The power of a Poet - Abolqasem Ferdowsi

It is a reasonable argument that the Persian poet Ferdowsi is the most influential poet and perhaps writer in any generation of any nation or at any time. He not only 'saved' the language but saved and reinvigorated the pre-islamic culture of Central Asia. Even today when the religious clique that holds power in Iran can tell the most powerful nation on Earth what they please, they fear to challenge the Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) Ferdowsi's book is not just an epic poem but the soul of the Iranian people in words.

If you can read at least some of it even in Translation it inspires.

As a brief introduction this short article might be useful:-

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180810-the-book-of-kings-the-book-that-defines-iranians

Thanks for posting this, ishtat. I know so little about Persian culture. Project Gutenberg distributes free classical literature. I found this if anyone is interested:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10315?msg=welcome_stranger