The white-haired child
Sam, a champion of Iran and lord of Zabol, had longed for a son. When a boy was finally born, the household found him beautiful and strong. But there was one thing they feared to tell his father.
The child's hair was white.
For days, no one dared bring Sam the news. When a nurse finally spoke and he went to see the baby, wonder gave way to shame. He imagined the questions people would ask. He feared that they would take the child's strange appearance as a sign of evil.
Sam ordered his son carried away and abandoned on Mount Alborz.
The warrior who could face armies had allowed fear of other people's judgement to decide the fate of his own child.
IIThe nest above the mountain
High on Alborz lived the Simurgh, a great bird whose wisdom would guide generations of the heroic family. Her nest of ebony and sandalwood stood beyond the reach of people.
Below it lay the abandoned child.
The Simurgh saw him and carried him up to her young. Yet the helpless creature became no meal for the nest. She sheltered and nourished him, and he grew among her chicks.
Years passed. The baby became a strong young man, still marked by his white hair. The Simurgh called him Dastan. Under her care, the mountain on which he had been left to die became his home.
The child left on the mountain found shelter beneath another creature's wings.
IIIA father returns
Sam dreamed that a rider brought news of his son. When he sought counsel, the wise men rebuked him. Even animals cared for their young. What had justified abandoning a child for the colour of his hair?
Further dreams deepened his remorse. At last he went in search of the son he had rejected.
At Alborz, he saw the nest high above him. The young man was alive, but beyond his reach. Sam prayed and acknowledged his wrongdoing.
The Simurgh knew that the time had come for her foster son to enter the human world. She told Dastan that his father waited below.
He did not welcome the news. The nest was the home he knew, and the great bird had cared for him when his own family had not.
IVThe feather
Before they parted, the Simurgh gave him a feather. If distress or danger overwhelmed him, he was to burn it and call for her help.
Then she gathered him to her and carried him down the mountain.
Sam received his son and called him Zal-i-Zar. The young man returned with him to a life of courts, learning and the responsibilities of a prince. But he carried something from the mountain that no court could give him: the promise of the being who had protected him.
For a time, he had no need to burn the feather. He kept it nonetheless.
VRudabeh
In Kabul, Zal fell in love with Rudabeh, the daughter of Mehrab and Sindokht. Her family's descent from Zahhak made the prospect of marriage alarming to the Iranian court.
The two lovers nevertheless found a way to meet. When Zal came beneath her tower, Rudabeh let down her long hair and offered it as a means of ascent. He would not climb it and hurt her. Instead, he cast his lasso and made his way up.
Their love did not resolve the political danger by itself. Messages passed between courts, and Sindokht played a decisive part. She went to Sam and worked to turn the threat of conflict towards agreement.
With negotiation and royal consent, the obstacles were overcome. Zal and Rudabeh married.
VIThe feather burns
When Rudabeh was ready to give birth, her child was too large to be delivered. Her strength failed, and the household feared for her life.
Zal remembered the feather.
He brought it to the fire. The Simurgh answered and reassured him: the child would become a mighty warrior. Then, within the marvellous world of the poem, she explained how mother and child could be saved.
A skilled practitioner was to give Rudabeh wine, open her side and deliver the baby. The wound would be stitched and treated with a mixture of herbs, milk and musk, and a feather passed over it.
Her instructions were followed. Rudabeh survived and, after sleep, recovered. Her cry of release echoes the name Rostam in the Persian verse, a poetic play on words that joins the child's name to the end of her suffering.
The boy would become the central champion of the Shahnameh.
VIIThe family beneath the wings
Zal's story begins with a failure of care. Sam looks at his son and sees a reason to fear what the world will say. The Simurgh sees a child who needs protection.
Years later, the care she gave him reaches beyond the mountain. The feather helps save Rudabeh and brings Rostam into the world. A relationship formed in exile becomes part of the family's future.
The Simurgh will appear again in Rostam's life, offering help in a conflict whose consequences are far more troubling. Her place in the epic is larger than one rescue. She is a source of knowledge when human strength is not enough.
For us, Zal's story is a reminder to question the judgements we make too quickly. What looks unfamiliar need not be feared, and the person who has been cast aside may still find a home.
