CHAPTER IV
The Persian, sources of the compilation of Ibn Miskawaihi 54
Preponderance of the Persian element in the evolution of the Musalman morals 57
The "Book of Adab" by Ibn al Muqaffa and other similar Arabic works 59
IRANIAN COMPONENTS OF ADAB LITERATURE IN ARABIC
At the head of works under the title of ethico didactic writings, which have come down to us stands a group most characteristically denominated Adab ul Arab val Furs belonging to the pen of a writer of the 10th and 11th centuries, Ibn Miskawaihi whose name is pronounced in Persian Ibn Mushkuya. At the basis of this collection lies the ancient Persian pseudepigraphical book Javidan khired, or "Eternal wisdom." But in the body of it there is a series of literary monuments of Sasanian literature and its descendants.[1] The author is known, besides, by his philosophical works, as a historian[2] and as such he is particularly important for the history of the Buides.[3] And his Persian origin would point to his sympathy for Persian literary tradition. As a matter of fact, his ethico-didactic collection is based on a book of the Sasanian epoch. It would appear that this circumstance has undoubted significance for the determination of the influence in the compilation of Moslem ethical ideals. However, in contradiction to this basal fact and notwithstanding that in the province of the development of Islam as a religion, Persian element played an important part,[4] the development of the Moslem ethical tracts in contemporary literature, for the most part, is dependent upon more antique, specially Greek, tradition. J. Goldziher recognizing the importance of the influence of Parsism on Islam says the exact demonstration of the dependence of these phenomena on the culture historical facts, whose consequences they are, would be the most interesting task which those studying Islam in its present position can place before themselves. Many of the dominating views regarding the original spirit of Islam would receive the needed correction by such investigation.
[Footnote 1: On this work and its manuscripts see my Material from Arab sources 68-69.]
[Footnote 2: For Miskawaihi as a philosopher see Boer 116-119.]
[Footnote 3:—He was the treasurer and a close friend of the Buide
Adudad-Daula.]
[Footnote 4: For a general sketch of Moslem ethics in ancient times see Carra de Vaux, Gazali, 129-142, and Encyclopaedia of Islam 4, 244-246.]
Let us examine three points regarding the influence on Moslem morals and general conduct. In the first place stand the moral writings of ecclesiastical character. The morality is rooted in and based on the moral of the Bible and then on the developed Moslem law and has absorbed in itself some of the elements of the ethics of Christianity. In the second place, there is a series of ethical documents of a most valued nature in the shape of proverbs, dicta, maxims, fables, constituting a kind of moral philosophy, often independent of each other, varied in their character, and different as to time and the place of their compositions. Here we may separate a certain stratum of Persian element, and an analysis of them may reveal partly contemporary knowledge and partly elements of foreign religious ethics. The third but not the last place in importance is occupied by the Greek ethical tradition in which latterly are discernible important Christian constituents. Recent studies have yielded us as their result, this structure of Musalman ethics. But it is to be noted that the theoretical deductions at first sight do not find confirmation in facts. For we do not know which Greek books on ethics were translated in the beginning of the period of the scientific development of Islam, and for the support of our thesis we have to point to the possibility of oral transmission of Hellenic ethical tradition through Syriac scholars, although this circumstance does not militate against our hypothesis. Besides a small amount of translations from Greek ethical works, especially the books of Aristotle, there are observed among the works embodied in this tradition a series of pseudographs which, however, can have only an external relation with the Greek sciences and which would rather lead to the second group of the influences on Musalman ethical monuments namely, the group of monuments of "Oriental wisdom." The most typical of the pseudographical wisaya, or "Testaments" are ascribed to Aristotle, Pythagoras, and others. To our mind, they are derived from Persian tradition to the same extent, if not in a larger extent than from the Christian. Actual studies demonstrate that the basal work for this epoch was the book above-mentioned of Ibn Miskawaihi which as we saw above, issued from Persian literary tradition. And the character of that tradition can be explained from exterior circumstances without an analysis of its contents. The fact is that Ibn Miskawaihi worked upon that class of Persian material, for instance the Pand Nameh or Andarz, which had nothing to do with the province of the indefinite gnomic literature but which had the character of a catechism and therefore expresses a definite system of religious morals, the morals of Parsism.[1] The appreciation of the influence of Parsism on Islam has only just commenced. But we are already in a position to emphasise the great influence, which Parsi ethics have exercised on Islam and this influence has been attested by a number of Greek and Christian witnesses. So far, for an acknowledgment of this influence serves a purely external fact, namely, a glance at the bibliography of the ancient ethico-didactic tracts in the Musalman literature and an examination of the contents of the book of Ibn Muskawaihi. A number of additional facts confirm this hypothesis.
[Footnote 1: For a general review of the morals of Parsism see A.V.W.
Jackson's G. I. Ph. Vol. II, 678-683.]
Well-known is the importance enjoyed in the beginning of the epoch of the development of the Arabic Musalman literature, by the activities of the Parsi Ibn al Muqaffa.[1] He is famous as the first commentator of the Greek books on logic in Arabic literature, but he is particularly renowned as the efficient supporter of the Persian literary tradition and its translator into the Arabic literature. His rendering of Kalila and Dimma is well-known. It enjoys a prime role in the migration of this collection of stories to the West. Well-known also is his translation of the Persian book of Khoday Nameh,—that is, the official chronicle of the Sasanian times and of the Ain Nameh, the Institutes of the time. We shall have occasion to speak about these books later on. To him also belong the books closely connected with the Sasanian epoch, namely, the Book of Mazdak the Book of Taj to which we shall refer further on. It is interesting that he is also the reputed author of two books on Adab, perhaps among the most ancient ones in Arabic literature.[2] One of these books called the Smaller was probably contained in the other which is called the Larger and has the purely Persian title of Mah farra Jushnas. (This is how the title is to be read according to Hoffmann and Justi).[3] Since the interest of Muqaffa was concentrated in the province of Persian culture it is indisputable that his activity was not confined in this direction to one book and the contents of the book have vestiges in a high degree of dependence on Persian motifs. This is proved by a variety of circumstances. We have descended to us his book called Al Yatima, a tract on that aspect of morals which was especially diffused in the Sasanian epoch and was devoted to politics and in form represented the species of writings called Furstenspiegel.[4] A tradition of this kind of literature for long continued to live in the Musalman writers and the typical representative of the species seems to be the famous Siyasat Nameh, of Nizam-ulmulk, the Saljuk Wazir. On some occasions it directly serves as a source for the internal history of the Sasanian domination. It bears particularly on didactic literature though it has been as yet very ill studied from the comparative standpoint. The Sasanian influence is perfectly obvious. Some portions of Al Yatima of Ibn Muqaffa may be parallelled to corresponding remnants from Pahlavi literature in the Kabus Nameh and the Siasat Nameh.[5] We know further that books under the title of Persian Adab were spread among those who sympathised with Mazdaism and Manichism in the circle of Moslem society.[6] These books by their character were comparable to books on Mazdak but also to Kalila wa Dimna.
[Footnote 1: Fihrist, 118, 18-29, and Ibn al Qifti's Tarkh al hukama edited by Lippert, page 220, 1-10.]
[Footnote 2: Brockelmann, On the rhetorical writings of Ibn all Mukaffa,
Z.D.M.G. 53, 231-32.]
[Footnote 3: Hoffmann "Extracts from Syrian acts of Persian martyrs", 1880 page 289 note, and Justi, Namenbuch 186.]
[Footnote 4: Precise information regarding its contents is rather to be found in Ibn al Qifti than in the Fihrist. In the former the heading is Fi taat us Sultan, in the latter Fi rasail. See La perle incomparable ou l'art du parfait courtisane de Abdallah ibn al-Muqaffa, 1906. See the French translation from the Dutch rendering of this tract.]
