New NaqqaliUsurper of Iran · son of Mardas
Zahhakضحاک
zah-HAHK
The Arab usurper from whose shoulders grew two serpents fed on human brains; overthrown by Fereydoon and bound on Damavand.
- His story
- From A4.2, Zahhak and His Father, to A5.9, Fereydoon Binds Zahhak
- Named
- 113 times, in 44 dastans
- Parents
- Mardas
- Plates
- Vol I: II, Vol I: VII
His story, in the poem’s own sections
8 sections, with the summary from the Notes. Open any one to read it in full here; tap a couplet number to cite it or suggest a better one.
A4.2
Zahhak and His Father
👑👨👦🎭🕳️💀💔6 emoji · the whole poem in emoji →
Zahhak, reckless son of the good Arab king Mardas, is flattered by Iblis into an oath. Iblis digs a pit in the garden path, Mardas falls to his death, and Zahhak takes his father’s throne.
58 couplets · Zahhak named 5 times · in the full poem
Among the desert riders, spear in hand,There lived a king who ruled that arid land.
A noble king, a good and upright man,Who feared the Maker, faithful to His plan.
Mardas his name, whose justice won renown,Whose generous hand brought honor to his crown.
A thousand head of every milking breedHe kept upon his lands for human need.
Goats, camels, sheep were gathered in his fold,Each kind a thousand, as the tale is told.
Milk-giving cattle grazed across the plain,With Arab horses swift beneath the rein.
Whoever needed milk could take his fill;His herds stood open to the needy still.
He had one son, the child he loved full well,Zahhak, whose name the ancient stories tell.
Bold, reckless, heedless, daring in his way,He rushed where impulse drove him day by day.
Biwarasp was the name the ancients knew,A Pahlavi name handed down as true.
In Pahlavi, biwar, the learned state,Means ten thousand when the Dari translate.
Ten thousand Arab horses, golden-geared,Were his; from them that ancient name appeared.
He rode out often, ranging on the plain,For royal state, not bent on war or gain.
One day Iblis approached in friendly guise,And seemed a well-wisher, sincere and wise.
He turned the young man’s heart from virtue’s track,And Zahhak listened, never drawing back.
The tempter’s words were pleasing to his ear;He never saw the ugliness draw near.
He gave him heart and reason, soul and trust,And heaped upon his own head grief and dust.
He saw the youth was trapped beyond release,And in his heart his wicked joy increased.
With polished phrases then he plied his art,Till wisdom drained from Zahhak’s mind and heart.
“I know of things no other man does know,Secrets that only I to you will show.”
The prince replied: “Then speak without delay!What would you tell me? Tell me now, I say!”
Iblis replied: “First pledge your word to me;Then I will speak and set my meaning free.”
The trusting youth then pledged as he was told,And swore the oath that placed him in his hold.
“Your secret I will guard from light of day;Whatever you tell me, I will obey.”
Then Iblis said, “Why should another standAs master in your house and hold command?
Why need a son like you a father still?Hear one good counsel and accept my will.
This aging master lingers in your way,While rank and honor still remain at bay.
Take up his wealth, his station, and his crown;Such royal greatness fits your high renown.
If you hold fast to all that I advise,The whole world under you shall be your prize.”
When Zahhak heard, he pondered in dismay;His father’s blood weighed on his heart that day.
He said: “Not so! Some other counsel share;This deed does not befit me; I forbear.”
Iblis replied: “If you should turn away,You break the oath you swore to me today.
The oath and bond remain upon your neck;Your father stays renowned; you sink to wreck.”
The Arab youth was caught within the snare,And chose the fiend’s command in his despair.
At last he said: “What must I do? Declare!Whatever you command, I now will bear.”
Iblis replied: “The remedy is mine;Your head shall rise, and like the sun shall shine.
I need no aid. My craft alone will serve;But keep your silence now, and do not swerve.”
Within the palace stood a garden fair,A pleasant orchard tended with great care.
Before the dawn, Mardas would rise each day,And make himself prepared to kneel and pray.
He washed his head and body out of sight;No servant bore a lamp before the light.
The evil one dug deep into the ground,Along the path where Mardas made his round.
He covered it with brush and leafy screen,Then smoothed the road till no dark trap was seen.
While night still held the garden in its gloom,The Arab lord walked unaware of doom.
As Mardas neared the hidden pit that day,His royal fortune turned and fell away.
His back was broken when he struck below,And death closed over Mardas, laid him low.
That noble king, through fortune good or bad,Had never spoken coldly to the lad.
He raised him tenderly through toil and care,Rejoiced in him and gave him treasure rare.
That shameless son, corrupted in his way,Cast every bond of kin and shame away.
He joined the plot his father’s blood to shed;I heard it from a sage of wisdom bred.
