The different reading of Saadi is due to the composition of the Shahnameh

میردار, مصطفی; Baloo, Farzad

doi:10.22054/ltr.2025.83232.3938

The different reading of Saadi is due to the composition of the Shahnameh

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.

² Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

10.22054/ltr.2025.83232.3938

Abstract

The dominant aspect of the existing researches about the reason for writing the Shahnameh refers to Ferdowsi's concern for the revival of culture, language, independence and national identity and confronting the racial prejudices and favors of the Arab people. But in the meantime, Saadi, a famous Iranian poet, has a different story about Ferdowsi's goal and motivation. The current research, which is written in a descriptive-analytical way and using library tools, tries to examine and explain Saadi's opinion about the reason for writing the Shahnameh. The results of this article show that Saadi searches for the main reason for writing the Shahnameh in another place: reviving the philosophy of history based on the political understanding of death, which has a long history in Persian mythology, epics and history. Saadi believes that Ferdowsi, by arranging the stories of kings and heroes who are now buried in the abyss of the earth, clearly wants to remind the people of power and authority that man is subject to time and death, and that the kingdom and rule are stable. will not stay So let them practice justice and leave a good name for themselves. By mentioning this point, such a reading of the Shahnameh by Saadi is not affected by the didactic literature that dominates his mind and language, but he himself, like all great Iranian poets, is a revivalist of the philosophy of the history of Iranian culture.

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