The Legend of Seyavash

Dr. Dick Davis has once again provided us with an admirable translation of a section of the Shah Nameh in his latest publication: "The Legend of Seyavash". The Shah Nameh (literally meaning The Book of Kings) is the national epic of Persia/Iran and is an epic poem of roughly 50,000 lines, composed by one of Persia's greatest poet, Abulqasim Firdausi and completed in 1010 A.D. The "Shiavaksh Episode" translated in this monograph is a little over 2500 lines and thus represents a small fraction of the entire poem. The translation which covers 144 pages of this monograph is preceded by a 28-page penetrating and insightful "Introduction" followed by a "List of Characters". The "Introduction" is an erudite criticism and interpretation of the Shah Nameh, it's historicity and it's relevance to the Persian culture. The Shah Nameh is a national epic far vaster in scope than it's Western equivalents, concerned as it is with the history of Persia/Iran, from the time of the creation of the world to the Arab/Islamic conquest of that country around 640 A.D. The Seyavash episode comprises the middle legendary section of the Shah Nameh and involves around a legendary prince named Seyavash as he struggles with his youth, his adulthood and with his father (the ruling monarch). His life is a constant struggle between the good and evil as he is a perpetual victim of the king's machinations, finally dying as a result of his father's actions. The English translation is masterful, and very readable. With his previous translations of other portions of the Shah Nameh already in print, Dr. Davis is now admirable poised to translate the complete Shah Namah in the English language, this time hopefully using the Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh edition, so that a millennium and a century later one may read a good English translation of the Shah Nameh.

Dick Davis provides a full verse translation of one of the principle stories of the Shahnameh. This translation of the Legend of Seyavash is an excellent place to start into the Shahnameh.