Zal and Rudabeh · A8.14

Zal Going as an Envoy before Manuchehr

Sahm turns a lifetime of service into a plea for restraint. The dragon episode establishes both his achievement and the bodily cost from which age has not released him.

F&R English · 83 couplets · 9 commentary entries

Parallel text ↓Commentary ↓

The chapter in five texts

Text	Chapter treatment and distinctive choices
F&R English	Eighty-three couplets make Sahm’s service, age and paternal promise into an extended petition, retaining the full dragon story.
Moscow	Pp 201–207 retain the letter; long stretches of the dragon account at pp 203–204 are bracketed.
Mohl	Pp 155–159 supply the full service narrative and the fuller close, including the place notice retained in English.
Ganjoor	Sh15.52–131 has 80 couplets, with a night-to-morning transition condensed at the English departure.
Khaleghi	The letter and service story are consulted within pp 231–237, where apparatus and continuous main text remain distinct.

Parallel text

English left · Persian right. Ganjoor is the reference except where a row names a printed source. Select a number to open the relevant note. G identifiers distinguish digital sections across chapter boundaries.

1–10+

A scribe before them took his ordered place,

While they discussed the matter face to face.

He opened first with praise of God, the Guide:

“He was, He is, and ever shall abide.

From Him come good and evil, what may be;

We all are servants; God alone is He.

Whatever He ordains for all to see,

Directs the turning heavens by decree.

He rules Saturn, sun, and moon on high;

May blessings crown Manuchehr beneath the sky.

In battle, poison no theriac can stay;

In feast, the moon that turns the dark to day.

He wields the gorz and opens conquered lands,

And shares out joy and fortune from his hands.

He bears Fereydoon’s banner through the strife,

And takes the proud war-leopard’s very life.

The wind of his gorz turns a mountain’s crest

To dust beneath the hoof his charger pressed.

His heart brings wolf and sheep to drink as one,

By justice bound beneath a single sun.

نویسنده را پیش بنشاندند

ز هر در سخنها همی راندند

سرنامه کرد آفرین خدای

کجا هست و باشد همیشه به جای

ازویست نیک و بد و هست و نیست

همه بندگانیم و ایزد یکیست

هر آن چیز کو ساخت اندر بوش

بران است چرخ روان را روش

خداوند کیوان و خورشید و ماه

وزو آفرین بر منوچهر شاه

به رزم اندرون زهر تریاک سوز

به بزم اندرون ماه گیتی فروز

گراینده گُرز و گشاینده شهر

ز شادی به هر کس رساننده بهر

کشنده درفش فریدون به جنگ

کشنده سرافراز جنگی پلنگ

ز باد عمود تو کوه بلند

شود خاک نعل سرافشان سمند

همان از دل پاک و پاکیزه کیش

به آبشخور آری همی گرگ و میش

Ganjoor · m15:52-61

11–16+

I am his servant, bowed with age and toil;

Some sixty years I trod this earthly soil.

My hair is white as camphor, pale with age,

The sun and moon have crowned my later stage.

I bound my waist and served in warrior’s place,

And fought the sorcerers face to face.

No rider matched my pace on any field,

No warrior struck as hard and did not yield.

My heavy gorz struck fear in every foe;

No arm in Mazandaran matched its blow.

Had I left no mark upon the world of men,

Proud chiefs would still have held their heads up then.

یکی بنده‌ام من رسیده به جای

به مردی به شَست اندر آورده پای

همی گرد کافور گیرد سرم

چنین کرد خورشید و ماه افسرم

ببستم میان را یکی بنده‌وار

ابا جاودان ساختم کارزار

عنان پیچ و اسپ افگن و گُرزدار

چو من کس ندیدی به گیتی سوار

بشد آب گردان مازندران

چو من دست بردم به گُرز گران

ز من گر نبودی به گیتی نشان

برآورده گردن ز گردن کشان

Ganjoor · m15:62-67

17–29+

A dragon once came from the Kashaf River,

And made the world before its terror shiver.

Its breadth from town to town engulfed the land;

Its height from peak to peak rose vast and grand.

Men kept their watch both day and through the night;

No creature dared remain within its sight.

The sky stood empty; every bird had fled;

No beast remained where once the wild things bred.

