When foolish pride clouding King Jamshid's soul caused the Divine Glory to depart, the luminous day turned as dark as night over Iran. Clamor and unrest erupted from every corner; warlords tore their hearts from Jamshid's memory and raised the banners of revolt. Despairing of their fallen monarch, the nobles and horsemen of Iran rode toward the lands of the Arabs, having heard of a terrifying, serpent-bodied ruler named Zahhak. Desperate for a king, they bowed before him and hailed him as the sovereign of Iran.
Zahhak the Serpent King rode swift as the wind and placed the Iranian crown upon his head. Gathering a mighty host of both Iranian and Arab warriors, he swept across the realm like a tightening ring. As fortune turned its back on Jamshid, the world closed in upon him; he abandoned crown, throne, treasures, and army, fleeing into total obscurity. For a hundred years, no soul set eyes upon the vanished king as he hid from the dragon's wrath.
Yet destiny could not be evaded. In the hundredth year, by the distant shores of the Sea of China, the disgraced king was discovered and dragged before Zahhak. Without a moment's mercy, the tyrant ordered Jamshid to be sawed in two from head to foot, clearing the world of his reign. Thus vanished all his ancient grandeur—the glory of seven hundred years swept away like straw before the wind. Who then can place their heart upon this fleeting abode, which first nurtures man with honey and soft songs, only to betray him with blood and sorrow at the last?