شاهنامه

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جشن هزارهٔ شاهنامه در یونسکو شاهنامه، اثر حکیم ابوالقاسم فردوسی، یکی از بزرگ‌ترین حماسه‌های جهان، مهم‌ترین نامهٔ اندیشهٔ سیاسی ایران‌شهری در دورهٔ اسلامی، شاهکار حماسی زبان فارسی و حماسهٔ ملی ایرانیان و نیز بزرگ‌ترین سند هویت ایشان است، چنان که ضیاءالدین ابن اثیر آن را قرآن ایرانیان خوانده‌است. شاهنامه اثری است منظوم در حدود پنجاه‌هزار بیت در بحر متقارب مثمن محذوف (یا مقصور) (فعولن فعولن فعولن فعل (فعول)). سرایش آن حدود سی‌سال به طول انجامید. فردوسی خود در این باره می‌گوید: من این نامه فرخ گرفتم به فال همی رنج بردم به بسیار سال آخرین ویرایشهای فردوسی در شاهنامه در سالهای ۴۰۰ و ۴۰۱ هجری قمری روی‌داد. به پیشنهاد بنیاد فردوسی «هزارهٔ سرایش شاهنامه» در یونسکو بر پایهٔ هجری خورشیدی به نام ایران در فهرست رویدادهای علمی، فرهنگی و هنری ۲۰۱۱-۲۰۱۰ در سی و پنجمین کنفرانس عمومی یونسکو به ثبت رسید و در تاریخ ۳۰ مارس ۲۰۱۰ هزارمین سالگرد پایان سرایش شاهنامه به کوشش بنیاد فردوسی و از سوی ایران و سازمان یونسکو در تالار کنفرانس عمومی یونسکو با حضور نمایندگان ۱۹۲ کشور عضو جشن گرفته شد. شمار بیت‌های شاهنامه کهن‌ترین نسخه‌ کامل شاهنامه که تاکنون شناخته شده دارای ۴۹,٦۱۸ (چهل و نه هزار و ششصد و هجده) بیت است و حمدالله مستوفی در نسخه‌هایی که در سده‌ هشتم هجری دیده بیش از پنجاه‌هزار بیت نیافته است: در آن نسخه‌ها اندر این روزگار کمابیش پنجاه دیدم شمار شاهنامه‌ مصحح دکتر جلال خالقی مطلق و همکارانش هم که علمی‌ترین چاپ انتقادی حماسه ملی ایران است ۴۹,۵۳۰ (چهل و نه هزار و پانصد و سی) بیت دارد. علت این که فردوسی شمار بیت‌های اثر خویش را ده هزار بیت بیش از آن چیزی که بوده گفته است را، دکتر محمدامین ریاحی چنین ذکر می‌کند که چون در آن دوره شمار شستگانی (حساب ستّینی) معمول بوده، شاعر خواسته عدد تام و سرراستِ شصت را بیاورد. موضوع داستان های شاهنامه جنگ رستم و اکوان دیو، برگی از شاهنامه قرن دهم هجری قمری مکتب تبریز نقاشی دوره قاجار از شاهنامه شاهنامه شرح احوال، پیروزی‌ها، شکست ها، ناکامی‌ها و دلاوری‌های ایرانیان از کهن‌ترین دوران (نخستین پادشاه جهان کیومرث) تا سرنگونی دولت ساسانی به دست تازیان است (در سده هفتم میلادی). کشمکش های خارجی ایرانیان با هندیان در شرق، تورانیان در شرق و شمال شرقی، رومیان در غرب و شمال غربی و تازیان در جنوب غربی است. افزون بر سیر خطی تاریخی ماجرا در شاهنامه داستان های مستقل پراکنده‌ای نیز هست که مستقیماً به سیر تاریخی مربوط نمی‌شوند؛ از آن جمله: داستان زال و رودابه، رستم و سهراب، بیژن و منیژه، بیژن و گرازان (که بخشی از داستان بلند بیژن و منیژه است)، کرم هفتواد و جز اینها. برخی از این داستان ها به طور خاص چون رستم و اسفندیار و رستم و سهراب از شاهکارهای مسلم ادبیات جهان به شمار می‌آیند. دودمان های پادشاهی در شاهنامه پیشدادیان کیانیان پارتیان ساسانیان پیشینهٔ داستان های شاهنامه باید دانست که بن‌مایه‌های داستان های شاهنامه ساختهٔ فردوسی نیست و این داستان‌ها از دیرباز در میان ایرانیان رواج داشته‌اند. مثلاً در کتاب های پهلوی مانند بندهشن، ایاتکار زریران (که مشابهت های بسیار با گشتاسب‌نامه دقیقی دارد) و دینکرد تلمیحات و اشارات بسیاری به قهرمانان و پهلوانان شاهنامه وجود دارد. هم‌چنین در اوستا خصوصا در نسک یشت‌ها اشارات فراوانی به بسیاری از شخصیت های شاهنامه (پیشدادیان و کیانیان) شده‌است. این موضوع در همه آثار حماسی بزرگ به چشم می‌خورد؛ به این معنا که در آغاز (و شاید برای مدتی مدید) داستان های حماسی در میان مردم دهان به دهان و از نسلی به نسلی سینه به سینه می‌گردد تا آن‌که شاعر توانا و با ذوق و قریحه‌ای پدیدار شده و اثری بزرگ از روی آنها می‌آفریند. مأخذ اصلی فردوسی در به‌نظم کشیدن داستان ها، شاهنامهٔ منثور ابومنصوری بود که چندی پیش از آن توسط یکی از سپهداران ایران‌دوست خراسان از روی آثار و روایات موجود گردآوری شده بود. فردوسی در شاهنامه از پنج راوی شفاهی نیز به نام های آزادسرو، شادان برزین، ماخ پیر خراسانی، بهرام و شاهوی یاد کرده که او را در بازگو کردن داستان ها یاری رسانده‌اند؛ اما ذبیح‌الله صفا استدلال کرده‌است که به احتمال فراوان راویان یادشده مربوط به روزگاران پیشین بوداند و فردوسی به جهت احترام از آنان نام برده و هیچ‌کدام معاصر با حکیم توس نبوده‌اند. نیز شایان ذکر است که کتاب بسیار بزرگی در اواخر روزگار ساسانی به نام خوتای نامگ (خدای‌نامه) تالیف شده بود که به یک معنا کتاب تاریخ رسمی شاهنشاهی به شمار می‌آمد. روزبه پسر دادوویه با کنیهٔ عربی «عبدالله ابن مقفع» یا همان ابن مقفع مترجم کلیله و دمنه آن را به عربی ترجمه کرد. این کتاب یکی از مآخذ تقریباً همهٔ تاریخ نگاران سده‌های آغازین اسلامی به شمار می‌آمد. از خوتای نامگ در شاهنامه با نام نامهٔ خسروان یاد شده‌است. «خوتای» برابر پهلوی «خدای» است که به معنی پادشاه به کار می‌رفته‌است. معنی مشابهی برای خدا هنوز هم در واژه هایی چون «کدخدا» دیده می‌شود. این نکته دارای اهمیت است که داستان های شاهنامه در آن دوران نه به عنوان اسطوره بلکه به عنوان واقعیتی تاریخی تلقی می‌شدند؛ یعنی فردوسی تاریخ ایرانیان و حماسه‌های ملی آنان را به نظم کشید نه اسطوره‌های آنان را. شاهنامه‌های منظوم دیگر فردوسی نخستین کسی نبود که به نظم حماسه‌های ملی اقدام کرد؛ پیش از او دیگرانی نیز دست بدین کار زده بودند. از آن میان دقیقی طوسی (همشهری فردوسی) شایستهٔ نام بردن است. وی شاعری خوش‌قریحه بود که نخست به نظم شاهنامهٔ ابومنصوری اقدام کرد، ولی هنوز چندی از آغاز کارش نگذشته بود که به دست یکی از بندگانش کشته شد و کار او ناتمام ماند. فردوسی در شاهنامهٔ خود از دقیقی توسی به نیکی نام می‌برد و هزار بیت از سروده‌های او را در کار خود برای قدردانی می‌گنجاند. هزار بیت دقیقی مربوط به پادشاهی گشتاسب و برآمدن زرتشت است. ذبیح‌الله صفا به این هزار بیت لقب گشتاسپ‌نامه داد که خوشبختانه امروز جاافتاده و مقبول است. شخص دیگری که پیش از آن دو به نظم حماسه‌های ملی پرداخته بود شاعری بود با نام مسعودی مروزی. متاسفانه امروز بیش از چند بیت از شاهنامهٔ او در دست نیست. اما ظاهراً در زمان فردوسی شهرتی بسزا داشته‌است. جالب توجه‌ است که شاهنامهٔ او در بحر تقارب نیست بلکه در بحر هزج است (مفاعیلن مفاعیلن