Khosrow and Shirin, Part 3

We left off two days ago (because of the Farhad Tarash interlude) with the "wrong" ending of their love story, one we know didn't happen because we know when the two lovers lived and died. The idea that Khosrow's son kills Khosrow in order to marry Shirin, and Shirin killing herself to avoid this, does not fit the few facts we know.The fact is that the two were married. Shirin was a Christian, and her presence in his life was likely an influence on his tolerance for the various Christian offshoots, although he did take sides. The ongoing conflict between Monophysite (Jesus had only one nature) and Nestorian (Jesus had a human and divine nature) Christians led Khosrow to favor his wife's version and declare that Monophysitism should be followed by Christians in his empire.Shirin bore a son, Mardanshah, whom she would have liked to be Khosrow's successor.Also, despite the part of the story that has Shirin also romantically interested in the sculptor Farhad, she lives on in legend as a…