A wicked son, though lion-fierce and bold,From father’s blood will still his hand withhold.
If some dark secret lies behind the deed,Ask of the mother where the truth may lead.
Thus base Zahhak, unjust in heart and head,By this device assumed his father’s stead.
He wore the Arab crown in royal state,And dealt them gain and loss as ordered fate.
When Iblis saw his first design succeed,He joined its chain with yet another deed.
He said, “Since you have proved your pledge is true,The world’s desires have all come home to you.
If once again you pledge to follow me,And never turn from my command or flee,
The whole world shall be yours beneath the sun;Beast, man, bird, fish shall serve you, every one.”
So spoke Iblis, then changed his outward guise,And shaped a stranger scheme with cunning lies.
A4.3
Zahhak Is Tempted by Iblis
Disguised as a cook, Iblis feeds Zahhak the first meat: egg yolks, then fowl, then lamb and veal. As his reward he kisses the king’s shoulders, and two black serpents grow there. Returning as a physician, he prescribes human brains as their food.
43 couplets · Zahhak named 6 times · in the full poem
In youthful guise, well-spoken, clear of mind,Iblis approached, with flattering words refined.
He bowed before the king and praised his reign:“Let me prepare the dishes for your train.”
Zahhak received him into royal care,And gave him leave to serve the monarch’s fare.
The steward gave him every kitchen key,And granted him full power by king’s decree.
In those first days, men fed on what they grew,No flesh was slain, no blood their hunger knew.
But Ahriman conceived a darker art;To change men’s nature, poison mind and heart.
He meant through food to alter human need,And plant a darker hunger in the breed.
He slaughtered beasts and birds that roamed the land,And dressed their flesh with an accomplished hand.
With blood he fed Zahhak to make him bold,Like some fierce lion nourished to take hold.
So every word the tempter chose with skillMight bind the king more firmly to his will.
The first day brought him yolks of eggs to eat,A strengthening dish, nourishing and sweet.
Zahhak ate well and praised the cook’s fine art,Its savor had already won his heart.
Iblis replied, “May joy attend your reign;Tomorrow richer pleasures you shall gain.”
All night he thought what marvel he might bring,What new delight would captivate the king.
At dawn, as yellow ruby lit the blue,He brought the second banquet into view.
White pheasant, partridge, graced the royal plate,Prepared with subtle art for royal state.
The Arab king consumed the savory fare,And gave his foolish heart to the cook’s care.
The third day poultry, lamb were richly dressed,In varied dishes for the royal guest.
The fourth he served the back of tender veal,A young calf’s loin prepared to crown the meal.
With saffron, rosewater, and musk made fine,And richly flavored with well-aged red wine.
Zahhak, astonished by such mastery,Declared: “Ask now your due reward from me.”
Iblis replied, “O king, forever reign;May joy and sovereign fortune still remain.
My heart is full of love for you alone;Your face gives nourishment my soul has known.
One boon I ask, though lowly is my place;Grant me this favor as a sign of grace.
Allow me both your shoulders to embrace,To kiss them, touch them with my eyes and face.”
Zahhak discerned no trap, no hidden art,Nor guessed the evil in the tempter’s heart.
Off guard, the king replied without delay:“I grant your wish, come take it while you may.”
He kissed the shoulders; then beneath the groundHe vanished, and no trace of him was found.
No eye had witnessed such a fearful sight;Then horror rose from shoulders left and right.
From either shoulder, black and twisting, grewTwo serpents, hideous to mortal view.
Distraught, Zahhak had both cut off with skill,But steel could not subdue the monstrous ill.
Just like two branches from a wounded tree,The black snakes rose again, alive and free.
The wisest healers gathered at his bed;Each gave the counsel that his learning bred.
They tried each remedy that art could frame,Yet all their cures were useless just the same.
At last Iblis returned in healer’s guise,And spoke with calm deceit within his eyes:
“This fate,” he said, “was written by decree;Do not cut off the snakes; let them now be.
Let them remain; with food restrain their rage,And soothe them daily in their living cage.
Feed them with human brains from day to day;No other food will keep their rage at bay.
Perhaps in time, by this prescribed supply,The serpents themselves will weaken and die.”
Now weigh the purpose hidden in this plan:What did the tempter seek from mortal man?
Why name such food the cure their hunger needs?What deeper purpose lay beneath these deeds?
Perhaps by feeding human brains as fare,He sought to thin mankind beyond repair.
Perhaps his hidden wish, through scheme and strife,Was that the earth be emptied of human life.
A4.4
Fortune Flies from Jamshid
Iran falls into disorder, and its chiefs go over to the Arab king Zahhak, who takes Jamshid’s throne. Jamshid hides for a century, is caught by the Sea of Chin, and is sawn in two. The poet reflects on the world’s treachery.