فعولن). واژگان عربی در شاهنامه نوشتار اصلی: واژگان عربی در شاهنامه قول مشهور ولی نادرست میان عوام این است که در شاهنامه فردوسی از هیچ کلمه عربی‌ استفاده نشده‌است. گر چه شاهنامه به پارسی سره نیست، لیکن مطالعات آماری که جلال خالقی مطلق به انجام رسانیده گویای آن است که بسامد واژه‌های بیگانه در شاهنامه بیشتر از حدود پنج درصد نیست. این کسر سخت اندک است، چنان که حجم مجموع آثار فارسی‌ای که کاربرد واژه‌های بیگانه در آنها همانند شاهنامه از حدود پنج درصد بیشتر نیست، به حجم شاهنامه نمی‌رسد. در اینکه فردوسی واژه‌های فارسی را بر عربی ترجیح می‌داده‌ است شکی نیست. این هم برخاسته از موضوع کار شاعر بود و هم اینکه زمانهٔ فردوسی مناسب آن بوده. به بیان دقیق‌تر بیشتر منابعی که فردوسی از آنها بهره برده خود در کاربرد واژه‌های عربی خودداری می‌کردند که نگاهی گذرا به مقدمهٔ شاهنامهٔ ابومنصوری گویای همین است. از سوی دیگر در مواردی که منابع فردوسی خود نااصیل بوده‌اند و واژه‌های عربی در آنها به وفور یافت می‌شد، کلمه‌های عربی در شاهنامه هم فزونی می‌گیرند. نمونهٔ بارز آن اسکندرنامه است که در اصل روایتی غیرایرانی است و کلمه‌های عربی در آن بسیار بیشتر به نسبت سایر قطعات شاهنامه یافت می‌شود. برخی تعداد واژگان عربی دخیل در شاهنامه را ۸۶۵ واژه می‌دانند. صافی، صباح، صبح، صبر، صبوح، صحاب، صحرا، صدف، صدا، صعب، صف، صفت، صل(به کسر اول)، صلاب و... نمونه‌هایی از این واژگان است، تنها از نوع کلمه‌هایی با ابتدای حرف صاد . تدوین شاهنامه فردوسی، شاهنامه را دو بار تدوین کرده‌است. نخستین تدوین شاهنامه در دورهٔ نوح دوم پسر منصور هم‌زمان با ضعف دولت سامانی که نشانه‌هایی از زوال آن دولت پدیدار بود در ۲۵ اسفند سال ۳۸۴ در ۵۵ سالگی شاعر تا این بیتها به انجام رسید: سر آمد کنون قصهٔ یزدگرد به ماه سپندارمذ روز ارد ز هجرت سه‌صد سال و هشتادوچار به نام جهان داور کردگار با توجه به تولد فردوسی در سال ۳۲۹ ه‍. ق او در سال ۳۸۴ ه‍. ق ۵۵ سال داشته‌است. با این همه از اشارات شاعر به ۶۰ و ۶۱ و ۶۳ سالگی خود در بخش ساسانیان برمی‌آید که بعدها هم در تهذیب و تکمیل آن می‌کوشید. شاهنامه‌ای که فردوسی به مدت شش سال از ۶۵ سالگی کوشیده بود که آن را به صورتی باب طبع محمود درآورد سرانجام در ۷۱ سالگی او آماده شد. چو سال اندر آمد به هفتادویک همی زیر بیت اندر آرم فلک آن گاه شاعر تاریخ این رویداد را سال ۴۰۰ هجری ذکر می‌کند. ز هجرت شده پنج هشتاد بار به نام جهان داور کردگار کتابهای نوشته‌شده بر پایهٔ شاهنامه از رنگ گل تا رنج خار (شکل‌شناسی داستانهای شاهنامه)، نوشتهٔ قدمعلی سرامی پارسیان و من (در سه جلد: کاخ اژدها؛ راز کوه پرنده؛ رستاخیز فرا می‌رسد.) نوشتهٔ آرمان آرین نامهٔ باستان (دورهٔ نه جلدی) شرح شاهنامه نوشتهٔ میرجلال‌الدین کزازی رازهای شاهنامه و دفتر دوم فردوسی‌پژوهی به کوشش یاسر موحدفرد تصحیح شاهنامه فردوسی به کوشش جلال خالقی مطلق و با همکاری محمود امیدسالار و ابوالفضل خطیبی (دوره هشت جلدی) تصحیح نسخهٔ فلورانس شاهنامه فردوسی به کوشش عزیزاله جوینی (تا کنون هفت جلد از آن به چاپ رسیده‌است.) ویرایش شاهنامه فردوسی به کوشش فریدون جنیدی (دوره شش جلدی) فیلم‌های ساخته‌شده بر پایهٔ شاهنامه در سال ۱۳۱۳ ه‍. خ عبدالحسین سپنتا فیلم فردوسی را ساخت که در جشن هزارهٔ فردوسی به نمایش در آمد. در سال ۱۳۳۶ مهدی رئیس فیروز و شاهرخ رفیع فیلم رستم و سهراب را کارگردانی کردند. در سال ۱۳۳۷ منوچهر زمانی فیلم بیژن و منیژه را کارگردانی نمود. در سال ۱۳۸۴ محمد نوری‌زاد فیلم شاهزادهٔ ایرانی (دربارهٔ داستان رستم و اسفندیار) را ساخت. این فیلم نسخهٔ سینمایی مجموعهٔ چهل سرباز می‌باشد. بوریس کیمیاگرف کارگردان مشهور تاجیکستان شوروی پیشین چهار فیلم بر پایهٔ شاهنامهٔ فردوسی در دهه‌های ۶۰ و ۷۰ میلادی ساخته‌است. این فیلمها عبارت‌اند از: "پرچم کاوهٔ آهنگر" (۱۹۶۱)، "داستان رستم" (۱۹۷۱)، "رستم و سهراب" (۱۹۷۱) و "داستان سیاوش" (۱۹۷۶). هم‌چنین ویشرام بدکار (Vishram Bedekar) کارگردان هندی در سال ۱۹۶۳ فیلم "رستم و سهراب" را از روی شاهنامهٔ فردوسی ساخته‌است. افزون بر این، بسیاری از کارگردانان تئاتر نیز بسیاری از آثار مهم نمایشی معاصر را بر اساس داستان‌های شاهنامهٔ فردوسی به روی صحنه برده‌اند. پانویس جستارهای وابسته فردوسی شاهنامه ابومنصوری شاهنامه بایسنقری شاهنامه تهماسبی شاهنامه دموت شاهنامه رشیدا شاهنامه حیرتی تونی شاهنامه‌خوانی نقالی ایرانی بنیاد فردوسی بنیاد شاهنامه فردوسی کتابهای برگزیده ابیات شاهنامه فهرست منابع و مآخذ جواد طباطبایی. «اندیشهٔ ایران‌شهری و تداوم فرهنگ ایران‌زمین». در خواجه نظام‌الملک. چاپ دوم. تبریز: ستوده، ۱۳۸۵. ISBN 964-7644-54-X.  شفیعی کدکنی، محمدرضا. صور خیال در شعر فارسی. تهران. انتشارات نیل ۱۳۵۰ صفا، ذبیح‌الله. تاریخ ادبیات ایران ج۱ چاپ دوم. تهران: انتشارات قُقنوس ۱۳۸۱. شابک: ISBN 964-311-013-3 صفا، ذبیح‌الله. حماسه‌سرایی در ایران، از قدیمی‌ترین عهد تاریخی تا قرن چهاردهم هجری. انتشارات امیرکبیر. چاپ سوم. سال ۱۳۵۲ شاهنامه فردوسی، به کوشش سعید حمیدیان، بر اساس چاپ مسکو، قطره، ۱۳۸۴، تهران گات‌های زرتشت، گردآوری فرانک دوانلو، نوید شیراز، ۱۳۸۳، شیراز گات‌ها، فیروز آذرگشسب، به تصحیح ماندانا معاونت، فروهر، ۱۳۸۳، تهران پیوند به بیرون متن مربوطه در ویکی‌نبشته: شاهنامه در ویکی‌انبار پرونده‌هایی دربارهٔ شاهنامه موجود است. خوانش همه‌ی شاهنامه‌ی فردوسی با نوای استاد جلال الدین کزازی نقاشی‌هایی از صحنه‌های شاهنامه حماسه داد: شاهنامه و ایران آسمان تاریخ در دو بیت: پژوهشی نجومی در شاهنامه شاهنامه فردوسی comic book گوش دادن به شاهنامه فردوسی -- شاهنامه فردوسی صوتی بهار نوائی، «سیمرغ از شاهنامه به اپرا»، جدید آنلاین، ۹ نوامبر 2009: ضبط ویدوئی بخش کوتاهی از اپرای سیمرغ، ضبط شده در هنگام تمرین در تهران در ماه دسامبر 2009:

