A Comparative Analysis of Characteristics between the King in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh and the Head Member of Farabi’s Utopia

The notion of establishing an ideal society and transforming current situations into favorable conditions has attracted great attention of different thinkers in different time periods. The dream of creating a society, free from any defect, can be found in works of great figures like Plato and Farabi. From the Plato's point of view, it is the responsibility of philosophers to lead such a society, while Farabi imposes the duty on a sage who has established a link between Sharia and wisdom. Farabi lists a series of seven characteristics for the head/prophet of his utopia, among which the most important is communication with the world of meaning and receiving revelation. Further, some poets like Ferdowsi and Nezami have similar idealistic concerns and reflect their thoughts on their poems. As appeared from the Shahnameh, Ferdowsi has proposed ideal kings of the ancient Iran as a remarkable pattern for the rulers of his own era. A comparison of these characteristics to the head of the utopia from Farabi reveals common features and, albeit, separate differences between the king and the head. In the current study, the authors seek to find similarities and differences.