of much endurance and good memory,
A man of tact, accustomed to court-ways,
A holy man whose tongue is mute for evil,
A man of knowledge, patience, truthfulness,
A man right trusty, pious, and well-favoured.
If thus endowed he cometh to the Sháh
He cannot choose but sit before the throne.”
Whenas the king had listened to these words
His heart grew fresh as roses in the spring,
And he addressed the high priest thus: “Go to,
Give Búzurjmihr advancement. Claim for him
A robe of honour fitted for his state,
And money: he hath made our hearts clate.”
A se'nnight passed, the Sun lit up his crown,
And came and sat upon the ivory throne,
Together with the high priest, the grandees,
The world-aspiring and shrewd-hearted sages,
And as their leader the astute Bahman.
Then spake the Sháh to Búzurjmihr and said:—
“Adorn our hearts and show to us the way.
Speak truth about me as thou knowest it,
And seek not this world's honours by deceit.
How should men give obedience to my hest,
Observe my counsels, and act loyally?
Speak at thine ease and speak without reserve:
Dress not plain words with colour and with scent.”
Thus Búzurjmihr, the shrewd, said to the Sháh:—
“O more exalted than the azure vault!
The service of the monarch of the earth
Is, saith the sage, the path-way of the Faith.
The orders of the Sháh brook no delay,
Because the Shah's heart never must be straitened,
And every one that is his enemy
Is in his soul the liege of Áhriman.
The heart that loveth not the monarch's person
Should forfeit brain and skin. Know that the Sháh
Is the world's peace, and when thou dost aright
He will advance thee. Both for good and ill
The power is his, he taketh not revenge,
And injureth none. Wish not his son to fill
His room but hold his dear face as thy life.
Want never findeth entrance to the soil
Of states whose monarch is their well-beloved.
His Grace will fend thee from all ill, for why
His fortunes nurse all virtue. When a king
Hath God's Grace on his face the world's heart laugheth
For joy. As thou partakest of his favours
Strive ever to give ear to his commands.
If thou shalt grow disloyal, e'en in thought,
That moment fortune will abandon thee.
If he associate with thee be not proud,
And if he banish thee revile him not.
Mark that a subject toiling for his king
Will in the toil find treasure and renown.
He that shall praise the monarch is of God,
And he that is of God will praise the monarch.
The liege must neither weary of his work,
Nor yet be slack in fight, must keep concealed
The counsel of the Sháh and tell it not
To sun and moon. One that is slack to do
The Sháh's commands doth outrage to himself.
Accurséd are the blossoms of the tree
That scattereth naught but leaves o'er crown and
throne.
Calumniate not his lieges to the Sháh,
Or thou wilt minish thine esteem with him:
Great liars get small lustre in kings' eyes.
Let no one utter in the royal presence
Words that are not conformable with wisdom;
But, if the Sháh shall ask thee, speak, not losing
Thy credit with him by loquacity,
Than ears can hear in public and in private.
He whom the monarch of the world misprizeth,
That soul will be in pain for evermore,
While he will be in high esteem on whom
The Sháh's lips smile. If he shall show thee favour
Hug not thyself, old servant though thou be,
For, though thy service may have lasted long,
Know that thou art not indispensable,
And if he favoureth another man
'Tis doubtless one as loyal as thyself.
If he shall be displeased with thee in aught
Make thine excuses ere thou drawest breath,
And if thou wottest naught of thine offence
Lay bare thy heart in presence of the Sháh,
While if thou hast a grievance in thy heart
Break it but show not unto him thy face,
Lest by God's Grace he should discern thy secret,
Discern thy heart perverse and clouded mind.
Thereafter thou wilt get no good of him,
Not hearken to his accents warm with love.
Account the Sháh's court as a sea where lieges
Are sailors, and accomplishments are vessels
With words for anchors and with wits for sails.
A wise man, who is voyaging o'er that sea,
Will make his sails robust because they are
A source of strength and shelter to himself.
The accomplished man, whose wisdom is to seek,
Should tread not on the portal of the Sháh.
Although the Sháh should be a mount of fire
Still would his servants find existence good,
For if such fire burn at the time of wrath
It will but shine the more when gratified.
The Sháh at whiles is milk and honey, whiles
A biting bane. His acts are like the sea;
The moon is bright in heaven at his behest.
One getteth from the sea a pinch of sand,
Another hath the pearl within the shell.
Be all the world alive in Núshírwán,
And circling heaven aye subject to his will,
For he doth head the monarchs of the world,
And ornament the empire with all good.”
To Búzurjmihr's oration Núshírwán
Gave heed, heart-joyed to look on him. The king
Was wont to give his largess on this wise:
If he said “Good!” the largess was four purses,
But whensoe'er he said: “Good! very good!”
The gift amounted in that case to forty,
And when the treasurer reckoned with the Sháh
Each purse was taken at ten thousand drachms.315
The king of kings had said: “Good! very good!”
A speech equivalent to all that coin.
The treasurer brought with visage sunny-clear
The purses full of drachms to Búzurjmihr.
The poet tells how Mahbúd, sometime chief minister of Núshírwán and a virtuous and blameless man, was done to death by the machinations of Zúrán, the chamberlain, and of a Jewish sorcerer, how too late Núshírwán discovered the plot, put the chamberlain and the Jew to death, and made all the amends in his power. The poet then tells how the presents sent by the Khán of Chín to Núshírwán were plundered on the way by the Haitálians, of the wars that followed and how Núshírwán married the daughter of the Khán. Firdausí then discourses of the justice of Núshírwán, of the happiness and prosperity of the world under his administration, and of the tribute paid to him by Cæsar and other potentates. The Part ends with a discourse of Búzurjmihr's on good words and good deeds.