The Shahnameh (pronounced [ʃɒːhnɒː'mɛ]) or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه‎ Šāhnāmeh, "The Book of Kings") is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of the Iran (Persia) and the Persian speaking world. Consisting of some 50,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the Persian empire from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Today Iran, Persian speakers of the neighboring nations such as Afghanistan and Tajikestan, and the greater region influenced by the Persian culture celebrate this national epic. The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Sassanid ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest and an end to the Zoroastrian influence in Iran. Faramarz, son of Rostam, mourns the death of his father, and of his uncle, Zavareh. Composition The assassination of Chosroes in a Mughal Era manuscript in 1535 Ferdowsi started writing the Shahnameh in 977 A.D and completed it on 8 March 1010. The Shahnameh is a monument of poetry and historiography, being mainly the poetical recast of what Ferdowsi, his contemporaries, and his predecessors regarded as the account of Iran's ancient history. Many such accounts already existed in prose, an example being the Shahnameh of Abu-Mansur Daqiqi. A small portion of Ferdowsi's work, in passages scattered throughout the Shahnameh, is entirely of his own conception. The Shahnameh is an epic poem of over 50,000 couplets, written in early Modern Persian. It is based mainly on a prose work of the same name compiled in Ferdowsi's earlier life in his native Tus. This prose Shahnameh was in turn and for the most part the translation of a Pahlavi (Middle Persian) work, known as the Xvatāynamāk ("Book of Kings"), a late Sassanid compilation of the history of the kings and heroes of Persia from mythical times down to the reign of Khosrau II (590–628). The xvatāynamāk contained historical information on the later Sassanid period, but it does not appear to have drawn on any historical sources for the earlier Sassanid period (3rd to 4th centuries). Ferdowsi added material continuing the story to the overthrow of the Sassanids by the Arabs in the middle of the 7th century. The first to undertake the versification of the Pahlavi chronicle was Abu-Mansur Daqiqi, a contemporary of Ferdowsi, poet at the court of the Samanids, who came to a violent end after completing only 1,000 verses. These verses, which deal with the rise of the prophet Zoroaster, were afterward incorporated by Ferdowsi, with acknowledgment, in his own poem. The style of the Shahnameh shows characteristics of both written and oral literature. Some claim that Ferdowsi also used Zoroastrian nasks, such as the now-lost Chihrdad as sources as well. Many other Pahlavi sources were used in composing the epic, prominent being the Kārnāmag-ī Ardaxšīr-ī Pābagān, which was originally written during the late Sassanid era and gave accounts of how Ardashir I came to power which, because of its historical proximity, is thought to be highly accurate. Besides, the text is written in the late Middle Persian, which was the immediate ancestor of Modern Persian. Hence, a great portion of the historical chronicles given in Shahnameh are based on this epic and there are in fact various phrases and words which can be matched between these two sources according to Zabihollah Safa. According to one account of the sources, a Persian named Dehqan in the court of King Anushehrawan Dadgar had composed a voluminous book in prose form, known as Khoday Nameh. After the fall of the Iranian Empire, Khoday Nameh came into the possession of King Yaqub Lais and then the Samani king Nuh ordered the poet Daqiqi to complete it, but Daqiqi was killed by his slave. Ferdowsi obtained the book through a friend. Content Kai Khorso enthroned holding the sword with which he will execute Afrasiyab for the murder of Siyavash The Shahnameh provides a poetic account of the prehistory and history of Iran, beginning with the creation of the world and the introduction of the arts of civilization (fire, cooking, metallurgy, law), and ending with the Islamic Conquest of Persia. The work is not precisely chronological, but there is a general movement through time. Some of the characters live for hundreds of years but most have normal life spans. There are many shāhs who come and go, as well as heroes and villains, who also come and go. The only lasting images are that of Greater Persia itself, and a succession of sunrises and sunsets, no two ever exactly alike, yet illustrative of the passage of time. The work is divided into three successive parts: the "mythical", "heroic", and "historical" ages. Father Time, a Saturn-like image, is a reminder of the tragedy of death and loss, yet the next sunrise comes, bringing with it hope of a new day. In the first cycle of creation, evil is external (the devil). In the second cycle, we see the beginnings of family hatred, bad behavior, and evil permeating human nature. Shāh Fereydūn's two eldest sons feel greed and envy toward their innocent younger brother and, thinking their father favors him, they murder him. The murdered prince's son avenges the murder, and all are immersed in the cycle of murder and revenge, blood and more blood. In the third cycle, we encounter a series of flawed shahs. There is a Phaedra-like story of Shāh Kay Kāvus, his wife Sūdābeh, and her passion and rejection by her stepson, Sīyāvash. In the next cycle, all the players are unsympathetic and selfish and evil. This epic on the whole is darker over all than most other epics, most of which have some sort of resolution and catharsis. This tone seems reflective of two things, perhaps: the conquest of Sassanid Iran, and a reflection on the last days of Persian Zoroastrianism. It is only in the characterizations of the