[Footnote 5: On the political ideas of the latter see Pizzi, Le idee politiche di Nizam-ul-Mulk G.S.A. 1., 131-141.]
[Footnote 6: Tabari "Annales" Vol. 3, 1309, 9-15, and Browne A literary
History of Persia, 1, 332.]
Besides Muqaffa a number of writers of the epoch of the development of Arabic Musalman literature interested themselves in themes connected with Persian antiquities. One of them, Aban Ibn Abdul Humiad ar Rakashi otherwise known as Aban al-Lahiki chose a number of themes from ancient Persian literature and according to the Fihrist versified them (119, 1-6-163, 7-10). Such subjects were—Kalila and Dimna, the Book of Barlaam and Yuasef, the Book of Sindbad, the Book of Mazdak and finally books on two popular representative of the Sasanian dynasty, namely, the Book of the acts of Ardasher and the Book of the acts of Anushirvan.[1]
[Footnote 1: Versification of the history of Anushirvan is also to be met with in later Parsi literature, see, Sachau, Contribution to the knowledge of the Parsi literature, J.R.A.S. 1870 page 258.]
Another author, Ahmed Ibn Tahir Taifur, wrote according the Fihrist (146, 21) a special Book of Hormuz son of Kisra Anushirvan.[1] No doubt, further more, writers of Persian origin followed in their books on Adab Persian models. Such probably was the book of Adab by an author whose name has been mutilated in the Fihrist (139, 15, 18). There is another class of writings which bears relation to this one and which is mentioned in the Fihrist. It is quite possible that on this literary Persian tradition, were based also some of the tracts under the title of "Books on counsels" a considerable number of which we meet with in the Fihrist.[2]
[Footnote 1: See the essay of Baron Rosen on the anthology of Ahmed Ibn
Abi Tahir.]
[Footnote 2: 78, 15; 105, 10; 293, 12; 204, 17-18; 204, 29; 207, 21; 210, 23; 212, 22-23; 217, 4-5; 220, 25; 222, 14; 234, 23; 281, 20; 282, 5.]
Ethico-didactical treatises in the form of counsels, maxima or testaments, constitute a singular group of literary mementos the genesis of which in the Musalman literature maybe established only after an examination of similar books in the Persian writings of the Sasanian times. Examples of a like class of testaments, literary compilations under the title, for the most part, of pseudo-graphs going up to pre-Moslem period we have already noticed in the Book of the counsels of Ardasher and the Pand Nameh of Kisra Anushirvan.
CHAPTER V
The Taj Nameh as mentioned in the Fihrist page 305, and page 118, and repeatedly referred to in the Uyunal Akhbar, Part I, of Ibn Kutayba 65
The Persian book with illustrations mentioned by Masudi in his Kitab at Tambih, page 106-7 and the illustrations in the scrolls in the castle of Shiz 68
PAHLAVI BOOKS STUDIED BY ARAB AUTHORS.
We have indicated in the preceding chapter the translations of Ibn al Muqaffa from Persian books into Arabic. Besides those of an ethico-didactic contents, among them there were books of historical character. All these translations have not come down to us. Extracts of these renderings into Arabic, however, have been preserved in the original and sometimes in paraphrase. Unusually important was the translation of the book called the Khuday Nameh, the value of which has long been appreciated by science. Questions of vital importance in connection with this history are its relation to the Shah Nameh and the examination of its various translations in the Musalman period. The loss of this book, perhaps the most important monument of Middle Persian literature, is to be particularly deplored in that with it has perished the connecting link of the historical evolution of Iran, incorporating the religious and clerical legislature in an official redaction. Of capital importance also was another book called the Ain Nameh[1] or the Book of Institutes, a valuable source of the internal history of the Sasanian Empire, comprising a descriptive table of official dignitaries or the Gah Nameh.[2] Judging by the clue given in the Fihrist (118,28) it would appear that the Book of Taj also was a historical one since it has been explained that the book treated of the "Acts of Anushirwan." As a matter of fact, among the books written by the Persians on epic and historical subjects and indexed in the same Fihrist (305, 8-13) has been mentioned the Book of Taj.[3]
[Footnote 1: See below and also my book on The Materials from Arabic sources, &c., 63-66. Like Masudi in his Kitab at Tambih, Asadi in his Lughal al-Furs (Asadi's neupersischen Worterbuch Lughat al-Furs, edited by P. Horn, 1897, 110, 1), identifies the word ain with the word rasam, practice or custom. As regards the word ain in the Iranian languages see Horn Grundriss der neu persischen Etymologie, 15-16; Hubschmann, Persische Studien 11, and B.G.A. IV, 175, and VIII, Glossarium IX. To understand the ancient usage of the term the modern Parsi expression Dad wa ain din in the sense of religious law and custom helps us. In this phrase the word dad corresponds to the modern Musalman shariyat and the word ain to adat. Regarding its special meaning in the Umayyad times see J. Wellhausen Das Arabische Reich und sein Sturz 189.]
[Footnote 2: Most probably in connection with the materials of this book stood A collection of Persian genealogy written by the well-known Ibn Khurdadbeh (Fihrist 149, 4), representing a peculiar antithesis to the numerous selections of Arab tribal and family genealogies.]
[Footnote 3: Here are first mentioned the two books translated by Jabala ibn Salim, namely, the Book of Rustam and Isfandiyar and the Book of Behram Chobin (the well-known Romance of the King about which, sea Noeldeke's Tabari 474-478), and further the Book of Shahrzad and Aberviz (which no doubt was connected with the Thousand and one Nights), the Book of Kar Nameh or the "Acts" of Anushirwan belonging to the same class of books as the Kar Nameh of Ardashir. Then the books that interest us are the Book of Taj, the Book of Dara and the Golden Idol, the Ain Nameh, the Book of Behramgor and his brother Narseh and finally, one more Book of Anushirwan.]
It is possible that the book of Ibn al Mukaffa was not the first translation of the Persian book since this title is applied by not a few other Arabic writers of the time to some of their own works. (For example, Abu Ubaida, See Goldziher Muhammed Studien 1,198).
In his time Baron Rosen called attention to quotations from a certain Book of Taj in Uyunal Akhbar of Ibn Qutaiba.[1] These quotations are only to be found in the first part of the Uyunal Akhbar. All these quotations, eight in number, bear a didactic character, and excepting three, refer back to Kisra Abarviz and contain his testament to his sons (two), secretaries, treasurers and hajibs. Of the remaining three one bears on general maxims of practical politics. Another is a testament of an ancient Persian king to his Wazir. And the third is a maxim of one of the secretaries of a king. In this manner all these citations are of an ethicodidactic nature; only they have been invested with a historical environment and under ordinary circumstances would represent the general type of writings on political conduct for rulers, standing for the class of literature designated Furstenspiegel. A similar class of citations is preserved in the "speeches from the throne" and the counsels of the Sasanian kings which we come across in various Arab historical and anthological works bearing on Sasanian Persia, as also in the Shah Nameh.
[Footnote 1: Baron Rosen, Zur arabischen Literatur geschichte der altern zeit, 1. Ibn Qutaiba; Kitab Uyunal Akhbar (Melanges Asiatiques, VIII, 1880, 745-779, especially 774-775). These citations correspond to those in the edition of Brockelmann as follows: 21, 12-16; 27, 11-15; 32, 2-8; 44, 13-45, 4; 67, 13-66, 8; 84, 8-16; 107, 2-17; 120, 16-121, 5.]
