Zal and Rudabeh · A8.6

Zal Seeks Counsel

Zal turns private desire into a public argument about marriage, continuity and lawful conduct. The council’s silence reveals how ancestry can obstruct an otherwise acceptable act.

F&R English · 52 couplets · 6 commentary entries

Parallel text ↓Commentary ↓

The chapter in five texts

Text	Chapter treatment and distinctive choices
F&R English	Fifty-two couplets make Zal’s marriage argument and the petition procedure accessible while condensing some theological and conditional wording.
Moscow	Pp 174–177 carry the counsel and its political caution, with local brackets in the longer speeches.
Mohl	Pp 136–138 retain the fuller doctrinal and dynastic argument before the letter.
Ganjoor	Sh10.1–53 supplies this chapter; the Tablet-and-Pen couplet is shown separately because the English does not render it explicitly.
Khaleghi	The counsel is consulted within pp 200–205, including the main-text/apparatus distinction around fuller statements.

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.

1–7+

When morning’s sunlight crowned the mountain height,

The warriors gathered round him, armed and bright.

They took their leave and went upon their way,

And Zal remained behind at break of day.

Then Zal dispatched a caller through the land,

To summon learned elders to his hand.

The wise Dastur came, with Mobadan acclaim,

And lofty warriors, chiefs of honored name.

Men keen of mind, in counsel deep and sound,

Well pleased to stand where wisdom might be found.

Zal opened speech, a smile upon his face,

His heart rejoicing as he took his place.

He first gave praise to God, whose laws run deep,

And woke the Mobad’s heart from inward sleep:

چو خورشید تابان برآمد ز کوه

برفتند گردان همه همگروه

بدیدند مر پهلوان را پگاه

وزان جایگه برگرفتند راه

سپهبد فرستاد خواننده را

که خواند بزرگان داننده را

چو دستور فرزانه با موبدان

سرافراز گردان و فرخ ردان

به شادی بر پهلوان آمدند

خردمند و روشن روان آمدند

زبان تیز بگشاد دستان سام

لبی پر ز خنده دلی شادکام

نخست آفرین جهاندار کرد

دل موبد از خواب بیدار کرد

Ganjoor · m10:1-7

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

بدانگه که لوح آفرید و قلم

بزد بر همه بودنیها رقم

Ganjoor m10:16 · Tablet and Pen; no separate English couplet

8–14+

“Let every heart with fear and hope attend

The righteous Judge on whom all lives depend,

Yazdan of sun and moon and circling sky,

Who guides the soul and knows where secrets lie.

Praise Him as fully as our tongues know how,

And let us humbly ever to Him bow.

By Him this flourishing world is kept in place;

In both worlds justice issues from His grace.

He decks the spring with blossoms bright and new,

Brings summer’s fruit and autumn’s golden hue.

From Him comes youth with fragrance, strength, and bloom,

From Him comes age with sorrow’s shadowed gloom.

No creature dares transgress the law He planned;

Without His leave no ant may cross the sand.

چنین گفت کز داور راد و پاک

دل ما پر امید و ترس است و باک

به بخشایش امید و ترس از گناه

به فرمانها ژرف کردن نگاه

ستودن مراو را چنان چون توان

شب و روز بودن به پیشش نوان

خداوند گردنده خورشید و ماه

روان را به نیکی نماینده راه

بدویست گیهان خرم به پای

همو داد و داور به هر دو سرای

بهار آرد و تیرماه و خزان

برآرد پر از میوه دار رزان

جوان داردش گاه با رنگ و بوی

گهش پیر بینی دژم کرده روی

ز فرمان و رایش کسی نگذرد

پی مور بی او زمین نسپرد

Ganjoor · m10:8-15

15–23+

He made increase through pairs by wise decree;

From one alone no growth can come to be.

There is no partner to His sovereign will,

Yet all creation moves in union still.

Without this bond, no life could ripen true,

Nor could the world its hidden powers renew.

By humankind the world is richly graced;

Through man the worth of every good is traced.

No youthful man stands rightly in God’s way

If from a fitting mate he turns away.

Still less should one from an illustrious line

Remain without a child to bear its sign.

What sight is finer in the eyes of men

Than sons to bless their fading years again?

At life’s last turn, a second dawn they gain,

In sons through whom their memory shall remain:

‘This is the son of Zal, of Sahm the great’;

Thus line and crown endure beyond their fate.