§§ 1 and 2. Sháh Kubád had left several sons, of whom Núshírwán was not the eldest, but he was the heir to the throne by his father's appointment, who appears also to have made some arrangement for his recognition as such with the Emperor Justin, or at all events to have suggested it. On Kubád's death his eldest son, Káús, claimed the throne, but the prime minister Mahbúd (Mebodes) was in a position to indicate what Kubád's wishes on the subject had been, and Núshírwán became Sháh. Another brother of his, however, Jam by name, was very popular but disqualified for the throne by a personal defect. In these circumstances a conspiracy was formed to overthrow Núshírwán and make Jam's son, Kubád, Sháh with Jam himself as regent, Kubád being still a child. The conspiracy, which had much influential support, was discovered, and a clean sweep—the usual course in such cases—made of the conspirators and all their male relations with the exception of Kubád, who ultimately escaped to Constantinople and was well received by the Emperor Justinian. There is no account of the conspiracy in the Sháhnáma, but it has been mentioned here because the poisoning incident and the drastic vengeance that followed may have been transferred from it to the story of the fall of Mahbúd as given in the poem. The Western account of the fall of Mahbúd is entirely different.317
§ 1. Milk, which “turns” so easily, especially in a hot climate, would be regarded as more sensitive to evil influences than other foods. Cf. Burton's Supplemental Nights, vol iv. p. 243 and note.
§ 2. In view of Núshírwán's tardy repentance and his reparation to the kindred of Mahbúd it is interesting to find a Mebodes in high command in the Persian army in A.D. 578.317a
§ 3. The account of the building of Súrsán is a doublet of that of Zíb-i-Khusrau.317b
§§ 4-11. At this point the Turks come historically upon the scene under the leadership of their Khán, whom Tabarí calls Sinjibú. In A.D. 569 or 570 they threatened to invade Írán, and Núshírwán sent his son Hurmuzd against them. As Hurmuzd was the son of the daughter of the Khán it is evident that the alliance between Sinjibú and Núshírwán must have been entered into at a considerably earlier period. The object of the alliance was to crush the Haitálians, and this was done. Núshírwán occupied their territory up to the Oxus—the old traditional boundary of Írán—while the Khán annexed all to the north of that river, but, according to Persian accounts, withdrew on the approach of Hurmuzd. Firdausí does not mention Núshírwán's wars with the Haitálians, and represents them as being the aggressors. No doubt they would do their best to prevent friendly relations between their two formidable neighbours. Later on the Khán, as Tabarí tells us, hearing from the vanquished Haitálians that Írán had been tributary to them, wished to assert his claim to a similar payment and marched southwards, as mentioned above, with that object. He found, however, the frontier of Írán too well guarded and soon withdrew.317c
§ 11. For the so-called tribute paid by Rúm to Írán see p. 187, and for the temple of Ázargashasp, p. 5.
§ 13. See p. 278. The formula of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds plays an important part in Zoroastrianism. One of the most beautiful passages in the Zandavasta, Yasht XXII,317d
deals with the subject and may be paraphrased briefly and metrically thus:—
Once Zoroaster asked, so Text and Comment saith,
“How fares the good man's soul when he has tasted death?”
And this was Heaven's reply: “The soul still sits anigh
Its tenement of clay for thrice a day and night,
And chants the sacred hymns in uttermost delight.
It sings: ‘Oh! happy he, the man whoe'er he be,
To whom the Great God grants all that he longed to see!’
And after that third night, at breaking of the dawn,
Mid lovely plants and scents that good man's soul is borne,
And from the South will come a perfume-laden air,
The sweetest breath e'er breathed; and then white-armed and
fair,
Bright, beautiful, and young, a Maid will meet him there;
Whereat the good man's soul will question: ‘Who art thou,
For never have I looked on loveliness till now?’
And she will make reply: ‘Thy Conscience, youth! am I.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds, have made me thus
to be,
And they were all thine own, and I grew thus through
thee.’”
The story of Mahbúd, the minister.
Cease not from learning for a moment's spell,
And let not knowledge cause thy heart to err.
When thou shalt say: “My lust for wisdom I
Have satisfied and learned all needful lore,”
Fate playeth off some pretty trickery,
And putteth thee to discipline once more.
Now hearken to a rustic minstrel's lay,
Ta'en from the legends of a time long sped;319
I questioned him of ages past away,
And this is what of Núshírwán he said:—
He had an upright minister, a man
Of vigilance, who was his treasurer,
Whose heart was full of wisdom and whose rede
Was right, whose sole ambition was fair fame.
This man so well disposed was named Mahbúd:
His soul and heart were full of good discourse.
He had two sons like jocund spring who served
Continually before the king, for he,
What time he was about to mutter prayer,
Or use the archimages' sacred twigs,319a
Ate only what Mahbúd himself provided,
And trusted those two sons. He used to have
His kitchen in Mahbúd's house and demeaned
Himself as guest, and that good, famed man's sons
Themselves brought in the great king's meal. The
nobles
Were wont to weep for envy of Mahbúd
At court. There was a magnate, one Zúrán,
Whose aspirations all were centred there.
He was an old man and Sháh's chamberlain,
Conspicuous at feasts and audiences;
In envy of Mahbúd and his two sons.
'Twas his endeavour to incense the Sháh
Against the doings of that holy man,
Yet failed to find an opening for slander
To set the monarch's mind against Mahbúd;
But how should he—that man of wisdom—know
That he possessed an enemy at court
Since never had he cause to pale one whit
For all the words and practice of that knave?
A Jew, it happened, borrowed of Zúrán
One day some money to employ in trade.
He came and went, his influence grew, and he
Became that gloomy soul's associate.
Thus, as familiar with the chamberlain,
He came to be at home about the court,
And there one day conversed in confidence
Of spells, of court, the monarch of the world,
Of magic, necromancy, and black arts,
Of crookéd practices and villainy.
Zúrán, attending to the Jew's discourse,
And hearing of the secrets of his craft,
Told his own secret to the Jew, and said:—
“Discourse not of it save with me alone.320
Thou must perform a deed of sorcery,
And give the age its riddance of Mahbúd,
Because he hath attained to such high state
That he will dominate the age itself.
He careth not for any. Thou wouldst say,
To put it shortly: ‘He is Núshírwán.’
Now he—the world-lord—will not take of food
Save only at the hands of this man's sons,
Who hath become so great through royal favour
That heaven kisseth evermore his skirt.”
The Jew replied: “This cause need not increase
Thy grief. What time the Sháh and world-lord taketh
The sacred twigs mark well what meats are served,
And see if there be any milk therein.
Meet thou the serving-man and sniff the meats;
'Twill serve if I but see the milk from far.
Then thou shalt see Mahbúd and his two sons
No more alive. Though he be brass or stone
That eateth he will perish instantly.”
