Poetry has long been one of the pillars of Iranian identity. Poets were a fixture at the imperial courts, and in contemporary Iran the deaths of prominent poets are cause for national mourning.

A crucial period for Iranian literary culture was the late 10th and early 11th century reign of Mahmud of Ghazan, in whose court Abdul Qasim Mansur — known as Ferdowsi — authored Iran’s principal poetic work, the epic Shahnameh (Book of Kings). Twice the length of Homer’s Iliad, the Shahnameh — which recounts the history and mythology of Iran’s kings — is the central literary expression of Iranian historical and national identity. Pictured is a page from a 16th century illuminated Shanameh commissioned by Shah Tahmasp.

Ferdowsi is only one of the poets whose works are vital to the cultural legacy of Iran. Three other Persian-language poets are ranked among the greatest in all of Islamic literature: the Rubaiyat (quatrains) of 11th and 12th century mathematician, astronomer, and poet Omar Khayyam is one of the most widely known and translated works in world literature; the 13th century poet Rumi’s work is one of the foundations of Sufi philosophy and belief; and Hafiz, the 14th century Sufi, was not only a scholar of Persian literature and the Qur’an but one of the greatest lyric poets of all time.

CREDIT: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.: Purchase, F1996.2