Shahnameh: the Persian Book of Kings Free

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Look Inside. Originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan in the tenth century, the Shahnameh is among Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings 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 Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings and Hafez. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. Abolqasem Ferdowsi was born Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Khorasan in a village near Tus in His great epic, Shahnameh, was originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan. Ferdowsi died around in poverty. When you buy a book, we donate a book. Sign in. Mar 08, ISBN Add to Cart. Also available from:. Available from:. Paperback —. Also by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. See all books by Abolqasem Ferdowsi. Product Details. Inspired by Your Browsing History. The Aeneid. The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1, Nights. Virgil and Robert Fagles. The Iliad. Hermann Hesse. Paradise Lost. The Odyssey of Homer. Letters from a Stoic. The Oresteia. The Epic of Gilgamesh. The Penguin Book of Hell. Scott G. The Metamorphoses. Medea and Other Plays. The Prince. Niccolo Machiavelli. Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe. The Odyssey. The Greek Myths. Robert Graves. The Republic. Jonathan Swift. The Divine Comedy. Dante Alighieri. The Last Days of Socrates. Related Articles. Looking for More Great Reads? Download Hi Res. LitFlash The eBooks you want at the lowest prices. Read it Forward Read it first. Pass it on! Stay in Touch Sign up. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later. Become a Member Start earning points for buying books! Ferdowsi's “Shahnameh” - The book of kings | Books & arts | The Economist

Tens of thousands of verses of poetry merge together myth, legend and history, chronicling the reigns of Persia's kings. Written in the 11th century by Ferdowsi, one of the giants of Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings poetry, it tells the story of the struggle between good and evil, between god which god is somewhat ambiguous, left for the reader to decide and the devil. It lies at the heart of Persian literature, a glittering thread weaving through Iranian culture, stringing together each chapter of the nation's history. All of them are from British collections. Many are incomplete. Britain and Russia played tug-of-war with some of the manuscripts, as they did over Iran itself, finally tearing them apart, each nation hoarding its lonely leaves. Others are in Iran, Dublin and New York. In early manuscripts the pictures are modest, fitting within the text. But as the centuries pass they expand. Trees blossom exuberantly beyond the margins, dominating the page. The mouths of dragons gape wide, ready to swallow the verses whole along with Rostam, the hero. To accommodate the pictures' increasing splendour the words are squeezed in around them, the texts becoming tangled in the branches of trees as heroes on horses slay their demons below. With many more manuscripts than could be displayed in the exhibition, the catalogue I. Photographed in close-up, the extraordinary detail of the pictures and ceramics in the exhibition becomes apparent. It plunges deep into the complexity of the art of the manuscript, the use of colour, perspective and symbolism. It is a shame that both books provide so few translations of the extracts they refer to, though the exhibition catalogue has a few more to offer. Ferdowsi went to great lengths to avoid any words drawn from Arabic, a stark political statement after the turmoil of the Arab conquest of Persia in the seventh century. Small wonder then that so many Iranians regard him as the saviour of the Persian language. The exhibition determinedly avoids making any modern political analogies. But at a time when better understanding Iran should be a priority for all, an exhibition that explains Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings poem known as the Iranians' identity card can only be an excellent thing. Reuse this content The Trust Project. Johnson Does naming a thing Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings you understand it? The best of our journalism, hand-picked each day Sign up to our free daily newsletter, The Economist today Sign up now. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings by Abolqasem Ferdowsi

