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Education resource story summary love-and-devotion.

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Rustam and Suhrab

The hero Rustam stayed overnight in the palace of the King of Samangan.
During the night, the kings daughter Tahmina came to his room. She
asked Rustam to father her child, and he agreed. He left the palace soon
after, and later heard that his son, Suhrab, had been born.

Years later, Rustam and Suhrab met for the first time in battle. Rustam was
fighting for Iran, while Suhrab fought for the enemy territory of Turan.
Suhrab, a brave warrior, challenged the Iranian army to produce someone
to fight him, and Rustam was chosen. Neither soldier knew the identity of
his opponent. The long battle ended when Rustam killed Suhrab with his
dagger.

As Suhrab lay dying, Rustam recognised an amulet on Suhrabs arm


it was one that Rustam had given to Tahmina years before. With great
sorrow, Rustam realised that he had killed his own son.

Notes
This tragic story is from Firdausis Shahnama (Book of Kings), the
longest poem ever written by a single person (almost 60,000 couplets).
The story is one of many in the Shahnama about the (non-royal) hero
Rustam.

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Rustam mortally wounds Suhrab, from


Firdausi, Shahnama, c. 1430, Bodleian
Library, University of Oxford

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