Zúrán attended to these words. His heart
Was freshened as he gazed upon the Jew;
Whene'er he went to court the Jew went likewise;
They had their secrets, joys, and feasts in common.
A season passed with matters in this stay:
The court was haunted by that evil teacher,
That court whereto each dawn Mahbúd's two sons
Were wont to turn their steps so joyfully.
Behind the curtains of their noble father
There was a pious dame and well advised,
Who, when Sháh Núshírwán desired some food,
Was wont to spread a golden tray for him,
The whole was covered with a golden napkin,
And used to come before the exalted Sháh,
Served by the two sons of the good Mahbúd.
The food consisted of rose-water, milk,
And honey. Núshírwán would eat and sleep.
One day it happened that the two young men
Were going with the tray to Núshírwán;
It was conveyed upon a servant's head
To whom 'twas usual to entrust the food.
Zúrán, the chamberlain, beheld the tray
When coming to the palace of the Sháh,
And with a smile addressed the two youths thus:—
“Ye trusty lieges of Sháh Núshírwán!
Reveal for once the colour of these meats—
The Sháh's repast—because they savour well:
Withdraw the silken cover just this once.”
The young men readily displayed the food.
Zúrán, who kept his distance, gazed thereon,
And in like manner did the Jew, who came,
When he had marked the colour of the meats,
And said thus to the chamberlain: “The tree
That thou hast planted cometh into fruit.”
The two young men, both wise and vigilant,
Then carried in the tray to Núshírwán,
While after them Zúrán came quick as dust,
And thus addressed the Sháh, that noble man:—
“O Sháh, the just, the favoured by the stars!
Touch not these meats till they be tasted first.322
The cook hath mingled poison with the milk,
And may thine enemies partake thereof.”
Sháh Núrshírwán, on hearing, turned his gaze
On those two youths whose mother was the cook—
A prudent dame affectioned of her kin.
They in their innocence and rectitude
Rolled up their sleeves. Howbeit when they ate
Some of that milk and honey thou hadst said:—
“Both have been stricken by an arrow.” Both
Swooned on the spot and died there in the presence
Of Núshírwán! The monarch of the world
Beheld, his cheeks like flower of fenugreek,
And gave commandment: “Let them raise in dust
The mansion of Mahbúd, respecting none,
Upon that dust let them cut off his head,
And may he and his cook both cease to be.”
None in the palace of Mahbúd, and few
Among his kindred in the world, survived.
The Sháh gave all his goods, his women, children,
And hoarded wealth, to spoil. In that affair
Zúrán attained his wish, since Núshírwán
In high esteem who cloudward raised his head.
Heaven turned awhile with matters in this stay
While from the Sháh right hid its face away.
The Sháh, the world-lord, purposed, as it chanced,
To hunt the wolf and bade that many a steed,
Used in the chase, should pass before his eyes,
Scanned them, and saw the brand-mark of Mahbúd.
His cheeks flamed at those Arab horses, love
Still had a place within him, and he burned.
He wept for pain and with heart sorely seared
Recalled to mind Mahbúd, and thus he said:—
“How much the wicked Dív made to transgress
That man of counsel and of high degree!
With that devotion and that rectitude
Why did his spirit seek the path of loss?323
The Master of the world alone can tell
The hidden truth beneath the outward show.”
He thence departed to the hunting-ground,
Seared at his heart and followed by his men.
Upon the route he talked with all and cheered
His heart with words. He took full many a minstrel,
And with their fascinations docked the way.
Now as the Sháh's chief minister and scribes
Were journeying with Zúrán in company
Their converse ran on spells and magic arts,
On witchcraft and pernicious Áhriman.
The king said to the archmages: “Trouble not
Your hearts concerning sorcery, but let
Your talk be all of God and of the Faith;
Look not for marvels in black arts and magic.”
Zúrán said: “Live for ever, and may wisdom
Feed on thy words. All that they say of witchcraft
Is true, though this is known but to adepts.
If food have milk therein they by a look
Can from a distance turn it into bane.”
On hearing this a bygone time recurred
To Núshírwán. He thought upon Mahbúd,
And those two sons of his, and deeply sighed.
He looked upon Zúrán but held his peace,
And quickly urged his prancing charger on.
His mind was in a fume with thought because
Zúrán had been the foeman of Mahbúd.
Had done upon the day whereon I slew
Mahbúd, and that great house was overthrown.
Would that almighty God would make all plain,
And give my heart and brain tranquillity,
Because I spy this fellow's marks hereon,
And am fulfilled with sorrow for the past.”
He journeyed on with sad and aching heart,
With lowering visage and with tearful eyes,
And, having reached the ending of the stage,
Set up his camp-enclosure by a stream.
Now when Zúrán had reached the tent they cleared
The place of strangers and the converse ran
Upon the means of witching milk and honey.
“It is my favourite subject,” said Zúrán.
The Sháh then questioned him about Mahbúd,
And by what means his sons were done to death,
And heard the quaver in Zúrán's reply.
His crime became apparent. Núshírwán
Addressed him, saying: “Tell to me the truth,
Conceal it not and act not knavishly,
For knavery but causeth evil deeds,
And evil comrades will corrupt good hearts.”
Zúrán told all the truth, revealed the secret,
Threw all the blame upon the Jew, and made
As though he were possessed by grief and anguish.
The great king, having listened, fettered him,
And sent to that enchanter of a Jew,
As swift as smoke, a rider with two steeds.
Whenas the Jew had reached the lofty court
The exalted monarch questioned him with mildness,
And said: “Inform me how the matter went,
And lie not to me touching this affair.”
The Jew asked for protection from the world-lord
If he revealed the mystery of black art,
And then told what Zúrán had said with all
The matter of their secret conference.
The world-lord heard with wonder and convoked
The marchlords, potentates, and archimages,
And in their presence for the second time
Investigated every circumstance.
The evil-minded Jew told everything
Till naught was hidden from the chiefs. The Sháh
Then bade the deathsman rear two lofty gibbets,
From each whereof a twisted lasso hung,
Before the palace-portal in the presence
Of all the host. The executioner
Haled to the gibbets and suspended there
Zúrán on one, the Jew upon the other,
In savage wise. 'Neath showers of stones and arrows
They gave their heads up for bewitching milk.
Tread not the world for evil, for it will,
Past doubt, befall the practiser of ill.
