Ahlul Bayt (AS) International News Agency - ABNA: Two kings, one poet, two destinies. One standing on the heights of Ghazni, with a crown of gold and a heart of stone, and the other seated on the seat of the revolution, with a heart of light and an ear for listening to the heavenly whispers of poets. On that side of history, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni drove away the poet who had suffered for thirty years with a paltry amount of silver and wounded his soul; and on this side of history, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the martyred leader of the revolution, invites poets not to a court but to a feast of the heart, listens to their poetry with his soul, laughs at their humor, praises their mysticism, and embraces their wisdom like a jewel. If the sage Abulqasim Ferdowsi were alive today and entrusted his thirty years of suffering to the hands of this wise leader, how different would his fate be?
"I suffered much in these thirty years / I revived the Persians with this Persian" – this verse is a summary of a lifetime of struggle. The sage Abulqasim Ferdowsi, a landowner's son from Tus, spent thirty years of his noble life seeking a treasure not made of gold, but of words. He saw that the Persian language, this ancient heritage and the lifeline of Iranian identity, was fading under the heavy shadow of Arabic and Turkish. He saw that the children of this land were forgetting the stories of their ancestors. He saw that identity was collapsing and no healer but "wisdom" could come to the aid of this patient.
So he undertook a great task: he spent thirty years of his life and composed the Shahnameh; a book that is not just Iran's mythical history, but a treasure of wisdom, ethics, heroism, love, death, life, justice, and tyranny. He suffered for thirty years, lived in poverty for thirty years, bought obscurity for thirty years, to present the fruit of his life to the sultan of the age according to the custom of that time. Little did he know that the sultan would not appreciate the value of this jewel...
We can examine the story of Ferdowsi and his Shahnameh in two historical periods. The first period is when he presented the Shahnameh to Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, and the second imagined period is when he presents the Shahnameh to the martyred leader of the revolution.
The first scene: The wound of Ghazni – The story of humiliating a sage
Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, the conqueror of India, was a king whose name was tied to gold and force, not to culture and wisdom. He was of Turkic origin and his heart was captive to ethnic prejudices. His court was full of panegyric poets who wanted fame and bread, not wisdom and truth. In such an atmosphere, Ferdowsi entered the court with a book that was neither praise of the sultan nor celebration of his conquests, but a mirror of the identity of a nation from which the sultan perhaps considered himself separate.
Ferdowsi presented the Shahnameh to him. He expected the sultan to appreciate these thirty years of struggle and give him a suitable reward. But what did he see? Sultan Mahmud, whether due to religious narrow-mindedness, ethnic prejudice, or bad taste and lack of understanding, did not accept the Shahnameh. He ignored Ferdowsi. He who should have been seated at the head of the assembly was driven from the court. Ferdowsi, this great sage, left the court with a broken heart.
Long afterwards, when perhaps some of the importance of the work became apparent to the sultan, or perhaps to silence the talk, they sent a bag of silver for Ferdowsi. But how much was this reward? So paltry and contemptible that Ferdowsi, out of extreme offense, distributed it among a bathhouse worker and a seller of barley water. Thirty years of suffering that could have built a palace of honor for its poet turned into a heap of humiliation with a handful of silver.
This wound is a deep wound on the body of Iran's history. Ferdowsi, the father of the Persian language, died in alienation and poverty. They say that when they were taking his body to the cemetery of Tus, on one hand, bigoted preachers prevented his burial in the Muslim cemetery, and on the other hand, the same court poets of Mahmud who had once envied him rejoiced. What an end for the man who revived Persian literature and language in Iran!
The second scene: The feast of light – The story of the Ramadan meetings
Now, from that burning desert of history, we come to a fruitful and verdant garden. To Tehran, to Imam Khomeini's Hussainiya, on one of the nights of the holy month of Ramadan. Here there is no sign of crown and throne and kingship. Here there is a "Leader" whose home is the heart's home of poets.
For many years, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, the martyred leader of the revolution, holds a special meeting with poets on Ramadan nights. This meeting is not a dry, formal program; it is an intimate, spiritual gathering full of literature and emotion. Poets, from white-haired veterans to passionate youth, men and women, from various ethnicities and religions, gather together. Each goes behind the podium and reads their poetry. And the Leader of the Revolution listens with attention and patience. Sometimes he smiles, sometimes he nods. Sometimes he becomes so immersed in the words that it seems time has stopped.