Gutschmid already noticed in his time that by the Persian historians to each Sasanian ruler was ascribed a maxim and indicated that with reference to Ardashir and Anoshiravan these maxims may be taken as the basis since the Book of Counsels of the former was well-known and a large number of edifying proverbs of the latter had found admittance into the national language.[1] Let us add that, as we showed above, there has been preserved a similar class of Books of Counsels, the reputed author of which is Anoshiravan. The putative dicta of the other Sasanian kings Gutschmid considered as fabricated being designed to be brief characterisations of each of them. Gutschmid further advanced the conjecture that these apophthegms formed the texts under the portraits of the kings in the book which was used by Hamza Ispahani[2] and which was seen by Masudi.[3] According to the information supplied us by the latter (Masudi) he saw this book in Istakhr in an aristocratic Persian family, and that it included, besides information of a scientific character, the history of the Persian kings and their reigns and a description of the monuments erected by them.[4] In the book were the portraits of the Sasanians and it was based on the documents found in the royal archives. And the portraits also were prepared from the materials deposited there. The book was completed in A.H. 113 (A.D. 731), and it was translated for the Khalif Hisham from the Persian into the Arabic language.
[Footnote 1: Gutschmid, Kleine schriften, III, 35-36.]
[Footnote 2: About this book see Gutschmid, III, 150-151.]
[Footnote 3: B.G.A. VIII, 106, 5-107, 5. Translation by Carra de Vaux 150-151. See Christensen 90-91.]
[Footnote 4: Gutschmid 150, 151.]
We called attention above to the information supplied by Istakhri and Ibn Haukal regarding the castle of Shiz and the preservation in it of the archives and the portraits of the Sasanian kings. It is highly probable that for the reproduction of these portraits of the sovereigns the authors were guided as much by the bas-reliefs, not far from this castle, as by the tradition regarding them which was embalmed in older books belonging to the class mentioned by Masudi which undoubtedly existed in the Imperial archives.[1] Along with the literary tradition there must have survived the artistic tradition. It is highly probable that the peculiar Persian art of illuminating manuscripts which was yet unknown according to Masudi in his own time,—the embellishing of books with gold, silver, and copper dust was practised by the Manichians whose calligraphy[2] delighted the Musalman authors and whose style of illustrating manuscripts must have been fashioned after the art displayed in those books which in the tenth century were preserved in the castle of Shiz[3] and which at an earlier period were widely desseminated among the Parsi circles.
[Footnote 1: Connected with ancient tradition, but dependant upon modern science, are the portraits of the Sasanian kings in the recently published Nameh Khusrawan, Tehran 1285, (A.D. 1868).]
[Footnote 2: In connection with the art of the Persian calligraphist and illustrative of the Sasanian epoch stand the indications of the ancient Moslem writers regarding the Avesta, which is reported to have been inscribed by Zoroaster in gold ink on parchment and also writings in gold ink of certain ancient Persian books. According to the Zafar Nameh, Anushirwan directed that the maxims of Buzurjamihr should be written down in golden water,—(ba-abizar). From early Sasanians also comes the custom of writing on valuable parchment or paper. Masudi speaks of the purple ink of these books.]
[Footnote 3: See Browne, "A Literary History", I, 165-166.]
Now we revert to the supposition of Gutschmid. Had he known the quotations from the Book of Taj in Uyunal Akhbar he would have adduced them in confirmation of his hypothesis, and he would have compared the book mentioned by Masudi with the Book of Taj referred to among the Persian books enumerated in the Fihrist. On the basis of the last-mentioned work it may be affirmed that in the Sasanian times there existed a certain Taj Nameh comparable to the Khuday Nameh and the Ain Nameh. The extracts in the Uyunal akhbar do not contain anything of a special nature with reference to king Anushirwan so that the Book of Taj on the "Acts of Anushirwan" mentioned in the Fihrist among the books of Ibn al Mukaffa could hardly have comprised what has been quoted in Uyunal akhbar. The materials at our disposal are too scanty to establish its relation with the Sasanian Book of Taj.[1]
[Footnote 1: The supposition (Zotenberg, Thaalibi XLI,) according to which Firdausi saw an illustrated "Book of Kings" rests on a misunderstanding. The fact is that certain verses have been incorrectly translated by Mohl (IV, 700-701, Verses 4071-4075).
Mohl translated the passage as follows: "There was an aged man named Azad Serw who lived at Merv in the house of Ahmad son of Sahl; he possessed a book of kings in which were to be found the portraits and figures of the Pehlwans. He was a man with a heart replete with wisdom and a head full of eloquence, and a tongue nourished with ancient tradition; he traced his origin to Sam, son of Nariman, and he knew well the affairs regarding the fights of Rustam."
A more correct translation would be: "There was a certain old man by name of Azad Serw living in Merv with Ahmad son of Sahl. He had a Book of Kings. In figure and face he was a warrior; his heart was full of wisdom, his head full of eloquence, and in his mouth there ever were stories of the ancient times. He traced his origin back to Sam, son of Nariman, and preserved in his memory many a tale of the battles of Rustam."]
CHAPTER VI
The list of the translators from Persian into Arabic as given in the
Fihrist, (244, 25-245, 6) 75
The different categories of these translators
Omar ibn al Farrukhan of Tabaristan (Fihrist 273, 14-18) and his Kitab al Mahasin 79
Other authors of books of analogous titles in the first centuries of Islam,—the relation of these books to the books of "Virtues and Vices" (cf. Baihaqi, pseudo-Jahiz) and the connection of these books with the Parsi religious idea of the licit and the illicit,—Al Mahasin wal Masavi, and the Shayast la Shayast. 83
TRANSLATORS FROM PAHLAVI.
In the Fihrist (244, 25-245, 6) are stated a number of names of the principal translators from the Persian into the Arabic language. Assuredly this list is far from complete. The author names only a few calling attention to only particular translators. The passage in question in the Fihrist has been more than once utilised. The entire section has not been exhaustively examined. We believe that from it we can infer the general character of the contents of those translations which were prepared from Persian into Arabic and can gather some further indices regarding this list of names.
To examine the list of translators in order. First of all as may be expected is mentioned Ibn al Muqaffa about whom the Fihrist speaks in detail at another place. Then follow the family of Naubakht; Musa and Yusuf, the sons of Khalid; Abul Hasan Ali ibn Zyad at Tamimi—of his principal translations is mentioned "the Tables of Shahriyar;" Hasan ibn Sahal mentioned at the head of astronomers; Balazuri; Jabala ibn Salem, secretary of Hisham; Ishak ibn Yazid, translator of the Persian history entitled Khuday Nameh; Muhammad ibn al Jahm al Barmaki; Hisham ibn al Kasim; Musa ibn Isa al Kisravi; Zaduya ibn Shahuya al Isfahani; Muhammad ibn Behram al Isfahani; Behram ibn Mardanshah, Mobed mobedan of the City of Sabur in Fars; Umar ibn al Farrukhan of whom special mention is made by the author of the Fihrist.
An examination of the aforesaid names of translators in order would, it seems to us, afford material for the solution of the problem regarding the different varieties of Persian literary tradition in the first centuries of Islam. Ibn al Muqaffa stands in the first place belonging to him by right. He was a genuine encyclopaedic translator familiar with the Arab society with all its influence of spiritual Sasanian life of Persia finding expression in its literature. He translated scientific, epico-historical, and ethico-didactic books. Hence we can understand that in the Fihrist has been assigned to him a special notice as noted by us above.
The family of Naubakht, mentioned next, represents a group of scholars mentioned separately in the Fihrist.[1] The head of the Naubakhts, was an astronomer to the Khalif Mansur and his son Abu Sahl succeeded to his father's occupation. The grandsons of Naubakht wrote books on astronomy as well as jurisprudence. Persian literary tradition is earliest recognised in the astronomical works of the grandsons of Naubakht. The author of the Fihrist places this Hasan ibn Sahl, as already indicated by Flugel, at the head of astronomers. And the same scientific character no doubt was attached to the activities of Musa and Yusuf,[2] the sons of Khalid mentioned there as well as at Tamimi, the author of the astronomical tables Zichash Shahriyar. In this manner these translators mentioned after Ibn al Mukaffa constituted in a manner a peculiar group of scholars who prepared translations from Pahlavi into Arabic.
