The Eighteen-Year Reign of Yazdgerd

When Yazdgerd became king of the world, he gathered together the scattered army. They sat down with the priests and the sages, with the nobles and the wise men who ranked like commanders. The world-seeker took his seat on the golden throne, and shut the door on hardship and on the hand of evil. First he said this: the one who is free of sin stays safe from anyone who seeks revenge. Whoever keeps a heart darkened by envy, no doctor can reach that pain and cure it. For envy breeds greed, burning, and torment; it is a spiteful demon that lingers long. Whatever seems wrong to you, do not fix upon it the heart of either friend or foe. Patience walks side by side with wisdom, and wisdom is the crown that sits atop knowledge. If you do someone a kindness, do not throw it back in their face and break their heart. If you are a doer of good and patient, you will never seem worthless in the eyes of the wise. If triumphant fortune lends me its aid and grants me mastery over the world, I will write a book founded on justice, one that shuts the door on crookedness and flaw. For a while he ruled the world with fairness; the age was glad with him, and he with it. He sent countless troops in every direction, and kept the world guarded from its enemies. Eighteen years passed over him, and when in autumn his crown grew dim, He summoned the great men and the learned, and seated them kneeling before the golden throne. He said: this unsteady wheel of heaven knows neither the one it raised nor the one it nurtured. It pays no heed to the crown of the noble; whatever prey it finds, it hunts it down. Now my day is coming to its end; my strength is breaking apart. I have handed to Hormoz the crown and the seal, and all the army and treasure of the land of Iran. Listen, all of you, and obey his command; find peace of soul in keeping his covenant. Even though Piruz, with his glory and strength, is a few years older than Hormoz, In Hormoz I see calm, wisdom, justice, and worth. He said this and lived one more week after; then he passed, and the throne wept over him a while. Whether you stay a hundred years or twenty-five, you must depart from this fleeting inn. Anything that can be counted, it is right that you should not call it lasting.