Lyrics in Middle Persian:

u-š Wištāsp xwadāy ī šāhān

fraz āxwāst rāst kūtār,

ud warz ī rāst,

dād ud ruwān-šāy,

šāhān šāh ī ērān.

pad ān zamān Zarēr ī Wištāspān,

sardār ud spāhbed ī ērān,

fraz šud andar nērang ī hamāg spāh,

fraz nibišt pad āsmān.

ud nē ānōh-iz fraztar

kē pad ērān zamīg,

ō nē ānōh-iz nāmwar

kē pad Wištāspān spāh

andar zāmān būd.

pad ān zamān Wištāsp

hamāg sardārān ud spāhān

pad handarz āxwāst,

ud xwāstag andaršān kard.

ud ān Arjāsp ī xyonān

frēstād payk,

andarōz kard ō Wištāsp:

“bē-raw dēn ī Ohrmazd,

bē-raw andarōz ī Zarathuštrō,

bē-gir dēn ī kadīm,

ōy kē tōy būd pēs.”

guft Zarēr ī Wištāspān,

sardār ud spāhbed ī ērān:

“az tan ī man agar ruwān bē-bud,

nē āzād bawēm,

bē dēn ī Ohrmazd

zindagī ud āzādī nē.”

andarōz šud andar nērang ī spāh,

gumbedōmand ud gōhrōmand,

ēnōh ud ānōh ōy nibišt,

ōy būd pad nibišt ī yazdān.

Arjāsp ī xyonān fraz āmad,

paykān az kaman frēstād,

andarēz kard andar tan ī Zarēr,

andar dīl ī sardār ī ērān.

ud hamāg ērān šōd frāz,

zanān ud abāxtarān,

dād ud dāmān ud mardān.

Bastvār ī Zarēr fraz āmad,

guft: “az sardār ī ērān zādag ī man,

āzād bawēm

andar dēn ī Ohrmazd.”

paykān girift,

andar tan ī xyonān andarēz kard;

ēk ud dō ud sē

bē andarēz kard,

bist-ud-sē mard

pad dast ī Bastvār nibišt.

Wištāsp šād šud,

ērān šād šud,

andarōz ān dōšman

pad xāk nibišt.

English translation:

And Lord Wištāsp, King of Kings,

proclaimed the righteous Law,

and the true Faith,

just and worthy of the soul,

the King of Kings of the Iranians.

Then Zarēr, son of Wištāsp,

commander and general of the Iranians,

rose forth before the whole army,

his fame written in the heavens.

And there was none greater

in the Iranian land,

nor more renowned

in Wištāsp’s host

in that time.

At that time Wištāsp

summoned all the commanders and hosts,

he spoke to them with counsel,

and bound them with his will.

Then Arjāsp, king of the Khyon,

sent forth his envoy,

who spoke to Wištāsp:

“Abandon the Faith of Ohrmazd,

forsake the word of Zarathustra,

take up again the old religion,

that was yours before.”

Zarēr, son of Wištāsp,

commander and general of the Iranians, replied:

“Even if my soul

should no longer be in my body,

never shall I be unfree,

for apart from the Faith of Ohrmazd

there is neither life nor liberty.”

Then battle was joined

in the ranks of the army;

helmets gleamed, nobles arrayed,

one against another they stood —

so it was written by the gods.

Arjāsp, king of the Khyon, came forth,

he loosed the arrow from the bow,

he drove it into Zarēr’s body,

into the heart of the Iranian commander.

And all Iran raised a cry —

the women and the children,

the nobles and the warriors.

Then Bastvār, son of Zarēr, came forth.

He said: “I am born

of the commander of the Iranians.

I shall live free

in the Faith of Ohrmazd.”

He seized the arrows,

and drove them into the bodies of the Khyon;

one, then two, then three

he struck down;

twenty and three men

fell by the hand of Bastvār.

Wištāsp rejoiced,

Iran rejoiced,

for that enemy host

was written down in the dust