The Epic Of Kings Stories Retold From Firdusi

Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

Excerpt from The Epic of Kings: Stories Retold From Firdusi It has been my endeavour in this book to popularize the tales told by the Persian poet Firdusi in his immortal epic. Three circumstances have embarrassed my task: the great length of the "Shah Nameh" (far exceeding that of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" together), the English reader's ignorance of Firdusi, and my own Ignorance of Persian. The last difficulty was of less account, as I designed a paraphrase and not a translatioa All I needed, therefore, was at hand in the form of Professor Jules Mohl's French version. This, the only complete rendering of the "Shah Nameh" into a European tongue, is pronounced by all scholars to be a truly perfect piece of work, reproducing so faithfully the very spirit of the original, that to have read Mohl is almost to have read Firdusi. It is little to the credit of the greatest European Power in the East to have suffered France to be the first to provide funds for this magnificent enterprise. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

The Epic of Kings, Hero Tales of Ancient Persia Firdausi - The Epic of Kings, Hero Tales of Ancient Persia (The Shahnameh) is an epic poem by the Persian poet Firdausi, written between 966 and 1010 AD. Telling the past of the Persian empire, using a mix of the mythical and historical, it is regarded as a literary masterpiece. Not only important to the Persian culture, it is also important to modern day followers of the Zoroastrianism religion. It is said that the poem was Firdausi's efforts to preserve the memory of Persia's golden days, following the fall of the Sassanid empire. The poem contains, among others, mentions of the romance of Zal and Rudba, Alexander the Great, the wars with Afrsyb, and the romance of Bijan and Manijeh.

Hakim Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi Tusi, more commonly transliterated as Ferdowsi, (935-1020) was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings), the national epic of the Persian-speaking world as well as the entire Iranian realm. He started his composition of the Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings) in 977 A. D. After 30 years of hard work, he finished the book and went to present it to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. The latter showed lack of interest in Ferdowsi and his lifework. Ferdowsi returned to his hometown heartbroken and enraged. He died in poverty, embittered by royal neglect, though fully confident of his work's ultimate success and fame. He has a unique place in Persian history because of the strides he made in reviving and regenerating the Persian language and cultural traditions. His works are cited as a crucial component in the persistence of the Persian language, as those works allowed much of the tongue to remain codified and intact. Many modern Iranians see him as the father of the modern Persian language.

"The houses that are the dwelling of today will sink beneath shower and sunshine to decay but storm and rain shall never mar the palace that I have built with my poetry."-Ferdowsi The Shahnameh, The Epic of Kings, is an epic composed by the Iranian poet Ferdowsi. It tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century. The Shahnameh is commonly divided into three sections: myths, legends and history. Its diversity, complexity and profoundness, the timeless themes of power, love and fidelity, together make The Epic of King one of the most compelling and memorable works of world literature. This book has entertained generations of readers and profoundly shaped Persian culture, society, and politics.