Rostam’s Beginnings · A9.1

A Hero Is Born

The promised hero arrives through a crisis of maternal survival. The foster-mother who once preserved Zal now supplies knowledge that allows mother and child to live.

F&R English · 97 couplets · 13 commentary entries

Parallel text ↓Commentary ↓

The chapter in five texts

Text	Chapter treatment and distinctive choices
F&R English	Ninety-seven couplets preserve distress, instruction, survival, maternal naming, effigy and growth, with fuller celebration and some local expansions.
Moscow	Pp 235–242 retain the birth and growth. Selected descriptive and letter passages are bracketed, while the extraordinary delivery remains part of the narrative.
Mohl	Pp 175–179 give the fuller sequence, including the one-day/year comparison and expanded celebration.
Ganjoor	Sh25 has 41 and sh26 49 couplets, total 90. One preparation transition is displayed as source-only.
Khaleghi	Pp 265–270 retain birth, intervention, naming, image and growth, with local alternative and additional wording in the apparatus.

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.

1–9+

Not long thereafter, that noble cypress bore

The fruit that fate had promised long before.

Her heart-bright spring began to fade away;

To grief and suffering her heart gave way.

So vast the burden, so severe her woe,

That blood instead of tears began to flow.

Her belly swelled; her body heavy grew,

Her arghavan-red face turned saffron hue.

Sindokht drew near and said with anxious tone,

“My child, what grief has made your spirit groan?”

Rudabeh said: “I raise my ceaseless cry,

My lips spread wide with anguish as I lie.

Sleepless and withered, scarcely still alive,

I seem a living corpse that must survive.

My hour has come, yet there is no release;

My body burns; my pain will never cease.

My skin seems filled with stone from flesh to bone;

Within there seems to lie cold iron alone.”

بسی برنیامد برین روزگار

که آزاده سرو اندر آمد به بار

بهار دل افروز پژمرده شد

دلش را غم و رنج بسپرده شد

شکم گشت فربه و تن شد گران

شد آن ارغوانی رخش زعفران

بدو گفت مادر که ای جان مام

چه بودت که گشتی چنین زرد فام

چنین داد پاسخ که من روز و شب

همی برگشایم به فریاد لب

همانا زمان آمدستم فراز

وزین بار بردن نیابم جواز

تو گویی به سنگستم آگنده پوست

و گر آهنست آنکه نیز اندروست

Ganjoor · m25:1-7

10–17+

Until the hour of birth came on her fast,

She needed sleep and rest from anguish past.

At last she swooned; loud cries filled all the hall,

And from the house of Dastan rose the call.

Sindokht tore out her perfumed raven hair,

And struck her face in helpless, wild despair.

At once the news was carried straight to Zal:

“The leaf has withered on your cypress tall.”

With tears he came, his heart undone with dread,

And reached the couch where she lay, all but dead.

The women tore their hair with heads laid bare,

Their faces wet with tears of black despair.

Then suddenly a thought came to his mind:

The Simorgh’s plume he once had left behind.

His pain grew lighter; hope returned instead,

He smiled and gave Sindokht good news ahead.

چنین تا گه زادن آمد فراز

به خواب و به آرام بودش نیاز

چنان بد که یک روز ازو رفت هوش

از ایوان دستان برآمد خروش

خروشید سیندخت و بشخود روی

بکند آن سیه گیسوی مشک بوی

یکایک بدستان رسید آگهی

که پژمرده شد برگ سرو سهی

به بالین رودابه شد زال زر

پر از آب رخسار و خسته جگر

همان پر سیمرغش آمد به یاد

بخندید و سیندخت را مژده داد

Ganjoor · m25:8-13

18–22+

A brazier blazed beneath his anxious stare;

He burned the Simorgh’s feather in its flare.

At once the sky grew dark before their sight;

The sovereign bird descended from the height.

She came like cloud whose rain was coral red,

Soul-soothing coral through the heavens spread.

Zal praised the sovereign bird, and reverent, bowed

Before her as she settled from the cloud.

She said: “Why weep, O lion strong and wise?

Why do such tears fall from your mighty eyes?

یکی مجمر آورد و آتش فروخت

وزآن پر سیمرغ لختی بسوخت

هم اندر زمان تیره گون شد هوا

پدید آمد آن مرغ فرمان روا

چو ابری که بارانش مرجان بود

چه مرجان که آرایش جان بود

برو کرد زال آفرین دراز

ستودش فراوان و بردش نماز

چنین گفت با زال کین غم چراست

به چشم هژبر اندرون نم چراست

Ganjoor · m25:14-18

23–29+

From this fair cypress, silver-bodied, bright,

A male lion shall rise, renowned in might.

The lion shall kiss dust beneath his tread;

No cloud shall dare pass over his proud head.

His cry shall tear the battle-leopard’s hide;

It gnaws its claws and shrinks in fear aside.

Each warrior hearing his great gorz’s roar,

Who sees his chest, his arms, his mane in war,

Shall feel his heart leap from its place in fear,

Though steel-chewing in battle he appear.

In place and bearing Sahm himself shall show;

In wrath, a battle-lion against the foe.

