English
Part 2
When the work of Piran son of Viseh was finished, the victorious king turned to another war.
He gathered nobles from every side, and they set out with an army beyond counting.
The blare of the war trumpet rose, and they pitched the royal tents across the plain.
No place was left to sleep in the city, and no road left to walk on across the plain.
They set a turquoise throne on an elephant's back, and the face of the world turned dark as indigo.
The king took his seat on the throne, crowned; a great roar rose from the plain and the court.
When that renowned king, mounted on the elephant, dropped the die in the cup and fastened his belt for battle,
no other ruler was permitted to sit anywhere except at the king's own gate.
Such was the mark of sovereignty for that famous king who tamed the proud.
To every frontier where he had sent troops, he had given much counsel and advice.
Men like Lohrasp and fierce-clawed Ashkash, who could snatch a crocodile from the deep sea,
and that other famous one, Rostam the champion, admired, generous, and bright of soul.
He ordered them to return to the court, every warrior who was brave and eager for battle.
He opened the treasury and paid their wages, and often called to mind his father's soul.
From that assembly he chose three men: eloquent, clear of heart, and skilled with the sword.
Rostam, who was the great champion; Gudarz, keen of heart, that seasoned old wolf;
and the third, the champion Tus of the golden boots, who carried the Kaviani banner.
To every renowned and headstrong lord they wrote a letter in the Pahlavi tongue.
He summoned envoys from the assembly, men who were eloquent, wise, and full of counsel,
saying: victorious Kaykhosrow, from the elephant's back, has cast the die, and the world has darkened like indigo.
May you have neither rest nor sleep, except to prepare for war against Afrasiab.
When each lord who held a place in the kingdom had read that letter,
a roar rose from the warriors of the world; the earth boiled and surged like the sea.
The great ones of every land, with their armies, turned their faces toward the king's court.
When an army for war had been made ready, with a famed warrior from every land,
then he rode around the whole army and drew up the battlefield on every side.
From that renowned host he chose thirty thousand sword-wielding horsemen,
to stand with him in the center, all with hands washed in blood for battle.
On one wing he placed Tus, along with Manushan of Khuzestan, the man of blessed counsel,
who was king over the land of Khuzestan, with many renowned lords in golden crowns.
There were also two men, both fierce in battle,
like Guran, that army-blazing hero of the king.
And braver still was Arash the fighter,
victorious in every task, a breaker of armies.
One of them was king over a whole land,
and in battle fortune walked beside him.
The other was the king of Kerman, who in war
never let the thought of delay enter his heart.
Like the wise Siya, king of Yemen,
and also the lionhearted Iraj, mighty as an elephant,
who was ruler over the city of Kabul,
a world-keeper, watchful and commanding.
Everyone who came from the line of Kaykobad,
the great ones of wisdom and noble birth,
like Shammakh Suri, king of the Suriyans,
whoever girded himself for the fight,
and below him the warrior Giveh,
victorious in every task, a breaker of armies,
who was ruler over the city of Davar,
a world-conqueror, wise and devout.
He set them at his own left hand,
and made Delforuz the marshal of the troops.
The great ones of the line of Pur, whose swords
in the dark night struck cloud out of the wind.
Everyone who came from the line of Zarasp,
devoted servants of the blessed sacred fire,
then Bizhan son of Giv, and Roham the hero,
whom the king counted among the great.
Like Gorgin son of Milad, and the champions of Rey,
they all set out at once at the king's command.
They guarded his rear,
and raised their spears higher than the clouds.
He gave the right wing to Rostam then,
for alone he could shatter an army.
Everyone who came from Zabolestan,
whether lesser men or kin of Dastan,
to them he handed the right flank then,
seeking the honor and the array of war.
He chose picked troops for the left wing,
like the sun blazing from the sign of the Ram.
The commander was Gudarz son of Keshvad,
with Hajir, Shidush, and Farhad beside him.
The great ones from Barda and Ardabil,
who stood as troops before the world-keeper,
they called upon commander Gudarz,
and arrayed the left wing of his army.
He ordered that before the center of the host
they block the road with war elephants.
