Abu al-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi completed the Shahnameh after 30 years of composition, with approximately 50,000 couplets. This work narrates the mythological and heroic history of Iran from creation to the Arab invasion, saving the Persian language from extinction.
Fun Facts
Ferdowsi deliberately avoided Arabic words: less than 1% of Shahnameh vocabulary is Arabic! He wrote at the end of Shahnameh: "I took this auspicious book as a good omen / I suffered much over many years." His main source was "Khwaday-Namag" (Abu Mansuri Shahnameh). The Shahnameh is the longest epic poem composed by a single author.
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