The study of fatalism in Shahnameh and religious epics

Fatalism is one of the characteristics of the traditional eastern societies according to which, the destiny of man is predetermined and all affairs take place based on this destiny hence there is no room for man’s free will. The origin of fatalism in Iran is studied in this article and its signs such as star worship, astrology, fortune, alms giving, belief in supernatural powers are discussed in Shahnameh and four other epic religious works including Alinameh,Haydari attack by Bazel Mashhadi and Raji Kermani and Tazian nameh, summary of Khavarannameh. It became clear that predictions made by the astronomers in Shahnameh are more frequent than in the epic religious works and on the contrary predictions made through divine and supernatural inspirations and revelations are more common in the religious works. Also, belief in fortune and chance is Shahnameh is more prominent than in the epic religious works. Among the religious epics under study, Khavaran nameh is closer to Shahnameh in terms of Mythology. Next comes, Haydari attack by Kermani and Bazel Mashhadi, and Ali nameh respectively.