27 couplets · Zahhak named 4 times · in the full poem
Then uproar rose through Iran far and wide,And war broke out on every troubled side.
The bright day darkened over Jamshid’s reign,And men broke faith with him throughout the plain.
His farr grew dark and slowly slipped away,As crookedness and folly marked his way.
On every side a claimant sought the crown;Each raised an army, casting Jamshid down.
From Iran, troop on troop took up the roadToward Arab lands to seek a king’s abode.
They heard that one in Arab lands was king,A dragon-visaged, dread, and savage thing.
So all the restless chiefs and riders boldWent forth to Zahhak, as the tales have told;
They bowed before him, pledging their accord,And hailed him king, their sovereign and their lord.
The dragon-visaged king came sweeping on,And crowned himself as Jamshid’s strength was gone.
He gathered troops from every distant side,Iran and Arab forces stood allied.
His march assailed the throne that Jamshid held,And all his waning fortune was dispelled.
Hard-pressed by Zahhak, Jamshid turned and fled,And left the throne for Zahhak’s rule instead.
His crown, his throne, his diadem and gold,His army too; he left all he controlled.
The world went dark; Jamshid withdrew from sight,And lived concealed, a fugitive in flight.
A hundred years he lingered thus concealed,His fate by time and shifting fortune sealed.
But in the hundredth year he came in viewBeside the Sea of Chin, where he withdrew.
Zahhak seized Jamshid, granting no delay,And sawed him end to end in halves that day.
Long from the dragon’s breath he kept concealed,Yet in the end his refuge was revealed.
Time drew his crown and throne from him like strawDrawn hard to amber by its hidden law.
What king was ever greater in his reign?But what remained from all his toil and pain?
For seven hundred years his reign held fast,With good and evil mingled till the last.
Why seek long life within this world of change,Whose hidden ways no mortal mind can range?
It feeds you honey, sweetness without end,And speaks so gently, seeming like a friend.
You think its heart has turned to you alone,And pride yourself on the love it has shown.
You trust the world and open all your heart,Confiding every secret, every part.
Then suddenly its treachery is plain,And fills your heart with blood and bitter pain.
My heart is weary of this passing place;O God, release me from its harsh embrace.
A5.1
The Evil Customs of Zahhak
🐍🐍👑⛓️👨🍳🧠🛡️7 emoji · the whole poem in emoji →
Zahhak rules for a thousand years. He takes Jamshid’s two daughters, Shahrnaz and Arnavaz, and each night two young men are killed to feed his serpents. Two pious men, Armayl and Garmayl, become his cooks and save one youth in every pair, from whom the Kurds descend.
41 couplets · Zahhak named 6 times · in the full poem
A thousand years Zahhak held power alone,And ruled the trembling world, its crown his own.
The age itself bent wholly to his will,And thus his long dominion ran on still.
The customs of the wise were hid from sight,While madmen’s wishes spread with growing might.
True virtue sank, while sorcery rose high;Truth hid, and harm walked plain to every eye.
The Divs reached out their hands on every side,While goodness spoke in whispers, forced to hide.
Two pure young women from Jamshid were led,Like willows trembling underneath their dread.
Both daughters of Jamshid, in beauty crowned,Above all women, peerless and renowned.
One, Shahrnaz, was veiled and passing fair;Chaste Arnavaz, her sister, formed the pair.
They bore them to Zahhak’s accursed hall,And gave them to the dragon-king in thrall.
He trained them in dark sorcery and guile,And taught their hearts to welcome all things vile.
For all he knew was evil’s crooked way:To kill, to burn, to plunder, and betray.
Each night two youths were taken for the deed,Whether low-born or Pahlevan by breed.
The cook would bear them to the royal hall,To feed the snakes that held Zahhak in thrall.
The cook then slew them, took each youthful brain,And fed the serpents to relieve their pain.
Then two pure men arose from royal line,Devout and worthy, joined in one design.
One, pure in faith, was Armayl by name;Farsighted Garmayl shared his noble aim.
One day together they discussed it all,From weighty matters down to details small.
They spoke of Zahhak’s bloody, cruel reign,And of the custom born from serpent pain.
One said: “We must approach the Shah with art,And enter as his cooks to play our part.
Once we are in, we shall devise a scheme,And test each thought that offers hope or dream.
Perhaps of every pair condemned to grave,At least one youthful life we still may save.”
They learned the cook’s full craft with patient care,Each dish and measure mastered for the fare.
In secret then they won the full commandOf Zahhak’s kitchen with a watchful hand.
When came the hour to kill the chosen two,The cooks prepared the bloody work they knew.