work's many figures, both male and female, that Zoroaster's original view of the human condition comes through. Zoroaster emphasized human free will. All of Ferdowsi's characters are complex; none is an archetype or a puppet. The best characters have flaws, and the worst have moments of humanity. Nationalist historiography in Iran has claimed that Ferdowsi was grieved by the fall of the Sassanid Empire and its subsequent rule by "Arabs" and "Turks". The Shahnameh, the argument goes, is largely his effort to preserve the memory of Persia's golden days and transmit it to a new generation so that they could learn and try to build a better world. Though the preservation of the pre-Islamic mythistorical legacy seems to be among Ferdowsi's main concerns, however a number of authors have formally challenged these views. The mythical age This portion of the Shahnameh is relatively short, amounting to some 2,100 verses or four percent of the entire book, and it narrates events with the simplicity, predictability, and swiftness of a historical work. After an opening in praise of God and Wisdom, the Shahnameh gives an account of the creation of the world and of man as believed by the Sasanians. This introduction is followed by the story of the first man, Keyumars, who also became the first king after a period of mountain dwelling. His grandson Hushang, son of Sīyāmak, accidentally discovered fire and established the Sadeh Feast in its honor. Stories of Tahmuras, Jamshid, Zahhāk, Kawa or Kaveh, Fereydūn and his three sons Salm, Tur, and Iraj, and his grandson Manuchehr are related in this section. Courtiers of Bayasanghori playing chess The heroic age Almost two-thirds of the Shahnameh is devoted to the age of heroes, extending from Manuchehr's reign until the conquest of Alexander the Great (Sekandar). The main feature of this period is the major role played by the Saka or Sistānī heroes who appear as the backbone of the Persian Empire. Garshāsp is briefly mentioned with his son Narimān, whose own son Sām acted as the leading paladin of Manuchehr while reigning in Sistān in his own right. His successors were his son Zāl and Zal's son Rostam, the bravest of the brave, and then Farāmarz. Among the stories described in this section are the romance of Zal and Rudāba, the Seven Stages (or Labors) of Rostam, Rostam and Sohrab, Sīyāvash and Sudāba, Rostam and Akvān Dīv, the romance of Bijan and Manijeh, the wars with Afrāsīyāb, Daqiqi's account of the story of Goshtāsp and Arjāsp, and Rostam and Esfandyār. The historical age A brief mention of the Arsacid dynasty follows the history of Alexander and precedes that of Ardashir I, founder of the Sassanid Empire. After this, Sassanid history is related with a good deal of accuracy. The fall of the Sassanids and the Arab conquest of Persia are narrated romantically. Message Ferdowsi did not expect his readers to pass over historical events indifferently, but asked them to think carefully, to see the grounds for the rise and fall of individuals and nations; and to learn from the past in order to improve the present, and to better shape the future. Ferdowsi stresses his belief that since the world is transient, and since everyone is merely a passerby, one is wise to avoid cruelty, lying, avarice, and other evils; instead one should strive for justice, honor, truth, order, and other virtues. The singular message that the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi strives to convey is the idea that the history of the Sassanid Empire was a complete and immutable whole: it started with Keyumars, the first man, and ended with his fiftieth scion and successor, Yazdegerd III, six thousand years of history of Iran. The task of Ferdowsi was to prevent this history from being lost to future Persian generations. According to Jalal Khaleghi Mutlaq, the Shahnameh teaches a wide variety of moral virtues, like worship of one God; religious uprightness; patriotism; love of wife, family and children; and helping the poor. Influence on Persian language Rustam kills the Turanian hero Alkus with his lance After the Shahnameh, a number of other works similar in nature surfaced over the centuries within the cultural sphere of the Persian language. Without exception, all such works were based in style and method on the Shahnameh, but none of them could quite achieve the same degree of fame and popularity. Some experts believe the main reason the Modern Persian language today is more or less the same language as that of Ferdowsi's time over 1000 years ago is due to the very existence of works like the Shahnameh, which have had lasting and profound cultural and linguistic influence. In other words, the Shahnameh itself has become one of the main pillars of the modern Persian language. Studying Ferdowsi's masterpiece also became a requirement for achieving mastery of the Persian language by subsequent Persian poets, as evidenced by numerous references to the Shahnameh in their works. This is also due to the fact that Ferdowsi went to great lengths to avoid any words drawn from the Arabic language, words which had increasingly infiltrated the Persian language following the Arab conquest of Persia in the 7th century. Ferdowsi followed this path not only to preserve and purify the Persian language, but also as a stark political statement against the Arab conquest of Persia. This assertion has been called into