A cypress tall, an elephant in might,

His battle-spear shall fly for two mil in flight.

کزین سرو سیمین بر ماه‌روی

یکی نره شیر آید و نامجوی

که خاک پی او ببوسد هژبر

نیارد گذشتن به سر برش ابر

از آواز او چرم جنگی پلنگ

شود چاک چاک و بخاید دو چنگ

هران گرد کاواز کوپال اوی

ببیند بر و بازوی و یال اوی

ز آواز او اندر آید ز پای

دل مرد جنگی برآید ز جای

به جای خرد سام سنگی بود

به خشم اندرون شیر جنگی بود

به بالای سرو و به نیروی پیل

به آورد خشت افگند بر دو میل

Ganjoor · m25:19-25

30–35+

He shall not take the common path of birth;

The Maker has ordained another road to earth.

Bring forth a water-tempered khanjar keen,

And one most wise and skilled in arts unseen.

First make the moon-faced mother drunk with wine,

And drive out fear and worry for a time.

Cut through the flank of that tall cypress deep;

She shall not feel the blade within her sleep.

Then draw the lion from its casket free;

The moon’s whole flank shall bleed for all to see.

Then stitch together where the blade has cut;

Let fear and grief from every heart be shut.

نیاید به گیتی ز راه زهش

به فرمان دادار نیکی دهش

بیاور یکی خنجر آبگون

یکی مرد بینادل پرفسون

نخستین به می ماه را مست کن

ز دل بیم و اندیشه را پست کن

بکافد تهیگاه سرو سهی

نباشد مر او را ز درد آگهی

وزو بچهٔ شیر بیرون کشد

همه پهلوی ماه در خون کشد

وز آن پس بدوز آن کجا کرد چاک

ز دل دور کن ترس و تیمار و باک

Ganjoor · m25:26-31

36–42+

Take now these herbs and grind them to a paste;

With milk and musk prepare them without haste.

Dry them in shade, and where the wound lies deep,

Lay on the salve, and bind it firm to keep.

Then shall her strength return, her color rise,

And health bloom fresh again before your eyes.

Then pass across the wound one plume of mine;

Beneath my farr its shadow shines divine.

Be joyful in this matter, free from fear;

Give thanks before the Maker of the sphere.

For He bestowed this royal tree on you,

Whose fortune blossoms daily, green and new.

So let no grief remain within your heart;

Your fruitful branch has borne its promised part.”

گیاهی که گویمت با شیر و مشک

بکوب و بکن هر سه در سایه خشک

بساو و برآلای بر خستگیش

ببینی همان روز پیوستگیش

بدو مال ازان پس یکی پر من

خجسته بود سایهٔ فر من

ترا زین سخن شاد باید بدن

به پیش جهاندار باید شدن

که او دادت این خسروانی درخت

که هر روز نو بشکفاندش بخت

بدین کار دل هیچ غمگین مدار

که شاخ برومندت آمد به بار

Ganjoor · m25:32-37

43–46+

She spoke, then plucked a feather from her wing,

And rose aloft through heaven’s circling ring.

The Simorgh left; Zal took the plume she gave,

And followed every counsel, calm and brave.

A whole world watched the work with wounded soul,

With eyes blood-filled as fear possessed them whole.

Sindokht wept blood and cried in helpless fear:

“How shall the child emerge alive from here?”

بگفت و یکی پر ز بازو بکند

فگند و به پرواز بر شد بلند

بشد زال و آن پر او برگرفت

برفت و بکرد آنچه گفت ای شگفت

بدان کار نظاره شد یک جهان

همه دیده پر خون و خسته روان

فرو ریخت از مژه سیندخت خون

که کودک ز پهلو کی آید برون

Ganjoor · m25:38-41

47–53+

A dexterous Mobad came with practiced hand,

And made the moon-faced mother drunk as planned.

He cut her flank without a stroke of pain,

And turned the child’s head from the birthward lane.

Unharmed he drew the infant safely free;

No one had seen such wonder come to be.

A lion-child appeared, both tall and fair,

With champion’s form no other child could share.

Men and women marveled at the sight;

No one had heard of such enormous might.

A day and night the mother slept from wine,

Unconscious as the hours crossed their line.

They sewed the wound to ease her sharp despair,

Applying herbs with gentle, patient care.

بیامد یکی موبدی چرب دست

مر آن ماه رخ را به می کرد مست

بکافید بی‌رنج پهلوی ماه

بتابید مر بچه را سر ز راه

چنان بی‌گزندش برون آورید

که کس در جهان این شگفتی ندید

یکی بچه بُد چون گَوی شیرفَش

به بالا بلند و به دیدار کش

شگفت اندرو مانده بد مرد و زن

که نشنید کس بچهٔ پیل تن

همان دردگاهش فرو دوختند

به دارو همه درد بسپوختند

شبانروز مادر ز می خفته بود

ز می خفته و هش ازو رفته بود

Ganjoor · m26:1-7

54–59+

At last the tall cypress woke from sleep;

To Sindokht first she spoke from anguish deep.

