English
Shirin's Answer and Death
Now that I have brought Khosrow's days to their end, let me open the tale of Shiruy and Shirin.
When fifty-three days had passed since that blessed king was killed,
Shiruy sent a messenger to Shirin: 'You brazen sorceress, you have overreached!
You know nothing but witchcraft and malice; in all of Iran you are the most sinful and shameless.'
'With spells you held the king in your grip; with your tricks you would pull down the moon itself.'
'Be afraid, guilty one, and come to me; do not sit so smug and safe in your palace.'
Shirin was enraged by his message, by that sinful man's foul insults.
She said: 'May the wretch who spills his own father's blood never rise or flourish.'
'I will not look upon that evildoer from any distance, not in mourning, not in feasting.'
She summoned a grieving scribe, and had a Pahlavi ledger prepared.
She gave her final instructions to that learned man, and set out before him all she owned.
In a chest she kept some poison stored, so she would not need to search the city for it.
She kept that poison close beside her; she was sewing a shroud for the cypress of the meadow, her own body.
She sent her answer back to Shiruy: 'You crowned king, you proud and lofty one,
the words you spoke are leaves and wind; may the heart and soul of that evildoer be brought low.'
'Where in the world has anyone heard of sorcery except as a name, or ever profited by it?'
'And if the king lived by this custom and measure, that his judgment was renewed by witchcraft,
then some sorcerer must have been in the king's harem, seeing with her own eyes the king's very face.'
'He kept me for the good fortune I brought, for at dawn, when he turned his eyes to me,
he would call me from the golden chamber, and his soul was made bright by the sight of me.'
'Be ashamed to utter such words; why pin these crooked lies upon a king?'
'Remember the good the Creator has given; do not speak this before anyone.'
They carried her answer back to the king, and Shiruy raged against that innocent woman.
He said: 'There is no escape from coming; no one on earth is as sharp with words as you.'
When Shirin heard, she was filled with pain; she trembled, and the color of her face turned pale.
She answered thus: 'I will not come to you except before an assembly,
where wise men stand before you, seasoned in the world and learned in books.'
Shiruy sent fifty men, and brought the learned and the old.
Then he sent someone to Shirin: 'Rise and come forward; enough of talk.'
When Shirin heard this, in dark blue and black she veiled herself and came to the king.
She hurried to the garden of Shadgan, where the noble free-hearted ones would gather and speak.
Like a devout and pious person, the queen took her seat behind a curtain.
The king sent a messenger to her: two months have passed since Khosrow's death.
Now become my wife and enjoy your fortune, so you need not look to some lesser man.
I will keep you in honor, just as my father did, indeed more famously and more finely still.
Shirin replied: first give me what is mine, then my life is yours to command.
After that I will not rest from obeying you, from your orders, your counsel, and your radiant heart.
Shiruy agreed to this, so that the lovely woman might tell her tale.
The noble woman called out from behind the curtain: O king, may you be victorious and glad.
You said that I am wicked and a sorceress, that I stand apart from purity and honesty.
She said to herself: Shiruy is only like this because of youthful heat; one should not hold a grudge against the young.
Then Shirin spoke to the noble ones who were present there in the garden of Shadgan.
What evil have you ever seen in me, what darkness, crookedness, or foolishness?
For many years I was the Lady of Iran, and in every affair I was the support of brave men.
I always sought nothing but honesty; crookedness and flaw were far from me.
Many people gained cities through my word and won their share of the world in every way.
Who in Iran ever saw my true shadow, or the shadow of my crown and jewels?
Let everyone who saw and heard speak up; the whole matter will become clear from their answer.
The great men who stood before the king spoke well and pointed to Shirin's goodness.
They said there is no woman in the world like her, neither in what is seen nor in what is hidden.
Shirin said: O great ones, you leaders who have traveled the world and gained experience,
a woman's worth rests on three things that make her lovely and fit for glory.
One is that she has modesty and dignity, so her husband adorns his home through her.
Another is that she bears a fortunate son and, through a blessed husband, grows her line.
The third is that her stature and face are fair, and her hair is kept modestly covered.
When I was Khosrow's wife, in that union I was renowned throughout the world.
When he came, unwilling and heartbroken, from Rome, there was no settling in this land and country.
After that he rose to such success that no one in the world had ever seen or heard its like.
And by him I had four children, in whom the king took such great joy.
Nastud, Shahriar, Farud, and manly Shahriyar, that crown of the dark blue sky.
