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Iran's Refugees Come to Zal

Iran's Refugees Come to Zal

From B6.4, Afrasiab Invades Iran. It illustrates B6.4.12–23 (to B6.4.24):

  • B6.4.12
    Men, women, children all were seized and bound,As captive trains moved over Iran’s ground.
  • B6.4.13
    The Turkish armies spread from plain to hill,And seized Iran beneath their conquering will.
  • B6.4.14
    For Iran’s people all the world grew black,As fortune turned and every hope drew back.
  • B6.4.15
    Such is this transient dwelling: greed will breedBoth grief and pain from every grasping deed.
  • B6.4.16
    At last both good and evil pass away,For death hunts all, and life becomes its prey.
  • B6.4.17
    Two portions of the people Zabul sought,And came to Zal with grief and terror fraught.
  • B6.4.18
    “Be refuge now; Kay Kavus’s farr is lost,For Iran stands abandoned to the cost.
  • B6.4.19
    Our fortune is disturbed; our hearts know fear,A grievous trial has risen dark and near.
  • B6.4.20
    Alas for Iran, plundered, stripped, forlorn,A den where lions and fierce pards are born.
  • B6.4.21
    Where warrior horsemen once possessed the land,And royal seats of kings in splendor spanned.
  • B6.4.22
    Now sharp-clawed dragon rules where kings once reigned,And all our days with grief and hardship stained.
  • B6.4.23
    Now we must seek a remedy for grief,And free our hearts by finding some relief.

In the picture

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