[Footnote 1: 176, 20-177, 9; 177, 9-19; 274, 7-13; 275, 25-6. See Ibn al
Kifti 165, 1-5 and 409, 3-14.]
[Footnote 2: See Ibn al Kifti, 1711, 10-11.]
Balazuri and Jabala ibn Salem have already been mentioned above. The first translated into verse a Book of the Counsels of Ardeshir and the second the Book of Rustam and Isfandiyar as well as the romance of Behram Chobin. In this way the themes handled by these writers may be called epico-historical and ethico-didactic. Purely historical questions interested the seven succeeding translators from Ishaq ibn Yazid to Mobed Behram. These persons are sufficiently known in their special departments of literature. They were the translators into the Arabic language of the Khuday Nameh.[1] Accordingly we may group them in a class by themselves.
[Footnote 1: Compare the essay of Rosen mentioned above On the question of the Arabic translations of the Khuday Nameh, 173-176, and 182-186.]
The next author mentioned at this place in the Fihrist as a translator stands by himself,—Umar ibn al Farrukhan. He is altogether unknown as a translator of historical works. Hence he was not included in the group of persons mentioned before. On the other hand, had he been set down in this passage of the Fihrist as a translator of scientific works he would have been assigned a place not at the close of the list but in the middle of the translators of this class of books, that is, after Ibn Muqaffa and in the midst of the descendants of Naubakht and other persons mentioned above. Therefore we think that Umar ibn Farrukhan was a translator of another species of work or, may be, works. In support of our assumption we must call attention to that place in the Fihrist where are enumerated the books of this author and to which an-Nadhin himself refers in the analysis of the number of translators from Persian into Arabic.
Besides this place in the Fihrist, Umar ibn Farrukhan of Tabaristan has been mentioned in two other places. Once briefly,[1] (268, 25-26) as the annotator of the astronomical book of Dorotheya Sidonia and in another place (277, 14-18) in a few lines[2] specially devoted to him. Here he is mentioned as the annotator of Ptolemy as translated by Batrik Yahuya ibn al Batrik and as the author of two books, one of astronomical contents and the other entitled Kitab al Mahasin, that is the book of good qualities and manners.[3] This latter book demands a few lines from us.
[Footnote 1: Ibn al Qifti 184, 9—10.]
[Footnote 2: Ibn al Kifti 241, 20-242, 12. (This has been pointed out in the Fihrist Vol. II, 110-111, and in ZDMG XXV, 1871, 413—415.) Further mention of him in the same book 98, 9 and 184, 10.]
[Footnote 3: An account of the literary activity of this author was given in the work of H. Suter, Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber und ihre Werke, Abhandiungen Zur Geschichte der mathematischer Wissenschaften Supplement zum, 45 Jahrgang der Zeitschrift fur Mathematik und Physik, Leipzig, 1900, 7-8. Haji Khalfa cites only the astrological books of Omar Ibn Farrukhan I, 198 and V, 35, 386. See also Justi Namenbuch 95, Nos. 15 and 19.]
Umar ibn Farrukhan is mentioned in the section of books on astronomy, mathematics, physics, mechanics, and music. In this group are mentioned a number of writers who composed works on these sciences, beginning with Euclid and ending with the contemporary authors of an-Nadhin. In the midst of them, an-Nadhin has also mentioned the grandsons of Naubakht. Not one of them wrote any Kitab al Mahasin which appears, therefore, to be the independent work of Umar ibn Farrukhan. This book, further, could not have been of a scientific astronomical, or mathematical nature as is obvious from its subject-matter which related to good manners and conduct. This book has been mentioned in this group only because here are enumerated the works of Umar ibn Farrukhan. And good manners and conduct constituted, as we saw above, a favourite theme of Parsi literature: wherefor the book heads the list. Similar to it are the contents not only of Andarzes and Pand Namehs but of a series of tracts on religious subjects. Hence we think that it was mainly owing to this book that Umar ibn Farrukhan was included among the number of principal translators from Persian into Arabic and came to be enumerated among the translators to whom is ascribed a certain amount of speciality. For he was the solitary representative of his category of translators of ethicodidactic books intimately connected with the problems of the Paris religion. Possibly Umar ibn Farrukhan was the first to introduce this species of literature into Arabic, and we must add, employed for his material as well as ideas Parsi tracts. Originally from Tabaristan, he, in the words of Ibn al Qifti, was introduced to Abu Maashar al Balkhi, stood well with Jaffer the Barmecide, and subsequently with Fazl ibn Sahl, the Wazir who recommended him to his sovereign al-Mamum. And for this Khalif Mamun he prepared a number of translations. The sympathy of these persons for the Persian literary tradition could not have been confined to the translation of scientific works, but must have extended to the preservation of Persian ethico-didactic tradition in literature.
Books with the title of Kitab al Mahasin are to be met with in the Fihrist, if not often, several times. A book with this title (77, 21) has been ascribed to the celebrated Ibn Qutaiba. It was composed doubtless after the book of Umar ibn Farrukhan, for Qutaiba flourished at the close of the reign of Mamun and his literary activities could be referred to the ninth century. Qutaiba undoubtedly interested himself in Persian literary materials. Hence it can be concluded that his Kitab al Mahasin was not foreign to the materials and in form could be the first imitation of Farrukhan. Further it is interesting to note that books with this title were attributed especially to Shia authors such as Abu Nadar Muhamed ibn Masud al Ayashi who wrote Kitab al Mahasin al Akhlak or a book of good morals (195, 10) and Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Khallid al Barki who wrote Kitab al Mahasin (2213-4, also 7-9). And the interest of Shia authors in Persian tradition was unquestionable. A book with the same title of Kitab al Mahasin is ascribed to a certain Ibn al Harun, (148, 17) an author who has been assigned in the Fihrist a place among the writers on Adab and as responsible for a book called Kitab al Adab. Now the discussion of Adab as we said above is intimately connected with Persian tradition. And this tradition probably survived in the books which had for their theme "the good qualities of Adab."[1] We believe that all these books were devoted to Persian literary tradition, in close relation to which stands the book on "good qualities and manners" mentioned in the Fihrist as translated from the Persian language into Arabic by the man from Tabaristan, Umar ibn al Farrukhan.
[Footnote 1: For instance, Mahasin al Adab of Ispahani, see
Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Litterature I. 351.]
Co-related with these books on "good qualities" stand, in our opinion, the books on "good morals and their opposite," or "goodness and wickedness," Kutub al Mahasin wal Azdad, or Kutub al Mahasin wal Masawi. Although in the Fihrist we do not come across books with this title, we have a book so named from the beginning of the tenth century whose author was Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al Baihaki.[1] Under the title of Kitab al Mahasin wal Azdad we likewise possess a work ascribed to Jahiz.[2] Both these books evidently go to a common origin.[3] It is quite possible that antithesis was originally not excluded from these Kutub al-Mahasin, from which were developed a special species of educative treatises,—those on "good qualities and their opposites." Continuing our comparison with the Parsi literature, we notice that a similar kind of antithesis is most commonly employed there.
[Footnote 1: Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al Baihaki, Kitab al-Mahasin val masavi, herausgegeben von Dr. F. Schwally, Geissen 1902.]
[Footnote 2: Le livre des beautes et des antithesis attribue a Abu
Othman Amr ibn Bahr al-Djakiz, texte arabe publie par G. Van Vloten
Leyde; 1898.]
[Footnote 3: See the review by Barbier de Meynard of the edition of Mahasin wal Azdad in the Revue Citique, 1900, 276.]
