Upon ascending the golden throne of the Sasanian realm, King Yazdegerd reassembled the scattered armies and summoned the wise mobads, chieftains, and nobles to his royal court. Seated in majesty, he bound the hands of evil and closed the doors of suffering across the land. The monarch delivered profound counsel to his court, warning that envy and greed are deceitful demons that darken the human spirit beyond any physician's cure. He extolled patience and moderation as the supreme crown of intellect and urged all never to burden others by boasting of their own good deeds.
For eighteen years, Yazdegerd governed the world with righteousness and justice, dispatching mighty hosts to every border to shield the realm from foreign aggression. But as eighteen autumns passed and the winter of his mortality drew near, he gathered the sages and leaders before his throne once more. He spoke of the unyielding, swift turn of Fate—a wheel that respects neither crown nor majesty and hunts down all living souls. Sensing his end, he bestowed the crown, signet ring, and treasures of Iran upon his son Hormoz. Though Piruz was older and possessed grand stature, Yazdegerd recognized in Hormoz a deeper measure of tranquility, wisdom, and fitness to rule. A week after declaring his will, King Yazdegerd departed the transient world, leaving behind a mourning throne and a legacy of quiet dignity.