What did that brave poet say,

Who suddenly grappled with a male lion?

That if you seek the name of a man,

You wash the face of the Indian sword.

You should not avoid evils,

For the day of shame and battle will come upon you.

When time comes with hardship,

It will not turn back from you by avoidance.

If you accompany war with wisdom,

They will not consider you brave among warriors.

Wisdom and religion have a different path,

Good words are in advice.

Now from the path of warrior Rostam,

There is a story with color and scent.

I heard that one day, Go, the strong-bodied,

Held a feast for the assembly.

In a place whose name was Navand,

Inside it were tall palaces.

Where the sharp fire of Barzin now,

Burns there as a guide.

The great men of Iran to that feast place,

Gathered, a famous army.

Like Tus and like Godarz of the Kesvad family,

Like Bahram and like Gev, the free men.

Like Gurgin and like Zangeh of Shaveran,

Like Gostaham and Kharad, the warriors.

Like Barzin, the arrogant swordsman,

Gerazeh, who was the head of the assembly.

With each of the elders, several men,

A famous and respected army.

The army did not rest for a moment from work,

From polo, arrows, wine, and hunting.

In a drunken state, Gev said one day,

To Rostam, “O famous and brave one.”

If it so happens that you desire to hunt,

A swift cheetah will be useful to you.

In the hunting ground of the path of Afrasiab,

Let us cover the shining face of the sun.

From the dust of the riders and from the cheetah and falcon,

Let us take rest for the long day.

Let us cast the lasso on the swift onager,

Let us put a restraint on the lion with the sword.

Let us hunt in that plain of Turan,

So that we make a memorial in the world.

Rostam said to him, “Without your wish,

May there be no passing until your end.”

At dawn, let us go to that plain of Turan,

Let us not refrain from hunting and raiding.

They were all in agreement on this matter,

No one offered a different opinion.

When they arose from sleep at dawn,

They prepared to go for that desire.

They went with falcons, hawks, and cradles,

Arrogant and joyful to the river of honey.

To the hunting ground of the path of Afrasiab,

On one side sand and on one side water.

On the other side Sarakhs and its desert ahead,

Herds of gazelles and sheep had spread across the plain.

The whole plain became full of tents and pavilions,

Became agitated by the abundance of gazelles.

The land became empty of predatory lions,

The news reached the flying birds.

Heaps of birds and game were everywhere,

Whether killed or wounded by arrows.

Their lips did not rest from laughter for a moment,

They were with bright hearts and joyful.

For a week in this way, with wine in hand,

Sometimes raiding, sometimes sitting in merriment.

Then Tahmtan (Rostam) came at dawn,

He made a worthy plan with the army.

Rostam said thus to those rebels,

To those mace-wielders, people-slayers:

That from us to Afrasiab at this time,

Surely news has reached without doubt.

He will devise a plan and come to war,

He will make the hunting ground narrow for the cheetah.

There must be a scout on the road,

So that when he receives a little news,

He comes and gives news of the army,

So that the evil-minded one does not take the road.

Gerazeh, with his bow strung,

Came, determined for that task.

The army that had a guardian like him,

All the plans of the enemies were contemptible.

They turned to hunting and eating,

No one remembered the quarrelsome one.

Then news came to Afrasiab,

Of them during the dark night, at the time of sleep.

He summoned the experienced ones from the army,

He told many stories of Rostam.

And of those seven brave horsemen,

Who were each like a lion.

That we must now prepare,

To suddenly launch an attack.

If we capture these seven heroes,

We will make the world narrow for Kavus.

We must go like hunters,

And suddenly strike the army against them.

He chose thirty thousand swordsmen,

All battle-seekers from the field of battle.

Thus he spoke to the renowned warriors,

That now is not the time for delay for us.

They rode out on the desert road,

They all prepared themselves for war.

He sent countless troops from every side,

To those rebels to block the way.

When Gerazeh saw the dust of the army,

He came and observed the entire army.

He saw that the face of the world had become black,

The banner of the commander of the Turan army.

From there he returned like a rushing wind,

You would say that a boar had been wounded.

He came rushing to the hunting ground,

Tahmtan was drinking wine with the army.

Thus he said to Rostam, the lion-hearted man,

“Arise and turn back from merriment.”

“There are so many troops that there is no measure,

The high and low of the army are indistinguishable.”

“The banner of the oppressive Afrasiab,

Shines like the sun from the dust.”

When Rostam heard this, he laughed loudly,

He said to him, “Victory is with us.”

“Why are you so afraid of the king of the Turks,

Of the dust of the riders of the land of Turan?”

“His army is not more than a hundred thousand,

Riders who twist reins and wear armor.”

“In this plain of vengeance, if there is one of us,

The war of the Turks is considered small in our eyes.”

“Seven brave horsemen have gathered,

So renowned and swordsmen.”

“One of us is equal to a thousand of them,

How many troops should be counted from the Turks?”

“In this plain, if I am especially alone,

Who am on the back of Golrang in armor.”

If such revenge-seeking comes to me,

I will not need an army from Iran.

You, wine-drinker, from Babylonian wine,

Drink until the end of a nightingale's song.

The cupbearer measured the wine and gave it quickly,

Tahmtan quickly became happy from its giving.

He placed that shining cup in his hand,

First, he mentioned the name of King Kavus.

May the king of the time be remembered by me,

May his land always be prosperous.

After that, Tahmtan kissed the ground,

Thus he said, “This wine is in memory of Tus.”

The leaders of the world arose,

They made a request to the champion.

“We have no place with this cup of wine,

With wine, the Devil has no access to you.”

Wine and mace, one strike and the battlefield,

Did not come to the hand of anyone but you.

The red Babylonian wine in the yellow cup,

Tahmtan drank to the memory of Zavareh.

When Zavareh placed the cup in his hand,

He also remembered King Kavus.

He drank and kissed the ground,

Tahmtan bestowed blessings upon him.

That the cup of a brother was drunk by a brother,

The lion who broke the cup of wine.