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FERDOWSĪ MAGAZINE, the name of two periodicals, a bi-monthly and a weekly magazine published in Tehran. i. BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE The bi-monthly magazine al-Adab, published from January 1918 through February 1922 by students and teachers of the American College (later Alborz College; q.v.) in Tehran, changed its name to Ferdowsī in…

FERDOWSĪ, ABU’L-QĀSEM (329-410 or 416/940-1019 or 1025), one of the greatest epic poets and author of the Šāh-nāma, the national epic of Persia.  i. Life ii. Hajw-nāma iii. Mausoleum iv. Millenary Celebration v. Homages to Ferdowsˈi

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM (حکیم ابوالقاسم فردوسی) i. LIFE Life. Apart from his patronymic (konya), Abu’l-Qāsem, and his pen name (taḵallosá), Ferdowsī, nothing is known with any certainty about his names or the identity of his family. In various sources, and in the introduction to some manuscripts of the Šāh-nāma, his name is…

FERDOWSI ii. HAJW-NĀMA Hajw-nāma is the title of a verse lampoon of Sultan Maḥmūd of Ḡazna attributed to Ferdowsī. According to Neẓāmī ʿArūżī (Čahār maqāla, ed. Qazvīnī, text, pp. 75-81), after Ferdowsī presented his Šāh-nāma, the sultan, at the instigation of the poet’s detractors, used the pretext of the poet’s…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM iii. MAUSOLEUM The Ferdowsī mausoleum (Ārāmgāh-e Ferdowsī), a monumental tomb in Ṭūs, Khorasan, was built between 1928 and 1934 and remodeled in 1969. According to Neẓāmī ʿArūẓī, when Ferdowsī died in 411/1019-20, a religious leader of the town prevented his burial in the Muslim cemetery of Ṭūs, and…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM IV. MILLENARY CELEBRATION (JAŠN-E HAZĀRA) By the early 20th century, European studies (particularly by Mohl and Nöldeke) about Ferdowsī and his achievement, and French, German, and English renditions of the Šāh-nāma had made Ferdowsī a household name in the scholarly circles of Europe (Shahbazi, pp. 10-13). Persians, aware…

FERDOWSI, ABU’L-QĀSEM V. HOMAGES TO FERDOWSI Ever since the appearance of the Šāh-nāma, Ferdowsī has been held in high esteem, and many poets have referred to him and his work, the best known being Saʿdī’s tribute in the Būstān to “Ferdowsī-ye pāk-zād,” quoting a line from him even though the…

FERĒDŪN (arabicized from Afrīdūn; Pahl. and Man. Mid. Pers. Frēdōn; NPers. Fereydūn or Farīdūn; Av. Θraētaona), Iranian mythic hero. He is mentioned several times in the Avesta with the epithet Āθβiiāni “of the house of Āθβiia” (AirWb., p. 323), said to have been his father (Y. 9.7). Āθβiia is to…

FEREŠTA, angels in Islam and Persian folklore. See Supplement, ANGELS.

FEREŠTA, TĀRĪḴ-E, popular title of Golšan-e ebrāhīmī, a general history of Muslim India by M oḥammad-Qāsem Hendušāh Astarābādī (b. Astarābād ca. 978/1570), the celebrated historian of the Deccan known by the pen name (taḵalloṣ) of Ferešta. As a child, he emigrated to India with his father, Ḡolām-ʿAlī, who sought service…

FERİDUNAḤMED BEG (FEREYDŪN AḤMAD BAYG), ʿABD-AL-QĀDER, Ottoman secretary, administrator, head of the chancery, and author. A protégé of the famous grand vizier Moḥammad Pasha Ṣoqollū, Feridun Beg also distinguished himself at the siege of Szigetvár (974/1566) and was subsequently promoted to the posts of secretary of state and chancellor (raʾīs…