lived through it. Reading a book is something, while living through it is another story," said the Head of International Center for Dialogue Among Civilization Ataollah Mohajerani.

The Persian daily ***Tose'eh*** reported that Mohajerani told a ceremony to pay tribute to Ferdowsi's epic work Shahnameh (the book of kings) in Isfahan, "Why does a book have a deep influence on people's lives? I suppose it's not so usual to consider a book as a guideline throughout one's life, and undoubtedly this is not the only such book, since there are other books serving as a practical guideline throughout one's lifetime.''

He added that Shahnameh is actually our permanent national identity and Ferdowsi got the chance to leave the nation such a worthy inheritance.

Mohajerani said that ferdowsi was given the opportunity to be present in an era of a nation's history, taking a look at the origins of a nation's advent from one side, while viewing its remotest prospects on the other.

In response to the question posed by a wise listener as Why then are you living the way you are, despite your 1,000-year-old background and possessing such a source of inspiration?''

He said, If a nation with such a worthy background and inheritance resorts to rage, violence, and profanity, instead of promoting peace, friendship, and convergence; a question arises as 'what do we have to do with Ferdowsi's book?'''

Mohajerani recalled that in the first decade of the 21st century Iranian identity is threatened by violence and pseudo-culture, while the solution is contained in Shahnameh. The two indicated threats are the same felt by Ferdowsi in his own time. However, we should first make an effort to approach Shahnameh properly and to understand it,'' he advised.

Addressing a gathering of the children of Isfahan Municipality employees, Mohajerani said that culture has always been taken as the spirit behind any civilization. He added that unless it is nurtured, it will diminish human zeal and enthusiasm.

Pointing to the two important principles guiding the nation's course in recent years, Mohajerani said that prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and during the Pahlavi regime in particular, attempts were made to bolster the Persian identity through measures such as the change in the Iranian calendar and elimination of Arabic terms.

"Following the Islamic Revolution, some people tried to undermine national identity by neglecting great poets such as the renowned Ferdowsi,'' said Mohajerani.

However, the two wings failed in their attempts and proved ineffective in realizing their goals as they lacked a reasonable base, he said.

He said, Besides, religious beliefs and spirituality are quite essential in one's life. In the present era we have witnessed the collapse of the materialistic systems, which were once supported by political, military, and security backing, such as Marxism and communism; while on the other hand religious beliefs in various forms have survived, and people's tendency to spirituality, which I believe may be found in Shahnameh, is the only factor accounting for it.''

Meanwhile, May 15 has been designated by general cultural committee as Ferdowsi Commemoration Day', which is celebrated every year at his mausoleum in Tous, the suburb of Mashhad in Khorasan Province.

Shahnameh was initiated by Masoudi Marvazi, who composed a few

sections of it following the rhythm of Sassanid verses. Then Daqiqi took it up and versified episodes on Ghoshtasp's fate, and the appearance of Zoroaster. Upon his being slain by a slave, Ferdowsi was assigned to work on Shahnameh.

Shahnameh comprises of 60,000 couplets, and has been translated into most of the modern languages and a multitude of books and articles have been written about it, which are listed by Deh Khoda in his thesis. Among them the translations of Shahnameh into French by Joule Moule and the Russian version are well-known.

Ferdowsi is so dexterous in giving life to heroes, and penetrating into corners of their spirit, that even the sophisticated reader gets surprised.

Based on Henry Masse's research, there are over 250 descriptive pieces in Shahnameh, most of which are wonderful.

It is stated in Encyclopedia Britannica that over 1,000 years after the completion of Shahnameh by Ferdowsi, Iranians still read and listen to it.