The great national epic of Persia—the most complete English-language edition and definitive translation by Dick Davis, available in a deluxe edition by Penguin Classics. Among the greatest works of world literature, this prodigious narrative, composed by the poet Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, 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. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. Abolqasem Ferdowsi - is the preeminent poet in the Persian language and one the greatest poets of his time in any language. The Shahnameh is the great epic of ancient Persia, opening with the creation of the universe and closing with the Arab Muslim conquest of the worn-out empire in the 7th century. In its pages, the 11th-century Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Abolqasem Ferdowsi chronicles the reigns of a hundred kings, the exploits of dozens of epic heroes and the seemingly never-ending conflict between early Iran and its traditional enemy, the country here called Turan a good-sized chunk of Central Asia. To imagine an equivalent to this violent and beautiful work, think of an amalgam of Homer's Iliad and the ferocious Old Testament book of Judges. But even these grand comparisons don't do the poem justice. Though ostensibly historical, the poem is also full of myth and legend, of fairies and demons, of miraculous births and enchanted arrows and terrible curses, of richly caparisoned battle-elephants and giant birds straight out of the Arabian Nights. Little wonder that artists have often taken its stories as the inspiration for those manuscript Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings we sometimes call Persian miniatures. All this is swell, a modern Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings is likely to think, but can Americans living in the 21st century actually turn the pages of the Shahnameh with anything like enjoyment? Yes, they can, thanks to Dick Davis, our pre-eminent translator from the Persian and not only of medieval poems, but also of Iraj Pezeshkzad's celebrated comic novel, My Uncle Napoleon. Davis's diction in this largely prose version of the Shahnameh possesses the simplicity and elevation appropriate to an epic but never sounds grandiose; its sentences are clear, serene and musical. At various heightened moments -- usually of anguish or passion -- Davis will shift into aria- like verse, and the results remind us that the scholar and translator is also a noted poet:. The world is pleasure first, then grief, and then We leave this fleeting world of living men -- Our beds are dust, for all eternity, Why should we plant the tree we'll never see? Many of the episodes of the Shahnameh clearly draw from the same teeming ocean of story known to Western poets and mythmakers. Old King Feraydun divides greater Persia Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings three realms, one for each of his sons, and the two older brothers conspire against the Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, with bloody centuries-long consequences. The champion Rostam boldly undertakes seven Herculean trials. Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Kavus's entire army Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings scourged with blindness by the White Demon. A heroic warrior meets his own valiant and unrecognized son on the field of battle English majors will remember this as the subject of Matthew Arnold's poem "Sohrab and Rustum" ; Kay Khosrow fasts and meditates, like Buddha, and then renounces the throne and earthly vanity to ascend into heaven. There's even an example of that misogynistic favorite about the high-ranking older woman Potiphar's wife, for instance, or Phaedra who lusts after a forbidden younger man, in this case her stepson: "Now when the king's wife, Sudabeh, saw Seyavash, she grew strangely pensive and her heart beat faster; she began to waste away like ice before fire, worn thin as a silken thread. I have been your slave ever since I set eyes on you, weeping and longing for you; pain darkens all my days, I feel the sun itself is dimmed. Come, in secret, just once, make me Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings again, give me back my youth for a moment. The story of Seyavash is Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings study in conflicting loyalties, like so much of the Shahnameh. The blood relations between Iran and Turan are intricate, as many of the major characters can trace their lineage back to Feraydun, and even traditional enemies occasionally intermarry. In fact, the most common theme of the epic is Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings tension between fathers and sons, often of kings who don't want to relinquish power and younger men who want to prove they deserve it. Aging Goshtasp can't bear to give up his kingship, even to his own son. So he sends the noble young warrior on an impossible mission: to bring the proud and invincible Rostam back to the court in chains. In truth, there's no good reason for this order, as that hero has long been a loyal defender of one unworthy Iranian king after another. But Esfandyar owes obedience to his father and his sovereign, even as he recognizes the injustice, indeed the senselessness of the command. Worse yet, Rostam admires the young man and so urges every possible escape clause, even agreeing to return to the Persian court -- but not in chains, for he has pledged never to be bound. In the end, two admirable men, caught between mutually opposing vows, must reluctantly meet in armed combat to the death. Rostam is a recurrent figure throughout the first half of the Shahnameh. He lives for years, swings his mace like a Middle Eastern Thor, and