If now we turn to the Persians, a peaceable and cultivated people, we must go back – since it was their poetry which in fact prompted the present work – to the earliest period, in order that we may better understand the more recent [poetry]. To the historical researcher it always seems remarkable that however often a country may have been conquered, subjugated, or even extirpated, a certain core of the nation is retained in its character and when one least expects it, an old, long-known manifestation of a people steps forth once again.
With this in mind, may it be congenial to hear of the ancient Persians and thereby all the more surely and freely guide our steps rapidly up to the present day!