Detail of Khusraw Discovers Shirin Bathing, from mid-18th century
Shirin the Armenian was the Christian wife of the Sassanid King Khosrau II. She used her influence to discreetly help the Christian population. She died in 628 AD.
After her death, she became a famous romantic heroine of Persian literature, appearing in the Shahnameh and Nizami Ganjavi's romance Khosrow and Shirin. Fictionalized accounts usually retain details like her Christianity, Khosrau's exile, and her troubles after Khosrau was assassinated. Common elements are an accidental first meeting, Khosrau being murdered by his son, and Shirin committing suicide when the son tries to force her to marry him.
She appears with her husband, Khosrau, in a story on the three hundred and ninety-first night called Khusrau and Shirin and the Fisherman.