If so he might find one that had escaped,
And found one damsel of unsullied name,
And three men eminent and excellent.
To these he gave all that Zúrán possessed,
As well as all the fortune of the Jew.
His soul kept burning on Mahbúd's account,
And in the night he wept till it was day,
Would pray to God for pardon and pour forth
His heart's blood on his bosom. He bestowed
Much largess on the mendicants and made
His tongue moreover prayerful unto God
That He might pardon what was done amiss,
And call him not tyrannic and unjust.
The worshipper of God, the pure of heart,
Will in no evil doings bear a part,
For though ill actions are not hard to do,
Yet in the end the heart is sure to rue.
Although thy heart shall be a flinty stone,
Yet in the end its secret will be known,
And low soever as thy voice may be
Time also will reveal the mystery,
While, even if the world shall not regard,
Good done in secret is its own reward.
If thou art innocent and pure of rede
A portion in both worlds will be thy meed.
The matter of Zúrán and of the Jew
Is done, to wisdom now thy praise is due.
Just though thou art here is no tarrying;
Thy fame will be thy memory, O king!
The unjust sovereign, when all is done,
Will have but sepulchre and malison,
But if in heart thou dealest righteously
Know that the world hath gained new grace by thee;
So if, O chief! thou wilt have praise in death
Let wisdom be thy leaf that flourisheth.
Thus, through my words, though Núshírwán is dead,
His justice hath achieved fresh lustihead.
As soon as all the world acknowledged him
He used his greatness only to win praise,
Both great and small reposed in peace while wolf
And sheep were watered at one fount. The mighty
Did service to him and were fain to have
His name upon their diadems, the neck
Had respite from the clasp of habergeon,
The warriors loosed their coats of mail, the shoulder
Had ease from sparth and sword, and naught was heard
But sounds of mirth. None strove against the world-lord,
The tribute and the taxes everywhere
The gear of chase and riding-ground. He sat
Within his palace arabesqued with gold,
And uttered counsel even in his cups.
He built a city on the road to Rúm
About two leagues in length. Within were mansions,
And halls and gardens, on one hand a river
And, on the other, heights. He built himself
A palace in the city with a hall
Of audience arabesqued with gold; the vaulting
Was all in gold and silver, with the gold
Inlaid with divers kinds of precious stones.
He built a cupola of ebony
And ivory with figures of the same
And teak. Artificers from Rúm and Hind,
Whoever was a master in his craft,
And had inherited his master's skill,327
With all the illustrious artists of Írán,
As well as from the province of Nímrúz,
He gathered in that city, for it was
At once a great seat and a place of trade.
The prisoners of war brought from Barbar,
From Rúm, and from the parts laid desolate,
He furnished with a dwelling-house apiece,
And made the city one of aliens.
The Sháh, the glory of the provinces,
Made of that city an attractive spot,
And, when complete, encircled it with hamlets.
The Sháh provided tracts of arable;
The soil was fruitful and the trees bore well.
He settled there the hostages from Lúch,
Gílán, and other ravaged provinces,
Assigning occupation to each man,
And gave to each a helper if alone.
He furnished artisans, field-labourers,
And men to measure and survey the land,
Along with traders and with devotees,
With men of station and with underlings.
He decked that city as 'twere Paradise;
The eye marked no unseemly spot therein.
He called the city by the name Súrsán,
For world-lords take delight in festivals.328
His only aim in public and in private
Was justice and the improvement of the world.
Since from the kingship time bare him away,
And made his crown another's to possess,
'Twill grant not thee an ever-during stay,
So purge thy heart of deeds of wickedness.
Know that this world is but a tricky show;
Man keepeth nothing be it high or low.
And since a fight is toward take thy mace.
Thus said the rustic bard, that noble one;
Keep thou in mind what thou shalt hear from him:—
Of all the chiefs possessed of Grace and justice,
Of men of war, of treasure, and high birth,
Omitting Nushírwán, there was not one
To match the Khán of Chín in all the world.
All people from that realm to the Jíhún
Paid homage to him as their sovereign.
That chief with troops, with treasure, and with crown,
Was camped on the Gulzaryún upon
The further side of Chách. Reports had spread,
Among the great men and throughout the world,
Of Núshírwán, his manhood, knowledge, Grace,
His greatness and imperial usages.
Then was it that the Khán, that prudent man,
Desired to win the friendship of the king.
He sat awhile with his own counsellors,
And all the men of name were gathered there.
In his desire for amity he sought
The counsel of the nobles and the priests,
Got ready presents that exceeded count—
All keepsakes worthy of a king's acceptance—
Of Rúman chargers and brocade of Chín,
Of thrones and crowns and swords and signet-rings;
He got him ready five-score camel-loads
Of sundry trinkets that the land produced,
And bade his treasurer provide as largess
A hundred thousand of dínárs of Chín.
He also brought and added to the present
Ten camel-loads of drachms out of his treasures.
He then chose out a man of eloquence
Among his chiefs—a wise and travelled man—
And called a scribe before him with command
To write a letter from the Khán of Chín
On silk, as was the custom of the country,
Profuse in courteous greetings to the Sháh.
The envoy's way lay through the Haitálians' land—
A route beset by shaft and battleax—
Before whose ruler stood a host whose lines
From Sughd extended down to the Jíhún.
That people's ruler hight Ghátkar the brave—
The most distinguished of their warriors—
Who when he heard of what the Khán had done,
And of his presents to the Íránian king,
Called from the host his veterans, discoursed
To them at large about the case, and said:—
The monarch of Írán and Khán of Chín
Negotiate and thus become good friends,
That friendship will hold menace for ourselves,
And this our state be wasted on two sides.
We needs must make a foray and deprive
The envoy of his life.”
He chose among
The troops a man of name, of rank, and prowess,
Such as befitted, gave up all that wealth,
The camels and the steeds caparisoned,
To plunder and cut off the envoy's head.
One horseman of those warriors of Chín
Escaped. Now when the tidings reached the Khán
His heart was filled with grief, his head with vengeance.
He marched an army from Káchár Báshí;
No chief was left in Chín or in Khutan.
He let no scion of Afrásiyáb,
Or of Arjásp, partake of rest and sleep.
They all marched forth to the Gulzaryún
With full hearts and with heads set on revenge.
