When word reached Turan that King Goshtasp had accepted the newly revealed faith of Zoroaster and bound the sacred girdle, King Arjasp of Turan burned with wrath. Gathering his chieftains and sorcerers, he chose two formidable envoys to ride to the Iranian court: Bidarafsh the Elder, a grim warrior versed in dark sorceries, and Namkhwast, a wicked spellcaster whose heart craved only ruin.
Arjasp composed a mighty epistle, opening with the name of the Sovereign Lord of the Universe who beholds all secrets and manifestations. In this royal letter, Arjasp addressed Goshtasp as the noble son of King Lohrasp and the heir to the glory of Jamshid and Kay Khosrow, acknowledging the unmatched splendour Goshtasp had enjoyed under the heavens. Yet, the letter swiftly turned to bitter reproach: Arjasp lamented how an old sorcerer-deceiver had cast a pall over the world, instilling dread of hell and phantom promises of heaven into Goshtasp’s heart, stripping away his ancestral joy.
Arjasp condemned the Iranian monarch for abandoning the ancient Pahlavi rites of his forebears and turning his back on divine gratitude. Appealing to their former alliance, Arjasp offered an ultimatum disguised as counsel: Goshtasp must unbind the new girdle, banish the deceiver from his court, and return to traditional feast and wine. Should Goshtasp comply, Arjasp promised endless tribute—heaps of gold, precious jewels, swift horses adorned with gem-studded harnesses, and moon-faced maidens—granting Iran dominion over the lands of Turan and Khotan.
Yet, should Goshtasp refuse this advice, Arjasp swore a terrifying oath: he would march at the head of an uncountable Turanian horde that would cause the earth to groan under its weight. They would choke the waters of the Oxus, burn the polished palaces of Iran to dust, and tear up every tree by its roots. The old men of Iran would be put to the sword without mercy, and their women and children carried off in chains into perpetual servitude, leaving the realm of Iran a scorched wasteland.