Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019

The Wall of Iskander
Alisher Navoi (1441-1501)

The ruler of Rum Faylacus, returning from a long hike to his home, noticed on the road of a newly born infant. Mother of the baby died at birth. Filelacus ordered her to be buried, and took the newborn with him, adopted and identified his heir, calling him Iskander. It's time, and Filelakus called the famous scholar and philosopher Nikumakhis to the heirs of the heir. Nikumachis and his son Aristotle made friends with the young men and remained faithful to this friendship for life.

Faylakus died Iskander arranged magnificent funerals and, with great honors, led him to the last path.

By this time, Iskander had already managed to show his talent in many areas. He succeeded in the sciences, philosophy, found fame as a truth-believer. In his actions, he was guided only by justice, he was heard about the people around him. Knowing all these qualities, the people after the death of Faylakus unanimously recognized him as worthy of the father's throne. Iskander was embarrassed and at the same time alarmed: would he be able to replace such a celebrated king and justify the people's trust. He expressed his doubt in public: thanking everyone, he refused to take the throne of his father. However, after long conspiracies, he had nothing left but to obey the will of fate.

The first good start of Iskander was the abolition of all taxes from the population for two years. He established moderate prices for vital goods, ordered trade, established units of measure and weight, introduced the rules of housing use, in a word, put the order in the management of the country.

Fileakos, defeated in the war with Iran, was forced to pay him a tribute of a thousand golden eggs a year. Becoming the ruler of the country, Iskander stopped paying tribute to Iran. Three years later, Shah of Iran Darius sent a message to Iskander demanding that he immediately send him a tribute in three years. The message was left unanswered, the atmosphere was even more intense. The lords of two powerful powers collided - Darius and Iskander.

The first battle did not reveal the winner. Meanwhile, Iskander became aware of a plot against Darius. Two of his commanders decided to secretly complete his master. Iskander was terribly indignant at this message. Nevertheless, the next morning in the battle conspirators mortally wounded Darius and, leaving him on the battlefield, disappeared. Iran's warriors escaped in confusion. Iskander ordered to immediately transfer the Iranian Shah to his condition. Darius managed to express his deathly prayer: to find and punish the murderers, show mercy to his relatives and relatives who were not involved in the war and did not fight against the forces of Iskander. Finally, the dying Darius asked Iskander to get married with him - to marry his daughter Ravshanak. By this he would unite the two kingdoms - Iran and Rum.

Iskander, in turn, explained that, to the death of Darius, he was not involved, buried Iran's Shah with proper ruler honors and fulfilled all his orders.

In the initial period of the reign, Iskander seized the Maghreb country. He gathered to know in order to consult on the candidacy of the new ruler, while making his demands: the future ruler should be fair. He was pointed to the prince who refused to reign and moved to the cemetery, where he ruined the poor existence. Iskander ordered to deliver him. They brought him an almost naked man with two bones in his hand. The ruler asked what the meaning of his behavior meant, which meant for him these bones. The niece said: "Walking between graves, I found these two bones, but I determined which of them belonged to the king, but which was to the poor, I could not."

After listening to him, Iskander offered him the reign of the country. In response, the beggar put forward the following conditions: to live so that old age would not supplant youth, so that wealth does not turn into poverty, and joy - sorrow. Hearing these words, Iskander sadly admitted that this poor man is morally superior to the ruler.

When going to Kashmir, Iskander waited a great surprise. Near the city, the wide passage between the mountains was closed by the iron gates built by the Kashmir sorcerers. Iskander convened a council of scientists who were supposed to reveal the mystery of this miracle. After a long struggle, the scientists came to a common opinion: the iron gate should be blown up. But how? One of the participants of the meeting offered to fill the balls with explosives and bombard them with the city. Falling, the balls had to explode and raise the pillars of smoke that would scatter the charms and opened the passage. That's what they did. The path to the city was opened.

After this, the conqueror of the world sent his army to the west, in the country of Adan.

The next Iskander campaign was in China. Upon learning of this, the Chinese autocrat came to meet at the head of a huge army, But Iskander did not think about attacking him and bloodshed and disappeared. This act led to Hakan's perplexity and resolve to solve this mystery. The next morning, dressed in the ambassador's clothes, Hakan arrived in the state of Iskander and, having greeted him, presented him with expensive gifts, among which there were two mirrors. One of them reflected among the large number of participants in the reception only the face of the Chinese representative. The second mirror correctly reflects people, only while they were eating, drinking and having fun. As soon as they poured dope, the mirror appeared distorted figures of inhuman form.

Iskander was enthusiastic about what he saw and told his scholars not to betray the Chinese, to create something better. The scientists had to work all winter, and they made two mirrors from the copper and steel alloy. Their special property consisted in the fact that in one reflected everything that was happening on earth, and in the other, the whole nine-year universe. Iskander was overjoyed with the work of the scientists, duly awarded them and entrusted them with the rule of Greece.

The next campaign Iskander made to the north. On all the way, he was served by the Chinese beauty presented to him by Hakan. When the country reached Kirwon, the locals turned to Iskander with a complaint about the terrible, animal nature of Yaduj, and asked him to relieve them of them. Yajudhi lived between the mountain and the valley of darkness. Twice a year they left their dwelling and destroyed everything that was on their way, including the people they grew alive.

Iskander demanded the bringing of notable masters from Russia, from Syria and Ruma. They broke through large ditches and filled them with an alloy of copper, tin, bronze, iron and lead. The next morning, Iskander sent his army to Yajudzhia and destroyed a considerable number of them, but went to the Iskander army. After this bloody bout of the craftsmen, builders began to erect a wall of ten thousand in length, at the height of five hundred cubits, by the order of Iskander. When building the wall, the same metals and stone were used. It was built for six months, and so was the path to the Yajudzham. The army rose to the wall and threw stones at them. Many of them were killed, and the rest ran away.

After this campaign, Iskander returned to Rum. Having spent some time and having rest, he began to prepare for an offshore march. We have made stockpiles of weapons and products for eight years. The caravan of the ships began to sail towards the center of the ocean, where Iskander with his men threw an anchor. To study the ocean floor, he ordered the construction of something like a chest from the glass, immersed in it, reached the bottom, and for a hundred days there was watching there inhabitants of the water space, correcting and refining all that was known to science. This work ended with the fact that Iskander attained the holiness of the prophet.

It took a year of swimming, so that the prophet, as Iskander began to glorify, threw anchor in his homeland. The long journey did not go without a trace. He was exhausted, the great world power split into small kingdoms, ruled by his numerous generals.

Feeling the approach of death, Iskander wrote a letter to her mother, full of filial tenderness, grief and sadness, repent of the fact that she could not properly protect her. The letter ended with an order not to hold him luscious wires and crying about his death. He asked him to bury him in the city of Alexandria, built by him, and also asked not to clog the coffin with nails, so that everyone could see his hands and understand the unselfishness of his conquests: after leaving the world, he did not carry anything with him.