Its burning breath consumed the vulture’s flight;

Its venom set the very earth alight.

It dragged the raging water-beast from deep,

And snatched the eagle where the high winds sweep.

The land lay empty, stripped of life and sound;

No man nor beast would linger near that ground.

Then none dared face it; I alone stood fast,

And chose to meet the monster’s fiery blast.

Through Yazdan, Maker, Lord of all the land,

I cast all fear aside and made my stand.

I bound my waist and mounted for the fight,

Upon my elephant-bodied charger’s might.

An ox-head gorz hung ready at my side,

My bow upon my arm, my shield was tied.

I rode against the monster without dread,

My claw was sharp, its deadly breath ahead.

All those who heard that I would face its might

Bade me farewell before I joined the fight.

چنان اژدها کو ز رود کشف

برون آمد و کرد گیتی چو کف

زمین شهر تا شهر پهنای او

همان کوه تا کوه بالای او

جهان را ازو بود دل پر هراس

همی داشتندی شب و روز پاس

هوا پاک دیدم ز پرندگان

همان روی گیتی ز درندگان

ز تفش همی پر کرگس بسوخت

زمین زیر زهرش همی برفروخت

نهنگ دژم بر کشیدی ز آب

به دم درکشیدی ز گردون عقاب

زمین گشت بی‌مردم و چارپای

همه یکسر او را سپردند جای

چو دیدم که اندر جهان کس نبود

که با او همی دست یارست سود

به زور جهاندار یزدان پاک

بیفگندم از دل همه ترس و باک

میان را ببستم به نام بلند

نشستم بران پیل پیکر سمند

به زین اندرون گُرزهٔ گاوسر

به بازو کمان و به گردن سپر

برفتم بسان نهنگ دژم

مرا تیز چنگ و ورا تیز دم

مرا کرد پدرود هرکو شنید

که بر اژدها گُرز خواهم کشید

Ganjoor · m15:68-80

30–40+

From head to tail it rose, a mountain grand;

Its streaming hair trailed like a long kamand.

Its tongue stood forth just like a blackened tree;

Its open jaws were terrible to see.

Its eyes were pools of blood, immense and red;

It saw me, roared, and charged with wrath ahead.

I thought, O Shah, that fire was at my side;

So fierce its burning presence spread out wide.

The world before my eyes became a sea;

Black smoke rose up and veiled the world from me.

Its roar made all earth’s face reel to and fro;

Its venom turned the ground to Chin’s dark flow.

I roared in answer like a lion bold,

And did not wait though terror took its hold.

I set a khadang, diamond at its head,

And drew the bow until the shaft was sped.

I drove the shaft to sew one side in place;

Its tongue protruded, fixed across its face.

A second arrow struck its mouth and tore;

It twisted, writhing from the wound it bore.

A third shaft struck the center of its maw;

A stream of liver-blood ran red and raw.

ز سر تا به دمش چو کوه بلند

کشان موی سر بر زمین چون کمند

زبانش بسان درختی سیاه

ز فر باز کرده فگنده به راه

چو دو آبگیرش پر از خون دو چشم

مرا دید غرید و آمد به خشم

گمانی چنان بردم ای شهریار

که دارم مگر آتش اندر کنار

جهان پیش چشمم چو دریا نمود

به ابر سیه بر شده تیره دود

ز بانگش بلرزید روی زمین

ز زهرش زمین شد چو دریای چین

برو بر زدم بانگ برسان شیر

چنان چون بود کار مرد دلیر

یکی تیر الماس پیکان خدنگ

به چرخ اندرون راندم بی‌درنگ

چو شد دوخته یک کران از دهانش

بماند از شگفتی به بیرون زبانش

هم اندر زمان دیگری همچنان

زدم بر دهانش بپیچید ازان

سدیگر زدم بر میان زفرش

برآمد همی جوی خون از جگرش

Ganjoor · m15:81-91

41–49+

It pressed me hard and narrowed all the ground;

I drew my ox-head gorz of vengeance round.

Through Yazdan’s strength I drove my charger on,

And swung my gorz until the beast was gone.

I struck its head; the heavens seemed to rain

A mountain down upon the monster’s brain.