In the Parsi ecclesiastical literature of an ethical nature we find definitely settled what is "proper" and, on the other hand, what is "improper."[1] It is well known that books under this title,—"the proper and the improper" or "the licit and the illicit"—are to be found among the Pahlavi tracts the time of whose composition can be fixed somewhere between the seventh and the ninth centuries A.D.[2] Comparing the Pahlavi tracts with reference to these questions with Arabic books on good and bad qualities and manners, we have to bear in mind the general features, general outline, as well as the conditions of civilisation of the period when these books were written, in other words, the circumstances of their intimate relation generally of a cultural nature, particularly of a literary form obtaining between the Arab and Persian nations, and between Islam and Parsism. Not only in detail, but also in their nature these books must be differentiated in proportion as were different the clergy who wrote these ethical tracts from didactic works of a strong legendary element belonging to the pen of secular people. These literary monuments must be differentiated quite as much as their authors and with reference to them we may institute the same parallel which we suggested above between the Parsi clergy and the Iranophile party of the Shuubiya.
[Footnote 1: Shayed-na-shayed.]
[Footnote 2: Shayast la-shayast West Pahlavi Texts, Part I, 1880.
Sacred Books of the East, Vol. V. 237-407.]
Furthermore, associated with these literary features was also that class of Arabic books, so well known and the period of which interests us, the books on Questions and Answers.[1]
[Footnote 1: Kitab al Masael wa Jawabat.]
And this is precisely the form in which some of the better known of the Parsi books have been cast, for instance, the Minog-i-Khrad[1] and the Dadistan[2] The second of these books decidedly belongs to the ninth century. Its contents no doubt, were strongly divergent from others owing to its dependence on altered conditions.
[Footnote 1: Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXIV, 1-15.]
[Footnote 2: Sacred Books of the East XVIII, 1-277.]
We have already indicated the importance of the citations in early Arabic anthologies incorporated from Persian historical works.[1] This nature of quotations are to be found also in books on "good and bad morals and conduct." Further we find embedded in Arabic works a considerable amount of matter of great importance, a circumstance of vital moment for the investigation of the survival of Persian literary tradition. A number of passages similar to those found in these books are undoubtedly embodied in various Arabic anthologies. We give below from the two works al Mahasin wal Masavi and al Mahasin wal Azdad extracts bearing on Persian subjects.[2]
[Footnote 1: See Noeldeke "National Epos" 13.]
[Footnote 2: See Part II.]
The list of Persian subjects comprised in these Arabic books afford us a sufficient idea of the wealth and variety of the material on these points to be recovered from Arabic discourses on manners and morals.
CHAPTER VII
The Book of Ali Ibn Ubaida ar Raihani
PAHLAVI RUSHNAI NAMEH.
We spoke above about the Arabic writer Ali ibn Ubayd ar Rayhani who was prone to Persian cultural tradition in general and to the literary tradition in particular. Besides the ethico-didactic book, Mehr Adar Jushnas, he is the reputed author of a book on Adab which has a Persian title (Fihrist 1, 119, 22 and II, 52),[1] and also another book the title of which could not be deciphered by Flugel when he edited the text of the Fihrist, (Fih. 119, 21). The title consists of two words which can be read conjecturally as Rushna nibik.[2] Such a name of a book we know to exist in Middle Persian literature.[3]
[Footnote 1: Kitab Adab Jawanshir].
[Footnote 2: As regards the mutilation of Persian proper names in the Fihrist, such comparatively wellknown books as Khuday Nameh appear in some of the manuscripts of the Fihrist as Baktiyar Nameh instead of bakhuday Nameh; see Rosen's essay on the Translations of the Khuday Nameh, 177.]
[Footnote 3: West; Sacred Books of the East Vol. V. page 241, note 1, and Sacred Books of the East Vol. III, 169. [The first authority is not quite clear to me. The second authority is evident: "writing which the glorified Roshna, son of Atur-frobag, prepared—for which he appointed the name of the Roshan Nipik." Tr.] Re the name of Rushen see Justi Namenbuch 262 under the word Rozanis.]
* * * * *
Books of this title in Pahlavi literature related to a variety of religious problems and treated of ethicodidactic themes. The same title, further, we find in the Middle Persian literature. This is the title of the wellknown book of Nasir-i-Khusrao, namely, Rushnai Nameh, a considerable portion of which manifests Shia and Sufistic influences and which by its nature must have been connected with ethico-didactic literature.[1] It is quite possible that Ar Rayhani interested himself in Persian of ethics and morality literature and in Persian Adab and gave his book the name of the 'Book Light' which treated of questions of this nature. This book formed, as no doubt its author did, the uniting link between the didactic Parsi clerical writings and the ethical literature of Islam.
[Footnote 1: GIPh Vol. II, 280.]
Now reading as Rushana Nibik the title of the book of Ar Rayhani occurring in the Fihrist, we establish a historical fact in literature. Not only redactions of Persian historical books like Khuday Nameh and the Ain Nameh, not only diverse monuments of Persian ethico-didactic literature but also books with Pahlavi titles appear in the index of the books of the flourishing period of Arabic literature in Fihrist. This is a phenomenon of outstanding importance for the appreciation of the significance of Persian literary tradition in the first centuries of Islam.
APPENDIX I
INDEPENDENT ZOROASTRIAN PRINCES OF TABARISTAN.
In the mountains to the south of the Caspian Sea the Persians defended themselves longer than in the rest of the Empire against the Arab invasion. Here the Arsacide princes had permitted the local tribes to rule, for these tribes were probably from the first almost independent and only acknowledged their paramountcy and paid tribute. They had the title of Spadhapati or in modern language Ispehbed which was turned into the Arabic Isfehbed. One of them, Gushnasp Shah, is named as a contemporary of Ardashir I. It was only so late as in the time of Kawadh that this king succeeded in establishing a Sasanian prince, his son Keyus, as Shah of Tabaristan in 530. At the death of his father he contested the throne with Khusrow I, and was therefore slain by the latter in 537. His son Shapur remained in Persia, and a prince of the Arsacide house of Qaren, named Zarmihr, son of Sokhra was appointed governor. The administration of Rae, Derbend and a portion of Armenia was before now entrusted to Jamasp, a son of Peroz, who was succeeded by his son Narsi, while another son, Behvat, father of Surkhab became the ancestor of the kings of Shirvan who were known as Shirvan Shahs. Narsi's son was Peroz, the father of Farrukhan Gilanshah, whose capital accordingly was Gilan and who in 643 concluded a peace with the Arabs.
Gil Gaubareh, the son of this prince, united, with the consent of Yezgird the III, who could not prevent him, Gilan with Tabaristan, where the dynasty of Zarmihr had come to an end. It cannot be doubted that Sasanian princes became the governors of these territories. The sons of Gaubareh were Daboe (660-676) and Patospan, in Pahlavi Patkospan or governor, in modern Persian Baduspan. Daboe was succeeded by his brother Khurshed (676-709). We possess coins struck by him in the years 706-709. Then came Daboe's son Ferkhan more correctly Farrukhan, the Great (709-722); he defeated several attempts on the part of the Moslems to penetrate the country. Our authorities are Tabari (vol. 2 p. 1321); Kitaboloyun (22-8); Zahireddin (45, 10.273, 14); Mordtmann (ZDMG 19, 494). His son Dad-Burzmihr died according to Zahireddin in 748, still his son Khurshed II already struck in 734 his first coin. He was defeated by the Arabs and took poison which he used to carry in his signet ring in 759.
The Masmoghan or the "priest-prince," the successor of Zarathustrotema of Ragha or modern Rai, who had his seat in the city of Demawend or the Castle of Ustunavend, and who was the son-in-law of the Ispehbed, was defeated and the daughters of both the princes were married to members of the house of Abbas.
The descendants of the Badusepan, whom Zahireddin carefully traces in all the branches of the family, ruled over Ruyan, Rustamdar, Nur and Kujur, down to the year 1453, when they divided themselves into two branches which continued to reign till 1567, and 1576.
