Saadi Shirazi
The Persian language is known to have one of the world's oldest and most influential literatures. Old Persian written works are attested on several inscriptions from between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC, and Middle Persian literature is attested on inscriptions from the Parthian and Sasanian eras and in Zoroastrian and Manichaean scriptures from between the 3rd to the 10th century AD. New Persian literature flourished after the Arab conquest of Iran with its earliest records from the 9th century, and was developed as a court tradition in many eastern courts. The "Shahnameh" of Ferdowsi, the works of Rumi, the "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam, the "Panj Ganj" of Nizami Ganjavi, the "Divān" of Hafez, "The Conference of the Birds" by Attar of Nishapur, and the miscellanea of "Gulistan" and "Bustan" by Saadi Shirazi are among the famous works of medieval Persian literature. A thriving contemporary Persian literature has also been formed by the works of writers such as Ahmad Shamlou, Forough Farrokhzad, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, Parvin E'tesami, Sadegh Hedayat, and Simin Daneshvar, among others.