or Firdus 012B; or Firdous 012B; orig. Ab 016B; al-Q 0101; sim Man 1E63; 016B; r
born 0441; 935, near 1E6C; 016B; s, Iran
died 0441; c1020, 1E6C; 016B; s
Persian poet.
Though many legends surround his name, few facts are known about his life. He gave the final and enduring form to the Persian national epic, the Sh 0101; h-n 0101; meh (completed 0441; 1010; "Book of Kings"), a poem based mainly on an earlier prose history. His language is still readily intelligible to modern Iranians, who regard the poem's nearly 60,000 couplets as a sonorous, majestic evocation of a glorious past. He reportedly worked on the poem for 35 years to earn a dowry for his only daughter.