Another dynasty was the mountain rulers of Qaren, which is named after its founder. The first Qaren was the son of Sokhra, the brother of Zarmihr. These princes were also styled Ispehbeds. A descendant of Qaren was Vindad-Hormizd, who in conjunction with Shervin I of the house of Bavend, and with the Badusepan, Shahriyar I, conquered the Arabs in 783, but subsequently surrendered himself to Hadi and went to Baghdad till the latter became Khalif in 785. There is some confusion in the chronology of this dynasty also. A few rulers appear to be wanting because between the beginning of the dynasty in 565 to its close in 839 the average reign of the six princes would come to 45 or 46 years. Maziyar, son of Qaren, and grandson of Vindad-Hurmizd was at first defeated by Shahryar the son of Shervin of the Bavend dynasty and took refuge with the Khalif Mamun in 816-17, and returned after the victory over Musa Ibn Hafs in 825 but was himself worsened by the Arabs in 839 and executed. Thereupon Tabaristan came into the power of the Tahirides, the nominal governors of the Khalif in Khorasan. Our authorities are Beladhori 134, 14; Masudi 7, 137; Kitab ol Oyun 399, 6; Yaqut 3, 284, 4. 506, 10; Abulfida 2, 212, 2.
The Bavend dynasty is a continuation of the Masmughans. Their original ancestor Bav who is characterised as son of Shahpur, son of Kayos, received from Khusraw II the governorship of Istakhr, Adharbaijan and Tabaristan, but retired himself into a fire-temple in the time of queen Azarmidukht. When the Arabs in 655 had advanced to the vicinity of Amul, the Mazenderanis invited him to lead them and he was the founder of the Bavend dynasty called after him. Now Bav was killed by Valash in 679, who did not belong to the dynasty and it was only 8 years later on that the son of Bav, Suhrab, more correctly Surkhab, came to the throne. With the last potentate of this first line of the Bavends was united by marriage the house of Ziyar which produced two celebrated princes of Gurgan, Vashmgir and Qabus. The other line, the "mountain kings" proper, sprang from a son of the last prince of the first line and was extinguished with the murder of Rustum by Sayed Husain in 1210. A third offshoot originating from a collateral branch of the second enjoyed princely power from 1237-1349.
The Arabs had their governors in Tabaristan who in the first period minted coins with Sasanian impress and with Pahlavi legends; they were, however, from time to time expelled by the people. These coins struck by the Arabs after the model of the Pahlavi mintage were first deciphered by Olshausen. Ibn Khaldun is compelled to admit that "the Arabs are of all the people the least capable to govern a country."
[Translated from Justi's contribution to Grunddrisder der iranischen
Philologie. Vol. II, p. 547 seq.—G.K.N.]
To the above concise sketch of the history of Tabaristan for the period which concerns us, which I have translated from Justi, one of the most sympathetic writers on Iran, a few paras may be added from the fascinating history of Ibn-Isfandiyar which professor Browne has made accessible to us.
Long after the Sasanian dynasty had fallen, and the rest of Persia had been subdued by the Arabs the Ispahabeds continued to strike their Pahlavi coinage and maintained the religion of Zoroaster in the mountains and forests of Tabaristan; and their struggles with the Arabs only ended about A.D. 838 by the capture and cruel execution of the gallant Maziyar, son of Qaren, son of Wanda-Hurmuz. For a vivid portrayal of the last days of this unfortunate scion of the lost empire of the Iranians the reader is referred to the vivid page of this English authority, who has reproduced the story of Zoroastrian aggressions in all its original spirit. And nothing less could be expected from a profound and sympathetic scholar to whom "All that concerns Maziyar is of supreme interest because it stands for the old Persian national and religious ideal". (p. XII). Those who still hold in the teeth of historical fact that the empire and religion of Iran were overturned at one fell stroke by the ferocious Arabs may be referred to the alliance between the Ispahbed Shirvin and Windad-Hurmuz which brought it about that from one end to the other of a large track of country, "without their permission no one dared enter the highlands from the plains, and all the highlands were under their control. And when a Moslem died they would not suffer him to be buried in that country". (p. 131). [italics mine, G.K.N.]
I will not further quote at length from this volume as it is in English but I cannot resist the temptation to call attention to page 146, which supplies a typical instance of conversion by persuasion and not persecution. Further note that the Khalif Mamun had a Zoroastrian astrologer whose Zoroastrian name the Khalif arabicised into Yahya ibn Mansur (p. 146). Though Maziyar outwardly embraced Islam he was probably in secret a Zoroastrian inasmuch as he continued to have a large Magian following and "conferred various offices and distinctions on Babak, Mazdak, and other Magians who ordered the Muhammadan mosque to be destroyed and all trace of Islam to be removed." (p. 152-3). [Italics mine, G.K.N.] The Khalif Al-Muatasim was no less lenient in matters religious than some of the Khulfa i rashidin. In the year 854-55 he deputed one of his nobles to bid a Zoroastrian chieftain "break his Magian girdle and embrace Islam, which he did and thereupon received a robe of honour from the Khalif." (p. 157). At page 157 we notice the extortionate practices of a Magian.
PARSI PRINCES DURING KHALIFAT.
"In the time of the Arabs we find an actual principality whose ruler bore the title of Masimogan or the elder of the Magians. To him also belonged the cities of Wima and Shalamba (Istakhri 209; Ibn Khurdadbeh 118; Ibn-al Faqih 284) as well as the territory of Khwar. [Magian princes during Khalifat (Tabari 12,656).]
"The first definite mention of the Masmoghan occurs in the year 131 A.H., in which Abu Muslim called upon the former to surrender and as he declined despatched Musa Ibn Kaab against him who however failed to effect anything against him. (Ibn al Athir vol. 5,304). It was only under Mamun that the mountainous country of the Masmoghan was subjugated. The last prince, whose brother Aparwez fought on side of the Arabs, was taken prisoner and confined with his two daughters in the mountain fastness of Ustunawand in 141 A.H. (Tabari Vol. 2, 137).
"The exact time of the rise of this principality is unknown. For the Masmoghan Mardanshah who is mentioned by Saif in a treaty with Suwaid Mukarrin under Omar (Tabari 1, 2656), belongs positively to the time of Muhallab, 98 A.H. I surmise, however, that the Dynasty of the Magian Baw, the father of the renegade Mahgundat, whose Christian name was Anstasious, who became a martyr to Christianity in 628, originated from the village of Warznin in the territory of Rai (Acta Anstasii Persae, p. 26 & 56), and is connected with the Bawend dynasty which appeared just at this place in 167, and is definitely traced to the Magian Baw. (The authorities for the above are Tabari vol. 3, 1295 and Zahirud-din 205, see also ZDMG 49, 661.)
"Baw is a pure Magian name and is a transcription of the Avesta Bangha (Yesht 13,124). Another transliteration of the same word is Bohak, a name borne by a hero of Ispahan who with his six sons and an army joined Ardeshir (Karnamak 4, 3, p. 22-19; Neoleke 46). It was also the name of a son of Hobakht, the chief Mobed under Shapur II. Bahak, son of Fredon, was the ancestor of Aturpat Mahraspand (Bundahesh 33; West Pahlavi Texts 1, 145). Another form of the same name is B[=a]we, who was the Astabed or magister officiorum of the Persians (Josua Stylite ed. Wright 59). The first ruler of the Bawend dynasty who enters history is Sharwin ibn Surkhab (Tabari 3, 519). By the Arabs he was at first made a vassal controlling the slopes of the Alburz (Ibn al Faqih 304; Yakut 3, 283), and probably assumed the title Padashkhwargar-shah which his descendants continued to hold in the time of al Beruni (Chronology, p. XL, No. 7). In Yakubi (vol. 2, 479) he even bears the title of King of Tokharistaxi. After him is named Mount Sherwin on the boundary of Komish (Tabari 3, 1275; Ibn al Fakih 305; Belazuri 339, 7). In the year 201, that is, A.D. 816-17, however, the governor of Tabaristan, Abdallah Ibn Khurdadbeh, the father of the historian and geographer, invaded Larijan and Sarijan and annexed them to the empire of Islam. He likewise conquered the mountain land of Tabaristan and compelled Shahryar, the son of Sherwin, to surrender (Tabari 3, 1014).
