Introduction
Zal is the son of Sam, raised in the nest of the great mythical bird Simurgh after being abandoned as an infant, who grew into one of the wisest and most respected heroes of the Shahnameh, and, through his marriage to Rudabeh, the father of Rostam, the epic's greatest champion.
This article follows the Zoroastrian and Shahnameh traditions, noting where the older Avestan material and Ferdowsi's later epic differ.
Family
Raised by the Simurgh
Abandoned on Mount Alborz for being born with white hair, the infant Zal was found and raised by the Simurgh, a wise and benevolent mythical bird, who nursed and protected him for years as though he were her own offspring, teaching him, in some tellings, wisdom beyond ordinary human learning.
Reclamation and marriage
When his father Sam, tormented by guilt, came to reclaim him, Zal returned to human society and grew into a celebrated hero and counselor in his own right. He fell in love with Rudabeh, princess of Kabul, in a courtship opposed by both families due to old enmities and differences in status, one of the Shahnameh's most celebrated romantic episodes, eventually overcome through the couple's persistence and the intervention of wiser heads on both sides.
The Simurgh's feather
Before parting from her adopted son, the Simurgh gave Zal one of her own feathers, instructing him to burn it if ever he needed her aid. Zal used this gift decisively at Rostam's difficult birth, and again years later to save Rostam's life when he was gravely wounded, showing the Simurgh's continuing protection over the house of Sistan across generations.
Father of Rostam
Zal and Rudabeh's son is Rostam, whose birth by an early form of surgical delivery, guided by the Simurgh's counsel through Zal, since Rudabeh could not deliver him naturally, marks the start of the greatest hero's story in the whole of the Shahnameh.