They scattered gold and jewels in delight,

And praised the Maker who had set things right.

They brought the child before her in full cheer,

And raised him high before her like the sphere.

Though only one day old, he seemed one year;

A mass of lilies, tulips bright and clear.

Rudabeh smiled upon the noble boy,

And saw the royal farr in him with joy.

“I am delivered; all my grief is done,”

She said; and Rostam was the name of her son.

چو از خواب بیدار شد سرو بن

به سیندخت بگشاد لب بر سخن

بر او زر و گوهر برافشاندند

ابر کردگار آفرین خواندند

مر آن بچه را پیش او تاختند

به سان سپهری برافراختند

بخندید از آن بچه سرو سُهی

بدید اندرو فر شاهنشهی

بِرَستم بگفتا غم آمد به سر

نهادند رُستَمَش نام پسر

Ganjoor · m26:8-12

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

چو شد کار یکسر همه ساخته

چنان چون ببایست پرداخته

Ganjoor m26:18 · completion of the preparations; no separate English couplet

60–66+

They made a figure shaped in silk and thread,

To match the child in size of limbs and head.

With sable fur they packed the figure tight;

And Venus with the Sun adorned its sight.

A dragon coiled upon its arm, fierce, grand;

A lion’s claw was fastened in its hand.

A spear lay tucked beneath the figure’s side;

One hand held gorz, one rein with martial pride.

They set the figure on a bay horse high,

With several attendants riding close nearby.

A swift hiyun was driven from the place;

By order, silver coins were showered in its trace.

That image of the gorz-bearing Rostam then

Was borne to Sahm, the chief of warlike men.

یکی کودکی دوختند از حریر

به بالای آن شیر ناخورده شیر

درون وی آگنده موی سمور

به رخ بر نگاریده ناهید و هور

به بازوش بر اژدهای دلیر

به چنگ اندرش داده چنگال شیر

به زیر کش اندر گرفته سنان

به یک دست کوپال و دیگر عنان

نشاندندش آنگه بر اسپ سمند

به گرد اندرش چاکران نیز چند

هیون تکاور برانگیختند

به فرمان بران بر درم ریختند

پس آن صورت رستم گرزدار

ببردند نزدیک سام سوار

Ganjoor · m26:13-17, m26:19-20

67–77+

They held a feast in Golestan’s green ground;

From Kabul on to Zabul joy went round.

The whole plain rang with wine and reed-pipe sound;

A hundred feasts by every hoard were found.

Mehrab rejoiced when tidings reached his door,

And gave the poor gold dinars from his store.

Through Zabulistan, stretching end to end,

Musicians sat wherever roads might bend.

The great and small did not sit far apart;

Like warp and weft they joined in festal art.

The envoy laid the figure in his sight;

And Sahm looked on it, joyful with delight.

The hero’s hair stood upright at the view:

“This silken likeness shows my image true.

If half this figure’s stature comes to birth,

His head will brush the clouds, his hem the earth.”

He called the envoy forward from the rest,

And poured out silver till it reached his crest.

The koust resounded, lifting up a cry;

The field was decked to gleam like rooster’s eye.

Through Sagzar and Mazandaran spread cheer;

He poured out wine and silver on each peer.

یکی جشن کردند در گلستان

ز زاولستان تا به کابلستان

همه دشت پر باده و نای بود

به هر کنج صد مجلس آرای بود

به زاولستان از کران تا کران

نشسته به هر جای رامشگران

نبد کهتر از مهتران بر فرود

نشسته چنان چون بود تار و پود

پس آن پیکر رستم شیرخوار

ببردند نزدیک سام سوار

ابر سام یل موی بر پای خاست

مرا ماند این پرنیان گفت راست

اگر نیم ازین پیکر آید تنش

سرش ابر ساید زمین دامنش

وزان پس فرستاده را پیش خواست

درم ریخت تا بر سرش گشت راست

به شادی برآمد ز درگاه کوس

بیاراست میدان چو چشم خروس

می‌آورد و رامشگران را بخواند

به خواهندگان بر درم برفشاند

بیاراست جشنی که خورشید و ماه

نظاره شدند اندران بزمگاه

Ganjoor · m26:21-31

78–86+

When one full week had passed in such delight,

The famous chief called for a scribe to write.

He wrote his answer, rich before their eyes,

And decked the page like meadow of Paradise.

First praise he offered to Yazdan on high,

Rejoicing as the days went brightly by.

Then Sahm praised Zal, whose fame through kingdoms rang,

The lord of sword and gorz where weapons clang.

Then of the silken figure wrote a line:

Warlike, with Kayanian farr divine.

He ordered: “Guard this image from all harm;

Let not a breath come near to break its charm.

In secret I have prayed with all my might

Before the World-Creator for this sight:

That these world-seeing eyes of mine might see

From your own seed a son formed after me.

Now both your back and mine stand straight and strong;

We ask that Rostam’s life be hale and long.”