The murderous guards dragged in the youthful pair,And drove them toward the cooks in their despair.
They drove them forward, savage in their speed,Then cast them down to face the bloody deed.
The cooks’ hearts filled with pain, their eyes ran red;Their hatred for the tyrant fiercely spread.
They looked at one another, sick at heart,And cursed the tyrant’s vile and bloody art.
Of those two, one they killed; no means they knewTo save them both from what they had to do.
They drew a sheep’s brain from its severed head,And mixed it with the brain of him they bled.
They spared the other: “Hide your head from sight;Guard well your life and vanish in the night.
Do not remain where settled cities stand;The plain and mountain shall become your land.”
The sheep’s brain took the spared youth’s place inside,And fed the snakes while truth remained denied.
Each month they saved from slaughter thirty more,And sent them out across the desert floor.
When two full hundred had escaped their fate,They kept them hidden past the city gate.
They gave them goats and sheep to earn their bread,Then sent them where the open pastures spread.
From that same stock the Kurdish tribes descend;Their hearts toward settled cities do not bend.
Such was Zahhak’s inverted law and way:He followed every cruel whim each day.
He chose a fighting man when whim arose,And sent him forth to perish by his foes.
If some renowned and lovely maiden brightLived chastely veiled and hidden from men’s sight,
He made her serve his pleasure at his side,With neither royal law nor faith his guide.
A5.2
Zahhak Dreams of Fereydoon
Forty years before his end, Zahhak dreams of three warriors, the youngest of whom strikes him with an ox-headed gorz and drags him to Damavand. After three days of terrified silence, the Mobad Zirak tells him that Fereydoon, not yet born, will overthrow him to avenge a father and a cow.
68 couplets · Zahhak named 8 times · in the full poem
When forty years remained of Zahhak’s reign,Observe how God prepared his mortal bane.
He slept one night beside Arnavaz fair,When dark foreboding filled the midnight air.
He dreamed that three armed warriors appeared,Within the royal palace, fierce and feared.
Two elder men, a younger one between,Cypress-tall, royal farr upon his mien.
He girded like a king and took his stand,An ox-head gorz held ready in his hand.
He rushed on Zahhak, fierce in his attack,And struck the tyrant with a crushing crack.
From head to foot he drew a leather thong,And mastered him who once had seemed so strong.
With that same binding he secured his hands,And broke the pride that ruled so many lands.
A halter then he fastened round his neck,And dragged him forth, his royal pride in wreck.
Toward Mount Damavand the warriors sped,And dragged the humbled tyrant as they led.
The lawless Zahhak writhed beneath the strain;It seemed his very liver split with pain.
He screamed so loudly in his troubled sleep,His hundred-columned palace shook full deep.
The sun-faced women sprang up from their place,Alarmed by cries that filled the royal space.
Arnavaz spoke: “O king, why this dismay?What dream has torn your peaceful sleep away?
You slept in peace within your royal hall;What threat to life could make you cry at all?
The Seven Climes obey your royal hand;Beast, herd, and humankind heed your command.”
He answered: “Such a dream should hidden stay;Its fearful secret I will not convey.
For if I tell the vision I endured,You will lose hope my life can be secured.”
Arnavaz replied: “Let truth become clear;You must unfold the secret of your fear.
Perhaps some remedy may yet be made known;Some cure for every evil can be shown.”
The king then told his vision, one by one,And hid no part of what the dream had done.
She said: “Do not abandon this to fear;Seek out the remedy and make it clear.
The age’s signet crowns your royal seat,And fortune lays the whole world at your feet.
The world lies wholly underneath your ring;Beast, man, bird, Div, and pari serve the king.
From every land assemble men of fame,Star-readers, sorcerers, wise in craft and name.
Reveal the dream to Mobadan, and learnThe truth through wisdom that they may discern.
Learn whose hand holds the ending of your breath:A human, Div, or pari bringing death.
Once this is known, devise the remedy;Let groundless fear not make your courage flee.”
Her counsel pleased the proud and mighty king;Night black as raven’s feathers spread its wing.
Then at once a lamp rose from the height,And crowned the mountain with returning light.
Across the lapis dome the rising sunSpread yellow ruby when the night was done.
Wherever lived a Mobad wise and clear,Wakeful of heart, he summoned each one near.
From every land they gathered at his call,And Zahhak told the dream before them all.
He laid before them what had long been sealed,Of good and evil and what time revealed.
“When will the measure of my lifetime end?To whom shall crown and girdle then descend?
You must reveal this secret as it stands,Though shame and ruin fall upon my hands.”
Mobadan lips went dry, their faces wet;They whispered, trapped within the tyrant’s net:
“If we speak truth, we risk the tyrant’s blade;If we speak false, the same price must be paid.
