Spirit and Reason in the First Poetic Line of Shahnameh's Preface

There are two lines in Shahnaame’s preface “Better then name, race, and thought the writer of superior essence”. Critics have had various interpretations like: heaven, human God, and spirit of “superior essence” of the second line. Regarding the fact that Ferdowsi’s mind and beliefs should be evaluated both from Islamic and Iranian perspectives, the article in hand believes that by considering Ismailia belief and the beliefs in the culture of ancient Iran, "superior essence” can be another statement for “reason and spirit”. In the words of NaserKhosroIsmaili, reason and spirit are superior to time/heaven and they are told as “the essence of reason and soul”. And since soul is created by reason, they seem to be the same. Accordingly, by “superior”, Ferdowsi intends “reason and soul” which stand above all creatures. One can also estimate essence as against form and paraphrase these lines like this: God is the creator of the essence of reason and soul and these two are self-reliant and “are the children of the mother of divinity”. In another reading, one can take essence (=pearl) as a stone from which, according to Iranians, the heaven has been. Therefore, essence (pearl) which is figuratively taken as heaven and “superior”, according to Ismailia idea, is spirit and reason. Also, based on an ancient assumption, “superior essence” can be “reason and spirit”. In Pahlavi texts fire has been taken from the intellect ofOrmoz and spirit is the child of fire too. In another two lines of preface, Ferdowsi calls fire as the shinning superior. Regarding these lines, “superior essence” can be considered as fire which is, itself, the child of reason and the father of spirit and is another interpretation of reason and spirit. A combination of a Shiite and an ancient Iranian idea can be seen in the lines, because Ismailia believes that reason and spirit are the creators of heaven. Therefore, the meaning of these lines can be: the heaven has been made of fire/reason and spirt.