Editing Shahnameh (section)

== Content ==
[[File:Beaker illustrating tale of Bizhan and Manizha from the Shahnama, Iran, early 13th century, composite body painted over glaze with enamel - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC04677 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Beaker ([[mina'i ware]]) illustrating the story of [[Bijan and Manijeh]]. Iran, late 12th century. [[Freer Gallery of Art]]]]

Traditional historiography in Iran holds that Ferdowsi was grieved by the fall of the [[Sasanian Empire]] and its subsequent rule by Arabs and Turks. The ''Shahnameh'', the argument goes, is largely his effort to preserve the memory of Persia's golden days and transmit it to a new generation, so that, by learning from it, they could acquire the knowledge needed to build a better world.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shahbazi|first=A. Shapur|title=Ferdowsī: A Critical Biography|year=1991|publisher=Mazda Publishers|location=Costa Mesa, Calif.|isbn=0-939214-83-0|page=49}}</ref> Although most scholars have contended that Ferdowsi's main concern was the preservation of the pre-Islamic legacy of myth and history, a number of authors have formally challenged this view.<ref>{{cite book |last=Khatibi|first=Abolfazl|title=Anti-Arab verses in the Shahnameh |year=2005 |publisher=Nashr Danesh|location=21, 3, Autumn 1384/2005}}</ref>

=== Mythical age ===
[[File:Page from the manuscript of Florence Shahnama.jpg|thumb|Page from the ''[[Florence Shahnameh]]'', the oldest known Shahnameh manuscript. Anatolia, 1217. [[National Central Library (Florence)|National Central Library of Florence]]]]
This portion of the ''Shahnameh'' is relatively short, amounting to some 2100 verses or four percent of the entire book.

After an opening in praise of God and Wisdom, the ''Shahnameh'' gives an account of the creation of the world and of man as believed by the [[Sasanian dynasty|Sasanians]]. This introduction is followed by the story of the first man, [[Keyumars]], who also became the first king after a period of mountain-dwelling. His grandson [[Hushang]], son of [[Siamak]], accidentally discovered fire and established the [[Sadeh]] Feast in its honor. Stories of [[Tahmuras]], [[Jamshid]], [[Zahhak]], [[Kaveh the Blacksmith|Kawa]] or [[Kaveh the Blacksmith|Kaveh]], [[Fereydun]] and his three sons [[Salm (son of Fereydun)|Salm]], [[Tur (son of Fereydun)|Tur]], and [[Iraj]], and his grandson [[Manuchehr]] are related in this section.

=== Heroic age ===
Almost two-thirds of the ''Shahnameh'' are devoted to the age of heroes, extending from Manuchehr's reign until the conquest of [[Alexander the Great in the Shahnameh|Alexander the Great]]. This age is also identified as the kingdom of the [[Kayanian dynasty|Kayanians]], which established a long history of heroic age in which myth and legend are combined.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Iran: Politics, History and Literature|last=Katouzian|first=Homa|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-63689-6|location=Oxon|page=138}}</ref> The main feature of this period is the major role played by the [[Saka]] or [[Sistan|Sistani]] heroes who appear as the backbone of the Empire. [[Garshasp]] is briefly mentioned with his son [[Nariman (Shahnameh)|Nariman]], whose own son [[Sām|Sam]] acted as the leading paladin of Manuchehr while reigning in Sistan in his own right. His successors were his son [[Zāl|Zal]] and Zal's son [[Rostam]], the bravest of the brave, and then Faramarz.

Among the stories described in this section are the romance of Zal and [[Rudaba]], the Seven Stages (or Labors) of [[Rostam]], [[Rostam and Sohrab]], [[Siyavash]] and [[Sudabeh|Sudaba]], Rostam and Akvan Div, the romance of [[Bijan and Manijeh]], the wars with [[Afrasiab]], [[Daqiqi]]'s account of the story of Goshtasp and Arjasp, and Rostam and [[Esfandyar]].

[[File:Bahram Gur kills a dragon in India. From the Book of Kings (Shahnama) (CBL Per 104.60v).jpg|thumb|Bahram Gur kills a dragon in India, [[folio]] from the [[First Small Shahanama]]. Possibly [[Tabriz]], c. 1300. [[Chester Beatty Library]]]]

=== Historical age ===
A brief mention of the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid dynasty]] follows the history of Alexander and precedes that of [[Ardashir I]], founder of the Sasanian Empire. After this, Sasanian history is related with a good deal of accuracy. The fall of the Sassanids and the Arab conquest of Persia are narrated romantically.

=== Message ===
According to Jalal Khaleghi Mutlaq, the ''Shahnameh'' teaches a wide variety of moral virtues, like worship of one God; religious uprightness; patriotism; love of wife, family and children; and helping the poor.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mutlaq|first=Jalal Khaleqi|title=Iran Garai dar Shahnameh|journal=Hasti Magazine|year=1993|volume=4|trans-title=Iran-centrism in the Shahnameh|publisher=Bahman Publishers|location=Tehran}}</ref>

There are themes in the Shahnameh that were viewed with suspicion by the succession of Iranian regimes. During the reign of [[Mohammad Reza Shah]], the epic was largely ignored in favor of the more abstruse, esoteric and dryly intellectual Persian literature.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Politics of Nationalism in Modern Iran|last=Ansari|first=Ali|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-521-86762-7|location=Cambridge|page=193}}</ref> Historians note that the theme of [[regicide]] and the incompetence of kings embedded in the epic did not sit well with the Iranian monarchy. Later, there were Muslim figures such as [[Ali Shariati]], the hero of Islamic reformist youth of the 1970s, who were also antagonistic towards the contents of the Shahnameh since it included verses critical of Islam.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Mute Dreams, Blind Owls, and Dispersed Knowledges: Persian Poesis in the Transnational Circuitry|last=Fischer|first=Michael|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8223-8551-6|location=Durham|page=21}}</ref> These include the line: ''tofu bar to, ey charkh-i gardun, tofu!'' (spit on your face, oh heavens spit!), which Ferdowsi used as a reference to the Muslim invaders who despoiled Zoroastrianism.<ref name=":0" />