Loading ...No sound tradition regarding the date of Ferdowsi’s birth has come down to us.
The Muslim custom of recording the date of demise alone on tombstones seems to have deprived those early scholars who wrote on Ferdowsi of the opportunity of obtaining his birthdate from what would otherwise have been a most reliable source.
Birthday Celebration in ancient Iran
Fortunately, however, the Shahnameh (1) itself provides several clues as to the poet’s birthdate. These references have been so carefully analyzed and used by J. Mohl (2) and Th. Noldeke (3) that since 1905, all studies on the life of Ferdowsi have drawn upon the arguments and conclusions of those two outstanding scholars without succeeding to present additional data.
Any fresh discussion of the subject must likewise begin with a statement of the divergent views of those two pioneers.
Mohl’s dating
Ferdowsi closes his epic with an epilogue which contains references to his own life and work (4). Mohl noted the following (5):
When the year reached seventy-one -
The universe was covered with poetry
Five and thirty years in this transient abode -
Have I endeavored to earn a treasure
As they rendered my efforts vain -
My five and thirty bore no fruit
Now that the age has approached eighty -
My expectations have become futile
The story of Yazdigard is now drawn to a close -
At this Ard [25th] day of Sipandarrmaz [12th month]
From the Flight [of Mohammed] five times eighty have passed -
When I composed this magnificent history.
Taking the first verse literally, Mohl concluded that in 400/1010, Ferdowsi was 71, that is, he must have been born in 329/939-40. The other statement that the poet has “approached 80″, was interpreted by Mohl as a poetical exaggeration introduced to harmonize with the verse containing “five times eighty”. He supported this inference on the following grounds.
Firstly, in his prologue to the story of Yazdigard I, Ferdowsi specifies that he is now sixty-three years old (6) and follows the remark by a warm praise for the “King of Kings (7) by which he means Sultan Mahmood of Ghazna. Now, had Ferdowsi been born in (400-80=) 320, his 63rd year would have corresponded to 383/1002, while Mahmood ascended the throne only in 387/1006. (8)
Secondly, when relating the wars of Kai Xosrow and Afrassiyab, Ferdowsi states(9):
At the time when the year was eight (10) -
and fifty Young was I then, and this outhfulness is passed
A voice resounding throughout the world I heard -
Which matured my thoughts and made me trouble-free
“O men of fame and fearless warriors! -
Who was he who sought the glorious Fridoon?
The sagacious Fridoon has returned to life -
The earth and Fate have hailed him as lord
With justice and generosity he conquered this world -
And has surpassed the king of kings”
It is clear that Ferdowsi composed these verses to commemorate the accession of Sultan Mahmood. Again, this proves that in 387/1006 the poet was 58, from which is follows that he was born in (387-58=) 330
Noldeke’s research
Two indications induced Noldeke to abandon Mohl’s dating in favor of a lower one.
Firstly, the epilogue to the Shahnameh gives several references to Ferdowsi’s life: in one he is 71, in another “nearly 80″, and yet a third verse has (11):
When my age surpassed sixty-five -
It increased my fear of pain and hardship
Noldeke took the reference to 65 and “nearly 80″ literally, but interpreted them as indicating two different editions of the Shahnameh.
Since Ferdowsi was approaching 80 when he finished the master copy of his work on 25th Sipandarmaz (5×80=) 400 [8th March (12) 1010], his birth must have occurred shortly after (400-80=) 320 / 931-2.
Secondly, an old copy of the Shahnameh in the British Museum (OR 1403) and some other manuscripts add a second epilogue to Ferdowsi’s work starting with the following verses: (13)
When this great story finished-
All the words of mighty rulers
It was one Tuesday, early in the evening
Five times five days having passed from the month
Which the Arabs call Muharram by name. To honor it as the month of abstinence; If the count of year is also needed, [It] is nine years and eighty upon three hundred
Bringing the two indications together, Noldeke concluded that there were two editions of the Shahnameh: a final version finished in 400/1010 and dedicated to Mahmood, and an earlier one finished in Ferdowsi’s sixty-fifth year and presented to a noble from xan-lanjan (near Isfahan), Ahmad b. Mohammed b. Abi Bakr by name, on Tuesday 25th Muharram 389.
3. Further studies Noldeke deduction was supported by S. H. Taghizadeh, who published it for the Persians (15) and this influenced the Iranian government to accept 324 as the official birthdate of Ferdowsi and engrave it on the tombstone prepared for a newly built mausoleum in Toos (16) in 1313/1934, Ferdowsi’s millennium was celebrated in Iran and in many other countries.
