Book of Arda Viraf
The Book of Ardā Wīrāz (Middle Persian: "Ardā Wīrāz nāmag", sometimes called the "Arda Wiraf") is a Zoroastrian text written in Middle Persian. It contains about 8,800 words. It describes the dream-journey of a devout Zoroastrian (the Wīrāz of the story) through the next world. The text assumed its definitive form in the 9th-10th centuries after a series of redactions and it is probable that the story was an original product of 9th-10th century Pars. Title. The full title is "Ardā Wīrāz nāmag" ("Book of the Just Wīrāz"). Ambiguity inherent to Pahlavi scripts, which have  considerable ambiguiy in the pronunciation of certain consonants, "Wīrāz", the name of the protagonist, may also be transliterated as "Wiraf" or "Viraf", but the Avestan form is clearly "Virāza", which suggests that the correct reading is "z". The "Ardā" of the name (cf. aša, cognate with Sanskrit "ṛta") is an epithet of Wīrāz and is approximately translatable as "truthful, righteous, just." "Wīrāz" is probably akin to Proto-Indo-European *"wiHro-"-, "man", cf. Sanskrit: "vīra". Finally, "Nāmag" means "book". Textual history. The date of the book is not known, but in "The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East", Prof.  Charles Horne does not provide a definitive date for the tale. Most modern scholars simply state that the text's "terminus ad quem" was the 10th or 11th century. According to translator of the text, Fereydun Vahman, the origin of the story probably goes back to the 9th or 10th century and was from the Pars region. According to Encyclopædia Iranica, the story's definitive form goes back to the 9th to 10th century: Plot summary. Wīrāz is chosen for his piety to undertake a journey to the next world in order to prove the truth of Zoroastrian beliefs, after  a period when the land of Iran had been troubled by the presence of confused and alien religions. He drinks a mixture of wine, mang, and Haoma, after which his soul travels to the next world. Here he is greeted by a beautiful woman named Dēn, who represents his faith and virtue. Crossing the Chinvat Bridge, he is then conducted by "Srosh, the pious and Adar, the yazad" through the "star track", "moon track" and "sun track" – places outside of heaven reserved for the virtuous who have nevertheless failed to conform to Zoroastrian rules. In heaven, Wīrāz meets Ahura Mazda  who shows him the souls of the blessed ("ahlaw", an alternate Middle Persian version of the word "ardā"). Each person is described living an idealised version of the life he or she lived on earth, as a warrior, agriculturalist, shepherd or other profession. With his guides he then descends into hell to be shown the sufferings of the wicked. Having completed his visionary journey, Wīrāz is told by Ahura Mazda that the Zoroastrian faith is the only proper and true way of life and that it should be preserved in both prosperity and adversity.