Szahnameh: Epika królów Seria

Księga królewska, znana jako Szahname, to monumentalne dzieło epickie, napisane około 1000 roku wschodnim Iranie, które uznawane jest za najważniejsze w literaturze perskiej oraz jedno z kluczowych dzieł światowej literatury. Opowiada historię władców Iranu, począwszy od mitologicznych początków aż do podboju imperium Sasanidów przez muzułmańskich Arabów w VII wieku. Szahname łączy w sobie elementy legendy, historii i mitologii, ukazując zarówno heroiczne czyny, jak i tragiczne losy bohaterów. Dzieło to nie tylko dokumentuje dzieje Iranu, ale także odzwierciedla wartości kulturowe i moralne tego regionu. W tej edycji przedstawione są historyczne części Szahname, które ukazują bogactwo narracji oraz głębię myśli filozoficznej i społecznej, czyniąc z niej nie tylko literacki skarb, ale także ważne źródło wiedzy o dawnych czasach.

The great national epic of Persia is presented in the most complete English-language edition and definitive translation by Dick Davis, available in a deluxe edition by Penguin Classics. The stories of the Shahnameh have deeply influenced cultures wherever Persian influence has spread, evident in works like The Kite Runner and the poetry of Rumi and Hafez. Composed by Ferdowsi in the late tenth century, this monumental narrative recounts the pre-Islamic history of Iran, from the mythic creation to the Arab invasion of the seventh century. Its grandeur and psychological depth are remarkable, featuring classic tales such as the tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab. Dick Davis, described as “our pre-eminent translator from the Persian” (Washington Post), offers a comprehensive translation that beautifully combines prose and verse, allowing the poetry to resonate while providing modern readers with clear explanations. For over seventy years, Penguin has led in publishing classic literature in English, offering more than 1,700 titles that form a global bookshelf of history's best works. Readers rely on this series for authoritative texts, enhanced by introductions and notes from distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, along with up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Ferdowsi’s classic poem Shahnameh is part myth, part history–beginning with the legend of the birth of the Persian nation and its tumultuous history, it contains magical birds and superhuman heroes and centuries-long battles. Written over 1,000 years ago, it was meant to protect Persian collective memory amidst a turbulent sea of cultural storms. Originally written in couplets, the translation and adaptation by Ahmad Sadri retells the mythological tales in prose format. The spectacular illustrations in this edition were created from elements culled from thousands of manuscripts, lithographs, and miniatures dating from the thirteenth through the nineteenth centuries, and each panel becomes a new work of art, an exquisite collage of traditional forms.

Ferdowsi's monumental tenth-century epic, the Shahnameh (The Epic of the Kings), is a compendium of Iranian myths, legends, and events of the ancient past. It is set within a framework of Persian traditional history from the creation to the collapse of the Iranian empire in the seventh-century C.E. One of the three major heroic epics produced in Asia (the others being the Indian Mahabharata and Ramayana), the Shahnameh has been considered over the centuries the greatest work of Persian literature and the strongest pillar of Persian identity. In his lucid prose translation of the Shahnameh the late Professor Reuben Levy has preserved the descriptive beauty and the dramatic tension of the original work.