600 or 300
However, it soon became evident that the person who dedicate a copy of the Shahnameh to a certain xan-lanjani noble was not Ferdowsi but merely a calligrapher who copied a manuscript and finished it on Tuesday 25th Muharram 689/1288 for a paymaster; the Arabic alphabet had caused a curious error: the date written. (17) At the-same time, M. T. Bahar followed the path of Mohl, and adduced reasons for placing the birth of Ferdowsi in 330-31/942; he published his results in the very year that the poet’s millennium was being celebrated and his mausoleum being constructed. (18)
Gradually, the date originally inferred by Mohl appeared in literature as the most accepted interpretation. (19)
4. The exact date of Ferdowsi’s birth. Indeed, Mohl’s dating is the only defensible view because is correlates two dates of which one, the accession of Mahmood in 387, is known, so the other one, Ferdowsi’s fifty-eighth year at Mahmood’s accession, is easy to calculate with certainty. Also, the last indications of Ferdowsi’s age in the Shahnameh are 76 and “nearly 80″; (20) and since he died in 411 or 416, (21) his birth could not be placed earlier than 329.
There is yet another, hitherto unnoticed, indication which proves Mohl’s view. When relating the early Sasanian history, Ferdowsi thrice specifies that he is sixty- three years of age. Firstly, in the prologue to the reign of Bahram II: (22)
Bring forth. O Rouzbeh (23) the ruby-coloured wine!-
Because the age of the composer has reached sixty-three.
Secondly, in the epilogue to the story of ShaPoor II, which comes some 800 verses after the former reference (24)
Because Adinah (Friday) falls on Hormazd (1st day) of Bahman (11th month)-
The feast of Farox (25) will bless this work [composition of the Shahnameh]
Bring forth, O Hashimite,(26) the ruby-coloured wine -
From that jar which decrease may it never see!
As my age has reached sixtythree -
and my ears have become deaf
What use for me to seek adornment and glory from greed!
Thirdly, the reference (already cited by Mohl)
before the reign of Yazdigard I: (27) thou sixty-three year-old man!
How long are you discoursing on wine?
The closeness of these passages proves that they were composed within a single year, and the second passage affords a remarkable indication: Hormazd-i Bahman (=1st Bahman), which was celebrated as at august and joyful feast, coincided with Adineh (Friday) in the period which we are seeking only in 371 Yazdegardi, corresponding to 14th January 1003. Since this year coincided with Ferdowsi’s sixty-third year, it follows that the poet was born in (371 - 63 =) 308 Yazdegardi (=939/40), just as Mohl had inferred.
It is now possible to take a major step further and obtain the d Ferdowsi’s birth. The first of the three passages referring to the sixty-third year gains especial importance when we note that it alludes to Ferdowsi’s birthday, although the date is omitted:
Bring forth, O Rouzbeh, the ruby-coloured wine
Because (kih) the age of the composer just reached (shod) sixty-three
Just before this reference to the arrival of his sixty-third Ferdowsi tells himself to take a break from work and celebrate with wine, and he gives the exact date of this moment as shab-i (eve of) (28) Hormazd-i Dey (1st day of the 10th month): (29) The eve of Hormazd-i Dey has come, Lay aside composition, take up the wine
This statement precedes the one referring to Ferdowsi’s birthday by only 77 verses. Now, between the first of Dey and the first of Bahman Ferdowsi composed some 810 verses (30) which gives an average of 27 verses per day. Hence, it is fair to infer that the reference to the birthday was composed 3 days after the eve of Hormazd-i Dey. Now, the eve of Hormazd-i Dey was in fact 30th Azar, which in this particular year (371 Yazdigard-i) corresponded to Tuesday 15th December 1002. So, 3 days later, on 3rd of Dey (18th December), Ferdowsi celebrated his sixty-third birthday. That he should so exactly recall it was natural enough, for until recently, we Iranians used to record children’s names on the first or last page of an important family book (a Qur’An, a Shahnameh, a.Hafiz, etc.), and opposite each name the date and day of the bearer’s birth were carefully inscribed, and this always served as a reference document. It may be safely assumed that Ferdowsi’s father, who was a man of means and social status, did the same when he begot our poet.
Yazdgerdi Calendar
It must be remembered that Ferdowsi used the Yazdigardi months and day-names. In this calendar, each year had 12 months of 30 days each plus 5 “extra days” at the end of a certain month. So every year was shorter by 6 hours than the solar year. It follows, therefore, that what Ferdowsi reckoned as sixty-two complete years of 365 days each, was in reality 16 days shorter than 62 solar years. This means that we must place Ferdowsi’s birth on 3rd Dey (371-63 =) 308 Yazdigardi corresponding to Friday 3rd January (= 18th December+16) 940.
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