Persian Language Day in Iran Date in the current year: May 15, 2024

Ferdowsi is celebrated as the most influential figure in Persian literature. He is often credited with saving the Persian language from Arabic influence. The Shahnameh (“The Book of Kings”) is Ferdowsi’s only surviving work regarded as indisputable genuine. It is the national epic of the Iranian peoples that describes the history of Persia from the ancient times until the Islamic conquest in the 7th century.

Ferdowsi spent over three decades writing the Shahnameh. The result of his work is the world’s longest epic poem written by a single author; it is twice as long as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey combined. The book about the Persian kings, written entirely in Persian, played a key role in the revival of this language and made a significant contribution to the development of Persian literature.

In 1980, the Shahnameh Fund declared May 15 Ferdowsi Day to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Shahnameh. In 2016, the Academy of the Persian Language and Literature suggested that it be also declared Persian Language Day. The initiative was supported by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

The Persian language, also known as Farsi, is an Iranian language primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Afghan type of Persian is known as Dari and the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan is known as Tajik. All these three varieties are based on the classic Persian literature that includes the Shahnameh.