پس آن نامهٔ زال پاسخ نوشت

بیاراست چون مرغزار بهشت

نخست آفرین کرد بر کردگار

بران شادمان گردش روزگار

ستودن گرفت آنگهی زال را

خداوند شمشیر و کوپال را

پس آمد بدان پیکر پرنیان

که یال یلان داشت و فر کیان

بفرمود کین را چنین ارجمند

بدارید کز دم نیابد گزند

نیایش همی کردم اندر نهان

شب و روز با کردگار جهان

که زنده ببیند جهانبین من

ز تخم تو گردی به آیین من

کنون شد مرا و ترا پشت راست

نباید جز از زندگانیش خواست

Ganjoor · m26:32-39

87–97+

The messenger came like a driving gale,

To Zal bright-hearted, bearing Sahm’s tale.

He told him all of Sahm’s rejoicing news,

Then gave the letter and his father’s views.

When Zal received the word and read it through,

His heart rose high, his cares dissolved like dew.

He raised his gaze toward heaven’s wheeling frame,

His soul grew vast, his heart a living flame.

The turning world moved onward as before;

What Time had hidden now lay hid no more.

Ten nurses fed him milk in constant flow;

From milk, man’s first reserve, his strength would grow.

His milk-days ended; meat and bread appeared;

On solid fare the growing child was reared.

The food of five grown men he ate alone;

The people marveled at such hunger shown.

At eight, young Rostam towered straight and tall;

A free-grown cypress rising over all.

A shining star he seemed before their eyes;

The world looked on in wonder and surprise.

You would have said it was great Sahm, renewed

In stature, farhang, face, and counsel shrewd.

فرستاده آمد چو باد دمان

بر زال روشن دل و شادمان

چو بشنید زال این سخنهای نغز

که روشن روان اندر آید به مغز

به شادیش بر شادمانی فزود

برافراخت گردن به چرخ کبود

همی گشت چندی بروبر جهان

برهنه شد آن روزگار نهان

به رستم همی داد ده دایه شیر

که نیروی مردست و سرمایه شیر

چو از شیر آمد سوی خوردنی

شد از نان و از گوشت افزودنی

بدی پنج مرده مراو را خورش

بماندند مردم ازان پرورش

چو رستم بپیمود بالای هشت

بسان یکی سرو آزاد گشت

چنان شد که رخشان ستاره شود

جهان بر ستاره نظاره شود

تو گفتی که سام یلستی به جای

به بالا و دیدار و فرهنگ و رای

Ganjoor · m26:40-49

Narrative and poetic form

The English’s central success is the interdependence of maternal survival and heroic origin. “I am delivered” gives the naming moment particular force, while the effigy, suturing order and compact growth measure receive precise notes.

Couplet commentary

Quoted text · evidence · interpretation

1–9A fruitful tree becomes a suffering body

1–9

Not long thereafter, that noble cypress bore

The fruit that fate had promised long before.

Her heart-bright spring began to fade away;

To grief and suffering her heart gave way.

So vast the burden, so severe her woe,

That blood instead of tears began to flow.

Her belly swelled; her body heavy grew,

Her arghavan-red face turned saffron hue.

Sindokht drew near and said with anxious tone,

“My child, what grief has made your spirit groan?”

Rudabeh said: “I raise my ceaseless cry,

My lips spread wide with anguish as I lie.

Sleepless and withered, scarcely still alive,

I seem a living corpse that must survive.

My hour has come, yet there is no release;

My body burns; my pain will never cease.

My skin seems filled with stone from flesh to bone;

Within there seems to lie cold iron alone.”

بسی برنیامد برین روزگار

که آزاده سرو اندر آمد به بار

بهار دل افروز پژمرده شد

دلش را غم و رنج بسپرده شد

شکم گشت فربه و تن شد گران

شد آن ارغوانی رخش زعفران

بدو گفت مادر که ای جان مام

چه بودت که گشتی چنین زرد فام

چنین داد پاسخ که من روز و شب

همی برگشایم به فریاد لب

همانا زمان آمدستم فراز

وزین بار بردن نیابم جواز

تو گویی به سنگستم آگنده پوست

و گر آهنست آنکه نیز اندروست

Ganjoor · m25:1-7

Textual evidence

The source moves from the cypress bearing fruit to loss of bloom, a heavy belly, saffron color and the feeling of stone or iron inside. English expands pain into several couplets.

Interpretation

The imagery connects this birth to A8’s marriage and prophecies while keeping Rudabeh’s suffering in view. The opening “bore” anticipates the eventual delivery; the succeeding lines still narrate pregnancy and obstructed labor. The pain is not merely a decorative announcement of heroic size.

Return to parallel text

10–17A family’s resources reach their limit

10–17

Until the hour of birth came on her fast,

She needed sleep and rest from anguish past.

At last she swooned; loud cries filled all the hall,

And from the house of Dastan rose the call.

Sindokht tore out her perfumed raven hair,

And struck her face in helpless, wild despair.

At once the news was carried straight to Zal:

“The leaf has withered on your cypress tall.”

With tears he came, his heart undone with dread,

And reached the couch where she lay, all but dead.

The women tore their hair with heads laid bare,

Their faces wet with tears of black despair.

Then suddenly a thought came to his mind:

The Simorgh’s plume he once had left behind.

