During the late 10th century, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni comissioned the poet Abu 'l Kasim (c. 941 - 1020), psuedononomously known as Firdausi, to complete a history of Iran from the creation to the time of the Arab conquest.  After about 35 years of work, the result was the Shahnama, or Book of Kings.  The poem, consisting of 60,000 rhymed couplets, has two parts to it.  The first part, the mythological part, deals with the legendary Persian kings and heroes (Rustam, Kai Khusrau).  The second, part, from the death of Rustam onwards, gives (highly romanticized) accounts of historical figures such as Darius and Alexander the Great.

A number of English translations of the Shahnama have been produced.  However, almost all of these include only the first half of the work, and ignore the second.  Given the length of the poem, it is perhaps not surprising that only one complete English translation has ever been produced.  This translation was completed at the beginning of the 20th century, by the brothers Arthur and Edmond Warner.  The work was published in nine volumes between 1905 and 1925.  Sadly, only Edmond would live to see this opus in print.

Unfortunately for those with an interest in Middle Eastern literature, this work is fairly hard to come by today.  As far as I can tell, it has never been reprinted, and relatively few complete sets of this work are still in existance today.  However, thanks to modern technology, this marvellous work is available to all who might wish to obtain a copy.  I have reproduced each page of the nine-volume set of this work, and am making it available in PDF format on CD-ROM.  Here is just a small sample of what's available on the CD.

So if you would like to have a copy of this great work, send a check or money order (*) for $15.00 to

Note that this rate applies only to orders to be shipped within the United States.  For Canadian orders, add $3; for European orders, add $5.  For elsewhere in the world, please email me so that I can quote you a price.

*    I am not currently able to process credit card orders.  You could send cash, but I wouldn't recommend it.  Personal checks will take 7 business days to clear.  Please make check/money order payable to Sean Krummerich
 

Other translations:

Helen Zimmern's translation is the most commonly-available one today.  It's a pretty good read; pity she only included the first part of the work.  You can find it online at http://classics.mit.edu/Ferdowsi/kings.html

Barbara Leonie Picard's Tales of Ancient Persia (Oxford University Press, 1972) was the book which introduced me to the Shahnama.  Here, Picard retells the tales in the first half of the epic, and does so quite well.

Unlike most translations, Reuben Levy's The Epic of the Kings (University of Chicago Press, 1967) acknowledges and includes the second half of the poem.  However, Levy commits what, IMHO, is a cardinal sin on the part of a translator: he omits large sections of the work from the translation, and merely summarizes the events of the missing sections.

Questions?  Comments?  Email me at saladin20@yahoo.com

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