Zāl is the embodiment of the heroic culture which shapes and determines the conduct of the Shāhnāmeh heroes from Manūchihr through Rustam's death. For Zāl to attain that level of moral authority, the poem semiotically endows him with innate wisdom symbolized by his white hair at birth. By the end of the story, when he is still a relatively young man, he has gained the authority to change the ruling dynasty by choosing and crowning kings at will (e.g. his crowning of Zav and Kayqubād). Zāl's story is thus a tale of transformation that seamlessly fits into the overall narrative of the Shāhnāmeh. It helps the poem's narrative make the transition from the age of ancient kings in whom heroism, royal authority, and magical potency are combined, to the era of a different line of rulers who govern by royal authority alone. This process moves in two parallel lines: the transfer of the magical wisdom of the primordial kings to the person of a sage who functions as the embodiment of sagacity and prudence, and the transfer of their heroic aspect to a great warrior who serves as the country's “chief hero,” its jahān pahlawān. With the exception of Kaykhosraw, whose character has very strong supernatural and religious dimensions, every important legendary king after Manūchihr has a sage on whose advice he depends (e.g. Zav, Kayqubād and Kaykāvūs have Zāl, Gushtāsp has Jāmāsp, and Alexander has Aristotle). The king also has a warrior who holds the office of the jahān pahlawān (Kaykāvūs and Kaykhusraw have Rustam, Luhrāsp has Zarēr, and Gushtāsp has Isfandiyār).

Zāl 是英雄文化的体现，它塑造并决定了从 Manūchihr 到 Rustam 的死亡的 Shahnāmeh 英雄的行为。为了让 Zāl 达到那种道德权威水平，这首诗在符号学上赋予了他与生俱来的智慧，这以他出生时的白头发为象征。到故事的结尾，当他还是一个相对年轻的人时，他已经获得了通过随意选择和加冕国王来改变统治王朝的权力（例如他加冕Zav和Kayqubād）。因此，Zāl 的故事是一个转变的故事，与Shāhnāmeh的整体叙述天衣无缝。它有助于诗歌的叙述从英雄主义、王权和魔法力量相结合的古代国王时代，过渡到单独由王权统治的不同统治者的时代。这个过程沿着两条平行线进行：将原始国王的神奇智慧转移到作为睿智和谨慎的化身的圣人身上，并将他们的英雄面貌转移到作为国家的伟大战士的人身上。 “首席英雄”，它的 jahān pahlawān。除了 Kaykhosraw，他的性格具有很强的超自然和宗教维度，Manūchihr 之后的每一位重要的传奇国王都有一位圣贤，他依赖他的建议（例如，Zav、Kayqubād 和 Kaykāvūs 有 Zāl，Gushtāsp 有 Jāmāsp，亚历山大有亚里士多德）。