Firdawsi, Abu-l-Qasim Mansur

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Firdawsi, Abu-l-Qasim Mansur (940–1020 (AH 328–411)). Iranian poet who preserved many Zoroastrian traditions. He placed little emphasis on religion beyond a vague monotheism compatible with Islam. He was called Firdawsi by the Sultan Maḥmūd of Ghaznah, who said that his compositions turned the court into the rooms of paradise (firdaws, see PARADISE (ISLAM)).