When King Anushirvan learned of the rebellion ignited by his son Nushzad, he summoned his trusted commander, Ram-Barzin, equipping him with a formidable army to suppress the uprising. Yet the wise king laid down strict mandates of engagement: Ram-Barzin was first to seek peaceful resolution and exercise patience. Capture, stressed the King, was far preferable to execution, in the hope that Nushzad might repent of his treason. For Nushzad was of royal blood—a branch of the free cypress—and his life should not be spilled lightly upon the dust.
However, Anushirvan warned that if the prince held his own noble blood in contempt, raised his sword against the sovereign, and refused to yield, Ram-Barzin was not to withhold the mace or the blade. He who wages war against the King of the World courts his own destruction. Anushirvan grieved that his son had forsaken the ancestral crown to embrace the faith of Caesar and the Messiah, recalling the ancient proverb of Mehrnush, the wool-clad sage: 'Whoever rejoices in the death of his father shall know neither comfort nor longevity.' He reflected upon the fickle turning sky, which yields sweetness one moment and bitterness the next.
Regarding Nushzad's eventual capture, Anushirvan commanded that the prince be treated with dignity. He was not to be humiliated or deprived of his comforts; his own palace was to become his prison, with full access to his treasury, garments, food, and household. But for the Iranian marchlords and nobles who had broken their oaths to join the prince's revolt, Anushirvan decreed total annihilation: Ram-Barzin was to cleave them in two with daggers without hesitation, for any traitor who plots against the crown stems from the seed of Ahriman and belongs in the maw of a dragon.
Finally, the King ordered that any commoner or onlooker who had dared to revile Nushzad or insult the royal dynasty during the unrest should have their tongue branded in public. Though Nushzad had proven foolish and rebellious, he remained of royal lineage, and no subject would be permitted to heap scorn upon the sacred blood of the king.
#1
تو لشکر بیارای و بر ساز جنگ
✦
مدارا کن اندر میان با درنگ
“Array your army and prepare for war, yet act with moderation and exercise patience.”
#2
ور ای دون که تنگ اندر آید سخن
✦
به جنگ اندرون هیچ تندی مکن
“And if it comes to tight words and open strife, show no rash anger in the midst of battle.”
#3
گرفتنش بهتر ز کشتن بود
✦
مگرش از گنه بازگشتن بود
“To capture him is far better than to slay him, peradventure he may turn back from his sin.”
#4
از آبی کزو سرو آزاد رست
✦
سزد گر نباید بدو خاک شست
“From the water that nourished the free cypress, it is not fitting that dust should wash it away.”
#5
وگر خوار گیرد تن ارجمند
✦
به پستی نهد روی سرو بلند
“Yet if he holds his own exalted self in contempt, and casts down the face of the tall cypress to the dust,”
#6
سرش برگراید ز بالین ناز
✦
مدار ایچ ازو گرز و شمشیر باز
“And turns his head away from the pillow of luxury, withhold not the mace and sword from him.”
#7
گرامی که خواری کند آرزوی
✦
نشاید جدا کرد او را ز خوی
“A noble soul that hungers for its own humiliation cannot be severed from its disposition.”
#8
یکی ارجمندی بود کشته خوار
✦
چو با شاه گیتی کند کارزار
“An exalted one becomes ignobly slain when he enters into battle against the King of the World.”
#9
تواز کشتن او مدار ایچ باک
✦
چوخون سرخویش گیرد به خاک
“Have no fear of slaying him if he himself pours the red blood of his head upon the dust.”
#10
سوی کیش قیصر گراید همی
✦
ز دیهیم ما سر بتابدهمی
“He leans toward the faith of Caesar, turning his head away from our royal crown.”
#11
عزیزی بود زار و خوار و نژند
✦
گزیده به شاهی ز چرخ بلند
“A cherished child has become wretched and low, though chosen for sovereignty by the high sphere.”
#12
بدین داستان زد یکی مهرنوش
✦
پرستار با هوش و پشمینه پوش
“Upon this tale, Mehrnush once uttered a proverb—a wise and wool-clad servant:”
#13
که هرکو به مرگ پدر گشت شاد
✦
ورا رامش و زندگانی مباد
“'Whoever rejoices in the death of his father, may he know neither joy nor long life!'”
#14
تو از تیرگی روشنایی مجوی
✦
که با آتش آب اندر آید به جوی
“Seek not light from darkness, for water does not flow along the stream with fire.”
#15
نه آسانیی دید بی رنج کس
✦
که روشن زمانه برینست و بس
“No man has seen ease without suffering, for such is the nature of luminous Time, and no other.”
#16
تو با چرخ گردان مکن دوستی
✦
که‌گه مغز اویی و گه پوستی
“Do not strike up friendship with the turning sky, for at times it is the marrow, and at times the husk.”
#17
چه جویی زکردار او رنگ و بوی
✦
بخواهد ربودن چو به نمود روی
“What color or fragrance do you seek from its deeds, when it will snatch away whatever it presents?”
