Shahnameh in the Arab World

Firdowsi is the famous Iranian poet who, by composing the epic of Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), secured a prominent place for himself in Persian literature. The first Arabic translation of the book was made in the 7th century A.H. by Fath Ibin Ali Bondari Isfahani by the decree of Malek Mo’adham Issa Ayoubi. However, the translation being in prose and consequently ignoring almost all the aesthetic aspects of the book, had literally no influence on Arab writers. In the current century and thanks to the indefatigable attempts of some Arab writers and critics, such as the prominent Arab scholar Abd-al-Vahhab Izam who also knows Persian very well and has conducted many researches on Shahnameh in Arabic, Shahnameh has found its place among Arab authors and poets who confessed the greatness of Ferdowsi’s unique work. However, the stories of Shahnameh did not reflected that much in Arabic poetry. There may be three reasons for this fact: tendencies to western literature, prose translations of shahnameh where its poetic features have been lost, and the lack of an epic heritage in Arabic literature.