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THE SHAHNAMEH was completed in the year 1010 by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. A monumental undertaking encompassing ancient myths, legends, and history, it is one of Iran's most cherished works of literature. Volumes IV and V shift to a different tone from the three previous volumes. Gone are the kings and heroes of another age. Gone are Zaal and Rostam, Giv, Bijan, and Goodarz. Ferdowsi turns to a succession of kings from the Ashkanian (or Parthian) Dynasty (247 BCE to 224 CE) and Sassanian Dynasty (224-651 CE). We plunge into a semi-historical narrative less reliant on fact than on literary form and poetic license. Ferdowsi does not cease his discourse on virtue, justice, and wisdom. His lessons are clearly articulated in the insightful words of Bozorgmehr, the loyal and sage vizier, as he enlightens the court on the importance of truth, learning, and wisdom, themes that are dear to Ferdowsi's heart.

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"The Iranian poet Ferdowsi (940-1020) was born into a family of landowners near the city of Tous, in northwestern Iran. His epic poem, The Shahnameh, is one of the most important works of Persian literature. It is a collection of myths, legends, and history that begins with the story of creation, covers the various Persian dynasties, and ends with the Arab conquest of Iran. With the death of King Yazdegerd, the last Sassanian king, the caliphate ""brings a new religion and replaces the throne with the pulpit."" Ferdowsi spent thirty years composing The Shahnameh. One of his incentives was clearly the preservation of the past: Iran's myths, history, and language. He gathered centuries-old myths and legends handed down through oral and written traditions. There were early prose writings and, most notably, one thousand verses written by the poet Daghighi. Ferdowsi adapted Daghighi's lines into his 50,000 well-crafted and lyrical couplets. In the end, he handed his final manuscript to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (999-1030), who is said to have failed to pay him appropriately. In the process of recording ancient myths, Ferdowsi reveals an even greater incentive: the importance of the spoken and the written word and the precious value of words of wisdom. His poetic language is most effective in communicating the complexities of the human mystical journey in varying layers of depth through characters, battles, actions, and unfolding stories. Josiane Cohanim was born in Iran, raised in Switzerland, and educated in the United States. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Spanish literature from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, a master's in French literature from Stanford University, and achieved candidacy at Stanford's French literature doctoral program. Over one thousand years after Ferdowsi, Cohanim's personal journey came from a desire to make sense out of life and out of history. It led her to the close study and the translation of Ferdowsi's extraordinary work. As a text that helped her grasp a deeper understanding of life and of human nature, it inspired her to share its timeless wisdom with a wider audience."

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