question by Mohammed Moinfar, who has noted that there are numerous examples of Arabic words in the Shahnameh which are effectively synonyms for Persian words previously used in the text. This calls into question the idea of Ferdowsi's deliberate eschewing of Arabic words. The Shahnameh has 62 stories, 990 chapters, and some 60,000 rhyming couplets, making it more than three times the length of Homer's Iliad, and more than twelve times the length of the German Nibelungenlied. According to Ferdowsi, the final edition of the Shahnameh contained some sixty thousand distichs. But this is a round figure; most of the relatively reliable manuscripts have preserved a little over fifty thousand distichs. Nezami-e Aruzi reports that the final edition of the Shahnameh sent to the court of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was prepared in seven volumes. Cultural influence A battle scene from the Baysonghori Shahnameh The Shirvanshah dynasty adopted many of their names from the Shahnameh. The relationship between Shirwanshah and his son, Manuchihr, is mentioned in chapter eight of Nizami's Leili o Majnoon. Nizami advises the king's son to read the Shahnameh and to remember the meaningful sayings of the wise. According to the Turkish historian Mehmet Fuad Koprulu: Indeed, despite all claims to the contrary, there is no question that Persian influence was paramount among the Seljuks of Anatolia. This is clearly revealed by the fact that the sultans who ascended the throne after Ghiyath al-Din Kai-Khusraw I assumed titles taken from ancient Persian mythology, like Kai-Khusraw, Kai-Kaus, and Kai-Qubad; and that Ala' al-Din Kai-Qubad I had some passages from the Shahname inscribed on the walls of Konya and Sivas. When we take into consideration domestic life in the Konya courts and the sincerity of the favor and attachment of the rulers to Persian poets and Persian literature, then this fact (i.e. the importance of Persian influence) is undeniable. Shah Ismail I was also deeply influenced by the Persian literary tradition of Iran, particularly by the Shahnameh, which probably explains the fact that he named all of his sons after Shahnameh characters. Dickson and Welch suggest that Ismail's Shāhnāmaye Shāhī was intended as a present to the young Tahmāsp. After defeating Muhammad Shaybāni's Uzbeks, Ismāil asked Hātefī, a famous poet from Jam (Khorasan), to write a Shahnameh-like epic about his victories and his newly established dynasty. Although the epic was left unfinished, it was an example of mathnawis in the heroic style of the Shahnameh written later on for the Safavid kings. The Shahnameh's influence has extended beyond the Persian sphere. Professor Victoria Arakelova of Yerevan University states: During the ten centuries passed after Firdausi composed his monumental work, heroic legends and stories of Shahnameh have remained the main source of the storytelling for the peoples of this region: Persians, Pashtuns, Afghans, Kurds, Gurans, Talishis, Armenians, Georgians, North Caucasian peoples, etc. On Georgian identity Jamshid Sh. Giunshvili remarks on the connection of Georgian culture with that of Shahnameh: The names of many Šāh-nāma heroes, such as Rostom-i, Thehmine, Sam-i, or Zaal-i, are found in 11th- and 12th-century Georgian literature. They are indirect evidence for an Old Georgian translation of the Šāh-nāma that is no longer extant. ... The Šāh-nāma was translated, not only to satisfy the literary and aesthetic needs of readers and listeners, but also to inspire the young with the spirit of heroism and Georgian patriotism. Georgian ideology, customs, and worldview often informed these translations because they were oriented toward Georgian poetic culture. Conversely, Georgians consider these translations works of their native literature. Georgian versions of the Šāh-nāma are quite popular, and the stories of Rostam and Sohrāb, or Bījan and Maniža became part of Georgian folklore. On Turkic identity Despite some popular belief, the Turanians of Shahnameh (whose sources are based on Avesta and Pahlavi texts) have no relationship with the ethno-liguistic group Turk today. The Turanians of Shahnameh are an Iranian people representing Iranian nomads of the Eurasian Steppes and have no relationship to the culture of Turks. Turan or Persian for the areas of Central Asia beyond the Oxus up to the 7th century (where the story of the Shahnameh ends) was generally an Iranian-speaking land. According to Richard Frye, "The extent of influence of the Iranian epic is shown by the Turks who accepted it as their own ancient history as well as that of Iran... The Turks were so much influenced by this cycle of stories that in the eleventh century AD we find the Qarakhanid dynasty in Central Asia calling itself the 'family of Afrasiyab' and so it is known in the Islamic history." Turks, as an ethno-linguistic group have been influenced by the Shahnameh since advent of Saljuqs. Toghrul III of Seljuqs is said to have recited the Shahnameh while swinging his mace in battle. According to Ibn Bibi, in 618/1221 the Saljuq of Rum Ala' al-Din Kay-kubad decorated the walls of Konya and Sivas with verses from the Shahnameh. The Turks themselves connected their origin not with Turkish tribal history but with the Turan of Shahnameh. Specifically in India, through the Shahnameh, they felt themselves to be the last outpost tied to the