His pain grew lighter; hope returned instead,

He smiled and gave Sindokht good news ahead.

چنین تا گه زادن آمد فراز

به خواب و به آرام بودش نیاز

چنان بد که یک روز ازو رفت هوش

از ایوان دستان برآمد خروش

خروشید سیندخت و بشخود روی

بکند آن سیه گیسوی مشک بوی

یکایک بدستان رسید آگهی

که پژمرده شد برگ سرو سهی

به بالین رودابه شد زال زر

پر از آب رخسار و خسته جگر

همان پر سیمرغش آمد به یاد

بخندید و سیندخت را مژده داد

Ganjoor · m25:8-13

Textual evidence

Rudabeh loses consciousness; Sindokht tears her hair; Zal arrives in tears and remembers the feather. The English adds a separate picture of the grieving women.

Interpretation

Sindokht, so effective in diplomacy, cannot negotiate away this crisis. The remembered feather brings another kind of knowledge into the household. The English preserves the emotional transition from helplessness to hope without making the rescue a reward for anyone’s superior composure.

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18–22The earlier promise becomes an action

18–22

A brazier blazed beneath his anxious stare;

He burned the Simorgh’s feather in its flare.

At once the sky grew dark before their sight;

The sovereign bird descended from the height.

She came like cloud whose rain was coral red,

Soul-soothing coral through the heavens spread.

Zal praised the sovereign bird, and reverent, bowed

Before her as she settled from the cloud.

She said: “Why weep, O lion strong and wise?

Why do such tears fall from your mighty eyes?

یکی مجمر آورد و آتش فروخت

وزآن پر سیمرغ لختی بسوخت

هم اندر زمان تیره گون شد هوا

پدید آمد آن مرغ فرمان روا

چو ابری که بارانش مرجان بود

چه مرجان که آرایش جان بود

برو کرد زال آفرین دراز

ستودش فراوان و بردش نماز

چنین گفت با زال کین غم چراست

به چشم هژبر اندرون نم چراست

Ganjoor · m25:14-18

Textual evidence

Zal burns some of the feather; the sky darkens, the Simorgh appears as a coral-raining cloud, and he honors her.

Interpretation

The English correctly uses the feather as the summons. Coral colors the cloud’s imagined precious rain; it should not be forced into a literal meteorological explanation. The reverence recalls the bird’s foster-parental authority as well as her power.

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23–29A forecast, not the infant’s present achievementsLocal emphasis on resemblance

23–29

From this fair cypress, silver-bodied, bright,

A male lion shall rise, renowned in might.

The lion shall kiss dust beneath his tread;

No cloud shall dare pass over his proud head.

His cry shall tear the battle-leopard’s hide;

It gnaws its claws and shrinks in fear aside.

Each warrior hearing his great gorz’s roar,

Who sees his chest, his arms, his mane in war,

Shall feel his heart leap from its place in fear,

Though steel-chewing in battle he appear.

In place and bearing Sahm himself shall show;

In wrath, a battle-lion against the foe.

A cypress tall, an elephant in might,

His battle-spear shall fly for two mil in flight.

کزین سرو سیمین بر ماه‌روی

یکی نره شیر آید و نامجوی

که خاک پی او ببوسد هژبر

نیارد گذشتن به سر برش ابر

از آواز او چرم جنگی پلنگ

شود چاک چاک و بخاید دو چنگ

هران گرد کاواز کوپال اوی

ببیند بر و بازوی و یال اوی

ز آواز او اندر آید ز پای

دل مرد جنگی برآید ز جای

به جای خرد سام سنگی بود

به خشم اندرون شیر جنگی بود

به بالای سرو و به نیروی پیل

به آورد خشت افگند بر دو میل

Ganjoor · m25:19-25

Textual evidence

The bird predicts a lion-like champion, terrifying voice, Sahm-like qualities, elephant strength and a javelin thrown two mil. Ganjoor 24 refers to wisdom; English 28 emphasizes place and bearing.

Interpretation

The English sustains the prophecy’s scale while making inherited resemblance chiefly visible. The warfare still lies in the future. A mil is retained as a traditional measure; assigning a fixed modern ballistic distance would add a precision the scene does not require.

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30–35A different route into life

30–35

He shall not take the common path of birth;

The Maker has ordained another road to earth.

Bring forth a water-tempered khanjar keen,

And one most wise and skilled in arts unseen.

First make the moon-faced mother drunk with wine,

And drive out fear and worry for a time.

Cut through the flank of that tall cypress deep;

She shall not feel the blade within her sleep.

Then draw the lion from its casket free;

The moon’s whole flank shall bleed for all to see.

Then stitch together where the blade has cut;

Let fear and grief from every heart be shut.

نیاید به گیتی ز راه زهش

به فرمان دادار نیکی دهش

بیاور یکی خنجر آبگون

یکی مرد بینادل پرفسون

نخستین به می ماه را مست کن

ز دل بیم و اندیشه را پست کن

بکافد تهیگاه سرو سهی

نباشد مر او را ز درد آگهی

وزو بچهٔ شیر بیرون کشد

همه پهلوی ماه در خون کشد

وز آن پس بدوز آن کجا کرد چاک

ز دل دور کن ترس و تیمار و باک

Ganjoor · m25:26-31

Textual evidence

The Simorgh prescribes wine, a water-bright blade, a skilled practitioner, an incision through the flank, extraction and stitching.