The captain of the army of the Khán
Of Chín was Funj, who made dust reek to heaven.
At Chách the fury of the horsemen flushed
The waters of Gulzaryún rose-red.
Ghátkar heard of the doings of the Khán,
And chose an army from the Haitálians,
An army that obscured the sun, and called
For treasure, money, troops, and arms from Balkh,
Shaknán, Ámwí, the Zam, Khatlán, Tirmid,
And Wísagird; he gathered troops from all sides;
From mount and waste, from sands and places bare,
They seethed like ants and locusts. When the Khán
Had passed the mighty river with his host,
With drums and lusty elephants, he massed
His powers round Mái. and Margh; the sun became
As dusky as a falcon's plumes.331
Bukhárá
Was all fulfilled with mace and ax, for there
The ruler of the Haitálians was encamped.
Ghátkár had come forth with a mighty host,
And gathered all the native chiefs. The troops
Advanced from every quarter to the war,
And left the wind no way. What with the flashing
Of chieftains' swords and play of massive maces,
Thou wouldst have said: “Now iron hath a tongue,
And air a mace for its interpreter!”
A wind arose, rose too the army's dust,
And light departed from the sun and moon.
Men of Kashán and Sughd were gathered there.
Tears filled the eyes of all—men, women, children—
And whom the circling sun and moon would favour.
For one whole week those battle-loving hosts
Were opposites. On all sides lay the slain
In heaps, and dust and stones were cercis-like
With blood. So thick were spear, mace, sparth, and
sword
That thou hadst said: “The clouds are raining
stones!”
The sun evanished in the reek; dust filled
The eyes of eagles as they flew. It veered,
Upon the eighth day, 'gainst Ghátkar, the world
Was all bedarkened like night azure-dim,
The Haitálians were o'erthrown, irreparably
For years, the wounded seattered everywhere,
And all the march was full of slain and captives.
The living from their hearts invoked God's name,
And said to one another: “Ne'er have we
Seen such a stubborn fight. Good sooth! yon host
Is not of men; 'tis ill to look on them;
They have the faces of wild beasts and dívs,
And heed not right and wrong. Thou wouldst have
said:—
‘They know not what it is to flee away
From scimitar and spear, from mace and sword.’
They all have dragon-faces and could pierce
A mountain with their spears, they all have claws
Like pards and hearts insatiate of war
And strife, ne'er take the saddle off their steeds,
And think a battle naught. Their chargers batten
On thorns, their riders sleep not but are watchful;
They pass the nights in foray and attack,
And hazarding their persons in the flames.
They know not food or sleep. Would that the Dív
Would challenge them to fight! We cannot strive
Against the Khán, and we must seek Írán.
If now Ghátkar will carry out our wishes
He will submit to Núshírwán, surrender
The Haitálians' land to him, and think no more
Of mace and sparth; but if not we will choose
Some bold chief of the race of Khúshnawáz,
Some man acceptable to Núshírwán,
One that can make our state renew its youth,
To tell the Khán's proceedings to the Sháh.
The whole world praiseth Núshírwán, for he
Hath Grace, high bearing, destiny, and wisdom,
And wisdom is the cherisher of right.
He hath made Cæsar tributary. None
Can strive with Núshírwán.”
The Haitálians—
Men, women, children—were at one herein.
Aspiring, youthful, fortunate, and just—
A man of wisdom, Faghánísh by name,
Possessing troops and treasures of his own:
The chiefs and warriors333
called him to the throne.
Thereafter to the great king tidings came
About the Khán, who was a valiant chief,
The Haitálians and the warriors of that folk,
And how he had o'erthrown them in the fight;
Moreover of the monarch of Chaghán,
Just seated by new fortune on the throne,
How he had taken that imperial seat,
And, while the brave and glorious warriors
Stood, one and all, before his throne, was ever
Engaged in consultation with his magnates.
The monarch of the world sat full of care
At these his wary emissaries' words,
Then in his palace had a hall prepared
For session, and the warrior-lieges came
With the high priest Ardshír, with Yazdagird,
The scribe, and with Shápúr. These counsellors,
And sages, all held session at the throne
Of Núshírwán, who said: “Ye archimages
Experienced and ye ministers of state!
I have discomfortable news—accounts
At once unpleasant and injurious—
About the Haitálians and what the Khán
Of Chín and marchlords of Túrán have done.
Troops gathered past all count from Chách, from Chín,
Khutan and Turkistán. They bore their helms
And vengeful scimitars for one whole week,
And never once unsaddled. In the end
The Haitálians were discomfited and most
Were slain or wounded. With renown like theirs—
A folk whose world is mace and partisan—
'Tis wonderful that they were worsted thus:
Defend me from a foolish general!
Had but Ghátkar had prudence and good sense
The sky itself had routed not his host.
The Haitálians, since their land is thus distraught,
Have sought a man descended from Bahrám Gúr,
Have placed him on the throne as their new king,
And done obeisance to him, one and all.
The Khán is posted on this side of Chách
In all his pride with treasure, host, and crown;
And from Arjásp, and dreameth of Irán.
His triumph o'er the army of Ghátkar
Exalteth him in head above the sun.
It is not well for us that we should be
At one in such a story with the Khán.
Kashán, the land wherefrom this folk of Chín
Derive their strength, pertaineth to our realm.
Our subjects are oppressed by them and yield
To them their persons, boundaries, and treasure;
What are your views herein, and how shall we
Deal with the Turkmans and the Khán of Chín?”
The prudent magnates rose and made reply,
First praised the Sháh, and said: “O fortunate
And prescient Sháh! all the Haitàlian march
Is very Áhriman, the folk thereof
Are double-faced and hostile to our coast.
They merit any ill that they may get,
Although the Sháh is right to speak them fairly.
Had we no grievance, nothing to avenge
In their case save the blood of Sháh Pírúz,
That noble man whom suddenly they slew,
And such a king—the lustre of the world!
May they joy not one day, for right from wrong
Resulteth never. Such is God's requital:
Ill cometh on the heads of all ill-doers.
Now if the Sháh referreth to the Khán
As one vindictive with an ancient grudge,
It may be that he hath ill counsellors—
Some tearful scions of Afrásiyáb.