جهان را فزایش ز جفت آفرید

که از یک فزونی نیاید پدید

ز چرخ بلند اندر آمد سخن

سراسر همین است گیتی ز بن

زمانه به مردم شد آراسته

وزو ارج گیرد همی خواسته

اگر نیستی جفت اندر جهان

بماندی توانای اندر نهان

و دیگر که مایه ز دین خدای

ندیدم که ماندی جوان را بجای

بویژه که باشد ز تخم بزرگ

چو بی‌جفت باشد بماند سترگ

چه نیکوتر از پهلوان جوان

که گردد به فرزند روشن روان

چو هنگام رفتن فراز آیدش

به فرزند نو روز بازآیدش

به گیتی بماند ز فرزند نام

که این پور زالست و آن پور سام

بدو گردد آراسته تاج و تخت

ازان رفته نام و بدین مانده بخت

Ganjoor · m10:17-26

24–33+

This tale is now the garden that is mine;

Its rose and narcissus before me shine.

My heart has fled from me, my reason too;

I stand confessed and seek a path from you.

I kept this grief in silence till today;

Now tell me what can cure it, show the way.

The house of Mehrab has ensnared my heart;

His land seems heaven; I cannot depart.

His daughter, born of Sindokht, holds my soul;

Her image governs me beyond control.

Now tell me plainly: what do you advise?

Will Sahm approve, or anger fill his eyes?

If Shah Manuchehr learns what I intend,

Will he condemn the path that I defend?

For all men wed according to the law,

By faith and custom none should find a flaw.

No wise man bars what honor would allow,

Nor calls forbidden what the laws avow.

Speak then, you seers; declare what must be done;

Let wisdom guide me where my path should run.”

کنون این همه داستان منست

گل و نرگس بوستان منست

که از من رمیدست صبر و خرد

بگویید کاین را چه اندر خورد

نگفتم من این تا نگشتم غمی

به مغز و خرد در نیامد کمی

همه کاخ مهراب مهر منست

زمینش چو گردان سپهر منست

دلم گشت با دخت سیندخت رام

چه گوینده باشد بدین رام سام

شود رام گویی منوچهر شاه

جوانی گمانی برد یا گناه

چه مهتر چه کهتر چو شد جفت جوی

سوی دین و آیین نهادست روی

بدین در خردمند را جنگ نیست

که هم راه دینست و هم ننگ نیست

چه گوید کنون موبد پیش بین

چه دانید فرزانگان اندرین

Ganjoor · m10:27-35

34–42+

They heard. And silence held them in its chain,

For Zahhak’s blood in Mehrab did remain,

And Manuchehr detested that dark line;

No man dared speak where peril gave a sign.

No man had heard sweet nectar mixed with bane,

Or sugar joined with poison in one grain.

With no reply, Zal’s blood began to boil;

He shaped a fresh design to end the toil:

“I know you frown upon the path I tread,

And censure follows; this I know, and dread.

Yet he who chooses must endure the blame;

No man escapes the judgment or the name.

But if you show a path both clear and wise,

And help me from this tangle to the prize,

Then never subjects serving any king

Received such gifts as I to you shall bring.

My justice, kindness, bounty all shall flow,

And neither fear nor harm shall lay you low.”

ببستند لب موبدان و ردان

سخن بسته شد بر لب بخردان

که ضحاک مهراب را بد نیا

دل شاه ازیشان پر از کیمیا

گشاده سخن کس نیارست گفت

که نشنید کس نوش با نیش جفت

چو نشنید از ایشان سپهبد سخن

بجوشید و رای نو افگند بن

که دانم که چون این پژوهش کنید

بدین رای بر من نکوهش کنید

ولیکن هر آنکو بود پر منش

بباید شنیدن بسی سرزنش

مرا اندرین گر نمایش کنید

وزین بند راه گشایش کنید

به جای شما آن کنم در جهان

که با کهتران کس نکرد از مهان

ز خوبی و از نیکی و راستی

ز بد ناورم بر شما کاستی

Ganjoor · m10:36-44

43–52+

The trusty Mobadan gathered to reply,

And sought the words that might his heart satisfy:

“We are your servants, yours to guide and lead,

We stand in wonder, ready at your need.

What good or harm may follow none can say;

No mortal sees what lies beyond today.

Though Mehrab stands beneath your rank and place,

He is a mighty warrior, known for grace,

Though sprung from Zahhak’s dragon-rooted line,

He rules the Tazis with a kingly sign.

Write now to Sahm; let him weigh your request,

And set before him all that suits it best.

Your wisdom far exceeds what we have known;

Your judgment reaches farther than our own.