is usually called upon when times grow truly desperate. When young, Rostam searched for a horse that could support his mammoth size and weight. He finally found Rakhsh, as famous in Persian lore as Pegasus in Greek mythology. What, he asks, is Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings cost of this formidable animal? The herdsman replies, "If you are Rostam, then mount him and defend the land Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings Iran. The price of this horse is Iran itself, and mounted on his back you will be the world's savior. Rostam also shares, with Odysseus, a liking for sly humor. Once, on a secret mission to a land of sorcerers, people begin to suspect him of being Rostam because of his great strength. He innocently replies: "I don't know if I'm worthy even to be Rostam's servant. I can't do the Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings he does; he is a champion, a hero, a great horseman. Rostam berates himself, "Why didn't I tuck him under my arm, instead of hanging on to his belt? The wily Turanian King Afrasyab is nearly as long-lived as Rostam and somehow manages to escape time and again from certain death. His machinations power much of the first half of the Shahnameh. Afrasyab is nothing if not a Machiavellian realist and one of the most vivid and complex characters in the poem. As a young man, he recognizes the folly of war with Iran's Kay Qobad and so advises his shortsighted father: "War with Iran seemed like a game to you, but this has proven to be a hard game for your army to play. Consider how many golden helmets and golden shields, how many Arab horses with golden bridles, how many Indian swords with golden scabbards, and how many famous warriors Qobad has ruined. And worse than this, your name and reputation, which can never be restored, have Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings destroyed. There's much more to the Shahnameh than I've touched on here. Because the poem's geography is largely the Eastern Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, Ferdowsi makes no mention of such famous Persian kings as Darius or Xerxes though Alexander the Great does appear under the name Sekandar. Instead we learn about figures like Bahram Gur, who enjoyed hunting with cheetahs, once killed a rhinoceros with a dagger and eventually thwarted an invasion by the emperor of China. For all their richness, though, long poems sometimes fall prey to a certain repetitiousness, and the wise reader will want to parcel out this one over time. Yet the epic scale Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings the book shouldn't overshadow its memorable smaller moments, or Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings some of its single sentences. One beautiful woman's mouth is described as "small, like the contracted heart of a desperate man. Yet the poet can rightly sing:. 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. Convert currency. Add to Basket. Mage P Book Description Penguin Classics. Condition: new. Seller Inventory think More information about this seller Contact this seller. Book Description Penguin Classics, Condition: New. Brand New!. Seller Inventory VIB Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory EX Dust Jacket Condition: new. Seller Inventory S Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. Publisher: Penguin Classics This specific ISBN edition is currently not available. View all copies of this ISBN edition:. Synopsis About this title The great national epic of Persia—the most complete English-language edition and definitive translation by Dick Davis, available in a deluxe edition by Penguin Classics. About the Author : Abolqasem Ferdowsi - is the preeminent poet in the Persian language and one the greatest poets of his time in any language. Dick Davis is the premier translator of Persian poetry at work today. Azar Nafisi is the author of the bestselling Reading Lolita in Teheran. From The Washington Post : The Shahnameh is the great epic of ancient Persia, opening with the creation of the universe and closing with the Arab Muslim conquest of the worn-out empire in the 7th century. At various heightened moments -- usually of anguish or passion -- Davis will shift into aria-like verse, and the results remind us that the scholar and translator is also a noted poet: Our lives pass from us like the wind, and why Should wise men grieve to know that they must die? The Judas blossom fades, the lovely face Of light is dimmed, and darkness takes its place. Yet the poet can rightly sing: 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. Thanks to Davis's magnificent translation, Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh live again in English. CopyrightThe Washington Post. All Rights Reserved. Buy New Learn more about this copy. Other Popular Editions of the Same Title. Search for all books with this author and title. Customers who bought this item also bought. Stock Image. Published by Penguin Classics. New Quantity Available: 1. Seller Rating:. Published by Penguin Classics New Paperback Quantity Available: 2.