If what must happen is not plainly said,We still must pay tonight with life instead.”
So none dared speak, and three long days passed by,While dread hung over them like darkening sky.
On the fourth day the king in fury spoke:“Speak now, or all shall perish at a stroke!
Reveal what fate has written while you breathe,Or from the gallows you shall hang beneath!”
The Mobadan bowed low beneath his frown,Their hearts full of fear, blood-filled eyes cast down.
Among those men one saw with keenest sight,Sharp-eared and watchful, judging wrong from right.
Wise, wakeful, Zirak was that Mobad’s name;Among them all he stood the first in fame.
His heart grew tight, yet boldness conquered fear;He opened up his tongue for Zahhak’s ear.
“Empty your head of vanity,” he said;“No child is born except to join the dead.
Before you many kings have worn this crown,And bore their joy and grief, then lost renown.
They counted grief and pleasure in their day,Then left the world to others and to clay.
Though in an iron fortress you should stay,The turning heavens wear its strength away.
Another after you shall take your throne,And cast your head and fortune down to stone.
His name is Fereydoon, born to command;Beneath his rule shall prosper every land.
Not yet has that great prince been born today;His destined hour has not yet come your way.
Born of a noble mother, skilled and wise,Like some fruit-bearing tree he soon shall rise.
To manhood grown, his head shall reach the moon;The crown and throne shall be his destined boon.
The royal cap shall mark his kingly claim;A steel ox-headed gorz shall arm his frame.
That ox-head gorz shall strike you in the fray,Then he shall bind and drag you far away.
In bonds he shall lead you from palace gate,And drag you through the street in humbled state.”
Zahhak replied: “Why will he bind me so?What grievance makes him rise to be my foe?”
Zirak replied: “If wisdom guides your eye,No man does evil without reason why.
His father’s life shall perish by your hand;Revenge will drive him forth at fate’s command.
A cow named Barmayeh shall nurse the child,And guard the world-seeker, tender and mild.
That cow as well shall perish by your blow;For both these wrongs his gorz shall lay you low.”
Zahhak gave ear to Zirak’s fateful word,Then toppled from the throne at what he heard.
The noble Mobad turned from throne and king,In fear of what such truthful words might bring.
When sense returned, Zahhak rose from the floor,And set his foot where kings had stood before.
Through all the world for Fereydoon he pressed,By open search and secret, without rest.
No rest, no sleep, no food could bring him ease;His bright day darkened under fate’s decrees.
A5.3
The Birth of Fereydoon
Fereydoon is born. Zahhak’s men kill his father, Abtin, and his mother, Faranak, hides the child with the herdsman of the wonderful cow Barmayeh. When rumor spreads, she carries him to a holy man on Mount Alborz. Zahhak kills the cow and burns their house.
45 couplets · Zahhak named 7 times · in the full poem
The years passed on, calamity drew nearThe dragon-king, whose days dragged on in fear.
Then Fereydoon was born, and from that hourThe rosebud of the world began to flower.
Tall as a cypress, heir of Jamshid’s race,He bore the farr of kings upon his face.
The royal splendor Jamshid once had wornIn him returned, renewed and newly born.
More welcome than the sun, more prized than rain,As fit for man as knowledge fits the brain.
The turning heavens loved him from the start,And held him dear within their secret heart.
A wondrous cow, Barmayeh, grazed the plain,The finest cattle found in that domain.
Each hair upon her hide a color bore,Like peacock plumes no eye had seen before.
Wise men, star-readers, Mobadan met round;No equal to this creature could be found.
Meanwhile Zahhak searched on, year after year,And filled the world with turmoil through his fear.
Fereydoon’s father, Abtin, good and true,Found all the earth grow narrow as fear grew.
He fled from place to place to save his breath,Till Zahhak’s guards came on him, armed for death.
They seized and bound him like a leopard fast,And dragged him off; his freedom now was past.
Before Zahhak they brought the captive man,And then the tyrant ended Abtin’s span.
When Faranak, his wise and faithful wife,Beheld the ruin of her husband’s life,
She fled in grief when Abtin’s days were done;Her heart was filled with love for her young son.
She sought the meadow where Barmayeh fed,And wept before the herdsman as she said:
“Protect this nursing child and keep him near;Receive him as a father; hold him dear.
Nourish my son on Barmayeh’s rich flow,And guard the child wherever he may go.
If payment you desire, my life I give;Ask what you will; only let my child live.”
The herdsman said, “Your wish shall be obeyed;Like one who serves your son, I pledge my aid.”
She left her infant son within his care;He was to guard the child from every snare.
That guardian, a faithful and loving soul,Sustained the child on milk that made him whole.
For three long years the boy in safety grew,On Barmayeh’s milk, safe from Zahhak’s view.
