  thumb|shahnameh (book of kings) abu'l qasim firdausi (935â1020) the shahnameh or shahnama ( Å ÄhnÄmeh, , "the book of kings") is a long epic poem written by the persian poet ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 ce and is the national epic of greater iran. consisting of some 60,000 verses, the shahnameh tells mainly the mythical and to some extent the historical past of the persian empire from the creation of the world until the islamic conquest of persia in the 7th century. today iran, afghanistan and the greater region influenced by the persian culture (such as georgia, armenia, turkey, and dagestan) celebrate this national epic. the work is of central importance in persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of modern-day iran and afghanistan. it is also important to the contemporary adherents of zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last sassanid ruler of persia during the muslim conquest and an end to the zoroastrian influence in iran. 230px|thumb|faramarz, son of rostam, mourns the death of his father, and of his uncle, zavareh. ==composition==  ferdowsi started writing the shahnameh in 977 a.d and completed it on 8 march 1010.{{cite web|last=khaleghi-motlagh|first=djalal|title=ferdowsi, abu'l qÄsem i. life|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ferdowsi-i|work=encyclopÃ¦dia iranica|accessdate=27 may 2012|date=26 january 2012|quote=the poet refers... to the date of the Å Äh-nÄmaâs comple
10th-century_books 11th-century_books Alexander_romance Epic_poems_in_Persian Memory_of_the_World_Register National_symbols_of_Iran Persian_books Persian_literature Persian_mythology Persian_words_and_phrases Shahnameh