Success too may have heartened him: no marvel
If thou dost fear him. As for the Haitálians,
And for Ghátkar's host, neither think nor trouble
Concerning them, but let thy shrewd mind turn
To what the kindred of Afrásiyáb
And of Arjásp, and what the Khán, who now
Is stablished on our bank, are doing. Thou art
The world's exalted king, both soul and wisdom
Derive their light from thee, and he is blest
Whom wisdom nourisheth. Thou art more wise
Than this great concourse and thou hast no need
Of sage or counsellor. The crown and throne
Become thee best of all the world, for thou
Hast Grace divine and might, thou fortunate!
Still if the Sháh shall go to Khurásán
He will have cause to tremble for his realm.
Hosts ever and anon will come from Rúm,
On seeing that our land is left unkinged,
Exact revenge upon the Íránians,
And leave not to Írán or field or fell.
None yet hath set his foot upon our land,
Or meditated evil on this realm,
Yet if the Sháh show fight the crocodiles
Will stir not in the streams for fear of him.”
That master of the world agnized full well
The feeling that those sages had at heart—
That none of them had any wish for war,
Preferring rather feasts and pleasuring—
And answered: “God be praised, whom I revere
In both worlds, that Írán through quiet, sleep,
And feasting, hath forgotten how to fight!
Preferring peaceful times and banquet-hall
Ye have become indifferent to war;
Yet ease should follow toil, the body's travail
Hath treasure for its fruit; so in God's strength
Will we at this month's end prepare to march.
I will lead forth a host to Khurásán,
Will summon troops from all the provinces—
The men of name and warriors—and bind
The drums upon the lusty elephants.
I will not leave Haitálian or Khán
To call down blessings on Íránian soil,
But I will weed the world of all the wicked,
And by my largess and mine equity
Regenerate the realm.”
The nobles marvelled,
Applauded him, excused themselves, and said:—
“Triumphant Sháh, endowed with Grace and justice!
Oh! may this age rejoice in thy commands.
We chiefs are all thy thralls and bow our heads
To thy behest and counsel. When the king
Shall bid us fight he will not find us wanting.”
So when the Sháh sat with his counsellors
The conclave held debate a while thereon.
Thus was it till the new moon rose and sat
On its new throne. They saw the moon withal
Upon the Sháh's own face, and acclamations
Rose from his court. Whenas the shining Lamp
O'ertopped the mountains, and the earth resembled
A golden saddle-cover, thou hadst said:—
“They have set a topaz cup upon a robe
Of lapis-lazuli.” A shout and blare
Of trump arose. They bound the kettledrums
Upon the elephants, the soldiers trooped
To camp, and with them went the tymbal-players.
Then Yazdagird, the scribe, came to the court
With counselling archmages and Ardshír.
They wrote a letter unto every province,
To every man of name and every chief:—
“The Sháh hath marched forth with the host to war,
So out of loyalty forgo your feastings.”
The Sháh bade send a letter to the Khán,
He offered greetings too to Faghánísh,
And marched an army forth from Madá'in
That covered all the world except the sea;
And at their centre was the world-lord's flag.
The monarch led forth to Gurgán a host
That hid the sun. He rested for a space
O'er mount and meadow to pursue the chase.
The Sháh took counsel with his troops what while
The Khán abode at Sughd, which everywhere
Was like a sea with kinsmen of Arjásp
And of Afrásiyáb. The Khán said: “Earth
Will not support this host and throne of mine.
I will lead hence the army to Írán,
And onward to the cities of the brave,
Will bear the very dust away to Chín,
And set the heaven warring with the earth.
I will allow not any to possess
Crown, throne, or kingship, dignity or fortune.”
Such was the language that he held awhile,
Ambitioning the world with troops and fame,
Until the tidings came about the Sháh,
How he had marched forth from Írán in state,
Of his victorious fortune and his might,
And how his army stretched from sea to sea.
The Khán was troubled when he heard the news
That stayed his purposed inroad, and he sat
In anxious conclave with his counsellors.
The great men of the army were assembled,
And he addressed his minister: “We cannot
Afford to blink these tidings. Núshírwán,
I hear, hath reached Gurgán and spread the realm
With troops. Good sooth, he hath not news of us,
Or hath a witless head. Mine army stretcheth
From Chín to the Jíhún, the world is 'neath
The glory of my crown. I needs must go
And face him in the fight. Delay will shroud
The lustre of my name. Himself he deemeth
The limit and that none is king but he.
Now shall he learn of mine own warriorship,
For I will face him with the cavaliers
Of Chín.”
A wise man thus addressed the Khán:—
“O monarch of the earth! think not to fight
Against the Sháh, and give not to the winds
Thy realm and host. None of the kings, unless
His heart and counsel lour, ambitioneth
The moon in heaven hath not such a mien.
He claimeth tribute both from Hind and Rúm,
Wherever there is wealth or peopled land.
He is the lord of crown, the ornament
Of throne, the conquering master of the world,
And fortunate.”
The Khán took fitting order,
On hearing this, and asked his shrewd adviser:—
“What aspect hath this matter to the wise?
Two points confront us which we may not shun,
And cannot readily pass o'er in silence:
If war with him is toil and nothing more
There is no better course than spending treasure.
Dínárs can not be used to purchase raiment,
Or food or carpetings when war is toward,
But can procure peace, provand, fair attire,
And carpetings. Let all afraid of ill
Spurn drachms and be at ease.”
Then from the host
He chose ten fluent speakers apt for parle;
A learnéd man of Chín too wrote a letter,
All compliments, decked like his idol-houses,
And to the king's court those ten prudent horsemen
Set forth with much to say. Now when men brought
The news to Núshírwán he decked the palace
Of king of kings, then bade to raise the curtain,
And introduce the envoys joyfully.
The ten went in before the king, and took
With them the letter, offerings, and gifts.
The world-lord, when he saw, received them well,
Inquired about the Khán and made them sit.
They bent their heads before him to the ground,
And gave the message of the Khán of Chín.
There was a letter written in that tongue
On silk, and this the envoy laid before
The scribe. When Yazdagird began to read it
The company were filled with wonderment
Thereat. It first of all invoked the blessing
Of God, the All-just, upon the king of earth,
Next manifested forth the eminence,
Wealth, army, arms, and greatness of the Khán,
And thirdly said: “Faghfúr of Chín himself
Acclaimeth me, unasked bestowed upon me
His daughter, and his host is mine to bid.
