In the ancient city of Babylon, as a sudden and fatal ailment seized Alexander, the mighty conqueror realized that his earthly reign was drawing to its inescapable close. Calling forth his experienced scribe, he laid bare the innermost dictates of his heart. He commanded a solemn letter to be written to his mother, reminding her that no mortal can escape the inevitable grasp of death, nor lengthen the thread of life once time has run its course. He urged her to forgo bitter grief, for death is the universal fate of kings and sages alike.
Alexander detailed how he had divided the realms of Iran among local chieftains (Muluk al-Tawa'if) to ensure that Rome would suffer no harm and require no further conquests, thus preserving peace. He willed that his mortal remains be laid to rest in the soil of Egypt and that a hundred thousand dinars be distributed annually from his vast treasury to the needy and his kin. Concerning his wife Roshanak, he instructed that if she gave birth to a son, the child should inherit the crown of Rome; if a daughter, she should be wed into the noble lineage of Philip and cherished as her own child.
For the princess, the daughter of King Kayd of India, he commanded that she be returned safely to her homeland with all the crowns, jewels, gold, silver, and retinue she had brought with her. Finally, he dictated the precise crafting of his golden sarcophagus—sealed with pitch, scented with camphor, musk, and ambergris, and filled with golden honey beneath fine Chinese silk to preserve his body. With a final plea for his mother to pray to Yazdan for his soul, the sealed letter was dispatched by swift couriers on fast steeds from Babylon to Rome, signaling the dimming of his imperial glory.