terature may be
proud. None like unto them rose again in Persia, if we except the great
Jami. At the courts of Shah Abbas the Great (1588-1629) and of Akbar of
India (1556-1605), an attempt to revive Persian letters was indeed made.
But nothing came that could in any measure equal the heyday of the great
poets. The political downfall of Persia has effectually prevented the
coming of another spring and summer. The pride of the land of the Shah
must now rest in its past.

[Illustration: (Signature of Richard Gottheil)]

Columbia University, June 11, 1900.

CONTENTS

THE SHAH NAMEH

Introduction
Kaiumers
Husheng
Tahumers
Jemshid
Mirtas-Tazi, and His Son Zohak
Kavah, the Blacksmith
Feridun
Feridun and His Three Sons
Minuchihr
Zal, the Son of Sam
The Dream of Sam
Rudabeh
Death of Minuchihr
Nauder
Afrasiyab Marches against Nauder
Afrasiyab
Zau
Garshasp
Kai-Kobad
Kai-Kaus
The Seven Labors of Rustem
Invasion of Iran by Afrasiyab
The Return of Kai-Kaus
Story of Sohrab
The Story of Saiawush
Kai-Khosrau
Akwan Diw
The Story of Byzun and Manijeh
Barzu, and His Conflict with Rustem
Susen and Afrasiyab
The Expedition of Gudarz
The Death of Afrasiyab
The Death of Kai-Khosrau
Lohurasp
Gushtasp, and the Faith of Zerdusht
The Heft-Khan of Isfendiyar
Capture of the Brazen Fortress
The Death of Isfendiyar
The Death of Rustem
Bahman
Humai and the Birth of Darab
Darab and Dara
Sikander
Firdusi's Invocation
Firdusi's Satire on Mahmud

THE RUBAIYAT

Introduction
Omar Khayyam
The Rubaiyat

THE DIVAN

Introduction
Fragment by Hafiz
The Divan

THE SHAH NAMEH

by

FIRDUSI

(_Abul Kasim Mansur_)

[_Translated into English by James Atkinson_]

The system of Sir William Jones in the printing of Oriental words has
been kept in view in the following work, viz.: The letter _a_ represents
the short vowel as in _bat, a_ with an accent the broad sound of _a_ in
_hall, i_ as in _lily, i_ with an accent as in _police, u_ as in _bull,
u_ with an accent as in _rude, o_ with an accent as _o_ in _pole_, the
diphthong _ai_ as in _aisle, au_ as in the German word _kraut_ or _ou_
in _house_.

INTRODUCTION

When Sir John Lubbock, in the list of a hundred books which he
published, in the year 1886, as containing the best hundred worth
reading, mentioned the "Shah Nameh" or "Book of Ki