'Tis for the presents that I sent the Sháh,
Which the Haitálians stopped upon the way,
That I came forth from Chách to take revenge,
To take the crown and treasure from Ghátkar,
So came from the Gulzaryún that all
The waters of Jíhún grew red with blood,
For when in Chín news reached us of the Sháh,
I praised the teller of his victories,
And learning, and in secrecy desired
All friendship with the monarch of the world.”
Now when the Sháh discovered from the letter
The power, the might, and purpose of the Khán,
They made a lodging ready for the envoys,
Praised and made much of them. Whene'er the board
Was spread for feast and revelry the king
Invited them, and for a month they shared
With him the hall, the banquet, and the chase.
One day he held his court upon the plain,
The air was darkened with the horsemen's dust,
And all the marchlords with their golden girdles,
Men of Balúch and Gíl with golden bucklers,
Attended in a body at that court,
Attended to do service to the Sháh,
And brought three hundred steeds caparisoned
With gold, and scimitars with golden scabbards.
Swords, double-headed darts, and javelins glittered:
Thou wouldst have said: “Gold is compact with iron.”
Upon one elephant, whose back was all
Housed in brocade, they set a turquoise throne,
Nile-blue, and bruit and stir filled earth and air,
Enough to deafen even the best of ears.
The ambassadors from Barda', Hind, and Rúm,
From every sovereign and peopled realm,
And from the spear-armed horsemen of the desert,
Went in a body to the king who thus
Proved to the men of Chín: “Mine is the sway,
Mine from the sun down to the Fish's back.”341
Air was all stir and dust of horsemen, earth
All armature of war. They made mock-battle
Upon the plain whereon there sallied forth
The warlike cavaliers and wheeled awhile
In pride with sparth and arrow, mace and bow.
The plain was full of spear and javelin-men,
And here were foot, there horse. The envoys, sent
From every clime by every chief and ruler,
Astonied at his host and equipage,
His countenance, his glory, and address,
Held talk with one another, saying thus
In whispers: “This is an exalted Sháh!
He seeketh honour, showeth horsemanship,
Displayeth to the warriors of the host
His spear-point, and the skill that he hath shown us
We ought to lay to heart that on returning,
Each to our king, we may remember it,
And say: ‘None, young or old, hath seen one like
Sháh Núshírwán.’”
They told to the world's king
The sayings of the ambassadors in private.
His battle-gear, had body-armour brought,
With helm and mail, and bade undo the buckles.341a
No lusty warrior, though broad of breast,
Could lift the breastplate even from its place!
The Sháh alone had chest and neck to bear
The body-armour, mace, and morion.
There was no archer in the host like him,
And no such warrior among the nobles.
Like some fierce elephant he sought the field
With ox-head mace in hand and under him
A fiery steed; his stature 'mazed the throng.
A shout rose and the blast of clarions,
While bells resounded from the elephants' backs,
And drummers with their cymbals led the way;
Earth was in travail 'neath the horses' hoofs.
The king of kings, helmed on an armoured steed,
Wheeled to the left and right. The ambassadors
Applauded him and louted to the ground.
The world-lord sought his palace from the plain,
And all the chieftains followed in his train.
The Sháh then bade a scribe come with Ardshír,
The high priest, and the scribe drew up on paper
A royal letter in the olden tongue.
He bathed his pen's two checks with ambergris,
And first gave praises to the Judge of all—
The Maker of the sky, height, depth, and love:—
“We all are thralls, He is the King of kings,
And wisdom beareth witness to His might.
No breath can pass, no emmet tread the ground,
Unless by His command. Him have I prayed
To further, if He will, my benison
Upon the Khán. Now, first, for what thou saidest
About the Haitálians: ‘They have girt up,
As I have told to thee, their loins for ill;
They have shed blood unjustly, wantonly,
And have been taken in their proper toils:’
The evil-doer, though of lion's strength,
Must not be bold with God. Though these men bare
Themselves like leopards thou hast conquered them.
Again, for what thou said'st about thy treasure,
Host, puissance of Faghfúr, his throne and crown:
The sage is not at one with him that speaketh
The crown and throne of greatness, and the host
And march of Chách to thee are wonderful.
All greatness is a question of degree:
What star is higher than all other stars?
Such is the language to be held with one
That seeth not treasure, army, march, or travail.
The mighty of the world have seen or heard,
If they have seen not, me, that I account not
The sea of Chín as water, and that mountains
Flee from my wrath. Earth is my treasury,
My care extendeth over sea and land.
Now, in the third place, thou wouldst be my friend,
And hast at heart to make with me a league.
Since thou art fain to feast I will not fight,
For no one e'er preferreth fight to feast,
And furthermore a wise man never seeketh
To fight against a man of high renown,
Still less with one compact of war, no laggard
Upon the day of battle, used to strife,
In battle-time requiring no instructor,
And one that in the fiercest of the mellay
Is as heart-calm as when enthroned and crowned.
May He that made the world be thine ally,
Thy crown and signet still continue bright.”
They sealed this with the Sháh's seal, gave new
lustre
To royal crown and throne, prepared a robe
Of honour, as the royal usage is,
And bade the envoys come before the Sháh,
Who gave them verbal messages withal
In further explication of the letter.
The envoys well content then left the palace,
Set forth with acclamations on their way,
And came with tongues all praise before the Khán.
That world-experienced one put all folk forth;
His minister attended at his throne.
The Khán called in the envoys and inquired
At large of them concerning Núshírwán,
First of his sense, his knowledge, and his counsel,
His mien, his conversation, and his stature;
And secondly: “How many troops hath he,
And who of them hath crown and signet-ring?”
Inquired about his rule, if just or not,
About his realm, his treasure, host, and crown.
The spokesman of the envoys loosed his tongue,
And answered touching all that he had seen.
He told the Khán: “Account not Núshírwán,
O king! as one inferior to thyself.
A hundred ages see but few like him
For leadership, for statesmanship, and favour.
At home, at feast, at war, and at the chase
We never looked on such a sovereign.
In height he is a cypress-tree, in strength
An elephant; his hand is like the Nile
In battle-tide a baleful crocodile.
When he is wroth he roareth like a cloud;
The mighty lion quaileth at his voice,
But gentle is it when he revelleth,
And his warm utterances ravish hearts.