But Zahhak never ceased his ruthless quest,And rumor’s voice disturbed his cursed rest.
The tale of that rare cow had reached the king,And Faranak felt dread’s returning sting.
She came again: “A thought from God through senseHas come to me, of consequence immense.
My child and my sweet life are wholly one;We must erase all trace and save my son.
This land of sorcerers I now must flee;No trace of child or mother must they see.
To Hind I will go, and withdraw from sight;Then Mount Alborz shall hide him from their might.”
She bore the child away in dead of night,As quick as any bird that takes to flight.
Upon Alborz a holy man had madeHis dwelling, far from worldly toil and trade.
To him she said: “O man of sacred way,A grieving mother stands by you today.
This precious child shall lead the world one day,And bring Zahhak’s dark kingship to decay.
He shall cast the tyrant’s crown and power low,And strip the royal girdle from his foe.
Take him and raise him as a father would,And guard his life with all a father should.”
The holy man drew him to his embrace;No harsh word darkened Fereydoon’s young face.
He guarded him, a father true and wise,And kept him safe beneath the mountain skies.
When Zahhak learned where Barmayeh had fedThe child, his wrath rose hot within his head.
Like a mad elephant he charged in wrath,And slaughter followed hard along his path.
Barmayeh fell beneath his murderous hand,The wondrous cow he sought throughout the land.
He killed each beast that his mad eyes could see,Until no living cattle wandered free.
He searched Fereydoon’s house from room to room,But found no trace of him within the gloom.
He set the lofty eyvan all aflame,And fire consumed the hall’s imposing frame.
He brought the lofty palace to the ground,And ruin spread through all the lands around.
A5.7
Fereydoon Sees the Daughters of Jamshid
👨💪🏛️👩👩🤝🛡️7 emoji · the whole poem in emoji →
Fereydoon smashes Zahhak’s talisman, kills the Divs in the palace and takes the throne. He cleanses Jamshid’s daughters of the tyrant’s sorcery, and Arnavaz tells him Zahhak has gone to Hind, where he bathes in a vat of blood to cheat the stars.
45 couplets · Zahhak named 8 times · in the full poem
A talisman rose towering toward the sky,Raised not to Him who rules the world on high.
Fereydoon saw the false charm had been planned,And smashed it with the ox-head gorz in hand.
Within the eyvan, mighty male Divs remained,By sorcery and Zahhak’s dark power sustained.
Beneath his heavy gorz their heads all fell,And from that place he swept each darkened spell.
Zahhak’s own seat he claimed before them all,And set his foot within the tyrant’s hall.
The Kayanian cap he set in place,With kingly farr resplendent in his face.
From Zahhak’s shabestan came women fair,Sun-faced and dark of eye, with flowing hair.
Among them Jamshid’s daughters stood forlorn,Their minds by Zahhak’s sorcery were worn.
Like those made senseless by a drunken state,They stood confused beneath their noxious fate.
He had their heads washed clean of stain and dread,And purged the darkness Zahhak’s teachings spread.
He showed the path that leads to God the Pure,And cleansed the taint they long had to endure.
For raised in false belief beneath that reign,Their minds had wandered far from truth’s domain.
Their narcissus eyes overflowed with deep grief,And crimson cheeks found tears but no relief.
“May you endure while this old world is fair;May fortune guard the royal star you bear.
What star is yours, what fortunate decree?What fruit are you, from branch of what great tree?
What man before has dared the lion’s lair,Or entered Zahhak’s palace, reached his chair?
No one before has sought his throne or place,Or dared desire his station face to face.
This tyrant serves Ahriman, the foe;What grief has filled the land beneath his blow!”
He answered: “Fortune rests with none for long;It shifts with time from right and turns to wrong.
My father, Abtin, bore an honored name;From Iran Zahhak seized him without shame.
He killed him wretchedly; for that I cameTo seek revenge and end the tyrant’s claim.
He slaughtered Barmayeh, who gave me milk,Whose patterned hide shone bright as painted silk.
What profit could that impure tyrant gainBy spilling blood of one who caused no pain?
From Iran, girded for revenge, I came,And brought this ox-head gorz to end his name.
With this great gorz I mean to crush his head;No mercy stays my hand till he is dead.”
When Arnavaz these words had clearly heard,She grasped the truth and in her heart it stirred:
“You are Shah Fereydoon, whose hand will breakThe talisman and every spell they make.
Now all the world’s release depends on you;Your girding shows what righteous strength can do.
We two are women born of Kayan blood,Kept pure though trapped beneath this evil flood.
We yielded only out of fear of death;What choice had we beneath the Dragon’s breath?
Would we by choice, awake or sleeping, dwellBeside these serpents in so dark a hell?”
