Shahnameh: The Epic of Kings

Abolqasem Ferdowsi (c. 940–1020) was a Persian poet born near Tus in the Khorasan region of present-day Iran. He is the author of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), one of the world's longest epic poems, composed over approximately thirty years. The Shahnameh recounts the mythological and historical past of Persia from creation through the Arab conquest of the seventh century, drawing on pre-Islamic Iranian tradition. Ferdowsi is credited with preserving the Persian language at a time when Arabic was the dominant literary medium, and the Shahnameh remains foundational to Persian literature, national identity, and cultural memory across Iran and Central Asia.