Then Sahm may write the Shah and make it plain,

And seek his judgment on what you would gain.

The king will trust in Sahm’s far-seeing view;

Through him the path may open clear and true.

Thus may the barrier fall, the danger cease,

And what seems peril now be turned to peace.”

همه موبدان پاسخ آراستند

همه کام و آرام او خواستند

که ما مر ترا یک به یک بنده‌ایم

نه از بس شگفتی سرافگنده‌ایم

ابا آنکه مهراب ازین پایه نیست

بزرگست و گرد و سبک مایه نیست

بدانست کز گوهر اژدهاست

و گر چند بر تازیان پادشاست

اگر شاه رابد نگردد گمان

نباشد ازو ننگ بر دودمان

یکی نامه باید سوی پهلوان

چنان چون تو دانی به روشن روان

ترا خود خرد زان ما بیشتر

روان و گمانت به اندیشتر

مگر کو یکی نامه نزدیک شاه

فرستد کند رای او را نگاه

منوچهر هم رای سام سوار

نپردازد از ره بدین مایه کار

Ganjoor · m10:45-53

Narrative and poetic form

The English succeeds in presenting a reasoned petition rather than a sudden demand. The scholarly note preserves the limits: lawful marriage alone does not settle hostile ancestry, and a conditional path is not yet an authorization.

Couplet commentary

Quoted text · evidence · interpretation

1–7From night meeting to daylight counsel

1–7

When morning’s sunlight crowned the mountain height,

The warriors gathered round him, armed and bright.

They took their leave and went upon their way,

And Zal remained behind at break of day.

Then Zal dispatched a caller through the land,

To summon learned elders to his hand.

The wise Dastur came, with Mobadan acclaim,

And lofty warriors, chiefs of honored name.

Men keen of mind, in counsel deep and sound,

Well pleased to stand where wisdom might be found.

Zal opened speech, a smile upon his face,

His heart rejoicing as he took his place.

He first gave praise to God, whose laws run deep,

And woke the Mobad’s heart from inward sleep:

چو خورشید تابان برآمد ز کوه

برفتند گردان همه همگروه

بدیدند مر پهلوان را پگاه

وزان جایگه برگرفتند راه

سپهبد فرستاد خواننده را

که خواند بزرگان داننده را

چو دستور فرزانه با موبدان

سرافراز گردان و فرخ ردان

به شادی بر پهلوان آمدند

خردمند و روشن روان آمدند

زبان تیز بگشاد دستان سام

لبی پر ز خنده دلی شادکام

نخست آفرین جهاندار کرد

دل موبد از خواب بیدار کرد

Ganjoor · m10:1-7

Textual evidence

The warriors’ morning departure precedes a summons to wise men, Dastur, Mobads and chiefs. Zal begins with praise of the Creator.

Interpretation

The English preserves the change of forum. An encounter conducted in secrecy now requires a case that others can hear and carry to higher authority.

Return to parallel text

8–14Dependence expressed through ordered creation

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

بدانگه که لوح آفرید و قلم

بزد بر همه بودنیها رقم

Ganjoor m10:16 · Tablet and Pen; no separate English couplet

8–14

“Let every heart with fear and hope attend

The righteous Judge on whom all lives depend,

Yazdan of sun and moon and circling sky,

Who guides the soul and knows where secrets lie.

Praise Him as fully as our tongues know how,

And let us humbly ever to Him bow.

By Him this flourishing world is kept in place;

In both worlds justice issues from His grace.

He decks the spring with blossoms bright and new,

Brings summer’s fruit and autumn’s golden hue.

From Him comes youth with fragrance, strength, and bloom,

From Him comes age with sorrow’s shadowed gloom.

No creature dares transgress the law He planned;

Without His leave no ant may cross the sand.

چنین گفت کز داور راد و پاک

دل ما پر امید و ترس است و باک

به بخشایش امید و ترس از گناه

به فرمانها ژرف کردن نگاه

ستودن مراو را چنان چون توان

شب و روز بودن به پیشش نوان

خداوند گردنده خورشید و ماه

روان را به نیکی نماینده راه

بدویست گیهان خرم به پای

همو داد و داور به هر دو سرای

بهار آرد و تیرماه و خزان

برآرد پر از میوه دار رزان

جوان داردش گاه با رنگ و بوی

گهش پیر بینی دژم کرده روی

ز فرمان و رایش کسی نگذرد

پی مور بی او زمین نسپرد

Ganjoor · m10:8-15

Textual evidence

The prayer moves through hope, fear, praise, the two worlds, seasons and the ant unable to step without divine permission. Ganjoor’s following Tablet-and-Pen couplet has no separate English counterpart and is displayed as source-only.

