Oybek and the novel “Navoiy” (first passage)

The passage opens with the revolt of Mirzo Yodgor: a spoiled prince, relying on the help of the Turkman sultan Hasanbek, claims the throne of Khorasan. Navoiy urges Husayn Boyqaro to act firmly, since he expects a just, learning-loving ruler from him. At the council before the battle the sultan wants to wait for the astrologer’s forecast, but Navoiy says reason should guide every deed; among the begs Zunnun Arg‘unbek backs him, saying the language of the stars holds no certainty. In the battle Husayn Boyqaro takes up the sword himself and defeats Yodgor’s army. Then in Herat the people rise in unrest over cruelty in collecting zakat; Navoiy argues for justice, not punishment: the people are like a river that, once it floods, takes away the shah’s palace too. The sultan sends him to Herat with a decree; the poet cancels the zakat, removes the guilty officials, hears people’s complaints and reads the decree in the Friday mosque. Later in the passage Yodgor seizes Herat and forces Husayn Boyqaro to retreat: the city gates are closed to him.