TEHRAN – Candle and Fog, the London-based Iranian-British publishing house, plans to introduce the first and only complete Spanish translation of the Shahnameh on Tuesday in a special meeting at the National Museum of Iran.

Published in seven volumes, the Shahnameh has been translated into Spanish by Beatriz de Salas Rafiee, a Spanish professor at the Tehran Islamic Azad University.

In a press release published on Thursday, Candle and Fog director Afshin Shahnetabar said, “After ten years of continuous efforts by Mrs. Dr. Beatriz de Salas, finally, the birthday of the complete Spanish translation of the Shahnameh, the unparalleled work of Persian literature, has arrived.”

“I would like to take the opportunity of thanking Mrs. Dr. Nazanin Nozari for her crucial role in the creation of this book,” he added.

Persian literature scholars believe that Ferdowsi’s epic masterpiece Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) can be considered as a preserving force keeping the culture and customs of the Iranian people alive. 

In a verse from the book, Ferdowsi wrote, “I toiled much over thirty years, by the Persian language I remade Iran.” 

The verses refer to the fact that Ferdowsi spent 30 years writing the Shahnameh over a millennium ago. 

The Spanish edition, which is comprised of 5000 pages, has been translated based on a Persian version corrected and streamlined by top Persian literature expert Mehdi Mohaqqeq, Shahnetabar said earlier.

Salas Rafiee began translating the Shahnameh nine years ago and Javier Rodriguez, a Spanish professor of Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, collaborated as an editor. The Iranian Spanish language scholar Nazanin Nozari did the proofreading.  

The cover of the book has been designed by Iranian two-time Hans Christian Andersen Award nominee Pejman Rahimizadeh.

Parts of the Shahnameh have been published in several languages in the world.

A complete French translation of the book by Belgian Iranologist Pierre Lecoq was published in 2019 by Les Belles Lettres. 

Photo: A poster for the unveiling of a Spanish translation of the Shahnameh at the National Museum of Iran. 

MMS/YAW