Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/691

* FIRDAUSI. 631 FIRDAUSI. her father. When the poet was about thirty-six, lie began the work which bus made his name im- mortal, the tihuh-Namah, or Book of Kings, which occupied him for thirtj five years. Other Persian poets had tried their bund at the the before him, fur the remembrance of their own Iranian history was preserved despite the con quest by Islam. Of these predecessors the most noteworthy was Daqlqi, who nourished in the tenth century a. u. Mis work, placed in Firdausi's hand by his compatriot, VIohammed Lashkari, formed the nucleus of the Shah-NOmah. This great Book of Kings traces the historj of Persia from the mythical roller Gayumart, who lived, according to [ranian tradition, about 3600, to the Mohammedan conquest in A.n. 641. The poem, which according to Firdausi's own account contains 00,000 couplets, or e than seven times the amount of the Iliad, treats first, of the legendary kings of Iran. Gayumart, Ho shang, Tabniuras, and Jamshid, who was the most famous of them all, ami reigned five hun- dred years during the golden age of tie- earth. Following this happy period came the evil rule of the Arab Dahak or Zohak, who was tempted by Ahriman, bis own ancestor, and fell into sin, increasing bis evil until the smith Kuvnh set up bis leathern apron, as t lie banner of revolt, and Fredun, the Thraetaona of the Avesta, tame and bound the tyrant and confined him be- neath -Mount Demavend on the shores of the Caspian. The reign of Fredun was a long one, but its close was darkened by the strife of bis three sons, among whom be bad .li ided the king- dom. He was succeeded by Minochihr. At this point in the poem there is inserted an episode of exceptional beauty which recounts the loves of Zal. of the royal line of Iran, and Kudabah. the daughter of the King of Kabul, whose union was blessed by the birth of the most romantic of all the heroes of the Shah-Namah, Rustam, who oc- cupies a position in Iranian legend somewhat analogous to that of Hercules in the classic lit- eratures. It was Rustam who. during the reign of Kaus, won Mazandaran for the Persian King, and performed seven romantic and perilous quests before he could succeed. It was he too who in combat unwittingly slew his own son Suhrab, who, ignorant of his paternity, was fighting among the foes of Iran. Later Rustam again in- vaded Turan to revenge the murder of Syavush, a son of Kaus. He fought also with Firud, King of India, and with the powerful Turanian ruler [Camus. From this time on until the dawn of the historical period, the Shah-Ntimah is oc- cupied mainly with accounts of the wars be- tween the Iranians and their hereditary foes, the Turanians. With the opening of the reign of Gushtasp there is an episode of extreme impor- tance giving an account of Zardusht or Zoroaster (q.v. ). The interest of the epic, which was slightly less during the reigns of Khusrav and Lohrasp, now revives., and it is continued by the legend of the seven adventures of Isfandiyar, the son of Gushtasp. The father'- jealousy of his son. how ever, caused Isfandiyar to be imprisoned, until bis aid against the Turanian Arjasp became in- dispensable. Then be was released, but as soon as possible was -rut by Gushtasp on further ad- ventures, and at last was craftily matched in a duel with Rustam, by whom the younger hero was slain, while Rustam himself soon afterwards fell in battle. It is noteworthy that there ; no men- tion in the Shah-Namah of the Acha>meni lonlv explain,. I. 01 in- Al &i I "" [ i' the "■ ■ I he III !• den leap tot!,.,-,., ,, r ,|- ing to thi by B leroi -i i Milium). Tin vorced b) Dai at Byzantiur, Iskai remainder oi tin- epic, excepting tor thi com, terest. 1 1 i , , history the reigns of the Sassania i" the del , ezdegird III. - are interwoven in this I. in epic, and elsewhere, numerous episodes of m interest. Among these i of the seven banquets of Nushirvan with sages, of w horn hi- inquil on dream, t he introduct ion - I into Persia during the reign of the Bame mon- arch, mi. I the i"i/. "i the loves of King Khoeru Pan iz mi. I Queen Shirin. Thus we have n valuable source for tl arly history of Iran, which is n led t.. supplement the accounts given in the Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions and the Avesta (q.v.). It would seem thai Firdausi hud a distinctly patriotic motive in writing the Shah Vamah in addition to his poetic and historical ii ntives. II.- plainly sired to keep alive in t In- heart ..ft he Per i tin- glories of their ancestors' deeds and faith in order thai they might n..t become mere pup] under Ami) domination. This is shown not ah by tin- the and -).iiit of the epic, bul even by the diction employed. While it is considered a mark of elegance in other Persian poetry '■> pb.y as large an el.- in .if Arabi Firdausi rigorously adheres I the native Persian vocabulary, and tin- , Arabic words in his work is extremely low. The poem Bows on inn dignified style, without the ex i ...I. n ing or t h.- -t ra inin ecf hich is sometimes found in Oriental poetry. The epie as a whole is dedicated to Mahmud of Ghazni (see Ghaznivides), to whose court Firdausi went to present his work as the trihute of a poet of fame. Meagre was his reward from the parvenu Turk: at most the sum than 20,000 dihrams (aboui $2400). The disap pointed poet found revenge in a bitter satire on Mahmud, which he substituted for hi- former eulogies of (he Sultan. Firdausi then Red to Herat, and thence to Tabarista he prince, Ispahbadh Shahryar, protected him. and coun- seled him to withdraw tl ffensive verses against Mahmud. Thi- advice was followed, and it would seem, from the p r history, that the lump. i. hi never reached the Sultan. Firdausi, now upward of seventy live year- of age. i- I found in Iraq. Here be composed a romantic epopee of 9000 couplets on the loves of Yusuf and Zalikha, the Arabic version of the biblical story of Jo Potiphar's wife, a favorite thi of Oriental poets. In hi l-'irdausi turned to his childhood's home. There is a • dition that Mahmud al las! forgave the poet for his sut ire. and sent him a dihrams 100 portion of this may well be true. t all events, we know that lie died in peace, probably in 411 a.h. (A.n. 1020). About