The Legend of Seyavash

by Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Mage Publishers (Manufactured by), Dick Davis (Translator)

The Legend of Seyavash comes from the middle section of the Shahnameh, Iran's national epic by the poet Ferdowsi (c940-c1020) and presents a world of warfare, military prowess, romance, guile, and fierce tribal loyalty. Ferdowsi's epic style and mastery of poetic organisation, however, is matched by the psychological and ethical depth of his insight and his concerns for the primal struggle between good and evil, and man's continual attempt to create justice and civilized order out of the chaos of human greed and cruelty. The Legend of Seyavash begins with the stuff of romance -- a foreign girl of royal blood, found as a fugitive and introduced into the king's harem, gives birth to a son, Seyavash, who is raised not by his father the king, but by the great hero Rostam. On Seyavash's return home Sudabeh, his stepmother, attempts to seduce him, and when he spurns her she accuses him of having attempted to rape her. He undergoes a trial by fire to prove his innocence, and goes on to battle successfully against Iran's rival, Turan, concluding a truce with the Turanian king, Afrasyab, on amicable terms.But Seyavash's father, Kavus, insists that Seyavash surrender the Turanian hostages to slaughter, and with a conflicted conscience and no one to turn to, Seyavash flees to the Turanian court, where he is first given safe harbour, but is once again abandoned. Dick Davis has made a masterful translation of the poem and written a penetrating introduction.

Genres: Poetry, Iran, Middle East

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Abolqasem Ferdowsi (Persian: ابوالقاسم فردوسی), the son of a wealthy land owner, was born in 935 in a small village named Paj near Tus in Khorasan which is situated in today's Razavi Khorasan province in Iran.
He devoted more than 35 years to his great epic, the Shāhnāmeh. It was originally composed for presentation to the Samanid princes of Khorasan, who were the chief instigators of the revival of Iranian cultural traditions after the Arab conquest of the seventh century. Ferdowsi started his composition of the Shahnameh in the Samanid era in 977 A.D. During Ferdowsi's lifetime the Samanid dynasty was conquered by the Ghaznavid Empire. After 30 years of hard work, he finished the book and two or three years after that, Ferdowsi went to Ghazni, the Ghaznavid capital, to present it to the king, Sultan Mahmud.

Ferdowsi is said to have died around 1020 in poverty at the age of 85, embittered by royal neglect, though fully confident of his work's ultimate success and fame, as he says in the verse:
" ... I suffered during these thirty years, but I have revived the Iranians (Ajam) with the Persian language; I shall not die since I am alive again, as I have spread the seeds of this language ..."

Reviews

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

gorgeous translation i mean come on -

such is the way this ancient crone we call
the earth will act: she pulls the mother's breast
back from the suckling child, and when the heart
has learnt to love the world, she drags the head
down - suddenly - into the dust. but give
yourself to joy, and in the garden of
this world avoid the scent of sorrow's leaves;
for whether you are crowned or live in want,
your life will not be long. do not torment
your soul, this world is not your dwelling-place,
all you inherit is a narrow bier.
why strain and strive and struggle? sit and eat,
and put your trust in treasure that is god's.


yuppp that got me through undergrad

[Rhitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Persian classic read or Persian book rather. I honestly just decided to read this out of impulse and literally, I do not know that this’ll make me hooked up and love and curious about middle east history. The translation was divine, it’s poetic. One of my goal in life as a reader is to read a foreign story in it’s foreign tongue in the absence of English translation. Though quite a long process but I can now initiate a conversation using Spanish language, not confident but still an achievement so far. Point is, I thank myself for deciding to buy this book and actually read this instead of putting it only on the shelf. Because without this, I wouldn’t have the enthusiasm to learn Persian and Arabic language.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 3/4 stars

[Arian Beic-Khorasani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the Persian version. Ngl this was pretty good.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely like and appreciate the poetic style.

[Markjoelsolde]

nice