Bombs, Poetry And Paradise: Why Trump Can't Erase Iran

The book can roughly be divided into three parts. The first deals with the mythical phase of Persia's history - the earliest kings and the struggle between order and chaos.

The second lingers on the heroic age, when the great champions emerge, and the third recounts the historical period, with recognizable rulers and events. Along the way we encounter a whole gallery of figures - humans, birds, serpents and animals - all woven into a larger pattern of dynasties rising and falling.

What he accomplished might be called a quiet form of resistance. Many have therefore said that he“saved” the Persian language. That is probably an exaggeration, for Persian was not about to disappear. But he gave it something it lacked: a powerful literary voice capable of carrying it forward.

It is said that Ferdowsi lived a simple, at times impoverished life. Like many poets before and after him, he hoped for patronage from those in power, especially from Mahmud of Ghazni. But according to tradition, he was disappointed. We are told that he eventually received a reward far smaller than promised.

When a larger gift was later sent, it was too late. The caravan bearing gold is said to have arrived in Tus at the very moment his body was carried out of the city. The story is probably not true, but it fits well with the image of a poet who sacrificed everything for his cause.

In today's Iran, Ferdowsi is celebrated as a national hero, and the work he left behind is regarded as a cornerstone of Iranian culture. Yet few read it from beginning to end, and with its archaic language, it can be difficult even for well-educated Iranians to understand.

It is therefore most often read in abridged or modernized versions. Still, that is enough for memorable lines to continue appearing in everyday speech, in speeches and in the media.

Ferdowsi himself was likely a Muslim. But since much of the book deals with the pre-Islamic era, when Persians followed other religions, it also contains elements that can be seen as problematic - above all because it tells of an Iran that is larger than Islam: older, broader and harder to control.

The authorities have therefore been keen to tone down aspects of the work that might challenge Islamic theology. One might say that Ferdowsi is too great to be rejected - and too powerful to be fully set free.

The same can be said of later poets such as Rumi and Hafez, who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively. All belong to the great Persian literary tradition, even if they expressed themselves in different ways.

Today, around 60% of Iran's 93 million inhabitants have Persian as their mother tongue. Others use it as a second language, and nearly everyone can speak it in one form or another.

At least 15% have Azerbaijani (Turkic) as their first language, and 5-10% Kurdish. Only a small minority speaks Arabic, yet the language remains clearly present in Iranian society, since all religious ceremonies are conducted in Arabic.

Before the Islamic expansion in the seventh century, Aramaic was the most widespread language in the Middle East, while Persian dominated in Persia. Already a thousand years earlier, Aramaic had been used as a kind of administrative lingua franca among the region's diverse peoples.

It originated among the Arameans, a Semitic people living in the area where Syria meets southeastern Turkey and northern Mesopotamia (Iraq). The everyday language of Jesus was most likely a Galilean dialect of Aramaic.

When Trump threatened to bomb Iran“back to the Stone Age”, he added,“where they belong.” Since the tyrant of the White House appears unaware of most things, it may be worth recalling that Persia had its first king in 559 B.C., when Cyrus the Great ascended the throne - an event that took place 2,335 years before the United States was established in 1776.