New Naqqali
شاهنامه
The Poem
Maps
Dastans
▾
Zahhak and Kaveh
The serpent king and the blacksmith’s banner · Books A4–A5
Zal and Rudabeh
The Simorgh’s foundling and the princess of Kabul · Books A7–A8
The Seven Labors of Rostam
Rostam’s road to Mazandaran · Book B5
Rostam and Sohrab
Father and son meet on the field · Book B8
The Story of Siavash
The innocent prince, tried by fire and murdered in Turan · Book B9
Bijan and Manijeh
Love across enemy lines, and Rostam’s rescue · Book C2
Rostam and Esfandiyar
The seven stages, and the tamarisk arrow · Books C7–C8
The Death of Rostam
Shaghad’s treachery and the pits of Kabul · Book C9
The Iskandar Cycle
Dara’s fall and a journey around the world · Books D4–D5
Ardeshir Babakan
Golnar, the Worm, and the first Sasanian · Books D6–D7
The Bahram Goor Cycle
The hunter-king, his justice and his journeys · Books D9–D10
Bahram Chubin
The general who took the throne · Books E5–E6
Khosrow and Shirin
Taqdis, Barbad, and the fall of a great king · Books E7–E8
The Fall of Persia
Qadisiyya and the last flight of Yazdegard · Books E9–E10
All 14 dastans, with their maps →
Kings
▾
Jamshid
The golden age, and the pride that ended it
Zahhak
The serpent-shouldered tyrant
Fereydoon
Overthrew Zahhak and divided the world
Kay Kavus
The rash Shah, from Mazandaran to his death
Afrasiab
King of Turan, Iran’s great enemy
Kay Khosrow
Avenger of Siavash, who vanished in the snow
Goshtasb
Exile in Rum, father of Esfandiyar
Iskandar
Alexander, who conquered the world
Ardeshir Babakan
Founder of the House of Sasan
Bahram Goor
Hunter, lover and king in disguise
Anooshirvan
The just king of the Sasanians
Khosrow Parviz
Flight to Rum, Shirin, and the fall
Every king, in order, on the Timeline →
Pahlevans
▾
Sahm
Zal’s father, champion of Manuchehr
Zal
Rostam’s father, raised by the Simorgh
Rostam
The greatest hero of Iran
Sohrab
Rostam’s son, killed unknowingly by his father
Siavash
The innocent prince, murdered in Turan
Gudarz
Old lord of the Gudarzians, who slew Piran
Giv
Seven years’ search for Kay Khosrow
Bijan
Manijeh’s lover, freed from the pit
Tus
Proud commander of the Iranian host
Piran
Afrasiab’s wise commander, friend of Siavash
Esfandiyar
The brazen-bodied prince who fought Rostam
Bahram Chubin
The general who seized the throne
Every other hero is in the Glossary and the Genealogies.
Books
About the Poem
▾
Ferdowsi and His Time
The poet, his Iran, and his patrons
The World of the Poem
The land, the long past, and its moral order
Reading the Poem
How to read it, and the couplet form
Manuscripts, Editions and Translations
How the text came down to us
After Ferdowsi
Naqqali, power, and the poem beyond Iran
Translators’ Note
How and why we made this translation
Reference
▾
Glossary
People, places and Persian terms, A to Z
Notes
Summaries and commentary for every section
Genealogies
26 family-tree plates and an index of persons
Timeline
Kings and events, from Kioumars to Yazdegard
Calendar
The ancient Iranian year, months, days and hours
The Shahnameh in Numbers
What a full count of the translation shows
Bibliography
Works consulted for the notes
The Shahnameh in Emoji
All 951 sections told in emoji
Emojiture
Literature in emoji: the idea and the method
The Shahnameh in Maps
·
Book C6 · Goshtasb, Zardosht, and the War with Arjasp
The Coming of Zardosht: The Fire-Temple at Balkh
C6.3
Tap the map to see it full size. Map © 2026 Farzad and Rhonda Dibachi,
CC BY-NC 4.0
.
At Balkh, Zardosht kindles the sacred fire — the new faith at the heart of the realm.
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✨
👨🦳
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Read C6.3 in verse
Notes on C6.3
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Goshtasb's Exile in Rum
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The First War with Arjasp
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