Shah Nameh/Afrásiyáb

It has already been said that Shimasás and Khazerván were sent by Afrásiyáb with thirty thousand men against Kábul and Zábul, and when Zál heard of this movement he forthwith united with Mihráb the chief of Kábul, and having first collected a large army in Sístán, had a conflict with the two Tartar generals. Zál promptly donned himself in war attire, And, mounted like a hero, to the field Hastened, his soldiers frowning on their steeds. Now Khazerván grasps his huge battle-axe, And, his broad shield extending, at one blow Shivers the mail of Zál, who calls aloud As, like a lion, to the fight he springs, Armed with his father's mace. Sternly he looks And with the fury of a dragon, drives The weapon through his adversary's head, Staining the ground with streaks of blood, resembling The waving stripes upon a tiger's back.

