body of writings in the Iranian languages produced in an area encompassing eastern Anatolia, Iran, and parts of western Central Asia as well as Afghanistan and the western areas of Pakistan.

The oldest surviving texts are contained in the Avesta, the sacred book of Zoroastrianism. Iranian literature includes a limited corpus of writings in extinct languages such as Sogdian and the Khotanese dialect of Saka (Saka language). It also includes modern literatures in Kurdish (Kurdish language) and Pashto (Pashto language). By far the most important are the literatures in the dialects of the Persian language, including the Old Persian and Middle Persian of pre-Islamic times and in particular the Modern Persian (Farsī or Darī (Dari language)) of the Islamic period. See Persian literature.