civilized world by the thread of Iranianism. On Mughal identity The Mughal Empire was ruled by Mughal Emperors who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan and Timur; they also claimed amalgam with the culture of Turan and directly patronized the Shahnameh the masterpiece of Firdowsi, which particularly inspired servicemen in the Mughal Army. Manuscripts of the Shahnameh were composed during the reign of Babur, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Muhammad Shah. The first Mughal Emperor Babur himself quoted verses from the Shahnameh prior to the Battle of Khanwa. Among the most notable Mughal noblemen inspired by the Shahnameh was the Nawab of Bengal, Alivardi Khan. Legacy A battle between the hosts of Iran and Turan during the reign of Kay Khusraw Ferdowsi concludes the Shahnameh by writing: I've reached the end of this great history And all the land will talk of me: I shall not die, these seeds I've sown will save My name and reputation from the grave, And men of sense and wisdom will proclaim When I have gone, my praises and my fame. This prediction of Ferdowsi has come true and many Persian literary figures, historians and biographers have praised him and the Shahnameh. The Shahnameh is considered by many to be the most important piece of work in Persian literature. Western writers have also praised the Shahnameh and Persian literature in general. Persian literature has been considered by such thinkers as Goethe as one of the four main bodies of world literature. Goethe was inspired by Persian literature, which moved him to write West-Eastern Divan. Goethe wrote: When we turn our attention to a peaceful, civilized people, the Persians, we must—since it was actually their poetry that inspired this work—go back to the earliest period to be able to understand more recent times. It will always seem strange to the historians that no matter how many times a country has been conquered, subjugated and even destroyed by enemies, there is always a certain national core preserved in its character, and before you know it, there re-emerges a long-familiar native phenomenon. In this sense, it would be pleasant to learn about the most ancient Persians and quickly follow them up to the present day at an all the more free and steady pace. Biographies Sargozasht-Nameh or biography of important poets and writers has long been a Persian tradition. Some of the biographies of Ferdowsi are now considered apocryphal, nevertheless this shows the important impact he had in the Persian world. Among the famous biographies are: Chahar Maqaleh ("Four Articles") by Nezami 'Arudi-i Samarqandi Tazkeret Al-Shu'ara ("The Biography of poets") by Dowlat Shah-i Samarqandi Baharestan ("Abode of Spring") by Jami Lubab ul-Albab by Mohammad 'Awfi Natayej al-Afkar by Mowlana Muhammad Qudrat Allah Arafat Al-'Ashighin by Taqqi Al-Din 'Awhadi Balyani Poets Bizhane receives an invitation through Manizheh's nurse Famous poets of Persia and the Persian tradition have praised and eulogized Ferdowsi. Many of them were heavily influenced by his writing and used his genre and stories to develop their own Persian epics, stories and poems: Anvari remarked about the eloquence of the Shahnameh, "He was not just a Teacher and we his students. He was like a God and we are his slaves". Asadi Tusi was born in the same city as Ferdowsi. His Garshaspnama was inspired by the Shahnameh as he attests in the introduction. He praises Ferdowsi in the introduction and considers Ferdowsi the greatest poet of his time. Masud Sa'ad Salman showed the influence of the Shahnameh only 80 years after its composition by reciting its poems in the Ghaznavid court of India. Othman Mokhtari, another poet at the Ghaznavid court of India, remarked, "Alive is Rustam through the epic of Ferdowsi, else there would not be a trace of him in this World". Sanai believed that the foundation of poetry was really established by Ferdowsi. Nizami Ganjavi was influenced greatly by Ferdowsi and three of his five jewls had to do with pre-Islamic Persia. His Khosro-o-Shirin, Haft Peykar and Eskandar-nameh used the Shahnameh as a major source. Nizami remarks that Ferdowsi is "the wise sage of Tus" who beautified and decorated words like a new bride. Khaghani, the court poet of the Shirvanshah, wrote of Ferdowsi: The candle of the wise in this darkness of sorrow, The pure words of Ferdowsi of the Tusi are such, His pure sense is an angelic birth, Angelic born is anyone who's like Ferdowsi. Attar wrote about the poetry of Ferdowsi: Open eyes and through the sweet poetry see the heavenly eden of Ferdowsi. In a famous poem, Sa'adi wrote: How sweetly has conveyed the pure natured Ferdowsi, May blessing be upon his pure resting place, Do not harass the ant that's dragging a seed, because it has life and sweet life is dear. In the Baharestan, Jami wrote, "He came from Tus and his excellence, renown and perfection are well known. Yes, what need is there of the panegyrics of others to that man who has composed verses as those of the Shah-nameh?" Many other poets can also be named e.g. Hafez, Rumi and other mystical poets have used imageries of Shahnameh heroes in their poetry. Persian historiography The Shahnameh's impact on Persian historiography was immediate and some historians decorated their books with the verses of Shahnameh. Below is sample of ten important historians who have praised the