Essential literature
Persian literature: a look at the translated essentials
Peek into the culture, history, mythology, and poetry of the Persian people.
Persian literature is regarded as one of the oldest in the world and is deeply influential in the writings and identities of other cultures. It has shaped the artistic expressions of countless playwrights, poets, and painters across the ages, and evidently, boundless in its spread.
To understand Persian literature, it is important to first understand the relationship that Persians had (and still do) with themselves, with God, and with the mysteries of the universe. Persia went through a religious shift following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, yet the same spiritual curiosity remained in their writings. So it was not the direct beliefs of Zoroastrianism, or the later adoption of Islam, that shaped their introspection, though religion played the largest supporting role in their writings.