Birth and Childhood of Zal

 A son, Zal, was born to King Sam, but the baby had hair as white as snow. Sam thought his son was either an old man or a demon, and he ordered the baby to be taken to the foothills of the Alborz mountains and left there.

The Alborz were mountains made of jewels.

Zal was found by the magical Simorgh, the phoenix like bird with red and gold feathers, who had her nest on the summit of the mountain. Carrying the baby to her nest, Simorgh took care of him for many years, bringing him up as her own.

Some years later, King Sam was reminded in a haunting dream of how badly he had behaved towards his son. Sam felt great remorse, and set out to the Alborz mountains to see if his son might still be alive.

He found his son, now a handsome young man who had been well brought up by the bird. Zal didn't want to leave Simorgh but, giving him one of her feathers, she told him if he was ever in trouble, he must burn the feather. In this way she would know to come to his aid.