Firdausi, also called Firdusi (940?-1020?), means the Heavenly One. It was the name taken by Abul Qasim Mansur, one of the great epic poets of Persia (now Iran). His Shah-Namah (Book of Kings) traces the history of Persia from its mythical period, perhaps before 3600 B.C., to the time of the Muslim conquest in A.D. 641. It is a poem of 60,000 lines, and is about seven times as long as the Iliad. Iranian folklore now includes parts of the poem.