Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings (Penguin Classics)

Ferdowsi, Abolqasem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143108328 ISBN 13: 9780143108320

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2016

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.

Review:

Dick Davis [is] our pre-eminent translator from the Persian...Thanks to Davis's magnificent translation, Ferdowsi and the Shahnameh live again in English (Michael Dirda Washington Post)

Accessible...A poet himself, Davis brings to his translation a nuanced awareness of Ferdowsi's subtle rhythms and cadences. His "Shahnameh" is rendered in an exquisite blend of poetry and prose, with none of the antiquated flourishes that so often mar translations of epic poetry (Reza Aslan (author of Zealot) New York Times Books Review)

Davis's wonderful translation will show Western readers why Ferdowsi's masterpiece is one of the most revered and most beloved classics in the Persian world. (Khaled Hosseini)

About the Author:

Abolqasem Ferdowsi was born in Khorasan in a village near Tus in 940. His great epic, Shahnameh, was originally composed for the Samanid princes of Khorasan. Ferdowsi died around 1020 in poverty.

Dick Davis is currently professor of Persian at Ohio State University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. His translations from Persian include The Shahnameh, Faces of Love (Hafez), and Vis and Ramin.

Azar Nafisi is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, Things I've Been Silent About, and The Republic of Imagination. She lives in Washington, D.C.