No one like them was ever born from Jamshid or Fereydun; may my tongue fall silent if I ever turn away from justice.
She said this and lifted the veil from her face: her face all like the moon, her back all covered with hair.
This is my face, just as it truly is; if any of it is a lie, hold out your hand and show me.
As a mark of my virtue I kept this hair hidden, hair such as no one in the world has ever seen.
I have shown you all this wonder now, not out of trickery, deceit, or ill nature.
No one had ever seen my hair before this, nor had even the great ones heard of it.
The elders were left astonished at the sight, and murmured under their breath in wonder.
When Shiruy saw Shirin's face, his very soul flew secretly from his body.
He told her: I want no one but you; if I win a bride like you, that is enough for me in all Iran.
The lovely woman answered him again: I am not without need of the king of Iran.
I will ask three things, if you grant them; and may the crown of kings remain yours forever.
Shiruy said to her: my life is yours; whatever else you wish is granted too.
Shirin said to him: all the wealth with which I adorned this land,
from now on you will hand it over to me, one by one, before this famous gathering.
And you will set your signature on this document, that I renounce all his property, great or small.
Shiruy quickly did as she asked, once the woman heard his answer to her requests.
She set out from the joyful rose garden, leaving the great and the noble behind.
She went home and freed her servants, gladdening each servant with that wealth.
Whatever else she had she gave to the poor, giving most to those who were her own kin.
She donated much to the fire temple, both to its upkeep and for the days of the Sadeh festival.
And to a ruined lair, an old inn that had become a den for lions,
she gave it as a good deed in the name of King Khosrow, gladdening his soul with her kindness.
She came to that garden and unveiled her face, and sat upon the earth, drained of all color and scent.
She called all her servants to her side and seated each of them kindly.
Then she spoke in a loud voice: every one of you who holds honor,
listen well to my words, for no one will ever see my face again.
Speak nothing but the truth, for no falsehood comes from those who truly know.
For after I went to Khosrow, and became a bride in his golden chamber,
I was the chief of women and the glory of the king; and after that, if any fault appeared in me,
let no word of it ever be spoken, for what fault could show in a resourceful woman?
They all rose to their feet at once, their tongues ready with an answer.
They said: renowned lady of ladies, eloquent, wise, and bright of soul,
By God, no one has ever laid eyes on you, nor even heard your voice from behind the veil.
Truly, since the days of Hushang no woman like you has sat upon the throne of glory.
All the servants and attendants, the ambitious and clear-hearted retainers,
Cried out together: honored one, praised in China, in Rome, and in Taraz,
Who would dare speak ill of you? How could anyone wrong you?
Shirin replied: as for that evildoer, whom the lofty heavens themselves will reproach,
He killed his own father for the crown and throne. May he never see joy or fortune again.
He backed death up against the wall, for he made his father's life worthless in his own body.
He sent me a message that darkened my fragile soul.
I said this cruel thing only because I am still alive, still a worshipper of the world's Creator.
I laid bare my whole path; I was full of pain because of my enemy.
Fearing that after my death, before the assembly, his tongue might speak evil of me.
At her words they wept, and were seared too by grief for Parviz.
The spokesmen went to the king and told him all they had heard from that innocent one.
Shiruy asked: good soul, what third wish has come to you now?
Shirin sent a messenger to Shiruy: now only one wish remains.
Let me open the door of the king's tomb; I long to look upon him.
Shiruy said: this too is granted; seeing that lord, that king, is her right.
The guard opened the door of the tomb, and the chaste woman began to mourn.
She pressed her face to Khosrow's face and recalled aloud all their past words.
Then and there she swallowed deadly poison, and her soul rose up out of Shirin.
She sat by the king with her face veiled, a single garment on her, scented with camphor.
She leaned her back against the wall and died; she died, and the world lost all trace of her.
When Shiruy heard, he fell ill, filled with sorrow at what he saw.
He ordered another tomb be built, crowned with musk and camphor.
He sealed her within the king's tomb. Not much time passed after this,
before Shiruy too was given poison; the world's measure of kings had run full.
In misfortune he was born, in misfortune he died, and he handed the royal throne to his son.
A man may rule for seven months alone,
and then his crown turns pale as camphor and is gone.
In this world there is no good greater than the throne,
and no evil worse than a life cut short.
Now I must speak of the reign of Ardeshir the king,
for the story has brought me to it and I cannot avoid it.