Reference
- Firdawsī: Credo ReferenceAbolqasem Ferdowsi is famous as the author of the Iranian national epic, the Shāh-nāmah, or “Book of kings.” Working from one known written source and doubtlessly several other sources, both written and oral, Ferdowsi put together the traditional stories that had been building for centuries into a single text of some 50,000 couplets of remarkable poetic power. Ferdowsi chose to write in Persian, even though court poets of his time wrote almost exclusively in Arabic, in order to better render the pre-Islamic past of Iran and to preserve the tales and the culture that he thought might otherwise be forgotten.
- Shahnameh: Credo ReferenceThe Shahnamah (various spellings) is a central epic of Persian literature written by the poet Firdawsi (various spellings) in approximately the year 1010. It is an epic poem of considerable length, which aims to recount the history and achievements of the Persian people and their kings. Using the earlier Khvatay-namak, which was a prose epic covering the Persian people from the mythic past to the seventh century, Firdawsi rewrote the prose in verse form and extended the tale to include the Sassanid period. He wrote this under the sponsorship of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and it endures as a central part of modern Persian culture, extending beyond modern Iran into Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
- Shahnameh: Credo ReferenceThe Shahnameh is an epic poem, written by the poet Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi (329/940–c. 411/1020), that purports to recount the history of Iran from the creation of the world until the Arab conquest of the country in the mid-seventh century CE. The poem's name means “Book of kings,” and this is an indication of the work's basic structure, as it is organized around the reigns of fifty monarchs (forty-seven kings and three queens).
Online Resources
- Alexander the Great in Firdawsi's Book of Kings: British MuseumThe legendary life of Alexander the Great is the subject of the British Library’s new exhibition Alexander the Great: The Making of a Myth which opened on Friday 21 October. A visual feast of stories spanning more than 2000 years, it centres on the Alexander Romance originally composed in Greek around the third century AD and shares narratives from East and West side by side in more than twenty languages. One of the most richly illustrated sources is the Persian Shahnamah (Book of Kings) completed by the poet Firdawsi in 1010 AD...
- The Book of Kings: LOCShahnameh Baysonqori is a copy of Shahnameh (Book of kings) composed by the highly revered Iranian poet Abū al-Qāsim Firdawsī (940--1020). The importance of Shahnameh in the Persian-speaking world is comparable that of Homer's epics in the West. The book recounts in verse the mythological history of ancient Persia and tales of the famous heroes and personalities of Iranian history, from legendary times to the 7th-century reign of Yazdgerd III, the last king of the Sassanid dynasty. The tales are based on earlier historical works, but are mixed with fiction and mythology. Shahnameh Baysonqori is one of the two ancient Iranian manuscripts listed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Memory of the World register...
- Ferdowsī: BritannicaFerdowsī, also spelled Firdawsī, Firdusi, or Firdousi, pseudonym of Abū al-Qasem Manṣūr, (born c. 935, near Ṭūs, Iran—died c. 1020–26, Ṭūs), Persian poet, author of the Shāh-nāmeh (“Book of Kings”), the Persian national epic, to which he gave a final and enduring form, although he based his poem mainly on an earlier prose version...
Perspectives
Shahnameh
Among the great works of world literature, perhaps one of the least familiar to English readers is the Shahnameh: ThePersian Book of Kings, the national epic of Persia. This prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between the years 980 and 1010, tells the story of pre- Islamic Iran, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing forward to the Arab invasion in the seventh century. As a window on the world, Shahnamehbelongs in the company of such literary masterpieces as Dante's Divine Comedy, the plays of Shakespeare, the epics of Homer- classics whose reach and range bring whole cultures into view. In its pages are unforgettable moments of national triumph and failure, human courage and cruelty, blissful love and bitter grief. In tracing the roots of Iran, Shahnamehinitially draws on the depths of legend and then carries its story into historical times, when ancient Persia was swept into an expanding Islamic empire. Now Dick Davis, the greatest modern translator of Persian poetry, has revisited that poem, turning the finest stories of Ferdowsi's original into an elegant combination of prose and verse. For the first time in English, in the most complete form possible, readers can experience Shahnamehin the same way that Iranian storytellers have lovingly conveyed it in Persian for the past thousand years.
The Tragedy of Sohrab and Rostam
The tyrannical monster Zahhak upon whose shoulder grew serpents that feasted daily on the brains of Iran's youth; the giant hero Rostam who vanquished entire armies with his immense strength and military prowess; the inept Shah Kay Kavus whose greed and vanity brought incessant warfare and misery to the land he ruled; the bold princess Rudabe who defied two armies to pledge her love to the Iranian hero Zal--these are but a few of the charters who inhabit the world of the great Persian classic known as the Shahname, or Book of Kings. Completed in the eleventh century A.D. by the poet Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi, the Shahname describes in more than 80,000 lines of verse the pre-Islamic history of Persia from mythological times down to the invasion of the armies of Islam in the mid-seventh century A.D. From this long saga, Jerome Clinton has translated into English blank verse the most famous episode, the story of Rostam and Sohrab. It is a stark and classic tragedy set against the exotic backdrop of a mythological Persia where feasting, hunting, and warring are accomplished on the most magnificent scale. Matching the English translation line by line on the facing pages is the Persian text of the poem, based on the earliest complete manuscript of the Shahname, which is preserved in the British Museum. This lyrical translation of the tragedy of Sohrab and Rostam captures the narrative power and driving rhythm of the Shahname as no other English translation has. His rendering into modern blank verse is both faithful to the original and pleasing to the ear of the contemporary reader.
Poetics and Politics of Iran's National Epic, the Shahnameh
This book considers some of the Western interpretations of The Shahnameh - Iran's national epic, and argues that these interpretations are not only methodologically flawed, but are also more revealing of Western concerns and anxieties about Iran than they are about the Shahnameh.
Streaming Media
- Persian Miniatures from the ShahnamehThe Shahnameh, Iran’s national epic, has been illustrated again and again over the course of Persian history. This epic poem, written by the poet Firdausi in the early 11th century, recounts Persia’s mythological and historical past. This program traces the development of Shahnameh painting over three centuries and under the patronage of three distinct Persian dynasties. Parallels between miniature painting and other art forms of the time are drawn, and the cultural settings in which this art flourished are examined. This fascinating look at a unique art form was produced with the assistance of the Fogg Art Museum. (28 minutes)