Then the Sīmūrgh took the boy carefully in her talons and in graceful circles she slowly swept down toward the wondering father. “Receive thy son,” said the wondrous bird. “He is worthy of a throne and diadem.” Then the repentant father gladly caught his rescued boy in his arms, and bore him exultingly homeward, where he placed him in the glad arms of his mother, who wept tears of joy over the white-haired child. The beautiful plume was laid carefully away as one of the treasures of the household, to be used by the boy only in times of greatest need.
When the Persian king Minūchir heard the story, he sent to Suwār a splendid troop of horsemen, led by the heir to the throne, and they conveyed the royal congratulations to the warrior and his son, and escorted them into the royal presence. Here
“Zāl humbly kissed the earth before the king, And from the hands of Minūchir received A golden mace and helmet. Then those who knew The stars and planetary signs were told To calculate the stripling’s destiny; And all proclaimed him of exalted fortune, That he would be prodigious in his might, Outshining every warrior of the age.“
The delighted king then presented the boy with Arabian horses and gorgeous armor, with gold and rich garments, and appointed the father to be the ruler of Kabūl, Zabūl, and Ind. Zāl accompanied his father upon the return homeward, and then he was placed under the care of renowned instructors at Zabūlistān.
While the Persian youth was reaching the age of manhood, in the delightful pursuits of art and science, he was also occasionally intrusted with the care of the province during the father’s absence. Kabūl, one of the provinces which the Persian king had assigned to Suwār, had been ruled over by a chieftain named Mihrāb, who was descended from Zohāk, and this chieftain still retained a subordinate position in the government by paying an annual tribute to Suwār.
Mihrāb had a beautiful daughter named Rūdabeh, and although she was kept in the most careful seclusion, still the fame of her great loveliness was spread among the neighboring princes.
“If thou wouldst make her charms appear, Think of the sun so bright and clear, And brighter far with softer light, The maiden strikes the dazzled sight. Think of her skin, with what compare? Ivory was never half so fair! Her stature like the sabin tree, Her eyes! so full of witchery, Glow like the Nigris[244] tenderly, Her arching brows their magic fling, Dark as the raven’s glossy wing. Soft o’er her blooming cheek is spread The rich pomegranate’s vivid red; Her musky ringlets unconfined In clustering meshes roll behind. Possessed of every sportive wile, ’Tis heaven, ’tis bliss, to see her smile.”