ShahnamehAbu al Qasem Ferdowsi (9401020 CE), one of Iran's greatest poets, versified the ancient legends of the Persian Book of Kings (Shahnameh) in verse over one thousand years ago. It is the longest poem written by a single poet. A combination of myth and history told over a series of 50,000 elegant couplets, Ferdowsi dedicated thirty three years of his life to writing the Shahnameh and intended it to protect the Persian collective memory and its language