The Scribe's Letter and Alexander's Reply

He summoned the seasoned scribe before him, brought him close, and seated him by his throne. He dictated a letter, filled with grief and sorrow, his two eyes brimming with blood and his face gone pale. From Dara, son of Darab, son of Ardeshir, to the Caesar Alexander, conqueror of cities. First he offered praise to the Creator, from whom the world has known both good and evil. Then he said: no wise man, beyond any doubt, ever escapes the turning of the heavens. By it we are made glad, and by it made restless; sometimes on the heights, sometimes down in the valley. It was not through our armies' bravery that this battle went so; it was the workings and turning of sun and moon. Now what had to happen has happened, and our heart aches; what do we hold from this deep blue dome of sky? Now, if you make peace and swear a pact, and let your heart repent of war against Iran, then all the treasure of Goshtasp and Esfandiar, and the armlet and the jewel-inlaid crown, I will send from my own treasury to yours, along with all I have earned through my own toil. And I will stand as your ally in war, and by day and night I will not hold back for you. As for those of my kin whom you now hold, my veiled women and my children, it would be no wonder if you sent them back to me; one who seeks the world should not carry such spite. Against captive women there is nothing but the reproach it brings; kings of noble spirit do not stoop to it. When the shrewd lord had read the letter, he set his mind to shape a fitting reply. A courier came galloping from Kerman, hastening to the wary Alexander. When Alexander had read that letter through, he said: may wisdom be a companion to Dara's soul. Whoever seeks to harm his kin, his veiled women and his children, shall see, in place of a throne, the wooden board of the grave, or his head hung from the branch of a tree. They are all in Isfahan, unharmed and untroubled; let it never be that we would demand their ransom. If you wish to journey toward Iran, it is granted; the whole kingdom, from end to end, is yours. We will never for a moment stray from your command, nor count even a breath taken outside your path. Like a ship the courier came speeding back, the crowned king's heart and eyes brimming with blood.