English
Section 23
When the affairs of Turan were set in order, the king's heart was cleared of all worry.
He ordered his scribe to come before him; he called for a pen, musk ink, and Chinese silk.
The king dictated a letter to Narsi about the battle with the Turks and the state of the army.
At the head of the letter he set hidden praise: from this servant to the Maker of the world.
The Lord of victory and might, the Lord of Mars, Saturn, and the Moon,
the Lord of the turning lofty sky, the Lord of the quiet, wretched earth.
Greatness and smallness rest in His decree; all that will be lies under His command.
I have written a letter from the border of China to my brother in the land of Iran,
and to the nobles of the Iranians I write this same letter on silk.
Whoever did not witness the Khaqan's battle should hear it from these warriors.
The army was so vast you would say the sky, from its whirling, had smeared its face with pitch.
The whole borderland became like a sea of blood; the head of tyranny's fortune was turned upside down.
In the fighting he was taken captive, and the turning wheel of heaven grew weary of him.
Now I have brought him bound upon a camel, his liver torn and his eyes full of blood.
The necks of all the defiant grew soft; their tongues sweet and their hearts full of hot blood.
The one who had been an enemy accepted the tribute; those who had strayed came back to the right road.
Now, after this letter, I will come with the army, to the heart's delight of every well-wisher.
The foam-flecked, wind-footed camels set off from their place like roaring clouds.
When the letter reached Narsi, the king's heart swelled with joy.
The chief priest of priests came before him, and with him every warrior eager for battle.
A cry of joy rose up from Iran, and each one lent his ear to the news.
The hearts of the renowned men, from shame before the king, kept writhing over their guilt.
They went to the priest to beg forgiveness, all their hearts trembling with fear of any harm,
saying that crooked thoughts and the demon's command had led their hearts away from the world's Lord.
With that great host it was madness to imagine that God would open a door in the sky.
It is a wonder that such a thing passed through the mind, and even through the reason of a wise, discerning man.
When the reply is written, for better or worse, we must set down this apology of ours,
so that, though the nobles committed a sin, perhaps the renowned king will forgive it.
Narsi accepted, saying: I will do this, and drive the grudge out of the king's heart.
Then he quickly wrote a reply to that letter, laying out in it the good and the bad.
He wrote that the Iranians, out of pain and hardship, and for the sake of their land, children, and treasure,
took refuge with the Khaqan of China, in despair of the renowned king,
not out of enmity, nor from pain or malice; no one held anyone dearer than the king.
A great man named Borzmehr opened the way with a bright face for that mission.
He came before the king of the world and revealed all the secrets from their hiding.
The king was pleased by his words; thus the fierce fire became smokeless.
The chiefs of Chaghan, Chagal, and Balkh, the priests of Bukhara and Gharchistan,
came with tribute and sacred twigs in hand, offering praise before the fire-worshipper,
saying: We are entirely the king's servants; we have bowed our necks to pay the tribute.
And so each year, with tribute and levy, whoever had the means would come to the court.