Character · The Shahnameh · Volume III

Shiruyehشیرویه

shee-roo-YEH

Son of Khosrow Parviz, secretly named Qobad, who takes the throne from his imprisoned father and reigns only seven months.

In the poem: First at E6.52, The Ill-Omened Birth of Shiruyeh; last at E9.2, Ardeshir Is Slain by Guraz’s Design
Named: 35 times, in 13 sections
Main stories: E8 Shiruyeh’s Coup and the End of the Great Reign (19); E7 The Story of Khosrow Parviz and Shirin (9); E6 Khosrow Parviz (6)
Parents: Khosrow Parviz, Maryam
Children: Ardeshir (son of Shiruyeh)
Plates: Vol III: I, Vol III: VIII

Genealogical plate: The Sasanian Succession — Volume III, Plate I: The Sasanian Succession. Tap to open the genealogies.

In the poem’s own words

The 8 sections that name Shiruyeh most often, with the summary from the Notes and the couplets that name Shiruyeh. Tap a couplet number to read it in the full poem.

E6.53

Caesar Seeks the Cross of Christ

Caesar keeps seven days’ festival for his grandson and sends ten caravans of treasure with the envoy Khanagi. His letter praises Khosrow’s line, recalls the old feud of Salm and Tur as settled by the marriage, and asks one gift: the Cross of Christ from the Iranian treasury.

E6.53.3
They decked the hills, the roads, and every way,In honor of Shiruyeh’s auspicious day.
E6.53.6
For seven days they drank with harp and wine,Rejoicing over Shiruyeh’s royal sign.

Shiruyeh named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E6.54

Khosrow Answers with Gifts

Khosrow thanks Caesar, defends his own faith, and refuses the Cross: God has no son, the wood is rotten, and sending it would make Iran call him a Christian. He offers any other gift, says he fears Shiruyeh, reports Maryam’s devotion, and loads the embassy with treasure.

E6.54.13
You spoke of Shiruyeh, my strength and stay;I heard your words and blessed you straightaway.
E6.54.32
I gave them to Shiruyeh, to beginA treasury with all you gathered in.
E6.54.34
I fear Shiruyeh, mighty in his reign,May bring both Rum and Iran grief and pain.

Shiruyeh named 3 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E7.4

Shirin’s Crime and Shiruyeh’s Fall

Shirin poisons Maryam unseen and a year later receives her chambers. At sixteen Shiruyeh neglects his lessons for savage toys, and his tutor takes fright. By the twenty-third year of the reign the Shah shuts Shiruyeh and more than three thousand of his followers in a comfortable prison.

E7.4.7
When Shiruyeh reached at last his sixteenth year,His height above grown men began to appear.
E7.4.22
When twenty-three years of his reign had passed,Shiruyeh’s frame had grown both strong and vast.

Shiruyeh named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E7.10

Shiruyeh Is Released

Khosrow’s planted letter makes Caesar distrust Guraz and withdraw. Suspected himself, Zad Farrokh turns the army, and the chiefs resolve to crown the imprisoned Shiruyeh. Tukhar storms the prison and brings him out, and that night the watchmen cry Qobad’s name while Khosrow sleeps beside Shirin.

E7.10.102
Since shrewd Shiruyeh, eldest-born, lies bound,No other prince need anywhere be found.”
E7.10.114
“We go to prison, where the luckless wait,And bear Shiruyeh, the brave prince, through the gate.
E7.10.124
He called exalted Shiruyeh from the cell;The prince replied, and knew his purpose well.

Shiruyeh named 5 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E7.11

Shiruyeh Sends Khosrow to Tisfoon

Hungry in the garden, Khosrow has a servant cut jeweled studs from his belt to buy food; a jeweler knows the workmanship and the search finds him. Zad Farrokh talks him into yielding, the old prophecy comes clear to him, and after thirty-eight years he is carried to Tisfoon.

E7.11.29
Shiruyeh said, “Now name the owner here,And make the source of these bright jewels clear.
E7.11.36
Swift as the wind, I left him there just now.”Shiruyeh knew Khosrow by that shape and brow.

Shiruyeh named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E8.1

Shiruyeh Takes the Throne

Crowned as Qobad, Shiruyeh promises justice and sends Ashtad and Kharrad Barzin to Tisfoon with a written charge against his father. Galinush admits them. A quince rolls from Khosrow’s cushion to the floor; he reads his house’s ruin in it, hears the charges out, and answers with a rebuke.

E8.1.1
When Shiruyeh sat upon the splendid throne,And took the royal crown to be his own,
E8.1.59
Iran, Turan, and Rum have heard the thing:Shiruyeh sits now as king of every king.

Shiruyeh named 2 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E8.3

Shiruyeh’s Grief Displeases the Chiefs

Shiruyeh weeps at his father’s answer and leaves the throne, and the chiefs take fright: if Khosrow is restored, they hang. The young Shah asks one month’s patience, hoping still for the treasure, and orders rich dishes sent to the prisoner, who eats only from Shirin’s hand.

E8.3.1
When Shiruyeh heard, his bitter tears ran down;His heart grew fearful of the throne and crown.
E8.3.16
Shiruyeh said, “A king must have his storeOf treasure, or his army is no more.
E8.3.20
Then to the cooks Shiruyeh gave commands:“Withhold no food that Khosrow’s need demands.

Shiruyeh named 3 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes

E8.6

The Deaths of Shirin and Shiruyeh

Fifty-three days after the murder Shiruyeh summons Shirin as a sorceress, then offers her marriage. Before the nobles she defends her name, unveils, and is cleared; she secures her wealth, gives it all away, and drinks poison beside Khosrow in his tomb. Shiruyeh is poisoned in his eighth month.

E8.6.1
Now Khosrow’s tale is told; hear what befellShiruyeh and Shirin, whose end I tell.
E8.6.3
Shiruyeh dispatched a messenger to sayTo Shirin, “Wicked sorceress, come away.
E8.6.25
Shiruyeh then summoned fifty aged men,Experienced chiefs of speech and practiced pen.