New NaqqaliAbout the Poem
Before you read
Six short essays from the appendices of Volume I: who Ferdowsi was and the Iran he wrote in, the world his poem imagines, how to read its couplets, how the text came down to us, what became of it after him, and how and why we made this translation.
About the Poem · 1Ferdowsi and His Time
The poet, his Iran, and his patrons
About the Poem · 2The World of the Poem
The land, the long past, and its moral order
About the Poem · 3Reading the Poem
How to read it, and the couplet form
About the Poem · 4Manuscripts, Editions and Translations
How the text came down to us
About the Poem · 5After Ferdowsi
Naqqali, power, and the poem beyond Iran
About the Poem · 6Translators’ Note
How and why we made this translation
Then read the poem itself, or begin with one of the great stories.