فردوسی — شاعر ایرانی که زبان فارسی را نجات داد
Abu al-Qasem Mansur Ferdowsi Tusi (c. 940–1020 AD) is Iran's national poet and the author of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings). Born in Tus, Khorasan, Ferdowsi dedicated nearly 30 years of his life to composing an epic that would preserve Persian mythology, history, and language at a critical time of Arabic cultural dominance.
The Shahnameh, completed around 1010 AD, contains approximately 60,000 verses written in deliberate, pure Persian — avoiding Arabic loanwords to the maximum extent possible. This monumental choice transformed the work into an act of cultural resistance: after the Arab conquest, Persian was rapidly being replaced by Arabic for official and literary purposes.
Legend holds that Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni promised Ferdowsi a gold coin for every verse but paid in silver. The betrayed poet died in poverty — but his Shahnameh survived, becoming the bedrock of Persian cultural identity. Today, Ferdowsi is revered as the savior of the Persian language, and his mausoleum in Tus is a national monument.
Ferdowsi wrote the Shahnameh to preserve Persian mythology, history, and the Persian language at a time when Arabic was replacing Persian. He deliberately used pure Persian words over Arabic alternatives.
Ferdowsi spent approximately 30 years (c. 977–1010 AD) composing the Shahnameh, producing nearly 60,000 verses — the longest epic poem by a single author in history.