Its skull broke like a worn-out elephant’s head;

Its poison poured like Nile waters running red.

One blow I struck; it fell and could not rise;

Its brains lay scattered under mountain skies.

The Kashaf River filled with blood and gall;

The earth found rest and sleep once more for all.

The land was freed; the people gathered near,

And blessed my name now rid of mortal fear.

Men watched that battle throughout all the land,

And saw the monstrous dragon fall by my hand.

They called me Sahm of One Blow for that fight;

The world cast gems before me in delight.

چو تنگ اندر آورد با من زمین

برآهختم این گاوسر گُرز کین

به نیروی یزدان گیهان خدای

برانگیختم پیلتن را ز جای

زدم بر سرش گُرزهٔ گاو چهر

برو کوه بارید گفتی سپهر

شکستم سرش چون تن ژنده پیل

فرو ریخت زو زهر چون رود نیل

به زخمی چنان شد که دیگر نخاست

ز مغزش زمین گشت باکوه راست

کشف رود پر خون و زرداب شد

زمین جای آرامش و خواب شد

همه کوهساران پر از مرد و زن

همی آفرین خواندندی بمن

جهانی بران جنگ نظاره بود

که آن اژدها زشت پتیاره بود

مرا سام یک زخم ازان خواندند

جهان زر و گوهر برافشاندند

Ganjoor · m15:92-100

50–58+

I left the fight, my shining body bare;

My famed jowshan lay broken past repair.

My charger’s armor also fell away;

That poison left me stricken many a day.

For years that country yielded nothing green,

But burned and bitter thorns, a barren scene.

To tell that my wars with Divs would extend

This letter far beyond a fitting end.

In every other venture that I led,

I brought the proud chiefs’ heads beneath my tread.

Wherever pranced my charger in the fray,

The raging lion cleared my horse’s way.

For years the saddle’s back has been my throne,

My horse the very earth that I have known.

My gorz subdued the lands beneath your reign;

Mazandaran, Gorgasaran domain.

I sought no gain but served your crown and name,

To bring you honor, triumph, strength, and fame.

چو زو بازگشتم تن روشنم

برهنه شد از نامور جوشنم

فرو ریخت از باره برگستوان

وزین هست هر چند رانم زیان

بران بوم تا سالیان بر نبود

جز از سوخته خار خاور نبود

چنین و جزین هر چه بودیم رای

سران را سرآوردمی زیر پای

کجا من چمانیدمی بادپای

بپرداختی شیر درنده جای

کنون چند سالست تا پشت زین

مرا تختگاه است و اسپم زمین

همه گرگساران و مازنداران

به تو راست کردم به گُرز گران

نکردم زمانی برو بوم یاد

ترا خواستم راد و پیروز و شاد

Ganjoor · m15:101-108

59–68+

But now my strength of old has slipped away;

My back is bent, my beard and temples gray.

The lofty mane I raised in former years,

The gorz-stroke once so feared, no more appears.

Once I could cast a kamand far and wide;

Now age has stooped my frame and dimmed my pride.

So now the warrior’s turn to Zal has passed;

To him I give my belt and gorz held fast.

Like me, he shall diminish every foe;

His deeds will make your royal gladness grow.

He comes to ask the wish his heart has kept,

A secret hope within his breast has slept.

His wish is good in Yazdan’s judgment still,

For every good lies under Yazdan’s will.

We acted not without our sovereign’s leave;

No servant may his lord’s command deceive.

You know the vow I made before your sight,

When first I brought him down from Alborz’s height.

That I would not deny what he would seek;

Now he has come to me his wish to speak.

کنون این برافراخته یال من

همان زخم کوبنده کوپال من

بدان هم که بودی نماند همی

بر و گردگاهم خماند همی

کمندی بینداخت از دست شست

زمانه مرا باژگونه ببست

سپردیم نوبت کنون زال را

که شاید کمربند و کوپال را

یکی آرزو دارد اندر نهان

بیاید بخواهد ز شاه جهان

یکی آرزو کان به یزدان نکوست

کجا نیکویی زیر فرمان اوست

نکردیم بی‌رای شاه بزرگ

که بنده نباید که باشد سترگ

همانا که با زال پیمان من

شنیدست شاه جهان‌بان من

که از رای او سر نپیچم به هیچ

درین روزها کرد زی من بسیچ

Ganjoor · m15:109-117

69–80+

He came before me, blood upon his face,

His bones seemed split and shattered out of place.

