Author: Nezami Ganjavi
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Pages: 399
Publication date: 2024
ISBN: 9780143138631
Back Cover description:
Based on historical characters of the seventh-century Iranian court and written 850 years ago, the narrative poem shares a shelf with the most intensely romantic classic stories readers love. The love between an Iranian prince (Khosrow) and an Armenian princess (Shirin) is at the center of this tumultuous tale in which the powers of politics and warfare intertwine with the forces of erotic desire and the quest for personal and spiritual fulfillment. Theirs is a complex love story based on conflicting concepts of love, one regarding the beloved as a prize to be conquered and possessed, the other unrequited and all-consuming, relishing the very notion of the annihilation of the self through love. With Dick Davis’s introduction and commentary providing insightful context, this verse translation will enchant both the classicist and the general reader.
“Before Romeo and Juliet, there was Khosrow and Shirin…” —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post