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FIRDAWSI *
Hurler of horse-troops in hot-contested'fights, Feeder of carrion-fowls with foemeritflesh-feast,
Raising the roar of strife on the red war-field,
From the grim war-clouds grinding the gore-shower.
Who, by his manly might merit on merit .
Heaps, till his merit merit outmea^ures 1 "
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In eloquence I know of^no poetry in Persian which equals this, ,
and but little even in Arabic.
When Firdawsi had completed the Shdhndma,
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it was trans-
both of
scribed by 'All Daylam 2 and recited by Abu Dulaf2 ,
whom he mentions by name in tendering His thanks to Huyayy-i-
Qutay^a 3 the , governor of Tus, who had conferred on Firdawsi
many favour^ :
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" Of the men of renown of this city 'A h'Daylam and Abu Dulaf have
participated in this book.
From them my portion was naught save ''Well done /'
My gall-bladder was like to burst with their 'Well dones^?
Jjfuyayy the son of Qutayba is a nobleman who asks me notfor unrewarded
verse.
I know nothing either of the root nor the branches of the land-tax ;
I Igunge [at ease} in the midst of my quilt"."
Huyayy the son of Qutayba was the revenue-collector of Tus,
and deemed it his duty at least to abate the taxes payable b^v
Firdawsi hence ; naturally his name will endure till the Resurrection
and Kings will read it.
So 'All Daylam transcribed the Shdhndma in seven volumes,
and Firdawsi, taking with him Abu Dulaf, set out for the Court
of Ghazna. There, *>y the help of the great Minister Ahmad ibn*
Hasan 6 the , secrefary, he presented it, and it was accepted, Sultan
1 Poor as this rendering is, I am strongly of opinion that for an English rendering
of the Shdhndma (which always seems fo me very analogous in aim, scope, and
treatment to that little-read English Epic, the Brut of Layamon) the old English
alliterative verse would be the > most suitable form.
2 See Noldeke, op. cit., p. 153 (p. 27 of the new edition), and n. i ad calc.
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Soy\.. and L. B. has the more usual " Husayn b. Qutayba." Cf. Noldeke, loc. cit.
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, I.e.J. am sick of their barren and unprofitable plaudits. As these poor men
rendered him material service in other ways, Firdawsi's remarks seem rather un-
gratefuf.
5 What follows is evidently an explanation of this couplet. Firdawsi means that
being no longer vexed with the exactions of the tax-gatherer, he can now repose in
pfeace.
6 ,,This celebrated minister had the title Shamsu'l-Kufdt and the nisba of al-
Maymandi. He died in 424/1033 after twenty years' service as Minister to Sultan
Mahmud.
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