Book A1The First Kings: Kioumars

What says the dehqan? Who in ancient yearsFirst ruled, and raised the crown above his peers?

Who first gave royal name its lasting fame,And stood among the great with highest claim?

The record of those days has passed away,Save what a son from father’s words can say,

From father down to son the record ran,Declaring who first ruled the world of man.

The ancient teller of heroic lore,Who gathered legends from the days of yore,

Declares that Kioumars, before the rest,First wore the Shah’s high crown, supreme and blest.

Then order, farr, and splendor came to earth,When Aries held the sun at spring’s rebirth;

So bright it shone, the aging world grew young,And life renewed where once no song was sung.

Kioumars ruled, he dwelled upon the heights,Of mountain slopes that caught a crown of lights.

From there his throne and fortune rose to fame,And all his followers shared his primal claim.

In leopard skins were clothed both lord and band,While arts of life first stirred at his command;

For food and dress were yet in earliest form,And human craft was scarcely yet the norm.

He ruled the world for thirty circling years,A sun in goodness, free from doubt or fears;

A moon above a cypress tall and bright,He blazed upon his throne of kingly right.

The wild and tame came gently to his gaze,And gathered round his throne in peaceful ways.

The creatures bowed before his royal place,And bent in awe beneath his shining grace.

From him they took their faith and settled creed,And learned the paths that guided every deed.

He had a son, Siamak was his name,In skill and promise equal to his fame;

The father’s life, his joy, his heart’s delight,A noble branch and lovely to the sight.

That life he cherished with a tender care,But feared a stroke of fate beyond repair.

So time moved on; the Shah’s bright fortune grew,And day by day it shone with brighter hue.

No foe opposed him anywhere below,Save dark Ahriman, his relentless foe.

Consumed by envy, Ahriman lay still,And plotted while he gathered strength and will.

He had a son, a savage, wolf-like force,Made bold by rage and hardened in his course;

With warriors massed and ready to advance,He moved against the Shah with sword and lance.

Resolved to win the crown and throne by might,And dim Siamak’s fortune and his light,

He spread his purpose, filling all with cries,Till rumor rose like storm across the skies.

But Kioumars knew nothing of the snare,Nor knew another sought his royal chair.

Then blessed Soroush came in pari guise,Clad in leopard skin before the Shah’s eyes.

He told the Shah the enemy’s design,And warned him of the plot against his line.

The foul Div’s malice drove him to attack;His kindled wrath flared up; no drawing back.

He mustered all his troops and led the fight,And strode before their ranks with wrathful might.

No jowshan yet for war was forged in fire;The prince wore leopard skin for his attire.

Bare-bodied Siamak came out to strifeTo grapple Ahriman’s dark son for life.

The Black Div seized him in his claws and bentThe prince in two; down hard and fast he went.

He tore his liver-place with savage blow;So Siamak was slain, and laid full low.

His warriors stood without their chief that day,Their leader slain, their battle strength astray.

Kioumars heard, the world grew black as night;He quit his throne and raged against his plight.

He rent his face, his body raked with grief,His cheeks ran blood, his heart found no relief.

His eyes were brimming, and they would not dry,Wet as the clouds of spring that load the sky.

All men lamented, burned in sorrow’s flame,All robed in mourning, weeping as they came.

In turquoise robes the mourners formed their line,With blood-filled eyes before the throne divine.

Their cheeks were flushed like wine, their tears ran red,And through the world a sea of sorrow spread.

Birds, beasts both fierce and timid, sought the height,Toward the mountain, wailing, took their flight.

Dust rose in clouds before the royal gate,All nature joined to mourn the prince’s fate.

A year passed on in grief’s relentless chain,A word came from the Judge and Maker plain.

Then blessed Soroush brought greeting: “Cease your cry,Rise up, take arms, and let your sorrow die.

At my command, assemble your array;Raise dust and march against the Div today.

Sweep from the earth that Div of evil deed,And of its vengeance let your heart be freed.”

The Shah looked up and cursed his hated foes,And on the ill-thinker called down all woes.

He called upon great Yazdan’s highest Name,And down his lashes running teardrops came.

He hastened Siamak’s blood to repay,And knew no rest nor sleep by night or day.

The slain Siamak left a son behind,A prince named Hushang, wise in heart and mind.

Beside Kioumars, honored in his place,He served as counselor, all wisdom and grace.

To Kioumars he was his father’s sign,Reared at his breast, a cherished living line.

He held him as a son, his dearest care,And fixed his hopes on him and none elsewhere.

The Shah, resolved on war, called forth the youth,And shared with him the full and solemn truth.

“I will gather troops, sound the battle-cry,A mighty tumult shall ascend the sky.

You must go first and lead them in my stead;I must depart; you are the captain ahead.”

He gathered paris, leopards, lions bold,With wolves and tigers fierce beyond control;

Wild beasts and tame, the birds and paris came,With Hushang at their head, intent on fame.

Before the ranks the vengeful grandson led;Behind the army Kioumars Shah then sped.

The Black Div came in fear before their might,And hurled his dust toward heaven’s towering height.

The beasts’ great roaring weakened claw and hand,Before the wrath of him who ruled the land.

The two great forces crashed in battle’s roar;The Divs could bear the beasts’ assault no more.

Then Hushang sprang upon the Div in rage,And made the world grow narrow as a cage.

He seized the vast Div, held him stretched and tight,Then struck his head from off his neck outright.

He cast him at his feet and struck him prone;His hide was torn, his fortune overthrown.

For Siamak the vengeance now was won;The blood-debt paid, the hour of wrath was done.

When Kioumars had gained the vengeance due,His measured span of days was finished too.

He passed away and left the world behind,An inheritance for those of humankind.

This treacherous world may show the road to wealth,Then squander all our capital by stealth.

The world from end to end is but a tale;For neither good nor evil can prevail.