Interpretation

The English is entitled to retain the procedure’s specificity. This is a literary account of extraordinary abdominal delivery, not proof of a historically documented operation or a practical treatment guide. The learned male practitioner is not the Simorgh herself, and her instructions aim at preserving both lives.

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36–42Healing combines material preparation and the feather

36–42

Take now these herbs and grind them to a paste;

With milk and musk prepare them without haste.

Dry them in shade, and where the wound lies deep,

Lay on the salve, and bind it firm to keep.

Then shall her strength return, her color rise,

And health bloom fresh again before your eyes.

Then pass across the wound one plume of mine;

Beneath my farr its shadow shines divine.

Be joyful in this matter, free from fear;

Give thanks before the Maker of the sphere.

For He bestowed this royal tree on you,

Whose fortune blossoms daily, green and new.

So let no grief remain within your heart;

Your fruitful branch has borne its promised part.”

گیاهی که گویمت با شیر و مشک

بکوب و بکن هر سه در سایه خشک

بساو و برآلای بر خستگیش

ببینی همان روز پیوستگیش

بدو مال ازان پس یکی پر من

خجسته بود سایهٔ فر من

ترا زین سخن شاد باید بدن

به پیش جهاندار باید شدن

که او دادت این خسروانی درخت

که هر روز نو بشکفاندش بخت

بدین کار دل هیچ غمگین مدار

که شاخ برومندت آمد به بار

Ganjoor · m25:32-37

Textual evidence

Herb, milk and musk are ground and dried in shade; the preparation is applied to the wound and the feather passed over it. The source promises same-day joining; English 38 makes recovery visible as strength and color returning.

Interpretation

The material and marvelous elements belong together in the account. “Paste” interprets the preparation’s usable form, while the line order smooths the source’s grinding, drying and rubbing instructions. The note does not identify an unnamed herb or invent a modern pharmacological mechanism.

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43–46Instruction does not immediately dispel fear

43–46

She spoke, then plucked a feather from her wing,

And rose aloft through heaven’s circling ring.

The Simorgh left; Zal took the plume she gave,

And followed every counsel, calm and brave.

A whole world watched the work with wounded soul,

With eyes blood-filled as fear possessed them whole.

Sindokht wept blood and cried in helpless fear:

“How shall the child emerge alive from here?”

بگفت و یکی پر ز بازو بکند

فگند و به پرواز بر شد بلند

بشد زال و آن پر او برگرفت

برفت و بکرد آنچه گفت ای شگفت

بدان کار نظاره شد یک جهان

همه دیده پر خون و خسته روان

فرو ریخت از مژه سیندخت خون

که کودک ز پهلو کی آید برون

Ganjoor · m25:38-41

Textual evidence

The Simorgh plucks another feather and departs; Zal follows the directions while the watchers and Sindokht remain anguished.

Interpretation

The second feather is a newly given object, not the same undamaged plume whose burning summoned her. Sindokht’s question preserves the difficulty of believing the procedure can succeed even after the promised remedy has been heard.

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47–53A practiced hand carries out the interventionLocal order of sleep and suturing

47–53

A dexterous Mobad came with practiced hand,

And made the moon-faced mother drunk as planned.

He cut her flank without a stroke of pain,

And turned the child’s head from the birthward lane.

Unharmed he drew the infant safely free;

No one had seen such wonder come to be.

A lion-child appeared, both tall and fair,

With champion’s form no other child could share.

Men and women marveled at the sight;

No one had heard of such enormous might.

A day and night the mother slept from wine,

Unconscious as the hours crossed their line.

They sewed the wound to ease her sharp despair,

Applying herbs with gentle, patient care.

بیامد یکی موبدی چرب دست

مر آن ماه رخ را به می کرد مست

بکافید بی‌رنج پهلوی ماه

بتابید مر بچه را سر ز راه

چنان بی‌گزندش برون آورید

که کس در جهان این شگفتی ندید

یکی بچه بُد چون گَوی شیرفَش

به بالا بلند و به دیدار کش

شگفت اندرو مانده بد مرد و زن

که نشنید کس بچهٔ پیل تن

همان دردگاهش فرو دوختند

به دارو همه درد بسپوختند

شبانروز مادر ز می خفته بود

ز می خفته و هش ازو رفته بود

Ganjoor · m26:1-7

Textual evidence

The Mobad gives wine, opens the flank, turns the child and brings him out unharmed; the wound is stitched and treated. Ganjoor places stitching before the day-and-night wine sleep; English reverses the order of those two statements.

Interpretation

The English preserves the procedure and both outcomes, while its local order can make suturing appear later. The Persian’s turning of the child concerns extraction through the incision; no separate birth canal maneuver needs to be supplied by the commentator. The “no pain” language belongs to the narrative’s assurance.