Interpretation

English reorders the sun-and-moon address and condenses the moral vocabulary. The source-only image makes the predestination strand visible without pretending that the ant image or a later monotheistic statement translates the missing Tablet and Pen.

Return to parallel text

15–23Pairing becomes an argument for succession

15–23

He made increase through pairs by wise decree;

From one alone no growth can come to be.

There is no partner to His sovereign will,

Yet all creation moves in union still.

Without this bond, no life could ripen true,

Nor could the world its hidden powers renew.

By humankind the world is richly graced;

Through man the worth of every good is traced.

No youthful man stands rightly in God’s way

If from a fitting mate he turns away.

Still less should one from an illustrious line

Remain without a child to bear its sign.

What sight is finer in the eyes of men

Than sons to bless their fading years again?

At life’s last turn, a second dawn they gain,

In sons through whom their memory shall remain:

‘This is the son of Zal, of Sahm the great’;

Thus line and crown endure beyond their fate.

جهان را فزایش ز جفت آفرید

که از یک فزونی نیاید پدید

ز چرخ بلند اندر آمد سخن

سراسر همین است گیتی ز بن

زمانه به مردم شد آراسته

وزو ارج گیرد همی خواسته

اگر نیستی جفت اندر جهان

بماندی توانای اندر نهان

و دیگر که مایه ز دین خدای

ندیدم که ماندی جوان را بجای

بویژه که باشد ز تخم بزرگ

چو بی‌جفت باشد بماند سترگ

چه نیکوتر از پهلوان جوان

که گردد به فرزند روشن روان

چو هنگام رفتن فراز آیدش

به فرزند نو روز بازآیدش

به گیتی بماند ز فرزند نام

که این پور زالست و آن پور سام

بدو گردد آراسته تاج و تخت

ازان رفته نام و بدین مانده بخت

Ganjoor · m10:17-26

Textual evidence

The Persian moves from increase through pairs to human society, a fitting union, illustrious ancestry and renewed life through a child. English 16 states that God has no partner; this is not the wording of Ganjoor’s Tablet-and-Pen couplet.

Interpretation

The argument’s purpose is practical: a lawful marriage sustains a lineage. The unpaired Creator and paired creation form an intelligible theological elaboration in the English, but it should not be counted as a literal match to an unrelated Persian image.

Return to parallel text

24–33The general argument becomes a personal petition

24–33

This tale is now the garden that is mine;

Its rose and narcissus before me shine.

My heart has fled from me, my reason too;

I stand confessed and seek a path from you.

I kept this grief in silence till today;

Now tell me what can cure it, show the way.

The house of Mehrab has ensnared my heart;

His land seems heaven; I cannot depart.

His daughter, born of Sindokht, holds my soul;

Her image governs me beyond control.

Now tell me plainly: what do you advise?

Will Sahm approve, or anger fill his eyes?

If Shah Manuchehr learns what I intend,

Will he condemn the path that I defend?

For all men wed according to the law,

By faith and custom none should find a flaw.

No wise man bars what honor would allow,

Nor calls forbidden what the laws avow.

Speak then, you seers; declare what must be done;

Let wisdom guide me where my path should run.”

کنون این همه داستان منست

گل و نرگس بوستان منست

که از من رمیدست صبر و خرد

بگویید کاین را چه اندر خورد

نگفتم من این تا نگشتم غمی

به مغز و خرد در نیامد کمی

همه کاخ مهراب مهر منست

زمینش چو گردان سپهر منست

دلم گشت با دخت سیندخت رام

چه گوینده باشد بدین رام سام

شود رام گویی منوچهر شاه

جوانی گمانی برد یا گناه

چه مهتر چه کهتر چو شد جفت جوی

سوی دین و آیین نهادست روی

بدین در خردمند را جنگ نیست

که هم راه دینست و هم ننگ نیست

چه گوید کنون موبد پیش بین

چه دانید فرزانگان اندرین

Ganjoor · m10:27-35

Textual evidence

Zal identifies the story as his own garden, names Sindokht’s daughter and asks whether Sahm and Manuchehr will approve.

Interpretation

The English preserves his logic: the union is ordinary in law and custom, yet extraordinary because of this family. His description of marriage is an interested plea, not a demonstration that political objections have already been answered.

Return to parallel text

34–42Silence is political, not lack of understanding

34–42

They heard. And silence held them in its chain,

For Zahhak’s blood in Mehrab did remain,

And Manuchehr detested that dark line;

No man dared speak where peril gave a sign.