He says it would be better far to fall

Than strike at Kabul and bring death to all.

Yet one reared far apart, on wild crags grown,

Might lose his wits when such a face is shown,

A moon in Kabul, radiant and fair,

A slender cypress crowned with flowers rare.

If such a bird-reared man should lose his mind,

The Shah should take no vengeance of this kind.

His suffering has reached so hard a state,

Whoever sees him pities now his fate.

Though innocent, he bore such grief and woe;

Therefore my pledge remains, as you well know.

I send him now, his heart oppressed by care,

To seek your royal judgment, just and fair.

When he stands present at your royal seat,

Do what a sovereign judges right and meet.

I need not teach the wisdom of your reign;

To counsel such a Shah brings him no gain.

He is my only son beneath the sun,

My comfort and my aid till life is done.

From Sahm Nariman to the world’s great king,

A thousand blessings on his chiefs I bring.”

به پیش من آمد پر از خون رخان

همی چاک چاک آمدش ز استخوان

مرا گفت بردار آمل کنی

سزاتر که آهنگ کابل کنی

چو پروردهٔ مرغ باشد به کوه

نشانی شده در میان گروه

چنان ماه بیند به کابلستان

چو سرو سهی بر سرش گلستان

چو دیوانه گردد نباشد شگفت

ازو شاه را کین نباید گرفت

کنون رنج مهرش به جایی رسید

که بخشایش آرد هر آن کش بدید

ز بس درد کو دید بر بی‌گناه

چنان رفت پیمان که بشنید شاه

گسی کردمش با دلی مستمند

چو آید به نزدیک تخت بلند

همان کن که با مهتری در خورد

ترا خود نیاموخت باید خرد

Ganjoor · m15:118-126

81–83+

When all was written, every word made right,

Zal took the letter and prepared for flight.

He mounted as the karnay’s summons rang;

Toward the Shah his warrior escort sprang.

Then Zal departed Kabul on his way;

Sahm One Blow in the garden chose to stay.

چو نامه نوشتند و شد رای راست

ستد زود دستان و بر پای خاست

چو خورشید سر سوی خاور نهاد

نخفت و نیاسود تا بامداد

چو آن جامه‌ها سوده بفگند شب

سپیده بخندید و بگشاد لب

بیامد به زین اندر آورد پای

برآمد خروشیدن کره نای

به سوی شهنشاه بنهاد روی

ابا نامهٔ سام آزاده خوی

Ganjoor · m15:127-131

Narrative and poetic form

The English’s length is narratively justified: martial service establishes the speaker’s claim, damage establishes its cost, and the son establishes what is now at stake. The geographical seam and explicit witnessing remain local qualifications, not reasons to dismiss the whole petition.

Couplet commentary

Quoted text · evidence · interpretation

1–10Royal praise defines the standard being invoked

1–10

A scribe before them took his ordered place,

While they discussed the matter face to face.

He opened first with praise of God, the Guide:

“He was, He is, and ever shall abide.

From Him come good and evil, what may be;

We all are servants; God alone is He.

Whatever He ordains for all to see,

Directs the turning heavens by decree.

He rules Saturn, sun, and moon on high;

May blessings crown Manuchehr beneath the sky.

In battle, poison no theriac can stay;

In feast, the moon that turns the dark to day.

He wields the gorz and opens conquered lands,

And shares out joy and fortune from his hands.

He bears Fereydoon’s banner through the strife,

And takes the proud war-leopard’s very life.

The wind of his gorz turns a mountain’s crest

To dust beneath the hoof his charger pressed.

His heart brings wolf and sheep to drink as one,

By justice bound beneath a single sun.

