Ferdowsi

~940–~1020 · Persian (Tus, modern-day Iran) · Medieval Persia

Known for: Author of the Shahnameh, the Persian national epic—longest poem by a single author

Abul-Qasem Ferdowsi spent approximately 30 years writing the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), which recounts the mythological and historical past of Iran from creation to the Islamic conquest in roughly 50,000 couplets—the longest work of epic poetry by a single author in history. He was a landowner of modest means who undertook the project to preserve Persian culture and language.

According to legend, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni promised gold coins for each couplet but sent silver instead; Ferdowsi distributed the payment in disgust to a bath attendant and a beer seller. He died embittered. But his epic succeeded in its grand purpose: it preserved the Persian language and identity against Arabization, and the Shahnameh became the cornerstone of Iranian cultural identity.

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