English
Part 14
He ordered a scribe to write a letter to the noble champion.
He opened the letter with high praise, placing him under God's shelter against the mighty demon.
Then he said: I ask of the Creator of the world, in things seen and unseen,
that the Lord of the world might lift this field of hatred from between the two armies.
If you, Gudarz, wanted this, to fill the world with vengeance,
your wish from this battlefield of hatred has been granted. Tell me, what will your ending be?
Look how many of my brave men, my close kin, my lions,
you have flung headless to the dust. You feel no shame or fear before God.
You turned your face from love and wisdom; now you have found all that you sought.
The time has come for you to tire of this hatred. How long will you be so bold in spilling blood?
See how many riders of Iran and Turan have been destroyed in this war.
To avenge a dead man who is already gone, how many heads of the living must be cut off?
The time has come for mercy to reach you, for you to find rest by ending your vengeance.
If you find better days again, do not sow the seed of hatred in the world.
Do not torment your soul or ruin your body; hold yourself back from spilling blood.
After death, a curse falls on the one whose evil name lingers on.
You should not leave behind a name of infamy, even if that end brings you delight.
Once black hair has turned white, little hope of living remains.
I fear that if the army marches once more into battle on this field,
you will see no one from either side left standing: souls gone, bodies fallen where they lay.
After that, who can say who is the victor, who the ill-fated, and who the one who lights up the world?
But if your aim is war, spilling blood, and grappling with me on this battlefield,
that in this way you make lions fight, doing it all for the sake of the land of Iran,
then say the word, and I will at once, in all haste, send a rider to Afrasiab,
so that he may command me to divide the land, and then we can roll away this vengeance.
Just as in the days of King Manuchehr, the world was kept in order by fair division,
any city you set within the border of Iran, say the word, and we will clear it of the Turks.
And of the settled and the ruined lands, every region and realm that just Kaykhosrow decreed,
starting from Iran into the mountains, the Gharchegan region above the land of Bost,
then Taleqan and its city as far as Faryab, likewise Balkh down to the river.
Then there is Panjshir and Bamiyan too, the frontier of Iran and the seat of the kings.
And Guzganan too, that blessed place, which they have named the master of the world.
And from Mulyan all the way to Badakhshan, this is the mark of this kingdom.
Lower down there is the plain of the Oxus and Zam, which stretches up to the city of Khatlan.
And Shughnan, and Visagird beyond Termez, Bukhara and the town that lies around it.
So too onward as far as Sughd, let no one dispute that kingdom.
And on the side where Rostam went riding hard, I will hand him the land of Nimruz.
From mountain and plain I will summon the army, and open a road toward the West.
I will clear all this up to the borders of India, and after this we will not walk in darkness.
From Kashmir, Kabul and Kandahar, all of that share will belong to you.
And on the side where Lohrasp went to battle, I will hand him the Alans and the mountain passes.
From this frontier stretching to Mount Qaf, we will give it to the king without war or boasting.
And on the side where Ashkash went as well, I will now settle all the land, end to end.
And once I have done all of this, from every side I will call my flocks back home.
With an oath I will make a pact before you, that from now on I will bear you no ill will.
You will know that we wanted honesty, that we adorned our hearts with love and loyalty.
I will send word to the king of the Turks, telling him to turn his head away from spite.
In the same way, with affection, write a letter to Khosrow and show your true face.
In this way, out of a wish for love rather than war, my words with you are about the shedding of blood.
Once we have set every pact straight, whatever Khosrow asked of me,
I will send it all, every bit, to the king, so that perhaps he shuts the door of vengeance upon his army.
And after we have done this too, sending hostages and giving over goods,
I will bind together this love, this custom and faith, and with the hand of loyalty I will shut the eye of hatred.
For in the time of the great king harmony was broken by the evil nature of Tur and the mighty Salm.
Fereydun, who was left bewildered with grief when the renowned Iraj was slain.
Ask of me in good faith whatever you need, and after that carry this letter to the king.
The assembly must not, because of these kind words of mine, suspect any weakness in me.
For I say all this only out of affection; in the end it is goodness that I seek.
My treasure and my warriors are greater than yours, yet in valor your name stands ahead of mine.
But to stir up this vengeance, to shed blood unjustly everywhere,
My heart burns for the army; I will try to cut this hatred away.
The third reason is that I fear the Creator of the world, both openly and in secret.
The Just One does not approve of evil from us, nor will He let this chaos and cruelty pass unnoticed.
If you turn away from my words and refuse to weigh my deeds deeply,
if you call me guilty though I am innocent, and will not even look at what I say,
since justice and injustice are one and the same to you, and your only aim is to spread hatred,
then choose from the champions of Iran, from its chieftains, whoever wields the heavy mace,
and likewise I will choose men from my own army, as many as needed for the fight.
We will bring them together, one against another, and set the chiefs against each other in combat.
In the same way, you and I on the battlefield will face each other, seeking revenge.
Perhaps then the innocent will be spared bloodshed and find rest from the fighting.
Whoever you count as guilty, and against whom your heart holds a grudge,
I will bring him before you on the day of battle; but you too must make one promise:
that if you win and shed our blood, if the fortune of the Turkish heroes is overturned,
you will not harm my army in the least, nor burn my land and my dwelling,
but let them pass through to Turan, and lay no ambush or trap for them.
And if I become the victor over you, if a good star favors me,
I will lay no ambush for the Iranians; we will hold no anger and seek no revenge.
I will grant them the road toward Iran, and send each one back to their king.
Not one of them will suffer loss; they will be safe in life and in property.
But if you refuse to fight this way and want to do the matter differently,
if you seek battle with the full host, throwing the whole army into war,
then every drop of blood spilled in vengeance will hang around your neck in the next world.
He sealed the letter shut and called his precious son.
He had a son, foremost in the gathering, named Rooyeen, of brazen body.
He told him: Go to Goodarz. Speak wisely and listen for his reply.
When Rooyeen left the gate of the famous one, the messenger, with ten more riders,
the wise one, bright of soul, came galloping to the pavilion of the champion.
When Rooyeen, son of Piran, reached the court, someone ran to the commander of the army.
The champion then summoned the messenger, and the young man came galloping in from behind the curtain.
When he came and saw Gudarz, he crossed his arms over his chest and bowed his head low.
The commander sprang up and, swift as smoke, pulled him into a tight embrace.
He asked about Piran and his army, about the warriors, the king, and his land.
Then wise Ruyin brought the letter forward and delivered his message.
The scribe came and read the letter at once, telling Gudarz all that was written in it.
When they had read the letter to Gudarz, all the famous chiefs were left in wonder,
at its sweet words and good counsel, and at the fine path toward alliance it laid out for him.
They marveled at what wise Piran had recalled in the letter, and at the good advice he had given.
Then the commander said to Ruyin: 'You, son of a chieftain, fortunate young man,
first you must be our guest; only then should you seek the reply to this letter.'
They set up a fresh pavilion and prepared a royal seat of honor.
They adorned it with Roman silk, called for food and for musicians.
The commander's heart grew full of thought; he wrote after consulting with the wise counselors.
They composed the reply to the letter, choosing the finest words they could find.
For a whole week Gudarz, with music and wine, kept putting off the answer to the letter.
When from on high the world-lighting sun turned past its zenith at midday,
the commander would set out wine, music, and a feast, and summon the messenger before him.
When a week had passed, at dawn on the eighth day the king's chief called for the scribe.
He ordered the reply to be written, and by it planted, once again, a fresh tree of enmity.