For this bold youth shall not his father know,
Each must confront the other as his foe.
Unknown, the youth shall Rustem’s force withstand,
And soon o’erwhelm the bulwark of the land.
Rustem removed, the Persian throne is ours,
An easy conquest to confederate powers.”
By the careful intrigues of the king, the Tartar host was soon arrayed against Persia, and all unknown to each, the father and son were drawn up in battle array against each other. When the eye of Rustem fell upon the magnificent figure of the young Tartar prince, he was astonished at his martial bearing, for he seemed to wear the manly form of his own race. He marked the strong shoulders, so much resembling Zāl, and knew that this strong warrior knight sat his splendid horse like Rustem’s self. He thought:
“He cannot be my son unknown to me;
Reason forbids the thought—it cannot be.
At Samenegān, where once affection smiled,