As the cycle of years turned over the realm of Iran, a holy and miraculous tree took root upon the earth—a tree whose leaves were golden counsel and whose fruit was pure wisdom. In that blessed hour appeared the holy prophet Zardosht, radiant of tread, who shattered the darkness of Ahriman. He presented himself before Goshtasp, the Kianian monarch, declaring: 'I am the prophet of the Creator of the World, sent to guide thy steps through the divine light of wisdom. Behold the vault of the heavens and the firm expanse of the earth, uplifted without pillar, water, or soil. If thou acknowledgest the supreme Architect of this cosmos, embrace His Good Religion, for power and majesty devoid of faith are but hollow dust.'
When King Goshtasp heard these cosmic truths, his heart was illuminated by the heavenly realm, and he gladly accepted the rites of the Good Religion. His lion-hearted brother Zarir, who could bring down raging war-elephants upon the battlefield, likewise bowed before the divine mandate. In those days, the aged King Lohrasp dwelt in Balkh, afflicted by severe sickness and weariness of spirit; all the renowned physicians of the realm had failed to bring him relief. Prophet Zardosht proclaimed that upon embracing the holy faith, Lohrasp would be cleansed of all pain. Thus, the old monarch, along with the grandees, mobads, and champions of the realm, bound the sacred Kusti girdle around their loins and converted to the faith. Instantly, the divine radiance of the Royal Glory (Farrah) shone forth, evil thoughts vanished from the hearts of men, sacred tombs were flooded with celestial light, and all bloodlines were purified from corruption.
Ascending his throne with renewed divine grace, King Goshtasp dispatched mobads across the provinces to raise vaulted domes over the holy fires. He established the sublime fire temple of Azar Mehrebarzin and, before its sacred portals in Kashmar, planted a sapling of the noble Cypress brought directly from Paradise. Upon the trunk of this towering cypress, Goshtasp inscribed the grand covenant: that the King of the Kians had accepted the Good Religion, establishing the paradise tree as a living witness to divine justice.
As years passed, the Cypress of Kashmar grew tremendously vast, its trunk so thick that no lasso could circle its circumference. Over its sweeping canopy, Goshtasp commissioned a magnificent golden palace—forty cubits in height and forty in breadth—constructed without mud or mortar, featuring golden halls, silver floors, and soil perfumed with ambergris. Upon its jewel-encrusted walls were painted the glorious likenesses of King Jamshid worshipping the sun and moon, and King Fereydun bearing his famed ox-headed mace, alongside all the ancient sovereigns. Enclosing this gold and gem-adorned palace within a formidable iron fortress, the King of the Earth took his seat and issued decrees across the continents: commanding all lords and champions to walk on foot to the sacred Cypress of Kashmar, abandon the idols of China, and gird themselves with the sacred Kusti in allegiance to the divine faith.