Shahnameh and Ferdowsi: The unknown writer of the Tarikh Sistan ("History of Sistan") written around 1053 The unknown writer of Majmal al-Tawarikh wa Al-Qasas (circa 1126) Mohammad Ali Ravandi, the writer of the Rahat al-Sodur wa Ayat al-Sorur (circa 1206) Ibn Bibi, the writer of the history book, Al-Awamir al-'Alaiyah, written during the era of 'Ala ad-din KayGhobad Ibn Esfandyar, the writer of the Tarikh-e Tabarestan Muhammad Juwayni, the early historian of the Mongol era in the Tarikh-e Jahan Gushay (Ilkhanid era) Hamdollah Qazwini also paid much attention to the Shahnameh and wrote the Zafarnameh based on the same style in the Ilkhanid era Hafez-e Abru (1430) in the Majma' al-Tawarikh Khwand Mir in the Habab al-Siyar (circa 1523) praised Ferdowsi and gave an extensive biography on Ferdowsi The Arab historian Ibn Athir remarks in his book, Al-Kamil, that, "If we name it the Quran of 'Ajam, we have not said something in vain. If a poet writes poetry and the poems have many verses, or if someone writes many compositions, it will always be the case that some of their writings might not be excellent. But in the case of Shahnameh, despite having more than 40 thousand couplets, all its verses are excellent." Illustrated copies An image illustrating the parable of the ship of faith from the Houghton Shahnameh (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Illustrated copies of the work are among the most sumptuous examples of Persian miniature painting. Several copies remain intact, although two of the most famous, the Houghton Shahnameh and the Great Mongol Shahnameh, were broken up for sheets to be sold separately in the 20th century. A single sheet from the former was sold for £904,000 in 2006. The Baysonghori Shahnameh, an illuminated manuscript copy of the work (Golestan Palace, Iran), is included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register of cultural heritage items. In honour of the Shahnameh's millennial anniversary, in 2010 the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge hosted a major exhibition, called "Epic of the Persian Kings: The Art of Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh", which ran from September 2010 to January 2011. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC also hosted an exhibition of beautifully illustrated folios from the 14th through the 16th centuries, called "Shahnama: 1000 Years of the Persian Book of Kings", which was on view from October 2010 to April 2011, coinciding with a museum celebration of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Mongol/Turk/Turcophone manuscript production The Great Mongol Shahnameh, produced during the reign of the Ilkhanid Sultan Abu Sa'id, is one of the most illustrative and important copies of the Shahnameh. The Timurids continued the tradition of manuscript production. For them, it was considered de rigueur for the members of the family to have personal copies of the epic poem. Consequently, three of Timur’s grandsons—Bāysonḡor, Ebrāhim Solṭān, and Moḥammad Juki—each commissioned such a volume. Among these, the Baysonghori Shahnameh commissioned by Ḡīāṯ-al-Dīn Bāysonḡor is one of the most voluminous and artistic Shahnameh manuscripts. The production of illustrated Shahnameh manuscripts in the 15th century remained vigorous during the Qarā-Qoyunlu or Black Sheep (1380–1468) and Āq Qoyunlu or White Sheep (1378–1508) Turkman dynasties. Many of the extant illustrated copies, with more than seventy or more paintings, are attributable to Tabriz, Shiraz, and Baghdad beginning in about the 1450s-60s and continuing to the end of the century. The Safavid era saw a resurgence of Shahnameh productions. Shah Ismail I used the epic for propaganda purposes: as a gesture of Persian patriotism, as a celebration of renewed Persian rule, and as a reassertion of Persian royal authority. The Safavids commissioned elaborate copies of the Shahnameh to support their legitimacy. Among the high points of Shahnameh illustrations was the series of 250 miniatures which illustrated the Shahnameh commissioned by Shah Ismail for his son Shah Tahmasp. Modern editions An illustration from the Shahnameh Scholarly editions A handful of scholarly editions has been prepared of the Shahnameh. An early edition was prepared in 1829 in India by T. Macan. It was based on a comparison of 17 manuscript copies. Between 1838–78, an edition appeared in Paris by French scholar J. Mohl, who based it on a comparison of 30 manuscripts. Both editions lacked the critical apparatus and were based on secondary manuscripts that had appeared after the 15th century; much later than the original work. Between 1877 and 1884, the German scholar J. A. Vullers prepared a synthesized text of the Macan and Mohl editions, but only three of the expected nine volumes of his edition were published during 1877–1884. The Vullers edition was later completed in Tehran by the Iranian scholars S. Nafisi, Iqbal and M. Minowi for the millennial jubilee of Ferdowsi, held between 1934 and 1936. The first modern critical edition of the Shahnameh was prepared by a Russian team led by E. E. Bertel, using the oldest known manuscript copies, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, with heavy reliance on the 1276 manuscript from the British Museum and the Leningrad manuscript, dated 1333, of which the latter has now been considered a secondary manuscript. In addition