A literary history of Persia

166 THE SASANIAN PERIOD\Persia,where it is generally believed that he produced a picture-1 book called the Arzhan^ or Arianp* to which he appealed (asMuhammad appealed to the >ur'dn) as a proof of his supernaturalpower and divine1mission.3.N&shlrwdn and Mazdak."I was born," the Prophet Muhammad isreported to havesaid, "in the reign of the Just King," meaning therebyKhusraw Anushak-rubdn (" of Immortal Spirit "),^jifshirwdn!wno ls stiM spoken of by the Persians as " Nushirwanthe Just" and regarded as the perfect typeofWe kingly virtue. have already seen that this verdict cannotbe accepted without reserve, and that Nushirwan's vigorousmeasures against heretics rather than his justice (in our senseof the term) won him the applause and approval of the Magianpriests by whose hands the national chronicles were shaped ;justas the slur which rests on the name of the firstYazdigird(called Baza-gar, " the Sinner ") is to be ascribed rather tohis tolerance of other religions and his indifference to theZoroastrian clergy than to any specialwickedness of life.Yet Nushirwan, though severe on heretics whose activitythreatened the welfare of the State, was by no means a fanatic,but on the contrary interested himself greatly in foreignreligions and philosophies. In this respect he reminds us ofthe Caliph at Ma'mun and the Emperor Akbar, both of whomtook the same delightin religious and philosophical controversiesand speculations. Noldeke (Gesch d. Sasaniden, p. 150, n. 3ad calc.),who isby no means disposed to look favourably onthe Persians, gives, on the whole, a very favourable summaryof his character, which he concludes in the following words :" On the whole Khusraw (Nushirwan) is certainly one of thegreatest and best kings whom the Persians ever possessed,which, however, did not prevent him from being capable of1Cf. Shdhndma, ed. Macan, vol. iii, pp. 1453-1454.