No man had heard sweet nectar mixed with bane,

Or sugar joined with poison in one grain.

With no reply, Zal’s blood began to boil;

He shaped a fresh design to end the toil:

“I know you frown upon the path I tread,

And censure follows; this I know, and dread.

Yet he who chooses must endure the blame;

No man escapes the judgment or the name.

But if you show a path both clear and wise,

And help me from this tangle to the prize,

Then never subjects serving any king

Received such gifts as I to you shall bring.

My justice, kindness, bounty all shall flow,

And neither fear nor harm shall lay you low.”

ببستند لب موبدان و ردان

سخن بسته شد بر لب بخردان

که ضحاک مهراب را بد نیا

دل شاه ازیشان پر از کیمیا

گشاده سخن کس نیارست گفت

که نشنید کس نوش با نیش جفت

چو نشنید از ایشان سپهبد سخن

بجوشید و رای نو افگند بن

که دانم که چون این پژوهش کنید

بدین رای بر من نکوهش کنید

ولیکن هر آنکو بود پر منش

بباید شنیدن بسی سرزنش

مرا اندرین گر نمایش کنید

وزین بند راه گشایش کنید

به جای شما آن کنم در جهان

که با کهتران کس نکرد از مهان

ز خوبی و از نیکی و راستی

ز بد ناورم بر شما کاستی

Ganjoor · m10:36-44

Textual evidence

The council fears Zahhak’s ancestry and the Shah’s hostility. Zal recognizes blame, asks for a way out and offers exceptional reward and protection.

Interpretation

The English allows impatience and persuasion to coexist. The wise men deliberate under a powerful patron’s pressure, so their eventual compliments should not be cited as detached proof that every aspect of his reasoning is beyond criticism.

Return to parallel text

43–52A procedural route around an inherited barrier

43–52

The trusty Mobadan gathered to reply,

And sought the words that might his heart satisfy:

“We are your servants, yours to guide and lead,

We stand in wonder, ready at your need.

What good or harm may follow none can say;

No mortal sees what lies beyond today.

Though Mehrab stands beneath your rank and place,

He is a mighty warrior, known for grace,

Though sprung from Zahhak’s dragon-rooted line,

He rules the Tazis with a kingly sign.

Write now to Sahm; let him weigh your request,

And set before him all that suits it best.

Your wisdom far exceeds what we have known;

Your judgment reaches farther than our own.

Then Sahm may write the Shah and make it plain,

And seek his judgment on what you would gain.

The king will trust in Sahm’s far-seeing view;

Through him the path may open clear and true.

Thus may the barrier fall, the danger cease,

And what seems peril now be turned to peace.”

همه موبدان پاسخ آراستند

همه کام و آرام او خواستند

که ما مر ترا یک به یک بنده‌ایم

نه از بس شگفتی سرافگنده‌ایم

ابا آنکه مهراب ازین پایه نیست

بزرگست و گرد و سبک مایه نیست

بدانست کز گوهر اژدهاست

و گر چند بر تازیان پادشاست

اگر شاه رابد نگردد گمان

نباشد ازو ننگ بر دودمان

یکی نامه باید سوی پهلوان

چنان چون تو دانی به روشن روان

ترا خود خرد زان ما بیشتر

روان و گمانت به اندیشتر

مگر کو یکی نامه نزدیک شاه

فرستد کند رای او را نگاه

منوچهر هم رای سام سوار

نپردازد از ره بدین مایه کار

Ganjoor · m10:45-53

Textual evidence

The council acknowledges Mehrab’s worth despite lower standing and dragon ancestry, proposes a letter to Sahm and anticipates a further petition to the Shah. Ganjoor 49 explicitly makes freedom from family disgrace conditional on the Shah’s not suspecting harm.

Interpretation

The English makes the chain of authority particularly clear. Its smoother ending absorbs the conditional into the diplomatic proposal; the note preserves that the council has found a route to judgment, not a guarantee of approval.

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Chapter source record

English original ↗ Ganjoor m10 ↗ Moscow p 174 ↗ Moscow p 175 ↗ Moscow p 176 ↗ Moscow p 177 ↗ Mohl p 136 ↗ Mohl p 137 ↗ Mohl p 138 ↗ Khaleghi p 200 ↗ Khaleghi p 201 ↗ Khaleghi p 202 ↗ Khaleghi p 203 ↗ Khaleghi p 204 ↗ Khaleghi p 205 ↗