Upon surviving the infernal fight with the dragon, Esfandiyar camped by a flowing stream, leaving Gurgsar consumed with bitter sorrow at the prince's miraculous escape from death. The royal pavilions were raised, and as the army gathered around, Esfandiyar ordered rich goblets of wine to be served in praise of the Almighty Creator. He then summoned the chained Gurgsar to his side, offered him three goblets of royal wine, and scoffed at the monster he had just slain, demanding to know what peril lay ahead.
Gurgsar warned the prince of the Fourth Stage: a terrible sorceress known as the Ghul, who could turn vast deserts into roaring oceans and cast her dark enchantments up to the realm of the sun, ensnaring all brave youths who dared enter her path. He urged Esfandiyar to turn back lest his glory be stained in dishonor. Yet Esfandiyar scorned the warning, declaring that through the grace of the One God, he would crush the treacherous craft of all sorcerers beneath his heel.
As dawn crested the horizon and painted the land in shimmering light, Esfandiyar entrusted the main host to his faithful brother Peshotan. Taking only a lute and a golden goblet filled with wine, the bronze-bodied champion rode out alone. He came upon a forest so wondrous it seemed a corner of Paradise—studded with wild roses, cooled by streams flowing like rosewater, and shaded by trees so thick the sun could not pierce the canopy. Dismounting beside a tranquil spring, Esfandiyar drank his wine and struck the strings of his lute, singing a mournful song of his arduous fate: how he had known only lions and dragons rather than the sweet embrace of a fair maiden.
The enchanting sound of his voice reached the ears of the sorceress. Recognizing a royal victim, the hideous, wrinkled witch cast her dark spells, transforming her withered form into a breathtaking maiden of Turkic beauty, adorned with fragrant black hair and Chinese silk. She emerged from the shadow of the woods and sat softly beside Esfandiyar. Believing his prayers had been answered by Divine Providence, the prince praised God and offered her the golden goblet.
Yet Esfandiyar carried a weapon of holy power—a sacred steel chain forged in Paradise, brought by the prophet Zoroaster to King Goshtasp, who had bound it upon his son's arm. Swift as thought, Esfandiyar cast the heavenly chain around her neck. Deprived of her wicked glamour, the witch shifted into a roaring lion to break free, but Esfandiyar drew his sharp blade, warning her that no mountain of iron could save her. Bound by the sacred chain, she collapsed back into her true shape: a foul, black-skinned hag with hair white as snow. With a single strike of his dagger, Esfandiyar cleaved her head from her shoulders.
Instantly, a pitch-black tempest arose, veiling the sun and moon in murky gloom. Esfandiyar mounted a high ridge and let out a roar like thunder to guide his army. Peshotan arrived with the troops, beholding the dead sorceress and hailing Esfandiyar's divine victory, while Gurgsar's heart burned with bitter fury as the champion conquered yet another trial.