Transoxiana (also spelled Transoxania), known in Arabic sources as Maa waraa' an-nahr ( "what (is) beyond the (Oxus) river") and in Persian as "Fœrɑ:ru:dɑ:n" (فرارودان), is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgyzstan  and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya ( Ōxos) and Syr Darya rivers. The area had been known to the Romans as Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus), to the Arabs as Mawarannahr (Land Beyond the River), and to the Iranians as Turan, a term used in the Persian national epic Shahnameh.