Five Books from the Iranian World
Caption
Five books from the Iranian world, 964 to 1273: al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars, Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, Saadi’s Gulistan and Rumi’s Masnavi. Astronomy, epic, medicine and poetry in 309 years. #Persian #Literature #IranianWorld
Short takes
Al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars (964) holds the earliest recorded sighting of the Andromeda Galaxy, which he called a “small cloud”.
Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, in five books, was a standard text at many medieval universities and stayed in use until the 18th century.
Saadi’s Gulistan, “The Rose Garden”, has an introduction and eight chapters. Rumi’s Masnavi has six books. Persian literature loves a clear structure.
Image description
Infographic Five Books from the Iranian World. Five book covers stand on a shelf in navy, terracotta, teal, gold and green, each with its year, title and author: 964 Book of Fixed Stars by al-Sufi, 1010 Shahnameh by Ferdowsi, 1025 Canon of Medicine by Avicenna, 1258 Gulistan by Saadi, and 1258 Masnavi by Rumi. Below each cover a card gives two facts. A bar reads 309 years.