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54–59The mother’s release gives the hero a name

54–59

At last the tall cypress woke from sleep;

To Sindokht first she spoke from anguish deep.

They scattered gold and jewels in delight,

And praised the Maker who had set things right.

They brought the child before her in full cheer,

And raised him high before her like the sphere.

Though only one day old, he seemed one year;

A mass of lilies, tulips bright and clear.

Rudabeh smiled upon the noble boy,

And saw the royal farr in him with joy.

“I am delivered; all my grief is done,”

She said; and Rostam was the name of her son.

چو از خواب بیدار شد سرو بن

به سیندخت بگشاد لب بر سخن

بر او زر و گوهر برافشاندند

ابر کردگار آفرین خواندند

مر آن بچه را پیش او تاختند

به سان سپهری برافراختند

بخندید از آن بچه سرو سُهی

بدید اندرو فر شاهنشهی

بِرَستم بگفتا غم آمد به سر

نهادند رُستَمَش نام پسر

Ganjoor · m26:8-12

Textual evidence

Rudabeh wakes, sees the child and his farr, and says berastam, “I am delivered / I have escaped”; the narrative connects that speech to Rostam. Mohl p 177 adds the one-day child seeming a year old.

Interpretation

The English “I am delivered” is particularly effective because it carries relief and birth together. This is the poem’s naming explanation, not a claim to settle historical etymology. The mother participates in naming through her own speech rather than being absent from the hero’s origin.

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60–66An image communicates the infant’s extraordinary form

—

Source-only passage; no separate English couplet.

چو شد کار یکسر همه ساخته

چنان چون ببایست پرداخته

Ganjoor m26:18 · completion of the preparations; no separate English couplet

60–66

They made a figure shaped in silk and thread,

To match the child in size of limbs and head.

With sable fur they packed the figure tight;

And Venus with the Sun adorned its sight.

A dragon coiled upon its arm, fierce, grand;

A lion’s claw was fastened in its hand.

A spear lay tucked beneath the figure’s side;

One hand held gorz, one rein with martial pride.

They set the figure on a bay horse high,

With several attendants riding close nearby.

A swift hiyun was driven from the place;

By order, silver coins were showered in its trace.

That image of the gorz-bearing Rostam then

Was borne to Sahm, the chief of warlike men.

یکی کودکی دوختند از حریر

به بالای آن شیر ناخورده شیر

درون وی آگنده موی سمور

به رخ بر نگاریده ناهید و هور

به بازوش بر اژدهای دلیر

به چنگ اندرش داده چنگال شیر

به زیر کش اندر گرفته سنان

به یک دست کوپال و دیگر عنان

نشاندندش آنگه بر اسپ سمند

به گرد اندرش چاکران نیز چند

هیون تکاور برانگیختند

به فرمان بران بر درم ریختند

پس آن صورت رستم گرزدار

ببردند نزدیک سام سوار

Ganjoor · m26:13-17, m26:19-20

Textual evidence

The silk likeness is stuffed with sable hair, marked with Venus and sun, armed and set on a mount before being carried to Sahm. Ganjoor separately states the completion of preparation at 18; that transition is shown above.

Interpretation

This is an effigy sent as news, not the living baby placed on a horse for a long journey. The English makes the object’s identity clear. Dragon and lion-claw attributes are visual signs on or attached to the representation; the child is not said to have anatomical dragon arms.

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67–77Celebration crosses households and ranks

67–77

They held a feast in Golestan’s green ground;

From Kabul on to Zabul joy went round.

The whole plain rang with wine and reed-pipe sound;

A hundred feasts by every hoard were found.

Mehrab rejoiced when tidings reached his door,

And gave the poor gold dinars from his store.

Through Zabulistan, stretching end to end,

Musicians sat wherever roads might bend.

The great and small did not sit far apart;

Like warp and weft they joined in festal art.

The envoy laid the figure in his sight;

And Sahm looked on it, joyful with delight.

The hero’s hair stood upright at the view:

“This silken likeness shows my image true.

If half this figure’s stature comes to birth,

His head will brush the clouds, his hem the earth.”

He called the envoy forward from the rest,

And poured out silver till it reached his crest.

The koust resounded, lifting up a cry;

The field was decked to gleam like rooster’s eye.

Through Sagzar and Mazandaran spread cheer;

He poured out wine and silver on each peer.

یکی جشن کردند در گلستان

ز زاولستان تا به کابلستان

همه دشت پر باده و نای بود

به هر کنج صد مجلس آرای بود

به زاولستان از کران تا کران

نشسته به هر جای رامشگران

نبد کهتر از مهتران بر فرود

نشسته چنان چون بود تار و پود

پس آن پیکر رستم شیرخوار

ببردند نزدیک سام سوار

ابر سام یل موی بر پای خاست

مرا ماند این پرنیان گفت راست

اگر نیم ازین پیکر آید تنش

سرش ابر ساید زمین دامنش

وزان پس فرستاده را پیش خواست

درم ریخت تا بر سرش گشت راست

به شادی برآمد ز درگاه کوس

بیاراست میدان چو چشم خروس

می‌آورد و رامشگران را بخواند

به خواهندگان بر درم برفشاند

بیاراست جشنی که خورشید و ماه

نظاره شدند اندران بزمگاه

Ganjoor · m26:21-31

Textual evidence

Ganjoor repeats the delivery of the figure after the celebration, then gives Sahm’s recognition, reward and feast. English adds Mehrab’s alms and locates cheer in Sagsar and Mazandaran; Mohl pp 177–178 supplies the fuller celebration.

