Darkness hung heavily over the house of Zal. Rudabeh, heartbroken by the death of her heroic son, turned her tear-streaked face to Zal the White-haired and wept, proclaiming that as long as the world had been lit by the sun, never had so dark a day fallen upon mortal eyes. Zal, striving to anchor her in wisdom, counseled her that starving and weeping would not ease the agony or restore the dead. But Rudabeh grew wild with grief and swore a holy oath that her body would never again taste food or know sleep, praying that her soul might depart her flesh to join her elephant-bodied champion in the halls of the beyond.
For a full week she abstained from all sustenance, holding silent, agonizing communion in her heart with Rostam's spirit. Under the ordeal of starvation, her bright eyes grew dim and her delicate body withered to a thread. Concerned for her safety, her maidservants shadowed her every step, until by the week's end, agony drove reason entirely from her mind, transforming her mourning into a terrifying delirium.
At the hour of sleep, she wandered blindly into the garden and spotted a dead snake coiled in the water channel. Delirious with hunger and madness, she reached down, snatched the serpent by its coiled head, and prepared to consume it. Terrified, her handmaids rushed forward, snatched the dead serpent from her grip, and wrapped their arms around her. They carried her away from that unclean spot back to her high hall, laying out a bountiful table of rich food. In her maddened state, she ate ravenously until satisfied, whereupon her servants laid out soft bedding for her rest.
When her senses cleared and true consciousness returned, she turned to Zal and admitted that his words had been born of profound wisdom—for whoever abandons food and sleep loses the light of reason and confounds grief with madness. Accepting the divine decree, she declared that Rostam had departed and they must eventually follow, placing their faith in the justice of the Creator of the World. She unearthed her secret treasures and bestowed them upon the poor, lifting her voice in devout prayer to Yazdan, begging the Supreme Lord of all realms to cleanse Tahamtan's soul of sin, seat him in the eternal gardens of Paradise, and grant him the harvest of the noble seeds he had sown upon the earth.