to this, two other manuscripts used in this edition have been so demoted. It was published in Moscow by the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in nine volumes between 1960–71. For many years, the Moscow edition was the standard text. A new critical edition has been in preparation since 1990 by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh, using as its chief text the relatively recent discovery of the Florence manuscript in 1977, dated 1217, which makes it one of the earliest surviving ones, predating the Moghul invasion and the following destruction of important libraries and manuscript collections. The number of manuscripts that were consulted during the preparation of Khaleghi-Motlagh edition goes beyond anything attempted by the Moscow team, and the critical apparatus is extensive and there is a large number of recorded variants of many parts of the poem. The last volume was published in 2008, bringing the eight volume enterprise to a completion. According to Dick Davis, professor of Persian at Ohio State University, it is "by far the best edition of the Shahnameh available, and it is surely likely to remain such for a very long time". The Parsis, Zoroastrians, whose ancestors had migrated to India in the 8th or 10th century, so they could continue practise of their religion in peace, have also kept the Shahnameh traditions alive. Dr. Bahman Sohrabji Surti translated the Shahnameh from the original Persian verse into English Prose, a first detailed and complete translation and published in seven volumes between 1986 and 1988, ably assisted by Marzban Giara. Dastur Faramroz Kutar and his brother Ervad Mahiyar Kutar translated the Shahnameh into Gujarati verse and Gujarati prose and published 10 volumes between 1914 and 1918.. English translations There have been a number of English translations, almost all abridged. James Atkinson of the East India Company's medical service was the first to undertake a translation into English in his 1832 publication for the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, now part of the Royal Asiatic Society. Between 1905 and 1925, the brothers Arthur and Edmond Warner published a translation of the complete work in nine volumes, now out of print. A 2006 translation by Dick Davis has made this epic poem accessible for English speakers. The translation is a combination of poetry and prose, although it is not a complete translation of the Shahnameh. Film adaptations The Shahnameh has been adapted to film in a 1971–1976 Tajikfilm trilogy comprising Skazanie o Rustame, Rustam i Sukhrab, and Skazanie o Sijavushe. See also List of Shahnameh characters Rostam and Sohrab, an opera by Loris Tjeknavorian Sohrab and Rustum, a 1853 poem by Matthew Arnold Persian Trilogy, a set of orchestral works inspired by the Shahnameh Vis and Rāmin, an epic poem similar to the Shahnameh Shahrokh Meskoob Mir Jalaleddin Kazzazi Notes Further reading Poet Moniruddin Yusuf (1919–1987) translated the full version of Shahnameh into the Bengali Language (1963–1981). It was published by the National Organisation of Bangladesh Bangla Academy, in six volumes, in February 1991. Shirzad Aghaee, Imazh-ha-ye mehr va mah dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi (Sun and Moon in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Spånga, Sweden, 1997. (ISBN 91-630-5369-1) Shirzad Aghaee, Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi (Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Nyköping, Sweden, 1993. (ISBN 91-630-1959-0) Persian text A. E. Bertels (editor), Shax-nāme: Kriticheskij Tekst, nine volumes (Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Nauka, 1960–71) (scholarly Persian text) Jalal Khāleghi Motlagh (editor), The Shahnameh, in 12 volumes consisting of eight volumes of text and four volumes of explanatory notes. (Bibliotheca Persica, 1988–2009) (scholarly Persian text). See: Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University. Adaptations Rostam: Tales from the Shahnameh (Publisher: Hyperwerks 2005), The Story of Rostam & Sohrab ISBN 0-9770213-1-9, modern English graphic novel. Rostam: Return of the King (Publisher: Hyperwerks 2007), The Story of Kai-Kavous and Soodabeh ISBN 0-9770213-2-7, modern English graphic novel. Rostam: Battle with The Deevs (Publisher: Hyperwerks 2008), The Story of The Evil White Deev ISBN 978-0-9770213-3-8, modern English graphic novel. Rostam: Search for the King (Publisher: Hyperwerks 2010), The Story of Rostam's Childhood ISBN 978-0-9770213-4-5, modern English graphic novel. External links Iraj Bashiri, Characters of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Iran Chamber Society, 2003. Encyclopædia Iranica entry on Baysonghori Shahnameh Folios from the Great Mongol Shahnama at the Metropolitan Museum of Art The Shahnameh Project, Cambridge University (includes large database of miniatures) Ancient Iran’s Geographical Position in Shah-Nameh The Shahnameh, Fan based social network website which actively discusses and archives modern animation & illustrative adaptations of The Shahnameh. English translations by Helen Zimmern, 1883, Iran Chamber Society, MIT Arthur and Edmond Warner, 1905–1925, (in nine volumes) at the Internet Archive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 A king's book of kings: the Shah-nameh of Shah Tahmasp, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF)