Invocation of God in the formal structure of letters in Ferdowsi’s <I>Shah-nameh</I>

Abstract

Invocation of God opens more than 60 letters in Abulqasim Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh (10–11cс.). It constitutes a part of a letter’s formal structure along with benedictions, salutation, etc. In some cases, the invocation is merely mentioned, in others it is presented in full, in up to 16 lines. Invocations of God mention God’s actions towards the sender or recipient of a letter, towards humanity in general, and towards the world, as well as God’s attributes and power over the universe. Then it can morph into an expression of gratitude or be followed by another part of the formal structure, usually a benediction, or by the main body of the letter. The specifics and the length of such invocations set them apart from other parts of the letter’s formal structure, as they are the only parts that deviate considerably from Sasanian as well as Arabo-Persian epistolary traditions. The paper deals with the methods by which the invocations of God are introduced in the text of the poem, principal themes of such invocations, and their role in the formal structure of a letter and in Shah-nameh in general.