Interpretation

The repeated dispatch and arrival have different narrative viewpoints and need not be repaired into two different effigies. Warp and weft make the feast’s temporary joining of ranks visible. The English’s open-handed celebration sustains the gift economy established in A8.

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78–86A grandfather asks that the image be protected

78–86

When one full week had passed in such delight,

The famous chief called for a scribe to write.

He wrote his answer, rich before their eyes,

And decked the page like meadow of Paradise.

First praise he offered to Yazdan on high,

Rejoicing as the days went brightly by.

Then Sahm praised Zal, whose fame through kingdoms rang,

The lord of sword and gorz where weapons clang.

Then of the silken figure wrote a line:

Warlike, with Kayanian farr divine.

He ordered: “Guard this image from all harm;

Let not a breath come near to break its charm.

In secret I have prayed with all my might

Before the World-Creator for this sight:

That these world-seeing eyes of mine might see

From your own seed a son formed after me.

Now both your back and mine stand straight and strong;

We ask that Rostam’s life be hale and long.”

پس آن نامهٔ زال پاسخ نوشت

بیاراست چون مرغزار بهشت

نخست آفرین کرد بر کردگار

بران شادمان گردش روزگار

ستودن گرفت آنگهی زال را

خداوند شمشیر و کوپال را

پس آمد بدان پیکر پرنیان

که یال یلان داشت و فر کیان

بفرمود کین را چنین ارجمند

بدارید کز دم نیابد گزند

نیایش همی کردم اندر نهان

شب و روز با کردگار جهان

که زنده ببیند جهانبین من

ز تخم تو گردی به آیین من

کنون شد مرا و ترا پشت راست

نباید جز از زندگانیش خواست

Ganjoor · m26:32-39

Textual evidence

The answer praises Creator and son, speaks of the silk figure and asks that it be kept from harm, then recalls the wish to see a grandson resembling Sahm.

Interpretation

In immediate syntax, “Guard this image” has strong support: the letter has just named the woven likeness. The request also resonates with care for the living child, but the note should not erase the actual object in order to sentimentalize the speech. The father who once abandoned Zal now celebrates continuation through him.

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87–97Excessive growth belongs to the heroic registerAge/stature interpretation

87–97

The messenger came like a driving gale,

To Zal bright-hearted, bearing Sahm’s tale.

He told him all of Sahm’s rejoicing news,

Then gave the letter and his father’s views.

When Zal received the word and read it through,

His heart rose high, his cares dissolved like dew.

He raised his gaze toward heaven’s wheeling frame,

His soul grew vast, his heart a living flame.

The turning world moved onward as before;

What Time had hidden now lay hid no more.

Ten nurses fed him milk in constant flow;

From milk, man’s first reserve, his strength would grow.

His milk-days ended; meat and bread appeared;

On solid fare the growing child was reared.

The food of five grown men he ate alone;

The people marveled at such hunger shown.

At eight, young Rostam towered straight and tall;

A free-grown cypress rising over all.

A shining star he seemed before their eyes;

The world looked on in wonder and surprise.

You would have said it was great Sahm, renewed

In stature, farhang, face, and counsel shrewd.

فرستاده آمد چو باد دمان

بر زال روشن دل و شادمان

چو بشنید زال این سخنهای نغز

که روشن روان اندر آید به مغز

به شادیش بر شادمانی فزود

برافراخت گردن به چرخ کبود

همی گشت چندی بروبر جهان

برهنه شد آن روزگار نهان

به رستم همی داد ده دایه شیر

که نیروی مردست و سرمایه شیر

چو از شیر آمد سوی خوردنی

شد از نان و از گوشت افزودنی

بدی پنج مرده مراو را خورش

بماندند مردم ازان پرورش

چو رستم بپیمود بالای هشت

بسان یکی سرو آزاد گشت

چنان شد که رخشان ستاره شود

جهان بر ستاره نظاره شود

تو گفتی که سام یلستی به جای

به بالا و دیدار و فرهنگ و رای

Ganjoor · m26:40-49

Textual evidence

The messenger returns; ten nurses provide milk; meat and bread follow; five men’s food feeds one child; the closing image compares him with Sahm. Ganjoor’s “height of eight” is less explicit than a plainly stated birthday; Mohl p 179 likewise has بالای هشت.

Interpretation

English “At eight” selects an age interpretation of a compact growth phrase that can also raise a question of stature. It should be identified as an interpretive choice, not promoted into a measurement agreed by all five presentations. The larger sequence is intentionally marvelous growth, not pediatric documentation.

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The chapter in five texts

Parallel text

Narrative and poetic form

Couplet commentary

Chapter source record