Abu’l Qassem Ferdosi (also spelled Firdawsi, Firdowsi, Firdusi, or Firdousiwas) born on January 3rd, 940 A.D and is considered to be the greatest Persian poet to have ever lived. Ferdosi was born in the village of Bazh a part of the main district of the ancient city of Tus located in the Khorasan province in Iran. The most reliable version of Ferdosi's first name is Mansur, Abu'l Qasem is his honorific title (in Arabic), indicateing that he was indeed the father of Qasem, who Ferdosi frequently wrote about. His lifework, "Shahnameh" depicts a sense of Patriotism.
It is said that Ferdosi was a Tus landowner and that the "Shahnameh" is based on his bitter experiences after the decrease of the Samani Dynasty's power where Turkish slaves gained power and position. Yet Ferdosi did not write the "Shahnameh" as a financial arangement with Mahmud (The Ghaznavid Sultan), although traditionally expressed by many. He dedicated the "Shahnameh" to the Sultan as an attempt to ensure its publication. Ferdosi himself claims to have written the "Shahnameh", to strengthen Iranian nationalism and immortalize his own name. Whith the "Shahnameh" he beleived that the immortality of a nation also became possible.
The "Shahnameh" is a true Persian national epic, a poem of nearly 60,000 couplets. He began versifying it as a monument to his life at the age of 52 (estimate) and it is certain that he lived to be more than 80 before finishing the "Shahnameh". Ferdosi himself claimed that he worked on the "Shahnameh" for 30 years, yet some claim that he completed his lifelong work in 35 years. The "Shahnameh" or the "Book of Kings", consists of the translation of an even older Pahlavi work and also refers to the overthrowing of the Sasanians by the Arabs, an attempt to versify the pre-Islamic chronciles of Persia. Persians all around the world have been reading this masterwork for nearly a thousand years. The hero of this story is Rostam and he is followed until his death in the last chapter. Although written in the time of the invasion, it consists of very few Arabic terms and is often reffered to as pure Persian poetry. Many poets, proceeding him have attempted to have done the same, yet few were as successful. That is why it is often reffered to as the greatest work of all time.