When the ancient codex of kings was brought forth, the hook of contemplation was cast deep into the waters of wisdom to weave the sagas of old. Yet when the earlier verses were pondered, they revealed weakness and flaws, proving that noble speech requires a true master of pearls; if a poet’s inner fire flows not like a crystal river, he must not bind his soul to futility nor set an unworthy banquet before the mind. Originally, there existed a chronicle from antiquity, filled with truthful prose and timeless lore, spanning thousands of years without a poet to bind its scattered gems. He who first attempted this sacred work—though he completed but a fraction of its vast battles and banquets before meeting his ill fate—nonetheless laid down the pathway, restoring the forgotten sovereigns to their thrones of memory. Thereafter, this blessed book was embraced with hopeful auguries, enduring twenty long years of silent labor until a true monarch of supreme bounty should arise to honor its grandeur. That moment arrived with the ascension of Sultan Abul Qasim Mahmud, the magnificent ruler whose majesty commands the reverence of the moon and Saturn. By adorning the preface of this epic with his illustrious name, the dark heart of the world was brightened like ivory; for in justice, bravery, and boundless generosity, no sovereign before him ever proved more worthy to wear the royal crown of the Kianians.
#1
چو این نامه افتاد در دست من
✦
به ماهی گراینده شد شست من
“When this chronicle fell into my hands, my hook of mind reached down to the ocean's depths.”
#2
نگه کردم این نظم سست آمدم
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بسی بیت ناتندرست آمدم
“I examined its verses and found them feeble; many a distich was flawed and unrefined.”
#3
من این زان بگفتم که تا شهریار
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بداند سخن گفتن نابکار
“I speak of this so that the sovereign may discern between masterly poetry and inept speech.”
#4
دو گوهر بد این با دو گوهر فروش
✦
کنون شاه دارد به گفتار گوش
“Here were two jewels presented by two merchants of verse; now the King lends his ear to the discourse.”
#5
سخن چون بدین گونه بایدت گفت
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مگو و مکن طبع با رنج جفت
“If speech must be uttered in such a feeble manner, say it not, nor pair your nature with pointless toil.”
#6
چو بند روان بینی و رنج تن
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به کانی که گوهر نیابی مکن
“When you see only the soul's torment and body's toil, labor not in a mine where no jewel can be found.”
#7
چو طبعی نباشد چو آب روان
✦
مبر سوی این نامهٔ خسروان
“Unless your poet’s spirit flows like living water, approach not this magnificent Chronicle of Kings.”
#8
دهن گر بماند ز خوردن تهی
✦
ازان به که ناساز خوانی نهی
“Better for the mouth to remain empty of food than to set forth an unseemly and tasteless banquet.”
#9
یکی نامه بود از گه باستان
✦
سخنهای آن برمنش راستان
“There was a chronicle from ancient times, its tales filled with righteous and truthful lore.”
#10
چو جامی گهر بود و منثور بود
✦
طبایع ز پیوند او دور بود
“It was like a vessel filled with unstrung pearls of prose, remote from the harmony of poetic verse.”
#11
گذشته برو سالیان شش هزار
✦
گر ایدونک پرسش نماید شمار
“Six thousand years had passed over its ancient lore, if one were to compute the stretch of time.”
#12
نبردی به پیوند او کس گمان
✦
پر اندیشه گشت این دل شادمان
“None had dared to weave its prose into verse; at this thought, my joyful heart grew deep in reflection.”
#13
گرفتم به گوینده بر آفرین
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که پیوند را راه داد اندرین
“Yet praise be upon that early narrator who first opened the pathway to verse in this endeavor.”
#14
اگرچه نپیوست جز اندکی
✦
ز رزم و ز بزم از هزاران یکی
“Though he composed but a little—scarce one in a thousand scenes of war and feast.”
#15
همو بود گوینده را راه بر
✦
که بنشاند شاهی ابر گاه‌بر
“He was the guide for the poet who came after, seating the ancient kings upon their glorious thrones.”
#16
همی یافت از مهتران ارج و گنج
✦
ز خوی بد خویش بودی به رنج
“He earned honor and treasure from the great, yet he suffered from the flaws of his own ill temperament.”
#17
ستایندهٔ شهریاران بدی
✦
به کاخ افسر نامداران بدی
“He was a praisesmith of kings, a crown of splendor in the palaces of the renowned.”
#18
به شهر اندرون گشته گشتی سخن
✦
ازو نو شدی روزگار کهن
“His verses circulated through every city, breathing new life into the ancient ages.”
#19
من این نامه فرخ گرفتم به فال
✦
بسی رنج بردم به بسیار سال
“I took up this blessed chronicle as a noble omen and bore immense toil over long and arduous years.”
#20
ندیدم سرافراز بخشنده‌ای
✦
به گاه کیان‌بر درخشنده‌ای
“Yet I saw no generous and exalted patron, shining with the splendor of the ancient Kianian thrones.”
#21
مرا این سخن بر دل آسان نبود
✦
بجز خامشی هیچ درمان نبود
“This plight was not easy upon my heart; I found no remedy save patient silence.”
#22
نشستنگه مردم نیک‌بخت
✦
یکی باغ دیدم سراسر درخت
“I beheld the abode of fortunate men as a garden filled entirely with lush trees.”
#23
به جایی نبد هیچ پیدا درش
✦
بجز نام شاهی نبد افسرش
“But no door was visible anywhere, nor was any crown upon it save the name of a true King.”
#24
که گر در خور باغ بایستمی
✦
اگر نیک بودی بشایستمی
“Had I been worthy of such a garden, and had it been favorable, I would have proven deserving.”
#25
سخن را چو بگذاشتم سال بیست
✦
بدان تا سزاوار این رنج کیست
“I withheld my verse for twenty long years, waiting to see who was worthy of this monumental toil.”
#26
ابوالقاسم آن شهریار جهان
✦
کزو تازه شد تاج شاهنشاهان
“Until Abul-Qasim arose, that lord of the world, by whom the crown of monarchs gained new life.”
#27
جهاندار محمود با فر و جود
✦
که او را کند ماه و کیوان سجود
“The ruler Mahmud, endowed with Divine glory and generosity, to whom the Moon and Saturn bow down.”
#28
سر نامه را نام او تاج گشت
✦
به فرش دل تیره چون عاج گشت
“His name became the imperial crown of this prelude, turning the ivory of a dark heart radiant with joy.”
#29
به بخش و به داد و به رای و هنر
✦
نبد تاج را زو سزاوارتر
“In bounty, justice, wisdom, and virtue, none was more deserving than he to wear the crown.”
#30
بیامد نشست از بر تخت داد
✦
جهاندار چون او ندارد به یاد
“He ascended the throne of justice; the world remembers no monarch comparable to him.”
#31
ز شاهان پیشی همی بگذرد
✦
کسی داستان را همی نشمرد
“He surpasses the ancient kings of old, such that none now needs recount their bygone stories.”
#32
چه دینار بر چشم او بر چه خاک
✦
به رزم و به بزم اندرش نیست باک
“Gold and dust are one in his eyes; in war and in feast, he knows no fear or hesitation.”
#33
گه بزم زر و گه رزم تیغ
✦
ز خواهنده هرگز ندارد دریغ
“In feast he bestows gold, and in war he wields the blade; he never denies the seeker his request.”