Then Fereydoon replied with steady will:“If heaven stands with me and guides me still,
I shall uproot the Dragon from our sight,And wash the world of stain by God’s own light.
Now speak the truth, conceal no part from me:Where is this tyrant? Where can Zahhak be?”
She answered: “Far away toward Hind he went,To work his sorcery with dark intent.
Afraid of what his evil stars portend,A thousand guiltless heads he brings to end.
A seer foretold: ‘The earth will cast you down;Another comes to take your throne and crown.’
His fortune fades beneath that prophecy;All joy and ease from him have ceased to be.
From tame and savage beasts he gathers blood,And pours it all into a single flood.
The blood of men and women joins that tide;One vat receives the slaughter from each side.
He bathes his head and body in that gore,To void the fate the starry omens bore.
Two shoulder-serpents grant him no repose;Their torment follows everywhere he goes.
From land to land he wanders without peace,No hour arrives when torment finds release.
His time to turn again is drawing near;No country holds him long, consumed by fear.”
Thus Arnavaz disclosed the hidden thread,While high-born Fereydoon heard all she said.
A5.9
Fereydoon Binds Zahhak
👨💪⚔️🐍⛓️⛰️⚖️7 emoji · the whole poem in emoji →
Zahhak climbs into his palace by kamand and attacks, but Fereydoon strikes him down with the ox-headed gorz. Soroush forbids the killing. Fereydoon restores the order of warriors and craftsmen, then carries Zahhak to Mount Damavand and chains him in a bottomless cave.
84 couplets · Zahhak named 9 times · in the full poem
Roused by that talk, Zahhak resolved to ride,And swift, keen steeds were saddled at his side.
With warrior Divs in multitudes he came,By hidden roads, his heart consumed with flame.
By secret paths he neared the palace gate,His heart on vengeance, blind to crown and fate.
The warning reached Fereydoon’s armed array,They moved at once to block the passageway.
They left their war-steeds, closing rank on rank,While townsmen armed themselves on either flank.
From roofs and gates the city rose in wrath,Their hearts made fierce by Zahhak’s bloody path.
The young came forth, the old in battle tried,And cast the tyrant’s falsehoods all aside.
From walls came bricks, from roofs came stones in sheets,While swords and arrows filled the crowded streets.
They fell like hail from one black cloud in flight,Till not a foot could find a place to light.
The mountain roared beneath the warriors’ cry,The earth grew weary as the hooves flew by.
War-dust arose and hid the sun from view,While spears struck stone as though to pierce it through.
A fierce cry rose from the fire-temple’s hall:“Why should this impure Dragon rule us all?
Let every man among us back the right,Not bow before the serpent-shouldered blight.”
From street and roof a cloud of darkness grew,The bright sun turned a deep lapis hue.
Then Zahhak, fired by jealousy and fear,Drew close in iron, masked in battle gear.
A sixty-zara kamand he unwound,Then climbed the palace wall without a sound.
Below, young Fereydoon sat in his place,With Shahrnaz beside him, face to face.
Her narcissus eyes were dark, her cheeks like day,Her night-black hair across her shoulders lay.
Her lips were open, cursing Zahhak’s name;At once his jealous heart burst into flame.
He cast his kamand down into the hall,And risked both life and kingship in that fall.
He reached the ground, his khanjar bared to kill,And thirsted for the women’s blood to spill.
But Fereydoon came rushing like the blast,His ox-head gorz in hand, advancing fast.
He struck Zahhak upon the helmet’s crown,And smashed its iron crest and drove him down.
He raised the gorz again above his head,Then Soroush cried, “You must not strike him dead.
His time has not arrived; do not yet slay.Bind him, and bear him from the world away.
Take him between the mountains, narrow, steep,Where kin and comrades cannot reach his keep.”
Fereydoon heard and stayed his lifted hand,Then bound the tyrant fast with leather band.
With lion-hide he bound his hands and waist,And drew the knots with neither slack nor haste.
So tight the bonds around the tyrant lay,No elephant in rage could break away.
Then on the golden throne he took his seat,And cast the tyrant’s customs at his feet.
He called aloud: “O men of wakeful mind,Lay down your arms and leave this strife behind.
The warrior and craftsman have their art;Let neither seize the other’s proper part.
One works with craft; one wields the gorz with skill,The realm stands firm when each fulfills his will.
If each should seize the other’s task instead,Disorder through the whole wide earth would spread.
So each return to work that is his own;From rightful order lasting peace has grown.
The tyrant who made all the world afraidNow lies in bonds, his evil customs stayed.
Return in peace, resume your proper trade;Live joyfully beneath the realm remade.”
The city’s nobles, wealthy men of name,Came bearing gifts and praising Fereydoon’s fame.
