Abolqasem Ferdowsi – författare

Dick Davis, "our pre-eminent translator from the Persian" (Washington Post) has revised and expanded his highly-praised translation of Ferdowsi's masterpiece, including more than 100 pages of newly translated text. Davis's elegant combination of prose and verse allows the poetry of the Shanameh to sing its own tales directly, interspersed sparingly with clearly-marked explanations to ease along modern readers. 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.

Rostam is Iran's greatest mythological hero, a Persian Hercules, magnificent in strength and courage. As recounted in the tenth-century "Book of Kings (Shahnameh)" by the poet Ferdowsi, he was a force in ancient Persia for 500 years, undergoing many trials of combat, cunning and endurance. Although Rostam served a series of often-fickle kings, he was an independent thinker, committed to the greater good of Iran. His adventures are some of the most beloved of all Persian narratives and remain deeply resonant in Iranian culture. This book begins with the birth of Rostam's father Zal and ends with Rostam's death. The tales tell of the love between Zal and Rostam's mother, the Kaboli princess Rudabeh; of Rostam's miraculous birth, aided by the magical bird Simorgh; of Rostam's youth and the selection of his trusty horse Rakhsh; of his affair with Princess Tahmineh, the birth of their son Sohrab, and, after Sohrab grows into a mighty warrior himself, the tragic confrontation between father and son.The tales conclude with Rostam's war against demons, his seven trials, his rescue of Prince Bizhan, and finally his battle, both intellectual and physical, with the ambitious and religiously-driven Prince Esfandyar.