"But after the death of Shahryar, in 825-26, Maziyar Ibn Qaren contested the kingdom with his son Shapur and in alliance with the Moslems invaded Mount Sherwin, captured the sons of Shahryar and put them to death. (Tabari 3, 1093, Belazuri 339 and Ibn al Fakih 309.) However, a son of Shahryar named Qaren who had been detained at the court of Maziyar later on joined the Arabs and after the fall of Maziyar was restored to his paternal estate.
"As regards the Avesta expression Ragha Zarathushtrish in the Yasna 9, 18, it refers to political conditions of a much anterior age not yet reached by our historical investigations."
[Translated from Marquarts, Eranshahr, p. 127 seq-G.K.N.]
APPENDIX II
IRANIAN MATERIAL IN MAHASIN WAL MASAVI AND MAHASIN WAL AZDAD.
Professor Inostranzev gives a list of passages of Iranian interest which are to be found in the Mahasin-wal masawi and in the Mahasin wal azdad giving references to pages in the European editions. Unfortunately I have not been able to procure the latter and cannot verify the allusions. I, however, reproduce below the Iranian subjects touched upon in these two Arabic books on adab in the Cairo editions.
Iranian material from the Mahasin-wal masawi, Part I, p. 1. A dictum of
Buzarjmahir.
P. 82, A story of King Kobad.
P. 96, A story of Anushirwan, "the wisest of men of his time in Persia".
P. 110, A story of King Ardeshir.
P. 122, Reference to a custom of the Persian kings and a story of
Yazdajard.
Iranian material from the Mahasin-wal masawi Part II.
P. 62, A story about Shiruya, son of Aberwez.
P. 74, A dictum of the Persians on eloquence.
P. 75, A story about Buzarjmahir.
P. 123, A story about Anushirwan.
P. 125, A story about King Kobad and a MOBED.
P. 131, A story of Anushirwan.
P. 133, A dictum of Buzarjmahir.
P. 154, A story of Hurmuz, son of Anushirwan.
P. 155, A story of Bahramgor.
P. 155, A story of the sense of justice of King Anushirwan.
P. 166, A story of Anushirwan.
P. 169, Reference to a ZAND book in connection with Islam.
P. 170, A story of an Arab who acted as interpreter in Arabic to a
Persian King.
P. 178, A story as narrated by Kisrawi about Kisra, son of Hormuz.
P. 178, Reference to a Majus or Zoroastrian.
P. 194, A story of Shiruya, son of Kisra.
P, 199, A quotation from Ibn-ul Muqaffa.
P. 203, The story of Sabur-zul-aktaf.
IRANIAN MATERIAL IN THE MAHASIN-WAL-AZDAD.
P. 14, Story of King Abarwez.
P. 17, Story of the Kisra.
P. 35, Quotation from al Kisrawi, relating a story about Kisra, son of
Hormuz. In this story the unfortunate general Afshin, the governor of
Ashrushna, is plainly designated a Majus or Zoroastrian.
P. 51, A dictum of Bahramgor.
P. 51, The conversation between the MOBEDAN MOBED and King Aberwez.
P. 51, Reference to the book of "our" (Zoroastrian) religion (Kitab din-na).
P. 110, Reference to an inscription on a stone slab discovered in the treasury of a Persian king.
P. 163, The story of Balash as narrated by Kisrawi, (on this story Baron
Rosen bases his investigation of the Pahlavi Khodaynama.)
P. 168, An anecdote of King Aberwez.
Professor Inostranzev finds the following Iranian material in the
Mahasin-wal masavi and the Mahasin-wal azdad (MM=Mahasin-wal Masavi, and
MA=Mahasin wal-azdad):
MA, 21, 4 to 10—MM, 490, 2 to 7.
MA, 37, 12 to 14—MM, 128, 11 to 12.
MA, 53, 14 to 16—MM, 571, 1 to 3.
MA, 78, 5 to 9—MM, 202, 2 to 5.
MA, 79, 2 to 6—MM, 202, 14 to 16.
MA, 79, 6 to 11—MM, 202, 16 to 203, 2.
MA, 168,20 to 3—MM, 310, 16 to 18.
MA, 170, 2 to 3—MM, 313, 7 to 8.
MA, 173, 8 to 16—MM, 372, 11 to 18.
In connection with the importance of Kisrawi as regards the Persian literary material, these are the extracts from him in the two Arabic works:
MA, 168, 20 to 269, 3—MM, 310, 16 to 18.
MA, 53, 14 to 16—MM, 571, 1 to 3.
MA, 359, 13 to 364, 6—MM, 376, 1 to 9.
In view of the remarks by Browne (Literary History,471 to 475) regarding the significance of Persian words and expressions in the ancient Arabic literary works for the history of the Persian language, of particular importance are the excerpts from Kisrawi, MA 168,20 to 269, 3—MM, 310, 16 to 18, where occur Persian phrases from the maxims of Anushirwan "which as I think have been handed down to us in pure Pahlavi." Interesting is the interpretation of the Persian word Mihman at another place in the same Arabic books, viz:—MA, 79, 6 to 11=MM, 202, 16 to 203, 2.
APPENDIX III
[Translation of Noeldeke's Burzoe's Einleitung zu dem Buche Kalila wa
Dimna.]
BURZOE'S INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF KALILA WA DIMNA.
[Sidenote: Burzoe's Introduction not fabricated.]
The Arabic redaction of the Indian tales which we know under the name of Kalila wa Dimna had two unquestionably genuine Introductions, that of the compilator Ibn Moqaffa himself who died in 142 A.H., and that of Burzoe who in the time of King Khusrow I, (A.D. 531 to 579) brought the book from India and translated it into the written Persian language of the time, the Pehlevi. The circumstances regarding the mission of Burzoe to India are still not clear. At any rate Ibn Moqaffa did not write as we read them now.
Nevertheless it is by no means improbable that he had affixed to his book a report which, however, wan subsequently mutilated, of necessity, in diverse ways. The preface by Ala-ibn-Shah or Behbod, which has also been printed by de Sacy, which is found in a few manuscripts and which is not known to the ancient translations is a later and entirely valueless excrescence.
The Introduction of Burzoe stood in the Pehlevi work which Ibn Moqaffa had before him. According to certain manuscripts this Introduction has been compiled—or however we translate the ambiguous term tarjuma—by Burzgmihir, the prime minister of Khusrow, much better known in polite literature than in history.
[Naturally I do not deny altogether that Burzgmihir was a historical personage but he possessed by no means the importance which the tradition in question ascribes to him. The ascription is purely an erroneous inference from the above-mentioned report of the circumstances touching the mission of Burzoe, has not the slightest inherent probability, and is besides wanting not only in other manuscripts but also in all the older translations.]
We cannot question the fact that this section of the Arabic work in the main reproduces the Introduction composed by the Chief physician Burzoe himself to the book translated by him into Pehlevi from an Indian language. That language as Hertel has shown was Sanskrit, which fact, however, does not preclude the possibility of an Indian interpreter translating the original text to the Persian who spoke a modern Indian tongue. Several passages speak to the fact that the author of the Introduction is the physician. Why should Ibn Moqaffa pretend that Burzoe earnestly studied medicine and practised it? Moreover, the section is familiar with those principles of Indian medicine of which Ibn Moqaffa could otherwise know little and the exposition of which he had no call to deal with. The entire situation seems to me to harmonise with the circumstances of the Persian physician. Specially noteworthy is the encomium on the Persian sovereign.
[Sidenote: Ibn Moqaffa took liberties with the Pehlevi.]