نویسنده را پیش بنشاندند

ز هر در سخنها همی راندند

سرنامه کرد آفرین خدای

کجا هست و باشد همیشه به جای

ازویست نیک و بد و هست و نیست

همه بندگانیم و ایزد یکیست

هر آن چیز کو ساخت اندر بوش

بران است چرخ روان را روش

خداوند کیوان و خورشید و ماه

وزو آفرین بر منوچهر شاه

به رزم اندرون زهر تریاک سوز

به بزم اندرون ماه گیتی فروز

گراینده گُرز و گشاینده شهر

ز شادی به هر کس رساننده بهر

کشنده درفش فریدون به جنگ

کشنده سرافراز جنگی پلنگ

ز باد عمود تو کوه بلند

شود خاک نعل سرافشان سمند

همان از دل پاک و پاکیزه کیش

به آبشخور آری همی گرگ و میش

Ganjoor · m15:52-61

Textual evidence

The letter praises the Creator, royal valor and generosity, then the ruler who brings wolf and sheep to one watering place.

Interpretation

The pastoral image sets an ethical standard for the Shah who has just ordered a lineage destroyed. The English preserves the traditional pairing of battle-poison and feast-moon without reducing either to modern literal description.

Return to parallel text

11–16Aging service gives the plea standing

11–16

I am his servant, bowed with age and toil;

Some sixty years I trod this earthly soil.

My hair is white as camphor, pale with age,

The sun and moon have crowned my later stage.

I bound my waist and served in warrior’s place,

And fought the sorcerers face to face.

No rider matched my pace on any field,

No warrior struck as hard and did not yield.

My heavy gorz struck fear in every foe;

No arm in Mazandaran matched its blow.

Had I left no mark upon the world of men,

Proud chiefs would still have held their heads up then.

یکی بنده‌ام من رسیده به جای

به مردی به شَست اندر آورده پای

همی گرد کافور گیرد سرم

چنین کرد خورشید و ماه افسرم

ببستم میان را یکی بنده‌وار

ابا جاودان ساختم کارزار

عنان پیچ و اسپ افگن و گُرزدار

چو من کس ندیدی به گیتی سوار

بشد آب گردان مازندران

چو من دست بردم به گُرز گران

ز من گر نبودی به گیتی نشان

برآورده گردن ز گردن کشان

Ganjoor · m15:62-67

Textual evidence

Sahm says he has reached sixty, recalls his riding and campaigns and the proud heads he has lowered.

Interpretation

The English’s “some sixty” suits the letter’s life-stage rhetoric. It should not be forced into a precise chronology by reconciling every age and reign-length elsewhere in the epic. White hair now signifies ordinary age, in pointed contrast with the son’s birth feature.

Return to parallel text

17–29The Kashaf dragon empties a whole habitat

17–29

A dragon once came from the Kashaf River,

And made the world before its terror shiver.

Its breadth from town to town engulfed the land;

Its height from peak to peak rose vast and grand.

Men kept their watch both day and through the night;

No creature dared remain within its sight.

The sky stood empty; every bird had fled;

No beast remained where once the wild things bred.

Its burning breath consumed the vulture’s flight;

Its venom set the very earth alight.

It dragged the raging water-beast from deep,

And snatched the eagle where the high winds sweep.

The land lay empty, stripped of life and sound;

No man nor beast would linger near that ground.

Then none dared face it; I alone stood fast,

And chose to meet the monster’s fiery blast.

Through Yazdan, Maker, Lord of all the land,

I cast all fear aside and made my stand.

I bound my waist and mounted for the fight,

Upon my elephant-bodied charger’s might.

An ox-head gorz hung ready at my side,

My bow upon my arm, my shield was tied.

I rode against the monster without dread,

My claw was sharp, its deadly breath ahead.

All those who heard that I would face its might

Bade me farewell before I joined the fight.

چنان اژدها کو ز رود کشف

برون آمد و کرد گیتی چو کف

زمین شهر تا شهر پهنای او

همان کوه تا کوه بالای او

جهان را ازو بود دل پر هراس

همی داشتندی شب و روز پاس

هوا پاک دیدم ز پرندگان

همان روی گیتی ز درندگان

ز تفش همی پر کرگس بسوخت

زمین زیر زهرش همی برفروخت

نهنگ دژم بر کشیدی ز آب

به دم درکشیدی ز گردون عقاب

زمین گشت بی‌مردم و چارپای

همه یکسر او را سپردند جای

چو دیدم که اندر جهان کس نبود

که با او همی دست یارست سود

به زور جهاندار یزدان پاک

بیفگندم از دل همه ترس و باک

میان را ببستم به نام بلند

نشستم بران پیل پیکر سمند

به زین اندرون گُرزهٔ گاوسر

به بازو کمان و به گردن سپر

برفتم بسان نهنگ دژم

مرا تیز چنگ و ورا تیز دم

مرا کرد پدرود هرکو شنید

که بر اژدها گُرز خواهم کشید

Ganjoor · m15:68-80

Textual evidence

The beast drives off birds, beasts and humans, burns a vulture and draws water-creature and eagle into danger. Sahm arms and advances after receiving farewells.

