a man who worked the mill by tapping its stones. Yazdegerd stayed with him; when the king let down his guard, the man killed him, stripped him of everything he wore, and the Turks who had been pursuing him soon arrived. Discovering that the miller had already slain him and taken his possessions, they killed that man and the members of his household, seized whatever spoils Kisra carried, placed the king in a coffin, and conveyed him to Istakhr.

Before his death Yazdegerd had lain with a woman from Marw, and she conceived by him; after he was slain she gave birth to a boy whose side was malformed. The child was named al-Mukhdaj (the Deformed) (1). He left descendants in Khurasan, and during one of his campaigns in those regions Qutaybah ibn Muslim captured two slave-girls from that line. He sent one of them to al-Hajjaj, who forwarded her to al-Walid ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; she later bore him his son Yazid ibn al-Walid, nicknamed an-Naqiṣ.

Al-Madāʾinī, citing one of his shaykhs, also related: When Yazdegerd’s followers deserted him, he hamstrung his steed and went on foot until he entered a mill on the bank of a river called al-Marghāb (2). He remained there for two nights while the enemy searched for him, unaware of his hiding place. The owner of the mill then arrived and saw Kisra still arrayed in royal splendor.

He asked, “What are you—human or jinn?”
Yazdegerd replied, “Human. Have you any food?”
“Yes,” the man answered, and he brought him some.

Yazdegerd said, “I am a muzamzim; bring me what I muzamzim with.”

The miller went to one of the aswara (elite guards) and asked him for the thing required for muzamzama.

“What do you want with it?” the guard asked.
“I have a man the like of whom I have never seen, and he has asked me for this,” he replied. The guard took him to the ruler of the city, Marw—whose name was Māhūyah ibn Bābāh—told him the story, and the ruler said, “That is Yazdegerd (3); go and bring me his head.” They set off with the miller, but when they drew near the mill-house they shrank from killing him and argued among themselves. They said to the miller, “You go in and kill him.”

The miller entered, found him asleep, picked up a stone, crushed his skull, severed his head, handed it to them, and threw his body into the river. The townspeople then turned on the miller and killed him. A bishop came, retrieved the body from the river, placed it in a coffin, carried it to Istakhr, and laid it in a sarcophagus.

It is also reported that Yazdegerd stayed in that miller’s house for three days without eating, until the man felt pity for him and said, “Woe to you, poor soul, will you not eat?” and brought him some food. Yazdegerd answered, “I cannot eat unless accompanied by zamzama.” The miller said, “Eat, and I will zamzama for you,” but Yazdegerd asked that he bring him something with which to zamzama. When the miller went to obtain it from one of the aswara, they detected the scent of musk (4) on him, found it suspicious, and questioned him. He told them, “I have with me a man whose description is such-and-such.” They recognized whom he meant, accompanied him with the miller in the lead, and the miller entered first, intent on seizing Yazdegerd.

Realizing this, Yazdegerd said to him, “Woe to you! Take my ring, my bracelets, and my belt, and let me leave this place.” The miller replied, “No—give me four dirhams and I will release you.” Yazdegerd added one of his earrings (5), but the man still refused until he received another four dirhams. While they were thus engaged, the troops burst in upon them.