When the tides of war turned harsh against King Goshtasp, he turned his back upon the battlefield and fled under the shadow of defeat. For two long stages the Turanian host pursued him relentlessly, seeking to capture the grand monarch of Iran. There loomed before him a rugged mountain, lush with grass, possessing a clear spring and a watermill within its folds. Goshtasp knew well the solitary, secret path that wound up its steep cliffs, and led his exhausted army to its heights for shelter.
King Arjasp of Turan arrived with his overwhelming host, yet though he encircled the peak, he could discover no path to ascend. In bitter resolve, the besiegers locked all four sides in a ring of iron and lit roaring blazes along the stone slopes. Trapped on the high heights with no provisions, the Iranian warriors began slaughtering their own steeds for food, their hearts yielding to complete despair. Seeing his army overwhelmed by calamity, King Goshtasp placed his hand upon his head in sorrow and summoned the wise astrologer Jamasp.
Goshtasp demanded to know what the heavens had decreed: 'Tell me all that you behold in the turning of the stars, conceal nothing! Who shall be our savior in this hour of doom?' Jamasp stood before his sovereign and replied: 'O King of justice, if you will heed my words and trust the motion of the spheres, I shall speak only truth. You know that your brave son Esfandiyar suffers unjustly in iron bonds at Gonbadan Fort due to the slanders of evil men. If the King releases him from his chains, he will not leave you trapped upon this mountain peak.'
Overwhelmed with remorse, Goshtasp confessed: 'My heart was already broken with repentance for binding my innocent son at the banquet. If I behold him here upon this battlefield, I shall surrender to him my crown, my throne, and the Kianian realm! But who among us has the courage to go before that noble prince?' Jamasp stepped forward: 'This mission is mine to fulfill.' Goshtasp blessed his vizier and swore before God (Yazdan) that he would hand over all his royal treasures and throne to Esfandiyar if the prince would forgive his father and smite the enemy host.
Jamasp then clad himself in a Tuzi coat, crowned his head with a two-feathered helmet, and bound a Turkic belt around his waist. Mounting a magnificent steed, he descended the uncharted path alone into the pitch-black night. Fluent in the Turkic tongue, he moved through the dense camps of Arjasp's army, answering their challenges in their own dialect without any discovering his identity. Swift as the wind, the lion-hearted sage passed unscathed through the legions of Turan and reached the gates of Gonbadan Fort.