He Says No First

The poem's second war opens while the king is away. The enemy returns, kills the old king Lohrasp, burns a fire-temple, carries off Esfandiyar's two sisters and takes the royal banner. Goshtasp is routed and besieged, and sends a minister to the mountain to ask his chained son for help. The Shahnameh has him refuse. He relents only on being told that his favourite brother is dying of his wounds, goes to him, buries him, and puts his father's injuries aside. Goshtasp swears to him a second time that the throne is his. The poem does not present the refusal as a flaw, and it does not present the oath as worth anything.