Interpretation

The English preserves the scale through absence as well as size: the inhabited world becomes empty. Nahang is rendered here as water-beast, a useful way to retain the dangerous aquatic creature without forcing a single modern species onto the whole poem.

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30–40A monster described before it is wounded

30–40

From head to tail it rose, a mountain grand;

Its streaming hair trailed like a long kamand.

Its tongue stood forth just like a blackened tree;

Its open jaws were terrible to see.

Its eyes were pools of blood, immense and red;

It saw me, roared, and charged with wrath ahead.

I thought, O Shah, that fire was at my side;

So fierce its burning presence spread out wide.

The world before my eyes became a sea;

Black smoke rose up and veiled the world from me.

Its roar made all earth’s face reel to and fro;

Its venom turned the ground to Chin’s dark flow.

I roared in answer like a lion bold,

And did not wait though terror took its hold.

I set a khadang, diamond at its head,

And drew the bow until the shaft was sped.

I drove the shaft to sew one side in place;

Its tongue protruded, fixed across its face.

A second arrow struck its mouth and tore;

It twisted, writhing from the wound it bore.

A third shaft struck the center of its maw;

A stream of liver-blood ran red and raw.

ز سر تا به دمش چو کوه بلند

کشان موی سر بر زمین چون کمند

زبانش بسان درختی سیاه

ز فر باز کرده فگنده به راه

چو دو آبگیرش پر از خون دو چشم

مرا دید غرید و آمد به خشم

گمانی چنان بردم ای شهریار

که دارم مگر آتش اندر کنار

جهان پیش چشمم چو دریا نمود

به ابر سیه بر شده تیره دود

ز بانگش بلرزید روی زمین

ز زهرش زمین شد چو دریای چین

برو بر زدم بانگ برسان شیر

چنان چون بود کار مرد دلیر

یکی تیر الماس پیکان خدنگ

به چرخ اندرون راندم بی‌درنگ

چو شد دوخته یک کران از دهانش

بماند از شگفتی به بیرون زبانش

هم اندر زمان دیگری همچنان

زدم بر دهانش بپیچید ازان

سدیگر زدم بر میان زفرش

برآمد همی جوی خون از جگرش

Ganjoor · m15:81-91

Textual evidence

Hair, black-tree tongue, blood-pool eyes, smoke, poison and roar precede three arrows into the mouth. Ganjoor 86 explicitly likens the poisoned earth to the sea of Chin.

Interpretation

English “Chin’s dark flow” condenses that particular geographical simile; it is not a reference to pitch manufacture invented by the commentary. The three distinct arrows prepare the decisive blow rather than contradicting the epithet One Blow.

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41–49One Blow names the finishing stroke

41–49

It pressed me hard and narrowed all the ground;

I drew my ox-head gorz of vengeance round.

Through Yazdan’s strength I drove my charger on,

And swung my gorz until the beast was gone.

I struck its head; the heavens seemed to rain

A mountain down upon the monster’s brain.

Its skull broke like a worn-out elephant’s head;

Its poison poured like Nile waters running red.

One blow I struck; it fell and could not rise;

Its brains lay scattered under mountain skies.

The Kashaf River filled with blood and gall;

The earth found rest and sleep once more for all.

The land was freed; the people gathered near,

And blessed my name now rid of mortal fear.

Men watched that battle throughout all the land,

And saw the monstrous dragon fall by my hand.

They called me Sahm of One Blow for that fight;

The world cast gems before me in delight.

