
Iran's Refugees Come to Zal
From B6.4, Afrasiab Invades Iran. It illustrates B6.4.12–23 (to B6.4.24):
- B6.4.12Men, women, children all were seized and bound,As captive trains moved over Iran’s ground.
- B6.4.13The Turkish armies spread from plain to hill,And seized Iran beneath their conquering will.
- B6.4.14For Iran’s people all the world grew black,As fortune turned and every hope drew back.
- B6.4.15Such is this transient dwelling: greed will breedBoth grief and pain from every grasping deed.
- B6.4.16At last both good and evil pass away,For death hunts all, and life becomes its prey.
- B6.4.17Two 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.
- B6.4.19Our fortune is disturbed; our hearts know fear,A grievous trial has risen dark and near.
- B6.4.20Alas for Iran, plundered, stripped, forlorn,A den where lions and fierce pards are born.
- B6.4.21Where warrior horsemen once possessed the land,And royal seats of kings in splendor spanned.
- B6.4.22Now sharp-clawed dragon rules where kings once reigned,And all our days with grief and hardship stained.
- B6.4.23Now we must seek a remedy for grief,And free our hearts by finding some relief.
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