d to them:--

"Some evil eye has smote the king;--Iblis
By wicked wiles has led his soul astray,
And withered all life's pleasures. O release
Our country from the sorrow, the dismay
Which darkens every heart:--his ruin stay.
Is it not mournful thus to see him cold
And gloomy, casting pomp and joy away?
Restore him to himself; let us behold
Again the victor-king, the generous, just and bold."

Zal and Rustem went to the palace of the king in a melancholy mood, and
Khosrau having heard of their approach, enquired of them why they had
left Sistan. They replied that the news of his having relinquished all
concern in the affairs of the kingdom had induced them to wait upon him.
"I am weary of the troubles of this life," said he composedly, "and
anxious to prepare for a future state." "But death," observed Zal, "is a
great evil. It is dreadful to die!" Upon this the king said:--"I cannot
endure any longer the deceptions and the perfidy of mankind. My love of
heaven is so great that I cannot exist one moment without devotion and
prayer. Last night a mysterious voice whispered in my ear:--The time of
thy departure is nigh, prepare the load for thy journey, and neglect not
thy warning angel, or the opportunity will be lost." When Zal and Rustem
saw that Khosrau was resolved, and solemnly occupied in his devotions,
they were for some time silent. But Zal was at length moved, and
said:--"I will go into retirement and solitude with the king, and by
continual prayer, and through his blessing, I too may be forgiven."
"This, indeed," said the king, "is not the place for me. I must seek out
a solitary cell, and there resign my soul to heaven." Zal and Rustem
wept, and quitted the palace, and all the warriors were in the deepest
affliction.

The next day Kai-khosrau left his apartment, and called together his
great men and warriors, and said to them:--

"That which I sought for, I have now obtained.
Nothing remains of worldly wish, or hope,
To disappoint or vex me. I resign
The pageantry of kings, and turn away
From all the pomp of the Kaianian throne,
Sated with human grandeur.--Now, farewell!
Such is my destiny. To those brave friends,
Who, ever faithful, have my power upheld,
I will discharge the duty of a king,
Paying the pleasing debt of gratitude."

He then ordered his tents to be pitched in the desert, and opened his
treasury, and for seven days made a sumptuous feast, and distribu