In state and throne he is the blest Surúsh;
He is a royal and fruit-bearing Tree.
The whole folk of Írán compose his host,
And are the adorers of his diadem.
What time he holdeth court upon the plain
The world itself containeth not his troops.
His mace-men all have golden belts and all
His ministers decore and Grace divine.
As for the steps up to his ivory seat,
His elephants, thrones, armlets, torques and crowns,
No one in all the world can estimate
His state except the almighty Judge of all.
Although his foeman were an iron mount
'Twould be a needle's eye before his wrath.
Let him that is aweary of his life
Wax fierce and counter Núshírwán in strife!”
On hearing this the Khán turned wan and like
The flower of fenugreek, his heart grew full
Of terror at the words, his brain was rent
By his solicitude. He sat in dudgeon
With his advisers, and he thus addressed
That noble company: “Ye men of wisdom!
What is our rede herein? Who can be more
Concerned and hurt than I by this mischance?
He must not conquer in the fight or all
Our fame will turn to infamy.”
The sages
Took cognisance of all the affair and spake,
Suggesting divers lines of policy.
Then said the Khán: “Our policy is this—
To send a pledge of good faith to the Sháh,
To take a deeper view and to arrange
That he shall be affined to me. I have
Full many a daughter in my ladies' bower—
All crowns upon the heads of noble dames—
And I will wed one to the king of kings,
And thus cut short my cares in that regard.
If we make blood-relationship with him
None will advise him to our detriment.
On his side it will be a joy and honour,
While war with any other is a jest.”346
The chiefs approved the counsel of the king,
And cried: “That is the course.”
Of rank out of the host, men that could speak,
And grasp an answer. He unlocked his hoards
Of coin and said: “Why should we treasure jewels
Save to win fame, shun shame, or occupy
In largess, feasting, and expedient?”
He had a gift made ready such as none,
Or great or small, e'er had beheld, and calling
A well experienced scribe declared his mind.
He first of all gave praises to the Maker,
All-wise, all-powerful, and all-sustaining,
The Lord of Saturn and of Sun and Moon,
The Lord of victory and mastery,
Who asketh from his slaves but righteousness,
And brooketh not that justice should be balked:—
“His blessing be upon the Íránian king,
The Lord of scimitar, of mace, and helm,
The Lord of understanding, crown, and throne,
And dowered by the God of victory
With fortune and content. The king of kings,
Of royal race, wise, weighty, learned, and just,
Is ware that men, albeit great and noble,
Fain would be dear in other men's regard.
Now when my sage ambassadors, the men
That are both mine associates and allies,
Had come back from thy court to mine and told me
At large about the Sháh—his justice, wisdom,
Good fortune, crown, pre-eminence, and throne—
His Grace divine caused to arise in me
A great desire to shadow 'neath his wings.
Now naught is dearer than our own heart's blood,
And prudent children and our hearts are one;
So let him, if he will, demand of me
One of my stainless daughters—her that is
Most gentle, fair, discreet—and she in sooth
Shall profit him, the marches of Irán
And Chín shall meet, our worship be the more.”
This was all written out on silk of Chín,
And carried with the seal to the wazír.
The Khán selected from among his kin
Three men of noble rank and eloquence,
And they departed from the exalted court
Írán-ward to the exalted Sháh who, when
He heard thereof, prepared his crown and sat
Upon his royal throne of ivory.
So those three men of prudence and high rank
Arrived before the exalted throne. They brought
Three turbans, of dínárs some thirty thousand,
And laid them as a gift before the Sháh.
The gifts of gold and silver, the brocade
Of Chín, made earth more brilliant than the sky.
Now when the envoys duly had been seated
They called down blessings in their native tongue,
Fit lodging for them. Heaven revolved one night,
And when the bright sun rose above the mountains
The Sháh sat down upon the turquoise throne,
And set a crown of jewels on his head.
He ordered that the archmages and the chiefs
Should sit in conclave with the famous sages,
And said thus: “Bring and lay before the scribe
The letter writ on silk.”
The nobles all
Sat round while Yazdagird drew near the Sháh,
And read the letter which amazed the throng,
Such good will, fair excuse, and compliment
Were patent in the utterance of the Khán.
All those illustrious and prudent chiefs
Began to praise the king: “Thanks be to God,
With whom our refuge is, that He hath set
Upon the state a Sháh endowed with Grace,
With victory, and majesty, a Sháh
Good, kind, and prudent, one that is in fight
A mighty, raging elephant, in feast
A gallant host. All foes are underlings
Of thine, if they be worthy of that title.
We all were fearful of this power from Chách,
And of the Khán, who hath both crown and treasure,
By the imperial Grace is now our friend,
And seeketh with the Sháh affinity.
One that is wise among the warrior-chiefs
Will tender peace and justice. Since the Khán
Is ware that he can not withstand the Sáhh
He seeketh for affinity to him.
There should be no delay in this affair,
For such affinity disgraceth none.
His troops extend from Chín up to Bukhárá,
And all the chiefs are under his protection.”
Now when the Sháh heard what those sages said—
Those magnates and archmages shrewd of heart—
They cleared the hall of strangers and then brought
The ambassadors in haste before the Sháh.
The king of kings received them graciously,
And set them near the throne. Those chosen men
Of Chách beheld the chief in all his pomp
Of troops, wealth, crown, and gave their master's
message,
Protesting that their words were true. The Sháh,
When he had heard the fervent words thus uttered
In gentle accents by the chiefs of Chín,
Replied: “The Khán is great, wise, worshipful,
Desireth kinship with us through his child,
And illustrateth thus his own good will.
The man whom understanding maketh wise
Will look upon affairs with wisdom's eye;
And make response to all that he hath said
On this condition—that the Khán of Chín
Shall give our heart the liberty of choice.
I will dispatch a wise man who shall look
On all his women-folk and shall select
The most illustrious and dear to him,
See what her own maternal grandsire was,
And her own quality of royal birth.
When what we name shall have been done the Khán
Will have performed his portion of the pact.”
The envoys called down praises, saying thus:—
“The Khán of Chín rejoiceth in the Sháh,
And were his ladies' bower a cloud of jewels
He would withhold it not from Núshírwán.
Select among the sages one to go
Before the Khán whose ladies shall not fail
In that one's sight their faces to unveil.”