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The birth and childhood and youth of Zartusht. The Persian and Arabic writers use Zartusht, and similar variations for the prophet's name. Following the Pahlavi tradition, they place the date of his birth at about three hundred years before Alexander. His mother's family, they say, came from Rai. He arose somewhere in Azarbaijan and passed the active life of his ministry at Balkh.^[1] Several Arabic and Persian works have allusions to Zartusht. The one work, however, which exclusively treats of the life of the prophet is the Persian Zartusht Namah, composed in verse by Zartusht Bahram in the thirteenth century. The author derives his information from the Pahlavi sources.^[2] The writers of this period relate that when Ormazd created the spirit of Zartusht, he attached it to a tree. In later ages, a cow belonging to the person destined to be the fortunate father of the coming prophet happened to eat the dry leaves of the tree. The owner of the cow partook of her milk and the consequence was that his wife conceived the child Zartusht. The creator had thus ordained that the couple might shelter the child as two shells would cover a pearl. When five months had elapsed Doghduyah, for that was the name of the mother, saw in a dream that a dark cloud had enveloped her house and noxious creatures fell from it They tore out the child from the womb and were ready to destroy it and the mother was going to scream in terror. But Zartusht at once consoled her that nothing untoward would happen because the almighty befriended him. A brilliant mountain, thereupon, descended and rent asunder the black cloud and the noxious creatures disappeared. A radiant youthful form holding a luminous branch, representing Farrah-i Izad or the Glory of God, and a book sent by God in his hand, emerged from the mountain. He restored the child to the mother and comforted