#18
بدان گه بود بیم رنج و گزند
✦
که گردون گردان برآرد بلند
“The fear of pain and affliction arises precisely when the turning heaven raises a man high.”
#19
سپاهی که هستند با نوش زاد
✦
کجا سر به پیچند چندین ز داد
“As for the army that stands with Nushzad, why should they turn their heads so far from justice?”
#20
تو آن را جز از باد و بازی مدان
✦
گزاف زنان بود و رای بدان
“Consider that to be nothing but wind and folly—the empty talk of women and evil counsel.”
#21
هران کس که ترساست از لشکرش
✦
همی از پی کیش پیچد سرش
“Whoever among his army is Christian, turns his head solely out of devotion to his faith.”
#22
چنینست کیش مسیحا که دم
✦
زنی تیز و گردد کسی زو دژم
“Such is the faith of the Messiah, that if you speak sharply, one becomes aggrieved by it.”
#23
نه پروای رای مسیحابود
✦
به فرجام خصمش چلیپا بود
“They care not for the wisdom of the Messiah; in the end, their enemy shall be the Cross itself.”
#24
دگر هرکه هست از پراگندگان
✦
بدآموز و بدخواه و از بندگان
“As for the rest, the scattered vagrants, bad teachers, malevolent ones, and servants,”
#25
از ایشان یکی برتری رای نیست
✦
دم باد با رای ایشان یکیست
“Not one among them holds a lofty thought; the blowing wind is one with their counsel.”
#26
به جنگ ار گرفته شود نوش‌زاد
✦
برو زین سخنها مکن هیچ یاد
“If Nushzad is taken captive in battle, recall none of these harsh matters to his face.”
#27
که پوشیده رویان او در نهان
✦
سرآرند برخویشتن بر زمان
“Lest his veiled women in secret bring an end to their own lives in despair.”
#28
هم ایوان او ساز زندان اوی
✦
ابا آنک بردند فرمان اوی
“Make his own palace his place of confinement, along with those who obeyed his command.”
#29
در گنج یک سر بدو برمبند
✦
وگرچه چنین خوار شد ارجمند
“Lock not the door of the treasury against him, even though the noble one has thus been humbled.”
#30
ز پوشیده رویان و از خوردنی
✦
ز افگندنی هم ز گستردنی
“In terms of veiled women, food, bedding, and soft carpets,”
#31
برو هیچ تنگی نباید به چیز
✦
نباید که چیزی نیابد به نیز
“He should suffer no scarcity in anything, nor should he fail to receive whatever he desires.”
#32
وزین مرزبانان ایرانیان
✦
هران کس که بستند با او میان
“As for those Iranian marchlords who bound their girdles in alliance with him,”
#33
چو پیروز گردی مپیچان سخن
✦
میانشان به خنجر به دو نیم کن
“When you emerge victorious, mince no words—cleave them in two with the dagger!”
#34
هران کس که او دشمن پادشاست
✦
به کام نهنگش سپاری رواست
“Whoever is an enemy to the Sovereign, it is lawful to yield him up to the dragon's maw.”
#35
جزان هرک ما را به دل دشمنست
✦
ز تخم جفا پیشه آهرمنست
“Furthermore, whoever harbors enmity against us in heart is of the seed of malicious Ahriman.”
#36
ز ما نیکوییها نگیرند یاد
✦
تو را آزمایش بس ازنوش زاد
“They remember no goodness from us; your trial of Nushzad is proof enough for you.”
#37
ز نظاره هرکس که دشنام داد
✦
زبانش بجنبید بر نوش زاد
“Whoever among the onlookers hurled insults and let his tongue wag against Nushzad,”
#38
بران ویژه دشنام ما خواستند
✦
به هنگام بدگفتن آراستند
“Particularly those who aimed their curses at us, preparing themselves for evil speech,”
#39
مباش اندرین نیزهمداستان
✦
که بدخواه راند چنین داستان
“Do not agree with them either, for no ill-wisher should recite such tales.”
#40
گراو بی هنرشد هم ازپشت ماست
✦
دل ما برین راستی برگواست
“Though he proved void of virtue, he is still from our loins; our heart bears witness to this truth.”
#41
زبان کسی کو ببد کرد یاد
✦
وزو بود بیداد برنوش زاد
“The tongue of anyone who spoke ill, and brought injustice upon Nushzad,”
#42
همه داغ کن برسر انجمن
✦
مبادش زبان ومبادش دهن
“Brand it entirely before the assembled court; let him possess neither tongue nor mouth!”
#43
کسی کو بجوید همی روزگار
✦
که تا سست گردد تن شهریار
“Whoever seeks such opportunities, hoping that the monarch's body may grow feeble,”
#44
به کار آورد کژی و دشمنی
✦
بداندیشی و کیش آهرمنی
“And employs deceit, enmity, malice, and the creed of Ahriman,”
#45
بدین پادشاهی نباشد رواست
✦
که فر و سر و افسر و چهر ماست
“Is not fit for this realm, which is our divine glory, head, crown, and countenance!”