Revisiting the Shahnameh

Writing about the Shahnameh, the enduring epic of Master Tusi, has always been difficult despite common belief. Contrary to the popular opinion among some literary elites, the Shahnameh is also a challenging work to understand. A thoughtful man and committed poet, who was called ‘Hakim’ by his contemporaries, created this great poetic work during a difficult period. At its core lie the deepest pains of human life. Apart from the archaic language and the complexity of certain verses, compounded by the scribes’ alterations over centuries which added to its ambiguity, the variability of narrative elements and the generalizability of the stories’ examples and meanings reveal a new perspective on conflicting life situations and the emotional dilemmas of characters with each reading. Having studied the Shahnameh repeatedly over about 25 years due to official duties and personal interests, I now believe that each reading of works like Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Hafez’s ghazals, or Rumi’s Masnavi is not a mechanical repetition of previous readings. With each encounter, new interpretations and ambiguous concepts emerge, unveiling new dimensions and adding novel insights to the reader’s understanding.