Drenched in blood and weighed down by agony, Rostam returned from his grueling battle against the invulnerable prince Esfandiyar. Upon beholding the champion in such a grievous state, Zal let out an anguished cry, while Rudabeh tore her hair and scratched her cheeks in unbearable sorrow. Zavareh and Faramarz unbuckled Rostam's belt and removed the blood-soaked Babr-e Bayan armor from his frame, as all the healers and sages of Zabolistan gathered outside the palace gates. Zal wept bitter tears, pressing his face against his son's wounds, lamenting that in his old age he must witness such suffering. Yet Rostam urged his father not to despair, declaring that this was the decree of the heavens. He confessed that despite his vast strength—which had once hurled the White Demon to the earth and shattered iron anvils—his arrows and blade had proven utterly powerless against Esfandiyar's mystical armor. Desperate, Rostam pondered fleeing Zabolistan into exile so that Esfandiyar might eventually abandon his vengeance. But the wise, white-haired Zal halted his son's despair, reminding him that every plight on earth has a remedy, save death itself. Zal then declared his intent to summon the legendary Simorgh from her peak on Mount Alborz by burning her sacred feather, trusting that the divine bird would provide a miraculous solution to save Rostam and their ancestral realm.