Rostam Farrokhzād Rostam Farrokhzād ( رستم فرّخزاد in Persian ) ( " 6 ? ? – 636 " ) was the Ērān Spāhbed ( " Spāhbed of Iran " , " Commander of the Army of Iran " ) of the Sasanian Empire under the reign of Yazdegerd III , ( reigned 632 – 651 ) . Rostam is remembered as an historical figure , a character in the Persian epic poem Shahnameh , and as a touchstone of most Iranian nationalists . His grandfather Vinduyih was the brother of Vistahm , the twenty - seventh Shahanshah of the Sasanians , as well . Early life and Rise . Rostam Farrokhzād was a powerful Sasanian general and a member of the House of Ispahbudhan , from Azarbaijan , one of the provinces of the Sasanian Empire . His grandfather was Vinduyih , the uncle of Khosrau II and brother of Vistahm , a Sasanian rival king . His father , Farrokh Hormizd , and his brother , Khurrazad , served the Sasanian rulers in high office . As his father before him , Rostam was " ishkan " or " prince ” of Azarbaijan and Media and governor of Khorasan . By this date Sasanian governors ( " Spahbod " s ) held their lands in a type of hereditary fiefdom . In a period of Sasanian decline , such aristocrats became increasingly powerful and in many cases were the power behind a series of weak rulers . During the reign of Azarmidokht , Farrokh Hormizd , the military commander of Khorasan and father of Rostam Farrokhzad , proposed marriage to queen her . Not daring to refuse , the queen invited him to her private quarters , where she had him killed . To avenge him , his son Rostam captured the capital Ctesiphon , then dethroned the queen and had her blinded and killed . By 632 , Rostam reappears in Persian sources as a supporter of another young ruler Yazdegerd III who had just taken Ctesiphon , perhaps with the aid of Rostam ' s faction . Rostam ' s brother Khurrazad was the ' darik - pat ' ( or chamberlain ) . With another aristocrat named Zadhoe , there appears to have been a triumvirate behind the new ruler . Throughout this period the great expansion of Arab - Muslim armies had slowly been penetrating the south - western frontiers under Caliph Umar ibn al - Khattāb . The Persians had repeatedly blocked this advance and in 634 the Caliph ' s army suffered a seemingly decisive defeat at the Battle of the Bridge . The Sasanian general Bahman Jaduya , though , was ordered back to Ctesiphon by Rostam in order to put down a revolt in his own capital city . Caliph ` Umar ' s forces retreated , only to launch a successful assault three years later . Battle of al - Qadisiyyah . In 636 , Yazdegerd III ordered Rostam Farrokhzad to subdue the Muslim Arabs invading Iran and then told him : " Today you are the [ most prominent ] man among the Iranians . You see that the people of Iran have not faced a situation like this since the family of Ardashir I assumed power . " Yazdegerd III then said : " the Arabs and their exploits since they have camped at Qadisiyyah and . . . what the Iranians have suffered at their hands . " Rostam replied that he believed the Arabs to be " a pack of wolves , falling upon unsuspecting shepherds and annihilating them . " However , Yazdegerd III then argued with him and said : " It is not like that . I put the question to you in the expectation that you would describe them clearly and that then I would be able to reinforce you so that you might act according to the [ real situation ] . But you did not say the right thing . " Yazdegerd III then compared the Arabs to an eagle who " looked upon a mountain where birds take shelter at night and stay in their nests at the foot of it . " In the morning the birds recognized that the eagle is preying upon them . Whenever " a bird became separated from the rest , the eagle snatched him . When the birds saw him [ doing this ] , they did not take off out of fear . . . If they had taken off all at once , they would have repelled him . The worst thing that could happen to them would be that all would escape save one . But if each group acted in turn and took off separately , they all perished . This was the similarity between them and the Iranians . Yazdegerd III was clearly describing the division and lack of collaboration among the different Iranian factions . Rostam , however , did not agree with Yazdegerd III and then told him : " O king , let me [ act in my own way ] . The Arabs still dread the Iranians as long as you do not arouse them against me . It is to be hoped that my good fortune will last and that God will save us the trouble . " Rostam then said : " We should employ the right ruse , " he insisted . " In war , patience is superior to haste , and the order of the day is now patience . To fight one army after another is better than a single [ and total ] defeat and is also harder on our enemy . " Yazdegerd III , however , was too young and stubborn to listen to Rostam . Before the Muslim Arabs and the Sasanians engaged in battle , Rostam tried to negotiate with the Arabs . He therefor sent them a letter saying : The Arabs did as he asked and sent a man named Zuhrah , the negotiations with him did not go well , Rostam therefor asked for another messenger , and a man named Mughirah b . Shubah was sent . Rostam then told Mughirah : " We are firmly established in the land , victorious over our enemies , and noble among nations . None of the kings has our power , honor , dominion . " Mughirah then interrupted him and said : " If you need our protection , then be our slave , and pay the poll tax out of hand while being humiliated ; otherwise it is the sword . " Feeling insulted , Rostam flew into a rage , and swore by the sun : " Dawn will not break upon you tomorrow before I kill you all " . Rostam , while preparing to face the Arab army , wrote a letter to his brother Khurrazad , telling him to gather the army of Iran and then go to Azerbaijan and pray for what was about to transpire , and he reminded them all that Yazdegerd III was the only legacy left from the Sasanians . Rostam then set out from Ctesiphon in command of a large Sasanian force to confront the Arab - Muslim army of Caliph ` Umar ibn al - Khattāb on the western bank of the Euphrates River at the plains of al - Qādisiyyah , a now abandoned city in southern Mesopotamia , southwest of al - Hillah and al - Kūfah in Iraq . During the final day of the battle , there was a heavy sandstorm facing the Sasanian army . Rostam used a camel loaded with weapons as shelter to avoid the sandstorm . Not knowing that Rostam was behind , Hilāl ibn ` Ullafah accidentally cut the girdle of the load on the camel . The weapons fell on Rostam and broke his back leaving him half dead and paralyzed . Hilal beheaded Rostam and shouted " I swear to the god of Kaaba that I have killed Rostam . " Shocked by the head of their legendary leader dangling before their eyes , the Sasanian were demoralized , and the commanders lost control of the army . Many Sasanian soldiers were slain in the chaos , many escaped through the river , and finally the rest of the army surrendered . Consequences . The defeat of Rostam ' s army marked the beginning of the end of the Sasanian Empire and the conversion of Persia ( and soon all Central Asia ) to Islam . Personality and skills . The Shahnameh describes him as : " A sagacious , warlike and one who had been a conqueror . He was a calculator of the stars , of great perception ; and he listened deeply to what his counsellors advised . " Christensen describes him as : " A man endowed with extraordinary energy , a good administrator and a fine general . "