English
Part 9
He kept begging forgiveness for his sin,
while the army searched for him in every direction.
Rustam, Giv, and Tus got word of him,
and set out with a great army and war drums.
Old Gudarz spoke to Rustam this way:
from the day my mother first weaned me from her milk,
I have seen in this world crowns and thrones,
kings and great men with fortune awake to them.
But I have never heard of anyone like Kavus,
nor seen his match among the humble or the great.
He has no wisdom, no knowledge, no judgment,
his mind is not in place, nor is his heart.
Then the champions came to him,
full of reproach, sharp and ready to quarrel.
Gudarz said to him: a madhouse
would suit you better than a royal city.
Time after time you hand your place to the enemy,
and you speak your foolish plans to no one first.
Three times such hardship and pain have struck you,
yet your head has learned nothing from the trials.
You marched the army off to Mazandaran;
look what suffering came of it there.
Once more you became the enemy's guest;
you were an idol, and now you have turned priest to it.
No one is left in the world but the pure God
whose realm your sword has not tried to claim.
You have raced across every inch of the earth in war,
and now you have set your sights on the sky as well.
After you they will make of this a tale:
that a king rose up to the lofty heavens,
to gaze upon the moon and the sun,
and to count the stars one by one.
Do what watchful kings do,
what those who praise God and wish well perform.
Seek nothing but servitude before God,
reach out for good or ill toward no one but Him.
Kavus answered thus: from honesty
no flaw ever comes into one's affairs.
You have spoken justice, not injustice;
my life is not free of debt to your name.
Kavus fell silent and burned with shame
before those heroes of the day of battle.
He made ready and sat in his litter,
regret and pain his companions.
When he came to his throne and high seat,
his heart was still worn down and grieved by the affair.
For forty days he stood before God,
pacing the ground and clearing his mind.
He shed pale tears from his eyes,
and kept remembering the Creator of the world.
From shame he did not step out the palace door;
it was as if his skin was peeling off him.
He wept pure blood from his eyes,
begging pardon of the one who guides.
Shame before the brave men humbled his spirit;
he stopped his outings and shut the gate of audience.
He grew repentant, chose sorrow and pain,
and gave away much treasure freely.
He rubbed his face in the dark dust,
offering prayers before the pure God.
When some time had passed in weeping like this,
the Creator of the world had mercy on him.
He brought a new justice into the world,
which shone upon the humble and the great.
It was as if the world had put on silk from his justice,
and the king again sat handsome on his throne.
From every land a renowned lord,
one who set a lofty crown upon his head,
came to the court of King Kavus,
abandoning that path of defiance.
Time became as it had been at first;
the king washed his face in the water of loyalty.
All the great ones became lesser than he,
his worshippers and his servants.
Wherever a king is just and nothing else,
no need drives him to cry for help.
I have told this tale for whoever will hear;
now the battle of Rustam must be sung.