Farzánah Bahram, the son of Farhad, of the Yazdanian sect, relates thus in the _Sháristán_: “The doctors of the pure faith say, that when Zardusht entered into king Gushtasp’s assembly, he held in his hand a blazing fire which caused him no injury; he then transferred that fire to the king’s hands, which in like manner remained unhurt; he afterwards gave it into the hands of others and still no trace of burning appeared; he next lay down, and ordered molten brass to be poured on his bosom four different times: although the molten metal came on his breast, no bodily injury resulted from it.”[410] Zaratusht, the son of Bahram, adds: The sovereign of Iran having thus ascertained the dignity of the prophet of the human race, addressed him with terms of earnest affection, and ordering a chair to be brought, placed him in front of the royal throne, above the two ranks of the philosophers. Zardusht, agreeably to the king’s command, having taken this seat, manifested to all the assembly the precious diamonds of his intellectual stores. The sages and eminent men of the exterior circles on his right and left entered on the path of controversy, but were finally refuted, one after another. They say that on this day thirty of the sages seated on his right, being unable to withstand the arguments of Zardusht, bore testimony to his knowledge and truth; and in like manner thirty of the wise men on his left were overpowered and convinced. When such sages, who had not their equals in the seven climates, had been thus confuted, the illustrious prince called the prophet of the Lord into his presence, and for further conviction questioned him on various sciences and the traditions of old; and having received conclusive answers on all these points he was struck with amazement. The great king therefore assigned to the prophet of the just Lord a dwelling adjacent to his own palace, and the philosophers departed home with afflicted hearts. During the whole night they read over books with each other, and concerted with each other how they might, the following morning, conduct the argument and controversy with Zardusht; whilst the prophet of the Lord on coming to his house, according to his custom, desisted not until morning from acts of worship and praise. The following day, when Zardusht and the philosophers assembled around the king, whatever the sages advanced which was not strictly conformable to truth, Zardusht produced a hundred arguments, both theoretical and practical, to invalidate the assertion; and if they demanded a proof of whatever he himself advanced, he adduced a hundred convincing demonstrations. Gushtasp accordingly increased the dignity of the Lord’s prophet, and inquired his name, lineage, and native city; to which questions Zardusht returned the meet answer, and said: “O great king, to-morrow is the day of Hormuz, or the first of the month; command the chiefs of the military to assemble and all the philosophers to appear, that I may