Those who possessed a share of crown or goldCame joyfully, with gifts a thousandfold.
He welcomed each according to his state,And heard with grace what each chose to relate.
He gave them counsel, blessed them one by one,And praised the World-Creator for what was done.
He said, “This realm is mine by Heaven’s grace;A fortunate star now shines upon this place.
The Pure God raised me from Alborz on highTo cleanse the world where Dragon’s shadows lie.
By this great gorz He gave my hand its might,To clear the earth of Dragon-darkened night.
When the Good-Giver sends His boon, we shouldMake answer to His gift through doing good.
The whole wide world now lies beneath my reign;I must move on; no ruler can remain.
Else I would gladly stay for many days,And share with you this city’s feast and praise.”
They bowed and kissed the ground before the king,Tabiras, karnays made the city ring.
They cried, “Bring out the Dragon bound in chain;Let all behold the ending of his reign.”
Fereydoon’s army took no spoil or gold,But left the city’s wealth for them to hold.
They laid Zahhak across a camel’s back,Bound in disgrace upon the mountain track.
Toward Shir-khvan they drove the tyrant low,His former state reduced to shame and woe.
“Call this old world ancient,” says the tale;How many ages crossed each hill and vale.
And countless ages yet will turn and pass,While men depart like footprints from the grass.
Fereydoon then resolved to strike him dead,And end at once the tyrant’s life of dread.
Again came Soroush, calling from the sky:“Do not yet kill him; he must not yet die.
Bear him to Damavand, securely bound;Take only those you need upon that ground.
Bring no great crowd; take only chosen few,Companions firm in hardship, tried and true.”
Fereydoon hastened onward at full speed,The city’s walls fell far behind his steed.
He brought Zahhak to Damavand, the peakWhere crags enclosed him, overcast and bleak.
He chose a cave whose bottom none could see,A hidden cleft where none might set him free.
He brought great iron spikes and massive chains,And fixed the tyrant where the rock constrains.
His hands were bound against the mountainside,New chains were drawn above the first and tied.
He left him hanging there in grievous pain,While blood ran down and darkened rock and plain.
The name of Zahhak sank beneath the clay,And earth was cleansed of evil on that day.
Cut off from kin and comrades, left alone,No friendly voice could reach him through the stone.
So let us not surrender earth to wrong;Let goodness rule our conduct all life long.
Neither the good nor evil long remain;Let goodness be the memory we retain.
What use are treasure, coin, or palace walls,When Time at last upon the owner calls?
Your words live on to mark you when you go;So never count good speech as mean or low.
Fereydoon was not born of angel kind;Nor musk nor ambergris in him combined.
His fame was born of justice, open hand;Those virtues raised his name throughout the land.
Practice those two: be Fereydoon in deed;Show justice; give wherever there is need.
Through godly action first he cleansed the earth,And gave a wounded world a second birth.
He bound Zahhak, the impure king of wrong,And broke the terror he had spread so long.
He then avenged the father he had lost,And drove the foolish from the land they crossed.
He took the earth away from wicked hands,And justice rose again throughout the lands.
Yet where is he who once possessed the throne?He too departed, leaving all his own.
From Time he carried nothing in the end,Except regret for what he could not mend.
O world, how loveless is the path you choose:You nurture what you later hunt and lose.
Such is the fate of mighty and of small,The shepherd and the flock alike must fall.
The crown, the treasure, every lofty wallRemain behind when death has made its call.
But goodness lives when body, wealth, and powerHave passed like shade before the final hour.
So leave a name made luminous and just;Good deeds endure when crown and gold are dust.
Family
- Parents
- Mardas
- Descendants
- Mehrab
On the maps
Where he appears
Named mentions by book, from the Universe Registry. Titles such as “the Shah” and epithets are not counted.
A4The First Kings: Jamshid and the Rise of Zahhak15A5Zahhak’s Tyranny and the Uprising of Kaveh55A6The First Kings: Fereydoon4A8The Story of Zal and Rudabeh10A9The Birth and Early Feats of Rostam; Manuchehr’s Closing Counsel1B1The Crisis after Manuchehr1B4The War with Mazandaran1B9The Story of Siavash1B14The Great Battle with the Khan of Chin1C3The Battle of the Twelve Rukhs2C4The Final Afrasiab Wars and the Disappearance of Kay Khosrow4C8The Tragedy of Rostam and Esfandiyar3D1The Reign of Bahman, Son of Esfandiyar1D4Dara and Iskandar1D5The Iskandar Cycle1D6The Ashkanian Dynasty3D12Qobad and the Mazdakite Revolution1E6Khosrow Parviz3E7The Story of Khosrow Parviz and Shirin1E8Shiruyeh’s Coup and the End of the Great Reign1E10Yazdegard3