چو تنگ اندر آورد با من زمین

برآهختم این گاوسر گُرز کین

به نیروی یزدان گیهان خدای

برانگیختم پیلتن را ز جای

زدم بر سرش گُرزهٔ گاو چهر

برو کوه بارید گفتی سپهر

شکستم سرش چون تن ژنده پیل

فرو ریخت زو زهر چون رود نیل

به زخمی چنان شد که دیگر نخاست

ز مغزش زمین گشت باکوه راست

کشف رود پر خون و زرداب شد

زمین جای آرامش و خواب شد

همه کوهساران پر از مرد و زن

همی آفرین خواندندی بمن

جهانی بران جنگ نظاره بود

که آن اژدها زشت پتیاره بود

مرا سام یک زخم ازان خواندند

جهان زر و گوهر برافشاندند

Ganjoor · m15:92-100

Textual evidence

Sahm closes with the ox-head mace, shatters the skull, fills the river with blood and gall and gains the name One Blow.

Interpretation

The English correctly retains the prior arrows. The epithet records the decisive mace-stroke in the story’s explanation, not a mathematical assertion that he used only one weapon or made one movement.

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50–58Victory has lasting physical costs

50–58

I left the fight, my shining body bare;

My famed jowshan lay broken past repair.

My charger’s armor also fell away;

That poison left me stricken many a day.

For years that country yielded nothing green,

But burned and bitter thorns, a barren scene.

To tell that my wars with Divs would extend

This letter far beyond a fitting end.

In every other venture that I led,

I brought the proud chiefs’ heads beneath my tread.

Wherever pranced my charger in the fray,

The raging lion cleared my horse’s way.

For years the saddle’s back has been my throne,

My horse the very earth that I have known.

My gorz subdued the lands beneath your reign;

Mazandaran, Gorgasaran domain.

I sought no gain but served your crown and name,

To bring you honor, triumph, strength, and fame.

چو زو بازگشتم تن روشنم

برهنه شد از نامور جوشنم

فرو ریخت از باره برگستوان

وزین هست هر چند رانم زیان

بران بوم تا سالیان بر نبود

جز از سوخته خار خاور نبود

چنین و جزین هر چه بودیم رای

سران را سرآوردمی زیر پای

کجا من چمانیدمی بادپای

بپرداختی شیر درنده جای

کنون چند سالست تا پشت زین

مرا تختگاه است و اسپم زمین

همه گرگساران و مازنداران

به تو راست کردم به گُرز گران

نکردم زمانی برو بوم یاد

ترا خواستم راد و پیروز و شاد

Ganjoor · m15:101-108

Textual evidence

Armor falls away, poison injures the survivor and the land remains sterile except for scorched thorns. The service history then resumes.

Interpretation

The English gives the dragon-slayer a damaged body rather than effortless invulnerability. This aftermath matters to the later request: the king’s servant is old and used up, not merely boasting to secure an indulgence.

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59–68Succession and a promise enter the letterKnown promise made an explicit witnessed promise

59–68

But now my strength of old has slipped away;

My back is bent, my beard and temples gray.

The lofty mane I raised in former years,

The gorz-stroke once so feared, no more appears.

Once I could cast a kamand far and wide;

Now age has stooped my frame and dimmed my pride.

So now the warrior’s turn to Zal has passed;

To him I give my belt and gorz held fast.

Like me, he shall diminish every foe;

His deeds will make your royal gladness grow.

He comes to ask the wish his heart has kept,

A secret hope within his breast has slept.

His wish is good in Yazdan’s judgment still,

For every good lies under Yazdan’s will.

We acted not without our sovereign’s leave;

No servant may his lord’s command deceive.

You know the vow I made before your sight,

When first I brought him down from Alborz’s height.

That I would not deny what he would seek;

Now he has come to me his wish to speak.

کنون این برافراخته یال من

همان زخم کوبنده کوپال من

بدان هم که بودی نماند همی

بر و گردگاهم خماند همی

کمندی بینداخت از دست شست

زمانه مرا باژگونه ببست

سپردیم نوبت کنون زال را

که شاید کمربند و کوپال را

یکی آرزو دارد اندر نهان

بیاید بخواهد ز شاه جهان

یکی آرزو کان به یزدان نکوست

کجا نیکویی زیر فرمان اوست

نکردیم بی‌رای شاه بزرگ

که بنده نباید که باشد سترگ

همانا که با زال پیمان من

شنیدست شاه جهان‌بان من

که از رای او سر نپیچم به هیچ

درین روزها کرد زی من بسیچ

Ganjoor · m15:109-117

Textual evidence

Age bends the champion; he passes the turn to Zal and recalls the wish and paternal pledge. Ganjoor says the Shah has heard the promise. English 67’s “before your sight” makes witnessing more explicit than that wording.

