Firdawsī

Firdausī

A stark and classic tragedy set against the exotic backdrop of a mythological Persia

From the Persian National Epic, the Shahname of Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi

The Tragedy of Sohráb and Rostám

Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi: Fathers and sons

"The definitive translation by Dick Davis of the great national epic of Iran--now newly revised and expanded to be the most complete English-language edition --has revised and expanded his acclaimed translation of Ferdowsi's masterpiece, adding more than seventy pages of newly translated text. Davis's elegant combination of prose and verse allows the poetry of the Shahnameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly marked explanations to ease along modern readers. Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the tenth century, the Shahnameh is among the greatest works of world literature. This prodigious narrative tells the story of pre-Islamic Persia, from the mythical creation of the world and the dawn of Persian civilization through the seventh-century Arab conquest. The stories of the Shahnameh are deeply embedded in Persian culture and beyond, as attested by their appearance in such works as The Kite Runner and the love poems of Rumi and Hafez. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. --

The Persian Book of Kings

Shahnameh

Dick Davis

Firdawsi

The Legend of Seyavash comes from the middle section of the Shahnameh, Iran's national epic by the poet Ferdowsi (c940-c1020) and presents a world of warfare, military prowess, romance, guile, and fierce tribal loyalty. Ferdowsi's epic style and mastery of poetic organisation, however, is matched by the psychological and ethical depth of his insight and his concerns for the primal struggle between good and evil, and man's continual attempt to create justice and civilized order out of the chaos of human greed and cruelty. The Legend of Seyavash begins with the stuff of romance -- a foreign girl of royal blood, found as a fugitive and introduced into the king's harem, gives birth to a son, Seyavash, who is raised not by his father the king, but by the great hero Rostam. On Seyavash's return home Sudabeh, his stepmother, attempts to seduce him, and when he spurns her she accuses him of having attempted to rape her. He undergoes a trial by fire to prove his innocence, and goes on to battle successfully against Iran's rival, Turan, concluding a truce with the Turanian king, Afrasyab, on amicable terms. But Seyavash's father, Kavus, insists that Seyavash surrender the Turanian hostages to slaughter, and with a conflicted conscience and no one to turn to, Seyavash flees to the Turanian court, where he is first given safe harbour, but is once again abandoned. Dick Davis has made a masterful translation of the poem and written a penetrating introduction.

The Legend of Seyavash

The Sháhnáma of Firdausí

Shāh-nāma, the National Epic of Persia

The Epic of the Kings

Stories from the "Shah Nameh"

A Persian Hero

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Rostam's death and Shoghad

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Bijan and Manijeh

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Rostam's fight with Akvan, the demon

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): How king Hooshang discovered fire

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Rostam and Isfandiar

3 volumes in slipcase. Among the masterpieces of world literature, perhaps the least familiar to English readers is the Persian Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, the prodigious national epic of Iran, composed by the poet Ferdowsi between 980 and 1010 CE. It tells the story of Persia, beginning in the mythic time of Creation and continuing up until the Arab-Islamic invasion in the seventh century. The epic has been brilliantly translated into a prosimetrum form, a combination of prose and verse, by the poet and pre-eminent Ferdowsi scholar Dick Davis. And breathtaking miniatures from the finest Persian Shahnameh manuscripts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from museums and private collections around the world, many of them published here for the first time, heighten the emotional impact of the text. These three volumes give English-language readers access to a world of vanished wonders. The origins of civilisation . . . the notion of kingship . . . tenderness, a longing for justice, and social order . . . the first kings felled by foolish pride . . . demons on the throne . . . spiritual heroes and their martial virtues . . . mythical birds . . . romance and passion -- these are some of the threads woven together to form the rich tapestry of ancient Persia. Ferdowsi was born in Khorasan in a village near Tus, in 940. His great epic, the Shahnameh, to which he devoted most of his adult life, was originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan, who were the chief instigators of the revival of Persian cultural traditions after the Arab conquest of the seventh century. During Ferdowsi's lifetime this dynasty was conquered by the Ghaznavid Turks, and there are various stories in medieval texts describing their lack of interest in Ferdowsi and his lifework. Ferdowsi is said to have died around 1020 in poverty and embittered by royal neglect, though confident of his and his poem's ultimate fame.

Shahnameh -- Limited Edition 3-Volume Set

Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the 10th century, Shahnameh is one of the most important pieces of Persian literature. This prodigious narrative 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. The sweep and psychological depth of the Shahnameh is nothing less than magnificent. Now one of the greast translators of Persian poetry, Dick Davis, presents Ferdowsi's masterpiece in an elegant combination of prose and verse.

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Rostam and Sohrab

Stories from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi

Selected Stories from Ferdowsi's Shah-Nameh (book of Kings): Zahhak, Kaveh, and Freydoon

Helen Zimmern

Stories Retold from Firdusi

The Epic of Kings

Firdawsī

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