In the glorious court of King Noshin-Ravan (Khosrow Anushirvan), assembly was routinely kept with the wisest priests, eloquent physicians, and battle-hardened commanders. Among them stood Borzouy, a master physician endowed with vast learning. One day, he presented himself before the King and disclosed a profound secret read in Indian codices: upon the high mountains of India grew a wondrous herb which, when gathered by a discerning master and sprinkled over the dead, would instantly restore life and speech to the departed. Borzouy sought the monarch's leave to travel east and bring forth this marvelous potion. King Anushirvan granted his wish, bestowing three hundred camel-loads of gold, brocade, and precious gems alongside a royal letter addressed to the Ray of India.
Upon arriving in Kannauj, Borzouy unveiled the Persian treasure and presented the King's letter. The Ray of India welcomed him warmly, opening his kingdom's resources and assigning his finest scholars to assist the Persian physician. Side by side with the sages of India, Borzouy traversed the rugged mountains on foot, gathering every herb—dry and fresh, vibrant and withered—and scattering them over corpses. Yet not a single body stirred; the magic potion yielded no life. Distressed, ashamed of the spent royal treasure, and crushed by failure, Borzouy asked the local sages if an older, wiser teacher dwelt among them. They guided him to an ancient Indian philosopher.
Borzouy poured out his heart to the sage, detailing his fruitless search. The venerable philosopher smiled and unveiled the true allegory: "The herb is none other than the eloquent word of Knowledge; the mountain is Wisdom in all its majestic majesty; and the dead body is the ignorant man, devoid of understanding! An unlearned man is as one dead, while Knowledge grants eternal life." He revealed that this life-giving elixir was contained within a revered manuscript titled 'Kalilah and Dimnah', locked under seal within the Ray's royal treasury. Overjoyed, Borzouy rushed back to the Ray and requested permission to study the book. The Ray reluctantly agreed to let him read it inside the treasury. Day after day, Borzouy memorized chapters, secretly transcribing them into Pahlavi by night and dispatching them to Iran until the entirety of the work reached Anushirvan.
Returning home in triumph, Borzouy presented the treasury of wisdom to Anushirvan, who declared that the book had brought new life to his soul. The King offered Borzouy the keys to the royal vaults to take whatever riches he desired. Refusing all gold and silver, Borzouy asked only for a single royal robe and a solemn request: that when the grand vizier Bozorgmehr compiled the master volume, the opening chapter be dedicated to Borzouy's quest so his labor would be remembered forever. Anushirvan granted the wish, and Bozorgmehr inscribed Borzouy's story at the head of the Pahlavi text. The epic then recounts the grand passage of this wisdom through time: translated into Arabic during the Caliphate, then rendered into Dari Persian by minister Balami during the reign of Samanid King Nasr, and finally woven into immortal Persian verse by the great poet Rudaki, ensuring its light shines across all generations.