When a humorous poem is read, he laughs with a voice that comes from the depths of his being; not a diplomatic laugh, but a real, warm laugh that gives courage to the poet and sweetens the atmosphere of the session. When a mystical and wise poem is read, he says "bravo" and delicately analyzes its literary and spiritual points. Sometimes he himself whispers a verse that has come to his mind. Sometimes he asks the poet to read a line again to reflect on it better. Sometimes a ghazal so moves his heart that he speaks about it for minutes after it ends.
This behavior is not out of political duty. This behavior is out of "belief." Belief that poetry is a miracle of language. Belief that the poet is an intermediary of grace between heaven and earth. Belief that the Persian language is not merely a means of communication, but the lifeline of the civilization of Islamic Iran that must be preserved and reach global peaks. He has repeatedly emphasized that Persian must become one of the world's superior and reference languages, because it carries a unique wisdom, mysticism, and ethics found in few other languages.
Here, the poet is not a court jester, but a "sage." Here, poetry is not a tool of flattery, but the "medium of wisdom." Here, the poet's reward is not a bag of silver, but "honoring," "encouragement," and "analysis." Here is where the old wound of Ghazni finds its remedy.
The third scene: Imagining a meeting – If Ferdowsi went to the Ramadan meeting...
Now let us go further. Let us travel on the wings of imagination from the fourth century AH to the fifteenth century. Imagine the sage Abulqasim Ferdowsi, with the same old turban and cloak, with the same white beard and eyes tired from thirty years of night waking, with the same handwritten copy of the Shahnameh that he holds dear, coming from Tus to Tehran. Imagine him being guided to Imam Khomeini's Hussainiya, to the poets' night gathering in Ramadan.
Ferdowsi enters. A tired but proud old man. His eyes are a little sunken from thirty years of suffering, but the spark of wisdom flickers in them. The Leader of the Revolution, having been informed of the arrival of this special guest, rises. Not out of formal courtesy, but out of honoring the truth.
Ayatollah Khamenei: "Welcome, sage of Tus, father of the Persian language. For centuries, the Iranian nation has sat at your table."
Ferdowsi: (with surprise) "You know me?"
Ayatollah Khamenei: "Who does not know you? You who 'revived the Persians with this Persian.' For years we have come to your grave in Tus and written on its wall what a treasure you have left for this nation. We have called you 'the great and renowned Ferdowsi.' We have considered your Shahnameh a book of wisdom, not a book of myth. Come, sit down and tell of your thirty years of suffering..."
Ferdowsi, with eyes from which the dust of centuries has been wiped, sits down. They give him tea. They show him respect. Other poets look at him with wonder and admiration. One young poet whispers a verse from the Shahnameh, and the Leader of the Revolution smiles and recites the rest of the verse from memory.
When it is Ferdowsi's turn, he rises. He opens the Shahnameh. The same book he once presented to Sultan Mahmud and was humiliated. He begins to read: In the name of the Lord of life and wisdom / Beyond which the mind cannot go
His voice trembles. Not from fear, but from longing. From longing that after a thousand years, there is someone who understands these words. The Leader of the Revolution listens carefully. Sometimes he nods. Sometimes he whispers "bravo." When Ferdowsi reaches the story of Rostam and Esfandiyar and reads of the struggle between truth and duty, the Leader becomes emotional. When he reaches the wise advice of Bozorgmehr, he whispers: "This is wisdom, pure..."
After the reading ends, the Leader of the Revolution is silent for a few minutes. As if immersed in the sea of Ferdowsi's wisdom. Then he lifts his head: "Sage, you do not know how much we need these advices today. You do not know that for years we have been telling our youth to read the Shahnameh, not just for the epic, but for the wisdom. You do not know that the Persian language which you revived, today we must preserve in the face of soft war and cultural invasion. You suffered for thirty years, but your suffering flows forever, and we are grateful for it..."
Ferdowsi says with tearful eyes: "In Ghazni, I received a bag of silver and divided it between a bathhouse worker and a barley water seller. Here, what will you give me?" Ayatollah Khamenei says with a warm smile: "Sage, we give you honor. We make your name eternal. We place a memorial stone on your grave. We put your commemoration day on the national calendar. We teach your Shahnameh in schools. And most importantly, we tell you that your thirty years of suffering were not in vain. You are alive, sage. You are alive in every single Persian word that flows from the mouths of the children of this land..." And Ferdowsi, this suffering sage, after a thousand years, sheds tears of joy. The same eyes that once wept from the humiliation of Mahmud now weep from the honoring of Khamenei.