Interpretation

The English’s ceremonial idiom intensifies public accountability, but a known promise and an eyewitness promise are not identical evidence. The central political point survives: Sahm is explaining an obligation already familiar to the sovereign.

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69–80Pity becomes a sovereign argument

69–80

He came before me, blood upon his face,

His bones seemed split and shattered out of place.

He says it would be better far to fall

Than strike at Kabul and bring death to all.

Yet one reared far apart, on wild crags grown,

Might lose his wits when such a face is shown,

A moon in Kabul, radiant and fair,

A slender cypress crowned with flowers rare.

If such a bird-reared man should lose his mind,

The Shah should take no vengeance of this kind.

His suffering has reached so hard a state,

Whoever sees him pities now his fate.

Though innocent, he bore such grief and woe;

Therefore my pledge remains, as you well know.

I send him now, his heart oppressed by care,

To seek your royal judgment, just and fair.

When he stands present at your royal seat,

Do what a sovereign judges right and meet.

I need not teach the wisdom of your reign;

To counsel such a Shah brings him no gain.

He is my only son beneath the sun,

My comfort and my aid till life is done.

From Sahm Nariman to the world’s great king,

A thousand blessings on his chiefs I bring.”

به پیش من آمد پر از خون رخان

همی چاک چاک آمدش ز استخوان

مرا گفت بردار آمل کنی

سزاتر که آهنگ کابل کنی

چو پروردهٔ مرغ باشد به کوه

نشانی شده در میان گروه

چنان ماه بیند به کابلستان

چو سرو سهی بر سرش گلستان

چو دیوانه گردد نباشد شگفت

ازو شاه را کین نباید گرفت

کنون رنج مهرش به جایی رسید

که بخشایش آرد هر آن کش بدید

ز بس درد کو دید بر بی‌گناه

چنان رفت پیمان که بشنید شاه

گسی کردمش با دلی مستمند

چو آید به نزدیک تخت بلند

همان کن که با مهتری در خورد

ترا خود نیاموخت باید خرد

Ganjoor · m15:118-126

Textual evidence

The son’s torn body imagery and choice of death over Kabul’s ruin are followed by his fosterage, love, innocence and the appeal to kingly judgment. Mohl pp 158–159 adds the sole-son and closing blessing material.

Interpretation

The English lets Sahm use the very fosterage he had mocked as a reason for compassion. The closing deference is diplomatic: he asks the Shah to act according to his own best office rather than claiming to instruct him from above.

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81–83A departure with a fuller-tradition seamCompressed interval; transmitted place seam

81–83

When all was written, every word made right,

Zal took the letter and prepared for flight.

He mounted as the karnay’s summons rang;

Toward the Shah his warrior escort sprang.

Then Zal departed Kabul on his way;

Sahm One Blow in the garden chose to stay.

چو نامه نوشتند و شد رای راست

ستد زود دستان و بر پای خاست

چو خورشید سر سوی خاور نهاد

نخفت و نیاسود تا بامداد

چو آن جامه‌ها سوده بفگند شب

سپیده بخندید و بگشاد لب

بیامد به زین اندر آورد پای

برآمد خروشیدن کره نای

به سوی شهنشاه بنهاد روی

ابا نامهٔ سام آزاده خوی

Ganjoor · m15:127-131

Textual evidence

Ganjoor gives a sleepless night and the morning departure. English compresses that interval. Its final Kabul/garden notice has fuller support in Mohl p 158, although Zal has just been speaking at his father’s camp.

Interpretation

The commentary leaves the narrative seam visible. A printed place-name supports the English reading without proving that the preceding itinerary is geographically seamless. No otherwise unreported journey is invented to remove the tension.

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The chapter in five texts

Parallel text

Narrative and poetic form

Couplet commentary

Chapter source record