Nowruz
Legacy in Persian literature

In his Shahnameh, the tenth-century poet Ferdowsi narrates a fictional account of Darius III 's death, where an injured Darius, with his head cradled on Alexander the Great ’s thigh, asks Alexander to wed Roxana, so their children might uphold Nowruz and keep the flame of Zoroaster burning:

Her mother named her Roxana the fair; The world found joy and solace in her care.... From her, perhaps, a glorious one shall rise; Who shall renew the name of bold Esfandiyār, wise. This sacred flame of Zoroaster, he shall adorn; The Zend and Avesta scriptures, in his hands be borne. The feast of Sadeh, this auspicious rite he'll keep; The splendor of Nowruz and fire temples deep.
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