This is, however, not equivalent to saying that the Arabic text is an exact replica, down to details, of the original of Burzoe. In the first place it has to be observed that Ibn Moqaffa was no pure translator at all but a regular redactor of his model. His object was to prepare a work suitable to the taste of his highly educated readers and at the same time entertaining and instructive. He proceeded, therefore, not only with a tolerably free hand as an artist in words but added good many things of his own. Above all here we have to bear in mind the trial of Dimna. That this chapter is an addition by a Muslim who would not let pass in silence the acknowledgement of clever but demeaning intrigue was already recognised by Benfey and we need not doubt but that it originated with Ibn Moqaffa. I would also claim, for Ibn Moqaffa the somewhat unimportant history of the anchorite and his guest. The manner of his narrative we learn from his own preface. It is especially to be noted that here also as in the trial of Dimna he recounts anecdotes after the Indian fashion.
[Sidenote: Ibn Moqaffa's religious scepticism.]
It is accordingly not impossible that in our Burzoe chapter there are a few things which have originated not with the Persian physician of old but with Ibn Moqaffa; and this, I presume, as I showed long ago, specially from the disquisition on enquiry into the uncertainty of religions. It appears much more to fit in with Ibn Moqaffa than Burzoe.
Ibn Moqaffa exchanged the religion of his Persian fathers for Islam only in his mature years,—certainly not because he saw in the latter perfect verity but because probably he was not satisfied with Zoroastrianism with which he was intimately familiar or with any of the other religions which in his time flourished openly or in secret in Iraq which was "the heart of the Empire". To such a man the scepticism of our section is natural, a fact which does not make it impossible that certain principles which were common to all the religions intimately known to the author remained also self-evident to Ibn Moqaffa,—such as God as the Creator, and the next world with its reward and penalties. Had Ibn Moqaffa, in his own name confessed to such religious doubts publicly no patron could have saved him from capital punishment. On the other hand he ran no risk in ascribing the questionable exposition to the Persian long since dead, who, however, supposing that he harboured such doubts could not have given expression to them as a physician attached to the Imperial Court of Persia. The belief in an inexorable fate which is evident in this chapter as well as in the entire portion attributable to Ibn Moqaffa could have been cherished, no doubt, also by a Mazdyasnian. This doctrine, therefore, speaks neither for nor against the authorship of Ibn Moqaffa. Equally far from decisive is the exhortation to pure morality which finds expression there.
I am confirmed in my view that the passage on the unconvincing nature of religions proceeded from Ibn Moqaffa by a few couplets in the Shahnama. (Mohl vol. 5, 53 ff; Macan 1293). The king of India called Kaid has several dreams which are interpreted to him by the sage Mihran. The third dream, about four men pulling at a fine piece of cloth, each towards himself, without tearing it, is thus explained by him:
"Know that the piece of cloth is the religion divine end that the four men who pull at it have come to preserve it. One of the religions is that of the Dihkans, the fire-worshippers, who may not take in hand the Barsom without pronouncing the prayer formula.
"[The Dihkans were properly speaking the small landed nobility of the Sasanian times and as such were representatives of the ancient Persian religion; barsom and the prayer formula or baz are well-known components of their ritual.]
"Another religion is that of Moses, which is called the Jewish religion, maintaining that none besides itself is worthy of praise; the third religion is of Greece, belongs to men of piety and brings equity to the heart of princes (this is Christianity). The fourth is the pure faith of the Arab which raises the head of the intelligent out of dust. Thus they struggle for the preservation of their religion and pull the cloth towards the four sides away from each other and become enemies for the sake of religion."
[Sidenote: Ibn Moqaffa no sincere Muslim]
This passage the basic principle of which accords with the reflections on religion in our chapter I would now with greater positiveness than before trace to Ibn Moqaffa (ZDMG 59, 803). It did not find a place in the old Pehlevi "Book of Kings" because the latter could recognise only the national religion as the right one and could not have taken into consideration Islam, even supposing that the last redaction of the official Sasanian history took place at a time when Muhammadanism had already come into existence. But Firdausi did not at all invent the material of his narrative. He merely compiled it and the major portion of the compilation goes back to the shape which Ibn Moqaffa had given to the ancient tradition (see what I have to say on this in my National Epic of Iran, Grundriss der iran philogie). In actuality Ibn Moqaffa was not believed to be a sincere Muslim. He is frequently stigmatised as Zindik or heretic (See Aghani 13.81, 18 ff. 18, 200, 25 ff. Ibn Qotaiba, Uyun 71, 9; further Ibn Khallikan 186, p. 125.)
[The term zindiq probably originally denoted a certain rank among the Manichaeians or a similar religion and was then applied to suit a variety of infidels. The etemology, Aramaic Zaddiqy, has been recognised by Bevan.]
Again the passage does not fit in with the tenor of the entire section. For Burzoe who was at a loss with regard to the physician's art, the main question is, whether he should or should not become an ascetic,—a question which must concern Ibn Moqaffa but little. The suitability of the addenda hardly admits of proof but we may state that Ibn Moqaffa did not simply interpolate but wove them artfully in his text and he might have omitted something here and there.
[Sidenote: Burzoe influenced by Buddhism]
It seems to me highly probable that Burzoe allowed himself to be influenced by the Buddhist romance, the original of which has perished and the best representative of which, is preserved to us in the Arabic Bilauhar wa Budasf (See Barlaam und Joasaph by E. Kuhn). Many a passage of our chapter is strongly reminiscent of the sentences of the romance, for instance, the dangers to the body remind one of those related at p. 53; the four principles or akhalat appear at p. 9, and the parable of the man in the well is common to both. The parable which stands at the close of the chapter is, unless one is greatly mistaken, directly taken from the romance with little modification. It stands in the whole of Kalila wa Dimna isolated, deviates in manner and tendency entirely from the story and also from what has issued from Ibn Moqaffa but is consistent with the monastic predilections of Burzoe. And his appraisement of the life of the recluse does not appear spontaneous but something to which he has laboriously compelled himself. One may surmise that it was really alive only in India. How far it was practised in actual life must remain unproved. We must not omit to mention that Burzoe points out that for an ideal physician his art earns also rich earthly profits.
[Sidenote: English translation of the Introduction a desideratum.]
So far as I know, of this chapter there is no translation in a European language except in the English by Knatchbull which appeared in 1819, which reproduced the imperfect text of de Sacy and is otherwise defective. Wolff did well to omit it in his German translation of Kalila wa Dimna of 1837, for he could not have produced a correct rendering of de Sacy's text which was not completed till 1873 by Guidi.
[Sidenote: Difficulties of translation.]
Even now it is impossible to make a translation of Burzoe's Introduction which can stand the test of philology. We must first see whether with the use of all available manuscripts and a careful collation of other text sources we cannot arrive at a tolerably settled Arabic text. And that is, so far as I can conclude from my not quite insignificant material, not very probable. At all events a searching examination of all the manuscripts in the great Paris library is essential. The various texts of the book are considerably divergent. Arbitrariness and carelessness of transcriber have disfigured Ibn Moqaffa's work of art just because it presently became a favourite book of entertainment. The language at all events remains approximately correct in the manuscripts.
Grammatical mistakes easy of correction are not seldom met with but pure vulgarisms occur only in a few copies like that of Berlin. The numberless variants have not much significance for the translator when it is only a question of synonyms, since for them the same European expression can do duty. And though it is not certain whether in the case of a multitude of non-essential or wholly analogous expressions the shorter or the extended text is the original one, that does not substantially affect the translation. There is scarcely any harm in curtailing the frequent tautology of this chapter. We should be well advised in case of successive synonymous abstract nouns and verbs such as occur frequently in Arabic to translate by a simple expression with an emphatic adjective or adverb. But not seldom the difference becomes great. It is a difficult situation when we are uncertain whether the passage which is found in several manuscripts and not in others is the original one. As a rule we have to decide in favour of the majority but as sometimes we do come across actual interpolations in some, so their existence is not impossible in others, although we can not be positive on the subject.