The fourth scene: A handwritten note that became a balm for history
This imaginary meeting is rooted in tangible reality. In July 1996, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, on the sidelines of a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Reza (AS), visited Ferdowsi's tomb in Tus. He opened the memorial book of the tomb and left a handwritten note that was later engraved on stone and installed in the foyer of the tomb.
The text of this handwritten note is as follows: "Thank God that on the sidelines of the summer pilgrimage to holy Mashhad, the opportunity also arose to visit the tomb of the great and renowned Ferdowsi in the historic and story-filled city of Tus. Undoubtedly, Ferdowsi is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Iran and the Persian language. He was able, with his unique art, to immortalize the national and historical stories of Iran. I am very pleased to have visited this sacred place and I hope that all Iranians appreciate this great poet and the Persian language."
This handwritten note is not just a ceremonial note. It is a cultural statement, an identity document, and a historical balm on the old wound of Ghazni. With this action, the Leader of the Revolution said to Ferdowsi and to all the poets of Iran: "We appreciate you. We preserve the Persian language that you preserved. We continue your path."
More remarkably, in the early years of the revolution, when some ignorant people sought to destroy Ferdowsi's tomb, this same handwritten note and the explicit order of the Leader of the Revolution extinguished that sedition. This means that honoring Ferdowsi was not just a cultural gesture, but a civilizational stance.
The fifth scene: Comparison – Two kings in the mirror of history
To make this historical contrast clearer, let us compare these two views in one frame:
Title: Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni was the sultan of force and gold, while Grand Ayatollah Khamenei was the wise and literary leader of the revolution.
The poet in the view of sultans is a tool of praise and flattery, whereas in the view of the wise and discerning leader of the revolution, the poet is a sage and a national and spiritual capital.
Poetry in the system of sultans and caliphs was a tool of government propaganda, while poetry in the discourse of the Islamic Revolution is the medium of wisdom and mysticism.
Sultans were known for their neglect and humiliation of poets, giving a handful of coins and driving them from the court, whereas honoring, encouraging, analyzing, and inviting to the Ramadan feast were characteristics of dealing with poets during the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Shahnameh was ignored by Sultan Mahmud, while the martyred leader called the Shahnameh a national masterpiece and a "book of wisdom."
The sixth scene: Why is this comparison important?
What lesson does this comparison have for us? The answer is clear: a nation knows its own value when it knows the value of its cultural treasures. Sultan Mahmud did not appreciate Ferdowsi, and his name remained cursed in history. But the Leader of the Revolution, by inviting poets to the Ramadan feast every year, by laughing at their humor and saying bravo to their wisdom, by emphasizing the preservation of the Persian language and considering it in need of protection against the invasion of foreign words, by calling the Shahnameh a book of wisdom and calling Ferdowsi a sage arising from the Quran and Islam, was in fact healing that old wound.
This behavior is not specific to Ferdowsi. This is the enduring character of a wise and literature-nurturing leader with all poets. The poet who read poetry at that glorious meeting last Ramadan and made the Leader of the Revolution laugh, the poet whose mystical poetry silenced the gathering, the poet who was encouraged and analyzed, the poet who, by describing the time of martyrdom of Lady Fatima al-Zahra (SA), brought tears to the eyes of the Leader and the audience – all these are examples of "appreciation"; an appreciation that the history of Iranian literature never saw from Sultan Mahmud, but saw from the martyred Khamenei.
Conclusion
The story of Ferdowsi and Sultan Mahmud is an old wound on the body of Iran's cultural history; a wound from which fresh blood dripped for centuries. But today, this wound has been healed by the wise and literature-nurturing behavior of the Leader of the Revolution. Grand Ayatollah Khamenei showed that in the Islamic system, the status of the poet is "wisdom" not "flattery," and the poet's reward is "honor" not "humiliation."
Those who once drove Ferdowsi from their court – their names were tied to curses in history. And those who today invite poets to a feast and leave a handwritten note made of light on the wall of the tomb of the sage of Tus – their names will remain eternal alongside the eternal name of Ferdowsi.
If Ferdowsi were alive today and presented the Shahnameh to the Leader of the Revolution, he would receive not a bag of silver, but a kiss on the forehead, a bravo from the depths of the soul, and a place in the heart of history. And this is the greatest reward a poet can receive from his leader: "being seen," "being heard," and "being understood."
Zahra Salehifar, Master's student in Media Management, Baqer al-Uloom University.
Sources:
Ferdowsi: Life, Thought, and the Shahnameh, Jalal Khaleghi Motlagh
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