They set howdahs upon the elephants' backs,
and the ground turned into the dark blue Nile.
A thousand of the brave men of the battle day
he placed in the howdahs as archers.
As guard for each elephant, three hundred riders,
all of them fighters, all of them spearmen.
From Baghdad the warrior champions,
who stood with Zangeh son of Shavaran,
picked troops from the champions of Balkh,
he ordered forward with their crossbows.
They stood on foot before the elephants,
ready even if a mountain came at them two miles wide.
Their arrows would pierce even a heart of stone; no one could withstand such wounds.
The foot soldiers stood behind the elephants, holding spears nine cubits long with sharp, gleaming heads.
Gilan shields were held out in front, while blood boiled up in the men's hearts.
Behind the spearmen stood a line of infantry, shield bearers and archers who could pierce through armor.
Behind them all were the mounted warriors, their quivers packed full of poplar arrows.
From the east the king chose a select force: shield bearers in mail with Roman helmets.
He gave Faribarz thirty thousand of the proudest, fiercest riders.
With them went Takhvar, lord of the city of Dahestan, for whom fighting an enemy was an easy thing.
From Baghdad and the proud men of Karkh he gave the order for the crossbow archers
to rain down arrows at the front, filling the sky like clouds in spring.
Nastuh the tireless was placed at Faribarz's side, for a great army stood beside him.
There were nobles and battle tested commanders, riders and spearmen from the open plain.
Their chief and leader was Zohir, who could snatch a deer from the very claws of a lion.
He ordered him to join Nastuh, and the left wing of the king's army rose like a mountain.
There was an army from Rome and Berber lands, and Goy, called the vanguard, was chief of that force.
Thirty thousand horse and foot marched with the king's rear guard.
Another army came from Khorasan, world seekers and shrewd judges of men.
Manuchehr Arash was their protector, their commander when it was time to win renown.
Another famous man was of the Grohkhan line, a ruler from the stock of Kay Qobad.
His name was Shah Piruz, a bold commander who lit up the army's spirit.
The king of the Gharchagan was like a lion, one who could bring down even a raging elephant.
He set them under Manuchehr's command and made that noble the marshal of the host.
There were the great men who came from Mount Qaf, arriving with boasting spears and swords.
An army from the line of Fereydun and Jamshid, their hearts full of blood, from the stock of Zadsham.
Thirty thousand swordsmen of this kind, world rulers from the royal line.
This army he handed to Giv, son of Godarz, and every borderland's heart was gladdened by him.
To back the commander Giv, alert and valiant champions rode out.
He sent ten thousand to the right wing, brave riders wielding daggers.
An army of ten thousand of the bold warriors, Godarz son of Kashvad led at the rear.
Then Barteh the swordsman advanced steadily, with Kuhyar, into that gathering.
Giv, in his bravery, became the war's champion,
leading a proud army of valiant, gallant men.
Zavara was the vanguard of this battle,
with an army all newly equipped for war.
At the very front stood Qaren, the fighter,
first among the famous men of that company.
He was placed so that between the two facing armies
he would be the horseman who charges and calls for combat.
After that, he said to Gostaham son of Gazhdaham:
'Stand paired at Qaren's side in the fighting.'
He ordered Andaman, the son of Tus,
to move about everywhere with elephants and war drums,
so that he would stay the hand of injustice
from anyone who did not worship God.
No one should be left without food,
and no cruelty should be allowed against anyone.
The land was filled with wagons and oxen,
driven forward to supply the men with food.
Whatever was needed he would request from the king;
in every matter he was the voice of the army.
On every side he set out scouts and patrols,
rousing the sleeping mind from its slumber.
In every direction the reconnaissance men went out,
keenly watching the affairs of the world.
Wherever there was a mountain, he posted a lookout,
and never left the army scattered.
Through every mountain, cave, desert, and plain,
scouting parties of the army roamed in all directions.
Their reins were woven one into another,
all of them holding their heads high for battle.
None of them felt any fear or hardship,
for the king carried his treasury along with him.
In this way, once the king had arranged his army,
he raised his royal crown up toward the heavens.
The heart of the wicked man, along with the good-natured one,
desired nothing but the pursuit of war.