Ferdowsi

Ferdowsi (Abu'l-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi, circa 940-1020) was a Persian poet and the author of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), the national epic of Greater Iran and one of the longest epic poems ever written. Born in Tus, Khorasan (present-day Iran), Ferdowsi spent approximately 30 years composing the Shahnameh, a poem of about 50,000 couplets that recounts the mythical and historical past of the Persian Empire from its creation to the Islamic conquest. The Shahnameh is a literary masterpiece that preserved the Persian language and pre-Islamic Iranian myths, legends, and history during a period when Arabic was becoming dominant. Ferdowsi's work is credited with saving the Persian language and culture, and he is revered as the savior of Iranian identity. The Ferdowsi Mausoleum in Tus is a major cultural site, and his legacy is celebrated annually in Iran on the anniversary of the Shahnameh's completion.